FINAL CUT PRO
BY APPLE
Final Cut Pro has long been Apple's most advanced video editing application for the Mac. Apple streamlined the application to include magnetic snapping, compound clips, and inline precision editing. Final Cut Pro also provides enhanced media management for improved collaboration, improved performance and background processing, 2D and 3D graphics, third-party plug-ins, intuitive color grading, and one-step output processing. The top half of the layout includes a panel and menu for projects, media and titles (left), a viewfinder (center) and properties panel. The bottom contains the timeline and panel for accessing effects and transitions. Effects is where you access chroma key, masks, and various visual effects and Transitions include 360, movements, dissolves, and blurs to name a few. Elements are dragged on top of clips in the timeline, which are further controlled and modified in the properties panel. Final Cut Pro includes a wide variety of options for exporting projects, including format, video codec, resolution, and chapter markers. In contrast to iMovie, Final Cut Pro is intended for advanced users who are looking for professional grade editing tools to create cinematic masterpieces. Final Cut Pro is the best video editor for the Mac.
SCREENFLOW 8
BY TELESTREAM
Screenflow by Telestream, Inc contains many of the same features for screencasting as Camtasia, but offers a different user interface, and slightly different tools for animating and organizing your content. The layout for Screen Flow includes a viewfinder, timeline, and properties panel. The latter includes a menu for managing Video, Audio, Video Motion, Screen Recording, Callouts, Touch Callouts, Annotations, Text, and Media. Video is used to control the size, position, cropping, color, and various effects like reflections, drop shadows, color controls and video filters like Chroma Key. Audio controls volume levels, effects, and filters. Video Motion enables you to add effects like spring, gravity, and pulse. The Screen Recording panel lets you control the appearance of cursors and pointers, as well as, sound clicks and keyboard strokes. Callouts are added to screen recording to highlight specific areas, adding zoom, outlines, and shadows to the highlighted areas. Touch Callouts can be added to your iOS recordings to designate start and end points when using swiping gestures. The Annotations panel allows you to control the type, color, opacity, shadow, outline and endpoints (e.g. arrows). Text lets you determine the font, font size, fill color, outline, backdrop, and controls for building in and building out animations. Project exports can be set to be automatic or customized for frame and data rates and codecs.
CAMTASIA 2018
BY TECHSMITH
Camtasia for Mac by TechSmith Corporation is an impressive application for screen recording and video editing on your Mac. As featured in version 7.2, the layout is portrayed as a flat, 2-dimensional design (gradations and skeuomorphism have been eliminated), making it easy to start new projects and recordings and/or access tutorials. Once inside the editor, you will notice the menu has been expanded to include: Media, Library, Annotations, Transitions, Behaviors, Animations, Cursor Effects, Voice Narrations, Audio and Visual Effects (remove color, reflection, spotlight, etc), and Interactivity. Camtasia's timeline editor makes it easy to apply these menu items by simply dragging each element on top of the selected clip. The applied effect can be accessed by tapping on the bar at the bottom of the clip and selecting properties for customized edits. A scroll bar just beneath the viewfinder allows you quickly scrub through footage, and just beneath it another scroll to expand the timeline viewer. Under the share menu, projects can be shared locally on your computer, to screencast.com, YouTube, Google Drive, as well as options for exporting the frame as png or saving as audio only. Camtasia ranks as one of the best screen recorders available.
VIDEO EDITOR 15
BY MOVAVI
Movavi Video Editor Plus for the Mac comes with advanced video editing tools, and the ability to record FaceTime videos and Screencasting. Inside the project editor, you have five main menus: Import, Filters, Transitions, Titles, and Stickers. A sixth menu features a list of add-ons, including, Call-Outs, Animation, Pan and Zoom, Stabilization, Highlight and Conceal, and Chroma Key. Import is where you store your assets. This section includes "My Files," and free assets such as Sounds, Music, Sample Videos, Backgrounds, and Intro Videos. The timeline editor comes with three registers for video, titles, and audio, each one expanded to include multiple layers. Filters include 67 menu options that are thematically grouped; 107 transitions arranged by categories; 48 titles clips and 88 stickers, also arranged by category. The size of your project can be set by choosing one of the default sizes, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, and 9:16, or by choosing XY to customize. When media is selected on the timeline, a submenu above can be used to split, rotate, crop, adjust, and apply transitions to your clips. You can also record audio, access settings to adjust video and audio controls, and use flags to designate sections of your video. Overall, Movavi Plus is a comprehensive providing everything you need to get the most out of your video projects.
IMOVIE
BY APPLE
iMovie was part of what Apple called its iLife suite and is designed for the average Mac user. Unlike the advanced editor, Final Cut Pro X, iMovie offers a more streamlined video editing interface, including basic features like titles, soundtracks, and transitions. Since Maverick, iMovie has featured a minimalist design framework to simplify access and ease of use. Adjustment tools along the top right provide color correction and balance, cropping and stabilization; volume control, noise reduction, video and audio filters. Apple also introduced "Theater," which enables the user to save final videos in iCloud to be shared across platforms and devices. iMovie still comes with its classic "Trailers" feature which includes 17 templates with unique graphics and soundtracks to create cinematic treasures. Despite these fundamental improvements, Apple has not put a lot of effort into developing iMovie further in terms of additional features, keeping it well below the range of Final Cut Pro.