Video editing software

Video editing software is a computer software application that handles the editing of video sequences on a computer. It usually includes the ability to import and export video, cut and paste sections of a video clip, add special effects and transitions, and sometimes includes the ability to encode the video for creation of a DVD.

The first two computer software based systems were Lightworks and Avid, and they forever changed the way that films and TV programmes were edited. Both systems used custom hardware for video processing.

With the availability of commodity video processing hardware, specialist video editing cards and computers designed specifically for non-linear video editing many software packages are now available to work with them, including:

  • Adobe Premiere Pro [1] (http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/main.html)
  • Pinnacle Edition
  • Canopus Edius
  • Avid XPress Pro [2] (http://www.avid.com/products/xpresspro/) (realtime)
  • Boris (special effects software)
  • Cinelerra (free software) [3] (http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3)
  • Discreet edit
  • E-mix
  • Apple Computer Final Cut Express/Pro [4] (http://www.apple.com/finalcut/)
  • iMovie (also from Apple Computer) [5] (http://www.apple.com/imovie/)
  • Kino for Linux [6] (http://kino.schirmacher.de/)
  • Lightworks (3D Animation software)
  • MainActor (available for Linux, Macintosh and Windows) [7] (http://www.mainactor.com/)
  • Media 100
  • Sony Vegas [8] (http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/vegasfamily.asp)(formerly published by SonicFoundry [9] (http://www.sonicfoundry.com))
  • VirtualDub (free, GPL video software for Microsoft Windows)
  • VirtualDubMod (VirtualDub with lots of added formats and features)


See also: film editing, List of video topics


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