5 Best GoPro Video Editors for Beginners

Now you’ve captured the interesting and exciting moment with your GoPro, what’s next? It’s time to share it with your family and friends, even the entire world! But wait, before you publish it, it’s always good to edit or fine-tune a bit to make it even more incredible. What program are the best GoPro video editors and beginner-friendly? If you are looking for some easy-to-use video editor to transform your 360 footage to epic video, check out the 5 best GoPro video editors for beginners you should know.

Part 1: 5 Best GoPro Video Editors
Part 2: Comparisons of  5 Best GoPro Video Editors
Part 3: How to Get Video from GoPro?

 

Part 1: 5 Best GoPro Video Editors

There are many GoPro video editors out there, ranging from mobile app to desktop program. But if you are a beginner and want to make your GoPro video shine, here’s a handpicked list of the 5 best GoPro video editors perfect for beginners.

1. Leawo Video Converter - Windows/Mac

This is an all-inclusive software to satisfy all your needs. Leawo Video Converter is a powerful 11 in 1 media solution that allows you to download, convert, copy music and video, burn videos and images to DVD/Blue-ray, make video and audio editing with fast speed. With Leawo Video Converter, you can convert your video file to other formats, adjust the video and parameters, edit videos, trim or crop to make the file smaller without losing video quality. That’s not just it, if you are a 3D movie fan, you can make your side-by-side 3D movies at home based on the 2D movie with ease! Leawo Video Converter lets you make easy works of producing sleek and Hollywood-style productions with a clean interface!

 

2. Quik - Windows/Mac

 

Developed by GoPro, Quik is a solid video editing software made for GoPro action video. As the name suggested, it’s quick to output great video edits when you get used to it. Quik offers tons of features that are powerful for anyone. With Quik, you can import your GoPro photos and videos and create an impressive music-synced video automatically. The powerful editing tools allow you to adjust videos and photos easily, helping you get the most out of your footage.

 

3. Apple iMovie - Mac

 

For Mac users, here comes the surprisingly capable and easy-to-use video editor for beginners - iMovie. It’s free and preinstalled on Mac, which is pretty good when Mac users who don’t have a sheer number of choices available. As an entry-level video editor, iMovie is capable of editing 4K videos from GoPro and offers movie themes, including titles and transitions. The native template and trailer features can help a newcomer to produce a video with a professional touch.

 

4. Cyberlink PowerDirector - Windows/Mac

 

As the lead of consumer-oriented software, Cyberlink PowerDirector is a full-featured video editing program that can satisfy all your needs. Packed with a professional editing tool, Cyberlink PowerDirector remains easy to use which is perfect for beginners. The program is made with action cameras in mind, you can edit your favorite videos from a 360º camera just like GoPro. Advanced yet simple, easy-to-use, Cyberlink is a consumer-level software that is close to professional.

 

5. Magix - Windows

 

There is no doubt that Magix is a great choice for beginners when it comes to video editing. It’s a feature-packed, and simple to use consumer video editing program. Magix can help you make your GoPro video premium with a professional feel using advanced effects and tools. The program lets users cut and trim their footage in an easy yet professional manner. Packed with templates and multimedia tracks, you can create your videos in minutes with Magix.

 

Part 2: Comparisons of 5 Best GoPro Video Editors

 Now you have learned the 5 recommended GoPro video editors for beginners, so which suits you the best? Here we’ve made a comparison of these 5 best GoPro video editors, with further details on their features, advantages, and user experiences. So it’ll clear things out before you make the decision.

 

Do they support 4K video?

Supporting video format and resolution are vital to video editor programs, especially when 4K video content has become increasingly common these days. As GoPro can capture large video with 4K even 5K resolution in HEVC format, the support for the 4K format has become fairly standard in video editors software. It can be seen that all the video editors above support 4K video, making high-resolution video editing more accessible for beginners in daily use.

 

What about video format(HEVC)?

As known to us all, GoPro adopts HEVC(High Efficiency Video Coding) to capture larger footage, so whether HEVC is supported and other video formats handled are critical to a GoPro video editor. Quik, the software made for GoPro, supports MP4 and MOV only. You can’t use Quik to output footage from the other devices as it supports GoPro video footage and photos only. When it comes to iMovie, HEVC can only be read on macOS High Sierra. Luckily, Leawo Video Converter, Magix, and Cyberlink PowerDirector are all able to import and edit HEVC with ease. That’s not just it, all these three video editors can handle a vast range of video formats.

 

The unique point

Besides the basic features for video editing, there is always something else that makes the program stand out. As the made-for-GoPro software, Quik’s newly introduced cloud backup is unlimited so you don’t have to worry about losing your favorite footage. The easy social sharing feature allows you to post directly to social media or share them around. Cyberlink PowerDirector’s powerful MultiCam Designer feature lets you switch simultaneous camera shots in between, which is pretty cool. Magix and Leawo Video converter can burn your videos to DVD and Blu-ray so you can keep your action videos forever. However, Leawo Video Converter is a way more comprehensive tool, as the whole package even includes many useful tools like video downloader, blu-ray ripper, etc.

 

The video editing feature is important

 Video editors sometimes can be too complex, especially for beginners. In this case, the pre-installed feature and function, such as templates, multimedia tracks, effects, etc. can be a great help to produce a nice-looking video. Packed with a growing list of original soundtracks for you to choose from, Quik makes it easy to sync your video with music. There are also multiple sophisticated themes to give your video a professional style. iMovie’s 15 movie themes don’t seem to be a lot but enough to speed up your editing process.

 

Magix and Cyberlink PowerDirector are both equipped with a slew of templates and soundtracks, especially for Magix, the 1500+ templates and 32 multimedia tracks are more than enough for video editing. When it comes to Leawo Video Converter, the photo slideshow video maker is powerful enough to edit your GoPro footage. On top of that, the video editor can help you customize video effects, including 3D effects, which is awesome if you want to make your GoPro video more dimensional and cinematic.

 

What about audio editing?

Editing audio is essential for video editors. This includes adding an audio/background soundtrack to the video and cleaning up the background noise, and separating audio and video tracks. Among the 5 video editors above, Quik and iMovies can simply add audio to videos, while the rest are more capable of audio editing such as removing background noise and adding environmental audio effects.

 

Speed matters

Video editing is a computing-intensive activity so it usually requires a decent computer and software if you want to make everything look good. Especially when it comes to 4K video, the extra video Ram is always needed to ensure smooth editing. You don’t want to get stuck in the middle of editing forever. The 5 best GoPro video editors are all speedy applications, yet Cyberlink and Leawo Video Converter are the two stand out. Especially for Leawo Video Converter, it’s 6 times faster in processing than the average competitors.

 

Are they free?

Your choice for a video editor sometimes depends on your budget, so how much do they cost? As the pre-installed software on Mac, naturally, it’s free for Mac users. Regarding Quik, the software developed by GoPro is free to download and use on a trial basis. The full capability can be unlocked for $1.99/month or a $9.99/year subscription, including unlimited cloud backup. For $49.99/year, you get all the benefits of a subscription plus discounts on accessories of GoPro, streaming, guaranteed damaged camera replacement, etc.

 

CyberLink PowerDirector can be subscribed for $4.33/month and $51.99/year. They have more plans available, you can check the official site for more information. Regarding Magix, the plan usually is $69.99/year and there’s a discount occasionally. Leawo Video Convert costs $169.95 for lifetime use but the package is pretty a bargain given it’s a package of video downloader, converter, Blu-ray ripper, etc.

 

Part 3: How to Get Video from GoPro?

 After you make incredible GoPro footage, you might be eager to see how they look on your computer. If you don’t know how to do it, check out the steps below to learn how to get videos and pictures from GoPro with ease.

- Remove microSD card and insert it to a USB card reader or SD card adapter, then insert it into your computer.

- Usually, the card will be recognized automatically. If not, press Window Key + E to open File Explorer.

- Go to “This PC” and you will find your SD card under the menu. Click the name of your SD card and there are two folders: DCIM and MISC.

- Open DCIM to look for the videos and photos captured by your GoPro. You can drag and drop the files to your local files.

 

The Bottom Line

All 5 applications are powerful and professional GoPro video editors and it depends on your needs and budget when it comes to deciding which one to use. If you are a beginner and enthusiastic to learn more, CyberLink PowerDirector and Leawo Video Converter are more recommended here for the easy-to-use feature, and they offer decent video editing on a budget.