8 Free and Premium Video Creation Software Tools
Introduction
The number of different video creation software tools available is increasing every year. This offers many options for everyone including but not limited to photographers, educators, blog publishers, small businesses and Online marketers to create video faster and cheaper than ever before.
You can use your own photos or graphics or Free stock photos to create absolutely stunning videos without any technical experience. Just point and click! You’ll be amazed at the increasing number of video styles you can create which even include licensed royalty free music.
Below I have listed 8 video creation software tools both free and premium. Some need to be downloaded and installed to your computer, while others are hosted Online so all you need to do is log-in to start using them.
Windows Movie Maker
If you’re a Windows user, you can create simple movies with the free Windows Movie Maker software. This software is relatively simple to use, though not as simple as some of the web-based solutions.
This software makes relatively basic videos. It doesn’t include a lot of fancy templates with impressive effects. The effects it does include are simple transitions such as fades and swipes. But it includes enough features to get the job done, and it’s free.
There are many tutorials online that can teach you how to use this software. Just search for “Windows Movie Maker tutorial” on YouTube or your favorite search engine and you’ll find a plethora of learning material.
Apple iMovie
Apple users also have a good option in iMovie. Unlike Windows Movie Maker, iMovie is not free. However, iMovie comes with a plethora of templates that can be used to create stunningly professional videos with no experience.
If you want to create truly professional videos quickly and easily, iMovie is definitely worth looking into. Their built-in themes and the music that comes with them is hard to beat, and the software is relatively simple to use for a non-web-based solution.
As with Windows Movie Maker, there are plenty of tutorials online that can teach you how to use iMovie.
Wideo
Wideo is a bit different than most web-based video creation solutions. Instead of providing a few themes and having users insert photos and videos to produce a basic slideshow, Wideo goes further by providing a way to create custom animations using various shapes and icons.
Above you can see an example of some of the icons they have available for use in animations. These icons, along with various background colors and images, shapes, text, and music, can be used to create very cool animated movies quickly.
If you’re looking to make something like a cool Flash animation, Wideo is a good choice.
Wideo has several different payment plans to fit all budgets. For example, you can pay to remove their branding from a single video, or you can pay to remove the branding from every video you create for an entire year. You can also download a 1280×720 HD MP4 of a single video for a fixed price, or you can pay a little more to be able to download every video you create for a year.
Stupeflix
Stupeflix will allow you to make general slideshow type presentations with standard effects using a variety of templates. There aren’t a lot of templates to choose from, but those that are available are attractive and interesting.
Stupeflix has cheap plans for personal use and affordable plans for professional use.
Animoto
Animoto is the one I personally use. Animoto is another great Online video creation system that uses templates to allow jazzed up slideshow type videos. Nothing to download, it’s all done by logging in and pointing and clicking. They have a wide range of templates for everything from general use to more professional styles.
Their system is very easy to use. You just need to upload some pictures, choose your music, add a little text, and press a button and your video is created.
At the moment, they have 81 video templates and 2000 royalty free sound tracks for pro users. The Lite plan is FREE which lets you make 30 second videos, the Plus plan is $5 monthly or $30 yearly which lets you make 10 minute videos plus you get more video templates, Pro pricing starts at $39 per month, or $249 yearly which gives you access to many more features.
GoAnimate
GoAnimate is different from other video creation websites, because it allows you to put together animated cartoon videos. You simply choose a starter cartoon, edit it, and create your video. You can move around various elements in the environments, add characters, change their look, and more.
Plans start at $39 per month or $299 per year and go up to $250 per month or $2000 per year.
Masher
Masher is a very simple system that allows users to create simple videos for free. You simply choose a theme, upload videos and/or photos, add some text, and save the video.
Masher has very limited themes at the moment, but it’s extremely simple to use with a step-by-step system. Best of all, it’s free if you’re fine with branding on your video!
Videolicious
Videolicious is made for editing actual video through an app made for iPhone, iPad and iPod. It’s best if you’re going to take videos and put them together into interesting presentations. Other video services can do this, too, but Videolicious is made specifically for dressing up videos rather than making slideshows of pictures.
Videolicious has a number of different features. It works very well on mobile devices, because you can choose video clips directly from your iOS device and put your video together right on your device. You can add a voiceover or music, add music from their huge collection of free, licensed songs, and then upload and share it.
The personal plan is free, and business plans range from $5 to $10 per month for a single user, but that is billed annually. (If you can’t pay for an entire year at once, you can also pay monthly, however it costs more.)
