Free 4k Video Editing Software for Windows 10

Summary: What is the best 4K video editing software? Different people may have different criteria. But if you need a free 4K video editor that is friendly to average computers and supports all kinds of Ultra HD (high res) videos even like HDR, 10-bit, high frame rate, and HEVC files, VideoProc Vlogger is surely one of the best bets of video editing software. It is free, fast, and smooth with the world's unique Level-3 Hardware Acceleration.

Shooting and recording videos in 4K is easily accessible for everyone. Not only the new camcorders and DSLRs but also all the recent smartphones, DJI drones, and GoPro action cameras treat 4K support as the basic standard. The new gadgets are competing with each other by adding knick-knack such as HDR10 with Dolby Vision in iPhone, 4K 120fps in GoPro HERO10 for slow-motion, full-frame model in Sony A7S II, 4K EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) in Panasonic/Canon camcorders, and log profiles for color grading in post-production.

However, 4K video editing is still hamstrung by large file size, high CPU consumption, and highly compressed formats. Generally, professional video editors are usually power-hungry and require high-end computers for smooth operation. So the question is: Is there any 4K video editor that is friendly to average or slow computers?

Choosing the best 4K video editor isn't always an easy task. You need to be aware of several factors in addition to the minimum computer requirement. Here in this guide, we have rounded up 10 professional software (both free and paid) which can help you with 4K video editing on Windows 11/10/8/7 and macOS (Monterey included). Just keep reading and find the best pick for you!

Quick Navigation:

• Part 1: Top 10 Free or Paid 4K Video Editing Software
• Part 2: What Computer Can Edit 4K Video?
• Part 3: 4K Video Editing Tips
• Part 4: FAQ

Part 1. Top 10 Free or Paid 4K Video Editing Software

In the following content, we will show you the details about each 4K video editing application (which are much better than 4K online video editor), like its features, its pros, its cons, and more, to help you make a choice much more easily and smartly.

#1. VideoProc Vlogger

VideoProc Vlogger is a free video editing software designed especially for 4K 30/60/120fps, HEVC/H264, and higher-quality videos on both Windows and Mac. It accepts both importing and exporting videos in 4K resolutions. Any kind of footage, including high bitrate and high frame rates from GoPro, DJI, iPhone, and professional Panasonic/Canon cameras, can be edited without freezes and stutters.

Virtually all post-production needs of a creator can be met in a single program. You can use this HEVC video editor to split, merge, add subtitles, adjust speed, apply filters and add background music. Further, you can create a sports video with the speed ramp presets, edit to the beat, create camera movements, use chroma key, make picture-in-picture videos, and realize color correction and grading, and so on.

Level-3 Hardware Acceleration, GPU-based real-time rendering, and scaling algorithm based on edge direction interpolation make VideoProc Vlogger the fastest and most powerful video editing software for 4K and large video files.

VideoProc Vlogger can make full use of NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD graphics cards for acceleration. Furthermore, it runs on Mac M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max natively. According to our test,

"when exporting a 5-minute 4K@30FPS footage, it renders 26-30FPS on M1 with Hardware Acceleration enabled and 15-20 FPS without Hardware Acceleration, delivering an enhancement of up to 300%."

VideoProc Vlogger - Editor's Choice for the Best 4K Video Editing Software

• 100% free and clean. Edit 4K/5.3K/8K/HDR and large videos fast, smoothly and easily.
• The requirement on computer configuration is lower than most 4K/HEVC video editors on the market.
• Full Hardware Acceleration and real-time render allow faster editing with power for other tasks on a computer.
• For beginners and pros. Trim, crop, zoom, rotate, chroma key, LUTs, motion, edit music, speed ramping, etc.
• Strike a balance between the output video quality and the file size while keeping a fast render speed.

A Comment from a user:

"I tried HDR10, 4K, Dolby Atmos in containers like MKV, MP4. VideoProc Vlogger supports everything perfectly which is a huge advantage. It supports Hardware Encoding which results in high speed export so that too is a benefit. It has got all the basic editing tools within reach and is not difficult to learn even for beginners."

Pros:

• Fast and smooth in editing 4K UHD videos.
• Both import and output 4K resolution, supporting multi-track.
• Create cinematic videos through a simple process.
• Friendly to beginners.

Cons:

• Insufficient filters and effects in the current version.

Tips:

If your computer is very old and slow and you only need to make simple edits such as cutting, splitting, cropping, merging, rotating, and stabilization to your 4K videos, then VideoProc Converter is a good option. It is friendly to make simple video adjusting, processing, and conversion on a slow and old computer.

#2. iMovie

iMovie is the default video editor for Mac, free since macOS 10. Versions after 10.1 have added support for 4K resolution and HD at 60fps. Users can import, freely edit videos in 4K 2160p, 1080p 60fps and share content in 4K quality. This free 4K video editing software has enough features for novices to make a decent video. That includes subtitles, timeline, filters, background, color correction, stabilization, etc. Users can share the project right to YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook right away.

However, iMovie is not good at dealing with large files. And be careful when applying advanced editing. For example, the app may crash. Audio and video may go out of sync when dropping all the audio to the timeline or slowing down the clip.

Pros:

• Extremely easy to use.
• The effects, backgrounds, and titles are top-notch among free editors.
• Well optimized on Mac computers.

Cons:

• The o utput video can be large.
• No option to compress 4K output videos.
• Limited output choices.

#3. Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro X (FCPX) is the prosumer-level editor app from Apple. It has a similar interface to that of iMovie. But it has a far larger selection of effects, filters, transitions, etc. It has almost everything a professional editor may have. Compared to Abode Premiere Pro, FCPX has a better interface and faster rendering time.

This 4K/HEVC video editor is capable of editing 4K ProRes footage, HD, and 360 videos from various VR headsets and cameras. Also it exports projects in 4K HEVC H.265 and HD/FHD H.264. The installation of FCPX requires enough local storage on Mac (older or newer): minimum 4GB of RAM, OpenCL-capable video processor, and 4GB free disk space.

Pros:

• Extraordinarily powerful.
• 4K, HDR and 360-degree video.

Cons:

• Expensive and complicated.
• High requirements on hardware.

#4. Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro is the hands-down first choice of many. This editor is a mainstay for Hollywood makers to create movies with stunning cinematic effects. You can trim clips, add transition & effects, adjust color, edit audio, add subtitles, apply multi-camera angle editing and more. Adobe Premiere Pro CC is among the best 4K video editors. Most professional users choose it for 4K (or higher), 360 VR and HDR video editing. Better use it on high-end computers and servers.

Like other professional editors, Adobe Premiere Pro CC is complicated and very taxing on computer. For example, users on GoPro and DJI forums usually complain that editing 4K footages in Adobe Premiere Pro is choppy and lagging. Specifically, Adobe Pr requires at least 8GB of RAM and 8GB of hard disk space. If you're running on an earlier Mac, consider upgrading your hardware first.

Pros:

• An industry-standard editor.
• Flexible and powerful.

Cons:

• Expensive and complicated.
• High requirements on hardware.
• Extra apps like After Effects required for some features.

#5. Vegas Pro

Vegas Pro is a big rival of famous video editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. It comes with all features a professional editor needs to create movies, TV shows, music videos, etc. Sony Vegas Pro is more competitive for its ability to apply amazing elements, visual special effects, 3D titling & compositing. The editor also supports input/output 4K and HEVC, ProRes, AVC, etc. More importantly, Vegas Pro takes advantage of hardware acceleration like Intel Quick Sync Video to edit and render faster.

Pros:

• Large effects and transition package.
• A wide range of export formats.
• Intel QSV support.

Cons:

• The price is too high for non-professionals.
• Complicated to begin with.

#6. DaVinci Resolve 16

DaVinci Resolve 16, "the fastest growing nonlinear video editor in the industry", is a free video editor. It has features on par with professional programs like 3D compositing, 3D text tools, keying, painting, Color package, etc. To edit 4K videos, users need to upgrade to DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio for $299. It supports 4K and higher at up to 120fps. The program is very good at dealing with large and heavy files. It can enable hundreds of timelines and open clips instantly by taking advantage of Apple Metal, multiple GPUs and CUDA acceleration.

Pros:

• Free 4K editing app version with no watermark.
• Support extensive input/output formats.
• Flexible settings to reduce time when editing large projects.

Cons:

• A powerful computer is required.
• Some features are difficult to use like adding VFX.

#7. VideoStudio Ultimate 2021

VideoStudio Ultimate was acquired by Corel from Ulead Systems and rebranded Corel VideoStudio Ultimate. It is a not-to-be-missed option when it comes to 4K video editing software. It supports high-end technologies like 4K, 3D, 360 degree VR, Stop Motion etc. This 4K video editor provides a full set of tools to capture, edit and share videos. First, you can easily import videos or record right away. Then edit, stabilize, split, modify, trim, fix, etc. And directly upload projects to Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and Vimeo. Or export video in other formats. Overall, it's a very easy editor for beginners to intermediated users.

Pros:

• Powerful support for 4K, stop motion, 3D.
• Bunch of export options.
• Wide selection of bundled effects.

Cons:

• The speed can be slow sometimes.

#8. Lightworks Pro

Lightworks also has a free version. Just as the Pro, it supports a wide range of formats. It imports ProRes, RED R3D, and AVCHD 4K. But note that it exports to YouTube and Vimeo only. To export edited videos in 4K resolution in any formats, you need to get the paid version. The 4K video editor free version allows multi-cam editing, over 100 presets, a set of transitions and effects, and fast trimming features. Claimed by the site, Lightworks is used to produce some famous Hollywood movies like The Wolf of Wall Street.

Pros:

• There is a free version enough for home editing.
• Ultra-precise trimming feature.
• Excellent speed for 4K video editing.

Cons:

• Mastering the program is intimidating.
• The free version is very limited in export formats and resolutions (720P).

#9. Shotcut

Shotcut is a free video editor that supports 4K resolutions. This free 4k editing program has many features beneath the plain interface. It supports cutting, splitting, merging and trimming video, adding effects, titles, and text. There are also advanced features like 3D text, color correction, overlay, and more. You will need to spend a little time figuring them out. The editor supports various formats like H.264, MP4 and the 4K format HEVC for 4K output. See how to use Shotcut - tutorial for beginners

Pros:

• A wide range of supported formats.
• Powerful features for a free editor.

Cons:

• Lack of support tutorials.
• Lack of profiles for YouTube or social media.

#10. VSDC Video Editor

VSDC also has a free and a pro version at $19.99, both claimed to support 4K. The free VSDC has many features not available in other free 4k UHD editors, like 4K stabilization, picture-in-picture mode etc. The paid version has some benefits like more media types, hardware acceleration, more advanced settings, etc. This makes the pro version faster when exporting and editing 4K videos.

Pros:

• A wide range of import and output video formats, including H.265.
• Good for home users.

Cons:

• Slow speed editing 4K videos.
• Some complain that it's not FREE.

Part 2. What Computer Can Edit 4K Videos?

Only with the help of best 4K video editor, this is not enough. We also need the qualified hardware configuration of the computer. So to put it more bluntly, what kind of hardware, like the RAM, can help us edit 4K videos much more smoothly?

The RAM I/O performance

I/O (Input/Output) performance refers to the input and output of data, or the flow of data per second. The amount of data in 4k is very large, 4 times bigger than that of HD. Obviously it would be a big challenge for the RAM. So we need make sure that the RAM is powerful, and with great I/O performance. But how to decide this? When we choose the RAM for 4K editing, we can simply check its frequency and dual-channel feature.

This page gives detailed information about the best PC build for 4K video editing.

1. RAM

Many people say that memory is the most important one of all computer requirements for video editing. We are not gonna deny it. Especially for the low-configuration computers, the most important part that needs to be upgraded is just its RAM. But how much memory do we need for 4K editing anyway? More and better?

The requirements of computer hardware vary greatly when using different 4K editors.

However, the memory size number is not all about the ability of RAM for 4K processing. We need to check more other specs about the RAM.

2. RAM frequency

In addition to requiring large memory, RAM with better I/O performance also requires a higher frequency. The higher the frequency, the better the I/O performance of the memory. The same amount of memory, such as the 8GB ones, some are much cheaper than others, and some are really expensive. One big reason lies in the frequency. Generally, for 4K editing, it is OK to choose the 2666MHz or 2933MHz memory.

3. Dual-channel memory

The dual-channel feature can also upgrade the memory I/O performance. The benefit of dual channels is that the memory speed can be multiplied. Because dual-channel memory increases bandwidth, and hence, it improves data processing.

But you need to notice these,

• The motherboard should support the dual-channel.
• The CPU must also support the reading of dual-pass memory, such as 8700K, 9900K, and 3900X.
• Obviously, you need two memories. Choose the same model of RAMs to avoid incompatibility.

Surely, the computer hardware configurations are not just RAM, and there also include GPU, CPU, motherboard, hard disk, etc. which we will need for 4K editing. And if you want to learn more, here we have prepared a detail page about hardware for 4K video editing, to which you can refer.

If you have high computer configurations, use renowned editors like Premiere Pro for any 4K or HD videos. But for slow and old computers, advanced editors make things times slower. VideoProc Vlogger is suitable for regular computers, as it relies less on CPU and RAM. You don't need to close all programs down. Instead, it allows extra juice for other activities running at the same time.

Part 3. 4K Video Editing Tips

Editing a 4K video should be nothing special. Actually, you can do it without a 4K monitor, or without a powerful computer. But some users grumble at stutters, crashes, computer glitching out or lagging when importing, editing, playing back or rendering their large 4K projects on some video editing software. Here some tips on how to edit videos smoothly on slow computers:

1. Do not install the large professional NLE system on your Disk C.

You should ensure the system disk have sufficient space to be efficient. Otherwise, your computer will not run smoothly.

2. Choose a video editing software that has lower requirement on your hardware.

From the review above, VideoProc Vlogger (for Windows and Mac), iMovie (for Mac, iOS), Vegas (for Windows), Corel VideoStudio, Lightworks (for Linux, macOS, Windows), shotcut (for Linux, macOS, Windows) and VSDC (for Windows) meet this criterion. Among them, VideoProc Vlogger is free and light and has the low requirement on hardware. It is recommended if you only need to do some basic edits and conversion. You can learn more tips on how to edit 4K videos in the simplest way.

Note: Some software has a version to run on a 32-bit computer, but it is not suggested to edit a 4K video in a 32-bit system or program.

3. Turn on your graphics acceleration.

Since 4K video editing relies heavily on graphics processing, you should make good use the NVIDIA or AMD/ATI graphic card power on your computer. For example, you are suggested to turn on your Hardware Graphics Acceleration on your Windows 10 when editing the 4K video. By moving all graphics rendering from the Central Processing Unit to the Graphics Processing Unit will get faster and better performance. Better still, most editing programs have the ability of hardware acceleration. Just choose a suitable one. For your reference, VideoProc can make FULL use of your CPU and GPU resource and you don't need to do any settings.

4. Split your 4K video into clips and edit them one by one.

if your computer is very old and slow. This method is recommended if all the three above are not working for you. Cutting your lengthy video into pieces and remerge them together after you completing the editing. This can avoid the crashes and data loss somehow.

5. Downsample your 4K video to 1080p or 720p.

I know, this is a worse thing to do. But don't worry if you are to upload your 4K video to YouTube, Instagram or the similar social media platform. Because 1080p is enough for social sharing and reviewing on a mobile device.

Part 4. 4K Video Editing FAQ

1. How much RAM do I need to edit a 4K video?

• 16GB of RAM: Good for editing 1080p – 4K 8bit Projects, with minor usage of background programs.
• 24GB RAM: At least is OK for 4K material editing, and if your budget is sufficient, 32GB, and even 64GB would be much better.
• 32GB of RAM: Good for any type of editing with heavy use of background hogs, such as editing large images in Photoshop.
• 64GB or more: Recommended for editing 8K footage in 10bit or more and RAM-hogging programs such as After Effects/Cinema 4D.

2. Is there any 4K video editor online?

Yes, there are some 4K video editors online, such as Kizoa. Although most of them seem supporting 4K resolution as input, seldom of them can output real 4K quality. The image quality will be downgraded automatically. 4K video file is so large in size that the requirement of your internet connection speed is very high. So it is not suggested to edit an UHD video online.

Free 4k Video Editing Software for Windows 10

Source: https://www.videoproc.com/video-process/4k-video-editor.htm

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