Updated: 01/20/2021
If you are looking for a good Linux video editing software to create home videos, then you’ve come to the right place. Ubuntu easily supports the multimedia world, not only playing audio and video but also helping create content. Currently users are able to create audio and video files easily and with professional results from Ubuntu.
Here is our list of the top best video editors for linux that can help you make custom movies and share them with your friends and family.
Openshot
OpenShot is a open source Linux video editor written in Python. Its main feature is the support of several audio, video and image formats. With Openshot you get all the important functions of a video editor such as transitions, cutting, effects, drag and drop and many more. With OpenShot, cutting, shortening and splitting are easier. It also offers video transitions, compositions, 3D effects and image credits.
Openshot’s drag and drop functions are very useful since it can help you a lot in your workflow. The compatibility with video formats is not quite as extensive as with Kdenlive (see below), but it is sufficient for the majority of users.
You can upload videos from Openshot Ubuntu video editor directly to Youtube or Vimeo, export them as DVDs or otherwise distribute them. It has a multitrack option for audio and once you finish your work, you can export it in any format you want.
Pitivi
Pitivi is a non-linear video editor for Ubuntu (and similar distros) which is also open source and available for free. It offers simple functions such as cutting or separating clips.
Pitivi is uses the Gstreamer framework which allows to easily create videos from GNOME or similar desktops that use GTK libraries. PiTiVi is a very complete video editor that is intuitive to use but it is also one of the video editors that consume less resources when creating video , something that we have to take into account. This video editor does not yet have the first stable version but it does have a lot of effects and transitions to create videos. PiTiVi does not support many video formats but it does support the main ones such as ogg, h.264 and avi among others.
OBS Studio
OBS Studio is a free and open source Ubuntu video editing program that you can easily install on Debian and other operating systems . OBS Studio has become popular as a great tool for making videos . This very simple video editor allows to mix images, videos and audio easily.
OBS Studio allows the creation of videos in flv, mkv, mp4, mov, ts and m3u8 format . This editor allows you to edit the video, although we must say that the editing part is not as complete as Kdenlive or Openshot.
In addition, unlike other video editors, OBS Studio connects with video streaming platforms to make live videos . The latter has made it a very popular tool among youtubers.
Shotcut
Shotcut is a free and open source video editor that resembles Kdenlive and OpenShot. This video editor is geared towards novice users although it offers solutions as professional as Kdenlive . One of the most striking things we have in this video editor is the amount of transitions and effects that the editor contains as well as the variety of audio and video formats that the program supports.
Read: Best Free video editors for Windows
Flowblade
The Flowblade video editing software for Ubuntu is a free and non-linear multi-track video editing software . The interface is very modern and the python base ensures a fast and stable experience.
Editing video and audio tracks is very pleasant with Flowblade and is quite smooth. Features such as the “Magnetic Timeline” make trimming, merging or adding material particularly easy.
It has a huge range of tools and techniques to provide the best audio-video editing experience. There are 2 displacement tools and 3 cutting tools along with 4 techniques for adding, overwriting and inserting a clip on the timeline. Another main feature of this video editor is the fact that it has more than 50 image filters and more than 30 audio filters to make sure you have the best video and audio quality output.
Read: Best Free video editors for Windows
Flowblade supports almost as many formats as Kdenlive and always has the latest file formats in its repertoire.
Flowblade uses the G’MIC tool, which has set a new standard for image filtering in the open source scene.
Blender
Blender is a 3D graphics software. It is also open source and available for free, mainly used for visual effects, video games, animated films and interactive 3D applications. This software is written in Python, C and C ++. It has basic functions such as skinning, 3D modeling, textures, UV unwrapping, smoke and fluid simulation.
Some features are offered for graphic professionals such as rendering and working in video graphics, animation. , sculpture, composition, match moving, camera tracking, simulation of particles and soft bodies. It also supports primitives, with 3D vectors. Its ray tracing and scanline allows you to export to a wide variety of systems with an internal rendering engine.
For a more comprehensive review of animation software check out this listicle of 15 Best Animation Software. It goes into more details about animation software and what software will suit you best
Read: Best Free Graphic Design software for Linux
Kdenlive
Kdenlive is a free video editing software available on Linux. It offers excellent editing functions like splitting, cutting, transitions, video effects, copy and paste, etc. It supports many file formats and a wide range of cameras.It provides timelines, dual video monitoring and many other functions.
Kdenlive is a non-linear video editor which means that the original file is not changed during processing and is only rendered at the end. No quality is lost therefore in the intermediate steps.
The program can handle almost any video format, whether new or old. Compatibility is regularly expanded and should continue to support the latest formats in the future.
Kdenlive is a great option for users who use Plasma or a distribution with KDE although we can install the program both in Ubuntu and in any other operating system such as Windows or macOS.
Kdenlive allows the export and import of various video formats, both free and non-free. Kdenlive also allows add-ons and filters that we can use to create better productions.
As an advanced user, a customizable interface by Kdenlive, might help you a lot. Otherwise, Kdenlive is packed with useful features that are especially important for advanced users.
Kdenlive is possibly the best free and non-free option that exists for video editing in Ubuntu, but we must also say that it is the most complicated option that exists for novice users.
Vivia
Vivia is a very intuitive editing software designed not only for Linux, but is also available on Windows. Vivia is an easy-to-learn video editing software. The version for personal use as well as the version for commercial use are free. Vivia provides simple and easy linear editing, as well as real-time transitions with an intuitive interface. It also supports the multi-camera function thanks to which clips obtained simultaneously from different cameras can be edited.
An additional feature that makes Vivia more popular than its competitors is the fact that it offers data recovery in the event of a crash. This function allows you to recover your interrupted work due to a crash or a system failure.
Lightworks
Lightworks is a powerful video editing software offering several editing options. Some say it was one of the first video editing programs to adopt computer-based editing. There is an open source version that people can take advantage of, and a version for Mac OS X.
LiVES
LiVES is a video editing software which has a great combination of real-time editing and non-linear editing tools. It allows users to edit and produce videos without worrying about video formats, frame rates, image size, etc. In addition, it also serves as a VJ software thanks to its timelines with several tracks, the mixing of clips and the function of switching from one clip to another.
Avidemux
Avidemux is an open source video editing application designed mainly for simple cutting, separation, filtering, pasting, encoding, etc. It is considered the equivalent of VirtualDub (available only on Windows). Avidemux is easy to use: a few clicks are enough to edit and encode a video. It allows encoding in a large number of video formats including H264 and a large number of containers, in particular MPEG, MP4 and MKV.
Cinelerra
Cinelerra is a free video editing software for Linux. It is mainly designed to record, compose and edit videos and audio files with a certain level of precision thanks to its intuitive interface.
Cinelerra was born in 1998. It was the first non-linear video editor that is compatible with the 64-bit platform for Gnu / Linux . Cinelerra had great success during its early years as its was a very complete and free video editor, almost unique in its kind. However, with the passage of time, development stagnated and many users decided to abandon the project.
Currently the development continues and the new versions are gradually coming to Ubuntu. Cinelerra has a split editing panel, like Gimp, it offers a non-linear video editing . Like the rest of video editors, Cinelerra offers various video effects and transitions to create videos and presentations. You may use these Linux photo editors also to edit your video cover photos professionally and free.
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