Need suggestion for PC Video editing software

[zephrypn]

I'm a good photographer with a camera but not very good at Mavic 2 Pro video shots. Friends are asking me to shoot residential videos and I need simple editing software to cut out jerkiness (when I pan the wrong way and have to pan back). Anybody have a recommended software that runs on a PC?

 

[Skybuyer]

While this has been discussed at length in other threads, IMO there is one (arguably) definitive answer: Davinci Resolve.
Its standard version is full featured, and miraculously it is FREE! Not a "free trial"... but free without restriction. While some will tell you they are intimidated by it, I assure you the basics are no more difficult to learn than ANY other video editing program. There are thousands of short, private tutorials on YouTube. And when you want to learn to do a specific thing, you can find it easily.

Trust me. I am new software avoidant, am of an older age so a bit slow learning and have tried other "simpler" video editing programs and actually found Davinci Resolve easier to wrap my head around and learn. Before July of last year I hadn't edited video since VHS days, but within 6 months I actually made some money editing someone else's video!

A lot of folks who have been getting their pockets picked by Adobe with Premier Pro have switched to Davinci Resolve- which (their $300 studio version) is used in many Hollywood productions. Here is a link to their page:

Davinci Resolve 17

 

[eEridani]

I can recommend you stay away from the product Corel Video Studio Pro. It slags your PC with spamware, even though you pay a pretty price for it. There are no warnings or installation methods that avoid loading all the 'freebies' it comes with. Dang near everything you try to do tells you you need to buy this or that or pops you into a browser store front to buy some add on product. Took me weeks to remove all the adware I could find, but still had things popping up from time to time. And a full uninstall still didn't get rid of some of the nuisance stuff they installed.

It was usable, and did what I needed to do, but I finally did a System Restore back to the day before installation to get the mess off my PC.

 

[Bryan L]

Heartedly concur with the recommendation above by vindibona1 irt DaVinci Resolve. I'm one of the ones who got tired of Adobe's "subscription" based fee structure and while it was tough at first giving up years of "muscle memory" for Adobe Premiere, I ripped the bandaid off and have not looked back. Resolve is more than capable enough to produce really nice videos. Here's my recommendation for a place to start learning: https://www.youtube.com/c/JasonYadlovski Jason talks a mile a minute, but he's got a lot of great Resolve training videos and ... if you have a question on the video just ask it in the comments and he'll get back to you with an answer.

 

[Skybuyer]

...Here's my recommendation for a place to start learning: https://www.youtube.com/c/JasonYadlovski Jason talks a mile a minute, but he's got a lot of great Resolve training videos and ... if you have a question on the video just ask it in the comments and he'll get back to you with an answer.

Yeah... Jason does talk fast but he was one of my first go-to instructional sites. A great resource. I just slowed the playback down to 75% and was able to follow better.

 

[slup]

...IMO there is one (arguably) definitive answer: Davinci Resolve.

You forgot to mention that Davinci Resolve also can run flawlessly on lower speced computers via their function "Generate Optimized Media" ... will induce a waiting time before the editing can start as it caches the whole project ... but then all editing will be as smooth as if you had a new computer.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

The learning curve on Davini is Brutal which is why i would consider the retail version of Adobe premiere .
Find it on Ebay for Window Pc .

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[eEridani]

Another option, is the desktop version of Premiere Elements. $60 and you are done.

Easy video editing software | Adobe Premiere Elements 2026

Tell your stories and share your memories in creative ways. Have fun transforming your video clips into great-looking movies with automated editing and step-by-step guidance. It’s never been easier to edit, create, organize, and share your videos just the way you want.

www.adobe.com

 

[Aerial Edge]

Davinci Resolve is what I use, It is free and full featured.


DaVinci Resolve 17 | Blackmagic Design

 

[Dave Maine]

Resolve is the undisputed king of software for color correction on video, and is used professionally for Hollywood and video streaming producers worldwide.

Resolve 17 has added editing, sound, and special effects worthy of professional use, making it an all in one solution that compares favorably with all other divided solutions like Premiere-After Effects, Final Cut Pro X - Motion, and others.

It is extremely unlikely your production needs will be limited now and in the future with Resolve.

 

[TailBent]

Pinnacle 25

 

[MS Coast]

Premiere Elements is an excellent low-cost and straightforward option. It's much easier to learn than Da Vinci Resolve and has all the features needed for most casual video editors like me. I have Resolve, too, but 99% of what I do can be done on Premiere Elements.

 

[CorralesDan]

Another vote for Davinci Resolve. As mentioned before, once you get beyond seeing the 'forest' you will find that the individual 'trees' of video editing are there and easy to use. Plenty of Youtube videos on basic editing with DR.

 

[Hidden]

Besides having Premier and Resolve, I also use Windows Movie Maker, it's basic, easy to use, and is good for doing something quick, it's also free.

 

[Skybuyer]

The learning curve on Davini is Brutal which is why i would consider the retail version of Adobe premiere .
Find it on Ebay for Window Pc .

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the

I am going to vehemently disagree with you Phantom. I found Davinci easier to learn than Microsoft Movie Maker or a few others that I tried and got frustrated with.

Another option, is the desktop version of Premiere Elements. $60 and you are done.

Easy video editing software | Adobe Premiere Elements 2026

Tell your stories and share your memories in creative ways. Have fun transforming your video clips into great-looking movies with automated editing and step-by-step guidance. It’s never been easier to edit, create, organize, and share your videos just the way you want.

www.adobe.com

Disclaimer: I have no relation to Davinci Resolve of BMD other than being a user.

While it's true, you can get a simplified version of Premier for $60, why would you want to spend that money when you can get a full featured product that competes with Adobe's full (expensive) subscription product for free?

It has been my experience that when you are unfamiliar with any program of a given type they are all pretty much equally hard to learn. The more advanced ones just have to be boiled down to basics first. But once you start with a program and learn the idiocyncracies it isn't that much more difficult than any other program. HOWEVER, once you are familiar with one, switching can be painful because you introduce another learning curve and have to unlearn the protocols of the first. Why go through that, starting with something that you can potentially grow out of (quickly)?

At the end of June last year, the 28th I think, I got my first drone, a Mavic Mini. I had never flown a drone before nor edited video since VHS in 1984. I was pretty much at ground zero on both scores. I found Davinci Resolve and within two weeks, having returned to the scene three additional times to capture more footage, I produced my first video with Davinci Resolve. The following is what I produced after my first two weeks of flying and LEARNING to edit. TWO WEEKS!...

I suppose if you want to do stuff like the Brady Bunch multi-views or begin doing more creative stuff in Fusion it can get complicated. But once you get the basics down, everything else is building blocks. JMO

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[G Randy Brown]

While I agree the learning curve for Resolve is tough (except for simple 1 track edits) I find it unbelievable that it's free (and cheap to upgrade) considering it used to cost over $250K back in the day.

 

[zephrypn]

Wow - I started a maelstorm but I really do appreciate the feedback. I've been using Davinci Resolve now for 1 day and it's working fine. But I have 2 problems and I'm wondering if you fellows could direct me to a youtube or user manual.
Problem 1 is what's keeping me from doing any work. I'm getting an error "GPU Memory Full' and I can't do any work on the computer at all because of it short of 'killng' the project. I'd like to run 1920 x 1080 and that seems to be the norm but other than downgrade, how would I clear the memory on the GPU?
Problem 2 is music/audio: I chose an .mp3 and threw it on a track. But when i play the video back, because the video is at 24 fps and audio isn't, I get basically garbage sounds.
Any basic setup that you use to set up a project or deliver to client would be much appreciated too.
Thank you for helping a fellow pilot out
Zephyrpn

 

[Bryan L]

I'm getting an error "GPU Memory Full' and I can't do any work on the computer at all because of it short of 'killng' the project. I'd like to run 1920 x 1080 and that seems to be the norm but other than downgrade, how would I clear the memory on the GPU?

Zephyrpn

Try this: Most Common DaVinci Resolve GPU Issues (& How to Fix Them)

If that doesn't Resolve (couldn't resist) the issue, then enter: "davinci resolve GPU Memory full error" in your search engine and try some other options. There are "Lots" of suggestions to work through, including a discussion in the Blackmagic Design forums (which is a really good resource for many issues).

 

[Bryan L]

Problem 2 is music/audio: I chose an .mp3 and threw it on a track. But when i play the video back, because the video is at 24 fps and audio isn't, I get basically garbage sounds.

Zephyrpn

I'm on less secure ground here, since I've only recently started learning the detailed ins and outs of audio, so anyone with more knowledge feel free to chime in and correct any of my errors!!

I've had issues with audio going back for years - this is my first thought without doing a lot of research. You might try a search on "matching audio rate in resolve"?

MP3 files are not measured in fps -- the measurement is in sample rate, typically 44100 or 48000per second, so your issue is something else. If your project setting is for 44100 and your mp3 is recorded at 48000, you could get noise in your playback. Figure out the sample rate of your clip and change the audio setting in your project to match that. Or... change the sample rate of your audio clip to match the setting in your Resolve project in something like Audacity, re-save it, then import it into your Resolve project and it should work. Again, if it doesn't, try googling it -- lots of info out there.

I mentioned Audacity... a remarkably powerful and so far, free audio software I've used for years. Download at: Home I still use this despite the strong audio portion of Resolve (called Fairlight) because 1: I'm still mastering Fairlight and 2: I know how to use Audacity. However, I anticipate going entirely to Fairlight pretty soon.

 

[brew99]

I believe Resolve needs to have a .mp3 that is constant bit rate, not variable. Could that be your issue? You can use mediainfo app to investigate many parameters of a video/audio file if you are not sure