OpenShot or VideoPad or VSDC?

[matonanjin]

What do all you experienced users recommend for a chubby, retired, old guy in Omaha just wanting to do some very basic video editing? I don't need a $600 Sony Vegas Pro or Adobe Premier. If my needs advance as my experience does, I will never need these.

For now I am joining a couple, or few, videos per week of my playing guitar with the occasional transition just to make them smoother. And then I post them on a website for my guitar instructor to criticize. His critiques are usually very brutal, btw. Soon, I will record the audio of my playing into a digital audio workstation to obtain a better sound quality. I will then replace the audio on the video with that.

I will, I'm sure, start doing some recording and editing of grandkids' videos, our horses, trips, a cruise in a couple months, etc. But just fun stuff. Never anything professional or demanding.

I have narrowed it down to these three (OpenShot, VideoPad and VSDC), for the blatantly obvious reason of FREE. And I'm sure anyone of these for my basic needs will serve. But I don't want to invest a lot of time in learning one to find something down the road I should have known about.

And while these are attractive for their cost I'm not completely opposed to investing a few bucks if there is one that is significantly better for my needs as I have tried to describe them.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[matonanjin]

Thanks everybody for the help. I'm so glad I joined this forum.

[lordsmurf]

Openshot is terrible, buggy, installation is almost like spyware.
VideoPad is not freeware.
Not tried VSDC.

If you look, you can find deals on Vegas, Corel, Premiere, and others. Under $100, sometimes under $50.

[Mr_khyron]

You can get Vegas pro 15 for 25$ from https://www.humblebundle.com/software/vegas-pro-even-more-software

[usually_quiet]

Openshot is terrible, buggy, installation is almost like spyware.
VideoPad is not freeware.
Not tried VSDC.

If you look, you can find deals on Vegas, Corel, Premiere, and others. Under $100, sometimes under $50.

True. Vegas Movie Studio 15 Platinum is on still sale for $49.99 as a download from vegascreativesoftware.com. https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/index.php?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIv9_Zruqp3wIVwR6GCh3D...PtCllArZvjlyXI

I have seen several members recommend it as very capable entry-level software. There is a free trial. https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/vegas-movie-studio-platinum/

[matonanjin]

Openshot is terrible, buggy, installation is almost like spyware.
VideoPad is not freeware.
Not tried VSDC.

If you look, you can find deals on Vegas, Corel, Premiere, and others. Under $100, sometimes under $50.

Yes it is. VideoPad has a free version. I have it installed.

usually_quiet, Mr_khyron, and lordsmurf, thank you for your replies. It looks like trying Vegas is in my future.

[Aliennn]

VSDC, probably, won’t seem intuitive at first sight, but it’s quite easy to learn. There is also a YouTube channel with detailed videos on how to work with the software - https://www.youtube.com/user/FlashIntegro/videos. Free version consists of all basic operations, plenty of effects, Audio Gate and Median filters for working with audio.

[Rogeroo]

I guess you don't like Avidemux?

[Sharc]

Or how about Shotcut? It's free as well.

[matonanjin]

I guess you don't like Avidemux?

You guess incorrectly then. I have never heard of Avidemux. I doubt if I will try it though because I don't think I can pronounce it

Or how about Shotcut? It's free as well.

I did try it. There was nothing, as I recall, that just jumped out as hugely negative. It wasn't a steep learning curve or horrible interface. I just didn't bond with it.

Thanks, guys.

[matonanjin]

All this time trying the free ones and I ended up going with Vegas Movie Studio Platinum. I think it cost me $50? I tried the ones I originally asked about and they were either buggy or had no support. All the time spent trying the others I could just about be an expert in Vegas by now. Oh Well. I bought it and I'm not looking back.