The Top Video Editing Programs

Editing raw video footage is an important part of any post-production phase. This ensures that video clips are properly organized and added with features such as opening and closing billboards and soundtracks for an excellent finished product. In this day and age of computers, video editing can be done with ease through the help of video editing programs. Read about the top video editing programs available for professional and amateur online home video producers alike.

1. Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro 6.0.1 is the latest version of this excellent video editing program geared for Mac computers. This program has been used for several notable Hollywood productions such as Tom Hanks' "The Ladykillers" released in 2004, and "Jarhead" released in 2005 starring famous actors such as Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx. One very important addition to this version is the user's capability to modify and edit materials in mixed formats of framerate and resolution. You can buy Final Cut Pro from any authorized Apple store for $1,299, while an upgrade costs $499. If what you currently have is the older version of Final Cut Pro, then you can have it upgraded for $699.

2. Adobe Premiere Pro

The latest version which is Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 is another program that promises to make video editing easier and more effective. Adobe Premier has been making video editing software applications since 1991 so you can just imagine the improvements and innovations made from years of product research and development. This program now supports both the Windows and Mac platforms as compared to its first release where Apple users are the only ones who had access to it. This program boasts of features such as editing in high resolution and surround sound mixing capacity. Moreover, the latest addition of Speech Search automatically transforms spoken words into text and indexes them so you get to easily find specific parts in the content when necessary. Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 can be found for $799 while upgrades are at $299.

3. Sony Vegas Pro

Sony released its most recent video editing program called Sony Vegas Pro 9.0 after purchasing Vegas Pro, an audio editing program. Just like Final Cut Pro, this program is capable of editing raw footage in various framerate and resolution formats and delivering the edited version in Blu-Ray Disc. And since it started out as an audio editing program, it features excellent sound mixing capabilities including surround sound. This program runs on Microsoft-based operating systems and can be acquired at authorized retailers for $599.95.

Editing does not only apply to those serious about their filmmaking endeavors, it should also be practiced by amateurs. Just remember to prep your computer as video editing programs require a lot of hard disk memory to run smoothly.