MiniTool MovieMaker: Possibly the Best Video Editing Software for Beginners
For a lot of aspiring filmmakers, YouTubers, and bloggers, one of the hurdles is post-production. Learning how to use video editing software can be quite daunting, especially if you have little to no experience. Fortunately, MiniTool MovieMaker may have a solution.
For many people who are familiar with MiniTool Solutions, they’ll probably know about their MiniTool partition wizard and power data recovery. As a company, they’ve built quite a reputation within that respective industry; however, more recently, they’ve released video editing software, and it’s actually really good. This software may not be for large-budget filmmakers; however, for people that are starting out, this could be a brilliant option.
Interface
The most frustrating thing any software developer can do is produce something that’s overly complicated or difficult to use. Of course, some software suites are complex due to their nature; however, if you’re producing something for beginners or people that want to work fast, it’s probably not a good idea. MiniTool Solutions is really good in this regard, because the video editor is extremely intuitive and easy to use. As soon as you open the software, you’re met with import your media files options, depending on where you plan on posting your content.
If you’re planning on exporting video content onto your computer, this makes things incredibly easy, because you can select the portrait option before you even start. Of course, you can edit in widescreen too, which is how I normally produce content.
The sections are large and easy to understand immediately. I’m confident that someone who’s never edited a video before won’t have a difficult time navigating this software.
Once you’ve imported your files into the software, you can add them to the timeline as you work to build the final video. The timeline itself operates similarly to Final Cut in that you have a backbone structure. The main footage is placed on the top section of the timeline, and b-roll can be added to the sections below. This way, you can build up your timeline in a logical manner that’s easy to manage. Any audio that’s on the b-roll footage will play. However, you can mute it simply by right-clicking on the clip and selecting the “Mute” option. Aside from being able to mute b-Roll footage, there isn’t much else you can do to the audio. I don’t think it is an issue because, generally speaking, you’d only want audio from the main footage to be playing anyway.
Performance
MiniTool MovieMaker is predominantly for full HD content, and when editing 1080p footage, the software runs extremely well. I can appreciate that some may want the ability to edit and export in 4K; however, most content on social media is still only uploaded in HD, so it’s not a huge issue in that regard.
Despite this limitation, the software itself feels snappy and responsive. Being able to quickly move things around the timeline and then preview footage quickly is essentially a requirement, and MiniTool MovieMaker hasn’t slowed me down one bit. Even after adding several transitions, text graphics, and a bunch of clips into the timeline, the software runs perfectly fine without any slowdown or glitches.
The only issue I came across was when I tried adding 4K footage at 60p. The software did experience some significant slowdown, and previewing the footage was difficult too. This could be down to the fact that it was an h.265 file format, and I experience slowdowns with this type of footage even in Premiere Pro.
I would have preferred some control over the performance via the settings, although considering who this product is for, I can see why that wouldn’t be appropriate.
Ultimately, I don’t have any major complaints about the performance other than the fact that maybe better 4K compatibility would have been good to see.
Final Thoughts
One of the great things about social media and smartphones is that more people than ever before are producing content. This, I think, democratizes the industry for the better. It’s great to see that software manufacturers are also adapting to these types of customers and offering more effective solutions. It wouldn’t be practical for many vloggers, beginners, or content creators to use complex and pro-level software. That kind of software would simply slow down the process, and this is why I think the video editor software from MiniTool MovieMaker could be the best option for these types of creatives.
