The best editing software for beginners

Arguably the most well known editing software is Premiere Pro along with After Effects, and whilst they offer comprehensive tools for any and all needs of a video editor, they might not be the ideal choice for beginners simply because of the price. A better option would be to use Black Magic DaVinci Resolve, which has mostly the same tools as Premiere Pro, After Effects, along with dedicated pages for colour grading and audio mixing. But also, it is completely free.

There is a studio version but I only started finding paywalls after using the software for three years. Additionally the studio was a one off payment instead of a subscription which I believe is much more value for your money.

Resolve is a very easy program to learn, especially if you already have experience using the Adobe suite. It helps you to keep organised by separating the workflow of your project into different pages. The Media page is where you can ingest and organise your media, sorting your footage and assets into bins that can be searched through during the rest of your project.

The next page is the Cut page, designed to cut down your rushes to the first rough cut quickly but without too many refinements.

The following page is the Edit page. Here is where you will spend most of your time, cutting together your projects along with adding simple effects and refinements. This page shares the most similarities with other editing software such as Premiere Pro, so it should be simple enough to use.

Then there is the Fusion page. Here you can create more advanced effects from animated text, 3D tracking, to adding in CG elements.

The next page is the Colour page. In my opinion, Resolve has the best colour grading tools out of any editing software that I have used. Whether you're colour correcting or adding you own creative look, Resolve has the tools to do so.

After this is the Fairlight page, dedicated to audio mixing to master the sounds of your project. Here you can use multiple effect to enhance or fix your audio.

Finally is the Deliver page, where you can render and export your projects. There are a whole range of present export settings designed for uploading to different websites, or project files for other editing programs including Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer. Or your can export using your own custom settings, choosing your own format and codec along with resolution, and frame rate.

Personally, I have rarely encountered problems with Resolve, but nothing more than crashes. My footage and project files have always been secure for me to continue working on them unlike other programs where project files became corrupted. So, if you are looking for a very affordable editing program to get into video editing, I highly recommend using Resolve.

(Not in any way sponsored)