Free Video Editing Options: 10 Windows Movie Maker Alternatives

We all know what a windows movie maker is, and this is one of the best editing programs for beginners. This program was pre-installed in almost all window devices, and people started preferring this program as it comes with a simple interface, additional special effects for fun, and mainly this is free. One question that was asked by almost all the windows users was whether windows movie maker free.

However, in 2017 Microsoft stopped supporting and helping Windows movie makers. They also warned the users that downloading this movie maker from any 3rd party can contain viruses, hidden costs, and malware. Now it has become difficult to use windows free movie makers. If you are a beginner and searching for a great windows movie maker alternative, stick to this blog.

1. Filmora

If you are not new to this editing field, you must have heard the name Filmora . It is one of the best editing software available in the market. It is a line of editing applications and video creation and contains various products for intermediate and beginners. A few standard features of Filmora include a preview window, effects library, timeline, etc. The software library is developed to be compatible with both macOS and Windows.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

You can use the free demo feature before purchasing the original product, and you might get to see a few types.

Filmora is a simple video editor with preset effects and video templates.
FilmoraPro is a premium and better version with better industry-standard features, including keyframe-based animation, customizable effects, and color grading.
Filmora is a version available for mobile devices.
FilmoraScrn is available only for windows, a screen recording app with additional features.

Pros

Great intermediate and basic features
Simple user-interface
Offers screen recording
Offers a sound support system

Cons

Lack of advanced features
Contains watermark

2. VSDC Free Video Editor

If you plan to edit your videos with some great tools, then you need a VSDC-free video editor. As this video editor doesn’t charge anything, you don’t have to worry about payment, subscription, and trial period. With the help of this application, the developers are successfully building a strong community, which will help you understand troubleshoot issues and features of the program.

This video editor can perform various functions, including adding effects, reducing file size, a wide range of formats, etc. VSDC can also convert the files to a compatible format. The program offers different devices, including Blackberry, iPod, Xbox, iRiver, iPhone, etc. You can easily extract audio, add markers, export individual images, and perform many more functions efficiently.

Pros

Simple interface
DVD burning features
Non-linear editing

Cons

Common video editing features
Lack of additional editing features

3. VideoPad

Videopad is also free editing software that allows its users to edit videos and perform various tasks related to the editing industry. With the help of this movie maker program, you can easily create a great video and perform a few basic editing tasks. If you create videos very often for social media platforms or your friends and family, then Videopad is what you need.

Though this video maker doesn’t have advanced features, its basic video editing skills are enough to create a blasting video. The simple interface of the editing platform helps the users understand the process in a simple way. This platform can be termed as one of the best free windows movie makers.

Pros

Best free video editing application for the beginners
Supports various video formats
360-degree editing
New updates daily

Cons

Doesn’t support video animation
No collaboration tools or video capturing

4. Shotcut Video Editor

Shortcut is also a free editing software, available for Windows, Linux, and Mac. This application is best for the people who would prefer not to be dependent on giant software corporations but would undergo the regular upgrade of the community of dedicated and enthusiastic developers. This video editor is feature-packed, helpful, and one of the best free video editors. Moreover, if you are new to the editing industry, this application is perfect.

This application will allow you to edit and create various audio and visual editing functionalities. This app is the perfect alternative for beginners with an engaged and active community. Also, you can also go through the tutorials if you are facing any issues. This popular multimedia store is a perfect alternative for many expensive and complicated tools like OpenShot, Lightwork, etc.

Pros

Free to use
Consists of advanced tools and effects
High-quality export/input support

Cons

No preview for transition and effect
No stock music

5. OpenShot Video Editor

Cross-platform video editing software is designed to help various businesses utilize the drag and drop interface feature to edit videos, audios, or images. Users can use this video editing software to add animation effects such as flying text, fade, bounce, snow, watermarks, audio track, 3D titles, etc. This app is perfect for the beginner as it has many valuable features, and this software costs no money.

This software is very easy to use and is helping various professionals all around the world with its excellent features. This website is great for both professionals and beginners; moreover, the developers are working on the system to bring up the latest version of the video editing software.

Pros

3D title
Free to use
No watermark
Update for reducing the bugs

Cons

Limited editing tools
Obsolete interface
Unstable performance

6. Ezvid

This one is known for its power of cutting-edge features and effects. With facecam, voice synthesis, speed control, and screen drawing, Ezvid is the only best solution to make videos entertaining, enchanting, and informing your viewers. With a single click, you can record the screen using the Ezvid windows version and capture everything that appears on the computer screen; games, applications, paint programs, etc.

The software’s revolutionary and elegant screen drawing functionality allows you to paint or draw directly on your screen; moreover, you can develop amazing screencasts and documents with an easy process. This software is also the best and the easiest screen recorder and screen capture program for windows. More than 3 million people have already downloaded the app.

Pros

Offer quality and high resolution to record videos
An intuitive and simple interface for beginners
Power of controlling the speed of recording

Cons

Limitation of recording timing
Unable to download and save videos

7. Avidemux

Avidemux is one of the best alternatives to free video editing software. This video editor is specially designed for simple cutting, encoding tasks, and filtering. It supports various files like DVD-compatible MPEG files, AVI, ASF, and MP4, using many codecs. You can also automate the task using a job queue, powerful scripting capabilities, and projects.

This software is available for macOS X, Windows, Linux, etc. You can use various tools to sync audio tracks or compress videos. Avidemux is an easy video editing software that comes with various useful functions. Users can use this software to cut or edit videos, encode exports, add subtitles, etc. Anyone can use it; it is the best software for editing social media websites and commercial ads.

Pros

Store custom script
Add subtitles to your video
Encode your video

Cons

Complex process
Confusing cutting features

8. Microsoft Photos

Microsoft photos allow you to edit and view your videos and photos, create an album, make movies, etc. You have various effective creative tools at your fingertips, such as video remix for the instant creation of a video from various pictures or videos, rotating and crop photos, adding a filter and a few other effects, and adjusting lighting and color. It also allows you to add different 3D effects like laser, butterfly, explosion, etc.

This application has no difficulty, and anyone can use it without facing any trouble; all you need to do is watch the tutorial if you are facing any trouble during the process. This app is best for editing and trimming videos for YouTube. Microsoft Photos: free movie maker windows.

Pros

User-friendly interface
Easy to access
Bunch of basic features

Cons

Lack of advanced features
Lag in the software

9. FilmForth

FilmForth is a software that consists of all the video editing features that allow the user to edit video without any skills. You can also save a video without a watermark and share it on any platform. The best thing about this application is that you can access all the features without paying anything.

Whether you want to edit a video or a picture, FilmForth understands what you want, so they act accordingly and help you get the same video or image in just a few clicks. The main motive of this software is to reduce the complication during video editing. You can perform various tasks like adding logos, making a slideshow, removing or changing background, etc.

Pros

Can share the media on any platform
Allows you to download without any watermark
Allows you to use the features without purchasing any package

Cons

Not a great user-interface
Lag in the system

10. VirtualDub

VirtualDub is a processing utility and video capture licensed under the General Public license. It is designed in a way so that it can clean and trim the video before processing with another program or exporting to tape. It doesn’t have the features close to Adobe premiere but is comparatively faster than all those software.

This software can also process many files because of its batch-processing capabilities. Just like all other applications, it has its benefits, and you can use them to benefit yourself in many ways. It has a fractional frame rate, so you don’t have to settle for 29 anymore. They also offer mouse and keyboard shortcuts for easy and fast operation.

Pros

Integrated volume meter
Access to hidden video format
Noise reduction

Cons

Slow process
Poor interface

Conclusion

Many people come up with the question, is windows movie maker free; yes, it is free, and anyone can use it. We also have shared some alternate solutions to the video editing process. You can use one as per your need and requirement.

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

You can use the free demo feature before purchasing the original product, and you might get to see a few types.

Filmora is a simple video editor with preset effects and video templates.
FilmoraPro is a premium and better version with better industry-standard features, including keyframe-based animation, customizable effects, and color grading.
Filmora is a version available for mobile devices.
FilmoraScrn is available only for windows, a screen recording app with additional features.

Pros

Great intermediate and basic features
Simple user-interface
Offers screen recording
Offers a sound support system

Cons

Lack of advanced features
Contains watermark

2. VSDC Free Video Editor

Pros

Simple interface
DVD burning features
Non-linear editing

Cons

Common video editing features
Lack of additional editing features

3. VideoPad

Pros

Best free video editing application for the beginners
Supports various video formats
360-degree editing
New updates daily

Cons

Doesn’t support video animation
No collaboration tools or video capturing

4. Shotcut Video Editor

Pros

Free to use
Consists of advanced tools and effects
High-quality export/input support

Cons

No preview for transition and effect
No stock music

5. OpenShot Video Editor

Pros

3D title
Free to use
No watermark
Update for reducing the bugs

Cons

Limited editing tools
Obsolete interface
Unstable performance

6. Ezvid

Pros

Offer quality and high resolution to record videos
An intuitive and simple interface for beginners
Power of controlling the speed of recording

Cons

Limitation of recording timing
Unable to download and save videos

7. Avidemux

Pros

Store custom script
Add subtitles to your video
Encode your video

Cons

Complex process
Confusing cutting features

8. Microsoft Photos

Pros

User-friendly interface
Easy to access
Bunch of basic features

Cons

Lack of advanced features
Lag in the software

9. FilmForth

Pros

Can share the media on any platform
Allows you to download without any watermark
Allows you to use the features without purchasing any package

Cons

Not a great user-interface
Lag in the system

10. VirtualDub

Pros

Integrated volume meter
Access to hidden video format
Noise reduction

Cons

Slow process
Poor interface

Conclusion

Video Editing Pro: Unlock Awesome Visuals in Minutes

Cool Video Editor: How to Add Cool Effects to Video

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

How to make a cool video? Besides creativities, you may also need a video editing software which allows you to add some cool video effects. Actually it’s much simpler than you might expect if you use cool video editor like Wondershare Filmora , which enables you to easily trim videos, add voice narration or a music sound track from your personal collection and add cool effects and give your plain old home videos the extra touch that makes them more special. In this article, we will introduce some cool video effects that you can use in Filmora as well as the step-by-step guide about how to add cool effects to videos for making a cool edit.

Part 1: Introducing 5 cool effects that you may be interested in

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

1. Mask: Filmora allows you add various image masks and shape mask to the image and video in the timeline, which will create a special effect. You can always add Mask effect to media when creating PIP videos.

2. Green Screen Effect: Green screen or chroma keying feature is used to key out colors from a subject of a photo or video and composite two images or videos together based on color chroma range.

3. Transition Effect: Transition video effect is used to be more visual and obvious when playing back one scene to another. Namely, it is what the scene showing between two clips. Filmora provides more than 200 transition effects, including the basic fade, bar, ripple & dissolve, 3D and slideshow transitions, you can also find the transition effects for special events such as birthday and wedding.

4. Overlays: A video overlay refers to an image or an animated video that appears over the background video. Filmora provides more than 110 overlays including frame overlay, bokeh blurs overlay, lens flares, old film, damaged film, TV static, and view finder overlays.

5. Filters: Filmora has a great collection of video filter effects and there are about 150 filters in it, including camera shake, distortion, Lomography, background blur, faux film and Instagram-like filters.

Besides these common cool video effects, Filmora Effects Store offers more possibilities. There are packs, sets and bundles covering gaming, media, beauty and fashion, action cam, education, lifestyle, VFX and special event. Check the blockbuster video effects video below to check how it works.

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Part 2: How to Add Cool Effects to Videos in Filmora [Tutorial]

With Filmora, you can also add some cool effects conveniently to improve your video with ease. After several clicks, your video will turn out to be a stunning masterpiece which is really fantastic to share with your family and friends on YouTube or Facebook. Now follow this step-by-step guide on how to edit videos with this cool software.

1 Import your videos

Install and launch Wondershare Filmora. Click New Project and then click the “Import” button to load your media files through its navigation import panel or directly drag and drop your files to the media library.

2 Add cool effects to your video

Now it’s time to add cool effects to your video. Just drop the video and audio files from the media library to the corresponding timelines. Then click the “Effect” button in the toolbar to switch to the “Effect” tab. Here you will see filters and overlays effects for you to choose.

To add transitions between two clips, or add an overlay or filter video effect to video, just go to the corresponding tab and drag and drop the target video effects to videos.

You can also right click your favorite effect and select apply. You will see the “Effect” Timeline appear below the video track. If you want to increase the effect duration, just mouse over the edge of the effect in timeline, and when the “double arrow” cursor appears, drag it to any length you want.

Detailed information about how to add a split-screen effect video, check our guide about how to make a split screen video here .

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

For steps of compositing a green screen video, check this video tutorial below:

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Besides that, you can add more cool effects provided by Video Editor. Just highlight the target media file, then go to Effects Tab. Yu can select and apply more cool effects like Tilt-Shift, Mosaic, and Face Off under Utitliy filters. These effects will help you turn your video clip into a work of art.

3 Export your videos

You can preview and watch your video by clicking the “Play” button before you export it. Go back and make some necessary adjustments. Then you can save and export the video to your computer in the “Format” tab. If you want to play video on mobile devices, go to the “Devices” tab and choose a device from the list. Of course, you can also directly burn it to DVD or post on YouTube or Vimeo.

Filmora features more than 300 video effects, elements and motion effects and 100+ text and title styles to choose. Besides adding cool video effects to video clips, you can also reverse, speed up or slow down the video to make a cool effect. You can also choose music sound from the built in music library and do some audio editing with the Audio Mixer or Audio Equalizer tool.

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

As one of the best and easiest video editing software which comes with cool effects, Filmora can empower your imagination. Download this cool video editor with various effects and try it yourself!

Liza Brown

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

Follow @Liza Brown