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Compare Video Editing Software
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following charts compare the various non-linear video editing software programs. Not all software programs are still being supported. Please look at the latest version in the General Information section. Please feel free to comment on this article.
Contents |
General information
This table gives basic general information about the different editors:
| Program | Platform | Developer | Year of first release | Year of latest release | Latest version | List price (USD) | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere/Premiere Pro | Win/Mac | Adobe Systems | 1991 | 2008 | CS4 | $799 | Proprietary |
| Adobe Premiere Elements | Windows | Adobe Systems | 2004 | 2008 | 7.0 | $100 | Proprietary |
| Avid Free DV | Win/Mac | Avid | ? | ? | 1.8 | Free (No Longer Available) | Proprietary |
| Avid Xpress DV | Win/Mac | Avid | 2000 | ? | 4.8 | No longer Available | Proprietary |
| Avid Xpress Pro Studio HD | Win/Mac | Avid | 2003 | ? | 5.8 | $1695 | Proprietary |
| Avid Liquid | Win/Mac | Avid | 2003 | ? | 7.2 | $999 | Proprietary |
| Media Composer | Win/Mac | Avid | 1989 | 2008 | 3.1.1 | $2495 | Proprietary |
| Avidemux | Win/Mac/BSD/Lin | 2009 | 2.44 | Free | GPL | ||
| Cinelerra | Lin/Mac | Heroine Virtual | 2002 | 2008 | 4.0 | Free | GPL |
| Dayang Montage Extreme | Windows | Dayang | 2007 | 2009 | 1.2 | $898 | Proprietary |
| EditDV/Cinestream | Win/Mac | Radius | 1997 | 2002 | 3.0 | $999 | Proprietary |
| Edius | Windows | Grass Valley Canopus | 2002 | 2008 | 5.0 | $799 | Proprietary |
| Final Cut Express | Mac | Apple | 2003 | 2007 | 4.0.1 | $199 | Proprietary |
| Final Cut Pro/Studio | Mac | Apple | 1999 | 2009 | 7 | $999 | Proprietary |
| Avid Free DV | Win/Mac | Avid Technology | 2001 | 2008 | 7 | $69.95, $119.95 | Proprietary |
| CyberLink PowerDirector [1] | Windows | Cyberlink | 2008 | 7 | $69.95, $119.95 | Proprietary | |
| FORscene | Multi (Java) | Forbidden Technologies | 2004 | ? | 15 April 2007 | from $2/hour | Proprietary |
| iMovie | Mac | Apple | 1999 | 2009 | 8.0.4 | $79 (as part of the iLife suite); free on new Macs | Proprietary |
| PiTiVi | Linux | Open Source Community | 2004 | 2009 | 0.13 | Free | LGPL |
| Kdenlive | Linux/BSD/Mac | Open Source Community | 2002 | 2009 | 0.7.5 | Free | GPL |
| Kino | Lin/BSD | Open Source Community | 2000 | 2008 | 1.3.0 | Free | GPL |
| LiVES | Lin/BSD/Mac | Open Source Community | 2002 | 2009 | 1.0.0 | Free | GPL |
| MainActor | Lin/Win | MainConcept | 2004 | 2007 | 5.5 | $199 (No longer available) | Proprietary |
| Media 100 | Win/Mac | Media 100 (now part of Boris FX) | 2006 | ? | 11.6.3 | $1495.00 | Proprietary |
| Mpeg Video Wizard | Windows | Womble Multimedia | 2004 | 2009 | March 2009 | $34.00 | Proprietary |
| Mpeg Video Wizard DVD | Windows | Womble Multimedia | 2006 | 2009 | 4.0.4.113 | $49.00 | Proprietary |
| Linux | Open Source Community | 2009 | 2009 | 0.7.1 | Free | GPL | |
| Pinnacle Studio MediaSuite | Windows | Pinnacle Systems (now part of Avid) | 2000 | 2007 | 11 | $129.99 | Proprietary |
| Pinnacle Studio | Windows | Pinnacle Systems | 2007 | 2008 | 12.1 | $129.99 | Proprietary |
| Pinnacle Videospin | Windows | Avid | 2009 | 2009 | 2.0 | Free 15-day trial | Proprietary |
| MoviePlus | Windows | Serif (Europe) Ltd. | 2003 | 2008 | X3 (6.0.1) | $79.99 | Proprietary |
| Sony Vegas | Windows | Sony Media Software | ? | 2009 | 9.0 | $599.95 | Proprietary |
| Ulead MediaStudio Pro | Windows | Ulead Systems (now part of Corel Corporation) | ? | ? | 8.1 | $399.99 | Proprietary |
| Ulead VideoStudio Plus | Windows | Ulead Systems (now part of Corel Corporation) | 2000 | 2007 | 11 | $99.99 | Proprietary |
| VideoThang TM | ? | VideoThang LLC | 2007 | 2008 | 2.0.1 | Free | Proprietary |
| VirtualDub | Windows | Avery Lee | 2000 | 2009 | 1.8.8 | Free | GPL |
| VirtualDubMod | Windows | 2002 | 2006 | 1.5.10.2 b2542 | Free | GPL | |
| Windows Movie Maker | Windows | Microsoft | 2000 | 2007 | 6.0.6000.16386 | Bundled with Windows | Proprietary |
| MAGIX Movie Edit Pro | ? | MAGIX | 2000 | 2009 | 15 | 60$ | Proprietary |
System requirements
This table lists the operating systems that different editors can run on without emulation, as well as other system requirements. Note that minimum system requirements are listed; some features (like High Definition support) may be unavailable with these specifications.
| Windows | | *nix |
Processor |
RAM |
HDD |
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Yes | Yes (as of CS3) | No | 1.4 GHz, SSE2 compatible processor | 1 GB / 2 GB when editing HD | 4 GB |
| Adobe Premiere Elements | Yes | No | No | SSE2 compatible processor | 512 MB | 4.5 GB |
| Avid Free DV | Yes | Yes | No | 933 MHz Pentium, 667 MHz PPC | 1 GB | ? |
| Avid Xpress DV | Yes | Yes | No | 933 MHz Pentium, 667 MHz PPC | 1 GB | 20 GB |
| Avid Xpress Pro HD | Yes | Yes | No | Pentium 4, PowerMac G5 | 1 GB | 20 GB |
| Avid Liquid | Yes | No | No | Pentium 4 or higher | 1 GB | 20 GB |
| Avid Media Composer | Yes | Yes | No | Pentium 4 or higher | 2 GB | 20 GB |
| Avidemux | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Cinelerra | No | Yes | Yes | 500 MHz | 256 MB | ? |
| Dayang Montage Extreme | Yes | No | No | Pentium 4 or higher | 1 GB | 20 GB |
| EDIUS | Yes | No | No | Pentium 4 3.0 GHz+ | 1 GB | 800 MB |
| Final Cut Express | No | Yes | No | 500 MHz | 384 MB | 1 GB |
| Final Cut Studio | No | Yes | No | 1.25 GHz G4, Intel Core Duo or Xeon | 1 GB | 4 GB Apps |
| FORscene | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | 256 MB | Any |
| iMovie HD | No | Yes | No | PPC G4 or faster, Intel based Macs | 256 MB | 10 GB |
| LiVES | No | Yes | Yes | 800 MHz | 128 MB | 10 GB |
| Kdenlive | No | Yes | Yes | 600 MHz | 256 MB | 1 GB |
| OpenShot Video Editor | No | Yes | Yes | 600 MHz | 256 MB | 1 GB |
| PiTiVi | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | 2 MB |
| Kino GTK | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| MainActor | Yes | No | Yes | 700 MHz | 128 MB | ? |
| MPEG Video Wizard | Yes | No | No | 233 MHz | 32 MB | 20 MB |
| MPEG Video Wizard DVD | Yes | No | No | 233 MHz | 32 MB | 20 MB |
| Pinnacle Studio MediaSuite | Yes | No | No | 1.4 GHz | 512 MB | 1.7 GB |
| Pinnacle VideoSpin | Yes | No | No | 1.4 GHz | 512 MB | 150 MB |
| Serif MoviePlus | Yes | No | No | Pentium II or AMD Athlon XP | 128 MB | 149 MB |
| Sony Vegas | Yes | No | No | 1.0 GHz | 1.0 GB | 200 MB |
| Ulead MediaStudio Pro | Yes | No | No | 800 MHz | 256 MB | 800 MB |
| Ulead VideoStudio Plus | Yes | No | No | Pentium 4 or higher, SSE2 when editing HD | 256 MB | 1 GB |
| Merging Technologies VCube | Yes | No | No | Pentium 4 or higher | 512 MB | 800 MB |
| VideoThang TM | Yes | No | No | Pentium 4 or higher | 512 MB | 300 MB |
| Video Edit Magic / Express | Yes | No | No | 500 MHz or higher | 256 MB | 200 MB |
| VirtualDub | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | 3 Mb |
| Windows Movie Maker | Yes | No | No | 1 GHz for best performance | 128 MB | 10 Mb |
| Windows | Mac OS X | Unix | Processor | RAM | HDD |
“Unix” includes the similar Linux, BSD and Unix-like operating systems.
High definition import
The table below indicates the ability of each program to import various High Definition video formats for editing.
| 720p HDV | 1080i HDV | DVCPRO HD | Uncompressed HD | IMX | AVCHD | XDCAM HD | HDV | AVC-1 | DNxHD | REDCODE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (3rd party) | Yes (As of CS4, third party in CS3) | Yes (As of CS3) | Yes | ? | ? | Yes (3rd party) |
| Adobe Premiere Elements | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Avid Media Composer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Avid Xpress DV | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
? |
|
| Avid Liquid | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No |
| Avidemux | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Cinelerra | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Dayang Montage Extreme | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| EDIUS Neo | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| EDIUS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Final Cut Express | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Final Cut Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| FORscene | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| iMovie HD | Yes | Yes | Yes (3rd party) | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| LiVES | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| PiTiVi | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Kdenlive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Kino GTK | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MainActor | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MPEG Video Wizard | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| MPEG Video Wizard DVD | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| OpenShot Video Editor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Pinnacle Studio | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| PowerDirector | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Serif MoviePlus | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Sony Vegas | Yes | Yes | Yes (3rd party) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes (as of Pro 9) |
| Ulead MediaStudio Pro | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Ulead VideoStudio Plus | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Video Edit Magic | ? | ? | No | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| VirtualDub | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Movie Maker | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| 720p HDV | 1080i HDV | DVCPRO HD | Uncompressed | IMX | AVCHD | XDCAM HD | HDV | AVC-1 | DNxHD | REDCODE |
Feature set
| High Definition support | Non-destructive editing | Full-screen playback | Storyboard mode | Video tracks | Audio tracks / max channels | Linear timecode display | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes, on separate monitor | Yes | 99 | 99 | Yes |
| Adobe Premiere Elements | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 99 | 99 | Yes |
| Avid Xpress DV | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 tracks, unlimited layers | 8 tracks, unlimited layers | Yes |
| Avid Xpress Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 24 tracks, unlimited layers | 24 tracks, unlimited layers | Yes |
| Avidemux | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1 | 2 / ? | ? |
| Cinelerra | Yes (any resolution) |
Yes | Yes | No | Unlimited | Unlimited / 16 | Yes |
| Dayang Montage Extreme | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 99 per sequence | 99 per sequence | Yes |
| EDIUS Neo | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | unlimited realtime layers | unlimited realtime layers | Yes |
| EDIUS | Yes | Yes | Yes, on both PC & TV monitors in realtime | No | unlimited realtime layers | unlimited realtime layers | Yes |
| Final Cut Express | Yes | Yes | Yes, with “external video” | Yes, in the Media Browser | 99 per sequence | 99 / 2 per sequence | No |
| Final Cut Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes, | Yes, in the Media Browser | 99 per sequence | 99 / 24 per sequence | Yes |
| FORscene | Input only | Yes | Yes (podcasts) | Beta test | 2 | 4 | Yes |
| iMovie HD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 | 2 | Yes |
| PiTiVi | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Unlimited | Unlimited | ? |
| Kdenlive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes |
| Kino GTK | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| LiVES | Yes (any resolution) |
Yes (multitrack mode) |
Yes (on first, second or all monitors, configurable) |
No | Unlimited | audio per video track + backing audio / 2 channels | Yes |
| MainActor | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MPEG Video Wizard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 | 3 | Yes |
| MPEG Video Wizard DVD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 | 3 | Yes |
| OpenShot Video Editor | Yes | Yes | No | No | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes |
| Serif MoviePlus | Yes | Yes | Yes, & on separate monitor or TV | Yes, partial | Unlimited | Unlimited | No |
| Sony Vegas | Yes
(any resolution) |
Yes | Yes | No | Unlimited | Unlimited/Max Channel 16 | Yes |
| Pinnacle Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2 | 4 | Yes |
| Ulead MediaStudio Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes, on separate monitor | ? | 99 | ? | Yes |
| Ulead VideoStudio Plus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7 | 9 | Yes |
| Merging Technologies VCube | Yes | Yes | Yes, on both PC & TV monitors in realtime | No | Unlimited Tracks and Layers | Unlimited / 16 | Yes |
| Video Edit Magic Express | ? | Yes | Yes | No | 2 / 1 (Express) | 2 / 1 (Express) | No |
| VirtualDub | ? | Yes | No | No | 1 | 1 | Yes |
| Windows Movie Maker | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 1 | 1 | Yes |
| HD | Non-destructive | Full-screen | Storyboard | Video tracks | Audio tracks | Timecode display |
Target market
| Consumer | Prosumer | Professional | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Least expensive
Most |
Kino Avid Free DV iMovie |
Final Cut Express
Avid Xpress DV |
LiVES
OpenShot Video Editor MAGIX Video Pro X Final Cut Studio Avid Xpress Pro |
Original Article from from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_video_editing_software“
1 Comment »
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I was sorry to see EditDV go. I edited with it on a Mac. Today I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio on a PC and have been happy with it. So far I have not found a reason to upgrade to Vegas Pro.
What editing program do you use?
Comment by admin — July 29, 2009 @ 1:36 pm