Free and very simple video editing software suggestions?

Any ideas? I'd just like to be able to trim and splice videos for posting on YouTube. Maybe add music or dialog. Mostly just trim and splice.

Any suggestions for free and easy?

Thanks!

Windows movie maker is free, but it doesn't work with all formats (GoPro files for example).

Windows Movie Maker is free. It used to come pre-installed, not sure what determines which versions of Windows do or don't get it by default.

Regardless it's free to download direct from MS.
WMM Download Link

Spoolpigeon wrote: Windows movie maker is free, but it doesn't with all formats (GoPro files for example).

I'll give it a try!

Well, I tried Movie Maker, but no luck. My runcam takes .mov files and it doesn't seem to recognize them?

I believe there is a codec that you can download to import .mov files for editing in movie maker.

VirtualDub works OK on Windows. You'll need to install all your own codecs though.

Kdenlive works well on Linux.

For just cutting and splicing video I use avconv/ffmpeg on Linux (yes I cut videos with a CLI, how l33t is that? ), and Audacity for altering the audio stream before adding it back in where necessary.

Youtube has an editor:

https://www.youtube.com/editor

Came across this thread because I was looking into this the other day. I ended up screwing around with quite a few options.

Davinci Resolve ended up working very well for me. Its complex, but you can use it for really simple stuff if you want. It isn't overwhelming. Lots of great tutorials out there as well. And its free.

I haven't messed with it much, but the GoPro program may work for you as well.

This thread is relevant to my interests. I have a Replay XD Prime camera that takes great video. I haven't found a simple editing program that I can figure out yet. I'm looking for something brutally basic. I'm not looking to re-create Citizen Kane, I just want to cut, splice, and add music.

I work through a Mac, and the Replay files are .mp4

I'll be watching with interest!

Spoolpigeon wrote: Windows movie maker is free, but it doesn't work with all formats (GoPro files for example).

I got a Win7 computer just so I could use the version of Movie Maker that works with h264 encoded files.

iOS has iMovie, it's pretty easy as these things go.

Joe Gearin wrote: This thread is relevant to my interests. I have a Replay XD Prime camera that takes great video. I haven't found a simple editing program that I can figure out yet. I'm looking for something brutally basic. I'm not looking to re-create Citizen Kane, I just want to cut, splice, and add music. I work through a Mac, and the Replay files are .mp4 I'll be watching with interest!

GoPro Quik

I had used GoPro studio for simple edits/clips/time-lapses before. I think this is their new version. Pretty simple as software goes, and free. Should edit video from anything, not just GoPro!

Bumped by a canoe, but since it's here, I've also been using Shotcut these days.

ProDarwin said:

Came across this thread because I was looking into this the other day. I ended up screwing around with quite a few options.

Davinci Resolve ended up working very well for me. Its complex, but you can use it for really simple stuff if you want. It isn't overwhelming. Lots of great tutorials out there as well. And its free.

Same thing I use. Learning curve is pretty easy for the light stuff but has way more depth.

I use VSDC for my videos.  It's FREE! It takes a little while to get used to but for very simple stuff it's a drag and drop affair.  Just drag your files, they drop in, you use right click->cutting and splitting to trim them.   Then you can just shuffle them around with your mouse.  Music overlays is the same.  

I never really ran into any limitations with the free version but felt like I should support them so threw them the $20 to activate and make mine the Pro version.  It apparently unlocked features..  but I don't notice that. 

I've also not generated a format it can't handle.  Cannon DSLR, GoPro, FauxPro, any image type, any music file I've tried.  It seems to be able to use them all.

GameboyRMH said:

Bumped by a canoe, but since it's here, I've also been using Shotcut these days.

Another vote for Shotcut from me. I downloaded it a few months ago and find it to be a good mix of easy to use while still having many features. This is the best tutorial that I have found on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCMcyYAtRzw&feature=emb_logo

I forgot about shotcut.  4 years ago when I tried my hand at YouTube I used Kdenlive as it was all I could get my archaic system to run without issue.  I have lightworks installed currently but haven't really used it.

Another vote for ShotCut

I am trying shotcut right now... 2 crashes in the first 10 mins.  Not doing anything heavy.  

I dig the simplicity of it though.

I used to use OpenShot back in their 1.x days, it was reliable but a little slow.

Once they rewrote everything for 2.x it turned to crap so I switched to kdenlive.  I haven't tried OpenShot in a couple of years because I have a plugin for kdenlive that I wrote to overlay telemetry.

I ditched shotcut for DaVinci. They're both free but DaVinci is easier to edit with. I haven't begun to delve into the complex stuff it can do but it's pretty easy to do the basics with it.

That's a timely canoe bump! I started doing the YouTube thing recently, and through having to splice together video for the day job, I started using OpenShot. It works, but it's really slow, glitchy, and you really need a beast of a PC to utilize it. At least it's free! Might have to try some of the other ones suggested here.

I would dig up $100 to get Adobe Premiere Elements, just because I don't like free software that crashes and tries to install other crap on my computer. It is fairly easy and they give you a free trial period before you put out the money so you can make sure it's what you want. But then again, I need to crank out professional quality stuff to present in a courtroom as part of my job and I sometimes have to do it fast. My boss pays for Adobe Premiere Pro.