Lightworks review
Our Verdict
Lightworks version 2021.three offers a solid feature set with room to grow into more advanced editing.
For
- Completely gratuitous
- Bones and avant-garde features
- Expert functioning
- Active user forum
- Cross-platform (Mac, Windows, Linux)
Against
- Consign options limited to 720p and H.264/MP4
- Steep learning curve for newcomers
- No built-in Assistance
- Paid upgrade for certain features
Tom's Guide Verdict
Lightworks version 2021.3 offers a solid feature set with room to grow into more advanced editing.
Pros
- +
Completely gratis
- +
Bones and advanced features
- +
Practiced performance
- +
Active user forum
- +
Cantankerous-platform (Mac, Windows, Linux)
Cons
- -
Export options limited to 720p and H.264/MP4
- -
Steep learning curve for newcomers
- -
No built-in Assistance
- -
Paid upgrade for certain features
Lightworks is a free video editing software package for Mac, Windows and Linux with an option to upgrade to a paid Pro version.
Lightworks specs
OS: Windows 7/viii/10; Mac Os X 10.11 (El Capitan) and college; Linux Supported RPM Distros: Fedora 30 and higher; Linux Debian: Ubuntu/Lubuntu/Xubuntu 18.04 & higher, Mint 17 & higher
CPU: Intel i7 chipset or faster, fast AMD chipset
RAM: 3GB or higher
GPU: PCI Express graphics card (NVIDIA or AMD) with 1GB or higher and support for DirectX 9
Misc: Separate media and system drives (these can be internal or external as long equally the the interface is suitably fast; compatible sound bill of fare
HDD space: 200MB for Lightworks installation
The software has a potent heritage in filmmaking, with Pulp Fiction, Jerry Maguire and The Wolf of Wall Street just a few of the many movies that take been edited on it. But don't become thinking that long list of honor-winning picture credits ways it'southward for professionals only: the free version of Lightworks is by and large consumer friendly and will be more than enough for near basic editing tasks.
What's more than, those experienced with non-linear video editing will notice plenty of advanced features to produce a polished video, even in the complimentary version reviewed hither.
While we were impressed with the software's feature set given its "toll," the biggest drawback is its maximum 720p export limits. Yet, there's a lot to like nearly Lightworks, at present on version 2021.3, and it's a worthy inclusion in our best free video editing software list. Find out if it'southward the right video-editing tool for you lot in our full Lightworks review.
Lightworks review: Price and availability
Lightworks (LWKS) is available every bit a free download from the official Lightworks website. The current version is 2021.3, and at that place are regular updates to keep it fresh. Another big plus point is that it's available for Windows 10 (and even Windows 7/viii), Mac and Linux operating systems.
For more avant-garde editing options, you can subscribe to the Pro version. This costs $24/month, $240/year or $390/outright (the latter also adds Boris FX compatibility).
Lightworks review: Interface and ease of use
Installation is quick and easy, although you need to annals to activate Lightworks. It'southward a non-intrusive process that only requires a proper noun and a countersign.
The software opens to a clean interface with a project browser — a grid of tiles that holds your projects. It's here that you create a new projection, or open 1 you've already started.
Four tabs at the tiptop of the main window provide access to LWKS' main workspaces: Log, Edit, VFX and Audio. Each provides its own unique set of tools and options.
Log, for example, allows you to enter additional metadata, conform timeline settings, work with cue markers and more than. Edit is cocky-explanatory and you'll spend most of your fourth dimension in this workspace. VFX provides access to a variety of furnishings (fades, presets, etc.), too as color adjustments, text and more — all very useful for practical and creative fine-tuning.
Audio delivers a wide range of audio controls. Equally you lot explore the interface, a series of tooltips introduces the various components and features with brief merely useful explanations to get you started. (These tin can be turned on/off in settings.)
There are numerous drop-down menus for a variety of tasks. Your all-time bet is to visit the LWKS.com community and read through the guides or head over to YouTube and spotter one of the many helpful videos. LWKS was updating the Forum at the time of this review and while they have an excellent beginner's video tutorial on YouTube, you may have to wait for them to produce more avant-garde tutorials for the latest version. I wish at that place was a Assist pick inside the software, though.
Lightworks review: Video editing features
Once you figure out where everything is — which may take a petty time — you'll observe a well-rounded set of features, from the timeline and audio options to helpful tools to continue your avails organized.
LWKS offers a number of ways to import assets into the program. In the Libraries section, y'all have admission to a variety of cloud services including Dropbox and Google Drive. Naturally, y'all can admission your local files from local drives equally well. If you need additional video or audio clips, you tin can import them straight from a trio of sources, merely have your credit carte du jour ready to buy; Amazing Music Tracks, Audio Network and Pond5 offer a wide variety of options for your video project and though yous tin comprise the watermarked clips into your project, you'll take to purchase them before export.
The program also has "bins" to organize your internal clips into folder-like sections, which makes it more convenient to grab one or more topical assets when you lot need them.
Keyframes are available and I was impressed with some of the sound controls higher up and beyond the standard equalizer and other adjustments (hum removal, heave treble). For example, if your subjects are speaking, at that place are special adjustments for vocal sounds such equally reduction of female or male sibilance.
LWKS offers a lot of elevate and drop simplicity, even for more advanced tasks. I did detect using brackets to set in and out points on the timeline a little clunky, only the plan's "marker and park" using the I and O keys (for in and out points) is much easier.
There's a lot to explore in this program and I promise that LWKS before long offers advanced tutorials to help its new users take advantage of all this software has to offering.
Lightworks review: Export
Well, as i would await, there's a limit to how much y'all become for free. And while Lightworks provides more features and performance than I initially expected from a freebie, there are limits. While you tin choose a variety of options for playback (including full frame and UHD 4K besides as fps), in that location are strict limits on exporting files: 720p (maximum) in H.264/MP4. The Pro version, withal, opens up 4K export options.
The good news is that LWKS provide direct uploads to YouTube and Vimeo with a selection of frame rates. But, over again, your choices are limited: 240p, 360p, 380p, 480p and 720p.
Lightworks review: Performance
I tested the software on a 2019 Apple tree MacBook Pro running Catalina x.15.7 with 64GB RAM and a 2.3 GHz eight-core Intel Cadre i9 processor with an AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics carte. The plan ran smoothly and rapidly, fifty-fifty when rendering.
Like any video plan, you may experience pocket-sized lag time with larger files (this happened only occasionally with this system). But since the gratis version only outputs a maximum of 720p, there's actually no reason to load up the program with high-res files. And that ways you can get away with the minimum system requirements (see box above for details) rather than a super-powered car.
I was a little taken ashamed that in that location was no File>Save drib-down menu. That's because LWKS saves your work regularly in the background — unobtrusively and without any slowdown. It's a characteristic I really capeesh for reasons that will go unmentioned here, if you lot know what I mean.
Lightworks review: Verdict
This free software program has a lot to offering and provides the user with a wide range of tools to create pro-looking videos. Information technology may take a while to detect all of LWKS' options but the essentials can be mastered relatively quickly with only a basic familiarity with how video editing works.
While the export limitations may be a dealbreaker (and not worth the paid upgrade to the Pro version) for some people, if you're posting online only and want to proceed file sizes pocket-size, this may fit the bill — peculiarly with the programme'due south straight output to YouTube and Vimeo.
Lightworks doesn't take upward much infinite on a hard bulldoze and downloads and installs fairly rapidly, so you won't sacrifice anything other than a little time to see if it'due south the program for you.
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Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/lightworks
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