6 Best Video Editing Software For Mac

You put the box on your table. Excited. The black logo beckons you to a world of fantasy and legacy, until you snap out of your dream and decide it’s time to open it.

Off comes the wrapper, followed by the lid. The shiny grey metal touches your skin. It’s yours. Finally. After years of dreaming.

Excited to get into the world of Macintosh, with the Macbook Pro 16” that your company so genuinely provided, fingers caressing the scissor switches, you finally start to unravel that secret desire you had for a long time; video editing, and maybe a YouTube channel?

Or maybe you’re someone who is looking to get into the world of professional video editing.

Either way, we present to you, the 6 best video editing software for Macintosh.

iMovie

Cost: Free

Image source: Flickr, Callie Liberty. Under (CC BY 2.0)

Mac devices come with iMovie preinstalled. iMovie is the best video editing software for Mac; for beginners. If you don’t know anything about video editing and are keen to start without having to master professional NLE’s, iMovie is THE place to start. You can easily create projects without getting overwhelmed by the interface.

Pros:

· Transitions, effects, and backgrounds are as simple as a drag and drop.

· Very well optimized for modern Macs. Can be run satisfactorily on older models. It feels snappy and can easily handle a 4k video smoothly; including scrubbing through the timeline, applying effects and rendering projects.

· Apple’s magical integration shines. You can automatically import photos, videos and audio from iCloud, mitigating the hassle of having to store the files locally and sync up with iPad and iPhone.

Cons:

· Useful features like Multicam editing, 360 degree footage editing are absent.

· Working with more than 2 video tracks on top of the other, is just not an option.

· The user interface is not liable to customization.

· It doesn’t support exporting the video in as many formats as professional editors.

OpenShot

Cost: Free

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OpenShot is an open-source video editing software for Mac. It boasts a simple interface.

Pros:

· Has the ability to remove the background from the video, especially useful if you’re working with green-screen footage.

· Can create 3D effects and animated titles.

· Unlimited video and audio tracks in the timeline.

Cons:

· Not the best interface in editing-land.

· Stability is a big issue, especially with Mac.

· Not as popular as some of the other options.

Lightworks

Cost: Free

Image source: Flickr, Linux Screenshots. Under (CC BY 2.0)

A free alternative to some of the big shot video editors. Lightworks was used in the making of big shot movies like Pulp Fiction. This works well with Mac, even though this is not exactly a household name.

Pros:

· Flexible and customizable interface

· Low system requirements. Setup takes about 200 MB and a minimum of 3 GB of RAM is enough to make it work smoothly.

· Access to royalty free video and audio files.

Cons:

· Being the free version of Lightworks Pro, it is restricted to outputting content in 720p directly to YouTube or Vimeo.

· Video can’t be exported in all formats.

· No user definable project locations.

· No timeline rendering or advanced project sharing.

· No support for professional cameras like Blackmagic, AJA, Matrox etc.

It is worth noting however that Lightworks offers three paid subscription models for unlocking most of the cons mentioned.

DaVinci Resolve/DaVinci Resolve Studio

Cost: Free/$299

Image source: Wikipedia, 3rd Media Production. Under (CC BY-SA 4.0)

DaVinci Resolve is the best video editing software for Mac, when it comes to free software. It blows punches with Adobe Premiere Pro and FCPX. It has all the professional editing tools that you can imagine.

There is NO catch when it comes to the free version. The premium version includes advanced features like “Neural Engine features multi user collaboration, stereoscopic 3D tools, dozens of ResolveFX and FairlightFX plugins, HDR grading, film grain, blur and mist effects…” to quote the product page of the website. DaVinci Resolve contains built-in audio editing with Fairlight, and effects tools with Fusion, making it the best video editing software for Mac, in the minds of many.

Pros:

· Best color grading tools.

· GPU accelerated workflow, with hardware encoding available for H264, H265 and other commonly used professional formats.

· Rolling edits and trimming clips are easier with visual feedback in the timeline.

· Neural Engine speeds up color matching, time effects, upscaling footage, leveraging the power of Neural Networks. (Only available in Studio)

· Support for Blackmagic RAW.

Cons:

· Very steep learning curve, if you want to use it as a video editing software for Mac.

· Running out of GPU memory for heavy workflows, where the software has to be restarted. Throwing more VRAM solves it.

· Unusual, non-customizable layout. Automatic placement of windows on using dual monitors with no user control.

· Fairlight is lighter, when it comes to other audio processing software like Adobe Audition.

· Node based system for using Fusion, which makes motion graphics work over complicated when compared to After Effects.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Cost: $20.99/mo (For annual package. Student discount available)

Image source: Yours Truly.

Adobe Premiere Pro is a full-fledged professional NLE, and is arguably “THE” video editing software for Mac when it comes to professional youtubers, startups or even some movies in Hollywood. Like Deadpool.

Pros:

· All around beast.

· Intuitive Interface with a moderate learning curve.

· GPU accelerated presets and effects, with hardware encoding for H264 and H265 introduced in version 14.2, using NVENC encoder for NVIDIA and OpenCL for AMD.

· Dynamic Link provides fantastic integration with After Effects and Audition.

· Highly customizable interface.

· Multicam Editing, with pro audio syncing features.

· Excellent support for custom keyboard shortcuts.

· Huge support for third-party plugins.

Cons:

· Crashes unexpectedly.

· Subscription based pricing.

Final Cut Pro X

Cost: $299.99

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FCPX screams Apple. Having come a long way from the old days, FCPX is the go-to software if you hate a subscription model. Since Apple has full control, it’s integration with the Apple ecosystem is heavenly, and it takes advantage of each and every voltage sweeping through any Macintosh, making it a no-brainer option when it comes to any video editing software for Mac.

Pros:

· Takes full advantage of hardware on Mac, utilizes Metal for ultimate GPU accelerated workflow.

· Features Magic Timeline 2 and Enhanced Timeline Index.

· Support for a maximum of 64 camera angles with excellent audio syncing features.

· Supports Apple ProRes, RED RAW, among others.

· Rec. 2020 support

Cons:

· Non-Traditional Timeline

· Less efficient team collaboration tools.

· Takes time getting used to for users coming from Premiere Pro

Having arrived at the end, I hope your mind’s made up as to which software to use. There is no best software. You have to choose according to your want, need, and budgetary constraints. Each option is geared towards a different kind of individual. Happy editing!