Most computers come with a basic video editor:  Windows is called Movie Maker; Mac is iMovie.

Free Editing Software for PCs

VideoPad Video Editor - Designed to be intuitive to use, VideoPad is fully featured video editing program for creating professional looking videos in minutes. Making movies has never been easier.

AVS Video Editor - Trim, cut, split, merge, rotate, mix videos.  Apply effects and overlays, insert menus, audio, texts and subtitles. Burn DVD/Blu-ray discs.

Free Editing Software for Macs

Avidemux - Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks.

Simple Video Splicer - SVS is a basic video editing tool for basic cropping and/or piecing together of video files.

Captivate - Adobe® Captivate® 6 software lets you rapidly author interactive eLearning and HTML5-based mLearning content. Import Powerpoint slides and add multimedia and quizzes. Liven up projects with actors, themes, and interactive elements. Publish to Blackboard, and deliver to the web, desktops, and mobile devices.

Camtasia - More than a simple screen recorder, Camtasia gives you the tools you need to customize and edit your videos. Record on-screen activity, add imported media, create interactive content, and share high-quality, HD videos that viewers can watch anytime, on nearly any device.

WUSTL Libraries Staff can request software from SOS.

The best editing software we know:

Final Cut Pro X - FinalCut Pro X is the latest iteration of Apples groundbreaking video editing software.  While some experts feel it is a slightly softer version that its predecessors, it still allows an editor to produce aprofessional looking video.  This requires the Mac OSX 10.6.8 or later opperating system.

Adobe Premiere Elements

Adobe's Premeire Elements 10 promisses expert level editing and is compatible both with Windows and Mac operating systems.

WUSTL Libraries Staff can request software from SOS.

Music sometimes enhances videos.  However, if you choose to use music that is under copyright, you need to obtain permisission; another option is to use music available via creative commons licensing.  Below are links to resources for obtaining music under creative commons.