Good Freeware Video Editor?

Can anyone recommend a good Freeware video editing software that doesnt need the user to be a rocket scientist to understand?

Big thanks in advance.

 

Mac or PC?

Easiest one is either iMovie for Mac or Windows Movie Maker for PC.
Both may require getting clever if you want to do complex things though.

Not sure about the best...

 

Try VirtualDub. It's an old program which still gets the occasional update and has access to various 3rd party plugins and filters.

 

Beatle: I'm on a powerful PC...I guess I should have listed that!! Thanks.

 

Dee: thanks for your post, but I think I'd like to get a little more modern.

 

Understandable enough, but I'm not aware of anything 'modern' that's also freeware. If you come up with a viable option, I'd also be interested...

 

ffmpeg is an excellent (and up to date) transcoding utility but is command line based. However, I understand there are various graphical front ends available that make things easier, but I've never bothered with them, as I prefer the command line based flexibility when transcoding. That (front-end) area may be worth a look.

 

Linux has a bunch of free choices, this article lists ten. And linux has gotten a lot easier to deal with over the years, with Mint and Ubuntu especially.

Top 10 Video Editor for Linux - Linux Video Editing Software »

 

There's really no such thing as a decent freeware video editor. Adobe Premiere Elements is a decent $99.99 video editor. It's a good investment, because any time you spend on it helps you understand how Premiere works, so if you like it and want to graduate to a pro editor down the road, you've already got a head start with the learning curve for Premiere Pro. It does take a little googling to learn how to use it, but once you get the hang of it, it's remarkably well thought out and easy to use.

 

I do video editing for a living and was going to pretty much say the same thing, except the poster wanted a free version, but I totally agree with you. I don't know how on earth Adobe can sell this program for $99...to me it might as well be free for all the features it gives you. Just pay the $99 and be done! And you can get a free 30 day trial. I think you can learn the basics quickly on your own, and it has a bunch of tutorials built in, but if you ultimately like it there is a great for dummies type of book from Amazon that's pretty cheap, and it will teach you the more complex elements. I think you are going to muddle around with the free stuff and wish you had just got this in the first place. I was using very expensive software before going back to Adobe a few months ago. I can't believe how far they have surpassed Apple now (I was using Final Cut Pro for the past 10 years prior). Best $99 I ever spent.

 

Freemake | Best Freeware Alternatives To Paid Video Software »

 

There are no good free ones. I think I've tried them all over the years.

Here's a fair overview of what's out there free now, it actually gives reviews of 20 programs, by stretching the definition of "video editor":
The best free video editing software [August 2016] | TechRadar »

IMO, just refreshed by that article's list, my opinions of a few, not that article's:

This is probably the best free one, but it is not easy, and you may need to be the rocket scientist. You have to register it two times two ways, I think, but it is free. It tries to sell you upgrade packs of more features, and if you bought all of those you would almost have their full program, but you can do a lot of things with it as it is, if you can figure it out:
HitFilm 4 Express - Free video software - HitFilm.com »

This one is probably the best balance of FREE and an actual usable video editor for Windows. But, IMO, it is too needlessly technical where it does not need to be, but that's OK, you can ignore that stuff - leave the defaults in place - if you don't want to deal with it. I think such stuff should be hidden in an "Expert Mode" if they're going to do it at all:
Download Free Video Editor: best software for video editing. »

If you want only to quickly cut parts out of your video, this is the one. It is fairly easy and it does not re-encode, yet supports the major consumer formats. (It makes simple I frames automatically if needed, don't worry if you don't understand that, you don't need to for this program, but that is the simplest technically correct thing to do when making simple cuts.) I've used it a lot for quick cuts to feed those cut-down pieces into another editor. Its "review" in the link above does not make clear that you can cut as many pieces OUT of the original video as you want, not just one, one by one. But it has no other features:
Free Video Editor | Download Video Editing Software for Windows »

The cheapest very decent editor right now is "Magix Movie Edit Pro 2015" basic version, which Amazon has under $20 right now as a closeout boxed version. It has been replaced by the 2016 version at regular prices. The difference is negligible, although 2016 now is a full 64 bit program - the 2016 retail box package includes the same 2015 version for persons on a 32 bit OS. If you get this 2015 version outside of Magix itself, get only a sealed retail boxed version. Some ringer places (EBAY and even Amazon marketplace sellers) sell it as a download with a stolen key. Some places (ebay and newegg and Magix itself) sell the current versions as a legitimate download. There are no legit sellers of the 2015 as a download. But some ebay sellers also have new old stock sealed boxed versions, even older versions, but get the 2015. This one is in the Adobe Premiere general style, although it is not a clone. You can try a 30-day trial version of the 2016 here - if you try a trial version, they will email you a discounted price offer for the version you trialed. If you want to jump to their top version, download and register the trial of the top version even if you trialed the basic version first.
MAGIX Movie Edit Pro – Video editing software »

 

John and Jrr - Thank you both for your posts, I will look into The Magix and the Adobe.

My project is really pretty basic, it involves inserting new footage into an already existing video, and some tricky stuff with the soundtrack, but I am very good at Audio Editing and making things sound right on the beat.

 

I have ordered the Magix 2015 ...18 bucks. Thank you very much for this suggestion!!