Once just a job for Hollywood or video professionals, video editing can now be achieved by anyone who wants to post a video on YouTube. However with over 30,000 hours of video content uploaded to YouTube every hour, you know in order to stand out from the crowd and keep your viewers on the edge of their seats, you need to deliver engaging high-quality YouTube videos.
However, with so many video editors available, picking the right video editor for YouTube can be overwhelming. You want to make sure you make the right decision. Below are 5 factors to consider when choosing a YouTube video editor:
How to choose a video editor for YouTube?
1. Ease of Use
A good place to start is to consider how easy and intuitive the YouTube video editing software is. You do not want to pick a video editor that makes you refer to the user-guide each time you need to edit the video or apply an effect.
Some video software are complicated and take forever for you to even load the video. Since it is likely you will be recording and editing a lot of YouTube videos, you want to make sure your video post-production is as easy and enjoyable as possible.
If you are looking to learn more about video editing, a good YouTube video editor should include lots of video tutorials so you can learn each feature and maximize your editing capabilities. In summary, ensure your video editor for YouTube has an intuitive workflow and puts all the tools at your fingertips.
2. Video Format Support
Import
Before buying your video editing software for YouTube, make sure it supports the video format captured by your camera or recorder. This is especially important if you want to edit videos from 360 cameras, Stereoscopic cameras, 4K action cameras, drones, and more.
Export
Imagine if you spent hours importing your video clips, trimming, adding effects, voice-overs, and video effects, only to realize that your exported video is low-definition or not in a video format supported by YouTube.
As an added bonus to save time, you also want to ensure your edited video can directly be uploaded to YouTube so you don’t have to waste time exporting the video onto your machine and then logging into YouTube and uploading the video.
3. Advanced Editing Features
While most video editors have basic editing features that allow you to slice and dice videos, you know in order for your video to stand out on YouTube, you need to take your video to the next level! Some of the advanced video editing features for YouTubers to consider include:
Color correction
Video stabilization
External plugin support
Chroma key green screen
3D and 360 video editing
Fast video rendering
4. Audio Tools
Often an overlooked key feature, make sure your YouTube video editor software has good audio editing capabilities. Things to consider include whether the audio is included in the timeline and the video editor has the ability to separate audio from video.
Most professional YouTube videos will need background music and depending on your video editor, this can be an added cost to either purchase the music and/or buy an expensive audio editing software/plugin.
Ensure your video editor for YouTube has a royalty-free stock sound library and advanced audio features including:
Volume adjustments
Voice over recording
Noise removal
Surround sound
VST plugin support
5. Budget
It is very easy to be overwhelmed by a list of features and fancy marketing videos, but an important consideration for picking a YouTube video editor is to assess how much you are willing to pay? There is a range of paid and free YouTube video editors available, some that even that cost a couple of thousand dollars. Depending on the range of features you require, performance, and ease of use, make a decision.
It is also a good opportunity to consider YouTube video editors that include free trials so you can test out all the features you require, performance, and ease of use, before making a purchase decision.
Recommended YouTube Video Editor
That’s all the key information you need in choosing a video editor for YouTube. If there’s one video editor we would recommend you try out, it’s VideoPad.
Not only is it easy-to-use and intuitive, it includes all the video and audio features listed in this article, supports all video formats including direct export to YouTube, and not going to cost you an arm and a leg. You have access to all the tools you need to edit videos for YouTube and make professional-looking videos in a matter of minutes.
With incredible reviews and having been voted as one of the best video editing software from leading review sites such as PC World, Top Ten Reviews, Tom's Guide and TechRadar VideoPad is one of the best options when it comes to YouTube video editing. But don’t take our word for it, download VideoPad for free and try it out yourself! Happy editing!
