Free software Free video-editing software
Free video-editing software
Video from your camera, camcorder or mobile phone is often interesting to watch, but putting together a polished home video in video-editing software can be very rewarding, especially if you have a memorable video at the end of it.
There are several packages available, both for Mac and PC. Some of them are free, and may already be installed or easily downloaded to your computer - Apple iMovie and Microsoft Live Movie Maker 2011 are two of these.
Whichever software you go for, make sure it's compatible with the footage that your recording device records - check our video-software reviews for more on this. For example, most HD camcorders record footage in an AVCHD format. However, not all video-editing software packages can read this before a potentially fiddly conversion process first. This is the case more for some free software.
Free software has fewer bells and whistles overall. For example, you have a smaller amount of video and audio effects available to apply to your video, although putting together a basic, but good-looking video, is certainly within the realms of possibility.
Below, we take a closer look at Pinnacle Studio HD 15, a package costing £60, and Microsoft Live Movie Maker 2011. We examine their features and performance, head-to-head.
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| Video-editing software | ||
|---|---|---|
| Head-to-head | Pinnacle Studio HD 15 | Microsoft Live Movie Maker 2011 |
| Price | £60 | Free |
| Mac version available |  | |
| Direct YouTube uploading | | |
| Direct Facebook uploading | | |
| Rotate video possible | | |
| Image stabilisation | | |
| AVCHD compatibility | | |
| Beginner ease of use | | |
| Versatility | | |
| Total score | | |
| Best Buy | | |
| Pros | | |
| Cons | | |
