jeep_daddy wrote:
So what are you guys using to edit your video? I'm not a pro but I'm looking into getting something that I can edit video from my 5D Mark IV and my new drone that shoot 4k video. What's free? What's inexpensive? What's the easiest?
Thanks
You didn't mention computer platform. If you use Windows, check out DaVinci Resolve. The free version is pretty powerful, and it can be upgraded to a massively powerful pro app for a fee. Adobe Premiere Elements is $100, and runs on Win10 and MacOS. The full Adobe Premiere is a subscription app.
My twins and I use Macs here, so we use Apple iMovie for simple projects, and Final Cut Pro for the good stuff. Final Cut looks and (on the surface) works similar to iMovie, and can import iMovie projects, but it adds hundreds and hundreds of "finesse features" for professional use.
My wife and one of the twins also know Adobe Premiere, which she runs on her work PC, and J runs on the Mac. J also uses After Effects and DaVinci Resolve.
Apple iMovie is very easy to use, very intuitive, yet fairly powerful. It integrates tightly with Apple Photos (still image database and light photo processing), Apple GarageBand (multi-track audio production), and the MacOS system at large.
Photos works particularly well with Serif Affinity Photo and RAW power, a raw file developer plugin for Photos.
GarageBand also runs on iPhones and iPads, and is a VERY powerful recording tool, considering it just comes with the Mac. It's all I usually need for audio-for-video. I've recorded my twins and their musician friends with it for some short film projects... I also use it for video soundtrack sweetening (audio compression, leveling, limiting, equalization, noise filtering, special effects...).
iMovie itself is over 20 years old. I have used it since 2000. When I worked in the corporate world, I used iMovie for most of my training projects. I used the old Final Cut Express for the three biggest projects I did in 2009 and 2010.
iMovie, Photos, and GarageBand are included with every Mac, no extra charge. Final Cut Pro 10.4.8 is a $300 application, and worth every penny of it, IMHO. Its claim to fame is its ease of use and high processing SPEED. Of the three apps J uses, it's the only one that runs well on his 2012 MacBook Pro. Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve are marginal on the old machine, despite a fast SSD and 16GB RAM.
Final Cut Pro comes with many audio effects from Logic Pro, Apple's professional audio recording and production application. It also integrates with Motion (special effects) and Compressor (video file compression for distribution), Apple's other pro video production apps, as well as the full Logic Pro, a professional audio recording/music production app.
All of these will get even faster and more capable in MacOS 11 running on Apple Silicon, because Apple will then integrate the entire ecosystem, hardware, and software, without any Intel bottlenecks in the way.
We record video with two Lumix GH4 bodies and an array of Lumix lenses, plus some old Nikon and Canon film lenses that have a very different look to them.