GoPro cameras — and similar Action Cameras — are a lot of fun because you can capture footage that would otherwise break a normal DSLR camera or smartphone. You can capture unique trail shots, and even catch some sweet water tricks with the GoPro. However, creating a video with GoPro footage isn’t always easy when you want to trim it up into, say, a highlight reel.
That’s generally what a video editor is for, but many video editors have quite a learning curve and come across as intimidating. That’s why we’re going to show you all of the video editors that will work well for the beginner, for the layman.
So, follow along below, and we’ll show you the best GoPro video editors for Mac, editors that you can jump right into with no editing experience whatsoever.
GoPro-specific video editors
It’s worth noting that, with the footage you record on your GoPro — or any Action Camera — you don’t necessarily need a GoPro specific video editor. Just about any video editor out there will be able to edit and manipulate your GoPro footage. That said, there are also video editors that come with GoPro specific features, such as being able to plug your recorded footage in over WiFi.
That said, we’re first going to introduce to you VideoProc:
VideoProc
If your new to the world of video editing and cutting and trimming footage in some way that makes sense for your video, you’ll definitely want to take VideoProc for a spin. VideoProc was designed for the layman, the person that might not be totally familiar with technology. Normal video editing tools can take some time to pick up and master, but VideoProc will have you creating masterpieces in minutes.
VideoProc is your traditional video editor, but it works as a GoPro video editor, too. It’s great for processing GoPro footage. Plenty of other GoPro Studio alternatives can do that, but where VideoProc stands out is making itself easily accessible by the layman.
This software has all of the tools that you would expect out of a video editor — cut, trim, split, merge, crop, rotate, flip, and even frame extraction. You can apply effects, add text or image watermarks, import subtitles, speed-up, and even slow-down playback speed to truly make your GoPro footage unique.
And since we’re using VideoProc to edit GoPro footage specifically, one of the features that you’ll love the most is the ability to stabilize shaky images and reduce background noise, which is all extremely common in action camera type video like the GoPro. There are even features to correct or fix video and audio that’s out of sync.
That said, VideoProc doesn’t have all of the professional features here — you certainly won’t be using it for things like professional movie editing.
VideoProc has a lot of basic features that make it easy for the layman to use, but there are some more advanced tools as well. You can use the program to manipulate and edit 4K video, allowing you to edit them at different frame rates, and from different modes of recording — like from the GoPro, DJI drones, the iPhone, and even your professional DSLR cameras.
One of the major advantages to VideoProc is its Level-3 Hardware Acceleration. Normally, depending on your processing power, videos can take hours to render or complete, but is actually 5x faster than other tools with this enabled. For the most part, VideoProc is an excellent choice for beginners; however, it does lack advanced video editing features that you’ll find in many commercial-level GoPro video editing softwares. It’s one of the best ways that beginners can edit their own GoPro videos, too.
GoPro Fusion Studio
VideoPro is a well-rounded video editor, but if you’re looking for something that is specific to editing GoPro footage, Fusion Studio is definitely right up your alley. With GoPro Fusion Studio, you can take your ordinary GoPro footage, and turn it into your own homemade movie, or into an awesome highlight reel of your adventures on the trail or on the water
From GoPro itself, Fusion Studio has a lot of neat features that can transform your Action Camera footage into something amazing. There’s a little bit of a learning curve to it, but GoPro has a pretty basic overview of all the things that it can do:
- Easily stitch and render high-res spherical content
- Quickly offload content directly from Fusion or a content folder
- Adjust color using presets or fine-tune manually
- Transform your footage using Little Planet, Fisheye and other effects
- Add gimbal-like stabilization that uses sensor data to smooth out all your footage (perfect for stabilizing otherwise shaky footage)
- Customize audio with 360 surround sound or advanced wind noise reduction
You can pick up Fusion Studio for free on Mac or Windows. Their software is even able to plug into some of Adobe’s video editing products, too.
Adobe Premiere Pro
You can’t mention video editor without mentioning Abobe Premiere Pro. After all, Adobe’s video editing software is already well known in the video editing space, and is used by experts in the entertainment industry to create stunning videos, creating TV shows, movies, and plenty of other media content. A lot of then content that you see on the big screen or on TV is often made with Adobe Premiere Pro!
Adobe has this top-tier reputation for a reason — it has a massive set of creative tools for you to create visual content for TV, cinema, and the Web. That said, for the average person, the tools are actually extremely complex, and so, there’s a massive learning curve that comes with it. You’ll spend tons of time learning these tools, and longer mastering them.
Suffice to say, you’re not going to get quick video editing out of this; however, it does have the suite of tools you need to craft the best video that you can find in GoPro footage. So if you’ve got the time to learn, Premiere Pro can create some stunning content.
It even has features to help stabilize it, so you can create a smooth experience for your viewers. One of the cool things about Adobe Premiere Pro is the storyboarding features — an efficient workflow lets you polish your work without having to leave the timeline, like many tools.
Adobe Premiere Clip
Adobe Premiere Clip, just as it sounds, is the mobile version of Premiere Pro. So if you’re on the go, and don’t mind not having the massive suite of creative tools that Premiere Pro has, this is a great way to edit video on the go.
We should mention that the mobile version is way simpler for creating video as well, essentially giving you access to all of the basics.
One of the cool things about Adobe Premiere Clip is that it actually has automatic video creation as well — all you have to do is choose a soundtrack and select the pace. Using AI, Premiere Clip is then able to set your images to the beat of the music in a way that makes sense for the goal or subject of the video.
The video editing really is powerful on mobile. If you don’t want to automatically create video with Premiere Clip, you can jump right into the video editor and start dragging and dropping clips and photos in the order that you like, trim out the parts you don’t want, and add visual polish with lighting adjustments, transitions, and slow motion effects.
FilmoraGO
Another one that you can use for editing your GoPro footage is FilmoraGo. FilmoraGo operates a lot like the other video editors, but has at least one unique feature that sets it apart from the rest. Many “free’ video editors stamp a watermark or place a time limit on your clip, but not FilmoraGo.
FilmoraGo actually has a lot of the same features that VideoProc does, such as being able to add music and effects. You have all of the cut, trim, and speed up playback features as well. There’s plenty of other features as well, though we wouldn’t be able to count them all here.
FilmoraGo also has a social aspect to it. Once you’re done creating your video, you can easily share to your friends on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and more.
Antix
Next up, we’re taking a look at the Antix video editor. This one isn’t for Mac, but is for those who need to edit and crunch footage on the go — right on your iPhone or iPad.
Antix, unlike other video editors, have a lot of features that connect straight up with your GoPro. Connect your GoPro up to the same wireless network as your iPhone, and then you should be able to control and browse your GoPro camera to download clips straight into the video editor.
While the GoPro features are super nice to have, it only works on select models. Those are the Hero4, Hero3+, Hero3, Hero+ LCD, and Hero4 Session.
In addition to the GoPro features, Antix has all of the basic video editing features that you would expect out of it — like trim, flip and re-arrange video clips, import multiple clips in one go, add slow motion and color enhancing filters, music tracks from Antix’s free library, a volume equaliser for perfect sound balance, and more.
And naturally, as you might expect with a mobile app like this, there are features that allow you to share your edited video straight to social media.
Verdict
There are so many more GoPro video editors than what we’ve mentioned just here. However, these are definitely some of the best that you can download. If you’re new to the video editing scene, VideoProc is actually your best choice. Since it was designed for the layman, you should have no problem turning your raw footage into something that makes sense rather quickly.
Do you have a favorite GoPro video editor? Let us know in the comments section below.