Comparison of video editing software
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a comparison of non-linear video editing software applications. See also a more complete list of video editing software.
Contents |
[edit] General information
This table gives basic general information about the different editors:
Developer | Year of first release | Year of latest release | Latest version | List price (USD) | License | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adobe Premiere Pro | Adobe Systems | 2003 | 2007 | CS3 (3.2) | $799 | Proprietary |
Adobe Premiere Elements | Adobe Systems | 2004 | 2007 | 4.0 | $100 | Proprietary |
Avid Free DV | Avid | ? | ? | 1.8 | Free (No Longer Available) | Proprietary |
Avid Xpress DV | Avid | 2000 | ? | 4.8 | No longer Available | Proprietary |
Avid Xpress Pro Studio HD | Avid | 2003 | ? | 5.8 | $1695 | Proprietary |
Avid Liquid | Avid | 2003 | ? | 7.2 | $999 | Proprietary |
Avid Media Composer | Avid | 1989 | ? | 2.8 | $2495 | Proprietary |
Avidemux | 2007 | 2.41 | Free | GPL | ||
Blender | Blender | 1998 | 2008 | 2.46 | Free | GPL |
Cinelerra | Heroine Virtual | 2002 | 2006 | 2.1 | Free | GPL |
EDIUS Pro/Broadcast | Canopus | 2002 | 2007 | 4.52 | $699/$999 | Proprietary |
Final Cut Express | Apple | 2003 | 2007 | 4 | $199 | Proprietary |
Final Cut Studio 2 | Apple | 1999 | 2007 | 6 | $1299 | Proprietary |
FORscene | Forbidden Technologies | 2004 | ? | 15 April 2007 | from $2/hour | Proprietary |
iMovie | Apple | 1999 | 2007 | 7.1 | $79 (as part of the iLife suite); free on new Macs | Proprietary |
Kdenlive | Open Source Community | 2002 | 2007 | 0.5 | Free | GPL |
Kino | Open Source Community | 2000 | 2008 | 1.3.0 | Free | GPL |
LiVES | Salsaman | 2002 | 2007 | 0.9.8.2 | Free | GPL |
MainActor | MainConcept | 2004 | 2007 | 5.5 | $199 (No longer available) | Proprietary |
Media 100 | Media 100 (now part of Boris FX) | 2006 | ? | 11.6.3 | $1495.00 | Proprietary |
Pinnacle Studio MediaSuite | Pinnacle Systems (now part of Avid) | 2000 | 2007 | 11 | $129.99 | Proprietary |
Pinnacle Studio | Pinnacle Systems | 2007 | 2008 | 1.1 | Free | Proprietary |
Serif MoviePlus | Serif (Europe) Ltd. | 2003 | 2006 | 5.1.1.27 | $79.99 | Proprietary |
Sony Vegas | Sony Media Software | ? | 2007 | 8.0b | $449.96 | Proprietary |
Ulead MediaStudio Pro | Ulead Systems (now part of Corel Corporation) | ? | ? | 8.1 | $399.99 | Proprietary |
Ulead VideoStudio Plus | Ulead Systems (now part of Corel Corporation) | 2007 | ? | 11 | $99.99 | Proprietary |
VirtualDub | Avery Lee | ? | 2008 | ? | Free | GPL |
VirtualDubMod | ? | 2005 | ? | Free | GPL | |
Windows Movie Maker | Microsoft | 2000 | ? | 6.0.6000.16386 | Bundled with Windows | Proprietary |
Developer | Year of first release | Year of last release | Latest version | List price (USD) | License |
[edit] 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 | Mac OS X | Unix | 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 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 |
Blender | Yes | Yes | Yes | 600 MHz | 128 MB | 20 MB |
Cinelerra | No | Yes | Yes | 500 MHz | 256 MB | ? |
EDIUS Pro/EDIUS Broadcast | 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 | No | Yes | 600 MHz | 256 MB | 1 GB |
MainActor | Yes | No | Yes | 700 MHz | 128 MB | ? |
Pinnacle Studio MediaSuite | Yes | No | No | 1.4 GHz | 512 MB | 1.7 GB |
Pinnacle VideoSpin | Yes | Yes | 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 | 256 MB | 1 GB |
Merging Technologies VCube | Yes | No | No | Pentium 4 or higher | 512 MB | 800 MB |
Video Edit Magic / Express | Yes | No | No | 500 MHz or higher | 256 MB | 200 MB |
Windows Movie Maker | Yes | No | No | 1 GHz for best performance | 128 MB | 2 GB |
Windows | Mac OS X | Unix | Processor | RAM | HDD |
"Unix" includes the similar Linux, BSD and Unix-like operating systems.
[edit] 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 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adobe Premiere Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (3rd party) | Yes (3rd party) |
Adobe Premiere Elements | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Avid Media Composer | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
Avid Xpress DV | No | No | No | No | No | |
Avid Xpress Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Avid Liquid | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
Blender | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
Cinelerra | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | |
EDIUS Neo | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | |
EDIUS Pro | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
EDIUS Broadcast | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Final Cut Express | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
Final Cut Studio | 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 | ? | |
Kdenlive | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | |
MainActor | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Pinnacle Studio MediaSuite | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | |
PowerDirector | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
Serif MoviePlus | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | |
Sony Vegas | Yes | Yes | Yes (3rd party) | Yes | Yes | Yes (Sony Cameras Only) |
Ulead MediaStudio Pro | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | |
Ulead VideoStudio Plus | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes |
Merging Technologies VCube | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Video Edit Magic | ? | ? | No | ? | No | |
Windows Movie Maker | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
720p HDV | 1080i HDV | DVCPRO HD | Uncompressed | IMX | AVCHD |
[edit] Feature set
High Definition support | Non-destructive editing | Full-screen playback | Storyboard mode | Video tracks | Audio tracks / max channels | 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 |
Blender | Yes (via ffmpeg) |
Yes | Yes | No | Unlimited | Unlimited / 2 | No |
Cinelerra | Yes (any resolution) |
Yes | Yes | No | Unlimited | Unlimited / 16 | Yes |
EDIUS Neo | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | unlimited realtime layers | unlimited realtime layers | Yes |
EDIUS Pro/EDIUS Broadcast | Yes | Yes | Yes, on both PC & TV monitors in realtime | No | unlimited realtime layers | unlimited realtime layers | Yes |
Final Cut Express | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, in the Media Browser | 99 per sequence | 99 / 2 per sequence | Yes |
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 |
Kdenlive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes |
LiVES | Yes (any resolution) |
Yes (multitrack mode only) |
Yes | No | Unlimited | 1 / 2 | Yes |
MainActor | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Serif MoviePlus | Yes | Yes | Yes, & on separate monitor or TV | Yes, partial | Unlimited | Unlimited | No |
Sony Vegas | Yes
(any resolution) |
Yes | Yes, on separate monitor | 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 |
Windows Movie Maker | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 | 1 | Yes |
HD | Non-destructive | Full-screen | Storyboard | Video tracks | Audio tracks | Timecode display |
[edit] Output options
DVD | High Definition | Smart phone | Java phone | QuickTime | Windows Media | MPEG-4 | XML/EDL | Print to tape | Web, not hosted | Web, hosted | Podcasting | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adobe Premiere Pro | Yes | Yes (Blu-Ray) | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
Adobe Premiere Elements | Yes | Yes (Blu-Ray) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Avid Xpress DV | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
Avid Xpress Pro | Yes | Yes (Blu-Ray) | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
Blender | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Cinelerra | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
EDIUS Pro/Broadcast | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
Final Cut Express | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes (3rd party) | Yes | No (as of 2.5) | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
Final Cut Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes (3rd party) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
FORscene | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (MPEG 2) | Yes (MPEG 2) | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
iMovie HD | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes (3rd party) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (with .Mac) | Yes |
Kdenlive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
LiVES | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | ? |
Serif MoviePlus | Yes | ? | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
Sony Vegas | Yes | Yes (Blu-Ray) | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
Pinnacle Studio | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Ulead MediaStudio Pro | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
Ulead VideoStudio Plus | Yes | Yes | Yes (via plug-in) | Yes (via plug-in) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (with DropShot) | ? |
Merging Technologies VCube | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | No | ? |
Video Edit Magic | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Windows Movie Maker | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes (WMV only) | No | No |
DVD | High Definition | Smart phone | Java phone | QuickTime | Windows Media | MPEG-4 | XML/EDL | Print to tape | Web, not hosted | Web, hosted | Podcasting |
[edit] Target market
Consumer | Prosumer | Professional | |
---|---|---|---|
Least expensive Most expensive |
Kino |
LiVES Kdenlive |
Blender Cinelerra Avid Xpress Pro |