Video editing is the process of editing motion video footage. In the new age of personal video, video editing is becoming a central function of the desktop, with the popularity of video editing software ever increasing.
Any self-respecting operating system that has ambitions on becoming the dominant force on the desktop therefore needs to have a good selection of video editing software. Video sharing websites such as YouTube are now enormously popular with hundreds of thousands of new videos uploaded every day.
In the past, video editing in Linux significantly lagged behind other popular operating system. While there was a good range of software, the vast majority offered limited functionality. However, the situation dramatically improved, in part because of development on multimedia frameworks (such as GStreamer and MLT). Furthermore, the versatility of Linux video editors has improved markedly. Linux now represents an excellent platform for editing video.
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 13 best video editors. Hopefully, there will be something of interest for anyone interested in editing motion video footage.
Here’s our recommendations. All of the software is free and open source goodness.
Our ratings reflect our opinion of the software as a video editor. Therefore the rating doesn’t reflect the capabilities of software that offers other functionality.
Let’s explore the 13 video editors at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, a screenshot of the software in action, together with links to relevant resources.
| Video Editors | |
|---|---|
| OpenShot | Non-linear editor built with Python and Qt |
| Kdenlive | Non-linear video editor for KDE |
| Shotcut | Very powerful video editor |
| Blender | 3D content creation suite targeted at media professionals and artists |
| PiTiVi | Non-linear audio/video editor using GStreamer |
| Editly | Tool and framework for declarative NLE using Node.js and ffmpeg |
| LiVES | Video Editing System designed to be simple to use, yet powerful |
| Flowblade | Multitrack non-linear video editor |
| Avidemux | Designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks |
| Cinelerra | 3 main functions: capturing, compositing, and editing audio/video |
| VidCutter | Simple media cutter and joiner |
| Vimix | Graphical mixing and blending of movie clips and computer generated graphics |
| Olive | Non-linear video editor |
If you only need very basic video editing functionality, read our review of Video Trimmer.
 Read our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software. The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. |