5 Easy-to-Use Video Makers

5 Easy to Use Video Makers

Have you ever used Google to search for something, only to find yourself fixated on a video ad that popped up instead of your search results? We humans tend to respond faster to visual stimulation than plain-old text. That means no matter what your marketing goals, an engaging video can probably do you some good.

Sure, you can spend thousands of dollars on a professional-quality camera, crew and/or editor. That can be the best way to go when you need a really sophisticated video. But if your initial goals are rather simple or you’re just dipping your toe in the video waters, you can also just use a video maker to save both money and time. A few that rise to the top of our list:

1. Wave Video

This easy-to-use video-editing tool has several helpful utilities for creating professional-quality videos that inspire. It’s particularly great for those with no video-editing experience. Wave Video also comes with a library of over 300 million stock images and videos, making it one of the biggest in that regard.

This tool is also fully customizable, allowing you to add your own logo, text and fonts. And the white-label preview link lets you share a preview without a Wave watermark. The double-video format gives you free rein over your video’s ratios, meaning you can adjust its size to fit your Facebook cover, Instagram story or YouTube page.

Once you’re satisfied with your work, just click the “publish” button to download your video as an MP4 or export it to social media. Wave Video offers both a free version and a paid plan, with the exporting options limited on the free plan. But good news: the paid plan starts at just $10/month.

2. Openshot

This one’s for you, YouTubers. Openshot is an excellent free video-editing software with an easy drag-and-drop feature. And although it caters to both pros and amateurs, it boasts some pretty advanced features that come in handy when you’re aiming for video excellence.

The advanced edits feature in particular provides a robust animation framework for fading, bouncing, sliding and animating visuals in your video. Plus you can add as many layers of audio tracks as you’d like, as well adding watermarks and even background video to the mix. You can also remove the original background from your video and replace it with whatever you’d like.

Openshot’s 3D animation feature is a crowd favorite. It lets you add titles to your videos and render them as 3D animations (and a whole lot more). Although Openshot doesn’t have a comprehensive help section, once you get the hang of it, you’ll flow like a pro movie maker.

3. Animoto

Animoto is truly video making, made easy. This intuitive service has all sorts of storyboard templates to choose from, plus a handy drag-and-drop tool for importing photos and video clips and then easily working them into your own video masterpiece.

Fully customize your video by selecting beautiful fonts, color themes, etc. and selecting music from Animoto’s library of licensed tracks. Choose between the horizontal landscape format and the square 1:1 format. Then use the handy quick-export feature to share your video with friends and family on social media, among other options.

Animoto offers both free and paid pricing plans. Even the free plan includes access to over a million stock images from Getty Images. But the business plan certainly takes your options up a notch with 10 times the music tracks, dozens more font options and other upgrades.

4. YouTube Video Editor

Did you know that YouTube doesn’t just support uploading, playing and promoting videos, but also making them? And fortunately YouTube Movie Maker is another option that’s easy to follow. It’s pretty basic in its features compared to some of the other tools on this list, but still a nice option to have.

YouTube Movie Maker features a single-track timeline that allows you to move different elements around. Just choose and add your files, edit everything together, preview your video at any point in the process and upload it. YouTube Movie Maker also lets you trim your video, add basic effects, change your soundtrack, add transitions and more.

This is a solid tool if you’re just getting your feet wet with hands-on video editing. But if you’re looking for more advanced features or more professional-looking video output, you may want to jump right to another tool.

5. Renderforest

Renderforest boasts a well-stocked online library of 115,000+ royalty-free stock media elements. The site also offers a step-by-step guide on how to use its video tools, not to mention helpful tools that go beyond the video realm to help you create branding materials like logos and even a full website.

This cloud-based video maker can help you add that extra something to your project. Its thorough offerings include free utilities for creating professional intros, music visualizations, slideshows and even animations. And you can change text and color themes along the way.

You don’t need to know anything about video editing to do any of the above. Plus Renderforest  offers great flexibility in its pricing options. We suggest starting out with a free trial to see how this service feels and works for you.

If you are looking for help creating an engaging animated video, contact us! We’d love to help!