The Ultimate Guide to Countdown Animation in Videos

Many online marketers find that the animated countdown timer is the perfect way to bring a visual element to their videos while maintaining the quality and effectiveness of the video itself.

There are many ways to show a countdown timer on videos using animated GIFs. But they can be hard to implement or could cost a lot of money. You can use some free services, but they are limited in terms of features.

But not to worry, this post will go through a detailed process of creating an animated timer with 3 different methods. Before that, let’s discuss the benefits of using a timer for videos.

1. Method 1: Make a Countdown Animation with a Professional Video Editing Software
2. Method 2: Generate the timer with Free Online Countdown Timer Video Generators
3. Method 3: Make a Countdown Timer with a Graphic Design Platform

• Top 10 animated countdown effects to make your video like a Pro

What are the benefits of using a countdown timer for videos/live streams?

Countdowns are a great way to get your message across and get your viewers excited about your product or service. A countdown timer provides a very simple visual cue to help motivate yourself and your audience to start watching the video.

It also works well with vlogs and YouTube, seamlessly transitioning from one part of your video to the next. This works best when your video isn’t about the product itself (but rather a review, a demo, or something else that lends itself well to a countdown).

As you can see, the Vlogger uses a countdown timer at the beginning of his video. Vlogger uses a countdown timer to make it appear as if the time is running out because it adds urgency and suspense. As a viewer, you’ll want to hurry up and watch this video, so you don’t miss out on anything.

Let’s now dive deep into methods of creating countdown animation for videos.

Method 1: Make a Countdown Animation with a Professional Video Editing Software

The most common trend today is video content creation, and it’s everywhere. Videos are not only entertaining, but they have a significant impact on audience retention.

With a video editor, you can create compelling content that will entice your viewers to watch the whole thing. Moreover, it can also help you get started by adding captions, transitions, effects, etc.

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

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

If you’re ready to make your next project more engaging and interactive, you can try the best video editing software, Wondershare Filmora !

Wondershare Filmora is the industry standard when it comes to editing video. The video editing software industry is filled with features that promise to be faster, smarter, and easier to use than others.

Moreover, Wondershare has Filmstock effects that have revolutionized the world of video creators.

Filmstock is a collection of videos ready to be used with Filmora that contains more than 1,000 free stock footage clips of various scenes and locations, plus video effects, transitions, and titles, to make creating professional-quality videos faster and easier.

Let’s see some of its features that help us make animation countdown timers easily.

• Rich effects for you to choose customizing countdown animation at ease.
• You’re not stuck with traditional slow motion in your videos; you can add dynamism and energy to your videos with smooth animations.
• It has various countdown animation templates simplify the whole process, just drag-and-drop, everything gets done.

How to make a countdown animation with Filmora

You’re looking for an animated countdown timer for your website or your very first YouTube video, but you want one that stands out. You don’t want your visitors to think it’s generic or boring, so you’re thinking about how to make your countdown timer more interesting.

That’s where Filmora comes in. It’s an amazing tool that makes it easy to create countdown animations on websites or videos for almost any purpose. Let’s look at how to create your own cool, creative countdown timers using Filmora.

Step1Open Filmora and import the background video file from the media section.

Step2After importing the video, go to elements options from the top tab.

Step3After choosing elements, you’ll see the countdown tab on your left. Click on the countdown and choose any animation. You can adjust the animation duration, size, and audio.

Step4Adjust the animation duration according to the background video, and finally, export your animated countdown timer.

Pros and Cons of using Video Editing Software to make a countdown animation

Pros

• You can save any countdown effects project as a project to be used in future videos.
• You can create a vision of your brand concept in your way.
• Free templates are available according to your brand and target audience.
• More stable.

Cons

• Standard out-of-the-box video editing software isn’t enough to create a professional-quality video.

Method 2: Generate the timer with Free Online Countdown Timer Video Generators

If you’re trying to catch your audience’s attention by giving them a reason to ‘countdown’ to something, then you’ll want to use a countdown timer with some great free online countdown videos.

There are many countdown timer websites like;Biteable ,Kapwing ,Movavi ,and MakeWebVideo . But we’ve rounded up the best countdown video generator site you’ll ever see:

FlexClip

FlexClip is a powerful yet easy-to-use online video editor. Its music library is versatile and high-quality. It lets you pick and add favorite tracks without infringing worries. Apply interesting editing to make your videos look better by adding transitions, filters, text, and more.

FlexClip’s biggest advantage is its extensive amount of free media assets. Whether you’re a master or rookie with FlexClip, you’re capable of producing excellent videos with music. You can be a video guru or a video beginner. You’re capable of producing awesome videos with great sound using FlexClip.

Key Features:

• Provides a complete set of video-making processes.
• A diverse range of royalty-free music selection
• Loads of handy editing tools
• Thousands of ready-made templates
• Multiple advanced features like adding text, emoji, effects, and more

How to make a countdown animation with FlexClip

The FlexClip countdown creator is a leading video editor with many powerful features. To make your countdown video, click the Create a Video button below.

Step1Set Your Countdown Video Background

Set your timer to how long you want your message to start your countdown. Usually, it’s 10 seconds.

Then add scenes and adjust the duration of scenes to make them all length. You can use the background color to make it more appealing to your audience.

Step2Highlight Your Countdown with Animated Elements

Using the amazing elements, you can make your countdown interactive and much more fun. Just go to the sidebar and switch to the Elements options. Apply the elements you want, then customize them on size, position, and color.

Step3Add the Number to Your Countdown

Now, add the numbers for the countdown, e.g., if you want a 10-second countdown, type in the number “10”. You can pick a basic text effect and manually enter the number.

After you’ve created the number, go to the timeline and control how long the number will appear and when it will disappear.

Step4Add Music or Sound Effects to Your Countdown Video

FlexClip lets you upload your audio files from a local folder, or you can select one from FlexClip’s library. Once you’re done adding the countdown music, you can trim the duration, set it to start and end at any time, and use the fade-in/out effect to make the music match your countdown. Plus, you can also adjust the volume to make the music softer.

Step5Preview and Export Your Countdown Video

You can preview it to see how the countdown video will look in the end, finally, hit export, and you’re done!

Method 3: Make a Countdown Timer with a Graphic Design Platform

Today’s graphic design platforms give designers more options than ever before, but many designers struggle to make the most of these resources. Let us share some tips and tricks on designing a countdown timer using the tools available through Canva, a graphic design platform.

Canva

Many types of graphic design software are available, and Canva is one of the best. While its critics may disagree, Canva is an undeniable tool to help millions of business owners and marketers improve their social media graphics and redesign their brand image without needing to learn graphic design.

Key Features:

• Drag and drop feature
• Free templates
• Background Removal Tool
• Canva Brand Kit
• Magic Resizing

How to make a countdown animation with Canva

Canva offers a range of great-looking countdown templates that’ll help you create one in just a few minutes. And if you need a simple countdown animation, you can download one of their free templates. Let’s make it from scratch:

Step1Select The Background

With Canva, you get a wide range of free backgrounds. Click on the button labeled “Search.” Now choose the “light old film” background element and click Add.

Step2Enter Your Text (Number)

Then select the text tab and choose any font style, color, and size.

Step3Animate Text

Next, select the font again, and then, at the top, there’s an option for Text Animation.

Adding text animation to your countdown timer will make it more realistic and match your background better than a straight-up countdown timer.

Step4Edit The Page Timing

Next, click on the “Edit Timing” option. You can set the timer for each page as per your choice

Step5Duplicate The Page

Now, select the duplicate page option and change the number of duplicate pages from 3 to 2,1, with the same design and formatting.

Step6Export / Download Video

You’re finally done! Click the Download button to export your design.

The background of this photo is not a static image, so you cannot select the JPG, PNG, or SVG. You must choose an MP4 video or a GIF when creating an animation.

Top 10 animated countdown effects to make your video like a Pro

Animated countdown effects are a great way to add some “pizzazz” to a simple video. They look awesome and are extremely effective in creating a memorable video. When used well, they can add some excitement to a boring video. We’ll go over the top 10 animated countdown effects from Filmstock

1. Cool Countdown

1. Fitness Countdown

1. Cinematic Countdown

1. Neon Countdown

1. Cyber Countdown

1. Digital Countdown Pack

1. Big Metal Countdown

1. Glitch Countdown Transition

1. Countdown To New Year

1. Flashing Light Countdown

How to use these effects in Wondershare Filmora

You can access Filmstock directly from the Filmora application or by visiting the website:

• Create a new project by clicking Filmora Video Editor in the menu.
• Select the audio effects tab, or go to the Audio tab, title tab. You will see the film stock option.
• Click the Visit Filmstock button, and you will be taken to the Filmstock website.

• Log in to Filmstock using your Wondershare account.

• After the download, the new effects will be added to your project in the appropriate section (Audio, Title, Transitions, and Elements). You’ll also be able to preview each effect from this window.

Note: It is highly recommended to log in to Filmstock and Filmora with the same Wondershare ID.

Final Words

A countdown is a powerful tool to add suspense to your videos. It gives your audience more incentive to watch your video all the way through. Get this article, as it is the ultimate guide to making your countdown animations, plus the best video editing software, Wondershare Filmora.

Wondershare Filmora is an excellent place to be creative and make some terrific countdown timers that can improve your viewers’ overall experience. Use their templates to create a strong and engaging online presence. Your audience won’t be able to resist the mesmerizing, hypnotizing, and enthralling effects of Wondershare Filmora.

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

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

What are the benefits of using a countdown timer for videos/live streams?

Countdowns are a great way to get your message across and get your viewers excited about your product or service. A countdown timer provides a very simple visual cue to help motivate yourself and your audience to start watching the video.

It also works well with vlogs and YouTube, seamlessly transitioning from one part of your video to the next. This works best when your video isn’t about the product itself (but rather a review, a demo, or something else that lends itself well to a countdown).

As you can see, the Vlogger uses a countdown timer at the beginning of his video. Vlogger uses a countdown timer to make it appear as if the time is running out because it adds urgency and suspense. As a viewer, you’ll want to hurry up and watch this video, so you don’t miss out on anything.

Let’s now dive deep into methods of creating countdown animation for videos.

Method 1: Make a Countdown Animation with a Professional Video Editing Software

The most common trend today is video content creation, and it’s everywhere. Videos are not only entertaining, but they have a significant impact on audience retention.

With a video editor, you can create compelling content that will entice your viewers to watch the whole thing. Moreover, it can also help you get started by adding captions, transitions, effects, etc.

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

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

If you’re ready to make your next project more engaging and interactive, you can try the best video editing software, Wondershare Filmora !

Wondershare Filmora is the industry standard when it comes to editing video. The video editing software industry is filled with features that promise to be faster, smarter, and easier to use than others.

Moreover, Wondershare has Filmstock effects that have revolutionized the world of video creators.

Filmstock is a collection of videos ready to be used with Filmora that contains more than 1,000 free stock footage clips of various scenes and locations, plus video effects, transitions, and titles, to make creating professional-quality videos faster and easier.

Let’s see some of its features that help us make animation countdown timers easily.

• Rich effects for you to choose customizing countdown animation at ease.
• You’re not stuck with traditional slow motion in your videos; you can add dynamism and energy to your videos with smooth animations.
• It has various countdown animation templates simplify the whole process, just drag-and-drop, everything gets done.

How to make a countdown animation with Filmora

You’re looking for an animated countdown timer for your website or your very first YouTube video, but you want one that stands out. You don’t want your visitors to think it’s generic or boring, so you’re thinking about how to make your countdown timer more interesting.

That’s where Filmora comes in. It’s an amazing tool that makes it easy to create countdown animations on websites or videos for almost any purpose. Let’s look at how to create your own cool, creative countdown timers using Filmora.

Step1Open Filmora and import the background video file from the media section.

Step2After importing the video, go to elements options from the top tab.

Step3After choosing elements, you’ll see the countdown tab on your left. Click on the countdown and choose any animation. You can adjust the animation duration, size, and audio.

Step4Adjust the animation duration according to the background video, and finally, export your animated countdown timer.

Pros and Cons of using Video Editing Software to make a countdown animation

Pros

• You can save any countdown effects project as a project to be used in future videos.
• You can create a vision of your brand concept in your way.
• Free templates are available according to your brand and target audience.
• More stable.

Cons

• Standard out-of-the-box video editing software isn’t enough to create a professional-quality video.

Method 2: Generate the timer with Free Online Countdown Timer Video Generators

If you’re trying to catch your audience’s attention by giving them a reason to ‘countdown’ to something, then you’ll want to use a countdown timer with some great free online countdown videos.

There are many countdown timer websites like;Biteable ,Kapwing ,Movavi ,and MakeWebVideo . But we’ve rounded up the best countdown video generator site you’ll ever see:

FlexClip

FlexClip is a powerful yet easy-to-use online video editor. Its music library is versatile and high-quality. It lets you pick and add favorite tracks without infringing worries. Apply interesting editing to make your videos look better by adding transitions, filters, text, and more.

FlexClip’s biggest advantage is its extensive amount of free media assets. Whether you’re a master or rookie with FlexClip, you’re capable of producing excellent videos with music. You can be a video guru or a video beginner. You’re capable of producing awesome videos with great sound using FlexClip.

Key Features:

• Provides a complete set of video-making processes.
• A diverse range of royalty-free music selection
• Loads of handy editing tools
• Thousands of ready-made templates
• Multiple advanced features like adding text, emoji, effects, and more

How to make a countdown animation with FlexClip

The FlexClip countdown creator is a leading video editor with many powerful features. To make your countdown video, click the Create a Video button below.

Step1Set Your Countdown Video Background

Set your timer to how long you want your message to start your countdown. Usually, it’s 10 seconds.

Then add scenes and adjust the duration of scenes to make them all length. You can use the background color to make it more appealing to your audience.

Step2Highlight Your Countdown with Animated Elements

Using the amazing elements, you can make your countdown interactive and much more fun. Just go to the sidebar and switch to the Elements options. Apply the elements you want, then customize them on size, position, and color.

Step3Add the Number to Your Countdown

Now, add the numbers for the countdown, e.g., if you want a 10-second countdown, type in the number “10”. You can pick a basic text effect and manually enter the number.

After you’ve created the number, go to the timeline and control how long the number will appear and when it will disappear.

Step4Add Music or Sound Effects to Your Countdown Video

FlexClip lets you upload your audio files from a local folder, or you can select one from FlexClip’s library. Once you’re done adding the countdown music, you can trim the duration, set it to start and end at any time, and use the fade-in/out effect to make the music match your countdown. Plus, you can also adjust the volume to make the music softer.

Step5Preview and Export Your Countdown Video

You can preview it to see how the countdown video will look in the end, finally, hit export, and you’re done!

Method 3: Make a Countdown Timer with a Graphic Design Platform

Today’s graphic design platforms give designers more options than ever before, but many designers struggle to make the most of these resources. Let us share some tips and tricks on designing a countdown timer using the tools available through Canva, a graphic design platform.

Canva

Many types of graphic design software are available, and Canva is one of the best. While its critics may disagree, Canva is an undeniable tool to help millions of business owners and marketers improve their social media graphics and redesign their brand image without needing to learn graphic design.

Key Features:

• Drag and drop feature
• Free templates
• Background Removal Tool
• Canva Brand Kit
• Magic Resizing

How to make a countdown animation with Canva

Canva offers a range of great-looking countdown templates that’ll help you create one in just a few minutes. And if you need a simple countdown animation, you can download one of their free templates. Let’s make it from scratch:

Step1Select The Background

With Canva, you get a wide range of free backgrounds. Click on the button labeled “Search.” Now choose the “light old film” background element and click Add.

Step2Enter Your Text (Number)

Then select the text tab and choose any font style, color, and size.

Step3Animate Text

Next, select the font again, and then, at the top, there’s an option for Text Animation.

Adding text animation to your countdown timer will make it more realistic and match your background better than a straight-up countdown timer.

Step4Edit The Page Timing

Next, click on the “Edit Timing” option. You can set the timer for each page as per your choice

Step5Duplicate The Page

Now, select the duplicate page option and change the number of duplicate pages from 3 to 2,1, with the same design and formatting.

Step6Export / Download Video

You’re finally done! Click the Download button to export your design.

The background of this photo is not a static image, so you cannot select the JPG, PNG, or SVG. You must choose an MP4 video or a GIF when creating an animation.

Top 10 animated countdown effects to make your video like a Pro

Animated countdown effects are a great way to add some “pizzazz” to a simple video. They look awesome and are extremely effective in creating a memorable video. When used well, they can add some excitement to a boring video. We’ll go over the top 10 animated countdown effects from Filmstock

1. Cool Countdown

1. Fitness Countdown

1. Cinematic Countdown

1. Neon Countdown

1. Cyber Countdown

1. Digital Countdown Pack

1. Big Metal Countdown

1. Glitch Countdown Transition

1. Countdown To New Year

1. Flashing Light Countdown

How to use these effects in Wondershare Filmora

You can access Filmstock directly from the Filmora application or by visiting the website:

• Create a new project by clicking Filmora Video Editor in the menu.
• Select the audio effects tab, or go to the Audio tab, title tab. You will see the film stock option.
• Click the Visit Filmstock button, and you will be taken to the Filmstock website.

• Log in to Filmstock using your Wondershare account.

• After the download, the new effects will be added to your project in the appropriate section (Audio, Title, Transitions, and Elements). You’ll also be able to preview each effect from this window.

Note: It is highly recommended to log in to Filmstock and Filmora with the same Wondershare ID.

Final Words

A countdown is a powerful tool to add suspense to your videos. It gives your audience more incentive to watch your video all the way through. Get this article, as it is the ultimate guide to making your countdown animations, plus the best video editing software, Wondershare Filmora.

Wondershare Filmora is an excellent place to be creative and make some terrific countdown timers that can improve your viewers’ overall experience. Use their templates to create a strong and engaging online presence. Your audience won’t be able to resist the mesmerizing, hypnotizing, and enthralling effects of Wondershare Filmora.

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

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

How to Make Censor Effects with Filmora

There are many aspects to consider when it comes to publishing a video. Safety and privacy aspects are some of them. If you’re looking to blur out a bystander or cut out profanities from your video with Filmora, this is the right article for you.

Part 1. How to add a beep sound to a video with Filmora

Filmora’s powerful video editing menu includes easy tweaking on audio. You can censor any part of speech you want to exclude from your video with just these simple steps.

Step1 Create a new project and import the video to Filmora.

Step2 Separate the audio component from the video by right-clicking on the video and selecting the Detach Audio option. You can now edit each of them individually.

Step3 Mark the part to place the start of the beep using the playhead and click the Split icon on the editor’s toolbar.

Step4 Place the playhead at the end of the censored segment and click Split. Double-click on the segment to open the audio editing menu, then you can remove that part of the audio or lower the volume.

Step5 Click the Audio>Audio Effects menu on the upper left corner of the screen. After you find the Beep effect, drag the track to the audio timeline and place it in between the split section. Adjust trimming and volume until the censor is placed correctly.

Part 2. How to add mosaic to video with Filmora

Whether you want to hide a passerby’s face or your own, or even other types of objects, Wondershare Filmora is ready to take on the task. While its nifty face-off function automatically follows the movement of a marked face, the mosaic effect is the fast and perfect solution for a static object in the video.

Step1 After importing a video to Filmora, tap on the Effects tab and find the Mosaic filter from the gallery.

Step2 Drag the Mosaic filter to the timeline just above the main video track.

Step3 A yellow box will appear in the viewer. You can drag and adjust its size to hide the targetted object. You can also adjust the opacity and intensity of the effect using the adjustment menu, accessible when you double-click the yellow box.

If the targetted object moves, you can set the automatic tracking before adding the mosaic filter by clicking on the Motion Tracking>Start Tracking located above the timeline. Before you place the filter, preview and adjust the tracking frame to ensure tight proof censor.

Conclusion

Wondershare Filmora offers a large array of special effects that goes beyond simply trimming, cropping, splitting, or adding transitions to your video. You can add some special effects to your video as well, such as Blur, Face-Off, Mosaic, Tilt Shift and Jump Cut at Beat. On top of completing it with audio effects, you can also add subtitles or typography easily.

With Filmora, you can always enhance your video within minutes with excellent quality.

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

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Top 7 Best GoPro Video Editors for Mac

Have you ever used or seen small box-type cameras for recording videos? Well, those are called action cameras. Action cameras are compact go. They were basically made to shoot sports or any other activities videos. They are mountable on many surfaces so you can record freely during any activity. Many of them provide 4K videos at 60 fps or higher to provide crisp video quality or low resolution at 120 or 240 fps to record smooth slow-mo videos. Most of them are waterproof and have good video stabilization so you can record any sports hassle-free.

There are many action camera companies out there in the market but the one ruling the market at the moment is GoPro. It has some best action camera models with dozens of amazing features. It can also record in RAW format and GoPro max can also shoot 360 videos.

GoPro gives amazing results but sometimes videos aren’t up to your expectations and need a little bit of refinement. From sharpening to speed ramping there are many ways to enhance your GoPro videos. And for this purpose, you need a good video editing software which has all these features plus it also supports RAW and 360 video files. Here we have mentioned some noteworthy video editing softwares for you.

Wondershare - Filmora :

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

If you are looking for professional and easy-to-use software to edit your GoPro videos then Filmora Video Editor can be the right choice for you. It has many cool features to enhance your action cam footage. From stabilization to color grading to fish eye effect all can be done in this software. It has a simple and attractive UI.

It has hundreds of effects and cool transitions. It is a paid video editor which also provides a free version to check and practice your skills on. But the main disadvantage of the free version is that it leaves a watermark on export. If you don’t want to invest money in the beginning, till then you can practice on the free version and once you are satisfied with your skills then you can upgrade to a pro version.

Pricing: Wondershare Filmora offers three different plans. Monthly one at $9.99/a month, Yearly one at $69.99, and perpetual license for $79.99 where you can own the software’s specific version for perpetual. It also provides an educational plan for students and teachers.

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

~ Features:

• It supports 4K files and a wide range of file formats.
• It has a simple UI that is suitable for beginners.
• It Supports 360 video files (in equirectangular format).
• Supports industry-standard plugins like Boris fx.
• Have features like standard motion tracking, masking, chroma key, e.t.c.
• The paid version has more features like Speed ramping, Auto-sync, keyframing, and animation.
• Have vast stock library.

~ Cons:

• The free version leaves a watermark on export.
• Have playback issues with 4k videos.
• Lacks some standard editing features.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Filmora” then select the desired aspect ratio and click “New Project’ to start editing. Click on the “Import panel” to import media files.

Edit: Drag and drop the clips to add them to the timeline. Drop the clips above or below to add them in layers. Click the top-left icon of the timeline to add layers. Select a clip and you will see a bunch of tools appear on the top bar of the timeline, use them to perform basic editing tasks like split, crop, speed ramping, keyframing, e.t.c.

Double-click on a clip to open its properties. . Click the blue “Ok” button to move back to the previous window.

Select the “Video” icon to transform the clip or to do motion tracking, stabilization, chroma-key, Masking, e.t.c.

Select the “Audio” icon to apply effects and enhance your audio.

Select the “Color” icon to do color correction and grading.

Select the “3D LUT” option to import a new customized lut.

Select the “Animation” icon to add preset animations or make custom animations by using keyframes.

Select the “Speed” icon to adjust the speed of the clip or to do speed ramping.

Click the blue “OK” button below to go back to the previous window.

Effects: On the horizontal bar at the top-left corner of the screen, all the effects, transitions, title present, and stock library are located. Drag and drop to apply them.

Export: Click the blue “Export” button to open export window, choose the desired settings than click “Export”. and don’t forget to save the project if you want to edit it again.

Free GoPro Video Editors for Mac:

If you are tight on budget but still want a professional video editor to edit your GoPro videos then here I have mentioned some free but powerful video editors. Whether you are a beginner or a professional content creator, these free softwares can get your job done.

Blackmagic - Davinchi Resolve:

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

Whether you are a freelance video editor or an industry-level filmmaker, if you want to step up your game and stand out from your competition then you need a powerful video editor to help you out and Davinchi Resolve can be the right choice for you. From sports vlogging using action cams to Hollywood filmmaking using Red cinema cameras, Davinchi Resolve can handle and edit all this footage easily and smoothly. It is even used in the making of several Hollywood projects including Marvels’s feature films.

It is one of the best color grading software available in the market. It has advanced color grading tools that can help color grade your GoPro raw videos easily as raw videos look dull but provide greater flexibility. It is a timeline-based editor but its Fusion and Color grading panel provides a Node-based editing system which is hard to use but provides great flexibility once mastered.

Resolve has 6 different pages to deal with different editing parts:

“Edit” and “Cut” pages to deal with simple editing tasks. Its “Fusion” page allows users to do VFX and 3D compositing. The “Color Grading” page has all the professional grading tools. While the “Fairlight” page is designed to edit and enhance audio. And the “Deliver” page to export your files.

All these features are available for free without even giving a watermark. Although it has a studio version that provides some additional features to get more out of this amazing software.

• Davinchi Resolve Studio:

The free version has almost everything a professional video editor needs. but you can purchase the Studio version to get some really juicy features to enhance your video editing experience. It includes the Davinci neural engine, stereoscopic 3D tools, Dolby atmos audio mastering,e.t.c.

Pricing: Studio version is available at $ 295 for a lifetime license and with free updates.

~ Features:

• It supports a 4K resolution at 60fps. (while the Studio version supports up to 32K resolution at 120 fps.)
• It is a multi-feature software that provides editing, color grading, VFX, 3D compositing, and audio editing all in one place.
• It has the most advanced and powerful Node-based color grading system, which is also used by Hollywood film studios.
• Supports Raw and 360 videos from GoPro or other action cameras.
• Supports multi-cam editing up to 16 camera angles.
• Can make Compound clips and add adjustment layers.
• Fairlight panel has professional audio production tools like waveform editing, audio ducking, and Channel mapping. (Dolby Vision mastering and 3D spatial Panning [audio editing in 3D space] are available in the Studio version.)
• Supports third-party plugins.
• Has a 3D workspace and provides a virtual set extension for 3D modeling and compositing.

~ Cons:

• Its node-based editing style is quite difficult for beginners.
• Requires a high-end workstation to run smoothly otherwise will often crash during editing.
• Its node-based editing system is hard to learn.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Davinci Resolve’. Select a previously saved project or press “New project” to start a new one. Click “File” >> “Import” >> “Media” to import files or press “CTRL + I”.

Edit: Drag and drop files to add them to the timeline Use the tools present above the timeline to trim, cut or move your clips. Click the “Inspector” icon on the top-right corner of the window to open the Inspector tab. Here you will find the properties of all the clips, audio, transitions, effects, e.t.c. There are different editing tabs at the bottom of the window.

In the “Fusion” window, click “Nodes” to open the Node screen. Import a clip or use it from the editor timeline. Usually, a clip will have two nodes connected through a line. Above the nodes panel, different types of nodes are available. Drag any node in the panel and connect it through lines. or add a “merge” node to connect nodes.

Its color grading panel also has Node based editing system.

Effects: Click “Effects Library” then select any effect and drop it in the timeline to apply it. You can change its properties in the “Inspector” panel.

Click the diamond icon on the right side of the property to start keyframing then change the value of that property to add keyframes at desired time period.

Export: Open the “Deliver” window, choose the desired settings then click “Add to Render Queue” to start exporting.

FXhome - Hitfilm Express:

It is available on Windows, Mac and Linux also.

If you are looking for a free but powerful video editor to edit your GoPro clips then Hitfilm Express can be the right choice for you. It is a free timeline-based editing software with professional-grade VFX tools. It is a timeline-based editor where you can add dozens of audio, videos, and text layers.

It has a composite shot sequence where you can do complex editing like editing 3D videos and elements, lights e.t.c. It has physic-base behaviors and effects also to enhance 3D compositing. For professional-level editing almost most of the effects and properties have keyframing options. It has different workspace modes to suit your editing needs.

It can also edit 360 videos recorded from your GoPro max. It has a “GoPro Lens Reframe” effect to adjust your 360 clips, but some 360 toolkits can only be available when you purchase Hitfilm pro or buy a 360 toolkit add-on. Similarly, you can purchase more add-ons according to your editing needs or you can purchase Hitfilm Pro to gain access to all add-ons and features. But can use these pro features for free but without exporting as exporting with a paid effect can give a watermark.

Hitfilm Pro:

Although Hitfilm express doesn’t give a watermark on export, but to use more features like 3D composition, LUTs, e.t.c you need to purchase add-ons, there are over 30+ add-ons available to purchase which you can purchase depending on your needs, but if you want to get all the features than its better to get your hands on Hitfilm Pro.

Pricing: Available for purchase at £ 309 or $ 388 for a lifetime license. With 12 months of free updates. It has 3 seat license which means It can run on 3 PCs simultaneously.

~ Features:

• It is a free editing software with no watermark.
• It can edit 3D videos and it can also import and edit 3D models and tracking data.
• It can edit 360 videos also.
• You can add effects and color grades as layers in the timeline also.
• Can add adjustment layers and create nested clips within nested clips to make complex editing easier.
• It has a motion track and locked-on stabilization features.
• Can do smooth keyframing and animation with the help of value graphs.
• It supports multi-cam editing also.
• Keyboard shortcuts make workflow quite easy and quick.

~ Cons:

• It has some playback issues while using 4K videos.
• It crashes sometimes, so it’s better to save the project frequently during editing.
• Hitfilm express doesn’t have a dark mode.
• Some common features are only available on the Pro version or add-ons.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Hitfilm”, Select “New Project” to open a blank project then click “open” to open an existing file or click “new” to create a new project. Then set project settings on pop-up then and click “ok”.

Then click the “Media” tab on the top-left corner of the screen. Then select the “Import” button to import videos, images, audio, or 3d models. You can also import previously made composite shots.

Edit: Drag and drop media files from the media tab to the timeline. or click the “New” tab to create a “Composite shot” or a solid plane layer. Right-click on the left side of the timeline to insert or delete layers. On the left side of the timeline, you will find some basic tools located on the vertical bar to do simple tasks.

In the “Viewer” tab, on the left side of the playback screen, you can find tools for masking and adding text.

In the “Controls” tab, you can adjust the properties of clips and other features related to the clip like masking, track, blend, transform, e.t.c.

Create a “Composite shot” to do complex editing like 3D compositing. Or select multiple layers then right-click and select “make Composite shot” to combine them for easy editing. Double-click the composite shot to open its contents.

Effects: From the “Effects” tab drag and drop effects on the clip to add them. Some effects can be added as layers which can affect all the layers beneath it. Properties of these effects can be adjusted in the “Control” tab.

To do keyframing, Click the circle icon on the left side of the property to start keyframing then change the values of that property to add keyframes at desired time period.

Export: Click the “Export” icon then “Export now” located at the top right side of the timeline to open the export window. The export will start automatically.

Shotcut:

It is available on Windows, Mac and Linux.

If you are making videos from your GoPro or mobile phone just for fun that doesn’t require much editing then you can look for a free and simple video editor and “Shotcut” can be the right choice for this purpose.

It is a free and open-source video editor with many cool features to get your hands on. It doesn’t have any pro version. It is simple and easy to use but takes some time to understand. It supports multi-track timeline editing. It has a basic timeline design but you can customize your timeline to meet your editing needs. It has some good color grading options, you can also import your color luts. It has many cool features and effects. It supports 360 video editing and also has a few 360 video filters. It has audio effects also.

~ Features:

• All its features are for free and it doesn’t leave any watermark.
• It supports 4K resolution and a wide range of file formats.
• It also supports 360 video files.
• Has keyframing and chroma kry features.
• It has advanced color grading features.
• It provides standard animation and keyframing features.

~ Cons:

• It is a basic video editor and lacks some professional editing features.
• Have playback issues with 4K videos.
• It does have proper text editing tools.
• It is difficult to understand as its UI is different from other familiar video editors.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Shot Cut” then click the “Open Files” button on the top-left corner of the window to import files.

Edit: Drag and drop clips on an empty timeline panel to add tracks and drag the clip from corners to trim them. Right-click on the left side of the timeline to add a video or an audio track. You will find a bunch of tools above the timeline to do some basic tasks.

You can choose from 6 different workspace designs (available in the top-right corner of the window) to suit your editing styles.

On top of the window, you will see a bunch of icons like Timeline, filter, project, and properties. e.t.c. In the properties tab, you can change the aspect ratio and speed of the clip.

Effects: Click the “Filters” icon on top of the window to open the filters menu, Click “+” above it to add filters. Double click a filter to add it to the selected clip, then click the filter to open its properties menu. You can also add text from here.

Click the “Keyframes” icon on top of the window to open the Keyframes window. Select the “clock” icon on the filters to start keyframing then change the values at a specific time to add keyframes. Click the “Timeline” icon to go back to the previous window.

Export: Click the “Export” button on the top of the screen. Select a preset or click the “Advanced” button to change export settings then click “Export File”.

Paid GoPro Video Editor for Mac:

If you are a professional athlete or a vlogger using GoPro for all of your contents and want to invest some money on paid video editors to improve your content. Then here we have mentioned some paid video editors worthy of your investment.

Apple - Final Cut Pro:

It is available for Mac only.

If you are an Apple enthusiastic person and want everything Apple, then why look for any other video editor when you can have a powerful video editor “Final cut pro” made by Apple. It is a paid but professional software that can raise your GoPro videos to the next level. Whether it’s a 360 video or a RAW file recorded from your GoPro or from the RED cinema camera, all can be edited smoothly inside Final Cut Pro. It has dozens of useful features that a professional video editor looks for like 3D tracking, Motion Graphics, Color Grading, Audio Mixing, Multi-cam editing e.t.c.

Pricing: It is a one-time purchase software available at $ 299.9 for a lifetime license and all its future updates can be downloaded free of cost.

~ Features:

• It supports up to 8K resolution.
• Support 360 and RAW video files.
• Edit videos in complete 360 and 3D spaces.
• Supports third-party video and audio plugins.
• Supports Multi-cam editing.
• Have professional color grading tools with HDR support.
• Its UI is easy to use.

~ Cons:

• It is designed for Apple devices only.
• Requires a powerful PC.
• Its UI is a bit different from other common video editors in the market.
• ~ Steps:

Import: Open “Final Cut Pro” then click the “Files” button on the top-left corner of the screen, then select “Project” to create a new project. In the “Files” menu, click “import” then “media” to import your media files. Here most of the work is done with Keyboard commands.

Edit: Drag and Drop clips on the timeline. In the viewer panel, press “I” and “O” to add input and output points then drag the clip to add only a specific part of the clip. Press “Cmd + B” to split the clip at the desired location. Or add the clips above to add the layer.

Click the “Text” icon on the top-left corner of the screen to open the text page. Choose from presets or import your own Text presets and drag them to the timeline. Click the text to open “Text Editor” on the left side of the screen.

Select multiple clips then Right-click and select “New Compound Clip” to combine them. Double-click the compound clip to edit its components.

Effects: Click 2 icons on the top-right side of the timeline to open the effects and transition panel. Drag and drop on the clip to use them. You can change their properties in the “Effects editor” tab located in the same place as “Text Editor”.

In the editor tab, click the diamond icon beside any property to start keyframing, then change its property to add keyframes at the desired time.

Press “Cmd + 6” to open the Color Grading tab, here you can color grade your clips.

Export: To export the edited video. Click “File” >> “Share” >> “Master file” to open export window. Choose the desired settings then click “Next” then “Save” to export the video.

Adobe - Premiere Pro:

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

Whether you are a content creator or not, if you use a DSLR or an action camera for the first time, then maybe the output wouldn’t meet your expectations. In order to make it good, you need a video editor. And if you will ask your gathering about a good video editor, most of them will recommend you Adobe Premiere Pro, because it is such a versatile and well-known software available in the market. It is a subscription-based video editor.

It is an industry-level software with many professional and advanced features. From beginner video editing to film compositing, all can be done in this software. Whether you have a 360 video or a 4K video in Raw format recorded from your GoPro, just import it into premiere pro and start editing. It has a downloadable “GoPro FX Reframe” plugin to edit your 360 videos. It has different panels designed to deal with specific parts of post-production such as the Effects panel, Graphics panel, Sound panel, Colour Grading panel, e.t.c.

~ Features:

• It supports up to 8K resolution.
• Have different panels to enhance different segments of post-production.
• Have an essential Effects panel to create motion effects and animations using keyframes.
• Supports hundreds of third-party extensions.
• Have useful features like warp stabilizer and denoiser.
• You can import or create your color LUTs.
• Have a creative cloud with 100 Gb of storage.
• The bundle also includes a mobile video editor and a stock library.

~ Cons:

• Real-time rendering. It will take some time to render before exporting if you work on a mid-range PC.
• Freezes or crashes sometimes.
• Cache data fill-up quickly and eats a lot of storage. (It’s better to clear it after every project)

Pricing: It is cloud-based software, therefore it can’t be purchased one time. It has a monthly subscription starting at $ 20.99/month. It includes “premiere rush” mobile video editor and 100 GB of cloud storage within the plan. It also has a “Creative cloud All apps” plan that includes all 30+ Softwares + 100Gb cloud storage along with premiere pro for $ 54.99 only. All plans also include Behance (adobe creative community), Adobe Fonts, and Adobe stock assets for free. Adobe also provides educational access at a much discounted price.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Premiere Pro”. Click “New Project” to start with then Click the “Files” button on the top-left corner of the window then select the “Import files” button to import files. Or press “CTRL + I” to import files or drag your files from their location to premiere pro.

Edit: Drag and Drop the files to add them to the timeline. Drop a file above a clip to add as a layer. or drop over a clip to overwrite it. On the right side of the timeline, you can find a bunch of tools to do basic edits like trimming, splitting, speed ramping, masking, or adding text.

In the “Effects Control” tab you can transform the selected clip or change its properties.

Select multiple clips then right-click and select “make Nested clip” to combine them into a single clip for easy editing.

Slide between 8 different workspace styles designed for specific post-production tasks by clicking the buttons available on the top of the window.

Effects: Go to the “Effects” panel on the bottom-left window to apply an effect or transitions. Here you can find all audio, video, 2D, and 3D effects. Drag and Drop on a clip to apply it. Change the properties of these effects in the “Effects Control” panel.

To color grade, your clips move to the “Color” workspace. Here you will find all the color grading features: correction, curves, color wheels, creative tab, e.t.c. To import a LUT click the “creative tab” then click “Browse” to import a LUT.

Export: To Export go to the “Files” tab on top of the screen then select the “Export” button to open the export tab. Select the desired settings then click “Export”.

Power Director 365 :

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

If you are looking for a budget-friendly video editor that is powerful enough to edit your GoPro videos like a content creator then Power director can be the right choice for you. It has many unique and useful features. It has different plugins and design centers to do specific post-production tasks like Ad designer, Multicam editor, AI style plugins, e.t.c.

It also has a separate action cam center to fix or enhance action cam videos. IT also has chapter and subtitle rooms to add subtitles and chapters for your Youtube videos or films. It also has a vast stock and preset library to speed up your project.

Pricing: It has a subscription plan which is available at $69/year. It is now available at 30% off till 22nd May,2022.

~ Features:

• It supports 4K videos and a wide range of import formats.
• Have many built-in plugins and design centers.
• Supports Multi-cam editing.
• Have an action cam center to deal with action cam footage.
• Have separate aspect ratio mode for 360 videos.
• Also, have a chapter and subtitle room. many recording aspects of the video.
• Have a content-aware editing feature that detects the recording aspects.
• Can import presets and color LUTs.
• Have a vast stock library.

~ Cons:

• Have some playback issues with 4K videos. (create shadow files to overcome this issue to an extent).
• Its UI is a little bit complicated for beginners.
• Not ideal for fast pace editing.

~ Steps:

Import: Open Power director and a pop-up will appear, select desired aspect ratio then click “Full mode” to open the software. Or select 360 aspect ratio if you want to edit 360 videos.

Click the “Import Media” icon below the Files tab in the top-left corner of the window to import files or press “CTRL + Q” to import files.

Edit: Drag and drop files to add them to any desired layer in the timeline. Click the icon on the top left corner of the timeline to add layers. When you select a clip in the timeline, some tools appear on the top timeline. Select any specific tool to edit your selected clip. Or click the “Plugins” button on the top-left of the window to open a specific designer tab.

Double-click on the clip to open ‘PIP designer”. Here you will find all the editing tools to edit or animate your clip.

After selecting a clip, in the “Plugins” menu click the “Action Camera Center” button to open an edit tab, Here you can fix your GoPro videos.

Effects: On the top-left corner of the window in a vertical bar you will find all the effects material lile Project library, titles, effects, transitions, overlays, e.t.c. Simply just drag and drop them on the timeline to use them. Here you can also do audio mixing and add subtitles and chapters.

Double click a clip or an overlay element to open the designer window. Here you can customize the clips and overlays to enhance your project.

Export: Click the blue “Produce” button on top of the screen to export your edited file. Select the desired mode and file format and add an export destination, then click “Start” to start exporting.

Which One Should I Choose Free or Paid GoPro Video Editor?

You can choose free or paid softwares depending on your requirements and budget. If a free software meets your requirements then stay on it otherwise move towards a paid alternative. If you have a GoPro and you make videos just for fun then use a free and simple video editor. Even if you are an experienced video editor, I would recommend you to go for free video editors which I have mentioned above as they are quite powerful and professional software but if you are harvesting a good amount of money from this field then you can upgrade to pro versions of these free softwares or get a paid software from start. As almost all of these softwares are professional and can get your job done, so it’s better to choose one, which is comfortable for you to work on.

FAQs about GoPro Video Editing:

1. Q) Does GoPro has its own video editor?

Yes, GoPro has its own video editor “Quik”. It is available on mobile phones and desktops both. It is simple and easy to use. It provides basic features to edit your video. But the main disadvantage of this desktop software is that it supports only GoPro videos, you can’t import files from other devices. Although this isn’t the issue with Quik mobile app, here you can import videos from other devices also.

1. Q) Can I make videos for social media with a GoPro?

It was basically made for recording sports and action videos. But as the market is revolutionized and new models are released it has covered a wide range of the video industry like vlogging, travel and cooking videos e.t.c. As new models of GoPros are waterproof, you can get some amazing underwater shots for your Instagram.

1. Q) What is GoPro media format?

GoPro export files in popular file format MP4. MP4 is the most common file format and is supported by almost all the video editors. While it is efficient and takes less storage but isn’t supported in many devices.

1. Q) How do I transfer files from my GoPro to Mac?

You can transfer your GoPro files through 3 methods:

• Eject the SD card from your GoPro and connect it to your Mac using a SD card adapter to transfer files.
• Connect your GoPro to Mac through USB connector and use “iphoto” or any other photo importer to import files.

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

~ Features:

• It supports 4K files and a wide range of file formats.
• It has a simple UI that is suitable for beginners.
• It Supports 360 video files (in equirectangular format).
• Supports industry-standard plugins like Boris fx.
• Have features like standard motion tracking, masking, chroma key, e.t.c.
• The paid version has more features like Speed ramping, Auto-sync, keyframing, and animation.
• Have vast stock library.

~ Cons:

• The free version leaves a watermark on export.
• Have playback issues with 4k videos.
• Lacks some standard editing features.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Filmora” then select the desired aspect ratio and click “New Project’ to start editing. Click on the “Import panel” to import media files.

Edit: Drag and drop the clips to add them to the timeline. Drop the clips above or below to add them in layers. Click the top-left icon of the timeline to add layers. Select a clip and you will see a bunch of tools appear on the top bar of the timeline, use them to perform basic editing tasks like split, crop, speed ramping, keyframing, e.t.c.

Double-click on a clip to open its properties. . Click the blue “Ok” button to move back to the previous window.

Select the “Video” icon to transform the clip or to do motion tracking, stabilization, chroma-key, Masking, e.t.c.

Select the “Audio” icon to apply effects and enhance your audio.

Select the “Color” icon to do color correction and grading.

Select the “3D LUT” option to import a new customized lut.

Select the “Animation” icon to add preset animations or make custom animations by using keyframes.

Select the “Speed” icon to adjust the speed of the clip or to do speed ramping.

Click the blue “OK” button below to go back to the previous window.

Effects: On the horizontal bar at the top-left corner of the screen, all the effects, transitions, title present, and stock library are located. Drag and drop to apply them.

Export: Click the blue “Export” button to open export window, choose the desired settings than click “Export”. and don’t forget to save the project if you want to edit it again.

Free GoPro Video Editors for Mac:

If you are tight on budget but still want a professional video editor to edit your GoPro videos then here I have mentioned some free but powerful video editors. Whether you are a beginner or a professional content creator, these free softwares can get your job done.

Blackmagic - Davinchi Resolve:

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

Whether you are a freelance video editor or an industry-level filmmaker, if you want to step up your game and stand out from your competition then you need a powerful video editor to help you out and Davinchi Resolve can be the right choice for you. From sports vlogging using action cams to Hollywood filmmaking using Red cinema cameras, Davinchi Resolve can handle and edit all this footage easily and smoothly. It is even used in the making of several Hollywood projects including Marvels’s feature films.

It is one of the best color grading software available in the market. It has advanced color grading tools that can help color grade your GoPro raw videos easily as raw videos look dull but provide greater flexibility. It is a timeline-based editor but its Fusion and Color grading panel provides a Node-based editing system which is hard to use but provides great flexibility once mastered.

Resolve has 6 different pages to deal with different editing parts:

“Edit” and “Cut” pages to deal with simple editing tasks. Its “Fusion” page allows users to do VFX and 3D compositing. The “Color Grading” page has all the professional grading tools. While the “Fairlight” page is designed to edit and enhance audio. And the “Deliver” page to export your files.

All these features are available for free without even giving a watermark. Although it has a studio version that provides some additional features to get more out of this amazing software.

• Davinchi Resolve Studio:

The free version has almost everything a professional video editor needs. but you can purchase the Studio version to get some really juicy features to enhance your video editing experience. It includes the Davinci neural engine, stereoscopic 3D tools, Dolby atmos audio mastering,e.t.c.

Pricing: Studio version is available at $ 295 for a lifetime license and with free updates.

~ Features:

• It supports a 4K resolution at 60fps. (while the Studio version supports up to 32K resolution at 120 fps.)
• It is a multi-feature software that provides editing, color grading, VFX, 3D compositing, and audio editing all in one place.
• It has the most advanced and powerful Node-based color grading system, which is also used by Hollywood film studios.
• Supports Raw and 360 videos from GoPro or other action cameras.
• Supports multi-cam editing up to 16 camera angles.
• Can make Compound clips and add adjustment layers.
• Fairlight panel has professional audio production tools like waveform editing, audio ducking, and Channel mapping. (Dolby Vision mastering and 3D spatial Panning [audio editing in 3D space] are available in the Studio version.)
• Supports third-party plugins.
• Has a 3D workspace and provides a virtual set extension for 3D modeling and compositing.

~ Cons:

• Its node-based editing style is quite difficult for beginners.
• Requires a high-end workstation to run smoothly otherwise will often crash during editing.
• Its node-based editing system is hard to learn.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Davinci Resolve’. Select a previously saved project or press “New project” to start a new one. Click “File” >> “Import” >> “Media” to import files or press “CTRL + I”.

Edit: Drag and drop files to add them to the timeline Use the tools present above the timeline to trim, cut or move your clips. Click the “Inspector” icon on the top-right corner of the window to open the Inspector tab. Here you will find the properties of all the clips, audio, transitions, effects, e.t.c. There are different editing tabs at the bottom of the window.

In the “Fusion” window, click “Nodes” to open the Node screen. Import a clip or use it from the editor timeline. Usually, a clip will have two nodes connected through a line. Above the nodes panel, different types of nodes are available. Drag any node in the panel and connect it through lines. or add a “merge” node to connect nodes.

Its color grading panel also has Node based editing system.

Effects: Click “Effects Library” then select any effect and drop it in the timeline to apply it. You can change its properties in the “Inspector” panel.

Click the diamond icon on the right side of the property to start keyframing then change the value of that property to add keyframes at desired time period.

Export: Open the “Deliver” window, choose the desired settings then click “Add to Render Queue” to start exporting.

FXhome - Hitfilm Express:

It is available on Windows, Mac and Linux also.

If you are looking for a free but powerful video editor to edit your GoPro clips then Hitfilm Express can be the right choice for you. It is a free timeline-based editing software with professional-grade VFX tools. It is a timeline-based editor where you can add dozens of audio, videos, and text layers.

It has a composite shot sequence where you can do complex editing like editing 3D videos and elements, lights e.t.c. It has physic-base behaviors and effects also to enhance 3D compositing. For professional-level editing almost most of the effects and properties have keyframing options. It has different workspace modes to suit your editing needs.

It can also edit 360 videos recorded from your GoPro max. It has a “GoPro Lens Reframe” effect to adjust your 360 clips, but some 360 toolkits can only be available when you purchase Hitfilm pro or buy a 360 toolkit add-on. Similarly, you can purchase more add-ons according to your editing needs or you can purchase Hitfilm Pro to gain access to all add-ons and features. But can use these pro features for free but without exporting as exporting with a paid effect can give a watermark.

Hitfilm Pro:

Although Hitfilm express doesn’t give a watermark on export, but to use more features like 3D composition, LUTs, e.t.c you need to purchase add-ons, there are over 30+ add-ons available to purchase which you can purchase depending on your needs, but if you want to get all the features than its better to get your hands on Hitfilm Pro.

Pricing: Available for purchase at £ 309 or $ 388 for a lifetime license. With 12 months of free updates. It has 3 seat license which means It can run on 3 PCs simultaneously.

~ Features:

• It is a free editing software with no watermark.
• It can edit 3D videos and it can also import and edit 3D models and tracking data.
• It can edit 360 videos also.
• You can add effects and color grades as layers in the timeline also.
• Can add adjustment layers and create nested clips within nested clips to make complex editing easier.
• It has a motion track and locked-on stabilization features.
• Can do smooth keyframing and animation with the help of value graphs.
• It supports multi-cam editing also.
• Keyboard shortcuts make workflow quite easy and quick.

~ Cons:

• It has some playback issues while using 4K videos.
• It crashes sometimes, so it’s better to save the project frequently during editing.
• Hitfilm express doesn’t have a dark mode.
• Some common features are only available on the Pro version or add-ons.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Hitfilm”, Select “New Project” to open a blank project then click “open” to open an existing file or click “new” to create a new project. Then set project settings on pop-up then and click “ok”.

Then click the “Media” tab on the top-left corner of the screen. Then select the “Import” button to import videos, images, audio, or 3d models. You can also import previously made composite shots.

Edit: Drag and drop media files from the media tab to the timeline. or click the “New” tab to create a “Composite shot” or a solid plane layer. Right-click on the left side of the timeline to insert or delete layers. On the left side of the timeline, you will find some basic tools located on the vertical bar to do simple tasks.

In the “Viewer” tab, on the left side of the playback screen, you can find tools for masking and adding text.

In the “Controls” tab, you can adjust the properties of clips and other features related to the clip like masking, track, blend, transform, e.t.c.

Create a “Composite shot” to do complex editing like 3D compositing. Or select multiple layers then right-click and select “make Composite shot” to combine them for easy editing. Double-click the composite shot to open its contents.

Effects: From the “Effects” tab drag and drop effects on the clip to add them. Some effects can be added as layers which can affect all the layers beneath it. Properties of these effects can be adjusted in the “Control” tab.

To do keyframing, Click the circle icon on the left side of the property to start keyframing then change the values of that property to add keyframes at desired time period.

Export: Click the “Export” icon then “Export now” located at the top right side of the timeline to open the export window. The export will start automatically.

Shotcut:

It is available on Windows, Mac and Linux.

If you are making videos from your GoPro or mobile phone just for fun that doesn’t require much editing then you can look for a free and simple video editor and “Shotcut” can be the right choice for this purpose.

It is a free and open-source video editor with many cool features to get your hands on. It doesn’t have any pro version. It is simple and easy to use but takes some time to understand. It supports multi-track timeline editing. It has a basic timeline design but you can customize your timeline to meet your editing needs. It has some good color grading options, you can also import your color luts. It has many cool features and effects. It supports 360 video editing and also has a few 360 video filters. It has audio effects also.

~ Features:

• All its features are for free and it doesn’t leave any watermark.
• It supports 4K resolution and a wide range of file formats.
• It also supports 360 video files.
• Has keyframing and chroma kry features.
• It has advanced color grading features.
• It provides standard animation and keyframing features.

~ Cons:

• It is a basic video editor and lacks some professional editing features.
• Have playback issues with 4K videos.
• It does have proper text editing tools.
• It is difficult to understand as its UI is different from other familiar video editors.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Shot Cut” then click the “Open Files” button on the top-left corner of the window to import files.

Edit: Drag and drop clips on an empty timeline panel to add tracks and drag the clip from corners to trim them. Right-click on the left side of the timeline to add a video or an audio track. You will find a bunch of tools above the timeline to do some basic tasks.

You can choose from 6 different workspace designs (available in the top-right corner of the window) to suit your editing styles.

On top of the window, you will see a bunch of icons like Timeline, filter, project, and properties. e.t.c. In the properties tab, you can change the aspect ratio and speed of the clip.

Effects: Click the “Filters” icon on top of the window to open the filters menu, Click “+” above it to add filters. Double click a filter to add it to the selected clip, then click the filter to open its properties menu. You can also add text from here.

Click the “Keyframes” icon on top of the window to open the Keyframes window. Select the “clock” icon on the filters to start keyframing then change the values at a specific time to add keyframes. Click the “Timeline” icon to go back to the previous window.

Export: Click the “Export” button on the top of the screen. Select a preset or click the “Advanced” button to change export settings then click “Export File”.

Paid GoPro Video Editor for Mac:

If you are a professional athlete or a vlogger using GoPro for all of your contents and want to invest some money on paid video editors to improve your content. Then here we have mentioned some paid video editors worthy of your investment.

Apple - Final Cut Pro:

It is available for Mac only.

If you are an Apple enthusiastic person and want everything Apple, then why look for any other video editor when you can have a powerful video editor “Final cut pro” made by Apple. It is a paid but professional software that can raise your GoPro videos to the next level. Whether it’s a 360 video or a RAW file recorded from your GoPro or from the RED cinema camera, all can be edited smoothly inside Final Cut Pro. It has dozens of useful features that a professional video editor looks for like 3D tracking, Motion Graphics, Color Grading, Audio Mixing, Multi-cam editing e.t.c.

Pricing: It is a one-time purchase software available at $ 299.9 for a lifetime license and all its future updates can be downloaded free of cost.

~ Features:

• It supports up to 8K resolution.
• Support 360 and RAW video files.
• Edit videos in complete 360 and 3D spaces.
• Supports third-party video and audio plugins.
• Supports Multi-cam editing.
• Have professional color grading tools with HDR support.
• Its UI is easy to use.

~ Cons:

• It is designed for Apple devices only.
• Requires a powerful PC.
• Its UI is a bit different from other common video editors in the market.
• ~ Steps:

Import: Open “Final Cut Pro” then click the “Files” button on the top-left corner of the screen, then select “Project” to create a new project. In the “Files” menu, click “import” then “media” to import your media files. Here most of the work is done with Keyboard commands.

Edit: Drag and Drop clips on the timeline. In the viewer panel, press “I” and “O” to add input and output points then drag the clip to add only a specific part of the clip. Press “Cmd + B” to split the clip at the desired location. Or add the clips above to add the layer.

Click the “Text” icon on the top-left corner of the screen to open the text page. Choose from presets or import your own Text presets and drag them to the timeline. Click the text to open “Text Editor” on the left side of the screen.

Select multiple clips then Right-click and select “New Compound Clip” to combine them. Double-click the compound clip to edit its components.

Effects: Click 2 icons on the top-right side of the timeline to open the effects and transition panel. Drag and drop on the clip to use them. You can change their properties in the “Effects editor” tab located in the same place as “Text Editor”.

In the editor tab, click the diamond icon beside any property to start keyframing, then change its property to add keyframes at the desired time.

Press “Cmd + 6” to open the Color Grading tab, here you can color grade your clips.

Export: To export the edited video. Click “File” >> “Share” >> “Master file” to open export window. Choose the desired settings then click “Next” then “Save” to export the video.

Adobe - Premiere Pro:

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

Whether you are a content creator or not, if you use a DSLR or an action camera for the first time, then maybe the output wouldn’t meet your expectations. In order to make it good, you need a video editor. And if you will ask your gathering about a good video editor, most of them will recommend you Adobe Premiere Pro, because it is such a versatile and well-known software available in the market. It is a subscription-based video editor.

It is an industry-level software with many professional and advanced features. From beginner video editing to film compositing, all can be done in this software. Whether you have a 360 video or a 4K video in Raw format recorded from your GoPro, just import it into premiere pro and start editing. It has a downloadable “GoPro FX Reframe” plugin to edit your 360 videos. It has different panels designed to deal with specific parts of post-production such as the Effects panel, Graphics panel, Sound panel, Colour Grading panel, e.t.c.

~ Features:

• It supports up to 8K resolution.
• Have different panels to enhance different segments of post-production.
• Have an essential Effects panel to create motion effects and animations using keyframes.
• Supports hundreds of third-party extensions.
• Have useful features like warp stabilizer and denoiser.
• You can import or create your color LUTs.
• Have a creative cloud with 100 Gb of storage.
• The bundle also includes a mobile video editor and a stock library.

~ Cons:

• Real-time rendering. It will take some time to render before exporting if you work on a mid-range PC.
• Freezes or crashes sometimes.
• Cache data fill-up quickly and eats a lot of storage. (It’s better to clear it after every project)

Pricing: It is cloud-based software, therefore it can’t be purchased one time. It has a monthly subscription starting at $ 20.99/month. It includes “premiere rush” mobile video editor and 100 GB of cloud storage within the plan. It also has a “Creative cloud All apps” plan that includes all 30+ Softwares + 100Gb cloud storage along with premiere pro for $ 54.99 only. All plans also include Behance (adobe creative community), Adobe Fonts, and Adobe stock assets for free. Adobe also provides educational access at a much discounted price.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Premiere Pro”. Click “New Project” to start with then Click the “Files” button on the top-left corner of the window then select the “Import files” button to import files. Or press “CTRL + I” to import files or drag your files from their location to premiere pro.

Edit: Drag and Drop the files to add them to the timeline. Drop a file above a clip to add as a layer. or drop over a clip to overwrite it. On the right side of the timeline, you can find a bunch of tools to do basic edits like trimming, splitting, speed ramping, masking, or adding text.

In the “Effects Control” tab you can transform the selected clip or change its properties.

Select multiple clips then right-click and select “make Nested clip” to combine them into a single clip for easy editing.

Slide between 8 different workspace styles designed for specific post-production tasks by clicking the buttons available on the top of the window.

Effects: Go to the “Effects” panel on the bottom-left window to apply an effect or transitions. Here you can find all audio, video, 2D, and 3D effects. Drag and Drop on a clip to apply it. Change the properties of these effects in the “Effects Control” panel.

To color grade, your clips move to the “Color” workspace. Here you will find all the color grading features: correction, curves, color wheels, creative tab, e.t.c. To import a LUT click the “creative tab” then click “Browse” to import a LUT.

Export: To Export go to the “Files” tab on top of the screen then select the “Export” button to open the export tab. Select the desired settings then click “Export”.

Power Director 365 :

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

If you are looking for a budget-friendly video editor that is powerful enough to edit your GoPro videos like a content creator then Power director can be the right choice for you. It has many unique and useful features. It has different plugins and design centers to do specific post-production tasks like Ad designer, Multicam editor, AI style plugins, e.t.c.

It also has a separate action cam center to fix or enhance action cam videos. IT also has chapter and subtitle rooms to add subtitles and chapters for your Youtube videos or films. It also has a vast stock and preset library to speed up your project.

Pricing: It has a subscription plan which is available at $69/year. It is now available at 30% off till 22nd May,2022.

~ Features:

• It supports 4K videos and a wide range of import formats.
• Have many built-in plugins and design centers.
• Supports Multi-cam editing.
• Have an action cam center to deal with action cam footage.
• Have separate aspect ratio mode for 360 videos.
• Also, have a chapter and subtitle room. many recording aspects of the video.
• Have a content-aware editing feature that detects the recording aspects.
• Can import presets and color LUTs.
• Have a vast stock library.

~ Cons:

• Have some playback issues with 4K videos. (create shadow files to overcome this issue to an extent).
• Its UI is a little bit complicated for beginners.
• Not ideal for fast pace editing.

~ Steps:

Import: Open Power director and a pop-up will appear, select desired aspect ratio then click “Full mode” to open the software. Or select 360 aspect ratio if you want to edit 360 videos.

Click the “Import Media” icon below the Files tab in the top-left corner of the window to import files or press “CTRL + Q” to import files.

Edit: Drag and drop files to add them to any desired layer in the timeline. Click the icon on the top left corner of the timeline to add layers. When you select a clip in the timeline, some tools appear on the top timeline. Select any specific tool to edit your selected clip. Or click the “Plugins” button on the top-left of the window to open a specific designer tab.

Double-click on the clip to open ‘PIP designer”. Here you will find all the editing tools to edit or animate your clip.

After selecting a clip, in the “Plugins” menu click the “Action Camera Center” button to open an edit tab, Here you can fix your GoPro videos.

Effects: On the top-left corner of the window in a vertical bar you will find all the effects material lile Project library, titles, effects, transitions, overlays, e.t.c. Simply just drag and drop them on the timeline to use them. Here you can also do audio mixing and add subtitles and chapters.

Double click a clip or an overlay element to open the designer window. Here you can customize the clips and overlays to enhance your project.

Export: Click the blue “Produce” button on top of the screen to export your edited file. Select the desired mode and file format and add an export destination, then click “Start” to start exporting.

Which One Should I Choose Free or Paid GoPro Video Editor?

You can choose free or paid softwares depending on your requirements and budget. If a free software meets your requirements then stay on it otherwise move towards a paid alternative. If you have a GoPro and you make videos just for fun then use a free and simple video editor. Even if you are an experienced video editor, I would recommend you to go for free video editors which I have mentioned above as they are quite powerful and professional software but if you are harvesting a good amount of money from this field then you can upgrade to pro versions of these free softwares or get a paid software from start. As almost all of these softwares are professional and can get your job done, so it’s better to choose one, which is comfortable for you to work on.

FAQs about GoPro Video Editing:

1. Q) Does GoPro has its own video editor?

Yes, GoPro has its own video editor “Quik”. It is available on mobile phones and desktops both. It is simple and easy to use. It provides basic features to edit your video. But the main disadvantage of this desktop software is that it supports only GoPro videos, you can’t import files from other devices. Although this isn’t the issue with Quik mobile app, here you can import videos from other devices also.

1. Q) Can I make videos for social media with a GoPro?

It was basically made for recording sports and action videos. But as the market is revolutionized and new models are released it has covered a wide range of the video industry like vlogging, travel and cooking videos e.t.c. As new models of GoPros are waterproof, you can get some amazing underwater shots for your Instagram.

1. Q) What is GoPro media format?

GoPro export files in popular file format MP4. MP4 is the most common file format and is supported by almost all the video editors. While it is efficient and takes less storage but isn’t supported in many devices.

1. Q) How do I transfer files from my GoPro to Mac?

You can transfer your GoPro files through 3 methods:

• Eject the SD card from your GoPro and connect it to your Mac using a SD card adapter to transfer files.
• Connect your GoPro to Mac through USB connector and use “iphoto” or any other photo importer to import files.

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

~ Features:

• It supports 4K files and a wide range of file formats.
• It has a simple UI that is suitable for beginners.
• It Supports 360 video files (in equirectangular format).
• Supports industry-standard plugins like Boris fx.
• Have features like standard motion tracking, masking, chroma key, e.t.c.
• The paid version has more features like Speed ramping, Auto-sync, keyframing, and animation.
• Have vast stock library.

~ Cons:

• The free version leaves a watermark on export.
• Have playback issues with 4k videos.
• Lacks some standard editing features.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Filmora” then select the desired aspect ratio and click “New Project’ to start editing. Click on the “Import panel” to import media files.

Edit: Drag and drop the clips to add them to the timeline. Drop the clips above or below to add them in layers. Click the top-left icon of the timeline to add layers. Select a clip and you will see a bunch of tools appear on the top bar of the timeline, use them to perform basic editing tasks like split, crop, speed ramping, keyframing, e.t.c.

Double-click on a clip to open its properties. . Click the blue “Ok” button to move back to the previous window.

Select the “Video” icon to transform the clip or to do motion tracking, stabilization, chroma-key, Masking, e.t.c.

Select the “Audio” icon to apply effects and enhance your audio.

Select the “Color” icon to do color correction and grading.

Select the “3D LUT” option to import a new customized lut.

Select the “Animation” icon to add preset animations or make custom animations by using keyframes.

Select the “Speed” icon to adjust the speed of the clip or to do speed ramping.

Click the blue “OK” button below to go back to the previous window.

Effects: On the horizontal bar at the top-left corner of the screen, all the effects, transitions, title present, and stock library are located. Drag and drop to apply them.

Export: Click the blue “Export” button to open export window, choose the desired settings than click “Export”. and don’t forget to save the project if you want to edit it again.

Free GoPro Video Editors for Mac:

If you are tight on budget but still want a professional video editor to edit your GoPro videos then here I have mentioned some free but powerful video editors. Whether you are a beginner or a professional content creator, these free softwares can get your job done.

Blackmagic - Davinchi Resolve:

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

Whether you are a freelance video editor or an industry-level filmmaker, if you want to step up your game and stand out from your competition then you need a powerful video editor to help you out and Davinchi Resolve can be the right choice for you. From sports vlogging using action cams to Hollywood filmmaking using Red cinema cameras, Davinchi Resolve can handle and edit all this footage easily and smoothly. It is even used in the making of several Hollywood projects including Marvels’s feature films.

It is one of the best color grading software available in the market. It has advanced color grading tools that can help color grade your GoPro raw videos easily as raw videos look dull but provide greater flexibility. It is a timeline-based editor but its Fusion and Color grading panel provides a Node-based editing system which is hard to use but provides great flexibility once mastered.

Resolve has 6 different pages to deal with different editing parts:

“Edit” and “Cut” pages to deal with simple editing tasks. Its “Fusion” page allows users to do VFX and 3D compositing. The “Color Grading” page has all the professional grading tools. While the “Fairlight” page is designed to edit and enhance audio. And the “Deliver” page to export your files.

All these features are available for free without even giving a watermark. Although it has a studio version that provides some additional features to get more out of this amazing software.

• Davinchi Resolve Studio:

The free version has almost everything a professional video editor needs. but you can purchase the Studio version to get some really juicy features to enhance your video editing experience. It includes the Davinci neural engine, stereoscopic 3D tools, Dolby atmos audio mastering,e.t.c.

Pricing: Studio version is available at $ 295 for a lifetime license and with free updates.

~ Features:

• It supports a 4K resolution at 60fps. (while the Studio version supports up to 32K resolution at 120 fps.)
• It is a multi-feature software that provides editing, color grading, VFX, 3D compositing, and audio editing all in one place.
• It has the most advanced and powerful Node-based color grading system, which is also used by Hollywood film studios.
• Supports Raw and 360 videos from GoPro or other action cameras.
• Supports multi-cam editing up to 16 camera angles.
• Can make Compound clips and add adjustment layers.
• Fairlight panel has professional audio production tools like waveform editing, audio ducking, and Channel mapping. (Dolby Vision mastering and 3D spatial Panning [audio editing in 3D space] are available in the Studio version.)
• Supports third-party plugins.
• Has a 3D workspace and provides a virtual set extension for 3D modeling and compositing.

~ Cons:

• Its node-based editing style is quite difficult for beginners.
• Requires a high-end workstation to run smoothly otherwise will often crash during editing.
• Its node-based editing system is hard to learn.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Davinci Resolve’. Select a previously saved project or press “New project” to start a new one. Click “File” >> “Import” >> “Media” to import files or press “CTRL + I”.

Edit: Drag and drop files to add them to the timeline Use the tools present above the timeline to trim, cut or move your clips. Click the “Inspector” icon on the top-right corner of the window to open the Inspector tab. Here you will find the properties of all the clips, audio, transitions, effects, e.t.c. There are different editing tabs at the bottom of the window.

In the “Fusion” window, click “Nodes” to open the Node screen. Import a clip or use it from the editor timeline. Usually, a clip will have two nodes connected through a line. Above the nodes panel, different types of nodes are available. Drag any node in the panel and connect it through lines. or add a “merge” node to connect nodes.

Its color grading panel also has Node based editing system.

Effects: Click “Effects Library” then select any effect and drop it in the timeline to apply it. You can change its properties in the “Inspector” panel.

Click the diamond icon on the right side of the property to start keyframing then change the value of that property to add keyframes at desired time period.

Export: Open the “Deliver” window, choose the desired settings then click “Add to Render Queue” to start exporting.

FXhome - Hitfilm Express:

It is available on Windows, Mac and Linux also.

If you are looking for a free but powerful video editor to edit your GoPro clips then Hitfilm Express can be the right choice for you. It is a free timeline-based editing software with professional-grade VFX tools. It is a timeline-based editor where you can add dozens of audio, videos, and text layers.

It has a composite shot sequence where you can do complex editing like editing 3D videos and elements, lights e.t.c. It has physic-base behaviors and effects also to enhance 3D compositing. For professional-level editing almost most of the effects and properties have keyframing options. It has different workspace modes to suit your editing needs.

It can also edit 360 videos recorded from your GoPro max. It has a “GoPro Lens Reframe” effect to adjust your 360 clips, but some 360 toolkits can only be available when you purchase Hitfilm pro or buy a 360 toolkit add-on. Similarly, you can purchase more add-ons according to your editing needs or you can purchase Hitfilm Pro to gain access to all add-ons and features. But can use these pro features for free but without exporting as exporting with a paid effect can give a watermark.

Hitfilm Pro:

Although Hitfilm express doesn’t give a watermark on export, but to use more features like 3D composition, LUTs, e.t.c you need to purchase add-ons, there are over 30+ add-ons available to purchase which you can purchase depending on your needs, but if you want to get all the features than its better to get your hands on Hitfilm Pro.

Pricing: Available for purchase at £ 309 or $ 388 for a lifetime license. With 12 months of free updates. It has 3 seat license which means It can run on 3 PCs simultaneously.

~ Features:

• It is a free editing software with no watermark.
• It can edit 3D videos and it can also import and edit 3D models and tracking data.
• It can edit 360 videos also.
• You can add effects and color grades as layers in the timeline also.
• Can add adjustment layers and create nested clips within nested clips to make complex editing easier.
• It has a motion track and locked-on stabilization features.
• Can do smooth keyframing and animation with the help of value graphs.
• It supports multi-cam editing also.
• Keyboard shortcuts make workflow quite easy and quick.

~ Cons:

• It has some playback issues while using 4K videos.
• It crashes sometimes, so it’s better to save the project frequently during editing.
• Hitfilm express doesn’t have a dark mode.
• Some common features are only available on the Pro version or add-ons.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Hitfilm”, Select “New Project” to open a blank project then click “open” to open an existing file or click “new” to create a new project. Then set project settings on pop-up then and click “ok”.

Then click the “Media” tab on the top-left corner of the screen. Then select the “Import” button to import videos, images, audio, or 3d models. You can also import previously made composite shots.

Edit: Drag and drop media files from the media tab to the timeline. or click the “New” tab to create a “Composite shot” or a solid plane layer. Right-click on the left side of the timeline to insert or delete layers. On the left side of the timeline, you will find some basic tools located on the vertical bar to do simple tasks.

In the “Viewer” tab, on the left side of the playback screen, you can find tools for masking and adding text.

In the “Controls” tab, you can adjust the properties of clips and other features related to the clip like masking, track, blend, transform, e.t.c.

Create a “Composite shot” to do complex editing like 3D compositing. Or select multiple layers then right-click and select “make Composite shot” to combine them for easy editing. Double-click the composite shot to open its contents.

Effects: From the “Effects” tab drag and drop effects on the clip to add them. Some effects can be added as layers which can affect all the layers beneath it. Properties of these effects can be adjusted in the “Control” tab.

To do keyframing, Click the circle icon on the left side of the property to start keyframing then change the values of that property to add keyframes at desired time period.

Export: Click the “Export” icon then “Export now” located at the top right side of the timeline to open the export window. The export will start automatically.

Shotcut:

It is available on Windows, Mac and Linux.

If you are making videos from your GoPro or mobile phone just for fun that doesn’t require much editing then you can look for a free and simple video editor and “Shotcut” can be the right choice for this purpose.

It is a free and open-source video editor with many cool features to get your hands on. It doesn’t have any pro version. It is simple and easy to use but takes some time to understand. It supports multi-track timeline editing. It has a basic timeline design but you can customize your timeline to meet your editing needs. It has some good color grading options, you can also import your color luts. It has many cool features and effects. It supports 360 video editing and also has a few 360 video filters. It has audio effects also.

~ Features:

• All its features are for free and it doesn’t leave any watermark.
• It supports 4K resolution and a wide range of file formats.
• It also supports 360 video files.
• Has keyframing and chroma kry features.
• It has advanced color grading features.
• It provides standard animation and keyframing features.

~ Cons:

• It is a basic video editor and lacks some professional editing features.
• Have playback issues with 4K videos.
• It does have proper text editing tools.
• It is difficult to understand as its UI is different from other familiar video editors.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Shot Cut” then click the “Open Files” button on the top-left corner of the window to import files.

Edit: Drag and drop clips on an empty timeline panel to add tracks and drag the clip from corners to trim them. Right-click on the left side of the timeline to add a video or an audio track. You will find a bunch of tools above the timeline to do some basic tasks.

You can choose from 6 different workspace designs (available in the top-right corner of the window) to suit your editing styles.

On top of the window, you will see a bunch of icons like Timeline, filter, project, and properties. e.t.c. In the properties tab, you can change the aspect ratio and speed of the clip.

Effects: Click the “Filters” icon on top of the window to open the filters menu, Click “+” above it to add filters. Double click a filter to add it to the selected clip, then click the filter to open its properties menu. You can also add text from here.

Click the “Keyframes” icon on top of the window to open the Keyframes window. Select the “clock” icon on the filters to start keyframing then change the values at a specific time to add keyframes. Click the “Timeline” icon to go back to the previous window.

Export: Click the “Export” button on the top of the screen. Select a preset or click the “Advanced” button to change export settings then click “Export File”.

Paid GoPro Video Editor for Mac:

If you are a professional athlete or a vlogger using GoPro for all of your contents and want to invest some money on paid video editors to improve your content. Then here we have mentioned some paid video editors worthy of your investment.

Apple - Final Cut Pro:

It is available for Mac only.

If you are an Apple enthusiastic person and want everything Apple, then why look for any other video editor when you can have a powerful video editor “Final cut pro” made by Apple. It is a paid but professional software that can raise your GoPro videos to the next level. Whether it’s a 360 video or a RAW file recorded from your GoPro or from the RED cinema camera, all can be edited smoothly inside Final Cut Pro. It has dozens of useful features that a professional video editor looks for like 3D tracking, Motion Graphics, Color Grading, Audio Mixing, Multi-cam editing e.t.c.

Pricing: It is a one-time purchase software available at $ 299.9 for a lifetime license and all its future updates can be downloaded free of cost.

~ Features:

• It supports up to 8K resolution.
• Support 360 and RAW video files.
• Edit videos in complete 360 and 3D spaces.
• Supports third-party video and audio plugins.
• Supports Multi-cam editing.
• Have professional color grading tools with HDR support.
• Its UI is easy to use.

~ Cons:

• It is designed for Apple devices only.
• Requires a powerful PC.
• Its UI is a bit different from other common video editors in the market.
• ~ Steps:

Import: Open “Final Cut Pro” then click the “Files” button on the top-left corner of the screen, then select “Project” to create a new project. In the “Files” menu, click “import” then “media” to import your media files. Here most of the work is done with Keyboard commands.

Edit: Drag and Drop clips on the timeline. In the viewer panel, press “I” and “O” to add input and output points then drag the clip to add only a specific part of the clip. Press “Cmd + B” to split the clip at the desired location. Or add the clips above to add the layer.

Click the “Text” icon on the top-left corner of the screen to open the text page. Choose from presets or import your own Text presets and drag them to the timeline. Click the text to open “Text Editor” on the left side of the screen.

Select multiple clips then Right-click and select “New Compound Clip” to combine them. Double-click the compound clip to edit its components.

Effects: Click 2 icons on the top-right side of the timeline to open the effects and transition panel. Drag and drop on the clip to use them. You can change their properties in the “Effects editor” tab located in the same place as “Text Editor”.

In the editor tab, click the diamond icon beside any property to start keyframing, then change its property to add keyframes at the desired time.

Press “Cmd + 6” to open the Color Grading tab, here you can color grade your clips.

Export: To export the edited video. Click “File” >> “Share” >> “Master file” to open export window. Choose the desired settings then click “Next” then “Save” to export the video.

Adobe - Premiere Pro:

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

Whether you are a content creator or not, if you use a DSLR or an action camera for the first time, then maybe the output wouldn’t meet your expectations. In order to make it good, you need a video editor. And if you will ask your gathering about a good video editor, most of them will recommend you Adobe Premiere Pro, because it is such a versatile and well-known software available in the market. It is a subscription-based video editor.

It is an industry-level software with many professional and advanced features. From beginner video editing to film compositing, all can be done in this software. Whether you have a 360 video or a 4K video in Raw format recorded from your GoPro, just import it into premiere pro and start editing. It has a downloadable “GoPro FX Reframe” plugin to edit your 360 videos. It has different panels designed to deal with specific parts of post-production such as the Effects panel, Graphics panel, Sound panel, Colour Grading panel, e.t.c.

~ Features:

• It supports up to 8K resolution.
• Have different panels to enhance different segments of post-production.
• Have an essential Effects panel to create motion effects and animations using keyframes.
• Supports hundreds of third-party extensions.
• Have useful features like warp stabilizer and denoiser.
• You can import or create your color LUTs.
• Have a creative cloud with 100 Gb of storage.
• The bundle also includes a mobile video editor and a stock library.

~ Cons:

• Real-time rendering. It will take some time to render before exporting if you work on a mid-range PC.
• Freezes or crashes sometimes.
• Cache data fill-up quickly and eats a lot of storage. (It’s better to clear it after every project)

Pricing: It is cloud-based software, therefore it can’t be purchased one time. It has a monthly subscription starting at $ 20.99/month. It includes “premiere rush” mobile video editor and 100 GB of cloud storage within the plan. It also has a “Creative cloud All apps” plan that includes all 30+ Softwares + 100Gb cloud storage along with premiere pro for $ 54.99 only. All plans also include Behance (adobe creative community), Adobe Fonts, and Adobe stock assets for free. Adobe also provides educational access at a much discounted price.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Premiere Pro”. Click “New Project” to start with then Click the “Files” button on the top-left corner of the window then select the “Import files” button to import files. Or press “CTRL + I” to import files or drag your files from their location to premiere pro.

Edit: Drag and Drop the files to add them to the timeline. Drop a file above a clip to add as a layer. or drop over a clip to overwrite it. On the right side of the timeline, you can find a bunch of tools to do basic edits like trimming, splitting, speed ramping, masking, or adding text.

In the “Effects Control” tab you can transform the selected clip or change its properties.

Select multiple clips then right-click and select “make Nested clip” to combine them into a single clip for easy editing.

Slide between 8 different workspace styles designed for specific post-production tasks by clicking the buttons available on the top of the window.

Effects: Go to the “Effects” panel on the bottom-left window to apply an effect or transitions. Here you can find all audio, video, 2D, and 3D effects. Drag and Drop on a clip to apply it. Change the properties of these effects in the “Effects Control” panel.

To color grade, your clips move to the “Color” workspace. Here you will find all the color grading features: correction, curves, color wheels, creative tab, e.t.c. To import a LUT click the “creative tab” then click “Browse” to import a LUT.

Export: To Export go to the “Files” tab on top of the screen then select the “Export” button to open the export tab. Select the desired settings then click “Export”.

Power Director 365 :

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

If you are looking for a budget-friendly video editor that is powerful enough to edit your GoPro videos like a content creator then Power director can be the right choice for you. It has many unique and useful features. It has different plugins and design centers to do specific post-production tasks like Ad designer, Multicam editor, AI style plugins, e.t.c.

It also has a separate action cam center to fix or enhance action cam videos. IT also has chapter and subtitle rooms to add subtitles and chapters for your Youtube videos or films. It also has a vast stock and preset library to speed up your project.

Pricing: It has a subscription plan which is available at $69/year. It is now available at 30% off till 22nd May,2022.

~ Features:

• It supports 4K videos and a wide range of import formats.
• Have many built-in plugins and design centers.
• Supports Multi-cam editing.
• Have an action cam center to deal with action cam footage.
• Have separate aspect ratio mode for 360 videos.
• Also, have a chapter and subtitle room. many recording aspects of the video.
• Have a content-aware editing feature that detects the recording aspects.
• Can import presets and color LUTs.
• Have a vast stock library.

~ Cons:

• Have some playback issues with 4K videos. (create shadow files to overcome this issue to an extent).
• Its UI is a little bit complicated for beginners.
• Not ideal for fast pace editing.

~ Steps:

Import: Open Power director and a pop-up will appear, select desired aspect ratio then click “Full mode” to open the software. Or select 360 aspect ratio if you want to edit 360 videos.

Click the “Import Media” icon below the Files tab in the top-left corner of the window to import files or press “CTRL + Q” to import files.

Edit: Drag and drop files to add them to any desired layer in the timeline. Click the icon on the top left corner of the timeline to add layers. When you select a clip in the timeline, some tools appear on the top timeline. Select any specific tool to edit your selected clip. Or click the “Plugins” button on the top-left of the window to open a specific designer tab.

Double-click on the clip to open ‘PIP designer”. Here you will find all the editing tools to edit or animate your clip.

After selecting a clip, in the “Plugins” menu click the “Action Camera Center” button to open an edit tab, Here you can fix your GoPro videos.

Effects: On the top-left corner of the window in a vertical bar you will find all the effects material lile Project library, titles, effects, transitions, overlays, e.t.c. Simply just drag and drop them on the timeline to use them. Here you can also do audio mixing and add subtitles and chapters.

Double click a clip or an overlay element to open the designer window. Here you can customize the clips and overlays to enhance your project.

Export: Click the blue “Produce” button on top of the screen to export your edited file. Select the desired mode and file format and add an export destination, then click “Start” to start exporting.

Which One Should I Choose Free or Paid GoPro Video Editor?

You can choose free or paid softwares depending on your requirements and budget. If a free software meets your requirements then stay on it otherwise move towards a paid alternative. If you have a GoPro and you make videos just for fun then use a free and simple video editor. Even if you are an experienced video editor, I would recommend you to go for free video editors which I have mentioned above as they are quite powerful and professional software but if you are harvesting a good amount of money from this field then you can upgrade to pro versions of these free softwares or get a paid software from start. As almost all of these softwares are professional and can get your job done, so it’s better to choose one, which is comfortable for you to work on.

FAQs about GoPro Video Editing:

1. Q) Does GoPro has its own video editor?

Yes, GoPro has its own video editor “Quik”. It is available on mobile phones and desktops both. It is simple and easy to use. It provides basic features to edit your video. But the main disadvantage of this desktop software is that it supports only GoPro videos, you can’t import files from other devices. Although this isn’t the issue with Quik mobile app, here you can import videos from other devices also.

1. Q) Can I make videos for social media with a GoPro?

It was basically made for recording sports and action videos. But as the market is revolutionized and new models are released it has covered a wide range of the video industry like vlogging, travel and cooking videos e.t.c. As new models of GoPros are waterproof, you can get some amazing underwater shots for your Instagram.

1. Q) What is GoPro media format?

GoPro export files in popular file format MP4. MP4 is the most common file format and is supported by almost all the video editors. While it is efficient and takes less storage but isn’t supported in many devices.

1. Q) How do I transfer files from my GoPro to Mac?

You can transfer your GoPro files through 3 methods:

• Eject the SD card from your GoPro and connect it to your Mac using a SD card adapter to transfer files.
• Connect your GoPro to Mac through USB connector and use “iphoto” or any other photo importer to import files.

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

~ Features:

• It supports 4K files and a wide range of file formats.
• It has a simple UI that is suitable for beginners.
• It Supports 360 video files (in equirectangular format).
• Supports industry-standard plugins like Boris fx.
• Have features like standard motion tracking, masking, chroma key, e.t.c.
• The paid version has more features like Speed ramping, Auto-sync, keyframing, and animation.
• Have vast stock library.

~ Cons:

• The free version leaves a watermark on export.
• Have playback issues with 4k videos.
• Lacks some standard editing features.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Filmora” then select the desired aspect ratio and click “New Project’ to start editing. Click on the “Import panel” to import media files.

Edit: Drag and drop the clips to add them to the timeline. Drop the clips above or below to add them in layers. Click the top-left icon of the timeline to add layers. Select a clip and you will see a bunch of tools appear on the top bar of the timeline, use them to perform basic editing tasks like split, crop, speed ramping, keyframing, e.t.c.

Double-click on a clip to open its properties. . Click the blue “Ok” button to move back to the previous window.

Select the “Video” icon to transform the clip or to do motion tracking, stabilization, chroma-key, Masking, e.t.c.

Select the “Audio” icon to apply effects and enhance your audio.

Select the “Color” icon to do color correction and grading.

Select the “3D LUT” option to import a new customized lut.

Select the “Animation” icon to add preset animations or make custom animations by using keyframes.

Select the “Speed” icon to adjust the speed of the clip or to do speed ramping.

Click the blue “OK” button below to go back to the previous window.

Effects: On the horizontal bar at the top-left corner of the screen, all the effects, transitions, title present, and stock library are located. Drag and drop to apply them.

Export: Click the blue “Export” button to open export window, choose the desired settings than click “Export”. and don’t forget to save the project if you want to edit it again.

Free GoPro Video Editors for Mac:

If you are tight on budget but still want a professional video editor to edit your GoPro videos then here I have mentioned some free but powerful video editors. Whether you are a beginner or a professional content creator, these free softwares can get your job done.

Blackmagic - Davinchi Resolve:

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

Whether you are a freelance video editor or an industry-level filmmaker, if you want to step up your game and stand out from your competition then you need a powerful video editor to help you out and Davinchi Resolve can be the right choice for you. From sports vlogging using action cams to Hollywood filmmaking using Red cinema cameras, Davinchi Resolve can handle and edit all this footage easily and smoothly. It is even used in the making of several Hollywood projects including Marvels’s feature films.

It is one of the best color grading software available in the market. It has advanced color grading tools that can help color grade your GoPro raw videos easily as raw videos look dull but provide greater flexibility. It is a timeline-based editor but its Fusion and Color grading panel provides a Node-based editing system which is hard to use but provides great flexibility once mastered.

Resolve has 6 different pages to deal with different editing parts:

“Edit” and “Cut” pages to deal with simple editing tasks. Its “Fusion” page allows users to do VFX and 3D compositing. The “Color Grading” page has all the professional grading tools. While the “Fairlight” page is designed to edit and enhance audio. And the “Deliver” page to export your files.

All these features are available for free without even giving a watermark. Although it has a studio version that provides some additional features to get more out of this amazing software.

• Davinchi Resolve Studio:

The free version has almost everything a professional video editor needs. but you can purchase the Studio version to get some really juicy features to enhance your video editing experience. It includes the Davinci neural engine, stereoscopic 3D tools, Dolby atmos audio mastering,e.t.c.

Pricing: Studio version is available at $ 295 for a lifetime license and with free updates.

~ Features:

• It supports a 4K resolution at 60fps. (while the Studio version supports up to 32K resolution at 120 fps.)
• It is a multi-feature software that provides editing, color grading, VFX, 3D compositing, and audio editing all in one place.
• It has the most advanced and powerful Node-based color grading system, which is also used by Hollywood film studios.
• Supports Raw and 360 videos from GoPro or other action cameras.
• Supports multi-cam editing up to 16 camera angles.
• Can make Compound clips and add adjustment layers.
• Fairlight panel has professional audio production tools like waveform editing, audio ducking, and Channel mapping. (Dolby Vision mastering and 3D spatial Panning [audio editing in 3D space] are available in the Studio version.)
• Supports third-party plugins.
• Has a 3D workspace and provides a virtual set extension for 3D modeling and compositing.

~ Cons:

• Its node-based editing style is quite difficult for beginners.
• Requires a high-end workstation to run smoothly otherwise will often crash during editing.
• Its node-based editing system is hard to learn.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Davinci Resolve’. Select a previously saved project or press “New project” to start a new one. Click “File” >> “Import” >> “Media” to import files or press “CTRL + I”.

Edit: Drag and drop files to add them to the timeline Use the tools present above the timeline to trim, cut or move your clips. Click the “Inspector” icon on the top-right corner of the window to open the Inspector tab. Here you will find the properties of all the clips, audio, transitions, effects, e.t.c. There are different editing tabs at the bottom of the window.

In the “Fusion” window, click “Nodes” to open the Node screen. Import a clip or use it from the editor timeline. Usually, a clip will have two nodes connected through a line. Above the nodes panel, different types of nodes are available. Drag any node in the panel and connect it through lines. or add a “merge” node to connect nodes.

Its color grading panel also has Node based editing system.

Effects: Click “Effects Library” then select any effect and drop it in the timeline to apply it. You can change its properties in the “Inspector” panel.

Click the diamond icon on the right side of the property to start keyframing then change the value of that property to add keyframes at desired time period.

Export: Open the “Deliver” window, choose the desired settings then click “Add to Render Queue” to start exporting.

FXhome - Hitfilm Express:

It is available on Windows, Mac and Linux also.

If you are looking for a free but powerful video editor to edit your GoPro clips then Hitfilm Express can be the right choice for you. It is a free timeline-based editing software with professional-grade VFX tools. It is a timeline-based editor where you can add dozens of audio, videos, and text layers.

It has a composite shot sequence where you can do complex editing like editing 3D videos and elements, lights e.t.c. It has physic-base behaviors and effects also to enhance 3D compositing. For professional-level editing almost most of the effects and properties have keyframing options. It has different workspace modes to suit your editing needs.

It can also edit 360 videos recorded from your GoPro max. It has a “GoPro Lens Reframe” effect to adjust your 360 clips, but some 360 toolkits can only be available when you purchase Hitfilm pro or buy a 360 toolkit add-on. Similarly, you can purchase more add-ons according to your editing needs or you can purchase Hitfilm Pro to gain access to all add-ons and features. But can use these pro features for free but without exporting as exporting with a paid effect can give a watermark.

Hitfilm Pro:

Although Hitfilm express doesn’t give a watermark on export, but to use more features like 3D composition, LUTs, e.t.c you need to purchase add-ons, there are over 30+ add-ons available to purchase which you can purchase depending on your needs, but if you want to get all the features than its better to get your hands on Hitfilm Pro.

Pricing: Available for purchase at £ 309 or $ 388 for a lifetime license. With 12 months of free updates. It has 3 seat license which means It can run on 3 PCs simultaneously.

~ Features:

• It is a free editing software with no watermark.
• It can edit 3D videos and it can also import and edit 3D models and tracking data.
• It can edit 360 videos also.
• You can add effects and color grades as layers in the timeline also.
• Can add adjustment layers and create nested clips within nested clips to make complex editing easier.
• It has a motion track and locked-on stabilization features.
• Can do smooth keyframing and animation with the help of value graphs.
• It supports multi-cam editing also.
• Keyboard shortcuts make workflow quite easy and quick.

~ Cons:

• It has some playback issues while using 4K videos.
• It crashes sometimes, so it’s better to save the project frequently during editing.
• Hitfilm express doesn’t have a dark mode.
• Some common features are only available on the Pro version or add-ons.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Hitfilm”, Select “New Project” to open a blank project then click “open” to open an existing file or click “new” to create a new project. Then set project settings on pop-up then and click “ok”.

Then click the “Media” tab on the top-left corner of the screen. Then select the “Import” button to import videos, images, audio, or 3d models. You can also import previously made composite shots.

Edit: Drag and drop media files from the media tab to the timeline. or click the “New” tab to create a “Composite shot” or a solid plane layer. Right-click on the left side of the timeline to insert or delete layers. On the left side of the timeline, you will find some basic tools located on the vertical bar to do simple tasks.

In the “Viewer” tab, on the left side of the playback screen, you can find tools for masking and adding text.

In the “Controls” tab, you can adjust the properties of clips and other features related to the clip like masking, track, blend, transform, e.t.c.

Create a “Composite shot” to do complex editing like 3D compositing. Or select multiple layers then right-click and select “make Composite shot” to combine them for easy editing. Double-click the composite shot to open its contents.

Effects: From the “Effects” tab drag and drop effects on the clip to add them. Some effects can be added as layers which can affect all the layers beneath it. Properties of these effects can be adjusted in the “Control” tab.

To do keyframing, Click the circle icon on the left side of the property to start keyframing then change the values of that property to add keyframes at desired time period.

Export: Click the “Export” icon then “Export now” located at the top right side of the timeline to open the export window. The export will start automatically.

Shotcut:

It is available on Windows, Mac and Linux.

If you are making videos from your GoPro or mobile phone just for fun that doesn’t require much editing then you can look for a free and simple video editor and “Shotcut” can be the right choice for this purpose.

It is a free and open-source video editor with many cool features to get your hands on. It doesn’t have any pro version. It is simple and easy to use but takes some time to understand. It supports multi-track timeline editing. It has a basic timeline design but you can customize your timeline to meet your editing needs. It has some good color grading options, you can also import your color luts. It has many cool features and effects. It supports 360 video editing and also has a few 360 video filters. It has audio effects also.

~ Features:

• All its features are for free and it doesn’t leave any watermark.
• It supports 4K resolution and a wide range of file formats.
• It also supports 360 video files.
• Has keyframing and chroma kry features.
• It has advanced color grading features.
• It provides standard animation and keyframing features.

~ Cons:

• It is a basic video editor and lacks some professional editing features.
• Have playback issues with 4K videos.
• It does have proper text editing tools.
• It is difficult to understand as its UI is different from other familiar video editors.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Shot Cut” then click the “Open Files” button on the top-left corner of the window to import files.

Edit: Drag and drop clips on an empty timeline panel to add tracks and drag the clip from corners to trim them. Right-click on the left side of the timeline to add a video or an audio track. You will find a bunch of tools above the timeline to do some basic tasks.

You can choose from 6 different workspace designs (available in the top-right corner of the window) to suit your editing styles.

On top of the window, you will see a bunch of icons like Timeline, filter, project, and properties. e.t.c. In the properties tab, you can change the aspect ratio and speed of the clip.

Effects: Click the “Filters” icon on top of the window to open the filters menu, Click “+” above it to add filters. Double click a filter to add it to the selected clip, then click the filter to open its properties menu. You can also add text from here.

Click the “Keyframes” icon on top of the window to open the Keyframes window. Select the “clock” icon on the filters to start keyframing then change the values at a specific time to add keyframes. Click the “Timeline” icon to go back to the previous window.

Export: Click the “Export” button on the top of the screen. Select a preset or click the “Advanced” button to change export settings then click “Export File”.

Paid GoPro Video Editor for Mac:

If you are a professional athlete or a vlogger using GoPro for all of your contents and want to invest some money on paid video editors to improve your content. Then here we have mentioned some paid video editors worthy of your investment.

Apple - Final Cut Pro:

It is available for Mac only.

If you are an Apple enthusiastic person and want everything Apple, then why look for any other video editor when you can have a powerful video editor “Final cut pro” made by Apple. It is a paid but professional software that can raise your GoPro videos to the next level. Whether it’s a 360 video or a RAW file recorded from your GoPro or from the RED cinema camera, all can be edited smoothly inside Final Cut Pro. It has dozens of useful features that a professional video editor looks for like 3D tracking, Motion Graphics, Color Grading, Audio Mixing, Multi-cam editing e.t.c.

Pricing: It is a one-time purchase software available at $ 299.9 for a lifetime license and all its future updates can be downloaded free of cost.

~ Features:

• It supports up to 8K resolution.
• Support 360 and RAW video files.
• Edit videos in complete 360 and 3D spaces.
• Supports third-party video and audio plugins.
• Supports Multi-cam editing.
• Have professional color grading tools with HDR support.
• Its UI is easy to use.

~ Cons:

• It is designed for Apple devices only.
• Requires a powerful PC.
• Its UI is a bit different from other common video editors in the market.
• ~ Steps:

Import: Open “Final Cut Pro” then click the “Files” button on the top-left corner of the screen, then select “Project” to create a new project. In the “Files” menu, click “import” then “media” to import your media files. Here most of the work is done with Keyboard commands.

Edit: Drag and Drop clips on the timeline. In the viewer panel, press “I” and “O” to add input and output points then drag the clip to add only a specific part of the clip. Press “Cmd + B” to split the clip at the desired location. Or add the clips above to add the layer.

Click the “Text” icon on the top-left corner of the screen to open the text page. Choose from presets or import your own Text presets and drag them to the timeline. Click the text to open “Text Editor” on the left side of the screen.

Select multiple clips then Right-click and select “New Compound Clip” to combine them. Double-click the compound clip to edit its components.

Effects: Click 2 icons on the top-right side of the timeline to open the effects and transition panel. Drag and drop on the clip to use them. You can change their properties in the “Effects editor” tab located in the same place as “Text Editor”.

In the editor tab, click the diamond icon beside any property to start keyframing, then change its property to add keyframes at the desired time.

Press “Cmd + 6” to open the Color Grading tab, here you can color grade your clips.

Export: To export the edited video. Click “File” >> “Share” >> “Master file” to open export window. Choose the desired settings then click “Next” then “Save” to export the video.

Adobe - Premiere Pro:

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

Whether you are a content creator or not, if you use a DSLR or an action camera for the first time, then maybe the output wouldn’t meet your expectations. In order to make it good, you need a video editor. And if you will ask your gathering about a good video editor, most of them will recommend you Adobe Premiere Pro, because it is such a versatile and well-known software available in the market. It is a subscription-based video editor.

It is an industry-level software with many professional and advanced features. From beginner video editing to film compositing, all can be done in this software. Whether you have a 360 video or a 4K video in Raw format recorded from your GoPro, just import it into premiere pro and start editing. It has a downloadable “GoPro FX Reframe” plugin to edit your 360 videos. It has different panels designed to deal with specific parts of post-production such as the Effects panel, Graphics panel, Sound panel, Colour Grading panel, e.t.c.

~ Features:

• It supports up to 8K resolution.
• Have different panels to enhance different segments of post-production.
• Have an essential Effects panel to create motion effects and animations using keyframes.
• Supports hundreds of third-party extensions.
• Have useful features like warp stabilizer and denoiser.
• You can import or create your color LUTs.
• Have a creative cloud with 100 Gb of storage.
• The bundle also includes a mobile video editor and a stock library.

~ Cons:

• Real-time rendering. It will take some time to render before exporting if you work on a mid-range PC.
• Freezes or crashes sometimes.
• Cache data fill-up quickly and eats a lot of storage. (It’s better to clear it after every project)

Pricing: It is cloud-based software, therefore it can’t be purchased one time. It has a monthly subscription starting at $ 20.99/month. It includes “premiere rush” mobile video editor and 100 GB of cloud storage within the plan. It also has a “Creative cloud All apps” plan that includes all 30+ Softwares + 100Gb cloud storage along with premiere pro for $ 54.99 only. All plans also include Behance (adobe creative community), Adobe Fonts, and Adobe stock assets for free. Adobe also provides educational access at a much discounted price.

~ Steps:

Import: Open “Premiere Pro”. Click “New Project” to start with then Click the “Files” button on the top-left corner of the window then select the “Import files” button to import files. Or press “CTRL + I” to import files or drag your files from their location to premiere pro.

Edit: Drag and Drop the files to add them to the timeline. Drop a file above a clip to add as a layer. or drop over a clip to overwrite it. On the right side of the timeline, you can find a bunch of tools to do basic edits like trimming, splitting, speed ramping, masking, or adding text.

In the “Effects Control” tab you can transform the selected clip or change its properties.

Select multiple clips then right-click and select “make Nested clip” to combine them into a single clip for easy editing.

Slide between 8 different workspace styles designed for specific post-production tasks by clicking the buttons available on the top of the window.

Effects: Go to the “Effects” panel on the bottom-left window to apply an effect or transitions. Here you can find all audio, video, 2D, and 3D effects. Drag and Drop on a clip to apply it. Change the properties of these effects in the “Effects Control” panel.

To color grade, your clips move to the “Color” workspace. Here you will find all the color grading features: correction, curves, color wheels, creative tab, e.t.c. To import a LUT click the “creative tab” then click “Browse” to import a LUT.

Export: To Export go to the “Files” tab on top of the screen then select the “Export” button to open the export tab. Select the desired settings then click “Export”.

Power Director 365 :

It is available for both Windows and Mac.

If you are looking for a budget-friendly video editor that is powerful enough to edit your GoPro videos like a content creator then Power director can be the right choice for you. It has many unique and useful features. It has different plugins and design centers to do specific post-production tasks like Ad designer, Multicam editor, AI style plugins, e.t.c.

It also has a separate action cam center to fix or enhance action cam videos. IT also has chapter and subtitle rooms to add subtitles and chapters for your Youtube videos or films. It also has a vast stock and preset library to speed up your project.

Pricing: It has a subscription plan which is available at $69/year. It is now available at 30% off till 22nd May,2022.

~ Features:

• It supports 4K videos and a wide range of import formats.
• Have many built-in plugins and design centers.
• Supports Multi-cam editing.
• Have an action cam center to deal with action cam footage.
• Have separate aspect ratio mode for 360 videos.
• Also, have a chapter and subtitle room. many recording aspects of the video.
• Have a content-aware editing feature that detects the recording aspects.
• Can import presets and color LUTs.
• Have a vast stock library.

~ Cons:

• Have some playback issues with 4K videos. (create shadow files to overcome this issue to an extent).
• Its UI is a little bit complicated for beginners.
• Not ideal for fast pace editing.

~ Steps:

Import: Open Power director and a pop-up will appear, select desired aspect ratio then click “Full mode” to open the software. Or select 360 aspect ratio if you want to edit 360 videos.

Click the “Import Media” icon below the Files tab in the top-left corner of the window to import files or press “CTRL + Q” to import files.

Edit: Drag and drop files to add them to any desired layer in the timeline. Click the icon on the top left corner of the timeline to add layers. When you select a clip in the timeline, some tools appear on the top timeline. Select any specific tool to edit your selected clip. Or click the “Plugins” button on the top-left of the window to open a specific designer tab.

Double-click on the clip to open ‘PIP designer”. Here you will find all the editing tools to edit or animate your clip.

After selecting a clip, in the “Plugins” menu click the “Action Camera Center” button to open an edit tab, Here you can fix your GoPro videos.

Effects: On the top-left corner of the window in a vertical bar you will find all the effects material lile Project library, titles, effects, transitions, overlays, e.t.c. Simply just drag and drop them on the timeline to use them. Here you can also do audio mixing and add subtitles and chapters.

Double click a clip or an overlay element to open the designer window. Here you can customize the clips and overlays to enhance your project.

Export: Click the blue “Produce” button on top of the screen to export your edited file. Select the desired mode and file format and add an export destination, then click “Start” to start exporting.

Which One Should I Choose Free or Paid GoPro Video Editor?

You can choose free or paid softwares depending on your requirements and budget. If a free software meets your requirements then stay on it otherwise move towards a paid alternative. If you have a GoPro and you make videos just for fun then use a free and simple video editor. Even if you are an experienced video editor, I would recommend you to go for free video editors which I have mentioned above as they are quite powerful and professional software but if you are harvesting a good amount of money from this field then you can upgrade to pro versions of these free softwares or get a paid software from start. As almost all of these softwares are professional and can get your job done, so it’s better to choose one, which is comfortable for you to work on.

FAQs about GoPro Video Editing:

1. Q) Does GoPro has its own video editor?

Yes, GoPro has its own video editor “Quik”. It is available on mobile phones and desktops both. It is simple and easy to use. It provides basic features to edit your video. But the main disadvantage of this desktop software is that it supports only GoPro videos, you can’t import files from other devices. Although this isn’t the issue with Quik mobile app, here you can import videos from other devices also.

1. Q) Can I make videos for social media with a GoPro?

It was basically made for recording sports and action videos. But as the market is revolutionized and new models are released it has covered a wide range of the video industry like vlogging, travel and cooking videos e.t.c. As new models of GoPros are waterproof, you can get some amazing underwater shots for your Instagram.

1. Q) What is GoPro media format?

GoPro export files in popular file format MP4. MP4 is the most common file format and is supported by almost all the video editors. While it is efficient and takes less storage but isn’t supported in many devices.

1. Q) How do I transfer files from my GoPro to Mac?

You can transfer your GoPro files through 3 methods:

• Eject the SD card from your GoPro and connect it to your Mac using a SD card adapter to transfer files.
• Connect your GoPro to Mac through USB connector and use “iphoto” or any other photo importer to import files.

How to Make Text Reveal Effect Easily

Have you ever seen the text reveal led by a subject when moving across the frame? It’s one of the most common text-revealing effects in video editing. This technique is often used to add titles or credits to a scene for cinematic vibes and creative effects.

While it may look complicated, it’s actually quite easy to create with a video editing program like Filmora. Filmora’s masking feature allows users to create impressive and eye-catching text reveals in their videos. For those looking for a tutorial on how to make text reveal, here’s a step-by-step guide to help you out.

How to add text reveal effect using Filmora’s

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

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

First, make sure the video clips you are using are clear, with the subject moving across the frame. It will help the text to stand out and be more easily seen. Now, follow the step-by-step guides below:

Step 1 Add video tracks

You will need three video tracks in order to create this effect, so click the (+) icon above the timeline > Add Video Track and add two more video tracks.

Step 2 Import the clip to the timeline

Drag and drop your clip onto the first and third video tracks of the timeline. Then, align them with each other.

Step 3 Make a cut at the beginning of the text

Find the spot where you want the text reveals to start, then click the scissor icon to make a cut on the clip from the first video track.

Step 4 Add and adjust the text

Go to Title > Plain Text > select which text styles suit you best. Then, drag the title to the second video track.

Double-click on the title clip and type out your text. Then, adjust the text position and align it to the cut you have made.

Step 5 Use the masking tool

Go to Effects > Utility > Image Mask, then drag and drop it onto the latter half of the top video clip.

Make more cuts on the top latter clip, frame by frame, starting from the first cut you have made.

Double-click on each of the smaller clips and find the mask settings.

Since the subject in this tutorial is moving from side to side, we are going to match the mask’s y-axis setting, which is also the revealed text portion, with the subject’s movement. Starting from the first clip, adjust the y-axis number to a smaller/bigger number.

There we go! The final look should look like this:

Summary

That is how we can create the text reveal effect using Wondershare Filmora. Using Filmora’s masking tool, it’s easy to create a text reveal the effect that can add flair and interest to your videos. Just follow the simple steps, and you’ll be able to get the desired result with a few clicks of your mouse. Give it a try, and share your thoughts with us.

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

First, make sure the video clips you are using are clear, with the subject moving across the frame. It will help the text to stand out and be more easily seen. Now, follow the step-by-step guides below:

Step 1 Add video tracks

You will need three video tracks in order to create this effect, so click the (+) icon above the timeline > Add Video Track and add two more video tracks.

Step 2 Import the clip to the timeline

Drag and drop your clip onto the first and third video tracks of the timeline. Then, align them with each other.

Step 3 Make a cut at the beginning of the text

Find the spot where you want the text reveals to start, then click the scissor icon to make a cut on the clip from the first video track.

Step 4 Add and adjust the text

Go to Title > Plain Text > select which text styles suit you best. Then, drag the title to the second video track.

Double-click on the title clip and type out your text. Then, adjust the text position and align it to the cut you have made.

Step 5 Use the masking tool

Go to Effects > Utility > Image Mask, then drag and drop it onto the latter half of the top video clip.

Make more cuts on the top latter clip, frame by frame, starting from the first cut you have made.

Double-click on each of the smaller clips and find the mask settings.

Since the subject in this tutorial is moving from side to side, we are going to match the mask’s y-axis setting, which is also the revealed text portion, with the subject’s movement. Starting from the first clip, adjust the y-axis number to a smaller/bigger number.

There we go! The final look should look like this:

Summary

That is how we can create the text reveal effect using Wondershare Filmora. Using Filmora’s masking tool, it’s easy to create a text reveal the effect that can add flair and interest to your videos. Just follow the simple steps, and you’ll be able to get the desired result with a few clicks of your mouse. Give it a try, and share your thoughts with us.

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

First, make sure the video clips you are using are clear, with the subject moving across the frame. It will help the text to stand out and be more easily seen. Now, follow the step-by-step guides below:

Step 1 Add video tracks

You will need three video tracks in order to create this effect, so click the (+) icon above the timeline > Add Video Track and add two more video tracks.

Step 2 Import the clip to the timeline

Drag and drop your clip onto the first and third video tracks of the timeline. Then, align them with each other.

Step 3 Make a cut at the beginning of the text

Find the spot where you want the text reveals to start, then click the scissor icon to make a cut on the clip from the first video track.

Step 4 Add and adjust the text

Go to Title > Plain Text > select which text styles suit you best. Then, drag the title to the second video track.

Double-click on the title clip and type out your text. Then, adjust the text position and align it to the cut you have made.

Step 5 Use the masking tool

Go to Effects > Utility > Image Mask, then drag and drop it onto the latter half of the top video clip.

Make more cuts on the top latter clip, frame by frame, starting from the first cut you have made.

Double-click on each of the smaller clips and find the mask settings.

Since the subject in this tutorial is moving from side to side, we are going to match the mask’s y-axis setting, which is also the revealed text portion, with the subject’s movement. Starting from the first clip, adjust the y-axis number to a smaller/bigger number.

There we go! The final look should look like this:

Summary

That is how we can create the text reveal effect using Wondershare Filmora. Using Filmora’s masking tool, it’s easy to create a text reveal the effect that can add flair and interest to your videos. Just follow the simple steps, and you’ll be able to get the desired result with a few clicks of your mouse. Give it a try, and share your thoughts with us.

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

First, make sure the video clips you are using are clear, with the subject moving across the frame. It will help the text to stand out and be more easily seen. Now, follow the step-by-step guides below:

Step 1 Add video tracks

You will need three video tracks in order to create this effect, so click the (+) icon above the timeline > Add Video Track and add two more video tracks.

Step 2 Import the clip to the timeline

Drag and drop your clip onto the first and third video tracks of the timeline. Then, align them with each other.

Step 3 Make a cut at the beginning of the text

Find the spot where you want the text reveals to start, then click the scissor icon to make a cut on the clip from the first video track.

Step 4 Add and adjust the text

Go to Title > Plain Text > select which text styles suit you best. Then, drag the title to the second video track.

Double-click on the title clip and type out your text. Then, adjust the text position and align it to the cut you have made.

Step 5 Use the masking tool

Go to Effects > Utility > Image Mask, then drag and drop it onto the latter half of the top video clip.

Make more cuts on the top latter clip, frame by frame, starting from the first cut you have made.

Double-click on each of the smaller clips and find the mask settings.

Since the subject in this tutorial is moving from side to side, we are going to match the mask’s y-axis setting, which is also the revealed text portion, with the subject’s movement. Starting from the first clip, adjust the y-axis number to a smaller/bigger number.

There we go! The final look should look like this:

Summary

That is how we can create the text reveal effect using Wondershare Filmora. Using Filmora’s masking tool, it’s easy to create a text reveal the effect that can add flair and interest to your videos. Just follow the simple steps, and you’ll be able to get the desired result with a few clicks of your mouse. Give it a try, and share your thoughts with us.

Also read: