Features

Being part of the Windows Live Essentials suite, Windows Live Movie Maker has to be installed through the Essentials package installer. Also, bear in mind that this version only works in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Usability

Windows Live Movie Maker is dead easy to use. All you have to do is import the photos and videos you want to use, select the background music and add some titles and end credits if you want. The program displays extra buttons on the title bar that gives you access to configuration settings for video, music and text respectively. As regards effects, you also have plenty to choose from: transition effects, animations, zoom and pan, and also visual effects that will spice up your images.

Quality

When your video is finished, you can save it in different formats and sizes, depending on where you plan to use it on: computer, high-definition TV screen, mobile device, instant messaging client, etc. Windows Live Movie Maker also includes the option to upload it directly to YouTube, Facebook, SkyDrive and Flickr. The only drawback is that Windows Live Movie Maker saves videos to one single format: WMV.

Conclusion

With Windows Live Movie Maker you'll be able to create nice compositions with your favorite photos and videos, and share them with anyone.

Download Windows Live Movie Maker 2012 16.4.3505.912 in Softonic

A point to keep in mind - Sony Vegas Video is not easy, but is still simpler than other suites like Premiere or Final Cut Pro. Also, the program is very well documented, so you'll probably find the answer to your questions in the Help section. Thorough documentation, together with a nice interface that will be familiar to anyone who has ever edited video, makes Sony Vegas Video an excellent choice.

Sony Vegas allows you to work on your videos with total freedom; you'll be able to import your media from various devices (including HD video), use more than 300 filters and special effects, leverage specific tools to work with text layers and subtitles and easily optimize image quality.

But Sony Vegas Video doesn't just allow you to edit video. Soundtracks are also important in this editor, which includes more than 30 sound effects and support for VST plug-ins, among other features.

The Sony Vegas Video interface is similar to other video editors. There are several windows to preview your media and current work, as well as a timeline to organize the various audio and video tracks. The best thing about the Sony Vegas Video interface is that it's totally customizable: you can freely open, close and arrange the program's diverse modules to best suit your needs.

In all, Sony Vegas Video is one of those programs that seems off-putting for newcomers and requires some effort to get to grips with. But it's also one of those programs that are totally worth the effort!

Sony Vegas Video is an excellent choice in the area of video editing software: powerful enough for professionals, but easier than other video suites.

Download Sony Vegas Video Pro 11.0.700 (32bit) in Softonic

Windows Movie Maker 2012 is the stand out application of Windows Essentials 2012. This basic video editing tool remains great while offering a few new, useful features.

Windows Movie Maker 2012 takes advantage of hardware acceleration, which will speed up video exporting and encoding. There is also a new video stabilization feature, which will be a boon to those with cameras that don't offer this feature. Videos now output to h.264 by default.

The interface of Windows Movie Maker 2012 has stayed the same for the most part but integrating audio is easier as you can now look up music from services like AudioMicro, Free Music Archive, and Vimeo Music Store. The video timeline also features a wav form so you can easily see where audio is placed within the video.

Overall, Windows Movie Maker 2012 is a great update to an already great video editor.

Download Windows Movie Maker 2012 2012 16.4.3505.0912 in Softonic

This is probably the best video editing tool to take your first steps in the world of video editing. It's simple, easy to use, and though more advanced users will definitely find it too basic, it's just perfect for anyone starting to play around with video compositions.

VideoPad Video Editor features a complete interface very much in the style of professional editors, with important elements such as a double built-in screen – one to preview selected clips, the other one to preview the complete sequence - and a time line for both the video and the audio tracks. The program also includes a few video effects (mainly regarding light, color and text snippets) and also transitions, though sadly only three of them. You can also add still images to your composition, either a blank screen or an image.

When you finish your project, simply click the "Create Movie" button on the interface and you'll be able to export it to a variety of formats. The good thing about VideoPad Video Editor is that it includes a bunch of exporting presets, depending on the platform you're producing the video for: PC, Mac, portable device, mobile phone, etc.

Also, if you get lost at any moment, don't worry: VideoPad Video Editor includes a through Help section where you'll find an answer to all your video editing queries.

VideoPad Video Editor may be quite simple at first sight, but it's a great choice for video editing beginners.

Download VideoPad Video Editor 3.01 in Softonic

The application certainly looks good on paper, with a host of new tools for working with HD media, as well as a bevy of templates, video effects and filters, and capturing tools. There are three different apps bundled with the suite, catering for different needs and skill levels, including Movie Wizard and DV-to-DVD Wizard. However, it’s the main utility, VideoStudio Editor, where all the action happens.

The program certainly boasts some decent editing features, including an extended storyboard to view and sort scenes (alongside the ubiquitous timeline), an extra large scene preview window, customizable title and text templates, audio tracks for voice narration and a music score, and built-in instrumental scores to fit the length of your movie. The user interface doesn’t do too bad a job at making all of these features easy to tap into, but it will still take most virgin film producers a while to grasp the basics.

There’s no doubt that with a little practice, you can conjure up some decent looking creations in the package, but you’re sure to experience a few setbacks along the way. The main problem with VideoStudio has always been its strain on your system memory and unfortunately this doesn’t seem to have been addressed properly in this version. Load times are cripplingly slow and unless you’re using a NASA computer previewing complex edits can be horrible experience, with clips and audio jumping and lagging frequently.

Other annoyances include the fact that you can’t fast forward and rewind from the scene preview window, and the zoom facility on the timeline is not nearly powerful enough. Strangely, considering its support for the new HD disc format, Ulead appears to have neglected to include support for Blu-Ray too. Another point worth mentioning is that several Softonic users have hammered the technical support as being very poor, with many people reporting that their queries are consistently unanswered. Come on Ulead, if you’re going to bring out a program which sometimes falls over then at least give the customer a bit of help to put things right.

Despite its flaws, VideoStudio has enough features to enable the creation of fairly sophisticated videos, and it’s pretty easy to use once you get acquainted with the interface. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for reliability then you’d probably be best off looking at one of the other budget editing apps such as Adobe Premiere Elements or PowerDirector.

Download Ulead VideoStudio 10.0 in Softonic

Don't be mistaken: this is no replacement for big shots like Adobe Premier or Sony Vegas. However Pinnacle VideoSpin works perfectly well for the average user who wants to create an easy video presentation including video clips, photos, sound effects and background music.

The program features support for the most popular file formats, plus a nicely designed interface that divides the working area into three main sections: the list of material you can add to your presentation, a preview window and a timeline – together with a slightly annoying banner.

The timeline is a handy tool that lets you to organize every element in your video in terms of the position they occupy in the presentation, the amount of time they take and the transition effects between them, among other settings.

Pinnacle VideoSpin also features a special tool to create and edit title screens, along with some ready-made material like sample titles and audio effects. However I still missed more advanced functionality, such as adding fading to sound or replacing the video's original soundtrack – despite reading the Help section from end to end, I didn't manage to make it work.

Once your presentation is ready, Pinnacle VideoSpin allows you to save it into a variety of formats and support, including AVI, DivX, iPod compatible video or MPEG.

Pinnacle VideoSpin is an intuitive presentation tool with which average users can easily create their own photo and video shows.

Download Pinnacle VideoSpin 2.0.0.669 in Softonic

As soon as you view the example project provided for users of Pinnacle Studio HD, it's clear that the program can be made to create really impressive video projects, either for professional-looking creations or more homey endeavors, such as family vacation videos.

Pinnacle Studio HD is aware that the program is a little intimidating-looking, so it provides great help in the form of an introductory video, help files and online tutorials. Even so, once you start to use the editor, you'll see that it is actually very user friendly: Pinnacle Studio automatically divides your media into chapters and, crucially, supports drag and drop of all items, so assembling a video couldn't be easier.

To use Pinnacle Studio HD you simply drag your media to the timeline in the order you want, and then click on the vertical icons on the left to add sound, text, effects, transitions and more. Once applied, the various elements will be clearly visible on the timeline, which means that editing the video at a later stage is equally simple. Pinnacle Studio HD also includes a preview window so you can view your creation throughout the process.

Obviously, there's no point creating a beautiful video if you can't share it. That's why Pinnacle Studio HD comes with a Make Movie option where you can export the video in several ways, including disc, a variety of file formats or even directly to the web. Pinnacle Studio wasn't a particularly easy program to install and it is very resource-heavy, but even still it is a perfect balance between ease-of-use and functionality, and is a great option for beginner to intermediate video creation.

Pinnacle Studio HD is an incredibly comfortable and easy way of creating home videos.

Download Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate 15 in Softonic

The interface in CyberLink PowerDirector Ultra is divided into four main tabs (Capture, Edit, Produce and Create Disc), all of them pretty self-explanatory. As for the Edit part in CyberLink PowerDirector – the most complex one – it features the standard design in video editing tools, with a library window to browse your media collection, a timeline to drag and drop elements and a preview window to check what your creation looks like when you put all the elements together.

CyberLink PowerDirector Ultra includes all the necessary tools for the whole creative process, from assisting you in with the very first step (capturing video from several different sources) to adding the final touches to your creation, such as a totally customizable DVD-style menu.

When you're done, CyberLink PowerDirector Ultra lets you save your video on your hard drive in different formats, publish it to YouTube straight away, share it on Facebook or output it to a camcorder.

Most recently, CyberLink PowerDirector has been updated to include ways to share your creations via DirectorZone and 3D editing tools to create stunning 3D movies.

With CyberLink PowerDirector Ultra you can easily create multimedia presentations with video, photos and music.

Download CyberLink PowerDirector 11 Ultra in Softonic

In this sense, Adobe After Effects is like Photoshop for video. It features tools that are similar to Adobe’s popular image editor, only adapted to video. As an example, one of its newest tools, RotoBrush, works as Photoshop’s Magic Wand, enabling you to select silhouettes and place characters against any background without requiring a chroma screen.

Adobe After Effects also includes more video-specific tools, such as Auto-Keyframe, which creates key frames automatically where you apply a video effect, and the Mesh warp effect in 3D, thanks to which you’ll be able to warp and distort your video as it if was a plain image.

But if there’s something outstanding about Adobe After Effects, that’s its third-party plug-ins. Mocha, for example, is an advanced tracking system that helps you in the creation and adjustment of scenes. Another excellent Adobe After Effects plug-in is Color Finesse, with which you can work with color in your video like you’ve never done before.

The most recent version of Adobe After Effects has noticeably improved its performance. On the downside, now it’s only available for 64-bit computers.

Adobe After Effects is the most powerful, complete solution for motion graphics and video effects.

Download Adobe After Effects Professional C6 11.0.1 in Softonic

Adobe is acclaimed worldwide for its impressive software tools, many of which have become true industry standards in different fields. This is the case of video production and Adobe's powerful video editor, Adobe Premiere CS6.

The new version Adobe Premiere CS6 maintains a similar interface structure to previous ones, keeping the learning curve to a minimum while offering a bunch of new features that make video creation and edition easier for everyone. Performance has also been enhanced, thanks to the new Mercury rendering engine – which enables you to see effects in real time.

Many of these are related to new technology standards, such as the possibility to export to Blu-Ray format or the support for tapeless videocameras. Others are focused mainly on improving general workflow, making Adobe Premiere CS5.5 fully compatible with other Adobe tools, with the SWF format, and even with Final Cut Pro. Chroma management in Adobe Premiere CS5.5 has been improved thanks to Ultra Key, and the new Adobe Story can mark specific times in the program’s time line based on characters' dialogues.

Video edition professionals will undoubtedly find in Adobe Premiere CS6 the ultimate companion to video authoring. Beginners however may feel overwhelmed by the complexity of this program, in which case the best options are to turn to a simpler video editing tool or take the time to revise Premiere's extensive documentation. On the other hand, you should take into account that Adobe Premiere CS6 is only available for 64-bit systems and requires quite a powerful machine.

Adobe Premiere CS6 is a state-of-the-art video authoring tool that features all the tools, functions, filters and effects you need for professional video edition and creation.

Download Adobe Premiere CS6 11.0 Pro in Softonic

With Wondershare Video Editor, you simply import video and sound files into the Media window, and then drag them onto the time-line below. Here you can edit your files, adding sound, effects, trasitions between scenes and credit sequences.

The basic editing and transition tools are good in Wondershare Video Editor, allowing you to quickly and easily stitch together a video from clips. The additional tools - effects, text and intro/credit are very basic. They don't allow for much creativity, and they give you pretty cheap looking results.

If you're looking for an easy way to edit videos, but aren't ready for Premier, Wondershare Video Editor is a good place to start. It may lack subtle features, but its essential editing tools work well and can give you good looking results.

Download Wondershare Video Editor 3.1.1 in Softonic

AVS Video Editor makes video editing easier than it may seem at first sight. It may not be as feature rich as other more professional video editors, but it works perfectly fine to create home-made multimedia compositions about your last holiday trip or the baby's first birthday.

The program features a nicely designed interface that's a pleasure to use. It follows the classic editor layout, with different areas dedicated to media library, timeline and preview window. Plus AVS Video Editor includes loads of transition effects, video effects, and text and video overlays that will help you easily spice your video up.

The whole creative process is covered by AVS Video Editor, from capturing video from a wide variety of external sources, to finally saving your creation in different formats depending on your target platform: computer file, burned disc, multimedia device or web page.

AVS Video Editor is an excellent mixture of power and ease of use that provides the average user with all the tools you need for video editing, while keeping difficulty at a reasonable level.

Download AVS Video Editor 6.3.2.234 in Softonic

Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding. Its very flexible, supporting AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF files using a variety of codecs. This means there is no messing around converting it to DV format before you can edit it in a third party editing application. Tasks can be automated using projects, job queues and powerful scripting capabilities.

Avidemux is completely open source and works across platforms, so it's ideal for those that are working on both Macs and PCs. However, the look and feel of Avidemux could do with some work. It looks like some kind of Windows 95 throwback app but don't judge the book by its cover. Avidemux is very powerful and although it's not particularly intuitive at first, with trial and error you can quickly learn the editing basics.

Note that although it claims to handle MPEG clips I was confronted with an 'H.264' error which meant it has to operate in 'Safe' mode and led to the loss of several frames.

It's far from perfect, but Avidemux is a handy tool for anyone that wants to perform basic editing for free and doesn't want to have to convert to another format first.

Download Avidemux 2.6.3 in Softonic

If you're a fan of Team Fortress 2 or Half-Life and would like to make films with the characters, then Source Filmmaker will help you do just that. Load up your favorite map and start filming, although you'll probably want to check out Valve's excellent video tutorials first.

The Source Filmmaker has a high learning curve as there are no tutorials built into the application. If you poke around long enough, you'll probably be able to figure it out but watching the video tutorials definitely helps. Once you know the controls and shortcuts, Source Filmmaker is actually quite intuitive.

Valve and the Source Filmmaker have a large following so there are already thousands of user generated videos on Valve's YouTube channel. Users have made movie trailers, comedy sketches, and much more using the Source Filmmaker.

While the Source Filmmaker isn't a full fledged video editor, it makes creating video from Valve video game titles a breeze.

Download Source Filmmaker 0.9.5.10 in Softonic

MAGIX Movie Edit Pro is one of those apps. It allows you to import videos from DV cameras, HDV cameras and video tapes, as well as use video files stored on your local computer and record video directly from your PC. This offers exciting new possibilities to create your own video slideshows with your own menus and extras.

MAGIX Movie Edit Pro includes not only a full featured video editing tool, but also specific utilities to add titles to your movie, spice it up with filters and effects, and also create the perfect complementary soundtrack.

While the program makes maximum use of processing power while cutting, recalculating and arranging video files, it still requires a pretty powerful system for a smooth, seamless experience. Also, if this is the first time you use a video editor, I'd strongly advise you to take a look at the Help menu: MAGIX Movie Edit Pro may seem a bit overwhelming, but luckily it's also very well documented.

MAGIX Movie Edit Pro is an excellent video editor that includes all the necessary tools to handle HD video, titles, video effects and sound.

Download MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 17 in Softonic