Desktop Software
The tools you use are the tools that work for you - there is no correct editing software to use, in the same way there is no correct camera you should be using.
I’ve been using Adobe Premiere since I was about 15 (that’s 15 years ago :/). I was making something on my dad’s computer, using his version. It’s funny, I remember with that video, I couldn’t get the render settings right, I kept getting black bars and everything, and I remember thinking, “shit, this is really hard. I really hope I don’t do this for a living”. HA! Funny how that turned out!
To put it ‘basically’, and for those that don’t know, Adobe Premiere is a timeline-based editor allowing you to organise and manipulate video and audio files on a timeline. If you’ve got to this point of the course, you probably (hopefully) knew that.
I also dabbled in After Effects a lot over the years too. After Effects is also owned by Adobe, and is used for creating visual effects and motion graphics. I would actually say it’s a really good stable software. It’s nowhere near as glitchy as Premiere is.
And so because of how Premiere and After Effects paired together, it’s just what I got to know. And the more you know something, the more you use it, and then the more you use it, the more you get to know it.. And now it’s hard to look at anything else.
So yeah, I’m 15 years deep in Premiere and After Effects.. And that’s a helllll of a lot of hours. Like honestly, probably 30-40 thousand hours on those softwares. So the idea of starting scratch on another is daunting, but, I tell myself, those hours are less about using the software, but more about gaining the experience making videos, and THAT part, will apply on any software.
I have thought about maybe looking at alternatives because of Premiere’s bugs, something like Davinci Resolve or Final Cut are options. I have never used those softwares, so I really can’t comment on what they’re like. Personally, I think if I wasn’t as into After Effects as I am, I would have switched to another video editor a long time ago, but I put up with Premiere BECAUSE of how much I like and use After Effects.
I would recommend looking at these softwares and finding what works for you and your style of editing. I can open Premiere and After Effects and drag my clips in pretty quickly because I know it so well. I’ve got my keyboard shortcuts, and I’m fast on them. That said, yeah, maybe one day, I will have a little look at Davinci Resolve, see how it feels.
Having said all that, does it matter which one you use? No. It doesn’t matter in the slightest. I can edit the exact same videos on all the top editing softwares. A slightly better software doesn’t make your video 100 times better.
Phone software
I want to briefly mention editing on your phone, and good apps for doing that. I’ve used a bunch, and there’s two that I’ve really liked…
One is called VLLO. This one has really nice usability, the timeline is fluid, it’s easy to trim clips. It mirrors the timeline on desktop editors. Would recommend trying this one out.
The other one I’ve liked is an app called ‘Spark camera’. This is designed less for importing already filmed clips, but more if you’re maybe on the move, and want to tell a quick story. You can hold your thumb down, and it’s recording, and automatically lines it up in the edit. You can then tweak the timing afterwards. Really good for quick stories, where you don’t want to sit and scroll through footage.
There’s obviously so many video and photo editing apps out there, and new ones are always coming out. Definitely keep playing with them if you enjoy making videos on your phone.
