Movavi’s goal for its video editing software is to enable simple movie and clip creation, avoiding the complexity sometimes found in other apps. That sounds great, but does it pan out in practice? After all, creating compelling videos often requires advanced tools and capabilities. You also want a responsive program that renders the final product quickly. Movavi Video Editor is one of the best apps at packing a lot of capability into an unintimidating interface. For more power, however, check out our Editors’ Choice winner for enthusiast video editing software, CyberLink PowerDirector.What’s New in Movavi Video Editor?Movavi gets regular updates and new features. If you’ve already used the software, here’s a rundown of what’s new in version 24:Blending Modes, which are Photoshop-like blend modes for your overlays to create unique effectsA redesigned and simplified interface that neatly groups the icons and removes a couple you may not often needFrame-Precise Cutter, which you can use multiple times on the timeline without reselecting it and cut through all layers at onceMore effects, such as LUTs, animations, and templates (requires a Premium subscription)Improved Motion TrackingOther features of interest have appeared in recent releases as well, including an AI Background Removal tool, the ability to upload directly to TikTok, new audio tools, and improved color tools.
How Much Does Movavi Video Editor Cost?You can get Movavi Video Editor for a one-time payment of $79.95 or as a $54.95-per-year subscription. Don’t pay attention to the absurdly high, crossed-out prices you see on some of Movavi’s web pages. It’s a game that a lot of software vendors play to make customers think they’re getting an amazing deal—I’m not a fan. Go directly to the Movavi store page and choose Windows or Mac, and then scroll down to find the $79.95 Lifetime price for Movavi Video Editor. This real price does compare well with the going rate of $99 to $129 for the likes of Adobe Premiere Elements and CyberLink PowerDirector.
The Movavi Video Suite adds a format converter, disc burner, and a screen recording app for $104.95 per year. The Movavi Unlimited plan ($155.95 per year) adds photo and PDF editing.Movavi runs on both macOS (version 10.15 and later) and Windows (from 7 to 11, with 64-bit version required). It’s available in the App Store and the Microsoft Store or as a direct download from the product site.In a harbinger for performance, Movavi installs about as quickly as a web browser and takes up a very reasonable 367MB of hard drive space. Most consumer video editing software requires more than a gigabyte of storage these days. See the Performance section below for the full specs of my test computer.Movavi’s Interface
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag)
Movavi Video Editor is refreshingly uncomplicated and labels every element clearly. A series of tooltips appear as you first perform actions, showing how to use the application. Buttons down the left rail move you between modes for Importing, Filters, Transitions, Titles, Stickers, and more. The last group includes important features like Color Adjustments, Crop and Rotate, Pan and Zoom, Stabilization, Slow Motion, and Chroma Keying. I’d put those above Stickers (fun as they are) if I were designing the program.The Import mode includes sections not only for importing, but also the traditional Media bin that includes all project content, as well as for sounds, music, sample videos, backgrounds, and effect packages.The main section layout of the program resembles that of most video editing software, with a source box at the top left, timeline tracks along the full width of the bottom half of the window, and a preview player at the top right. You can undock only the video preview panel, but the relative size of the other panels is adjustable. One quibble for me with the video preview window is that it shows the current timecode of the video with three decimal places after the seconds, rather than simply the frame number.Above the timeline, which doesn’t limit the number of tracks you can add, are buttons for Split, Rotate, Crop, Color Adjustments, Clip Properties, Markers, Record Video, and Record Audio.You can stop and start playback with the spacebar and rescale the timeline with the mouse wheel-Ctrl key. Movavi supports some keyboard shortcuts, though not the standard pro J, K, and L for playback and I and O for in and out edits.The Undo feature is impressive in that it works between sessions. In other words, I can close a project and still undo previous actions the next time I open it. Another nice touch is that when you apply a video or audio effect, a star appears in the clip in the timeline. Clicking it takes you right to the effect settings.Starting a Project in MovaviYou start your video project by tapping the Add Files button. Alternatively, you can simply drag media from File Explorer or Finder. After you add the first media, a tutorial overlay shows what the parts of the interface are for. To add a clip to the timeline, simply double-click it. You can also drag it, or choose to add it to the current position, the beginning, or the end. You can also add it after the current clip from a right-click menu, which is very convenient.Movavi supports most common video file formats. I had no trouble importing the H.265 content newer smartphones can shoot. You can also use its integrated video capture utility to record from a connected webcam or camera.One feature vloggers and YouTubers should appreciate is Intro mode. It lets you create preset sequences to use at the start of all your videos for channel consistency.Pros may miss the ability to pre-trim clips before dropping them into the timeline, but that shouldn’t bother hobbyists. The same goes for trimming options. You don’t get options like slip, slide, and roll; it’s simply trimming ends or splitting clips. Again, these limitations aren’t likely to annoy amateurs. You trim clips on the timeline by dragging their edges in, which immediately snaps the new, shorter clip to its neighbor on the timeline.
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag)
The new Blade tool is intuitive and convenient. It shows you a dotted line where the cut will occur, and holding the Shift key while you use it cuts all tracks on the timeline at the same spot. You can tap B to enable Blade or choose its icon in the toolbar, which looks just like a razer blade.
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag)
Movavi has a large selection of cool Transitions, with in-app purchases of more available. There are two ways to work with transitions. One is to switch to Transition mode, where you see thumbnails showing the transition effects in action. The other is to click the Transitions button above the timeline to choose a transition from a dropdown list on the Transition Effects page, which also houses the Pan and Zoom features.You can apply random transitions throughout the project, a specific transition for all clip joins, or choose exactly which transition is applied to the selected clip. You can also set the duration. One nice aspect for amateurs is that the program never scolds you about not having enough overlapping footage; it just creates a good-looking transition with what’s on your timeline. One oddity, however, is that the interface lets you select more than one transition, so you need to uncheck all but the one you want to apply to a specific edit.Correcting and Enhancing Videos in MovaviMovavi’s Filters mode lets you apply Adjustments, Blur, Color filters, Vignettes, and more effects. The program provides a good selection of sample video and audio, most of which it downloads after you click on them. A search box lets you find any of the effects or transitions.
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag)
The real fun starts in the More Tools section (which changes to All Tools when you enter it). Here, you get to the Overlays, Stabilization, Animation, Chroma Key, and Audio tools. The Animation page’s Advanced tab is where you find the program’s only keyframe editing option, which is fine. Keyframe editing, which lets you mark exactly where on the timeline an effect should start and stop, is limited to size, position, opacity, and rotation, but that’s a plus for the program’s ease of use objective. However, those who want total control over effects and positions should look to PowerDirector or Pinnacle Studio, which let you time every effect and edit you apply with keyframes.Color adjustments include Auto Contrast, Saturation, White Balance as well as Magic Enhance. These work well, with the Magic Enhance giving the image more contrast and vividness. You can also manually adjust color settings, as shown below. A decent selection of included LUTs lets you change the mood of your scene to Drama, Romance, Dreamy, Film Noir, and several more looks, with 21 in all. Notably missing is the classic day-for-night effect (though that’s seldom completely convincing when present).
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag)
The Overlay section lets you apply picture-in-picture effects with video clips that overlap on the timeline in separate tracks. You don’t get all the video collage templates found in some other video editing software, but you do get a few, and you can resize and position the pictures to taste. A guide that appears when your inner picture is centered either horizontally or vertically is a plus.
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag)
The Stabilization tool lets you set the accuracy and shaking parameters, and then preview the results. I was impressed with its effectiveness on a test clip. Even a severe shake was smoothed out and the overall feel of the video was calmer than the original.Speed editing happens in two places. The Clip Properties panel has a Speed slider that lets you adjust the clip speed from 10% to 1,000%. The Slow Motion option simply lets you reduce the speed. Though it’s not on either of these panels, there is a Freeze-Frame effect you can add by right-clicking with the cursor on a clip in the timeline and choosing Insert Freeze Frame. Reversing playback is also a possibility on the Clip Properties panel.Motion TrackingMotion Tracking takes place not only in the Highlight and Conceal section of All Tools, but you can use it for text and stickers as well. First, you choose a mask that can be either a black shape or a blurred shape. You then have choices for feathering, opacity, and whether you want the shape to appear as an outline. Then comes the tracking, which can be either Quick, Precise, or AI. Precise wasn’t that slow in my testing, and it even stayed with the tracked subject (in this case, a bicycle wheel) after it passed behind a telephone pole, though not after she passed behind a car. The AI motion tracking option was able to follow the subject even after it passed behind a car (see video below).
Removing and Replacing BackgroundsThe Chroma Key tool of course starts with green as the key, but a dropper lets you use any background color in the shot. You can also adjust the tolerance, noise, edges, and opacity. It works, but not as well as some competitors. Corel VideoStudio, for example, lets you choose more than one background color to key out.AI Background Removal will be familiar to many from its appearance in photo software like Adobe Photoshop. The effect is currently making the move to video editors like Movavi, and it gives you an easier option than green screen shooting. To use it, you just right-click on a clip in the timeline, choose Tools, and then Background Removal from the context menu. Alternatively, it’s in the main toolbar’s More Tools section. You then choose between Quick and Precise. I first tested Quick, with a subject on a background of varied foliage. It took just about 20 seconds on a 23-second clip and did a reasonable job (far better than what Vegas Pro managed). When I then tried the Precise setting, as you’d expect, it took about twice as long, but my result was more accurate:
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag/squireclarence)
Instant MoviesMovavi’s Montage Wizard lets you throw some media at the program and have it build a movie for you automatically, complete with a background soundtrack. You start by choosing Create Quick Video and adding your media. Next, you get a selection of templates like Family, Memories, and Travel. You see a preview of the template’s look and feel before you have to decide on using it. The last step is to choose the music mood you’re looking for before you can preview your video.
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag)
The tool adds striking titles to the start and end of the movie, and though it’s not very customizable, it does a decent job for the least amount of effort. It can even fit the music to your content and fill the black sidebars that result from shooting with a smartphone in portrait orientation. After creating the project, you can edit the creation in the full editor, save it as-is, or upload it to YouTube or Vimeo.Titles and Text in Movavi
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag)
You get a plentiful choice of both tasteful and sassy titles, many with animation. As noted, you can motion-track titles. Resizing them and moving them around the preview screen gives you WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) results, which not all video editors are capable of. Movavi includes a wealth of font and color choices, and you can choose a background color and outline (aka stroke). Once a title is looking to your taste, you may save it as a preset. Some of the titles sport basic animations like flyby and zoom.Movavi recently added several audio correction and enhancement tools. Autocorrection for noisy places, enhanced voice recording, and recording studio join effects like Overload, Oscillation, and Vibrato. I tried the autocorrect on a windy outdoor smartphone clip. It didn’t reduce the wind noise enough by default, but luckily there’s a noise gate slider that got rid of that. The voice corrector did a good job removing room noise, desirable for podcasts.
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag)
A line on the timeline track lets you lower or raise clip volume, something Adobe Premiere Rush lacks. You expand the Audio Editing entry in All Tools to get to the relevant controls. Impressively, there’s a Synchronization option that lets you shoot from two different cameras—the first step toward multicam editing, which Movavi lacks. There’s also an equalizer and nine effects, including Echo, Muffled, Telephone, and Robot. Other programs like Adobe Premiere Pro let you simulate different acoustic environments, such as those of a cathedral or stadium, but you can get close with the Reverberation tool. Movavi also includes a Beat Detect feature that adds markers at beat points to help you place edits and effects. I tried AI Noise Removal on a clip filmed at Niagara Falls. You have two choices when doing audio noise removal: Artificial Intelligence and Default. The AI option gave me a very unnatural soundscape, and it doesn’t have a strength adjustment slider as the default option does. I was more impressed with the noise reduction tools in Wondershare Filmora.Movavi Export and PerformanceYou get a good range of export options in the program, including standards like MP4 and MOV, as well as MKV, WebM, and GIF. You can save audio only to AAC, FLAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, and WMA. Output targeting Apple, Android, PlayStation, and Xbox devices is also available in the export dialog. Most interestingly, you can set Movavi up so that it directly uploads to Google Drive, TikTok, YouTube, and Vimeo. You get decent but not overwhelming control over technical details like bitrate for both video and audio, frame rate, resolution, and two-pass encoding.
(Credit: Movavi/PCMag)
Movavi is responsive on the whole for normal editing. It’s also stable. I experienced no crashes at all while working with it, which is unfortunately rare in the video-editing software world, even with software from big companies, such as Apple’s Final Cut. I’m also impressed with how rapidly Movavi shuts down when you’re done.Movavi uses graphics hardware acceleration with all three major GPUs: Intel, Nvidia, and AMD. The program window flashed during editing and playback unless I checked the Use Software OpenGL implementation check box in Settings > Preferences, after which everything looked smooth. Movavi also creates proxies for high-resolution content for faster editing. In my rendering test, the program scored in the top five out of 15 apps. For render speed testing, each program joins seven clips of various resolutions ranging from 720p to 8K and applies cross-dissolve transitions between them all. I then note the time it takes to render the project to 1080p30 with H.264 at 16Mbps bitrate and 48-bit audio. The output movie is just over five minutes in length. I run this test on a Windows 11 PC sporting a 3.60GHz Intel Core i7-12700K, 16GB RAM, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, and a 512GB Samsung PM9A1 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.
As you can see from the graph above, Movavi came in fifth with an excellent render time of 43 seconds, so rendering speed shouldn’t be a problem for most users.Movavi on the MacThe macOS version of Movavi Video Editor has feature parity with the Windows version, and as mentioned, it’s available on the App Store, which eases installation, updating, and use on multiple computers. As for speed on the Mac M1, the program exhibited snappy interface response in testing. Movavi’s system requirements state that the software requires an Intel-based Mac, but I had to test on an M1-based MacBook Air since my Intel-based MacBook Pro succumbed to a fatal error while running Final Cut Pro. The What’s New page for the product now claims, “We have enabled hardware support for ARM processors on Macs.” The program looks the same as on Windows and sports all the same capabilities. Verdict: It’s Easy to Make Moving Pictures With MovaviMovavi Video Editor is enjoyable to use, and we recommend it to people who want to create fun, good-looking videos. Unlike many consumer editors, it’s not intimidating or overloaded with options, yet it still has most of the advanced techniques people want, including chroma key, transitions, title text, picture-in-picture, music and audio editing, and even motion tracking. For the most power and performance in video editing software for enthusiasts, however, check out our Editors’ Choice winner, CyberLink PowerDirector. For easy editing on the Mac, stick with iMovie, and for advanced work, look to Final Cut Pro. Finally, for pro-level work on either Windows or Mac, we recommend Adobe Premiere Pro.
Pros
Easy-to-understand user interface
Transitions with sound
Motion tracking and picture-in-picture tools
Chroma-key capability
Quick movie creation tool
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The Bottom Line
Movavi packs real video editing power, including PiP, chroma key, titling, keyframing, motion tracking, and AI, into an easy-to-use package.
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