A customer contacted our technicians through the live chat this morning asking one of the most frequently asked questions we hear: “Which video editing application is best for me?”

We certainly understand the question and when you really dive in deep to research it you will find pros and cons reported by other users that may or may not be important to you. The truth is, the technology has come to the point that the final video production is going to look great regardless of which application you choose. The answer then is that the best solution is going to be the one that you feel most comfortable using. Fortunately, all of the major applications now have trial software available for you to download and use before you make a purchasing decision.


FXHOME HitFilm 3 Pro is available for both PC and Mac and have made an excllent reputation for providing easy-to-use and affordable compositing tools and special effects. Take advantage of their promotion to own HitFilm 2 Express for just $5 and if you like it you can use coupon code HITFILM3 for $50 off HitFilm 3 Pro.

SONY Vegas Pro 13 with DVD Architect has professional video editing and blu-ray disc authoring tools for Windows. Videoguys’ special Crossgrade offer allows you to save almost 50% off on this software just because you own a competitive product. Even Windows Movie Maker qualifies you for this great low price.

Grass Valley EDIUS Pro 7 also has a great competitive crossgrade offer and has often been considered the fastest editing software on Windows – perfect for same day edits.

Adobe Creative Cloud software for PC and Mac includes Premiere Pro along with all of Adobe’s other CC applications like Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator and more. This is the suite that professionals often have in their toolbox and is now available by annual subscription only.

Avid Media Composer Software for PC and Mac is also available to new customers by annual subscription or you can buy a Perpetual License outright. The subscription includes the Symphony Color Correction Option and some other 3rd party software that is not included in the perpetual license. We should also mention that if you are currently using an older version of Avid Media Composer then you NEED to upgrade now while we still have specially priced upgrades left at just $285.

Click here for all the linksthese and more Try before you buy, FREE Video Editing Software Downloads available here « Videoguys Blog (http://www.videoguys.com/blog/news-and-sales/try-before-you-buy-free-video-editing-software-downloads-available-for-most-applications/)

Gary

A WORD OF CAUTION! After using various upgrades of Magix Video Pro for many years, I was swung by a number of users on this forum to try Grass Valley Edius. I first purchased Edius Neo3.5 which was very good if a little limited, but I liked the speed of rendering and preview quality compared with Magix. I also had a trial version of Edius Pro 6.5 which runs beautifully on my 3.5Ghz quad core AMD system. I love the smoothness of the Multi Camera operation, so yesterday purchased the licence for Edius Pro7.

It was necessary to download the trial version first then enter the product licence key which I had purchased. BIG PROBLEM ! After a couple of minutes of installing, a message appeared ! 'NO SUPPORTED SSSE3 CPU! ' WTF what is an SSSE3 CPU? Ok I know what a CPU is but the other bit meant nothing. A quick check of my system info showed a Phenon 2 x64 processor but no mention of SSSE3. A Google session said that my CPU was SSE3 compatible and a more in depth check on the GV site said Edius Pro7 is compatible with AMD providing it is SSSE3. OK I thought, there seems to be a difference in the number of 'Ss' but Pro 6.5 ran fine. NO! the extra S makes all the difference. Most modern Intel CPUs are SSSE3 compatible, but if you have an AMD only Bobcat, Bulldozer or Piledriver CPUs are SSSE3 and Edius 7 compatible.

I am disappointed that my knowledge or lack of it on CPUs led me to waste a lot of time, but the people at Videoguys who I purchased the licence from were really helpful and had no hesitation offering a full refund.

Roger

I am glad it worked out for you. I have always had good dealings with Videoguys. I made the shift to Edius back in 2009 and really like it. I am still using the old 5.51 version.

A Google session said that my CPU was SSE3 compatible and a more in depth check on the GV site said Edius Pro7 is compatible with AMD providing it is SSSE3. OK I thought, there seems to be a difference in the number of 'Ss' but Pro 6.5 ran fine. NO! the extra S makes all the difference

You gotta love engineers and their naming conventions!

A WORD OF CAUTION!

This is something I warned about in another thread where was talked about system recommendations, the very first thing you need to do with your NLE of choice is to build a pc around the requirements of that NLE and don't just get "any" pc or workstation and expect it to be all fine, a advantage of trial software is that you can test first but even then you might not be aware of certain advantages your NLE has which your pc is not able to make use of. Like for Edius it's very important you have the right system so Edius can make use of quick sync to accelerate h.264 exports and soon in edius 8 make 4k playback smoother. If your pc doesn't have that you are missing out on one the biggest advantages Edius has to offer.

This is something I warned about in another thread where was talked about system recommendations, the very first thing you need to do with your NLE of choice is to build a pc around the requirements of that NLE and don't just get "any" pc or workstation and expect it to be all fine, a advantage of trial software is that you can test first but even then you might not be aware of certain advantages your NLE has which your pc is not able to make use of. Like for Edius it's very important you have the right system so Edius can make use of quick sync to accelerate h.264 exports and soon in edius 8 make 4k playback smoother. If your pc doesn't have that you are missing out on one the biggest advantages Edius has to offer.

I've been very happy with my editing system and it has always worked very well with Magix in the 30 months I have had it. The rendering times are better in Edius, but the idea of spending out a lot of money on a new editing system plus the cost of the software when the current one is fine in most respects, is a step too far. I also have a lot of excellent add on programmes that I use with Magix, like Magic Bullets, Heirolglyph, Mercalli etc, that I would have to replace.

I will continue to use Edius Neo for smaller quick projects though.

Roger