Corel VideoStudio Ultimate X10
Corel VideoStudio may not be quite as well-known as Adobe Premiere or CyberLink PowerDirector, but don't let that put you off – it's one of the best consumer video editors around.
There are high-end features everywhere you look: 4K video support; multi-cam editing; 360-degrees VR video support; royalty-free music library; stacks of professional NewBlue and proDAD effects. Not to mention DVD, AVCHD and Blu-ray authoring for when it's time to share.
Corel VideoStudio Ultimate also has plenty of less obvious touches which you only begin to notice as you work. Some are small (checkmarks which highlight clips you've used), some save you time (group objects in your timeline and move or apply effects to all of them at once), and many give you options you might not have seen before (voice detection which can automatically match subtitles to speech in your video).
VideoStudio is also available in a marginally cheaper Pro version which has most of the same features, but includes fewer templates, effects and other extras. Check it out if you're on a budget, but Ultimate X10 is already cheap for the functionality you get, and that's the version we would recommend.
Platforms: Windows
Price: £80 ($100)
CyberLink PowerDirector
CyberLink PowerDirector is an excellent video editor which delivers professional and high-quality features for a consumer-friendly price.
The package has great support for file standards, and can handle 4K video, H.265, XAVC-S, 120/240fps high frame-rate video, FLAC and AAC audio, and more.
The latest edition supports 360-degree video, too, and we don't just mean some fixed import. You can also edit the footage, apply colour correction, use titles, transitions, PiP objects and more, and export the 360-degree results.
All the action takes place on a 100-track timeline. There are all kinds of stabilisation and video correction tools to give you the look you need, quick and easy trimming, professional effects, assorted NewBlue and other add-ons, and modules for multi-cam editing, motion tracking, title design and a whole lot more.
Video editing newbies might find all these options intimidating, at least initially, but PowerDirector does its best to help. The Express Projects feature enables creating professional videos and sharing them on social media with little more than some careful dragging and dropping. And when you're ready to go further, PowerDirector has plenty of help files, video tutorials and other documentation to point you in the right direction.
Platforms: Windows
Price: £48 ($60)
Final Cut Pro X
Final Cut Pro X is Apple's answer to Adobe Premiere Pro, a comprehensive video editor which blends highly professional features with prosumer-level ease of use.
You could use the program to simply import a couple of source movies from a folder, for instance. But it can also grab media from cameras or DSLRs, organise content into libraries, run searches on metadata, even directly access content from your Photos or iTunes collections.
Organising content on the timeline also begins very simply. Drag-and-drop source media and the clips magnetically snap together to avoid unwanted gaps, while others move out of the way to prevent collisions. But there are also plenty of smart extras, including tools to group clips together, apply effects to multiple clips at once, or instantly expand audio files to play with channels, set transitions or adjust volume, directly from the timeline.
Final Cut Pro X offers professional tools including multi-cam editing, versatile chroma key effects, intelligent colour balancing and more. Export options are more essentials-only than some of the competition, but a vast ecosystem of add-ons can extend the program to do just about anything you need.
Platforms: Mac
Price: £300 ($380)
KineMaster
Most mobile video editing apps are underpowered disappointments, but KineMaster is a rare exception which delivers far more than you might expect.
The app doesn't just organise individual video clips, for example. You can have multiple layers to add unlimited handwriting, text, or layers of images and stickers, or indeed even another layered video on some hardware. There are up to four audio tracks available, and each one can contain as many clips as you need.
Precision matters, so it's good to see that KineMaster enables frame-level video and sub-frame audio trimming, as well as including precise tuning for colours, brightness, contrast, saturation and more.
Smart effects include a surprisingly configurable chroma key, easy speed control for fast or slow motion, and there are some polished 3D transitions to explore.
An instant preview gives you a very quick idea of how your masterpiece is progressing, and when you're happy it can be shared directly on YouTube, Facebook, Dropbox and more.
As usual with demanding Android apps, KineMaster won't work smoothly with every device, and if your hardware is underpowered then it may be very sluggish. But you can sample the basic app for free, and overall KineMaster is one of the most capable mobile editors around, so it’s certainly worth a look.
Platforms: Android
Price: £0.56 ($0.70) – £27.99 ($35) in-app purchases
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