Editing my drone videos

[Melvoid]

I want to start to edit my vids and have questions. I understand that there are free programs out there,
* if I purchase a pay program is the learning curve easier
* is there downloadable music tracks in the free versions
I won't be doing a lot of technical stuff, just enough to stitch together shots with a sound track. I do understand that it takes a while to learn, just not sure if I should pay or not, money is not an issue

I've been using Vegas Pro for years. Initially you bought it on a DVD but now it's subscription. Not too expensive and very easy to learn. Full of effects, both video and audio. No bed music with it, but free music is available on the net.

 

[BobaFut]

Filmora has good reviews, and would likely be a good choice.
The computer does make a difference but not that much. I upgraded my HP with a NV Me M.2, 500 gb drive which does give faster processing. I shoot my drone video in log (except the MIni 2, )4K-30 or 60, but usually output in 1080 since most people will view it on a tablet or phone. I make a personal copy in 4K that I can view on my 56 inch Samsung but I really don't see much difference. The TV may be upscaling the video.
I do offload all created videos and associated files to an external drive because they really eat up space and can bog your system down.
Good conversation. I could have used this input when I started . HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

I started on Filmora and agree it's a great "gateway" editor. It's simple enough to use like a smartphone app but has enough features to do a fair amount of semi-advanced editing and potentially move on to a more advanced editor.

 

[mrgadway]

I am following with interest on this subject. Would any of these editing platforms work with easily with both videos and still photos? I messed around with the free version of DaVince Resolve the last several days and I didn't find it suited to my skills for now.

 

[akdrone]

Thank you all for the input. I will update when I decide and make some progress

Some of the older macs can have RAM added. If you have such a mac you should consider doing so. 8GB will absolutely hamper you at some point. The other thing I'd mention is to keep the number of addons like dropbox, carbon copy cloner, or other programs that load automatically to a bare minimum. If you DO have such programs installed they may install something in the menu bar that will allow you to fully quit them. I say this because my system is fairly complex and with virtually no programs open I am using 20+GB of memory and would be swapping memory right off the bat. When you are editing take care to quit from all of your programs other than your NLE.

 

[DroneTats]

I was about to say I AfterEffects is the only way to go, but I'm test driving Filmora after reading other responses and it looks pretty cool! I've used AfterEffects for 20 years and have always bounced back to it from Premiere because I like the interface and UX better but either of those two are life long anchors and will always give you everything you need. My advice is pick something and stick with it and if you pick something make sure it's going to stand the test of time in an uncertain technical market. It's never good to spend alot of energy learning something to have to forget it and learn another platform which is why I've always stuck with Adobe. Filmora won't ever replace AE, but it may be a stand in for quick production!!

Good Luck! And whatever you're flying, don't forget to Put a Tatt on That!!