What are the best free editing software?

[OM2]

I'd like some opinions on what the best *free* editing software is
(Free as in open source and free of any malware or similar)

Are there free programs that match in anyway the capabilities of Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro or Avid?
How about programs for creating special effects like Adobe After Effects - are there any free programs that come close to what this does?

Thanks


OM

[guns1inger]

Short answer - no, there is nothing free that comes close to Premiere, Vegas, Avid etc. There are a few basic and competent editors, but full blown NLEs cost $$$. We are still waiting on the release of the new editor from the makers of VLC, which may change my previous statement.

There are a few attempts at compositing apps, but none come close to AE yet. On Linux there is cinelerra. On windows there was Jahshaka (don't know if it is still going), Wax2, Cinegops for keying (quite good at what it does), and possibly a windows version of Ramen in the future.

Honestly - develop of NLEs and compositing tools of the power of the major players takes a lot of resources, so free projects simply cannot match up. You might look at videopad as a free NLE that is a bit more flexible that Windows Movie Maker. And if your needs are more modest and are most just trim edits and filtering there are still the rock solid virtualdub and the slightly less so AVI Demux. Both indispensable tools even if you do have something more expensive on your system.

[filmboss80]

Agree 100 percent with guns1inger. There are some tools that you just have to pay for. If Virtualdub or Windows Movie Maker can't do everything you need, it's time to shell out some cash.

[fitch.j]

There are (few) options for the Linux system. For windows however very very little when it comes to compositing, and for an NLE just hold tight for VLMC as it looks very promising.

[lordsmurf]

You can try Avid Free DV: http://www.digitalFAQ.com/forum/showthread.php/avid-free-dv-2057.html
I've archived the Windows final version.

[guns1inger]

I found AVID free to be very picky about the hardware it will run on, like it's older siblings. While I understand the reasoning for a tight hardware config for the real thing, that seemed to be an unreasonable restriction for a free, intro version.

[Bjs]

Cinefx , for windows, osx, linux ... jahshaka reinvented

[lordsmurf]

Cinefx , for windows, osx, linux ... jahshaka reinvented

Lots of crash reports on this one.