UPDATE: this giveaway has now ended, scroll to the end to see if you won. Thanks VSDC for providing the prizes! VSDC has been one of those under-the-radar pieces of software until recently when GoPro started recommending it as an alternative to Studio for Windows users. It happened after GoPro Studio video editor has reached its end-of-life, and in case you’ve missed the news, here is a short F.A.Q. to bring you up to date. After a closer look though, VSDC appears to be a program worth attention of many video editing enthusiast, not just GoPro owners. Moreover, if video post-production is not a part of your daily routine, but rather an occasional job, this video editor might be a better choice instead of spending hundreds of dollars on professional software.
First, it’s a free non-linear video editor capable of quite a few advanced tricks you would expect from a paid program only. Second, it has low system requirements so it’s stable even on low-end machines – the installer is about 36Mb, compare that to Premiere. It should run on computers as low as just 2 gigs of RAM. Finally, it helps you keep high footage quality and quickly export projects in pre-configured Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter-friendly formats.
Free means free, no hidden pitfalls Most people get suspicious whenever a developer claims to distribute software for free, because it makes the monetizing process unclear, and often means there may be unpleasant surprises waiting at the export level: a watermark, a built-in ad, a no-sound video, a bundled piece of crapware, length limitations, format restrictions – you name it. Getting one of those after hours of editing can be quite frustrating. VSDC is taking a different path, Freemium. you get a (100% working) basic editor, if you like it, you buy in to the more advanced version. For me, tis model is far superior to getting limited output until you buy. You don’t get that being-a-hostage feeling.
There is no particular catch, because the company makes money selling VSDC PRO subscriptions. They provide few extra features for professional-level video makers for $19.99 per year. If you’ve got here, we got some good news for you: we’ve partnered with VSDC to give away five annual PRO licenses to five randomly selected winners. Simply enter below to participate and wait till the 30th of October when the winners will be announced.
About VSDC Free Video Editor
If you’re new to the world of non-linear video editing software, its key advantage over basic linear MovieMaker-like editors, is being able to place objects right on the scene in any order. In other words, you can easily create a famous “picture-in-picture” effect, split screen, work with layers and blend multiple videos into one sequence. Sounds slightly similar to Photoshop, doesn’t it? Apart from cutting, splitting, rotating, adding transitions and other basic operations most video editors are capable of, VSDC allows to perform advanced-level color correction, crop the borders of your footage and zoom in a particular object.
You’ll be able to access RGB, Hue/Saturation/Value and even gradient color correction settings. The free toolset also includes Chroma Key/Green screen effect, transparency, Gaussian and Motion Blur.
Importing and Exporting
VSDC video editor has a built-in format converter, which means you can import footage in any format and codec without worrying about compatibility. Export settings are pretty flexible too. You get to choose a required format, codec, resolution, width, height, quality, and framerate. For those of you uploading projects to Facebook, YouTube or Instagram, there is a set of pre-configured profiles. Once you’ve chosen them, the video is automatically saved with the parameters optimal for this particular social network.
About VSDC PRO
Truth be told, most of you might never need Pro features if you don’t get geeky with editing video. Yet, here is why you’ll probably consider checking it out:
Video stabilization tool. If your camera or a smartphone doesn’t have a built-in stabilization feature – like the one in Google Pixel 2 we’ve covered just recently – the tool comes in handy to transform shaky footage into a stable one.Hardware acceleration. This feature solely affects project export speed. If you’re editing a high-quality hour-length video and don’t want to wait forever when it’s being exported – hardware acceleration will reduce the wait time to minutes or even seconds. Naturally, the speed depends on your computer resources as well.Mask tool. Video masking is another feature that professional photo editors will find familiar. There is a number of use cases for using video mask tool: blurring an object or a part of the footage, “cloning” yourself in video (we talked about this terrific effect too!), or applying a beautiful clipping mask.
If all the above sounds like something you could make use of, we encourage you to download VSDC and fill out the form to participate in the giveaway. You have a chance to get the PRO version for free instead of $19.99 and practice your non-linear video editing skills for the entire year. UPDATE: this giveaway has now ended, our winners are Daniel A, Stephanie R, Ricardo T, Laurent D and Tomasz M. Thanks VSDC for providing the prizes!
