Over the past few years the major video editing software companies have been battling each other in a game of who can come up with the shiniest new features to attract the attention of the public. Anything that could be described as easy video editing software or simple video editing software had definitely not been on the agenda.
The end result is that the average consumer video editing software suite has become incredibly feature rich but in the process has become quite complicated as well. You cannot keep adding features without having to add access to those features through the user interface at the same time.
Additionally, using those advanced features requires some understanding of the processes involved and this adds further complication to editing your videos.
Recently I have been asked on a number of forums and though this site, to recommend an easy video editing software program. Something that has all the basic features that a user would need without the shiny “bells and whistles” and the complicated interfaces that come with it.
Similarly, the video editing software makers must also be getting the same kind of message from the market. A good number of them have recently been releasing simplified versions of their existing video editing software products or in some cases totally separate easy to use simple video editing software products.
I have listed a few of the better known ones below but keep in mind just because they are classified as easy video editing software programs does not mean they are crippled in any way. They offer the same features that the top of the line video editors had a few years back.
If you are just a beginner or really don’t see yourself spending hours alone in a darkened room editing your footage then these ones are for you! If you just want to get your video masterpieces out as soon as possible with a minimum of fuss then you would be well served by the ones listed below.
They all cover the basic actions of cutting, slicing and dicing with transitions, audio control and a wide range of output formats.
*My standard disclaimer applies: Please, use the trials first to see how you like it and how it likes you and your computer setup before committing to a long term relationship!
 | Magix Video Easy HDAt the top of my list I have Magix Video Easy HD. I mainly recommend this product as the best of its class because it has been designed from the ground up with the beginner in mind. This has resulted in a very clean and uncomplicated user interface that clearly shows where everything is and what it does. It also has a very effective onboard help system to get you past anything you don’t understand. It is fully armed to import all popular video file formats and all the common audio and image formats and offers good control over all of them. As far as output formats go it has everything you will need including DVD, Blu-ray and output to compatible files for uploading to services like YouTube. |
 | muvee Reveal XIf you are really looking for some easy video editing software then it doesn’t get much easier than totally automatic! And that is just what muvee Reveal does. Hard to believe I know but the fact is that muvee can achieve some pretty remarkable results given that the process is automatic. By using some very specialized scanning technology it can quite accurately identify various components of your videos and stills and at the same time analyze the speed of your chosen music. In the end it slaps the whole thing together based on its calculations and voila! Movie magic! Well ok, maybe not Hollywood magic but pretty darn good! It offers a good set of manual editing tools that you can use to make final adjustments but really. If you want somple then this one is really simple yet at the same time quite effective. Click here for the full muvee Reveal X Review |
 | muvee Pixiemuvee Pixie is about as easy as video editing software is going to get while you still actually do it yourself! This is the chopped down vesrion of muvee Reveal specifically designed for those who want to automatically create their videos and only upload to the internet or to mobile devices. It comes with a bunch of preset styles that you can use to make the video or control the transitions, music, audio and panning and zooming on still images yourself. Alternatively you can just load everything up in order and let muvee Pixie do it automatically. The results of doing it like that may surprise you and before you finish you can step in to make final adjustments. It can handle WMV, .mov, MPEG4, H.264 and regular DV-AVI files which should cover most of the modern methods of capturing video. It outputs to formats for all the current mobile devices and can directly upload to YouTube and Facebook. |
The “also rans” for Easy Video Editing Software
Some readers may be surprised that I have not included a number of well known products on this page. Here are a few and my reasons for not including them:
Roxio Creator 2011, Nero Multimedia Suite 10, and Cyberlink Media Suite 8.
All of these are multimedia packages rather than just easy video editing software. They are all good products and if you have a use for ALL the features offered by these full program suites then yes, they are great and have good, easy to use video editing capabilities.
Although this is the bottom of the range in the Vegas line up from Sony it could never be confused with easy video editing software! The learning curve is steep and although Sony include great tutorials it kind of defeats the purpose of recommending something easy.
Corel Digital Studio.
Quite simply a poor piece of software. Installs slowly runs slowly and although it is easy, it’s just not very good in my experience.
Anything Else
There are literally hundreds of video editing software programs out there and many that claim ease of use as their selling point. You can spend the next year checking them out and still be no closer to a decision. What I do know is that the software on this page is reliable, fits the criteria of easy or simple and will work very well for the majority of people.
