Cutting-Edge Free 4K Video Editing Software for Professionals

The Ultra HD video, also known as 4K video , defines 3840 2160 pixels. It became popular in 2016 and has overtaken both HD and ultra-HD to become the video with the highest resolution. Most videos are shot in HD, but as camera technology improves, 4K video seems to have become increasingly common. Because of the additional level of detail that the camera acquires, 4K videos are large files that allow you more editing possibilities.

Several free 4K video editing software has been developed to make video editing relatively easy in recent times. These free 4K video editors allow you to import, edit, and export videos easily. This article will provide you with some of the best free 4K video editors you should try in 2022.

In this article

01 Best Free 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

02 Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

03 Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

Part 1: Top 5 Best Free 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

1. iMovie

Supported OS: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

iMovie is one of the most popular free 4K Video editing software. Using iMovie, you can create a professional-looking video even without any editing experience. You can import 4K images and 4K videos to iMovie, and then trim, split and add titles, transitions, filters or effects to the video by dragging and dropping. What’s more, you can import and export 60 frames per second video in iMovie.

iMovie is a video editing software that imports video footage from digital video cameras that use the MiniDV format. It can play DV, HDV, AVCHD, iFrame, Animation Codec, and other video formats. You can import 4K videos directly to iMovie and export them as 4K videos at 24fps/30fps/60fps. You can also share the 4K video to YouTube from iMovie directly.

Pros:

1. Switching across different devices:

This free 4K video editor is designed to work together using different devices (iPhone, iPad & Mac). You can begin a project on your iPhone, then transfer it to your iPad using AirDrop or iCloud Drive. It allows you to share what you have worked on to different devices, and you can also send projects from your iPad to your MacBook or iMac.

2. Advanced editing features:

What makes this free 4K video editor special is the ability to add some innovative editing functions when creating and editing your videos. Understandably, any video editor should offer basic editing features; however, iMovie allows you to work with more advanced functions like split-screen , picture-in-picture , and green-screen effects .

3. Saving all the original files

An advantage of working with different devices provides an opportunity to save all original files. It saves you time since you can import any media you need to get your project started in the video editor without losing the original files.

Cons:

• Distorted files: If you don’t follow the importing and exporting process, the files might get distorted, resulting in fuzzy images.
• Only available on iOS/macOS/iPad devices

2. VSDC

Supported OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8/10

VSDC is a free 4K video editor that allows for beginner-level editing. It supports recording voice-over, capturing the desktop screen, editing the video and audio files. With VSDC, you can blend multiple footage layers into a single composition. You can easily apply a picture-in-picture effect and make things change their appearance or position.

VSDC allows you to import 4K video, audio, and image files. To successfully import these files; Click ‘Shift + I’ to add an image, ‘Shift A’ to add an audio file, and ‘Shift V’ to add a video file. VSDC allows you to export 4K videos to PC or share to web platforms like YouTube. To export these files, go to the export project tab at the top, and then set the profile to the highest quality. Click the Edit profile button and then select the 4K preset from the list. Choose the video and audio quality size, and then save the video as 4K.

Pros:

• Every tool for video editing is available
• Amazing Visual Effects
• Efficient Text Processing
• Lots of Blending modes

Cons:

• Pro editing features are missing
• Available for Windows only
• Audio waveform and hardware acceleration features are not available

3. ShotCut

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Shotcut is another free 4K video editor made for Linux, Macintosh, and Windows gadgets. It has wide arranged support that features its astounding usefulness. This 4K video editing software may not be the most alluring programming you see, yet it can assist with making the process of editing smooth and straightforward.

This professional video editing software support almost all the latest audio and video formats, including ProRes, DNxHD, and 4K, and it allows you to trim, cut, insert, and overwrite the video and audio. With its video effects, you can do color correction and grading, add fade-in and fade-out effects, reverse the clip, and even edit the 360° videos.

Here is a completed video tutorial from YouTuber Kevin Stratvert, which provides almost all information about how to use Shotcut, including how to create a project, add media, edit clips and export.

Pros:

• Easy Access: The 4K video editor is open source. Users can easily alter the source codes, enabling the process of editing simple and clear.
• Shotcut has every one of the required instruments to give excellent outcomes to clients. It has all elements of good video editing software and a bunch of other supportive and current choices.
• Shotcut offers an easy-to-use interface that allows you to finish a project quickly while having it examined by multiple members of your team. Its preview panel gives users access to a quick start menu, and its view menu lets them decide which features appear on the screen. The software’s video and audio filters are the most amazing of all its features. These filters can be customized, and they can be combined and layered in a variety of ways. Adjusting is now easier thanks to the easy checkbox and slider systems. Shotcut is so good that it makes even the most complicated effects understandable to the average user.

Cons:

• The platform might be a bit confusing when using the software for the first time because the interface isn’t intuitive.

4. LightWorks

Supported OS: Windows, Linux, and macOS

Lightworks is another video editor that can edit 4K videos from EditShare for people who have video editing experience. It has a simple and intuitive user interface, and you will find LOG, EDIT, VFX, and AUDIO tabs at the top of the interface. It integrates some paid royalty-free audio files, so you don’t need to find the background music from somewhere else. This software has some advanced editing features such as Multicam editing and batch export. It even supports third-party plugins, such as Boris FX, Boris Graffiti, and GenArts Sapphire. It enables its users to freely edit videos, even to the extent of trimming a video down to the size you desire.

However, if you want to export the videos in 4K, you need to pay, since it is limited to Lightworks Pro users.

Pros:

• The software allows clips to be easily imported and provides a platform where these clips can be played. This is made possible because this 4K video editor provides an interface made of panels such as bins, timeline, and edit review.
• Lightworks provides an easy way of applying varieties of effects from different clips in a coordinated manner. The software utilizes the hub-based framework to put together clips and recordings, which is needed for clips with numerous effects and tracks.
• Navigating this software, a right-click menu allows the user to export videos directly to YouTube. Also, the software automatically saves your work, so you don’t lose the files you’ve worked on.

Cons:

• Poor quality exporting options when making use of the free version (720p only)
• You need to register first to use it

5. Filmora Instant Cutter Tool

Supporting OS: Windows and Mac

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Filmora is one of the best video editors for beginners to create professional-looking videos in a modern way. One of the biggest advantages of using Filmora is its resources. You can now search the resources in the search bar and drag and drop them to the timeline to preview the result without paying first.

Some of you may say, Filmora is not a free video editor since there will be a watermark at the export video. But here, I will introduce the Instant Cutter Tool which is a perfect tool to trim and merge large 4K videos and action camera videos. This free 4k tool provides a proper way of instantly trimming or merging videos without de-coding, which means the video resolution will not be changed. Using the instant cutter tool, you can upload or merge files of huge sizes in different formats, such as MP4/MOV or MTS/M2TS.

Note: You can try some legal ways to remove the Filmora watermark without paying .

Pros:

• Clean and Intuitive User Interface
• 4K Video Support
• Trim and merge large videos quickly

Cons:

• Limited video formats supported when using Instant Cutter Tool

Part 2: Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

While the general features of the best free 4K video editors have been discussed, it’s important you are aware of some specific requirements your system must possess to edit your videos successfully. Irrespective of the kind of device you’re using to edit your videos, you need to pay attention to some features your device must have. However, these requirements depend on the 4K video editing software free.

• Central Processing Unit (CPU): The Processor of the software being used must be Intel Core i7, 2.3Ghz four-core; this is applicable if you will be editing your videos offline. Then, Dual Intel Xeon 2Ghz six-core is applicable if you will be editing your videos online.
• Random Access Memory (RAM): Preferably an 8GB Memory if you’re editing offline, and 32GB Memory if you’re editing online.
• Internal storage: The required storage must be sufficient because 4K videos are huge files.

Note: Offline editing refers to editing a proxy file of the original source material ; online editing is the editing of the original material.

Part 3: Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

• Choose the software based on your hardware: To choose the best 4K video editing software free, you must not opt for an editing software with higher requirements than your hardware; such software won’t work well on your device. You should instead select an editing software with lower requirements.
• Split large 4K videos into several parts: It has been reiterated that 4K videos are huge files; to edit your videos smoothly, it is recommended to split up the videos and edit one after the other. This will save you from heavy data loss.
• Enable graphics accelerator: A graphic accelerator is used in video editing to turbocharge your video exporting. It’s usually clung to a video board of your system. It makes the editing easier and faster by preventing a heavy workload.

02 Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

03 Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

Part 1: Top 5 Best Free 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

1. iMovie

Supported OS: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

iMovie is one of the most popular free 4K Video editing software. Using iMovie, you can create a professional-looking video even without any editing experience. You can import 4K images and 4K videos to iMovie, and then trim, split and add titles, transitions, filters or effects to the video by dragging and dropping. What’s more, you can import and export 60 frames per second video in iMovie.

iMovie is a video editing software that imports video footage from digital video cameras that use the MiniDV format. It can play DV, HDV, AVCHD, iFrame, Animation Codec, and other video formats. You can import 4K videos directly to iMovie and export them as 4K videos at 24fps/30fps/60fps. You can also share the 4K video to YouTube from iMovie directly.

Pros:

1. Switching across different devices:

This free 4K video editor is designed to work together using different devices (iPhone, iPad & Mac). You can begin a project on your iPhone, then transfer it to your iPad using AirDrop or iCloud Drive. It allows you to share what you have worked on to different devices, and you can also send projects from your iPad to your MacBook or iMac.

2. Advanced editing features:

What makes this free 4K video editor special is the ability to add some innovative editing functions when creating and editing your videos. Understandably, any video editor should offer basic editing features; however, iMovie allows you to work with more advanced functions like split-screen , picture-in-picture , and green-screen effects .

3. Saving all the original files

An advantage of working with different devices provides an opportunity to save all original files. It saves you time since you can import any media you need to get your project started in the video editor without losing the original files.

Cons:

• Distorted files: If you don’t follow the importing and exporting process, the files might get distorted, resulting in fuzzy images.
• Only available on iOS/macOS/iPad devices

2. VSDC

Supported OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8/10

VSDC is a free 4K video editor that allows for beginner-level editing. It supports recording voice-over, capturing the desktop screen, editing the video and audio files. With VSDC, you can blend multiple footage layers into a single composition. You can easily apply a picture-in-picture effect and make things change their appearance or position.

VSDC allows you to import 4K video, audio, and image files. To successfully import these files; Click ‘Shift + I’ to add an image, ‘Shift A’ to add an audio file, and ‘Shift V’ to add a video file. VSDC allows you to export 4K videos to PC or share to web platforms like YouTube. To export these files, go to the export project tab at the top, and then set the profile to the highest quality. Click the Edit profile button and then select the 4K preset from the list. Choose the video and audio quality size, and then save the video as 4K.

Pros:

• Every tool for video editing is available
• Amazing Visual Effects
• Efficient Text Processing
• Lots of Blending modes

Cons:

• Pro editing features are missing
• Available for Windows only
• Audio waveform and hardware acceleration features are not available

3. ShotCut

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Shotcut is another free 4K video editor made for Linux, Macintosh, and Windows gadgets. It has wide arranged support that features its astounding usefulness. This 4K video editing software may not be the most alluring programming you see, yet it can assist with making the process of editing smooth and straightforward.

This professional video editing software support almost all the latest audio and video formats, including ProRes, DNxHD, and 4K, and it allows you to trim, cut, insert, and overwrite the video and audio. With its video effects, you can do color correction and grading, add fade-in and fade-out effects, reverse the clip, and even edit the 360° videos.

Here is a completed video tutorial from YouTuber Kevin Stratvert, which provides almost all information about how to use Shotcut, including how to create a project, add media, edit clips and export.

Pros:

• Easy Access: The 4K video editor is open source. Users can easily alter the source codes, enabling the process of editing simple and clear.
• Shotcut has every one of the required instruments to give excellent outcomes to clients. It has all elements of good video editing software and a bunch of other supportive and current choices.
• Shotcut offers an easy-to-use interface that allows you to finish a project quickly while having it examined by multiple members of your team. Its preview panel gives users access to a quick start menu, and its view menu lets them decide which features appear on the screen. The software’s video and audio filters are the most amazing of all its features. These filters can be customized, and they can be combined and layered in a variety of ways. Adjusting is now easier thanks to the easy checkbox and slider systems. Shotcut is so good that it makes even the most complicated effects understandable to the average user.

Cons:

• The platform might be a bit confusing when using the software for the first time because the interface isn’t intuitive.

4. LightWorks

Supported OS: Windows, Linux, and macOS

Lightworks is another video editor that can edit 4K videos from EditShare for people who have video editing experience. It has a simple and intuitive user interface, and you will find LOG, EDIT, VFX, and AUDIO tabs at the top of the interface. It integrates some paid royalty-free audio files, so you don’t need to find the background music from somewhere else. This software has some advanced editing features such as Multicam editing and batch export. It even supports third-party plugins, such as Boris FX, Boris Graffiti, and GenArts Sapphire. It enables its users to freely edit videos, even to the extent of trimming a video down to the size you desire.

However, if you want to export the videos in 4K, you need to pay, since it is limited to Lightworks Pro users.

Pros:

• The software allows clips to be easily imported and provides a platform where these clips can be played. This is made possible because this 4K video editor provides an interface made of panels such as bins, timeline, and edit review.
• Lightworks provides an easy way of applying varieties of effects from different clips in a coordinated manner. The software utilizes the hub-based framework to put together clips and recordings, which is needed for clips with numerous effects and tracks.
• Navigating this software, a right-click menu allows the user to export videos directly to YouTube. Also, the software automatically saves your work, so you don’t lose the files you’ve worked on.

Cons:

• Poor quality exporting options when making use of the free version (720p only)
• You need to register first to use it

5. Filmora Instant Cutter Tool

Supporting OS: Windows and Mac

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Filmora is one of the best video editors for beginners to create professional-looking videos in a modern way. One of the biggest advantages of using Filmora is its resources. You can now search the resources in the search bar and drag and drop them to the timeline to preview the result without paying first.

Some of you may say, Filmora is not a free video editor since there will be a watermark at the export video. But here, I will introduce the Instant Cutter Tool which is a perfect tool to trim and merge large 4K videos and action camera videos. This free 4k tool provides a proper way of instantly trimming or merging videos without de-coding, which means the video resolution will not be changed. Using the instant cutter tool, you can upload or merge files of huge sizes in different formats, such as MP4/MOV or MTS/M2TS.

Note: You can try some legal ways to remove the Filmora watermark without paying .

Pros:

• Clean and Intuitive User Interface
• 4K Video Support
• Trim and merge large videos quickly

Cons:

• Limited video formats supported when using Instant Cutter Tool

Part 2: Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

While the general features of the best free 4K video editors have been discussed, it’s important you are aware of some specific requirements your system must possess to edit your videos successfully. Irrespective of the kind of device you’re using to edit your videos, you need to pay attention to some features your device must have. However, these requirements depend on the 4K video editing software free.

• Central Processing Unit (CPU): The Processor of the software being used must be Intel Core i7, 2.3Ghz four-core; this is applicable if you will be editing your videos offline. Then, Dual Intel Xeon 2Ghz six-core is applicable if you will be editing your videos online.
• Random Access Memory (RAM): Preferably an 8GB Memory if you’re editing offline, and 32GB Memory if you’re editing online.
• Internal storage: The required storage must be sufficient because 4K videos are huge files.

Note: Offline editing refers to editing a proxy file of the original source material ; online editing is the editing of the original material.

Part 3: Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

• Choose the software based on your hardware: To choose the best 4K video editing software free, you must not opt for an editing software with higher requirements than your hardware; such software won’t work well on your device. You should instead select an editing software with lower requirements.
• Split large 4K videos into several parts: It has been reiterated that 4K videos are huge files; to edit your videos smoothly, it is recommended to split up the videos and edit one after the other. This will save you from heavy data loss.
• Enable graphics accelerator: A graphic accelerator is used in video editing to turbocharge your video exporting. It’s usually clung to a video board of your system. It makes the editing easier and faster by preventing a heavy workload.

02 Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

03 Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

Part 1: Top 5 Best Free 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

1. iMovie

Supported OS: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

iMovie is one of the most popular free 4K Video editing software. Using iMovie, you can create a professional-looking video even without any editing experience. You can import 4K images and 4K videos to iMovie, and then trim, split and add titles, transitions, filters or effects to the video by dragging and dropping. What’s more, you can import and export 60 frames per second video in iMovie.

iMovie is a video editing software that imports video footage from digital video cameras that use the MiniDV format. It can play DV, HDV, AVCHD, iFrame, Animation Codec, and other video formats. You can import 4K videos directly to iMovie and export them as 4K videos at 24fps/30fps/60fps. You can also share the 4K video to YouTube from iMovie directly.

Pros:

1. Switching across different devices:

This free 4K video editor is designed to work together using different devices (iPhone, iPad & Mac). You can begin a project on your iPhone, then transfer it to your iPad using AirDrop or iCloud Drive. It allows you to share what you have worked on to different devices, and you can also send projects from your iPad to your MacBook or iMac.

2. Advanced editing features:

What makes this free 4K video editor special is the ability to add some innovative editing functions when creating and editing your videos. Understandably, any video editor should offer basic editing features; however, iMovie allows you to work with more advanced functions like split-screen , picture-in-picture , and green-screen effects .

3. Saving all the original files

An advantage of working with different devices provides an opportunity to save all original files. It saves you time since you can import any media you need to get your project started in the video editor without losing the original files.

Cons:

• Distorted files: If you don’t follow the importing and exporting process, the files might get distorted, resulting in fuzzy images.
• Only available on iOS/macOS/iPad devices

2. VSDC

Supported OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8/10

VSDC is a free 4K video editor that allows for beginner-level editing. It supports recording voice-over, capturing the desktop screen, editing the video and audio files. With VSDC, you can blend multiple footage layers into a single composition. You can easily apply a picture-in-picture effect and make things change their appearance or position.

VSDC allows you to import 4K video, audio, and image files. To successfully import these files; Click ‘Shift + I’ to add an image, ‘Shift A’ to add an audio file, and ‘Shift V’ to add a video file. VSDC allows you to export 4K videos to PC or share to web platforms like YouTube. To export these files, go to the export project tab at the top, and then set the profile to the highest quality. Click the Edit profile button and then select the 4K preset from the list. Choose the video and audio quality size, and then save the video as 4K.

Pros:

• Every tool for video editing is available
• Amazing Visual Effects
• Efficient Text Processing
• Lots of Blending modes

Cons:

• Pro editing features are missing
• Available for Windows only
• Audio waveform and hardware acceleration features are not available

3. ShotCut

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Shotcut is another free 4K video editor made for Linux, Macintosh, and Windows gadgets. It has wide arranged support that features its astounding usefulness. This 4K video editing software may not be the most alluring programming you see, yet it can assist with making the process of editing smooth and straightforward.

This professional video editing software support almost all the latest audio and video formats, including ProRes, DNxHD, and 4K, and it allows you to trim, cut, insert, and overwrite the video and audio. With its video effects, you can do color correction and grading, add fade-in and fade-out effects, reverse the clip, and even edit the 360° videos.

Here is a completed video tutorial from YouTuber Kevin Stratvert, which provides almost all information about how to use Shotcut, including how to create a project, add media, edit clips and export.

Pros:

• Easy Access: The 4K video editor is open source. Users can easily alter the source codes, enabling the process of editing simple and clear.
• Shotcut has every one of the required instruments to give excellent outcomes to clients. It has all elements of good video editing software and a bunch of other supportive and current choices.
• Shotcut offers an easy-to-use interface that allows you to finish a project quickly while having it examined by multiple members of your team. Its preview panel gives users access to a quick start menu, and its view menu lets them decide which features appear on the screen. The software’s video and audio filters are the most amazing of all its features. These filters can be customized, and they can be combined and layered in a variety of ways. Adjusting is now easier thanks to the easy checkbox and slider systems. Shotcut is so good that it makes even the most complicated effects understandable to the average user.

Cons:

• The platform might be a bit confusing when using the software for the first time because the interface isn’t intuitive.

4. LightWorks

Supported OS: Windows, Linux, and macOS

Lightworks is another video editor that can edit 4K videos from EditShare for people who have video editing experience. It has a simple and intuitive user interface, and you will find LOG, EDIT, VFX, and AUDIO tabs at the top of the interface. It integrates some paid royalty-free audio files, so you don’t need to find the background music from somewhere else. This software has some advanced editing features such as Multicam editing and batch export. It even supports third-party plugins, such as Boris FX, Boris Graffiti, and GenArts Sapphire. It enables its users to freely edit videos, even to the extent of trimming a video down to the size you desire.

However, if you want to export the videos in 4K, you need to pay, since it is limited to Lightworks Pro users.

Pros:

• The software allows clips to be easily imported and provides a platform where these clips can be played. This is made possible because this 4K video editor provides an interface made of panels such as bins, timeline, and edit review.
• Lightworks provides an easy way of applying varieties of effects from different clips in a coordinated manner. The software utilizes the hub-based framework to put together clips and recordings, which is needed for clips with numerous effects and tracks.
• Navigating this software, a right-click menu allows the user to export videos directly to YouTube. Also, the software automatically saves your work, so you don’t lose the files you’ve worked on.

Cons:

• Poor quality exporting options when making use of the free version (720p only)
• You need to register first to use it

5. Filmora Instant Cutter Tool

Supporting OS: Windows and Mac

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Filmora is one of the best video editors for beginners to create professional-looking videos in a modern way. One of the biggest advantages of using Filmora is its resources. You can now search the resources in the search bar and drag and drop them to the timeline to preview the result without paying first.

Some of you may say, Filmora is not a free video editor since there will be a watermark at the export video. But here, I will introduce the Instant Cutter Tool which is a perfect tool to trim and merge large 4K videos and action camera videos. This free 4k tool provides a proper way of instantly trimming or merging videos without de-coding, which means the video resolution will not be changed. Using the instant cutter tool, you can upload or merge files of huge sizes in different formats, such as MP4/MOV or MTS/M2TS.

Note: You can try some legal ways to remove the Filmora watermark without paying .

Pros:

• Clean and Intuitive User Interface
• 4K Video Support
• Trim and merge large videos quickly

Cons:

• Limited video formats supported when using Instant Cutter Tool

Part 2: Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

While the general features of the best free 4K video editors have been discussed, it’s important you are aware of some specific requirements your system must possess to edit your videos successfully. Irrespective of the kind of device you’re using to edit your videos, you need to pay attention to some features your device must have. However, these requirements depend on the 4K video editing software free.

• Central Processing Unit (CPU): The Processor of the software being used must be Intel Core i7, 2.3Ghz four-core; this is applicable if you will be editing your videos offline. Then, Dual Intel Xeon 2Ghz six-core is applicable if you will be editing your videos online.
• Random Access Memory (RAM): Preferably an 8GB Memory if you’re editing offline, and 32GB Memory if you’re editing online.
• Internal storage: The required storage must be sufficient because 4K videos are huge files.

Note: Offline editing refers to editing a proxy file of the original source material ; online editing is the editing of the original material.

Part 3: Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

• Choose the software based on your hardware: To choose the best 4K video editing software free, you must not opt for an editing software with higher requirements than your hardware; such software won’t work well on your device. You should instead select an editing software with lower requirements.
• Split large 4K videos into several parts: It has been reiterated that 4K videos are huge files; to edit your videos smoothly, it is recommended to split up the videos and edit one after the other. This will save you from heavy data loss.
• Enable graphics accelerator: A graphic accelerator is used in video editing to turbocharge your video exporting. It’s usually clung to a video board of your system. It makes the editing easier and faster by preventing a heavy workload.

02 Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

03 Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

Part 1: Top 5 Best Free 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

1. iMovie

Supported OS: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

iMovie is one of the most popular free 4K Video editing software. Using iMovie, you can create a professional-looking video even without any editing experience. You can import 4K images and 4K videos to iMovie, and then trim, split and add titles, transitions, filters or effects to the video by dragging and dropping. What’s more, you can import and export 60 frames per second video in iMovie.

iMovie is a video editing software that imports video footage from digital video cameras that use the MiniDV format. It can play DV, HDV, AVCHD, iFrame, Animation Codec, and other video formats. You can import 4K videos directly to iMovie and export them as 4K videos at 24fps/30fps/60fps. You can also share the 4K video to YouTube from iMovie directly.

Pros:

1. Switching across different devices:

This free 4K video editor is designed to work together using different devices (iPhone, iPad & Mac). You can begin a project on your iPhone, then transfer it to your iPad using AirDrop or iCloud Drive. It allows you to share what you have worked on to different devices, and you can also send projects from your iPad to your MacBook or iMac.

2. Advanced editing features:

What makes this free 4K video editor special is the ability to add some innovative editing functions when creating and editing your videos. Understandably, any video editor should offer basic editing features; however, iMovie allows you to work with more advanced functions like split-screen , picture-in-picture , and green-screen effects .

3. Saving all the original files

An advantage of working with different devices provides an opportunity to save all original files. It saves you time since you can import any media you need to get your project started in the video editor without losing the original files.

Cons:

• Distorted files: If you don’t follow the importing and exporting process, the files might get distorted, resulting in fuzzy images.
• Only available on iOS/macOS/iPad devices

2. VSDC

Supported OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8/10

VSDC is a free 4K video editor that allows for beginner-level editing. It supports recording voice-over, capturing the desktop screen, editing the video and audio files. With VSDC, you can blend multiple footage layers into a single composition. You can easily apply a picture-in-picture effect and make things change their appearance or position.

VSDC allows you to import 4K video, audio, and image files. To successfully import these files; Click ‘Shift + I’ to add an image, ‘Shift A’ to add an audio file, and ‘Shift V’ to add a video file. VSDC allows you to export 4K videos to PC or share to web platforms like YouTube. To export these files, go to the export project tab at the top, and then set the profile to the highest quality. Click the Edit profile button and then select the 4K preset from the list. Choose the video and audio quality size, and then save the video as 4K.

Pros:

• Every tool for video editing is available
• Amazing Visual Effects
• Efficient Text Processing
• Lots of Blending modes

Cons:

• Pro editing features are missing
• Available for Windows only
• Audio waveform and hardware acceleration features are not available

3. ShotCut

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Shotcut is another free 4K video editor made for Linux, Macintosh, and Windows gadgets. It has wide arranged support that features its astounding usefulness. This 4K video editing software may not be the most alluring programming you see, yet it can assist with making the process of editing smooth and straightforward.

This professional video editing software support almost all the latest audio and video formats, including ProRes, DNxHD, and 4K, and it allows you to trim, cut, insert, and overwrite the video and audio. With its video effects, you can do color correction and grading, add fade-in and fade-out effects, reverse the clip, and even edit the 360° videos.

Here is a completed video tutorial from YouTuber Kevin Stratvert, which provides almost all information about how to use Shotcut, including how to create a project, add media, edit clips and export.

Pros:

• Easy Access: The 4K video editor is open source. Users can easily alter the source codes, enabling the process of editing simple and clear.
• Shotcut has every one of the required instruments to give excellent outcomes to clients. It has all elements of good video editing software and a bunch of other supportive and current choices.
• Shotcut offers an easy-to-use interface that allows you to finish a project quickly while having it examined by multiple members of your team. Its preview panel gives users access to a quick start menu, and its view menu lets them decide which features appear on the screen. The software’s video and audio filters are the most amazing of all its features. These filters can be customized, and they can be combined and layered in a variety of ways. Adjusting is now easier thanks to the easy checkbox and slider systems. Shotcut is so good that it makes even the most complicated effects understandable to the average user.

Cons:

• The platform might be a bit confusing when using the software for the first time because the interface isn’t intuitive.

4. LightWorks

Supported OS: Windows, Linux, and macOS

Lightworks is another video editor that can edit 4K videos from EditShare for people who have video editing experience. It has a simple and intuitive user interface, and you will find LOG, EDIT, VFX, and AUDIO tabs at the top of the interface. It integrates some paid royalty-free audio files, so you don’t need to find the background music from somewhere else. This software has some advanced editing features such as Multicam editing and batch export. It even supports third-party plugins, such as Boris FX, Boris Graffiti, and GenArts Sapphire. It enables its users to freely edit videos, even to the extent of trimming a video down to the size you desire.

However, if you want to export the videos in 4K, you need to pay, since it is limited to Lightworks Pro users.

Pros:

• The software allows clips to be easily imported and provides a platform where these clips can be played. This is made possible because this 4K video editor provides an interface made of panels such as bins, timeline, and edit review.
• Lightworks provides an easy way of applying varieties of effects from different clips in a coordinated manner. The software utilizes the hub-based framework to put together clips and recordings, which is needed for clips with numerous effects and tracks.
• Navigating this software, a right-click menu allows the user to export videos directly to YouTube. Also, the software automatically saves your work, so you don’t lose the files you’ve worked on.

Cons:

• Poor quality exporting options when making use of the free version (720p only)
• You need to register first to use it

5. Filmora Instant Cutter Tool

Supporting OS: Windows and Mac

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Filmora is one of the best video editors for beginners to create professional-looking videos in a modern way. One of the biggest advantages of using Filmora is its resources. You can now search the resources in the search bar and drag and drop them to the timeline to preview the result without paying first.

Some of you may say, Filmora is not a free video editor since there will be a watermark at the export video. But here, I will introduce the Instant Cutter Tool which is a perfect tool to trim and merge large 4K videos and action camera videos. This free 4k tool provides a proper way of instantly trimming or merging videos without de-coding, which means the video resolution will not be changed. Using the instant cutter tool, you can upload or merge files of huge sizes in different formats, such as MP4/MOV or MTS/M2TS.

Note: You can try some legal ways to remove the Filmora watermark without paying .

Pros:

• Clean and Intuitive User Interface
• 4K Video Support
• Trim and merge large videos quickly

Cons:

• Limited video formats supported when using Instant Cutter Tool

Part 2: Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

While the general features of the best free 4K video editors have been discussed, it’s important you are aware of some specific requirements your system must possess to edit your videos successfully. Irrespective of the kind of device you’re using to edit your videos, you need to pay attention to some features your device must have. However, these requirements depend on the 4K video editing software free.

• Central Processing Unit (CPU): The Processor of the software being used must be Intel Core i7, 2.3Ghz four-core; this is applicable if you will be editing your videos offline. Then, Dual Intel Xeon 2Ghz six-core is applicable if you will be editing your videos online.
• Random Access Memory (RAM): Preferably an 8GB Memory if you’re editing offline, and 32GB Memory if you’re editing online.
• Internal storage: The required storage must be sufficient because 4K videos are huge files.

Note: Offline editing refers to editing a proxy file of the original source material ; online editing is the editing of the original material.

Part 3: Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

• Choose the software based on your hardware: To choose the best 4K video editing software free, you must not opt for an editing software with higher requirements than your hardware; such software won’t work well on your device. You should instead select an editing software with lower requirements.
• Split large 4K videos into several parts: It has been reiterated that 4K videos are huge files; to edit your videos smoothly, it is recommended to split up the videos and edit one after the other. This will save you from heavy data loss.
• Enable graphics accelerator: A graphic accelerator is used in video editing to turbocharge your video exporting. It’s usually clung to a video board of your system. It makes the editing easier and faster by preventing a heavy workload.

Make Amazing Videos on Your Mac: Best Video Makers Compared

Best Video Maker for Mac: Easily make videos on Mac

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Finding a good video maker for Mac is not always easy – not for lack of options, there are many applications out there, but there are two main limitations: money, first and foremost, we all know how expensive video makers – good video makers – can be. The second limitation is complexity: sometimes you end up spending more time reading the help instead of editing, and the application you’ve chosen probably contains the features that you need – except that you have serious problems finding them on the menu.

1. Wondershare Filmora Video Maker for Mac
2. iMovie
3. Blender

Best Video Maker for Mac

Some video makers manage to stay on top by avoiding, or at least limiting these problems, and here are three of those.

1.Vieo Maker on Mac: Wondershare Filmora Video Maker for Mac

Wondershare Filmora for Mac offers perhaps the best value for money (not to mention that it has a free version as well if you’d like to try it first. It supports pretty much any format you may think of (AVI, MP4, MOV, MPG, MKV, TRP, and so on), and it’s quite easy to use when it comes to the most basic features you’d expect in a video editor, such as cropping, joining, trimming, and rotating, as well as for adding some effects, transitions, and sound effects.

Because of that, Wondershare Filmora may actually be deceptively simple – because it’s capable of much more powerful features, if you take your time to study all its options, such as picture in picture, green screen, if you fancy yourself the next Hollywood director, adjustable playback speed, separation of the audio track from the original video file, tilt-shift effects, which can create very interesting results in a video, automatic noise reduction, and image enhancement, to bring back to life the subjects of the video, and automatic scene detection – allowing you to create a new video clip every time a scene changes. And there are a lot more things you can discover for yourself if you spend some time playing around.

Wondershare Filmora will also allow you to upload your creations directly to Facebook or YouTube, or to burn them on DVDs, so you can get straight into the next project without wasting any time.

2. Video Maker for Mac: iMovie

iMovie is the proprietary software provided by Apple as part of its iLife suit. You may find it already installed on your Mac if you’ve just purchased a new machine. If not, it’s free to use after you purchase iLife.

It’s not the most powerful and complex application out there, as you can imagine for a piece of software that comes pre-installed, but it’s a good first stop for people who are just starting out in this field and need to learn the basics of editing videos on Mac without too many headaches.

It has many easy-to-use effects and lots of build-in animations, music samples, and sounds to get you started on your first project immediately.

Granted, iMovie has sacrificed a lot of features for the simplicity of use – sooner or later you’ll want to move on to something more complex, but, for beginners and for people who just need to add a few editing touches to a project here and there, this is a more than the reasonable solution. Don’t let yourself put off by the fact iMovie has a rather bad reputation online – of course, that very advanced users are disappointed by it, but you can use it for a while and you’ll know when it’s time to move on.

3. Video Maker on Mac: Blender

When you’ve exhausted the possibilities offered by iMovie and you need more power, Blender will be there, waiting for you. It’s by far the most impressive of the free video makers for Mac – it’s an open-source program, developed by the community – so it’s always free to use, you won’t stumble upon any hidden charges later on.

Like all open source applications, Blender is not the most intuitive at the first glance, but it more than compensates with the impressive range of features that bring it to the same level as a professional application. If you’ve been struggling to get everything just perfect before, now you’ll have everything you need at your fingertips and you only need to unleash your imagination. It’s 3D modeling options have been frequently compared to those that can only be found in applications that cost more than your Mac (maybe even more than your car, come to think of it).

Moreover, the community will always be there for you – if you have any questions or if you get stuck, you only need to post a question online and somebody will be there to help you out – not to mention the very large number of tutorials available online, with more being added almost daily.

If you’re not sure about this, you may want to start by searching online for clips created entirely with Blender. Of course, yours won’t be masterpieces from day one, it will take some time to get used to this application – but you’ll get some idea of how powerful it can be, and the level of mastery that you’ll want to achieve, eventually.

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Finding a good video maker for Mac is not always easy – not for lack of options, there are many applications out there, but there are two main limitations: money, first and foremost, we all know how expensive video makers – good video makers – can be. The second limitation is complexity: sometimes you end up spending more time reading the help instead of editing, and the application you’ve chosen probably contains the features that you need – except that you have serious problems finding them on the menu.

1. Wondershare Filmora Video Maker for Mac
2. iMovie
3. Blender

Best Video Maker for Mac

Some video makers manage to stay on top by avoiding, or at least limiting these problems, and here are three of those.

1.Vieo Maker on Mac: Wondershare Filmora Video Maker for Mac

Wondershare Filmora for Mac offers perhaps the best value for money (not to mention that it has a free version as well if you’d like to try it first. It supports pretty much any format you may think of (AVI, MP4, MOV, MPG, MKV, TRP, and so on), and it’s quite easy to use when it comes to the most basic features you’d expect in a video editor, such as cropping, joining, trimming, and rotating, as well as for adding some effects, transitions, and sound effects.

Because of that, Wondershare Filmora may actually be deceptively simple – because it’s capable of much more powerful features, if you take your time to study all its options, such as picture in picture, green screen, if you fancy yourself the next Hollywood director, adjustable playback speed, separation of the audio track from the original video file, tilt-shift effects, which can create very interesting results in a video, automatic noise reduction, and image enhancement, to bring back to life the subjects of the video, and automatic scene detection – allowing you to create a new video clip every time a scene changes. And there are a lot more things you can discover for yourself if you spend some time playing around.

Wondershare Filmora will also allow you to upload your creations directly to Facebook or YouTube, or to burn them on DVDs, so you can get straight into the next project without wasting any time.

2. Video Maker for Mac: iMovie

iMovie is the proprietary software provided by Apple as part of its iLife suit. You may find it already installed on your Mac if you’ve just purchased a new machine. If not, it’s free to use after you purchase iLife.

It’s not the most powerful and complex application out there, as you can imagine for a piece of software that comes pre-installed, but it’s a good first stop for people who are just starting out in this field and need to learn the basics of editing videos on Mac without too many headaches.

It has many easy-to-use effects and lots of build-in animations, music samples, and sounds to get you started on your first project immediately.

Granted, iMovie has sacrificed a lot of features for the simplicity of use – sooner or later you’ll want to move on to something more complex, but, for beginners and for people who just need to add a few editing touches to a project here and there, this is a more than the reasonable solution. Don’t let yourself put off by the fact iMovie has a rather bad reputation online – of course, that very advanced users are disappointed by it, but you can use it for a while and you’ll know when it’s time to move on.

3. Video Maker on Mac: Blender

When you’ve exhausted the possibilities offered by iMovie and you need more power, Blender will be there, waiting for you. It’s by far the most impressive of the free video makers for Mac – it’s an open-source program, developed by the community – so it’s always free to use, you won’t stumble upon any hidden charges later on.

Like all open source applications, Blender is not the most intuitive at the first glance, but it more than compensates with the impressive range of features that bring it to the same level as a professional application. If you’ve been struggling to get everything just perfect before, now you’ll have everything you need at your fingertips and you only need to unleash your imagination. It’s 3D modeling options have been frequently compared to those that can only be found in applications that cost more than your Mac (maybe even more than your car, come to think of it).

Moreover, the community will always be there for you – if you have any questions or if you get stuck, you only need to post a question online and somebody will be there to help you out – not to mention the very large number of tutorials available online, with more being added almost daily.

If you’re not sure about this, you may want to start by searching online for clips created entirely with Blender. Of course, yours won’t be masterpieces from day one, it will take some time to get used to this application – but you’ll get some idea of how powerful it can be, and the level of mastery that you’ll want to achieve, eventually.

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Finding a good video maker for Mac is not always easy – not for lack of options, there are many applications out there, but there are two main limitations: money, first and foremost, we all know how expensive video makers – good video makers – can be. The second limitation is complexity: sometimes you end up spending more time reading the help instead of editing, and the application you’ve chosen probably contains the features that you need – except that you have serious problems finding them on the menu.

1. Wondershare Filmora Video Maker for Mac
2. iMovie
3. Blender

Best Video Maker for Mac

Some video makers manage to stay on top by avoiding, or at least limiting these problems, and here are three of those.

1.Vieo Maker on Mac: Wondershare Filmora Video Maker for Mac

Wondershare Filmora for Mac offers perhaps the best value for money (not to mention that it has a free version as well if you’d like to try it first. It supports pretty much any format you may think of (AVI, MP4, MOV, MPG, MKV, TRP, and so on), and it’s quite easy to use when it comes to the most basic features you’d expect in a video editor, such as cropping, joining, trimming, and rotating, as well as for adding some effects, transitions, and sound effects.

Because of that, Wondershare Filmora may actually be deceptively simple – because it’s capable of much more powerful features, if you take your time to study all its options, such as picture in picture, green screen, if you fancy yourself the next Hollywood director, adjustable playback speed, separation of the audio track from the original video file, tilt-shift effects, which can create very interesting results in a video, automatic noise reduction, and image enhancement, to bring back to life the subjects of the video, and automatic scene detection – allowing you to create a new video clip every time a scene changes. And there are a lot more things you can discover for yourself if you spend some time playing around.

Wondershare Filmora will also allow you to upload your creations directly to Facebook or YouTube, or to burn them on DVDs, so you can get straight into the next project without wasting any time.

2. Video Maker for Mac: iMovie

iMovie is the proprietary software provided by Apple as part of its iLife suit. You may find it already installed on your Mac if you’ve just purchased a new machine. If not, it’s free to use after you purchase iLife.

It’s not the most powerful and complex application out there, as you can imagine for a piece of software that comes pre-installed, but it’s a good first stop for people who are just starting out in this field and need to learn the basics of editing videos on Mac without too many headaches.

It has many easy-to-use effects and lots of build-in animations, music samples, and sounds to get you started on your first project immediately.

Granted, iMovie has sacrificed a lot of features for the simplicity of use – sooner or later you’ll want to move on to something more complex, but, for beginners and for people who just need to add a few editing touches to a project here and there, this is a more than the reasonable solution. Don’t let yourself put off by the fact iMovie has a rather bad reputation online – of course, that very advanced users are disappointed by it, but you can use it for a while and you’ll know when it’s time to move on.

3. Video Maker on Mac: Blender

When you’ve exhausted the possibilities offered by iMovie and you need more power, Blender will be there, waiting for you. It’s by far the most impressive of the free video makers for Mac – it’s an open-source program, developed by the community – so it’s always free to use, you won’t stumble upon any hidden charges later on.

Like all open source applications, Blender is not the most intuitive at the first glance, but it more than compensates with the impressive range of features that bring it to the same level as a professional application. If you’ve been struggling to get everything just perfect before, now you’ll have everything you need at your fingertips and you only need to unleash your imagination. It’s 3D modeling options have been frequently compared to those that can only be found in applications that cost more than your Mac (maybe even more than your car, come to think of it).

Moreover, the community will always be there for you – if you have any questions or if you get stuck, you only need to post a question online and somebody will be there to help you out – not to mention the very large number of tutorials available online, with more being added almost daily.

If you’re not sure about this, you may want to start by searching online for clips created entirely with Blender. Of course, yours won’t be masterpieces from day one, it will take some time to get used to this application – but you’ll get some idea of how powerful it can be, and the level of mastery that you’ll want to achieve, eventually.

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Finding a good video maker for Mac is not always easy – not for lack of options, there are many applications out there, but there are two main limitations: money, first and foremost, we all know how expensive video makers – good video makers – can be. The second limitation is complexity: sometimes you end up spending more time reading the help instead of editing, and the application you’ve chosen probably contains the features that you need – except that you have serious problems finding them on the menu.

1. Wondershare Filmora Video Maker for Mac
2. iMovie
3. Blender

Best Video Maker for Mac

Some video makers manage to stay on top by avoiding, or at least limiting these problems, and here are three of those.

1.Vieo Maker on Mac: Wondershare Filmora Video Maker for Mac

Wondershare Filmora for Mac offers perhaps the best value for money (not to mention that it has a free version as well if you’d like to try it first. It supports pretty much any format you may think of (AVI, MP4, MOV, MPG, MKV, TRP, and so on), and it’s quite easy to use when it comes to the most basic features you’d expect in a video editor, such as cropping, joining, trimming, and rotating, as well as for adding some effects, transitions, and sound effects.

Because of that, Wondershare Filmora may actually be deceptively simple – because it’s capable of much more powerful features, if you take your time to study all its options, such as picture in picture, green screen, if you fancy yourself the next Hollywood director, adjustable playback speed, separation of the audio track from the original video file, tilt-shift effects, which can create very interesting results in a video, automatic noise reduction, and image enhancement, to bring back to life the subjects of the video, and automatic scene detection – allowing you to create a new video clip every time a scene changes. And there are a lot more things you can discover for yourself if you spend some time playing around.

Wondershare Filmora will also allow you to upload your creations directly to Facebook or YouTube, or to burn them on DVDs, so you can get straight into the next project without wasting any time.

2. Video Maker for Mac: iMovie

iMovie is the proprietary software provided by Apple as part of its iLife suit. You may find it already installed on your Mac if you’ve just purchased a new machine. If not, it’s free to use after you purchase iLife.

It’s not the most powerful and complex application out there, as you can imagine for a piece of software that comes pre-installed, but it’s a good first stop for people who are just starting out in this field and need to learn the basics of editing videos on Mac without too many headaches.

It has many easy-to-use effects and lots of build-in animations, music samples, and sounds to get you started on your first project immediately.

Granted, iMovie has sacrificed a lot of features for the simplicity of use – sooner or later you’ll want to move on to something more complex, but, for beginners and for people who just need to add a few editing touches to a project here and there, this is a more than the reasonable solution. Don’t let yourself put off by the fact iMovie has a rather bad reputation online – of course, that very advanced users are disappointed by it, but you can use it for a while and you’ll know when it’s time to move on.

3. Video Maker on Mac: Blender

When you’ve exhausted the possibilities offered by iMovie and you need more power, Blender will be there, waiting for you. It’s by far the most impressive of the free video makers for Mac – it’s an open-source program, developed by the community – so it’s always free to use, you won’t stumble upon any hidden charges later on.

Like all open source applications, Blender is not the most intuitive at the first glance, but it more than compensates with the impressive range of features that bring it to the same level as a professional application. If you’ve been struggling to get everything just perfect before, now you’ll have everything you need at your fingertips and you only need to unleash your imagination. It’s 3D modeling options have been frequently compared to those that can only be found in applications that cost more than your Mac (maybe even more than your car, come to think of it).

Moreover, the community will always be there for you – if you have any questions or if you get stuck, you only need to post a question online and somebody will be there to help you out – not to mention the very large number of tutorials available online, with more being added almost daily.

If you’re not sure about this, you may want to start by searching online for clips created entirely with Blender. Of course, yours won’t be masterpieces from day one, it will take some time to get used to this application – but you’ll get some idea of how powerful it can be, and the level of mastery that you’ll want to achieve, eventually.

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Highlight Video Creation: Top Picks for Desktop and Mobile Devices

Best Highlight Video Makers

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

No one wants to see all the video clips and pictures of your vacation at an exotic destination, wedding ceremony, or birthday party. Making a quick video and snapping pictures of the important moments is a great way to preserve the memories for yourself. However, these videos and photos add up quickly, and showing them all off is cumbersome. Rest assured, everyone wants to see a highlight reel. Moreover, with the growing popularity of short-form video sharing platforms like Tik Tok and IGTV, people want to extract highlights from videos to share on their profiles.

Part 1: What is Highlight Reel Video?

A highlight reel is the collection of the best parts of a video where you can combine video clips and pictures to make it. But how do you make a highlight reel? Well, there are many highlight video makers available that one can use to create a highlight reel easily.

So, here are some of the best highlight video makers that you can use on Windows and Mac and on iOS or Android devices.

Part 2: Best Highlight Video Makers on Windows and Mac

1. Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

Wondershare’s Filmora Video Editor is a simple yet powerful video highlight reel maker available for Mac and Windows. It offers the standard trimming, transitions, overlays, and effects that are great for editing your videos to make highlight videos to share on social media and show your friends. It has an intuitive interface and has a huge range of features. The interface has a drag and drop option enabling you to quickly arrange, trim, and edit various media elements making it a breeze to create highlight videos.

Filmora supports all the modern video formats as well as HD and 4K video editing and output as well as includes several different free video effect presets. The version 10.4 and higher of this highlight video maker (for Windows) have some new features like auto highlight helping you automatically create a highlight video. Audio normalization that automatically normalizes the audio volume in your videos, and the scene detection features that allow you to separate video into clips. Try Filmora for free by downloading the latest version and experience these new features.

Pros

Simple and intuitive interface

Auto highlight feature to create highlighted video automatically

Layer multiple video clips

Scene detection for cutting large video quickly

Cons

Add-on feature pack is expensive

Slightly slow AMD processor

2. Windows 10 Photos App

The Photos App is in-built into Windows 10 which makes it fun and easy to enhance your videos and images. This free photo viewer and editor works with OneDrive that allows you to access all the photos and videos from any device.

The Photo App has competent editing and photo enhancements tools along with tools for organizing and editing videos to create highlight videos easily.

It has a story remix which makes it super easy to combine pictures and videos to create enticing highlight video with text, motion, duration, 3D effects, filters, and background music.

Story Remix works on Microsoft’s deep learning technology and AI to find relevant content and automatically create videos to edit and share. The choose a star feature allows you to create a movie focused on a person. You can also easily edit your video to highlight the best content with the trim feature. Once you are done with editing, your video is saved automatically, but you will need to export it to share on social media.

Pros

Simple interface

Integrates with OneDrive

Video highlight with soundtrack, text, and transitions

Cons

Lacks geometry correction

3. Hudl Premium Highlights

If you are a high school athlete looking to get a scholarship for higher education, the best way to pitch to application boards and professional coaches is to send them a video that highlights your skills. You can easily create highlight videos with Hudle Premium Highlights. It is one of the best paid highlight video makers for sports and is compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

Just log in to Hudle.com and click your highlights and choose create highlights. Give the name to your highlight video and add the video, photos, music, and title slides. You can easily filter the highlights by team and season and select the highlights adding them to your reel.

The Hudle Premium Highlight has a trim feature that allows you to easily edit the highlight reel. You can add spot shadow, text, or music and preview the reel. It also helps you flag sections of the videos by inserting notes or audio. Once you are done with creating a highlight reel, publish to save your work and post on social media or get a URL to share with the coaches.

Pros

Easy to use

Various features to make highlight videos.

Cons

Not enough customization available

4. Vibby

Vibby is a free lightweight web-based highlight video maker that allows you to easily highlight and show only parts of the video you want audiences to see. With this tool you can also add notes and comments on the selection portions, making the video more engaging.

Vibby has a simple user-friendly interface that helps you to highlight the most relevant parts of the video in just three steps. Just choose the YouTube, GoogleDrive, Dropbox, Twitch, and Vimeo videos you like, highlight the sections relevant to your topic and add notes, or questions for students to read. You can set specific timeframes for each highlight and tag people as well.

Pros

Simple and easy user interface

Create highlight videos in three steps

Free to use

Cons

No cons found

5. Magisto

Magisto is one of the best video highlight reel makers allowing marketers, business professionals, and individuals to create enticing videos. Available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices, it includes a licensed music library from independent artists. Magisto offers a free seven-day trial, but it requires you to enter the credit card details. In the trial, you get access to all the features. One of the best features is the video highlight where you can convert your memorable videos and pictures into an unforgettable video highlighting the special moments.

What makes Magisto unique is its AI-powered solution that analyzes and edits your videos. You can also control the video speed so that your highlight reel can consist of various photos or video clips. You can add graphics, effects, and background music as well to add a layer of emotion to your videos.

Pros

Automatically build video highlight with AI technology

Compatible with mobile and web devices

7 days free trial

Cons

No phone support offered

No feature to edit photos

Best Highlight Video Maker App for iPhone and Android

If you are looking for the best video highlight reel maker for iPhone and Android devices, then Quik from GoPro is the one. The previous editions of Quik were free, but the new version requires payment to unlock all the features. However, you get a free trial as well to know about the features. This highlight video maker can pull out any media stored on your phone or tablet as well as from your GoPro cloud storage and automatically highlight the video in seconds, complete with royalty-free music and filters.

If you want to take control, you can do that easily. Select a theme, add the video and pictures you want to create the highlight with, trim your videos, pick a music track, add filters, and set a target length for the highlighted video. With Quik, you can filter by media type as well, so if you just need photos or just videos, you can select them easily that are grouped by date. Once you have created your highlighted video, transfer it wirelessly to your phone for easy sharing.

Part 3: Tips for Creating Highlight Video

There are many times you want to create an epic highlight reel. Here are few tips to help you create exciting and entertaining highlight reels.

Learn the event timeline

When you want to create a highlight video for any event, whether official or personal, study the event schedule beforehand. For instance, when filming a wedding, know when the bride will arrive when the couple exchanges rings and vows. If your highlight video is about a conference, it is essential to know when speakers will deliver the speech, etc.

Make a list of shots

Next, have a list of parts that you wish to capture so that you are more organized at the event. You can’t predict each moment but being ready will help you capture memorable moments.

Use the right equipment

You need to use proper equipment for the events to ensure the footage looks great in low light. Gather all your equipment before the event and make sure it is fully charged and functional. Carry the extra batteries and other tools as well.

You may also like: Download Instagram Highlights

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

No one wants to see all the video clips and pictures of your vacation at an exotic destination, wedding ceremony, or birthday party. Making a quick video and snapping pictures of the important moments is a great way to preserve the memories for yourself. However, these videos and photos add up quickly, and showing them all off is cumbersome. Rest assured, everyone wants to see a highlight reel. Moreover, with the growing popularity of short-form video sharing platforms like Tik Tok and IGTV, people want to extract highlights from videos to share on their profiles.

Part 1: What is Highlight Reel Video?

A highlight reel is the collection of the best parts of a video where you can combine video clips and pictures to make it. But how do you make a highlight reel? Well, there are many highlight video makers available that one can use to create a highlight reel easily.

So, here are some of the best highlight video makers that you can use on Windows and Mac and on iOS or Android devices.

Part 2: Best Highlight Video Makers on Windows and Mac

1. Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

Wondershare’s Filmora Video Editor is a simple yet powerful video highlight reel maker available for Mac and Windows. It offers the standard trimming, transitions, overlays, and effects that are great for editing your videos to make highlight videos to share on social media and show your friends. It has an intuitive interface and has a huge range of features. The interface has a drag and drop option enabling you to quickly arrange, trim, and edit various media elements making it a breeze to create highlight videos.

Filmora supports all the modern video formats as well as HD and 4K video editing and output as well as includes several different free video effect presets. The version 10.4 and higher of this highlight video maker (for Windows) have some new features like auto highlight helping you automatically create a highlight video. Audio normalization that automatically normalizes the audio volume in your videos, and the scene detection features that allow you to separate video into clips. Try Filmora for free by downloading the latest version and experience these new features.

Pros

Simple and intuitive interface

Auto highlight feature to create highlighted video automatically

Layer multiple video clips

Scene detection for cutting large video quickly

Cons

Add-on feature pack is expensive

Slightly slow AMD processor

2. Windows 10 Photos App

The Photos App is in-built into Windows 10 which makes it fun and easy to enhance your videos and images. This free photo viewer and editor works with OneDrive that allows you to access all the photos and videos from any device.

The Photo App has competent editing and photo enhancements tools along with tools for organizing and editing videos to create highlight videos easily.

It has a story remix which makes it super easy to combine pictures and videos to create enticing highlight video with text, motion, duration, 3D effects, filters, and background music.

Story Remix works on Microsoft’s deep learning technology and AI to find relevant content and automatically create videos to edit and share. The choose a star feature allows you to create a movie focused on a person. You can also easily edit your video to highlight the best content with the trim feature. Once you are done with editing, your video is saved automatically, but you will need to export it to share on social media.

Pros

Simple interface

Integrates with OneDrive

Video highlight with soundtrack, text, and transitions

Cons

Lacks geometry correction

3. Hudl Premium Highlights

If you are a high school athlete looking to get a scholarship for higher education, the best way to pitch to application boards and professional coaches is to send them a video that highlights your skills. You can easily create highlight videos with Hudle Premium Highlights. It is one of the best paid highlight video makers for sports and is compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

Just log in to Hudle.com and click your highlights and choose create highlights. Give the name to your highlight video and add the video, photos, music, and title slides. You can easily filter the highlights by team and season and select the highlights adding them to your reel.

The Hudle Premium Highlight has a trim feature that allows you to easily edit the highlight reel. You can add spot shadow, text, or music and preview the reel. It also helps you flag sections of the videos by inserting notes or audio. Once you are done with creating a highlight reel, publish to save your work and post on social media or get a URL to share with the coaches.

Pros

Easy to use

Various features to make highlight videos.

Cons

Not enough customization available

4. Vibby

Vibby is a free lightweight web-based highlight video maker that allows you to easily highlight and show only parts of the video you want audiences to see. With this tool you can also add notes and comments on the selection portions, making the video more engaging.

Vibby has a simple user-friendly interface that helps you to highlight the most relevant parts of the video in just three steps. Just choose the YouTube, GoogleDrive, Dropbox, Twitch, and Vimeo videos you like, highlight the sections relevant to your topic and add notes, or questions for students to read. You can set specific timeframes for each highlight and tag people as well.

Pros

Simple and easy user interface

Create highlight videos in three steps

Free to use

Cons

No cons found

5. Magisto

Magisto is one of the best video highlight reel makers allowing marketers, business professionals, and individuals to create enticing videos. Available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices, it includes a licensed music library from independent artists. Magisto offers a free seven-day trial, but it requires you to enter the credit card details. In the trial, you get access to all the features. One of the best features is the video highlight where you can convert your memorable videos and pictures into an unforgettable video highlighting the special moments.

What makes Magisto unique is its AI-powered solution that analyzes and edits your videos. You can also control the video speed so that your highlight reel can consist of various photos or video clips. You can add graphics, effects, and background music as well to add a layer of emotion to your videos.

Pros

Automatically build video highlight with AI technology

Compatible with mobile and web devices

7 days free trial

Cons

No phone support offered

No feature to edit photos

Best Highlight Video Maker App for iPhone and Android

If you are looking for the best video highlight reel maker for iPhone and Android devices, then Quik from GoPro is the one. The previous editions of Quik were free, but the new version requires payment to unlock all the features. However, you get a free trial as well to know about the features. This highlight video maker can pull out any media stored on your phone or tablet as well as from your GoPro cloud storage and automatically highlight the video in seconds, complete with royalty-free music and filters.

If you want to take control, you can do that easily. Select a theme, add the video and pictures you want to create the highlight with, trim your videos, pick a music track, add filters, and set a target length for the highlighted video. With Quik, you can filter by media type as well, so if you just need photos or just videos, you can select them easily that are grouped by date. Once you have created your highlighted video, transfer it wirelessly to your phone for easy sharing.

Part 3: Tips for Creating Highlight Video

There are many times you want to create an epic highlight reel. Here are few tips to help you create exciting and entertaining highlight reels.

Learn the event timeline

When you want to create a highlight video for any event, whether official or personal, study the event schedule beforehand. For instance, when filming a wedding, know when the bride will arrive when the couple exchanges rings and vows. If your highlight video is about a conference, it is essential to know when speakers will deliver the speech, etc.

Make a list of shots

Next, have a list of parts that you wish to capture so that you are more organized at the event. You can’t predict each moment but being ready will help you capture memorable moments.

Use the right equipment

You need to use proper equipment for the events to ensure the footage looks great in low light. Gather all your equipment before the event and make sure it is fully charged and functional. Carry the extra batteries and other tools as well.

You may also like: Download Instagram Highlights

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

No one wants to see all the video clips and pictures of your vacation at an exotic destination, wedding ceremony, or birthday party. Making a quick video and snapping pictures of the important moments is a great way to preserve the memories for yourself. However, these videos and photos add up quickly, and showing them all off is cumbersome. Rest assured, everyone wants to see a highlight reel. Moreover, with the growing popularity of short-form video sharing platforms like Tik Tok and IGTV, people want to extract highlights from videos to share on their profiles.

Part 1: What is Highlight Reel Video?

A highlight reel is the collection of the best parts of a video where you can combine video clips and pictures to make it. But how do you make a highlight reel? Well, there are many highlight video makers available that one can use to create a highlight reel easily.

So, here are some of the best highlight video makers that you can use on Windows and Mac and on iOS or Android devices.

Part 2: Best Highlight Video Makers on Windows and Mac

1. Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

Wondershare’s Filmora Video Editor is a simple yet powerful video highlight reel maker available for Mac and Windows. It offers the standard trimming, transitions, overlays, and effects that are great for editing your videos to make highlight videos to share on social media and show your friends. It has an intuitive interface and has a huge range of features. The interface has a drag and drop option enabling you to quickly arrange, trim, and edit various media elements making it a breeze to create highlight videos.

Filmora supports all the modern video formats as well as HD and 4K video editing and output as well as includes several different free video effect presets. The version 10.4 and higher of this highlight video maker (for Windows) have some new features like auto highlight helping you automatically create a highlight video. Audio normalization that automatically normalizes the audio volume in your videos, and the scene detection features that allow you to separate video into clips. Try Filmora for free by downloading the latest version and experience these new features.

Pros

Simple and intuitive interface

Auto highlight feature to create highlighted video automatically

Layer multiple video clips

Scene detection for cutting large video quickly

Cons

Add-on feature pack is expensive

Slightly slow AMD processor

2. Windows 10 Photos App

The Photos App is in-built into Windows 10 which makes it fun and easy to enhance your videos and images. This free photo viewer and editor works with OneDrive that allows you to access all the photos and videos from any device.

The Photo App has competent editing and photo enhancements tools along with tools for organizing and editing videos to create highlight videos easily.

It has a story remix which makes it super easy to combine pictures and videos to create enticing highlight video with text, motion, duration, 3D effects, filters, and background music.

Story Remix works on Microsoft’s deep learning technology and AI to find relevant content and automatically create videos to edit and share. The choose a star feature allows you to create a movie focused on a person. You can also easily edit your video to highlight the best content with the trim feature. Once you are done with editing, your video is saved automatically, but you will need to export it to share on social media.

Pros

Simple interface

Integrates with OneDrive

Video highlight with soundtrack, text, and transitions

Cons

Lacks geometry correction

3. Hudl Premium Highlights

If you are a high school athlete looking to get a scholarship for higher education, the best way to pitch to application boards and professional coaches is to send them a video that highlights your skills. You can easily create highlight videos with Hudle Premium Highlights. It is one of the best paid highlight video makers for sports and is compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

Just log in to Hudle.com and click your highlights and choose create highlights. Give the name to your highlight video and add the video, photos, music, and title slides. You can easily filter the highlights by team and season and select the highlights adding them to your reel.

The Hudle Premium Highlight has a trim feature that allows you to easily edit the highlight reel. You can add spot shadow, text, or music and preview the reel. It also helps you flag sections of the videos by inserting notes or audio. Once you are done with creating a highlight reel, publish to save your work and post on social media or get a URL to share with the coaches.

Pros

Easy to use

Various features to make highlight videos.

Cons

Not enough customization available

4. Vibby

Vibby is a free lightweight web-based highlight video maker that allows you to easily highlight and show only parts of the video you want audiences to see. With this tool you can also add notes and comments on the selection portions, making the video more engaging.

Vibby has a simple user-friendly interface that helps you to highlight the most relevant parts of the video in just three steps. Just choose the YouTube, GoogleDrive, Dropbox, Twitch, and Vimeo videos you like, highlight the sections relevant to your topic and add notes, or questions for students to read. You can set specific timeframes for each highlight and tag people as well.

Pros

Simple and easy user interface

Create highlight videos in three steps

Free to use

Cons

No cons found

5. Magisto

Magisto is one of the best video highlight reel makers allowing marketers, business professionals, and individuals to create enticing videos. Available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices, it includes a licensed music library from independent artists. Magisto offers a free seven-day trial, but it requires you to enter the credit card details. In the trial, you get access to all the features. One of the best features is the video highlight where you can convert your memorable videos and pictures into an unforgettable video highlighting the special moments.

What makes Magisto unique is its AI-powered solution that analyzes and edits your videos. You can also control the video speed so that your highlight reel can consist of various photos or video clips. You can add graphics, effects, and background music as well to add a layer of emotion to your videos.

Pros

Automatically build video highlight with AI technology

Compatible with mobile and web devices

7 days free trial

Cons

No phone support offered

No feature to edit photos

Best Highlight Video Maker App for iPhone and Android

If you are looking for the best video highlight reel maker for iPhone and Android devices, then Quik from GoPro is the one. The previous editions of Quik were free, but the new version requires payment to unlock all the features. However, you get a free trial as well to know about the features. This highlight video maker can pull out any media stored on your phone or tablet as well as from your GoPro cloud storage and automatically highlight the video in seconds, complete with royalty-free music and filters.

If you want to take control, you can do that easily. Select a theme, add the video and pictures you want to create the highlight with, trim your videos, pick a music track, add filters, and set a target length for the highlighted video. With Quik, you can filter by media type as well, so if you just need photos or just videos, you can select them easily that are grouped by date. Once you have created your highlighted video, transfer it wirelessly to your phone for easy sharing.

Part 3: Tips for Creating Highlight Video

There are many times you want to create an epic highlight reel. Here are few tips to help you create exciting and entertaining highlight reels.

Learn the event timeline

When you want to create a highlight video for any event, whether official or personal, study the event schedule beforehand. For instance, when filming a wedding, know when the bride will arrive when the couple exchanges rings and vows. If your highlight video is about a conference, it is essential to know when speakers will deliver the speech, etc.

Make a list of shots

Next, have a list of parts that you wish to capture so that you are more organized at the event. You can’t predict each moment but being ready will help you capture memorable moments.

Use the right equipment

You need to use proper equipment for the events to ensure the footage looks great in low light. Gather all your equipment before the event and make sure it is fully charged and functional. Carry the extra batteries and other tools as well.

You may also like: Download Instagram Highlights

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

No one wants to see all the video clips and pictures of your vacation at an exotic destination, wedding ceremony, or birthday party. Making a quick video and snapping pictures of the important moments is a great way to preserve the memories for yourself. However, these videos and photos add up quickly, and showing them all off is cumbersome. Rest assured, everyone wants to see a highlight reel. Moreover, with the growing popularity of short-form video sharing platforms like Tik Tok and IGTV, people want to extract highlights from videos to share on their profiles.

Part 1: What is Highlight Reel Video?

A highlight reel is the collection of the best parts of a video where you can combine video clips and pictures to make it. But how do you make a highlight reel? Well, there are many highlight video makers available that one can use to create a highlight reel easily.

So, here are some of the best highlight video makers that you can use on Windows and Mac and on iOS or Android devices.

Part 2: Best Highlight Video Makers on Windows and Mac

1. Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

Wondershare’s Filmora Video Editor is a simple yet powerful video highlight reel maker available for Mac and Windows. It offers the standard trimming, transitions, overlays, and effects that are great for editing your videos to make highlight videos to share on social media and show your friends. It has an intuitive interface and has a huge range of features. The interface has a drag and drop option enabling you to quickly arrange, trim, and edit various media elements making it a breeze to create highlight videos.

Filmora supports all the modern video formats as well as HD and 4K video editing and output as well as includes several different free video effect presets. The version 10.4 and higher of this highlight video maker (for Windows) have some new features like auto highlight helping you automatically create a highlight video. Audio normalization that automatically normalizes the audio volume in your videos, and the scene detection features that allow you to separate video into clips. Try Filmora for free by downloading the latest version and experience these new features.

Pros

Simple and intuitive interface

Auto highlight feature to create highlighted video automatically

Layer multiple video clips

Scene detection for cutting large video quickly

Cons

Add-on feature pack is expensive

Slightly slow AMD processor

2. Windows 10 Photos App

The Photos App is in-built into Windows 10 which makes it fun and easy to enhance your videos and images. This free photo viewer and editor works with OneDrive that allows you to access all the photos and videos from any device.

The Photo App has competent editing and photo enhancements tools along with tools for organizing and editing videos to create highlight videos easily.

It has a story remix which makes it super easy to combine pictures and videos to create enticing highlight video with text, motion, duration, 3D effects, filters, and background music.

Story Remix works on Microsoft’s deep learning technology and AI to find relevant content and automatically create videos to edit and share. The choose a star feature allows you to create a movie focused on a person. You can also easily edit your video to highlight the best content with the trim feature. Once you are done with editing, your video is saved automatically, but you will need to export it to share on social media.

Pros

Simple interface

Integrates with OneDrive

Video highlight with soundtrack, text, and transitions

Cons

Lacks geometry correction

3. Hudl Premium Highlights

If you are a high school athlete looking to get a scholarship for higher education, the best way to pitch to application boards and professional coaches is to send them a video that highlights your skills. You can easily create highlight videos with Hudle Premium Highlights. It is one of the best paid highlight video makers for sports and is compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

Just log in to Hudle.com and click your highlights and choose create highlights. Give the name to your highlight video and add the video, photos, music, and title slides. You can easily filter the highlights by team and season and select the highlights adding them to your reel.

The Hudle Premium Highlight has a trim feature that allows you to easily edit the highlight reel. You can add spot shadow, text, or music and preview the reel. It also helps you flag sections of the videos by inserting notes or audio. Once you are done with creating a highlight reel, publish to save your work and post on social media or get a URL to share with the coaches.

Pros

Easy to use

Various features to make highlight videos.

Cons

Not enough customization available

4. Vibby

Vibby is a free lightweight web-based highlight video maker that allows you to easily highlight and show only parts of the video you want audiences to see. With this tool you can also add notes and comments on the selection portions, making the video more engaging.

Vibby has a simple user-friendly interface that helps you to highlight the most relevant parts of the video in just three steps. Just choose the YouTube, GoogleDrive, Dropbox, Twitch, and Vimeo videos you like, highlight the sections relevant to your topic and add notes, or questions for students to read. You can set specific timeframes for each highlight and tag people as well.

Pros

Simple and easy user interface

Create highlight videos in three steps

Free to use

Cons

No cons found

5. Magisto

Magisto is one of the best video highlight reel makers allowing marketers, business professionals, and individuals to create enticing videos. Available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices, it includes a licensed music library from independent artists. Magisto offers a free seven-day trial, but it requires you to enter the credit card details. In the trial, you get access to all the features. One of the best features is the video highlight where you can convert your memorable videos and pictures into an unforgettable video highlighting the special moments.

What makes Magisto unique is its AI-powered solution that analyzes and edits your videos. You can also control the video speed so that your highlight reel can consist of various photos or video clips. You can add graphics, effects, and background music as well to add a layer of emotion to your videos.

Pros

Automatically build video highlight with AI technology

Compatible with mobile and web devices

7 days free trial

Cons

No phone support offered

No feature to edit photos

Best Highlight Video Maker App for iPhone and Android

If you are looking for the best video highlight reel maker for iPhone and Android devices, then Quik from GoPro is the one. The previous editions of Quik were free, but the new version requires payment to unlock all the features. However, you get a free trial as well to know about the features. This highlight video maker can pull out any media stored on your phone or tablet as well as from your GoPro cloud storage and automatically highlight the video in seconds, complete with royalty-free music and filters.

If you want to take control, you can do that easily. Select a theme, add the video and pictures you want to create the highlight with, trim your videos, pick a music track, add filters, and set a target length for the highlighted video. With Quik, you can filter by media type as well, so if you just need photos or just videos, you can select them easily that are grouped by date. Once you have created your highlighted video, transfer it wirelessly to your phone for easy sharing.

Part 3: Tips for Creating Highlight Video

There are many times you want to create an epic highlight reel. Here are few tips to help you create exciting and entertaining highlight reels.

Learn the event timeline

When you want to create a highlight video for any event, whether official or personal, study the event schedule beforehand. For instance, when filming a wedding, know when the bride will arrive when the couple exchanges rings and vows. If your highlight video is about a conference, it is essential to know when speakers will deliver the speech, etc.

Make a list of shots

Next, have a list of parts that you wish to capture so that you are more organized at the event. You can’t predict each moment but being ready will help you capture memorable moments.

Use the right equipment

You need to use proper equipment for the events to ensure the footage looks great in low light. Gather all your equipment before the event and make sure it is fully charged and functional. Carry the extra batteries and other tools as well.

You may also like: Download Instagram Highlights

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Public Domain Videos at Your Fingertips: Best Download Sites

Best Websites to Download Public Domain Videos

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In historic terms, cinema is still a relatively new art, and yet the amount of footage that has been filmed since the Lumière brothers released their first film is staggering. Capturing unique materials that were never seen by the world before has become the question of prestige among the filmmakers. Nonetheless, certain genres of film are almost entirely dependent on the public domain footage. Documentaries about historic events, space or any other topic that is impossible to stage rely on the videos that entered the public domain for one reason or the other. That’s why in this article, we are going to take you through some of the best websites that let you download public domain videos.

What is Public Domain Video?

Any video that is not subject to copyright can be considered a public domain video. This means that anyone can use this footage for free without having to ask for permission to do so. Videos can enter the public domain under the following circumstances:

• If the footage was produced by a government because governments are obligated by the law to offer the footage to the public domain.
• In case the author of the footage has forfeited his or her copyrights and dedicated the footage to the public domain
• A film or any other work of art becomes public domain 70 years after the death of the copyright holder. The expiration date of the copyrights is not the same in all the countries around the world, which is why you must make sure that the video you want to use is, in fact, a public domain video.

In addition, you should avoid using the footage that contains art or music that can be described as third-party intellectual property because you may unintentionally infringe copyrights.

Best Online Websites Where You Can Download Public Domain Videos

Finding free public domain footage or public movies on the Internet has never been too difficult, as you can watch thousands of public domain movies on YouTube, but you cannot download them. Over the course of the last couple of decades, the websites where you can download public domain footage have grown in number, which makes it somewhat easier to find the video clips you can use in your projects for free. Here are some of the best online destinations where you can download public domain videos.

1. Prelinger Archive

With more than 17,000 items in the collection, the Prelinger Archive is probably one of the largest public domain video libraries on the Internet. The archive was founded in 1983 by Rick Prelinger, but by 2002 it became a part of the Library of Congress Motion Picture Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Divison’s collection. You can download public domain video clips created by educational institutions, advertising companies, trade associations or corporations from this impressive collection. There are different download options available for each file, so you can choose the size of a file and the method you’re going to use to download a file to your computer.

2. The Public Domain Review

This is an excellent resource for researchers looking for essays, books, audio recordings, images or old films. The movies are divided into different categories such as Animals&Beasts, Politics, War or Sports which makes locating and downloading public domain videos faster and easier. The Public Domain Review offers footage that is available within different public domain licenses, so you must make sure that the film you want to download can be used for the purpose you have in mind. The vast majority of the films in this archive are from the last decade of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. That’s why The Public Domain Review’s selection of films can only be useful if you are researching a topic from that era.

3. The National Screening Room

The National Screening Room is a project created by the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center with the aim of making the videos from their collection available to the viewers around the world. The vast majority of the videos in the collection were filmed during the 20th century, but there are only a few videos available that are produced outside of the United States. The National Screening Room can be a valuable asset if you are looking for videos you can use for educational or research videos that cover topics that range from the development of the arms industry to the daily life of great American inventors.

4. Pond5’s Public Domain Project

Industry professionals don’t need an introduction to the Pond5 platform, because it is probably the largest online marketplace for royalty-free media at the moment. Their Public Domain Project contains a thousand public videos that can be downloaded for free, but the duration of these videos is limited to just two minutes To make things worse, most of these public domain videos don’t have audio, so you can only use them if you already have a soundtrack for the video you’re making. The platform offers powerful search tools that enable you to look for videos based on different parameters. You can download public domain videos in HD resolution, but you must create an account on Pond5 before you can save them to your computer.

5. Pexels

Free public domain stock footage can be used on different types of projects, and it is usually a great choice if you’re looking for some extra shots that will make a scene in your video more cinematic. Pexels offers an impressive collection of free public domain stock videos, so you just have to insert a search term and pick a video clip that best fits your needs. The duration of the free videos you can find on Pexels rarely exceeds thirty seconds, which makes it difficult to make an entire video exclusively from free public domain stock footage. Hence it is better to use Pexels as a complementary source of shots in case you can’t go back to the filming location.

6. Vidsplay

All video clips you can find on this platform are free, so you just have to select one of the categories and start browsing through the available public domain stock footage. The only condition to use the stock footage on private or commercial projects for free is to credit the Vidsplay platform in the end credits, on the website or in the description of the videos you upload to your social media channels. All stock videos on Vidsplay are available in HD or 4K resolution, and you simply have to click on the Download button below a particular video to save it.

7. The Moving Image Archive

This is yet another archive of public domain videos you can find on the Arhive.org that features countless collections of texts, images, and videos. Within the Moving Image Archive, you can find different collections that contain full feature movies, art videos, animations, cartoons or television footage. The public domain videos hosted on The Moving Image Archive cover a broad range of topics, but some of them can be in poor resolution. The Moving Image Archive can be an excellent source of footage for anyone who wants to download public domain video clips and use them in their commercial or non-commercial projects.

8. PublicDomainFootage

BBC, National Geographics or NBC are just a few among many famous television networks that use the services of PublicDomainFootage. All content on the platform is divided into Archival Footage and Historic Newsreels sections that contain categories like Atomic Age, Civil Rights or Pop Culture. You can also use PublicDomainFootage to research a particular topic and request content that is not uploaded to the website. You can download a public domain video after you pay a one time fee that enables you to use that video as many times as you want. The platform’s YouTube channel provides an easy way of searching for public domain videos you are going to use in your next documentary film.

9. NASA’s Video Gallery

Space exploration is undoubtedly one of the hottest topics of our era, so if you are looking for some space public domain videos NASA’s website is the best place to start. Like all other government institutions, NASA is obligated by the law to offer all images and videos to the public domain. This means that all content you download from their website is free to use. Simply insert the search term and browse the results until you find the video clip you want to save to your computer. However, most public domain videos you can download from NASA’s website last only a couple of minutes.

10. Motion Elements

The collection of free public domain stock footage, this website offers contains more than 4,000 clips. Categories like Cityscape, Animals or Water contain hundreds of stock videos, so you just have to open one of the available categories and locate the video clip you want to download. However, you must first create an account on Motion Elements before you can save video files to your computer. In addition, the platform doesn’t allow you to make more than five downloads per week and you must invite your friends to join the platform if you want to increase the weekly number of downloads. Even so, Motion Elements is a great source of stock footage you can use without any restrictions.

Is It Okay to Use Public Domain Videos for Commercial Purposes?

All public domain videos can be used for both commercial and non-commercial projects, but you must approach using public domain videos for commercial purposes with caution. Crediting the author or providing the source from which you acquired the footage will reduce the likelihood of legal complications. The public domain videos that feature famous actors or third party intellectual property can also be a subject of legal disputes, which is why it is better to avoid using them on commercial projects.

What Should You Do If You Can’t Find Public Domain Footage for Your Project?

Opting for videos that are protected by the Creative Commons licenses is probably the safest option if you’re struggling to find the public domain footage you’d like to use in your project. Respecting the terms of the license under which a video is protected is of utmost importance, since failing to properly credit the author of the video, for instance, can have legal consequences. There are several different types of Creative Commons licenses and you must find out which one covers the video you’d like to use, before publishing your video. You can find more information about Creative Commons licenses at the FAQ .

Conclusion

Public domain videos cover very different topics, which means that the nature of your project determines the source from which you’ll acquire the footage. If you are researching the early days of cinema, then you’ll have no trouble downloading the public domain videos, but if the topic you’re exploring is more contemporary, finding the content you can use without any restrictions can prove to be troublesome. Which website do you like to use the most to download public domain videos? Leave a comment and share your opinions with us.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In historic terms, cinema is still a relatively new art, and yet the amount of footage that has been filmed since the Lumière brothers released their first film is staggering. Capturing unique materials that were never seen by the world before has become the question of prestige among the filmmakers. Nonetheless, certain genres of film are almost entirely dependent on the public domain footage. Documentaries about historic events, space or any other topic that is impossible to stage rely on the videos that entered the public domain for one reason or the other. That’s why in this article, we are going to take you through some of the best websites that let you download public domain videos.

What is Public Domain Video?

Any video that is not subject to copyright can be considered a public domain video. This means that anyone can use this footage for free without having to ask for permission to do so. Videos can enter the public domain under the following circumstances:

• If the footage was produced by a government because governments are obligated by the law to offer the footage to the public domain.
• In case the author of the footage has forfeited his or her copyrights and dedicated the footage to the public domain
• A film or any other work of art becomes public domain 70 years after the death of the copyright holder. The expiration date of the copyrights is not the same in all the countries around the world, which is why you must make sure that the video you want to use is, in fact, a public domain video.

In addition, you should avoid using the footage that contains art or music that can be described as third-party intellectual property because you may unintentionally infringe copyrights.

Best Online Websites Where You Can Download Public Domain Videos

Finding free public domain footage or public movies on the Internet has never been too difficult, as you can watch thousands of public domain movies on YouTube, but you cannot download them. Over the course of the last couple of decades, the websites where you can download public domain footage have grown in number, which makes it somewhat easier to find the video clips you can use in your projects for free. Here are some of the best online destinations where you can download public domain videos.

1. Prelinger Archive

With more than 17,000 items in the collection, the Prelinger Archive is probably one of the largest public domain video libraries on the Internet. The archive was founded in 1983 by Rick Prelinger, but by 2002 it became a part of the Library of Congress Motion Picture Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Divison’s collection. You can download public domain video clips created by educational institutions, advertising companies, trade associations or corporations from this impressive collection. There are different download options available for each file, so you can choose the size of a file and the method you’re going to use to download a file to your computer.

2. The Public Domain Review

This is an excellent resource for researchers looking for essays, books, audio recordings, images or old films. The movies are divided into different categories such as Animals&Beasts, Politics, War or Sports which makes locating and downloading public domain videos faster and easier. The Public Domain Review offers footage that is available within different public domain licenses, so you must make sure that the film you want to download can be used for the purpose you have in mind. The vast majority of the films in this archive are from the last decade of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. That’s why The Public Domain Review’s selection of films can only be useful if you are researching a topic from that era.

3. The National Screening Room

The National Screening Room is a project created by the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center with the aim of making the videos from their collection available to the viewers around the world. The vast majority of the videos in the collection were filmed during the 20th century, but there are only a few videos available that are produced outside of the United States. The National Screening Room can be a valuable asset if you are looking for videos you can use for educational or research videos that cover topics that range from the development of the arms industry to the daily life of great American inventors.

4. Pond5’s Public Domain Project

Industry professionals don’t need an introduction to the Pond5 platform, because it is probably the largest online marketplace for royalty-free media at the moment. Their Public Domain Project contains a thousand public videos that can be downloaded for free, but the duration of these videos is limited to just two minutes To make things worse, most of these public domain videos don’t have audio, so you can only use them if you already have a soundtrack for the video you’re making. The platform offers powerful search tools that enable you to look for videos based on different parameters. You can download public domain videos in HD resolution, but you must create an account on Pond5 before you can save them to your computer.

5. Pexels

Free public domain stock footage can be used on different types of projects, and it is usually a great choice if you’re looking for some extra shots that will make a scene in your video more cinematic. Pexels offers an impressive collection of free public domain stock videos, so you just have to insert a search term and pick a video clip that best fits your needs. The duration of the free videos you can find on Pexels rarely exceeds thirty seconds, which makes it difficult to make an entire video exclusively from free public domain stock footage. Hence it is better to use Pexels as a complementary source of shots in case you can’t go back to the filming location.

6. Vidsplay

All video clips you can find on this platform are free, so you just have to select one of the categories and start browsing through the available public domain stock footage. The only condition to use the stock footage on private or commercial projects for free is to credit the Vidsplay platform in the end credits, on the website or in the description of the videos you upload to your social media channels. All stock videos on Vidsplay are available in HD or 4K resolution, and you simply have to click on the Download button below a particular video to save it.

7. The Moving Image Archive

This is yet another archive of public domain videos you can find on the Arhive.org that features countless collections of texts, images, and videos. Within the Moving Image Archive, you can find different collections that contain full feature movies, art videos, animations, cartoons or television footage. The public domain videos hosted on The Moving Image Archive cover a broad range of topics, but some of them can be in poor resolution. The Moving Image Archive can be an excellent source of footage for anyone who wants to download public domain video clips and use them in their commercial or non-commercial projects.

8. PublicDomainFootage

BBC, National Geographics or NBC are just a few among many famous television networks that use the services of PublicDomainFootage. All content on the platform is divided into Archival Footage and Historic Newsreels sections that contain categories like Atomic Age, Civil Rights or Pop Culture. You can also use PublicDomainFootage to research a particular topic and request content that is not uploaded to the website. You can download a public domain video after you pay a one time fee that enables you to use that video as many times as you want. The platform’s YouTube channel provides an easy way of searching for public domain videos you are going to use in your next documentary film.

9. NASA’s Video Gallery

Space exploration is undoubtedly one of the hottest topics of our era, so if you are looking for some space public domain videos NASA’s website is the best place to start. Like all other government institutions, NASA is obligated by the law to offer all images and videos to the public domain. This means that all content you download from their website is free to use. Simply insert the search term and browse the results until you find the video clip you want to save to your computer. However, most public domain videos you can download from NASA’s website last only a couple of minutes.

10. Motion Elements

The collection of free public domain stock footage, this website offers contains more than 4,000 clips. Categories like Cityscape, Animals or Water contain hundreds of stock videos, so you just have to open one of the available categories and locate the video clip you want to download. However, you must first create an account on Motion Elements before you can save video files to your computer. In addition, the platform doesn’t allow you to make more than five downloads per week and you must invite your friends to join the platform if you want to increase the weekly number of downloads. Even so, Motion Elements is a great source of stock footage you can use without any restrictions.

Is It Okay to Use Public Domain Videos for Commercial Purposes?

All public domain videos can be used for both commercial and non-commercial projects, but you must approach using public domain videos for commercial purposes with caution. Crediting the author or providing the source from which you acquired the footage will reduce the likelihood of legal complications. The public domain videos that feature famous actors or third party intellectual property can also be a subject of legal disputes, which is why it is better to avoid using them on commercial projects.

What Should You Do If You Can’t Find Public Domain Footage for Your Project?

Opting for videos that are protected by the Creative Commons licenses is probably the safest option if you’re struggling to find the public domain footage you’d like to use in your project. Respecting the terms of the license under which a video is protected is of utmost importance, since failing to properly credit the author of the video, for instance, can have legal consequences. There are several different types of Creative Commons licenses and you must find out which one covers the video you’d like to use, before publishing your video. You can find more information about Creative Commons licenses at the FAQ .

Conclusion

Public domain videos cover very different topics, which means that the nature of your project determines the source from which you’ll acquire the footage. If you are researching the early days of cinema, then you’ll have no trouble downloading the public domain videos, but if the topic you’re exploring is more contemporary, finding the content you can use without any restrictions can prove to be troublesome. Which website do you like to use the most to download public domain videos? Leave a comment and share your opinions with us.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In historic terms, cinema is still a relatively new art, and yet the amount of footage that has been filmed since the Lumière brothers released their first film is staggering. Capturing unique materials that were never seen by the world before has become the question of prestige among the filmmakers. Nonetheless, certain genres of film are almost entirely dependent on the public domain footage. Documentaries about historic events, space or any other topic that is impossible to stage rely on the videos that entered the public domain for one reason or the other. That’s why in this article, we are going to take you through some of the best websites that let you download public domain videos.

What is Public Domain Video?

Any video that is not subject to copyright can be considered a public domain video. This means that anyone can use this footage for free without having to ask for permission to do so. Videos can enter the public domain under the following circumstances:

• If the footage was produced by a government because governments are obligated by the law to offer the footage to the public domain.
• In case the author of the footage has forfeited his or her copyrights and dedicated the footage to the public domain
• A film or any other work of art becomes public domain 70 years after the death of the copyright holder. The expiration date of the copyrights is not the same in all the countries around the world, which is why you must make sure that the video you want to use is, in fact, a public domain video.

In addition, you should avoid using the footage that contains art or music that can be described as third-party intellectual property because you may unintentionally infringe copyrights.

Best Online Websites Where You Can Download Public Domain Videos

Finding free public domain footage or public movies on the Internet has never been too difficult, as you can watch thousands of public domain movies on YouTube, but you cannot download them. Over the course of the last couple of decades, the websites where you can download public domain footage have grown in number, which makes it somewhat easier to find the video clips you can use in your projects for free. Here are some of the best online destinations where you can download public domain videos.

1. Prelinger Archive

With more than 17,000 items in the collection, the Prelinger Archive is probably one of the largest public domain video libraries on the Internet. The archive was founded in 1983 by Rick Prelinger, but by 2002 it became a part of the Library of Congress Motion Picture Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Divison’s collection. You can download public domain video clips created by educational institutions, advertising companies, trade associations or corporations from this impressive collection. There are different download options available for each file, so you can choose the size of a file and the method you’re going to use to download a file to your computer.

2. The Public Domain Review

This is an excellent resource for researchers looking for essays, books, audio recordings, images or old films. The movies are divided into different categories such as Animals&Beasts, Politics, War or Sports which makes locating and downloading public domain videos faster and easier. The Public Domain Review offers footage that is available within different public domain licenses, so you must make sure that the film you want to download can be used for the purpose you have in mind. The vast majority of the films in this archive are from the last decade of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. That’s why The Public Domain Review’s selection of films can only be useful if you are researching a topic from that era.

3. The National Screening Room

The National Screening Room is a project created by the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center with the aim of making the videos from their collection available to the viewers around the world. The vast majority of the videos in the collection were filmed during the 20th century, but there are only a few videos available that are produced outside of the United States. The National Screening Room can be a valuable asset if you are looking for videos you can use for educational or research videos that cover topics that range from the development of the arms industry to the daily life of great American inventors.

4. Pond5’s Public Domain Project

Industry professionals don’t need an introduction to the Pond5 platform, because it is probably the largest online marketplace for royalty-free media at the moment. Their Public Domain Project contains a thousand public videos that can be downloaded for free, but the duration of these videos is limited to just two minutes To make things worse, most of these public domain videos don’t have audio, so you can only use them if you already have a soundtrack for the video you’re making. The platform offers powerful search tools that enable you to look for videos based on different parameters. You can download public domain videos in HD resolution, but you must create an account on Pond5 before you can save them to your computer.

5. Pexels

Free public domain stock footage can be used on different types of projects, and it is usually a great choice if you’re looking for some extra shots that will make a scene in your video more cinematic. Pexels offers an impressive collection of free public domain stock videos, so you just have to insert a search term and pick a video clip that best fits your needs. The duration of the free videos you can find on Pexels rarely exceeds thirty seconds, which makes it difficult to make an entire video exclusively from free public domain stock footage. Hence it is better to use Pexels as a complementary source of shots in case you can’t go back to the filming location.

6. Vidsplay

All video clips you can find on this platform are free, so you just have to select one of the categories and start browsing through the available public domain stock footage. The only condition to use the stock footage on private or commercial projects for free is to credit the Vidsplay platform in the end credits, on the website or in the description of the videos you upload to your social media channels. All stock videos on Vidsplay are available in HD or 4K resolution, and you simply have to click on the Download button below a particular video to save it.

7. The Moving Image Archive

This is yet another archive of public domain videos you can find on the Arhive.org that features countless collections of texts, images, and videos. Within the Moving Image Archive, you can find different collections that contain full feature movies, art videos, animations, cartoons or television footage. The public domain videos hosted on The Moving Image Archive cover a broad range of topics, but some of them can be in poor resolution. The Moving Image Archive can be an excellent source of footage for anyone who wants to download public domain video clips and use them in their commercial or non-commercial projects.

8. PublicDomainFootage

BBC, National Geographics or NBC are just a few among many famous television networks that use the services of PublicDomainFootage. All content on the platform is divided into Archival Footage and Historic Newsreels sections that contain categories like Atomic Age, Civil Rights or Pop Culture. You can also use PublicDomainFootage to research a particular topic and request content that is not uploaded to the website. You can download a public domain video after you pay a one time fee that enables you to use that video as many times as you want. The platform’s YouTube channel provides an easy way of searching for public domain videos you are going to use in your next documentary film.

9. NASA’s Video Gallery

Space exploration is undoubtedly one of the hottest topics of our era, so if you are looking for some space public domain videos NASA’s website is the best place to start. Like all other government institutions, NASA is obligated by the law to offer all images and videos to the public domain. This means that all content you download from their website is free to use. Simply insert the search term and browse the results until you find the video clip you want to save to your computer. However, most public domain videos you can download from NASA’s website last only a couple of minutes.

10. Motion Elements

The collection of free public domain stock footage, this website offers contains more than 4,000 clips. Categories like Cityscape, Animals or Water contain hundreds of stock videos, so you just have to open one of the available categories and locate the video clip you want to download. However, you must first create an account on Motion Elements before you can save video files to your computer. In addition, the platform doesn’t allow you to make more than five downloads per week and you must invite your friends to join the platform if you want to increase the weekly number of downloads. Even so, Motion Elements is a great source of stock footage you can use without any restrictions.

Is It Okay to Use Public Domain Videos for Commercial Purposes?

All public domain videos can be used for both commercial and non-commercial projects, but you must approach using public domain videos for commercial purposes with caution. Crediting the author or providing the source from which you acquired the footage will reduce the likelihood of legal complications. The public domain videos that feature famous actors or third party intellectual property can also be a subject of legal disputes, which is why it is better to avoid using them on commercial projects.

What Should You Do If You Can’t Find Public Domain Footage for Your Project?

Opting for videos that are protected by the Creative Commons licenses is probably the safest option if you’re struggling to find the public domain footage you’d like to use in your project. Respecting the terms of the license under which a video is protected is of utmost importance, since failing to properly credit the author of the video, for instance, can have legal consequences. There are several different types of Creative Commons licenses and you must find out which one covers the video you’d like to use, before publishing your video. You can find more information about Creative Commons licenses at the FAQ .

Conclusion

Public domain videos cover very different topics, which means that the nature of your project determines the source from which you’ll acquire the footage. If you are researching the early days of cinema, then you’ll have no trouble downloading the public domain videos, but if the topic you’re exploring is more contemporary, finding the content you can use without any restrictions can prove to be troublesome. Which website do you like to use the most to download public domain videos? Leave a comment and share your opinions with us.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In historic terms, cinema is still a relatively new art, and yet the amount of footage that has been filmed since the Lumière brothers released their first film is staggering. Capturing unique materials that were never seen by the world before has become the question of prestige among the filmmakers. Nonetheless, certain genres of film are almost entirely dependent on the public domain footage. Documentaries about historic events, space or any other topic that is impossible to stage rely on the videos that entered the public domain for one reason or the other. That’s why in this article, we are going to take you through some of the best websites that let you download public domain videos.

What is Public Domain Video?

Any video that is not subject to copyright can be considered a public domain video. This means that anyone can use this footage for free without having to ask for permission to do so. Videos can enter the public domain under the following circumstances:

• If the footage was produced by a government because governments are obligated by the law to offer the footage to the public domain.
• In case the author of the footage has forfeited his or her copyrights and dedicated the footage to the public domain
• A film or any other work of art becomes public domain 70 years after the death of the copyright holder. The expiration date of the copyrights is not the same in all the countries around the world, which is why you must make sure that the video you want to use is, in fact, a public domain video.

In addition, you should avoid using the footage that contains art or music that can be described as third-party intellectual property because you may unintentionally infringe copyrights.

Best Online Websites Where You Can Download Public Domain Videos

Finding free public domain footage or public movies on the Internet has never been too difficult, as you can watch thousands of public domain movies on YouTube, but you cannot download them. Over the course of the last couple of decades, the websites where you can download public domain footage have grown in number, which makes it somewhat easier to find the video clips you can use in your projects for free. Here are some of the best online destinations where you can download public domain videos.

1. Prelinger Archive

With more than 17,000 items in the collection, the Prelinger Archive is probably one of the largest public domain video libraries on the Internet. The archive was founded in 1983 by Rick Prelinger, but by 2002 it became a part of the Library of Congress Motion Picture Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Divison’s collection. You can download public domain video clips created by educational institutions, advertising companies, trade associations or corporations from this impressive collection. There are different download options available for each file, so you can choose the size of a file and the method you’re going to use to download a file to your computer.

2. The Public Domain Review

This is an excellent resource for researchers looking for essays, books, audio recordings, images or old films. The movies are divided into different categories such as Animals&Beasts, Politics, War or Sports which makes locating and downloading public domain videos faster and easier. The Public Domain Review offers footage that is available within different public domain licenses, so you must make sure that the film you want to download can be used for the purpose you have in mind. The vast majority of the films in this archive are from the last decade of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. That’s why The Public Domain Review’s selection of films can only be useful if you are researching a topic from that era.

3. The National Screening Room

The National Screening Room is a project created by the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center with the aim of making the videos from their collection available to the viewers around the world. The vast majority of the videos in the collection were filmed during the 20th century, but there are only a few videos available that are produced outside of the United States. The National Screening Room can be a valuable asset if you are looking for videos you can use for educational or research videos that cover topics that range from the development of the arms industry to the daily life of great American inventors.

4. Pond5’s Public Domain Project

Industry professionals don’t need an introduction to the Pond5 platform, because it is probably the largest online marketplace for royalty-free media at the moment. Their Public Domain Project contains a thousand public videos that can be downloaded for free, but the duration of these videos is limited to just two minutes To make things worse, most of these public domain videos don’t have audio, so you can only use them if you already have a soundtrack for the video you’re making. The platform offers powerful search tools that enable you to look for videos based on different parameters. You can download public domain videos in HD resolution, but you must create an account on Pond5 before you can save them to your computer.

5. Pexels

Free public domain stock footage can be used on different types of projects, and it is usually a great choice if you’re looking for some extra shots that will make a scene in your video more cinematic. Pexels offers an impressive collection of free public domain stock videos, so you just have to insert a search term and pick a video clip that best fits your needs. The duration of the free videos you can find on Pexels rarely exceeds thirty seconds, which makes it difficult to make an entire video exclusively from free public domain stock footage. Hence it is better to use Pexels as a complementary source of shots in case you can’t go back to the filming location.

6. Vidsplay

All video clips you can find on this platform are free, so you just have to select one of the categories and start browsing through the available public domain stock footage. The only condition to use the stock footage on private or commercial projects for free is to credit the Vidsplay platform in the end credits, on the website or in the description of the videos you upload to your social media channels. All stock videos on Vidsplay are available in HD or 4K resolution, and you simply have to click on the Download button below a particular video to save it.

7. The Moving Image Archive

This is yet another archive of public domain videos you can find on the Arhive.org that features countless collections of texts, images, and videos. Within the Moving Image Archive, you can find different collections that contain full feature movies, art videos, animations, cartoons or television footage. The public domain videos hosted on The Moving Image Archive cover a broad range of topics, but some of them can be in poor resolution. The Moving Image Archive can be an excellent source of footage for anyone who wants to download public domain video clips and use them in their commercial or non-commercial projects.

8. PublicDomainFootage

BBC, National Geographics or NBC are just a few among many famous television networks that use the services of PublicDomainFootage. All content on the platform is divided into Archival Footage and Historic Newsreels sections that contain categories like Atomic Age, Civil Rights or Pop Culture. You can also use PublicDomainFootage to research a particular topic and request content that is not uploaded to the website. You can download a public domain video after you pay a one time fee that enables you to use that video as many times as you want. The platform’s YouTube channel provides an easy way of searching for public domain videos you are going to use in your next documentary film.

9. NASA’s Video Gallery

Space exploration is undoubtedly one of the hottest topics of our era, so if you are looking for some space public domain videos NASA’s website is the best place to start. Like all other government institutions, NASA is obligated by the law to offer all images and videos to the public domain. This means that all content you download from their website is free to use. Simply insert the search term and browse the results until you find the video clip you want to save to your computer. However, most public domain videos you can download from NASA’s website last only a couple of minutes.

10. Motion Elements

The collection of free public domain stock footage, this website offers contains more than 4,000 clips. Categories like Cityscape, Animals or Water contain hundreds of stock videos, so you just have to open one of the available categories and locate the video clip you want to download. However, you must first create an account on Motion Elements before you can save video files to your computer. In addition, the platform doesn’t allow you to make more than five downloads per week and you must invite your friends to join the platform if you want to increase the weekly number of downloads. Even so, Motion Elements is a great source of stock footage you can use without any restrictions.

Is It Okay to Use Public Domain Videos for Commercial Purposes?

All public domain videos can be used for both commercial and non-commercial projects, but you must approach using public domain videos for commercial purposes with caution. Crediting the author or providing the source from which you acquired the footage will reduce the likelihood of legal complications. The public domain videos that feature famous actors or third party intellectual property can also be a subject of legal disputes, which is why it is better to avoid using them on commercial projects.

What Should You Do If You Can’t Find Public Domain Footage for Your Project?

Opting for videos that are protected by the Creative Commons licenses is probably the safest option if you’re struggling to find the public domain footage you’d like to use in your project. Respecting the terms of the license under which a video is protected is of utmost importance, since failing to properly credit the author of the video, for instance, can have legal consequences. There are several different types of Creative Commons licenses and you must find out which one covers the video you’d like to use, before publishing your video. You can find more information about Creative Commons licenses at the FAQ .

Conclusion

Public domain videos cover very different topics, which means that the nature of your project determines the source from which you’ll acquire the footage. If you are researching the early days of cinema, then you’ll have no trouble downloading the public domain videos, but if the topic you’re exploring is more contemporary, finding the content you can use without any restrictions can prove to be troublesome. Which website do you like to use the most to download public domain videos? Leave a comment and share your opinions with us.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

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