The Steady Hand: Mastering Video Stabilization in Adobe Premiere Pro

Stabilize Shaky Videos After Recording Easily

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Most of the photos or videos we shoot on our cameras feel shaky and a bit too jarring. Also, a camera shake is imminent when filming a video, especially while we’re zooming in to get an ideal shot. In this situation, we don’t need to go to a professional to stabilize the videos or look right. Fortunately, Adobe Premiere Pro has some valuable tools to help you take the shake out of your videos or photos, giving you stabilized and smooth footage.

The Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional video editor that can fix unwanted camera shake in just a few clicks, giving fine-tuning to the footage – exactly the feel and looks you want! So, here in this article, we’re going to describe the guideline about Adobe Premiere Pro stabilization.

In this article

01 Why Should You Stabilize Your Video?

02 What Is Warp Stabilizer?

03 How to Stabilize A Shaky Video In Premiere Pro with Warp Stabilizer?

04 Top 5 Warp Stabilizer Tips and Troubleshooting:

05 How to Stabilize Shaky Footage Without Using Warp Stabilizer?

Part 1: Why Should You Stabilize Your Video?

Being an artistic or aesthetic choice, we might love a slightly shaken photo or video. But if it looks a little more shrill or jerky, we need to smooth it out! There are many reasons you might want to fix your irregular or shaky videos.

Generally, the shaky videos are due to our unintended movements during shooting. It can make your footage look less polished, sparkle, and glossy. Moreover, it can lower your photos or videos’ overall production quality and status. Therefore, this can be extremely disturbing for the viewers, creating a sense of mistrust.

Part 2: What Is Warp Stabilizer?

Warp Stabilizer is the effect in the Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects that can quickly smooth out your jittery footage with just a few clicks. It can save your work – fix the smaller shakes while you’re strolling or standing still. So, now you can stabilize motion by using the Warp Stabilizer effect in Adobe Premiere Pro. However, the premiere stabilization is not a substitute for all – you may require some other program for your clips as you may also observe some lost details on the edges of the footage frame. Now let’s have a look at the benefits of Warp Stabilizer!

• It’s a built-in tool in Adobe Premiere Pro, so you don’t need to install additional software or plugin.
• You can easily remove jerkiness and jitter from your footage caused by your camera movement and convert them into smooth and steady shots.
• The results are fast, quick, and automatic.

Further, there are three more parameters to consider while using a Warp stabilizer for stabilizing the shaky footage.

• Process ( an algorithm that can analyze and track the footage)
• Smoothness ( called the strength of the effect)
• Framing ( it can handle the edges of the clips)

Part 3: How to Stabilize A Shaky Video In Premiere Pro with Warp Stabilizer?

Many filmmakers or shooters rely on handheld capture as it’s a fast, cheap, and usually intimate method. But do you know how they handle shaky footage? A handy Warp stabilizer tool in Adobe Premiere Pro lets you smooth your shaky videos or photos in minutes! So, if you find yourself dealing with photos or clips with a noticeable amount of shake, stabilize video premiere is your solution! Let’s discuss the process in detail about how Warp Stabilizer work in Adobe Premiere Pro to stabilize the footage.

Step 1: Choose the video clip you want to stabilize. Add it to your timeline and move to your “Effects” workspace. Hit on the Effects panel.

Step 2: Open the “Video Effects” folder and go to the ‘’Distort’’ option. Scroll down to ‘’Warp Stabilizer’’ and double click on it. Or search warp and you will see the Warp Stabilizer option under Video Effects.

Step 3: Wait for some time until Adobe Premiere Pro analyzes your video clip for Stabilization.

Step 4: Adjust the ‘’Smoothness’’ parameter of the video clip to modify the overall amount of Stabilization.

Step 5: Choose Stabilization> Result > No motion for creating the effect of a stationary camera with zero movements or select Smooth motion for only removing the shakiness of the video. And then click on Analyze to assess your video film.

Part 4: Top 5 Warp Stabilizer Tips and Troubleshooting

Premiere Pro stabilize is a powerful tool, but it also carries some limitations. Let’s check them out!

1. Consider warp stabilize during shooting:

If you keep in mind the warp stabilizer function while filming your videos or photos, you’ll get rid of fixing problems after the work. So, if you want glossy touch in your shots with zero access to a gimbal, you should consider filming with a faster shutter speed or a wider frame. In this way, you’ll get more convenience while applying the effect in the edit.

2. Modify extra cropping in your footage:

Warp stabilizer is a tool that can provide you stable footage and crop your shot as well. It can crop out the edges of your photos or videos, giving you a smooth and clean shot. To adjust the cropping in your clips, go to advanced settings and then click on Crop less <-> Smooth More Slider.

3. Analyze the effect of Warp stabilizer:

Always check the order of effects in the ‘’Effect Controls’’ folder. If you ever lost some stabilization after editing your shot, ensure not to change the Warp Stabilizer analysis source. Further, you should always re-analyze your clip after a quick color fix.

4. Nest your clips:

Sometimes we got an error message in the form of a red banner across our footage while trying to modify the speed on premiere stabilize video. Basically, we can’t use a Warp stabilizer to alter the speed of the same clip. But no worries! There is an easy fix – click on the altered clip and then click on Nest. Now, you can fix the nested sequence without any trouble.

5. Save your favorite settings as a preset:

If you’ve found a setting that gives you a happy result, you can save it as a preset for future use. In this way, you can speed up your work nicely while working with numerous shaky clips. Also, it can help if you want to make a similar effect to your multiple projects. Moreover, keep in mind that the Warp stabilizer needs to assess each clip frame by frame because it is not a one-size model that can fit all footage. Therefore, remember to click the ‘’Analyze’’ button even after putting the preset to turn it on.

Part 5: How to Stabilize Shaky Footage Without Using Warp Stabilizer?

Sometimes, the shakiness of clips is too extreme, and the Warp Stabilizer effect can’t handle it. Moreover, the filter algorithm incorrectly compensates for the camera moves. So what strategy should apply in this condition? Luckily, there is a method that can be used to stabilize your clips without using a warp stabilizer. Moreover, this process can give a hyper-realistic effect to your footage!

Step1: Import your clip into Premiere Pro Project and add it to your timeline. Hit on the “clip”, choose “Replace with After Effects Composition” to import the clip.

Step 2: Tap on the ‘’Tracker panel’’ from the right side of the screen. Scroll down to the ‘’Track Motion’’ option and open it.

Step 3: Pick the tracker marker, drag it to an area of contrasting subject and adjust it accordingly.

Tip: Remember not to make the outer box too large as After Effects can have a hard time performing the track.

Step 4: Hit the play button in the ‘’Tracker panel’’ to initiate the After Effects. Create a new ‘’Null Object’’ after the tracking process is complete.

Step 5: Move to the Tracker panel, click on “Edit Target,” choose your “Null Object” and click “OK.”

Step 6: Create a new camera and parent it to the null object for applying the stabilization effect to your clips. Enable the 3D option on both the footage layer and the null object.

Step 7: Extend your footage to compensate for any black bars that can occur as the camera pays for the shakiness. That’s it!

Conclusion:

Shaky footage is almost inescapable once you go handheld. If you don’t have a manual stabilizer like a gimbal, a tripod, or a glide cam – your work can fall victim to running, wind, walking, or other elements. In this article, we’ve introduced a quick and fast antidote for shaky footage – a Warp Stabilizer effect in the Adobe Premiere Pro. It can smooth out your shaky photos or videos with just a few clicks. So, do you know how to stabilize video premiere pro? Read out the article!

Try It Free Try It Free

Most of the photos or videos we shoot on our cameras feel shaky and a bit too jarring. Also, a camera shake is imminent when filming a video, especially while we’re zooming in to get an ideal shot. In this situation, we don’t need to go to a professional to stabilize the videos or look right. Fortunately, Adobe Premiere Pro has some valuable tools to help you take the shake out of your videos or photos, giving you stabilized and smooth footage.

The Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional video editor that can fix unwanted camera shake in just a few clicks, giving fine-tuning to the footage – exactly the feel and looks you want! So, here in this article, we’re going to describe the guideline about Adobe Premiere Pro stabilization.

In this article

01 Why Should You Stabilize Your Video?

02 What Is Warp Stabilizer?

03 How to Stabilize A Shaky Video In Premiere Pro with Warp Stabilizer?

04 Top 5 Warp Stabilizer Tips and Troubleshooting:

05 How to Stabilize Shaky Footage Without Using Warp Stabilizer?

Part 1: Why Should You Stabilize Your Video?

Being an artistic or aesthetic choice, we might love a slightly shaken photo or video. But if it looks a little more shrill or jerky, we need to smooth it out! There are many reasons you might want to fix your irregular or shaky videos.

Generally, the shaky videos are due to our unintended movements during shooting. It can make your footage look less polished, sparkle, and glossy. Moreover, it can lower your photos or videos’ overall production quality and status. Therefore, this can be extremely disturbing for the viewers, creating a sense of mistrust.

Part 2: What Is Warp Stabilizer?

Warp Stabilizer is the effect in the Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects that can quickly smooth out your jittery footage with just a few clicks. It can save your work – fix the smaller shakes while you’re strolling or standing still. So, now you can stabilize motion by using the Warp Stabilizer effect in Adobe Premiere Pro. However, the premiere stabilization is not a substitute for all – you may require some other program for your clips as you may also observe some lost details on the edges of the footage frame. Now let’s have a look at the benefits of Warp Stabilizer!

• It’s a built-in tool in Adobe Premiere Pro, so you don’t need to install additional software or plugin.
• You can easily remove jerkiness and jitter from your footage caused by your camera movement and convert them into smooth and steady shots.
• The results are fast, quick, and automatic.

Further, there are three more parameters to consider while using a Warp stabilizer for stabilizing the shaky footage.

• Process ( an algorithm that can analyze and track the footage)
• Smoothness ( called the strength of the effect)
• Framing ( it can handle the edges of the clips)

Part 3: How to Stabilize A Shaky Video In Premiere Pro with Warp Stabilizer?

Many filmmakers or shooters rely on handheld capture as it’s a fast, cheap, and usually intimate method. But do you know how they handle shaky footage? A handy Warp stabilizer tool in Adobe Premiere Pro lets you smooth your shaky videos or photos in minutes! So, if you find yourself dealing with photos or clips with a noticeable amount of shake, stabilize video premiere is your solution! Let’s discuss the process in detail about how Warp Stabilizer work in Adobe Premiere Pro to stabilize the footage.

Step 1: Choose the video clip you want to stabilize. Add it to your timeline and move to your “Effects” workspace. Hit on the Effects panel.

Step 2: Open the “Video Effects” folder and go to the ‘’Distort’’ option. Scroll down to ‘’Warp Stabilizer’’ and double click on it. Or search warp and you will see the Warp Stabilizer option under Video Effects.

Step 3: Wait for some time until Adobe Premiere Pro analyzes your video clip for Stabilization.

Step 4: Adjust the ‘’Smoothness’’ parameter of the video clip to modify the overall amount of Stabilization.

Step 5: Choose Stabilization> Result > No motion for creating the effect of a stationary camera with zero movements or select Smooth motion for only removing the shakiness of the video. And then click on Analyze to assess your video film.

Part 4: Top 5 Warp Stabilizer Tips and Troubleshooting

Premiere Pro stabilize is a powerful tool, but it also carries some limitations. Let’s check them out!

1. Consider warp stabilize during shooting:

If you keep in mind the warp stabilizer function while filming your videos or photos, you’ll get rid of fixing problems after the work. So, if you want glossy touch in your shots with zero access to a gimbal, you should consider filming with a faster shutter speed or a wider frame. In this way, you’ll get more convenience while applying the effect in the edit.

2. Modify extra cropping in your footage:

Warp stabilizer is a tool that can provide you stable footage and crop your shot as well. It can crop out the edges of your photos or videos, giving you a smooth and clean shot. To adjust the cropping in your clips, go to advanced settings and then click on Crop less <-> Smooth More Slider.

3. Analyze the effect of Warp stabilizer:

Always check the order of effects in the ‘’Effect Controls’’ folder. If you ever lost some stabilization after editing your shot, ensure not to change the Warp Stabilizer analysis source. Further, you should always re-analyze your clip after a quick color fix.

4. Nest your clips:

Sometimes we got an error message in the form of a red banner across our footage while trying to modify the speed on premiere stabilize video. Basically, we can’t use a Warp stabilizer to alter the speed of the same clip. But no worries! There is an easy fix – click on the altered clip and then click on Nest. Now, you can fix the nested sequence without any trouble.

5. Save your favorite settings as a preset:

If you’ve found a setting that gives you a happy result, you can save it as a preset for future use. In this way, you can speed up your work nicely while working with numerous shaky clips. Also, it can help if you want to make a similar effect to your multiple projects. Moreover, keep in mind that the Warp stabilizer needs to assess each clip frame by frame because it is not a one-size model that can fit all footage. Therefore, remember to click the ‘’Analyze’’ button even after putting the preset to turn it on.

Part 5: How to Stabilize Shaky Footage Without Using Warp Stabilizer?

Sometimes, the shakiness of clips is too extreme, and the Warp Stabilizer effect can’t handle it. Moreover, the filter algorithm incorrectly compensates for the camera moves. So what strategy should apply in this condition? Luckily, there is a method that can be used to stabilize your clips without using a warp stabilizer. Moreover, this process can give a hyper-realistic effect to your footage!

Step1: Import your clip into Premiere Pro Project and add it to your timeline. Hit on the “clip”, choose “Replace with After Effects Composition” to import the clip.

Step 2: Tap on the ‘’Tracker panel’’ from the right side of the screen. Scroll down to the ‘’Track Motion’’ option and open it.

Step 3: Pick the tracker marker, drag it to an area of contrasting subject and adjust it accordingly.

Tip: Remember not to make the outer box too large as After Effects can have a hard time performing the track.

Step 4: Hit the play button in the ‘’Tracker panel’’ to initiate the After Effects. Create a new ‘’Null Object’’ after the tracking process is complete.

Step 5: Move to the Tracker panel, click on “Edit Target,” choose your “Null Object” and click “OK.”

Step 6: Create a new camera and parent it to the null object for applying the stabilization effect to your clips. Enable the 3D option on both the footage layer and the null object.

Step 7: Extend your footage to compensate for any black bars that can occur as the camera pays for the shakiness. That’s it!

Conclusion:

Shaky footage is almost inescapable once you go handheld. If you don’t have a manual stabilizer like a gimbal, a tripod, or a glide cam – your work can fall victim to running, wind, walking, or other elements. In this article, we’ve introduced a quick and fast antidote for shaky footage – a Warp Stabilizer effect in the Adobe Premiere Pro. It can smooth out your shaky photos or videos with just a few clicks. So, do you know how to stabilize video premiere pro? Read out the article!

Try It Free Try It Free

Most of the photos or videos we shoot on our cameras feel shaky and a bit too jarring. Also, a camera shake is imminent when filming a video, especially while we’re zooming in to get an ideal shot. In this situation, we don’t need to go to a professional to stabilize the videos or look right. Fortunately, Adobe Premiere Pro has some valuable tools to help you take the shake out of your videos or photos, giving you stabilized and smooth footage.

The Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional video editor that can fix unwanted camera shake in just a few clicks, giving fine-tuning to the footage – exactly the feel and looks you want! So, here in this article, we’re going to describe the guideline about Adobe Premiere Pro stabilization.

In this article

01 Why Should You Stabilize Your Video?

02 What Is Warp Stabilizer?

03 How to Stabilize A Shaky Video In Premiere Pro with Warp Stabilizer?

04 Top 5 Warp Stabilizer Tips and Troubleshooting:

05 How to Stabilize Shaky Footage Without Using Warp Stabilizer?

Part 1: Why Should You Stabilize Your Video?

Being an artistic or aesthetic choice, we might love a slightly shaken photo or video. But if it looks a little more shrill or jerky, we need to smooth it out! There are many reasons you might want to fix your irregular or shaky videos.

Generally, the shaky videos are due to our unintended movements during shooting. It can make your footage look less polished, sparkle, and glossy. Moreover, it can lower your photos or videos’ overall production quality and status. Therefore, this can be extremely disturbing for the viewers, creating a sense of mistrust.

Part 2: What Is Warp Stabilizer?

Warp Stabilizer is the effect in the Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects that can quickly smooth out your jittery footage with just a few clicks. It can save your work – fix the smaller shakes while you’re strolling or standing still. So, now you can stabilize motion by using the Warp Stabilizer effect in Adobe Premiere Pro. However, the premiere stabilization is not a substitute for all – you may require some other program for your clips as you may also observe some lost details on the edges of the footage frame. Now let’s have a look at the benefits of Warp Stabilizer!

• It’s a built-in tool in Adobe Premiere Pro, so you don’t need to install additional software or plugin.
• You can easily remove jerkiness and jitter from your footage caused by your camera movement and convert them into smooth and steady shots.
• The results are fast, quick, and automatic.

Further, there are three more parameters to consider while using a Warp stabilizer for stabilizing the shaky footage.

• Process ( an algorithm that can analyze and track the footage)
• Smoothness ( called the strength of the effect)
• Framing ( it can handle the edges of the clips)

Part 3: How to Stabilize A Shaky Video In Premiere Pro with Warp Stabilizer?

Many filmmakers or shooters rely on handheld capture as it’s a fast, cheap, and usually intimate method. But do you know how they handle shaky footage? A handy Warp stabilizer tool in Adobe Premiere Pro lets you smooth your shaky videos or photos in minutes! So, if you find yourself dealing with photos or clips with a noticeable amount of shake, stabilize video premiere is your solution! Let’s discuss the process in detail about how Warp Stabilizer work in Adobe Premiere Pro to stabilize the footage.

Step 1: Choose the video clip you want to stabilize. Add it to your timeline and move to your “Effects” workspace. Hit on the Effects panel.

Step 2: Open the “Video Effects” folder and go to the ‘’Distort’’ option. Scroll down to ‘’Warp Stabilizer’’ and double click on it. Or search warp and you will see the Warp Stabilizer option under Video Effects.

Step 3: Wait for some time until Adobe Premiere Pro analyzes your video clip for Stabilization.

Step 4: Adjust the ‘’Smoothness’’ parameter of the video clip to modify the overall amount of Stabilization.

Step 5: Choose Stabilization> Result > No motion for creating the effect of a stationary camera with zero movements or select Smooth motion for only removing the shakiness of the video. And then click on Analyze to assess your video film.

Part 4: Top 5 Warp Stabilizer Tips and Troubleshooting

Premiere Pro stabilize is a powerful tool, but it also carries some limitations. Let’s check them out!

1. Consider warp stabilize during shooting:

If you keep in mind the warp stabilizer function while filming your videos or photos, you’ll get rid of fixing problems after the work. So, if you want glossy touch in your shots with zero access to a gimbal, you should consider filming with a faster shutter speed or a wider frame. In this way, you’ll get more convenience while applying the effect in the edit.

2. Modify extra cropping in your footage:

Warp stabilizer is a tool that can provide you stable footage and crop your shot as well. It can crop out the edges of your photos or videos, giving you a smooth and clean shot. To adjust the cropping in your clips, go to advanced settings and then click on Crop less <-> Smooth More Slider.

3. Analyze the effect of Warp stabilizer:

Always check the order of effects in the ‘’Effect Controls’’ folder. If you ever lost some stabilization after editing your shot, ensure not to change the Warp Stabilizer analysis source. Further, you should always re-analyze your clip after a quick color fix.

4. Nest your clips:

Sometimes we got an error message in the form of a red banner across our footage while trying to modify the speed on premiere stabilize video. Basically, we can’t use a Warp stabilizer to alter the speed of the same clip. But no worries! There is an easy fix – click on the altered clip and then click on Nest. Now, you can fix the nested sequence without any trouble.

5. Save your favorite settings as a preset:

If you’ve found a setting that gives you a happy result, you can save it as a preset for future use. In this way, you can speed up your work nicely while working with numerous shaky clips. Also, it can help if you want to make a similar effect to your multiple projects. Moreover, keep in mind that the Warp stabilizer needs to assess each clip frame by frame because it is not a one-size model that can fit all footage. Therefore, remember to click the ‘’Analyze’’ button even after putting the preset to turn it on.

Part 5: How to Stabilize Shaky Footage Without Using Warp Stabilizer?

Sometimes, the shakiness of clips is too extreme, and the Warp Stabilizer effect can’t handle it. Moreover, the filter algorithm incorrectly compensates for the camera moves. So what strategy should apply in this condition? Luckily, there is a method that can be used to stabilize your clips without using a warp stabilizer. Moreover, this process can give a hyper-realistic effect to your footage!

Step1: Import your clip into Premiere Pro Project and add it to your timeline. Hit on the “clip”, choose “Replace with After Effects Composition” to import the clip.

Step 2: Tap on the ‘’Tracker panel’’ from the right side of the screen. Scroll down to the ‘’Track Motion’’ option and open it.

Step 3: Pick the tracker marker, drag it to an area of contrasting subject and adjust it accordingly.

Tip: Remember not to make the outer box too large as After Effects can have a hard time performing the track.

Step 4: Hit the play button in the ‘’Tracker panel’’ to initiate the After Effects. Create a new ‘’Null Object’’ after the tracking process is complete.

Step 5: Move to the Tracker panel, click on “Edit Target,” choose your “Null Object” and click “OK.”

Step 6: Create a new camera and parent it to the null object for applying the stabilization effect to your clips. Enable the 3D option on both the footage layer and the null object.

Step 7: Extend your footage to compensate for any black bars that can occur as the camera pays for the shakiness. That’s it!

Conclusion:

Shaky footage is almost inescapable once you go handheld. If you don’t have a manual stabilizer like a gimbal, a tripod, or a glide cam – your work can fall victim to running, wind, walking, or other elements. In this article, we’ve introduced a quick and fast antidote for shaky footage – a Warp Stabilizer effect in the Adobe Premiere Pro. It can smooth out your shaky photos or videos with just a few clicks. So, do you know how to stabilize video premiere pro? Read out the article!

Try It Free Try It Free

Most of the photos or videos we shoot on our cameras feel shaky and a bit too jarring. Also, a camera shake is imminent when filming a video, especially while we’re zooming in to get an ideal shot. In this situation, we don’t need to go to a professional to stabilize the videos or look right. Fortunately, Adobe Premiere Pro has some valuable tools to help you take the shake out of your videos or photos, giving you stabilized and smooth footage.

The Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional video editor that can fix unwanted camera shake in just a few clicks, giving fine-tuning to the footage – exactly the feel and looks you want! So, here in this article, we’re going to describe the guideline about Adobe Premiere Pro stabilization.

In this article

01 Why Should You Stabilize Your Video?

02 What Is Warp Stabilizer?

03 How to Stabilize A Shaky Video In Premiere Pro with Warp Stabilizer?

04 Top 5 Warp Stabilizer Tips and Troubleshooting:

05 How to Stabilize Shaky Footage Without Using Warp Stabilizer?

Part 1: Why Should You Stabilize Your Video?

Being an artistic or aesthetic choice, we might love a slightly shaken photo or video. But if it looks a little more shrill or jerky, we need to smooth it out! There are many reasons you might want to fix your irregular or shaky videos.

Generally, the shaky videos are due to our unintended movements during shooting. It can make your footage look less polished, sparkle, and glossy. Moreover, it can lower your photos or videos’ overall production quality and status. Therefore, this can be extremely disturbing for the viewers, creating a sense of mistrust.

Part 2: What Is Warp Stabilizer?

Warp Stabilizer is the effect in the Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects that can quickly smooth out your jittery footage with just a few clicks. It can save your work – fix the smaller shakes while you’re strolling or standing still. So, now you can stabilize motion by using the Warp Stabilizer effect in Adobe Premiere Pro. However, the premiere stabilization is not a substitute for all – you may require some other program for your clips as you may also observe some lost details on the edges of the footage frame. Now let’s have a look at the benefits of Warp Stabilizer!

• It’s a built-in tool in Adobe Premiere Pro, so you don’t need to install additional software or plugin.
• You can easily remove jerkiness and jitter from your footage caused by your camera movement and convert them into smooth and steady shots.
• The results are fast, quick, and automatic.

Further, there are three more parameters to consider while using a Warp stabilizer for stabilizing the shaky footage.

• Process ( an algorithm that can analyze and track the footage)
• Smoothness ( called the strength of the effect)
• Framing ( it can handle the edges of the clips)

Part 3: How to Stabilize A Shaky Video In Premiere Pro with Warp Stabilizer?

Many filmmakers or shooters rely on handheld capture as it’s a fast, cheap, and usually intimate method. But do you know how they handle shaky footage? A handy Warp stabilizer tool in Adobe Premiere Pro lets you smooth your shaky videos or photos in minutes! So, if you find yourself dealing with photos or clips with a noticeable amount of shake, stabilize video premiere is your solution! Let’s discuss the process in detail about how Warp Stabilizer work in Adobe Premiere Pro to stabilize the footage.

Step 1: Choose the video clip you want to stabilize. Add it to your timeline and move to your “Effects” workspace. Hit on the Effects panel.

Step 2: Open the “Video Effects” folder and go to the ‘’Distort’’ option. Scroll down to ‘’Warp Stabilizer’’ and double click on it. Or search warp and you will see the Warp Stabilizer option under Video Effects.

Step 3: Wait for some time until Adobe Premiere Pro analyzes your video clip for Stabilization.

Step 4: Adjust the ‘’Smoothness’’ parameter of the video clip to modify the overall amount of Stabilization.

Step 5: Choose Stabilization> Result > No motion for creating the effect of a stationary camera with zero movements or select Smooth motion for only removing the shakiness of the video. And then click on Analyze to assess your video film.

Part 4: Top 5 Warp Stabilizer Tips and Troubleshooting

Premiere Pro stabilize is a powerful tool, but it also carries some limitations. Let’s check them out!

1. Consider warp stabilize during shooting:

If you keep in mind the warp stabilizer function while filming your videos or photos, you’ll get rid of fixing problems after the work. So, if you want glossy touch in your shots with zero access to a gimbal, you should consider filming with a faster shutter speed or a wider frame. In this way, you’ll get more convenience while applying the effect in the edit.

2. Modify extra cropping in your footage:

Warp stabilizer is a tool that can provide you stable footage and crop your shot as well. It can crop out the edges of your photos or videos, giving you a smooth and clean shot. To adjust the cropping in your clips, go to advanced settings and then click on Crop less <-> Smooth More Slider.

3. Analyze the effect of Warp stabilizer:

Always check the order of effects in the ‘’Effect Controls’’ folder. If you ever lost some stabilization after editing your shot, ensure not to change the Warp Stabilizer analysis source. Further, you should always re-analyze your clip after a quick color fix.

4. Nest your clips:

Sometimes we got an error message in the form of a red banner across our footage while trying to modify the speed on premiere stabilize video. Basically, we can’t use a Warp stabilizer to alter the speed of the same clip. But no worries! There is an easy fix – click on the altered clip and then click on Nest. Now, you can fix the nested sequence without any trouble.

5. Save your favorite settings as a preset:

If you’ve found a setting that gives you a happy result, you can save it as a preset for future use. In this way, you can speed up your work nicely while working with numerous shaky clips. Also, it can help if you want to make a similar effect to your multiple projects. Moreover, keep in mind that the Warp stabilizer needs to assess each clip frame by frame because it is not a one-size model that can fit all footage. Therefore, remember to click the ‘’Analyze’’ button even after putting the preset to turn it on.

Part 5: How to Stabilize Shaky Footage Without Using Warp Stabilizer?

Sometimes, the shakiness of clips is too extreme, and the Warp Stabilizer effect can’t handle it. Moreover, the filter algorithm incorrectly compensates for the camera moves. So what strategy should apply in this condition? Luckily, there is a method that can be used to stabilize your clips without using a warp stabilizer. Moreover, this process can give a hyper-realistic effect to your footage!

Step1: Import your clip into Premiere Pro Project and add it to your timeline. Hit on the “clip”, choose “Replace with After Effects Composition” to import the clip.

Step 2: Tap on the ‘’Tracker panel’’ from the right side of the screen. Scroll down to the ‘’Track Motion’’ option and open it.

Step 3: Pick the tracker marker, drag it to an area of contrasting subject and adjust it accordingly.

Tip: Remember not to make the outer box too large as After Effects can have a hard time performing the track.

Step 4: Hit the play button in the ‘’Tracker panel’’ to initiate the After Effects. Create a new ‘’Null Object’’ after the tracking process is complete.

Step 5: Move to the Tracker panel, click on “Edit Target,” choose your “Null Object” and click “OK.”

Step 6: Create a new camera and parent it to the null object for applying the stabilization effect to your clips. Enable the 3D option on both the footage layer and the null object.

Step 7: Extend your footage to compensate for any black bars that can occur as the camera pays for the shakiness. That’s it!

Conclusion:

Shaky footage is almost inescapable once you go handheld. If you don’t have a manual stabilizer like a gimbal, a tripod, or a glide cam – your work can fall victim to running, wind, walking, or other elements. In this article, we’ve introduced a quick and fast antidote for shaky footage – a Warp Stabilizer effect in the Adobe Premiere Pro. It can smooth out your shaky photos or videos with just a few clicks. So, do you know how to stabilize video premiere pro? Read out the article!

Unleash Your Creativity: 12 Free Animation Apps for Windows and Mac

Best 12 Free Download Animation Software for Windows and Mac

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In your search for quality animation software, you may have found that many of the programs cost a lot of money no matter it is 2D animation software or 3D animation editor. The good news is that you can choose free animation tools to make different animation types easily.

That is why we created a list of the best animation software on both Mac and Windows. Whether you are a professional editor or just a beginner to start making animation, you will find the tools listed below are easy to use without watermark and won’t cost money to improve your skills.

The best part is you will find these free animation programs are also very useful for content creation on Mac and Windows. Besides, we have listed the pros and cons of each software. Keep reading!

• Part 1: Best Free Animation Software for Mac
• Part 2: Best Free Animation Software for Windows
• Part 3: FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

Here we have made a table of 12 free animation software without watermark on Windows and macOS. Take a look.

6 Free Animation Software for macOS

5K-3DMiddleIt is a great tool for 3D artists6KritaDifficultPerfect software for 2D animation

Number	Software	Difficulty Level	Highlight
1	Synfig Studio	Easy	Calculate vector shape to animation automatically
2	Pencil2D Animation	Easiest	Straightforward interface for beginners
3	Tupi	Middle	Its community is active to offer solutions
4	Blender	Difficult	It is a powerful animation tool to render and make modeling

6 Free Animation Software for Windows

Number	Software	Difficulty Level	Highlight
1	DAZ Studio	Difficult	For professional users with the fast animation process
2	Terragen	Middle	It can make realistic CG environments
3	Anim8or	Difficult	3D animation is Anim8or’s main function
4	Seamless3d	Easy	It has many features for 3d modeling
5	OpenToonz	Middle	Make cartoon animation with plugins
6	Stykz	Easy	Quickly make animation if you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator

Best Animation Software on Windows and Mac - Filmora

Looking for a simple while powerful Mac video editing tool ? We recommend using Wondershare Filmora. You can use it to create 2D/3D animated texts, shapes, or anything you like for YouTube videos.

The keyframing features will help you make animation effects smooth and precise. When exporting, you can also make it transparent.

Besides, various title templates and transitions are also available for you. Download it now to have a try! Or learn more from Wondershare Video Community .

Key features

• Create various shapes that you like
• Add keyframing to make it move
• Fine-tuning to make it smooth
• Add visual effects/text/color before export it

You can even create photo cut animation which has been very trendy on Tiktok and Instagram. Here is a video to present you how you can do it in Filmora.

Part 1 Best Free Animation Software for Mac

Listed below is free animation software on Mac. Take a look.

01 Synfig Studio - Mac Software to Animate Video

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: You can create many layers once a time and sync audio for your animation.

Con: This one needs much time to learn, especially for beginners.

An open-source 2D animation software that works on Macs, Synfig Studio delivers multiple players while you are creating content. Whether you want to add geometric, filters, distortions, or transformations, it is all possible! And thanks to the high-end bone system, you can create cut-out videos using bitmap images!

The thoughtful part is there are two download versions on the homepage: the stable version and the development version. If you want to enjoy a stable and smooth animation editing experience, choose the stable one. However, the development package gives you access to the use of the latest features.

For a novice, you can learn Synfig from step by step guide in Wikipedia and video tutorials. Four languages are available including English, Russian, Dutch, and French for a video course.

You can free download its latest version 1.3.11. The upcoming version is 1.4.

Features:

• It offers support for many layers within the animation.
• The program’s bone system means that you can easily create animations with bitmap images or vector artwork.
• It allows you to sync your creative work with any sound that you want. Has a full-featured audio editor.

02 Pencil2D Animation - Animation Program for 2D Pencil Lover

Difficulty Level: Easiest

Pro: Easy to start and make animation as the interface is user-friendly for many people.

Con: You need to set your preference every time to open it up, so it takes up some time

Pencil2D Animation is one of the simplest 2D hand-drawn tools available. It will work flawlessly on Mac computers. It is ideal for beginners, as the commands and interface are very easy to understand.

Whether you want to create a simple one, or you want something with many layers for videos on YouTube, you can use Pencil2D animation to get it done. Its timeline is easy to use at first glance. You can add and duplicate different frames on a different track.

The frequency of releasing the new version is very fast as Pencil2D is committed to bringing the lasted features to each user. The newest version is v0.6.4 (as of August 2019). Its user guide is informative with video tutorials, FAQs, and manual material.

Features:

• Lightweight and minimalistic design that makes it very easy for beginners.
• Features raster and vector workflows, with easy switching between them. You can paint and sketch as you want!
• Will run on all platforms - Mac, Windows, and Linux.
• Completely free and open source.

03 TupiTube - Free Animation Application for Mac Users

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It supports vector illustrations. Besides, various formats are available.

Con: If you want to make 3D animation, it will fail. You can only make 2D effects.

A free software application for YouTube, Tupi will allow you to create 2D animations to your heart’s content. The tool was started by animators who wanted to create something that others could use.

It is an open-source tool, which means that users can make tweaks to the program if they have some interesting ideas. The program works on both Windows and Mac. You need to use Tupi and Papagayo to make lip-sync animation with different mouth shapes.

It also offers a solution for schools with related features including academic license, technical support, and ads-free, so many schools choose to use this one to teach kids how to make an animation video.

Features:

• Support for vector illustrations. You can add rectangles, lines, polygons, and other shapes as you please. To fill areas, just use the paint bucket.
• You can import raster images using this program.
• You can export all your finished images into different file formats.
• Support for tweeting positions, scale, shear, and rotations.

04 Blender - Need Some Time to Learn This Animation Tool

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Really powerful software that you can make for professional users.

Con: It is not easy to make image animation as it focuses on 3D.

Blender is an open-source 3D animation creation suite without a watermark. If you find that 2D is a little bit limiting, we think that you will be very happy with what this free program offers. You can take your projects to a whole new level when you can use this program on your Mac.

You can use Blender to make a video game, modeling, and high-quality animation. However, it involves a steep learning curve. Luckily, there are many tutorials to guide you through the journey. You can also ask for help in the Blender community that millions of talented people like you are there.

Features:

• Creating renders is no problem with this program.
• Modeling, such as sculpting, retopology, and creating curves is not an issue either.
• VFX and animation features are better than any option on the market.
• It offers powerful simulation tools.
• Integration with pipeline tools is easy.

05 K-3D - Best for Animation and Modeling in 3D

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: Ideal for designing simple 3D animations and models.

Con: It has an old-fashioned interface. Also, the built-render (RenderMan) feature is difficult to use by beginners.

K-3D is an animation and 3D modeling software. You can download this tool for free on your Mac. Besides, you can also install and run it on your Windows and Linux systems. If you look at the design, you will find that the software is quite old. But don’t judge a book by its cover. Why so? It is because K-3D is one of the strongest and most versatile tools for 3D artists with many options.

For example, K-3D offers extremely systematic and methodological workflows. You can easily adjust the properties of the features in real-time and get instant results. It has a node-oriented visualization pipeline to enjoy more freedom. That means you can create animation using a variety of combinations.

One of the best things about K-3D is that it has three subdivisions of animation. You can work on your model on one side while showing the other side in a mirrored form. Then, experience the final result combined together. And in case you need to make the changes to the end results, you can simply work on the first subdivision and savor automatic changes to the results.

K-3D has an advanced redo and undo mechanism to ensure you can go back or move forward to make corrections or amendments without limits. Additionally, the tool is developed keeping in mind all the industrial standards. For instance, it has complete support and integration of native RenderMan™ to its user interface. This is an excellent feature because most free animation software for Mac requires third-party render plugins.

Features:

• Parametric workflow.
• 2D and 3D animation tools.
• Allows Python and K3DScript scripting.

06 Krita - For Professional 2D Animators

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Advanced tools with numerous animation options and online training material.

Con: Not suitable for beginners.

If you love 2D animation, then you’ll surely love Krita. It is entirely free software available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Also, it offers a full platform for drawing and frame-by-frame animation.

The number one reason for adoring Krita is its brush library. There are more than 100 professional brushes to give you a wide range of effects. Moreover, the strokes are pretty amazing and similar to Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.

Another great thing about Krita is the brush stabilization feature designed for shaky hands. You can add a stabilizer to your chosen brush to smoothen its flow. Besides, there’s a special Dynamic Brush tool to make animation more fun. At the same time, you can also customize your brushes through different brush engines, including filter engines, color smudge engines, and many more.

Apart from the basic brush options, the preloaded vector tools are next to admire. These tools help you make great comic panels. All you need to do is choose and drag the word bubble template on your canvas. Then, make changes with the anchor point to make new shapes. At the same time, you can also add text to your animation by using the text tool.

Last but not least, there’s a wrap-around mode to create seamless patterns and textures. That means the image or drawing makes its own references along the x-axis and y-axis. This gives you the freedom to continue painting and enjoy updates to your animation instantly.

Features:

• HDR painting.
• PSD support.
• Python scripting.
• Selection and transformation tools.
• Proper group, filter, vector, and file layer management.
• Complete color management for extraordinary results.
• Drawing assistant to help you with straight lines and vanishing points.

Part 2 Best Free Animation Software for Windows

Below is free animation software on Windows. Keep reading.

01 Anireel - Easy to Use Animation Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Anireel is a simple yet powerful Video Creativity tool used to make 2D animated explainer videos. Developed by Wondershare, one of the most popular Windows software and tool developers, Anireel uses rich, ready-to-use, and diverse assets to help one effortlessly make animated videos.

Features:

• There are tons of drag and drop characters, actions, props, text, and audio assets.
• Easy Text-to-Speech conversion via deep studying technology.
• Animate integrated and imported assets.
• Tons of templates that match many script types.

02 DAZ Studio - Free Software for 3D Lovers

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: You can make game animation for fun. It also supports GPU accelerated real-time rendering.

Con: It has a high demand for the device, but owns a steep learning curve.

Daz 3d is a powerful and completely free 3D creation tool that will let you create the short videos that you want. Whether you are using this for business or pleasure, you will find the program is very easy to understand. Within a day, you will be completely used to its interface.

3D effects are the core focus of DAZ Studio. You can build a model, render, and pose animation within the skin texture level. It has a high requirement for the device. For Windows 64 bits, its recommended RAM is 3G.

Features:

• Options for 3D morphing, animation, and rendering.
• GPU accelerated real-time rendering, which delivers the best results.
• Interactive tutorials to help you become a better 3D artist.
• Everything you make is yours, royalty-free!

03 Terragen - Use It to Make CG Animation

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: The recently updated version is the best one. Ray-traced preview is a great function to help us make animation.

Con: The interface looks complicated, but it gets easy to know after you are familiar with it.

A completely free program that you can download and install on all Windows computers and tablets, Terragen is the ideal program for you to create the 3D animations and environments that you want. If you want a photo-realistic CG environment, using Terragen is the best way to do it!

Releasing imagination instantly, Terragen Creative is the one tool you’d like to consider. You can use it to make beautiful scenery.

For advanced tools, you can choose FBX to make animation quickly. The featured image gallery on its homepage will give you a deep understanding of the final outcome you can achieve with Terragen.

Features:

• Ray-traced preview. Without watermark after exporting
• Photo-realistic clouds and ozone simulation
• Rendering is twice as fast as the previous version of the program.
• Adding terrain, objects, and shader to your final product is very easy with the intuitive interface.

04 Anim8or - Free Tool to Make 3D Modeling

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Anim8or supports 3D modeler and TrueType fonts to meet advanced needs.

Con: Beginners will find it difficult to learn.

Anim8or is a free 3D modeling program that will let you create the unique work that you want. It is a personal project from an animator, but the program does get regular updates and troubleshooting.

It is not going to give you the same features as something like Studio Max or Maya, but you will get the basics. Beginners who are getting into animations will love this program.

Anim8or is a great tool to step into 3D animation ff you think other software is too different to start. In some way, it means you need to give up some advanced features. But all in all, it’s still recommended for you.

Features:

• A full 3D modeler that allows you to create spheres, cylinders, platonic solids, and any other objects that you want.
• Features support for TrueType fonts.
• Easy to create 3D scenes and output them as video files or images.

05 Seamless3d - Open-source Free Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is an open-source 3D modeling package. The good thing is the handy infinite Undo/Redo operation.

Con: Some advanced features are missing like drawing.

Seamless3d, an open-source 3D modeling software that you can download, is among the best animation worktables if you want to create specialized images, animated videos, or 3D characters.

It supports FFmpeg video format, so you can use AVI, MP4, and more. Besides, the forum is not active compared with before, but you still can find answers from many tutorials .

Features:

• It comes with infinite undo and redo options for complete flexibility to correct mistakes.
• It allows for partitioned and seamless texture mapping for YouTube videos.
• Has a specialized tree view interface.

06 OpenToonz - Support Plug in to Make Animation Freely

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It is open-source software, so you can change the code freely.

Con: The plug-in effects are limited.

This animation program is made for beginners on Windows. It is among the best 2D animation software in the market. You can use plug-in effects to change image style, add lights, and distort details. It supports Windows 7/8/10 only for 64 bit.

Features:

• You can add provisional colors to make your animation more colorful.
• Smooth correction without frame losing.
• Compatible with black-and-white, colored, or without binarization scanning.

7 Stykz - Simple to Use Animation Program for Beginners

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is the best stick figure animation if you want to make this kind of video.

Con: The UI is not modern to use and needs time to adapt to using it.

Stykz is completely free to use and without a watermark. If you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator, then you will find Stykz is similar to it, but you can import the previous .stk files to animate it again. You can use it to make animation smooth frame by frame.

With its frame-based feature, Stykz is easy to customize each frame. You can change previous and current frames to get what you want. You can download it to have a try considering its easy-to-use features.

Features:

• There is some animes file on this website, so you can have a reference.
• Edit animation in the software without using another editing window.
• You can share the final work with others including information.

Part 3 FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

01 Are Macs good for animation?

To be frank, Mac is a better choice to make animation if you want to have a smooth animation experience. For example, screen resolution is a crucial factor to make excellent animation. The good is Mac’s screen will never let you disappointed.

02 What is the best animation software for Mac?

The best animation software on mac includes Synfig Studio, Pencil2D Animation, Tupi, Blender, and more. Mentioned are free-to-use. Maya is also worth considering animation software if you are a professional user. Maya offers a 1-month free trial. After it is ended, the paid plans are month, 1-year, and 3-year.

03 Can you animate in Photoshop?

Yes, you can make basic animation in Photoshop. However, it only supports frame-based animation making. In this case, you need to use other professional software to make animation. But, you still can use Photoshop to meet your needs if you are a beginner.

Conclusion

With any of these free animation maker programs on Mac and Windows, you will have an easy time creating your next 2D or 3D video. Ensure you choose the program that has the features and compatibility that you desire. Then it is up to your creative mind to come up with stunning animations! If you want to make animation easily, you can also find inspiration through classical animated cartoon types with examples .

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In your search for quality animation software, you may have found that many of the programs cost a lot of money no matter it is 2D animation software or 3D animation editor. The good news is that you can choose free animation tools to make different animation types easily.

That is why we created a list of the best animation software on both Mac and Windows. Whether you are a professional editor or just a beginner to start making animation, you will find the tools listed below are easy to use without watermark and won’t cost money to improve your skills.

The best part is you will find these free animation programs are also very useful for content creation on Mac and Windows. Besides, we have listed the pros and cons of each software. Keep reading!

• Part 1: Best Free Animation Software for Mac
• Part 2: Best Free Animation Software for Windows
• Part 3: FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

Here we have made a table of 12 free animation software without watermark on Windows and macOS. Take a look.

6 Free Animation Software for macOS

5K-3DMiddleIt is a great tool for 3D artists6KritaDifficultPerfect software for 2D animation

Number	Software	Difficulty Level	Highlight
1	Synfig Studio	Easy	Calculate vector shape to animation automatically
2	Pencil2D Animation	Easiest	Straightforward interface for beginners
3	Tupi	Middle	Its community is active to offer solutions
4	Blender	Difficult	It is a powerful animation tool to render and make modeling

6 Free Animation Software for Windows

Number	Software	Difficulty Level	Highlight
1	DAZ Studio	Difficult	For professional users with the fast animation process
2	Terragen	Middle	It can make realistic CG environments
3	Anim8or	Difficult	3D animation is Anim8or’s main function
4	Seamless3d	Easy	It has many features for 3d modeling
5	OpenToonz	Middle	Make cartoon animation with plugins
6	Stykz	Easy	Quickly make animation if you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator

Best Animation Software on Windows and Mac - Filmora

Looking for a simple while powerful Mac video editing tool ? We recommend using Wondershare Filmora. You can use it to create 2D/3D animated texts, shapes, or anything you like for YouTube videos.

The keyframing features will help you make animation effects smooth and precise. When exporting, you can also make it transparent.

Besides, various title templates and transitions are also available for you. Download it now to have a try! Or learn more from Wondershare Video Community .

Key features

• Create various shapes that you like
• Add keyframing to make it move
• Fine-tuning to make it smooth
• Add visual effects/text/color before export it

You can even create photo cut animation which has been very trendy on Tiktok and Instagram. Here is a video to present you how you can do it in Filmora.

Part 1 Best Free Animation Software for Mac

Listed below is free animation software on Mac. Take a look.

01 Synfig Studio - Mac Software to Animate Video

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: You can create many layers once a time and sync audio for your animation.

Con: This one needs much time to learn, especially for beginners.

An open-source 2D animation software that works on Macs, Synfig Studio delivers multiple players while you are creating content. Whether you want to add geometric, filters, distortions, or transformations, it is all possible! And thanks to the high-end bone system, you can create cut-out videos using bitmap images!

The thoughtful part is there are two download versions on the homepage: the stable version and the development version. If you want to enjoy a stable and smooth animation editing experience, choose the stable one. However, the development package gives you access to the use of the latest features.

For a novice, you can learn Synfig from step by step guide in Wikipedia and video tutorials. Four languages are available including English, Russian, Dutch, and French for a video course.

You can free download its latest version 1.3.11. The upcoming version is 1.4.

Features:

• It offers support for many layers within the animation.
• The program’s bone system means that you can easily create animations with bitmap images or vector artwork.
• It allows you to sync your creative work with any sound that you want. Has a full-featured audio editor.

02 Pencil2D Animation - Animation Program for 2D Pencil Lover

Difficulty Level: Easiest

Pro: Easy to start and make animation as the interface is user-friendly for many people.

Con: You need to set your preference every time to open it up, so it takes up some time

Pencil2D Animation is one of the simplest 2D hand-drawn tools available. It will work flawlessly on Mac computers. It is ideal for beginners, as the commands and interface are very easy to understand.

Whether you want to create a simple one, or you want something with many layers for videos on YouTube, you can use Pencil2D animation to get it done. Its timeline is easy to use at first glance. You can add and duplicate different frames on a different track.

The frequency of releasing the new version is very fast as Pencil2D is committed to bringing the lasted features to each user. The newest version is v0.6.4 (as of August 2019). Its user guide is informative with video tutorials, FAQs, and manual material.

Features:

• Lightweight and minimalistic design that makes it very easy for beginners.
• Features raster and vector workflows, with easy switching between them. You can paint and sketch as you want!
• Will run on all platforms - Mac, Windows, and Linux.
• Completely free and open source.

03 TupiTube - Free Animation Application for Mac Users

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It supports vector illustrations. Besides, various formats are available.

Con: If you want to make 3D animation, it will fail. You can only make 2D effects.

A free software application for YouTube, Tupi will allow you to create 2D animations to your heart’s content. The tool was started by animators who wanted to create something that others could use.

It is an open-source tool, which means that users can make tweaks to the program if they have some interesting ideas. The program works on both Windows and Mac. You need to use Tupi and Papagayo to make lip-sync animation with different mouth shapes.

It also offers a solution for schools with related features including academic license, technical support, and ads-free, so many schools choose to use this one to teach kids how to make an animation video.

Features:

• Support for vector illustrations. You can add rectangles, lines, polygons, and other shapes as you please. To fill areas, just use the paint bucket.
• You can import raster images using this program.
• You can export all your finished images into different file formats.
• Support for tweeting positions, scale, shear, and rotations.

04 Blender - Need Some Time to Learn This Animation Tool

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Really powerful software that you can make for professional users.

Con: It is not easy to make image animation as it focuses on 3D.

Blender is an open-source 3D animation creation suite without a watermark. If you find that 2D is a little bit limiting, we think that you will be very happy with what this free program offers. You can take your projects to a whole new level when you can use this program on your Mac.

You can use Blender to make a video game, modeling, and high-quality animation. However, it involves a steep learning curve. Luckily, there are many tutorials to guide you through the journey. You can also ask for help in the Blender community that millions of talented people like you are there.

Features:

• Creating renders is no problem with this program.
• Modeling, such as sculpting, retopology, and creating curves is not an issue either.
• VFX and animation features are better than any option on the market.
• It offers powerful simulation tools.
• Integration with pipeline tools is easy.

05 K-3D - Best for Animation and Modeling in 3D

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: Ideal for designing simple 3D animations and models.

Con: It has an old-fashioned interface. Also, the built-render (RenderMan) feature is difficult to use by beginners.

K-3D is an animation and 3D modeling software. You can download this tool for free on your Mac. Besides, you can also install and run it on your Windows and Linux systems. If you look at the design, you will find that the software is quite old. But don’t judge a book by its cover. Why so? It is because K-3D is one of the strongest and most versatile tools for 3D artists with many options.

For example, K-3D offers extremely systematic and methodological workflows. You can easily adjust the properties of the features in real-time and get instant results. It has a node-oriented visualization pipeline to enjoy more freedom. That means you can create animation using a variety of combinations.

One of the best things about K-3D is that it has three subdivisions of animation. You can work on your model on one side while showing the other side in a mirrored form. Then, experience the final result combined together. And in case you need to make the changes to the end results, you can simply work on the first subdivision and savor automatic changes to the results.

K-3D has an advanced redo and undo mechanism to ensure you can go back or move forward to make corrections or amendments without limits. Additionally, the tool is developed keeping in mind all the industrial standards. For instance, it has complete support and integration of native RenderMan™ to its user interface. This is an excellent feature because most free animation software for Mac requires third-party render plugins.

Features:

• Parametric workflow.
• 2D and 3D animation tools.
• Allows Python and K3DScript scripting.

06 Krita - For Professional 2D Animators

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Advanced tools with numerous animation options and online training material.

Con: Not suitable for beginners.

If you love 2D animation, then you’ll surely love Krita. It is entirely free software available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Also, it offers a full platform for drawing and frame-by-frame animation.

The number one reason for adoring Krita is its brush library. There are more than 100 professional brushes to give you a wide range of effects. Moreover, the strokes are pretty amazing and similar to Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.

Another great thing about Krita is the brush stabilization feature designed for shaky hands. You can add a stabilizer to your chosen brush to smoothen its flow. Besides, there’s a special Dynamic Brush tool to make animation more fun. At the same time, you can also customize your brushes through different brush engines, including filter engines, color smudge engines, and many more.

Apart from the basic brush options, the preloaded vector tools are next to admire. These tools help you make great comic panels. All you need to do is choose and drag the word bubble template on your canvas. Then, make changes with the anchor point to make new shapes. At the same time, you can also add text to your animation by using the text tool.

Last but not least, there’s a wrap-around mode to create seamless patterns and textures. That means the image or drawing makes its own references along the x-axis and y-axis. This gives you the freedom to continue painting and enjoy updates to your animation instantly.

Features:

• HDR painting.
• PSD support.
• Python scripting.
• Selection and transformation tools.
• Proper group, filter, vector, and file layer management.
• Complete color management for extraordinary results.
• Drawing assistant to help you with straight lines and vanishing points.

Part 2 Best Free Animation Software for Windows

Below is free animation software on Windows. Keep reading.

01 Anireel - Easy to Use Animation Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Anireel is a simple yet powerful Video Creativity tool used to make 2D animated explainer videos. Developed by Wondershare, one of the most popular Windows software and tool developers, Anireel uses rich, ready-to-use, and diverse assets to help one effortlessly make animated videos.

Features:

• There are tons of drag and drop characters, actions, props, text, and audio assets.
• Easy Text-to-Speech conversion via deep studying technology.
• Animate integrated and imported assets.
• Tons of templates that match many script types.

02 DAZ Studio - Free Software for 3D Lovers

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: You can make game animation for fun. It also supports GPU accelerated real-time rendering.

Con: It has a high demand for the device, but owns a steep learning curve.

Daz 3d is a powerful and completely free 3D creation tool that will let you create the short videos that you want. Whether you are using this for business or pleasure, you will find the program is very easy to understand. Within a day, you will be completely used to its interface.

3D effects are the core focus of DAZ Studio. You can build a model, render, and pose animation within the skin texture level. It has a high requirement for the device. For Windows 64 bits, its recommended RAM is 3G.

Features:

• Options for 3D morphing, animation, and rendering.
• GPU accelerated real-time rendering, which delivers the best results.
• Interactive tutorials to help you become a better 3D artist.
• Everything you make is yours, royalty-free!

03 Terragen - Use It to Make CG Animation

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: The recently updated version is the best one. Ray-traced preview is a great function to help us make animation.

Con: The interface looks complicated, but it gets easy to know after you are familiar with it.

A completely free program that you can download and install on all Windows computers and tablets, Terragen is the ideal program for you to create the 3D animations and environments that you want. If you want a photo-realistic CG environment, using Terragen is the best way to do it!

Releasing imagination instantly, Terragen Creative is the one tool you’d like to consider. You can use it to make beautiful scenery.

For advanced tools, you can choose FBX to make animation quickly. The featured image gallery on its homepage will give you a deep understanding of the final outcome you can achieve with Terragen.

Features:

• Ray-traced preview. Without watermark after exporting
• Photo-realistic clouds and ozone simulation
• Rendering is twice as fast as the previous version of the program.
• Adding terrain, objects, and shader to your final product is very easy with the intuitive interface.

04 Anim8or - Free Tool to Make 3D Modeling

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Anim8or supports 3D modeler and TrueType fonts to meet advanced needs.

Con: Beginners will find it difficult to learn.

Anim8or is a free 3D modeling program that will let you create the unique work that you want. It is a personal project from an animator, but the program does get regular updates and troubleshooting.

It is not going to give you the same features as something like Studio Max or Maya, but you will get the basics. Beginners who are getting into animations will love this program.

Anim8or is a great tool to step into 3D animation ff you think other software is too different to start. In some way, it means you need to give up some advanced features. But all in all, it’s still recommended for you.

Features:

• A full 3D modeler that allows you to create spheres, cylinders, platonic solids, and any other objects that you want.
• Features support for TrueType fonts.
• Easy to create 3D scenes and output them as video files or images.

05 Seamless3d - Open-source Free Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is an open-source 3D modeling package. The good thing is the handy infinite Undo/Redo operation.

Con: Some advanced features are missing like drawing.

Seamless3d, an open-source 3D modeling software that you can download, is among the best animation worktables if you want to create specialized images, animated videos, or 3D characters.

It supports FFmpeg video format, so you can use AVI, MP4, and more. Besides, the forum is not active compared with before, but you still can find answers from many tutorials .

Features:

• It comes with infinite undo and redo options for complete flexibility to correct mistakes.
• It allows for partitioned and seamless texture mapping for YouTube videos.
• Has a specialized tree view interface.

06 OpenToonz - Support Plug in to Make Animation Freely

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It is open-source software, so you can change the code freely.

Con: The plug-in effects are limited.

This animation program is made for beginners on Windows. It is among the best 2D animation software in the market. You can use plug-in effects to change image style, add lights, and distort details. It supports Windows 7/8/10 only for 64 bit.

Features:

• You can add provisional colors to make your animation more colorful.
• Smooth correction without frame losing.
• Compatible with black-and-white, colored, or without binarization scanning.

7 Stykz - Simple to Use Animation Program for Beginners

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is the best stick figure animation if you want to make this kind of video.

Con: The UI is not modern to use and needs time to adapt to using it.

Stykz is completely free to use and without a watermark. If you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator, then you will find Stykz is similar to it, but you can import the previous .stk files to animate it again. You can use it to make animation smooth frame by frame.

With its frame-based feature, Stykz is easy to customize each frame. You can change previous and current frames to get what you want. You can download it to have a try considering its easy-to-use features.

Features:

• There is some animes file on this website, so you can have a reference.
• Edit animation in the software without using another editing window.
• You can share the final work with others including information.

Part 3 FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

01 Are Macs good for animation?

To be frank, Mac is a better choice to make animation if you want to have a smooth animation experience. For example, screen resolution is a crucial factor to make excellent animation. The good is Mac’s screen will never let you disappointed.

02 What is the best animation software for Mac?

The best animation software on mac includes Synfig Studio, Pencil2D Animation, Tupi, Blender, and more. Mentioned are free-to-use. Maya is also worth considering animation software if you are a professional user. Maya offers a 1-month free trial. After it is ended, the paid plans are month, 1-year, and 3-year.

03 Can you animate in Photoshop?

Yes, you can make basic animation in Photoshop. However, it only supports frame-based animation making. In this case, you need to use other professional software to make animation. But, you still can use Photoshop to meet your needs if you are a beginner.

Conclusion

With any of these free animation maker programs on Mac and Windows, you will have an easy time creating your next 2D or 3D video. Ensure you choose the program that has the features and compatibility that you desire. Then it is up to your creative mind to come up with stunning animations! If you want to make animation easily, you can also find inspiration through classical animated cartoon types with examples .

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In your search for quality animation software, you may have found that many of the programs cost a lot of money no matter it is 2D animation software or 3D animation editor. The good news is that you can choose free animation tools to make different animation types easily.

That is why we created a list of the best animation software on both Mac and Windows. Whether you are a professional editor or just a beginner to start making animation, you will find the tools listed below are easy to use without watermark and won’t cost money to improve your skills.

The best part is you will find these free animation programs are also very useful for content creation on Mac and Windows. Besides, we have listed the pros and cons of each software. Keep reading!

• Part 1: Best Free Animation Software for Mac
• Part 2: Best Free Animation Software for Windows
• Part 3: FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

Here we have made a table of 12 free animation software without watermark on Windows and macOS. Take a look.

6 Free Animation Software for macOS

5K-3DMiddleIt is a great tool for 3D artists6KritaDifficultPerfect software for 2D animation

Number	Software	Difficulty Level	Highlight
1	Synfig Studio	Easy	Calculate vector shape to animation automatically
2	Pencil2D Animation	Easiest	Straightforward interface for beginners
3	Tupi	Middle	Its community is active to offer solutions
4	Blender	Difficult	It is a powerful animation tool to render and make modeling

6 Free Animation Software for Windows

Number	Software	Difficulty Level	Highlight
1	DAZ Studio	Difficult	For professional users with the fast animation process
2	Terragen	Middle	It can make realistic CG environments
3	Anim8or	Difficult	3D animation is Anim8or’s main function
4	Seamless3d	Easy	It has many features for 3d modeling
5	OpenToonz	Middle	Make cartoon animation with plugins
6	Stykz	Easy	Quickly make animation if you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator

Best Animation Software on Windows and Mac - Filmora

Looking for a simple while powerful Mac video editing tool ? We recommend using Wondershare Filmora. You can use it to create 2D/3D animated texts, shapes, or anything you like for YouTube videos.

The keyframing features will help you make animation effects smooth and precise. When exporting, you can also make it transparent.

Besides, various title templates and transitions are also available for you. Download it now to have a try! Or learn more from Wondershare Video Community .

Key features

• Create various shapes that you like
• Add keyframing to make it move
• Fine-tuning to make it smooth
• Add visual effects/text/color before export it

You can even create photo cut animation which has been very trendy on Tiktok and Instagram. Here is a video to present you how you can do it in Filmora.

Part 1 Best Free Animation Software for Mac

Listed below is free animation software on Mac. Take a look.

01 Synfig Studio - Mac Software to Animate Video

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: You can create many layers once a time and sync audio for your animation.

Con: This one needs much time to learn, especially for beginners.

An open-source 2D animation software that works on Macs, Synfig Studio delivers multiple players while you are creating content. Whether you want to add geometric, filters, distortions, or transformations, it is all possible! And thanks to the high-end bone system, you can create cut-out videos using bitmap images!

The thoughtful part is there are two download versions on the homepage: the stable version and the development version. If you want to enjoy a stable and smooth animation editing experience, choose the stable one. However, the development package gives you access to the use of the latest features.

For a novice, you can learn Synfig from step by step guide in Wikipedia and video tutorials. Four languages are available including English, Russian, Dutch, and French for a video course.

You can free download its latest version 1.3.11. The upcoming version is 1.4.

Features:

• It offers support for many layers within the animation.
• The program’s bone system means that you can easily create animations with bitmap images or vector artwork.
• It allows you to sync your creative work with any sound that you want. Has a full-featured audio editor.

02 Pencil2D Animation - Animation Program for 2D Pencil Lover

Difficulty Level: Easiest

Pro: Easy to start and make animation as the interface is user-friendly for many people.

Con: You need to set your preference every time to open it up, so it takes up some time

Pencil2D Animation is one of the simplest 2D hand-drawn tools available. It will work flawlessly on Mac computers. It is ideal for beginners, as the commands and interface are very easy to understand.

Whether you want to create a simple one, or you want something with many layers for videos on YouTube, you can use Pencil2D animation to get it done. Its timeline is easy to use at first glance. You can add and duplicate different frames on a different track.

The frequency of releasing the new version is very fast as Pencil2D is committed to bringing the lasted features to each user. The newest version is v0.6.4 (as of August 2019). Its user guide is informative with video tutorials, FAQs, and manual material.

Features:

• Lightweight and minimalistic design that makes it very easy for beginners.
• Features raster and vector workflows, with easy switching between them. You can paint and sketch as you want!
• Will run on all platforms - Mac, Windows, and Linux.
• Completely free and open source.

03 TupiTube - Free Animation Application for Mac Users

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It supports vector illustrations. Besides, various formats are available.

Con: If you want to make 3D animation, it will fail. You can only make 2D effects.

A free software application for YouTube, Tupi will allow you to create 2D animations to your heart’s content. The tool was started by animators who wanted to create something that others could use.

It is an open-source tool, which means that users can make tweaks to the program if they have some interesting ideas. The program works on both Windows and Mac. You need to use Tupi and Papagayo to make lip-sync animation with different mouth shapes.

It also offers a solution for schools with related features including academic license, technical support, and ads-free, so many schools choose to use this one to teach kids how to make an animation video.

Features:

• Support for vector illustrations. You can add rectangles, lines, polygons, and other shapes as you please. To fill areas, just use the paint bucket.
• You can import raster images using this program.
• You can export all your finished images into different file formats.
• Support for tweeting positions, scale, shear, and rotations.

04 Blender - Need Some Time to Learn This Animation Tool

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Really powerful software that you can make for professional users.

Con: It is not easy to make image animation as it focuses on 3D.

Blender is an open-source 3D animation creation suite without a watermark. If you find that 2D is a little bit limiting, we think that you will be very happy with what this free program offers. You can take your projects to a whole new level when you can use this program on your Mac.

You can use Blender to make a video game, modeling, and high-quality animation. However, it involves a steep learning curve. Luckily, there are many tutorials to guide you through the journey. You can also ask for help in the Blender community that millions of talented people like you are there.

Features:

• Creating renders is no problem with this program.
• Modeling, such as sculpting, retopology, and creating curves is not an issue either.
• VFX and animation features are better than any option on the market.
• It offers powerful simulation tools.
• Integration with pipeline tools is easy.

05 K-3D - Best for Animation and Modeling in 3D

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: Ideal for designing simple 3D animations and models.

Con: It has an old-fashioned interface. Also, the built-render (RenderMan) feature is difficult to use by beginners.

K-3D is an animation and 3D modeling software. You can download this tool for free on your Mac. Besides, you can also install and run it on your Windows and Linux systems. If you look at the design, you will find that the software is quite old. But don’t judge a book by its cover. Why so? It is because K-3D is one of the strongest and most versatile tools for 3D artists with many options.

For example, K-3D offers extremely systematic and methodological workflows. You can easily adjust the properties of the features in real-time and get instant results. It has a node-oriented visualization pipeline to enjoy more freedom. That means you can create animation using a variety of combinations.

One of the best things about K-3D is that it has three subdivisions of animation. You can work on your model on one side while showing the other side in a mirrored form. Then, experience the final result combined together. And in case you need to make the changes to the end results, you can simply work on the first subdivision and savor automatic changes to the results.

K-3D has an advanced redo and undo mechanism to ensure you can go back or move forward to make corrections or amendments without limits. Additionally, the tool is developed keeping in mind all the industrial standards. For instance, it has complete support and integration of native RenderMan™ to its user interface. This is an excellent feature because most free animation software for Mac requires third-party render plugins.

Features:

• Parametric workflow.
• 2D and 3D animation tools.
• Allows Python and K3DScript scripting.

06 Krita - For Professional 2D Animators

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Advanced tools with numerous animation options and online training material.

Con: Not suitable for beginners.

If you love 2D animation, then you’ll surely love Krita. It is entirely free software available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Also, it offers a full platform for drawing and frame-by-frame animation.

The number one reason for adoring Krita is its brush library. There are more than 100 professional brushes to give you a wide range of effects. Moreover, the strokes are pretty amazing and similar to Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.

Another great thing about Krita is the brush stabilization feature designed for shaky hands. You can add a stabilizer to your chosen brush to smoothen its flow. Besides, there’s a special Dynamic Brush tool to make animation more fun. At the same time, you can also customize your brushes through different brush engines, including filter engines, color smudge engines, and many more.

Apart from the basic brush options, the preloaded vector tools are next to admire. These tools help you make great comic panels. All you need to do is choose and drag the word bubble template on your canvas. Then, make changes with the anchor point to make new shapes. At the same time, you can also add text to your animation by using the text tool.

Last but not least, there’s a wrap-around mode to create seamless patterns and textures. That means the image or drawing makes its own references along the x-axis and y-axis. This gives you the freedom to continue painting and enjoy updates to your animation instantly.

Features:

• HDR painting.
• PSD support.
• Python scripting.
• Selection and transformation tools.
• Proper group, filter, vector, and file layer management.
• Complete color management for extraordinary results.
• Drawing assistant to help you with straight lines and vanishing points.

Part 2 Best Free Animation Software for Windows

Below is free animation software on Windows. Keep reading.

01 Anireel - Easy to Use Animation Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Anireel is a simple yet powerful Video Creativity tool used to make 2D animated explainer videos. Developed by Wondershare, one of the most popular Windows software and tool developers, Anireel uses rich, ready-to-use, and diverse assets to help one effortlessly make animated videos.

Features:

• There are tons of drag and drop characters, actions, props, text, and audio assets.
• Easy Text-to-Speech conversion via deep studying technology.
• Animate integrated and imported assets.
• Tons of templates that match many script types.

02 DAZ Studio - Free Software for 3D Lovers

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: You can make game animation for fun. It also supports GPU accelerated real-time rendering.

Con: It has a high demand for the device, but owns a steep learning curve.

Daz 3d is a powerful and completely free 3D creation tool that will let you create the short videos that you want. Whether you are using this for business or pleasure, you will find the program is very easy to understand. Within a day, you will be completely used to its interface.

3D effects are the core focus of DAZ Studio. You can build a model, render, and pose animation within the skin texture level. It has a high requirement for the device. For Windows 64 bits, its recommended RAM is 3G.

Features:

• Options for 3D morphing, animation, and rendering.
• GPU accelerated real-time rendering, which delivers the best results.
• Interactive tutorials to help you become a better 3D artist.
• Everything you make is yours, royalty-free!

03 Terragen - Use It to Make CG Animation

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: The recently updated version is the best one. Ray-traced preview is a great function to help us make animation.

Con: The interface looks complicated, but it gets easy to know after you are familiar with it.

A completely free program that you can download and install on all Windows computers and tablets, Terragen is the ideal program for you to create the 3D animations and environments that you want. If you want a photo-realistic CG environment, using Terragen is the best way to do it!

Releasing imagination instantly, Terragen Creative is the one tool you’d like to consider. You can use it to make beautiful scenery.

For advanced tools, you can choose FBX to make animation quickly. The featured image gallery on its homepage will give you a deep understanding of the final outcome you can achieve with Terragen.

Features:

• Ray-traced preview. Without watermark after exporting
• Photo-realistic clouds and ozone simulation
• Rendering is twice as fast as the previous version of the program.
• Adding terrain, objects, and shader to your final product is very easy with the intuitive interface.

04 Anim8or - Free Tool to Make 3D Modeling

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Anim8or supports 3D modeler and TrueType fonts to meet advanced needs.

Con: Beginners will find it difficult to learn.

Anim8or is a free 3D modeling program that will let you create the unique work that you want. It is a personal project from an animator, but the program does get regular updates and troubleshooting.

It is not going to give you the same features as something like Studio Max or Maya, but you will get the basics. Beginners who are getting into animations will love this program.

Anim8or is a great tool to step into 3D animation ff you think other software is too different to start. In some way, it means you need to give up some advanced features. But all in all, it’s still recommended for you.

Features:

• A full 3D modeler that allows you to create spheres, cylinders, platonic solids, and any other objects that you want.
• Features support for TrueType fonts.
• Easy to create 3D scenes and output them as video files or images.

05 Seamless3d - Open-source Free Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is an open-source 3D modeling package. The good thing is the handy infinite Undo/Redo operation.

Con: Some advanced features are missing like drawing.

Seamless3d, an open-source 3D modeling software that you can download, is among the best animation worktables if you want to create specialized images, animated videos, or 3D characters.

It supports FFmpeg video format, so you can use AVI, MP4, and more. Besides, the forum is not active compared with before, but you still can find answers from many tutorials .

Features:

• It comes with infinite undo and redo options for complete flexibility to correct mistakes.
• It allows for partitioned and seamless texture mapping for YouTube videos.
• Has a specialized tree view interface.

06 OpenToonz - Support Plug in to Make Animation Freely

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It is open-source software, so you can change the code freely.

Con: The plug-in effects are limited.

This animation program is made for beginners on Windows. It is among the best 2D animation software in the market. You can use plug-in effects to change image style, add lights, and distort details. It supports Windows 7/8/10 only for 64 bit.

Features:

• You can add provisional colors to make your animation more colorful.
• Smooth correction without frame losing.
• Compatible with black-and-white, colored, or without binarization scanning.

7 Stykz - Simple to Use Animation Program for Beginners

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is the best stick figure animation if you want to make this kind of video.

Con: The UI is not modern to use and needs time to adapt to using it.

Stykz is completely free to use and without a watermark. If you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator, then you will find Stykz is similar to it, but you can import the previous .stk files to animate it again. You can use it to make animation smooth frame by frame.

With its frame-based feature, Stykz is easy to customize each frame. You can change previous and current frames to get what you want. You can download it to have a try considering its easy-to-use features.

Features:

• There is some animes file on this website, so you can have a reference.
• Edit animation in the software without using another editing window.
• You can share the final work with others including information.

Part 3 FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

01 Are Macs good for animation?

To be frank, Mac is a better choice to make animation if you want to have a smooth animation experience. For example, screen resolution is a crucial factor to make excellent animation. The good is Mac’s screen will never let you disappointed.

02 What is the best animation software for Mac?

The best animation software on mac includes Synfig Studio, Pencil2D Animation, Tupi, Blender, and more. Mentioned are free-to-use. Maya is also worth considering animation software if you are a professional user. Maya offers a 1-month free trial. After it is ended, the paid plans are month, 1-year, and 3-year.

03 Can you animate in Photoshop?

Yes, you can make basic animation in Photoshop. However, it only supports frame-based animation making. In this case, you need to use other professional software to make animation. But, you still can use Photoshop to meet your needs if you are a beginner.

Conclusion

With any of these free animation maker programs on Mac and Windows, you will have an easy time creating your next 2D or 3D video. Ensure you choose the program that has the features and compatibility that you desire. Then it is up to your creative mind to come up with stunning animations! If you want to make animation easily, you can also find inspiration through classical animated cartoon types with examples .

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In your search for quality animation software, you may have found that many of the programs cost a lot of money no matter it is 2D animation software or 3D animation editor. The good news is that you can choose free animation tools to make different animation types easily.

That is why we created a list of the best animation software on both Mac and Windows. Whether you are a professional editor or just a beginner to start making animation, you will find the tools listed below are easy to use without watermark and won’t cost money to improve your skills.

The best part is you will find these free animation programs are also very useful for content creation on Mac and Windows. Besides, we have listed the pros and cons of each software. Keep reading!

• Part 1: Best Free Animation Software for Mac
• Part 2: Best Free Animation Software for Windows
• Part 3: FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

Here we have made a table of 12 free animation software without watermark on Windows and macOS. Take a look.

6 Free Animation Software for macOS

5K-3DMiddleIt is a great tool for 3D artists6KritaDifficultPerfect software for 2D animation

Number	Software	Difficulty Level	Highlight
1	Synfig Studio	Easy	Calculate vector shape to animation automatically
2	Pencil2D Animation	Easiest	Straightforward interface for beginners
3	Tupi	Middle	Its community is active to offer solutions
4	Blender	Difficult	It is a powerful animation tool to render and make modeling

6 Free Animation Software for Windows

Number	Software	Difficulty Level	Highlight
1	DAZ Studio	Difficult	For professional users with the fast animation process
2	Terragen	Middle	It can make realistic CG environments
3	Anim8or	Difficult	3D animation is Anim8or’s main function
4	Seamless3d	Easy	It has many features for 3d modeling
5	OpenToonz	Middle	Make cartoon animation with plugins
6	Stykz	Easy	Quickly make animation if you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator

Best Animation Software on Windows and Mac - Filmora

Looking for a simple while powerful Mac video editing tool ? We recommend using Wondershare Filmora. You can use it to create 2D/3D animated texts, shapes, or anything you like for YouTube videos.

The keyframing features will help you make animation effects smooth and precise. When exporting, you can also make it transparent.

Besides, various title templates and transitions are also available for you. Download it now to have a try! Or learn more from Wondershare Video Community .

Key features

• Create various shapes that you like
• Add keyframing to make it move
• Fine-tuning to make it smooth
• Add visual effects/text/color before export it

You can even create photo cut animation which has been very trendy on Tiktok and Instagram. Here is a video to present you how you can do it in Filmora.

Part 1 Best Free Animation Software for Mac

Listed below is free animation software on Mac. Take a look.

01 Synfig Studio - Mac Software to Animate Video

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: You can create many layers once a time and sync audio for your animation.

Con: This one needs much time to learn, especially for beginners.

An open-source 2D animation software that works on Macs, Synfig Studio delivers multiple players while you are creating content. Whether you want to add geometric, filters, distortions, or transformations, it is all possible! And thanks to the high-end bone system, you can create cut-out videos using bitmap images!

The thoughtful part is there are two download versions on the homepage: the stable version and the development version. If you want to enjoy a stable and smooth animation editing experience, choose the stable one. However, the development package gives you access to the use of the latest features.

For a novice, you can learn Synfig from step by step guide in Wikipedia and video tutorials. Four languages are available including English, Russian, Dutch, and French for a video course.

You can free download its latest version 1.3.11. The upcoming version is 1.4.

Features:

• It offers support for many layers within the animation.
• The program’s bone system means that you can easily create animations with bitmap images or vector artwork.
• It allows you to sync your creative work with any sound that you want. Has a full-featured audio editor.

02 Pencil2D Animation - Animation Program for 2D Pencil Lover

Difficulty Level: Easiest

Pro: Easy to start and make animation as the interface is user-friendly for many people.

Con: You need to set your preference every time to open it up, so it takes up some time

Pencil2D Animation is one of the simplest 2D hand-drawn tools available. It will work flawlessly on Mac computers. It is ideal for beginners, as the commands and interface are very easy to understand.

Whether you want to create a simple one, or you want something with many layers for videos on YouTube, you can use Pencil2D animation to get it done. Its timeline is easy to use at first glance. You can add and duplicate different frames on a different track.

The frequency of releasing the new version is very fast as Pencil2D is committed to bringing the lasted features to each user. The newest version is v0.6.4 (as of August 2019). Its user guide is informative with video tutorials, FAQs, and manual material.

Features:

• Lightweight and minimalistic design that makes it very easy for beginners.
• Features raster and vector workflows, with easy switching between them. You can paint and sketch as you want!
• Will run on all platforms - Mac, Windows, and Linux.
• Completely free and open source.

03 TupiTube - Free Animation Application for Mac Users

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It supports vector illustrations. Besides, various formats are available.

Con: If you want to make 3D animation, it will fail. You can only make 2D effects.

A free software application for YouTube, Tupi will allow you to create 2D animations to your heart’s content. The tool was started by animators who wanted to create something that others could use.

It is an open-source tool, which means that users can make tweaks to the program if they have some interesting ideas. The program works on both Windows and Mac. You need to use Tupi and Papagayo to make lip-sync animation with different mouth shapes.

It also offers a solution for schools with related features including academic license, technical support, and ads-free, so many schools choose to use this one to teach kids how to make an animation video.

Features:

• Support for vector illustrations. You can add rectangles, lines, polygons, and other shapes as you please. To fill areas, just use the paint bucket.
• You can import raster images using this program.
• You can export all your finished images into different file formats.
• Support for tweeting positions, scale, shear, and rotations.

04 Blender - Need Some Time to Learn This Animation Tool

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Really powerful software that you can make for professional users.

Con: It is not easy to make image animation as it focuses on 3D.

Blender is an open-source 3D animation creation suite without a watermark. If you find that 2D is a little bit limiting, we think that you will be very happy with what this free program offers. You can take your projects to a whole new level when you can use this program on your Mac.

You can use Blender to make a video game, modeling, and high-quality animation. However, it involves a steep learning curve. Luckily, there are many tutorials to guide you through the journey. You can also ask for help in the Blender community that millions of talented people like you are there.

Features:

• Creating renders is no problem with this program.
• Modeling, such as sculpting, retopology, and creating curves is not an issue either.
• VFX and animation features are better than any option on the market.
• It offers powerful simulation tools.
• Integration with pipeline tools is easy.

05 K-3D - Best for Animation and Modeling in 3D

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: Ideal for designing simple 3D animations and models.

Con: It has an old-fashioned interface. Also, the built-render (RenderMan) feature is difficult to use by beginners.

K-3D is an animation and 3D modeling software. You can download this tool for free on your Mac. Besides, you can also install and run it on your Windows and Linux systems. If you look at the design, you will find that the software is quite old. But don’t judge a book by its cover. Why so? It is because K-3D is one of the strongest and most versatile tools for 3D artists with many options.

For example, K-3D offers extremely systematic and methodological workflows. You can easily adjust the properties of the features in real-time and get instant results. It has a node-oriented visualization pipeline to enjoy more freedom. That means you can create animation using a variety of combinations.

One of the best things about K-3D is that it has three subdivisions of animation. You can work on your model on one side while showing the other side in a mirrored form. Then, experience the final result combined together. And in case you need to make the changes to the end results, you can simply work on the first subdivision and savor automatic changes to the results.

K-3D has an advanced redo and undo mechanism to ensure you can go back or move forward to make corrections or amendments without limits. Additionally, the tool is developed keeping in mind all the industrial standards. For instance, it has complete support and integration of native RenderMan™ to its user interface. This is an excellent feature because most free animation software for Mac requires third-party render plugins.

Features:

• Parametric workflow.
• 2D and 3D animation tools.
• Allows Python and K3DScript scripting.

06 Krita - For Professional 2D Animators

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Advanced tools with numerous animation options and online training material.

Con: Not suitable for beginners.

If you love 2D animation, then you’ll surely love Krita. It is entirely free software available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Also, it offers a full platform for drawing and frame-by-frame animation.

The number one reason for adoring Krita is its brush library. There are more than 100 professional brushes to give you a wide range of effects. Moreover, the strokes are pretty amazing and similar to Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.

Another great thing about Krita is the brush stabilization feature designed for shaky hands. You can add a stabilizer to your chosen brush to smoothen its flow. Besides, there’s a special Dynamic Brush tool to make animation more fun. At the same time, you can also customize your brushes through different brush engines, including filter engines, color smudge engines, and many more.

Apart from the basic brush options, the preloaded vector tools are next to admire. These tools help you make great comic panels. All you need to do is choose and drag the word bubble template on your canvas. Then, make changes with the anchor point to make new shapes. At the same time, you can also add text to your animation by using the text tool.

Last but not least, there’s a wrap-around mode to create seamless patterns and textures. That means the image or drawing makes its own references along the x-axis and y-axis. This gives you the freedom to continue painting and enjoy updates to your animation instantly.

Features:

• HDR painting.
• PSD support.
• Python scripting.
• Selection and transformation tools.
• Proper group, filter, vector, and file layer management.
• Complete color management for extraordinary results.
• Drawing assistant to help you with straight lines and vanishing points.

Part 2 Best Free Animation Software for Windows

Below is free animation software on Windows. Keep reading.

01 Anireel - Easy to Use Animation Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Anireel is a simple yet powerful Video Creativity tool used to make 2D animated explainer videos. Developed by Wondershare, one of the most popular Windows software and tool developers, Anireel uses rich, ready-to-use, and diverse assets to help one effortlessly make animated videos.

Features:

• There are tons of drag and drop characters, actions, props, text, and audio assets.
• Easy Text-to-Speech conversion via deep studying technology.
• Animate integrated and imported assets.
• Tons of templates that match many script types.

02 DAZ Studio - Free Software for 3D Lovers

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: You can make game animation for fun. It also supports GPU accelerated real-time rendering.

Con: It has a high demand for the device, but owns a steep learning curve.

Daz 3d is a powerful and completely free 3D creation tool that will let you create the short videos that you want. Whether you are using this for business or pleasure, you will find the program is very easy to understand. Within a day, you will be completely used to its interface.

3D effects are the core focus of DAZ Studio. You can build a model, render, and pose animation within the skin texture level. It has a high requirement for the device. For Windows 64 bits, its recommended RAM is 3G.

Features:

• Options for 3D morphing, animation, and rendering.
• GPU accelerated real-time rendering, which delivers the best results.
• Interactive tutorials to help you become a better 3D artist.
• Everything you make is yours, royalty-free!

03 Terragen - Use It to Make CG Animation

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: The recently updated version is the best one. Ray-traced preview is a great function to help us make animation.

Con: The interface looks complicated, but it gets easy to know after you are familiar with it.

A completely free program that you can download and install on all Windows computers and tablets, Terragen is the ideal program for you to create the 3D animations and environments that you want. If you want a photo-realistic CG environment, using Terragen is the best way to do it!

Releasing imagination instantly, Terragen Creative is the one tool you’d like to consider. You can use it to make beautiful scenery.

For advanced tools, you can choose FBX to make animation quickly. The featured image gallery on its homepage will give you a deep understanding of the final outcome you can achieve with Terragen.

Features:

• Ray-traced preview. Without watermark after exporting
• Photo-realistic clouds and ozone simulation
• Rendering is twice as fast as the previous version of the program.
• Adding terrain, objects, and shader to your final product is very easy with the intuitive interface.

04 Anim8or - Free Tool to Make 3D Modeling

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Anim8or supports 3D modeler and TrueType fonts to meet advanced needs.

Con: Beginners will find it difficult to learn.

Anim8or is a free 3D modeling program that will let you create the unique work that you want. It is a personal project from an animator, but the program does get regular updates and troubleshooting.

It is not going to give you the same features as something like Studio Max or Maya, but you will get the basics. Beginners who are getting into animations will love this program.

Anim8or is a great tool to step into 3D animation ff you think other software is too different to start. In some way, it means you need to give up some advanced features. But all in all, it’s still recommended for you.

Features:

• A full 3D modeler that allows you to create spheres, cylinders, platonic solids, and any other objects that you want.
• Features support for TrueType fonts.
• Easy to create 3D scenes and output them as video files or images.

05 Seamless3d - Open-source Free Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is an open-source 3D modeling package. The good thing is the handy infinite Undo/Redo operation.

Con: Some advanced features are missing like drawing.

Seamless3d, an open-source 3D modeling software that you can download, is among the best animation worktables if you want to create specialized images, animated videos, or 3D characters.

It supports FFmpeg video format, so you can use AVI, MP4, and more. Besides, the forum is not active compared with before, but you still can find answers from many tutorials .

Features:

• It comes with infinite undo and redo options for complete flexibility to correct mistakes.
• It allows for partitioned and seamless texture mapping for YouTube videos.
• Has a specialized tree view interface.

06 OpenToonz - Support Plug in to Make Animation Freely

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It is open-source software, so you can change the code freely.

Con: The plug-in effects are limited.

This animation program is made for beginners on Windows. It is among the best 2D animation software in the market. You can use plug-in effects to change image style, add lights, and distort details. It supports Windows 7/8/10 only for 64 bit.

Features:

• You can add provisional colors to make your animation more colorful.
• Smooth correction without frame losing.
• Compatible with black-and-white, colored, or without binarization scanning.

7 Stykz - Simple to Use Animation Program for Beginners

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is the best stick figure animation if you want to make this kind of video.

Con: The UI is not modern to use and needs time to adapt to using it.

Stykz is completely free to use and without a watermark. If you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator, then you will find Stykz is similar to it, but you can import the previous .stk files to animate it again. You can use it to make animation smooth frame by frame.

With its frame-based feature, Stykz is easy to customize each frame. You can change previous and current frames to get what you want. You can download it to have a try considering its easy-to-use features.

Features:

• There is some animes file on this website, so you can have a reference.
• Edit animation in the software without using another editing window.
• You can share the final work with others including information.

Part 3 FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

01 Are Macs good for animation?

To be frank, Mac is a better choice to make animation if you want to have a smooth animation experience. For example, screen resolution is a crucial factor to make excellent animation. The good is Mac’s screen will never let you disappointed.

02 What is the best animation software for Mac?

The best animation software on mac includes Synfig Studio, Pencil2D Animation, Tupi, Blender, and more. Mentioned are free-to-use. Maya is also worth considering animation software if you are a professional user. Maya offers a 1-month free trial. After it is ended, the paid plans are month, 1-year, and 3-year.

03 Can you animate in Photoshop?

Yes, you can make basic animation in Photoshop. However, it only supports frame-based animation making. In this case, you need to use other professional software to make animation. But, you still can use Photoshop to meet your needs if you are a beginner.

Conclusion

With any of these free animation maker programs on Mac and Windows, you will have an easy time creating your next 2D or 3D video. Ensure you choose the program that has the features and compatibility that you desire. Then it is up to your creative mind to come up with stunning animations! If you want to make animation easily, you can also find inspiration through classical animated cartoon types with examples .

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Discover the Best Free 4K Video Editing Software of [Year]

The Ultra HD video, also known as 4K video , defines 3840 2160 pixels. It became popular in 2016 and has overtaken both HD and ultra-HD to become the video with the highest resolution. Most videos are shot in HD, but as camera technology improves, 4K video seems to have become increasingly common. Because of the additional level of detail that the camera acquires, 4K videos are large files that allow you more editing possibilities.

Several free 4K video editing software has been developed to make video editing relatively easy in recent times. These free 4K video editors allow you to import, edit, and export videos easily. This article will provide you with some of the best free 4K video editors you should try in 2022.

In this article

01 Best Free 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

02 Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

03 Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

Part 1: Top 5 Best Free 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

1. iMovie

Supported OS: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

iMovie is one of the most popular free 4K Video editing software. Using iMovie, you can create a professional-looking video even without any editing experience. You can import 4K images and 4K videos to iMovie, and then trim, split and add titles, transitions, filters or effects to the video by dragging and dropping. What’s more, you can import and export 60 frames per second video in iMovie.

iMovie is a video editing software that imports video footage from digital video cameras that use the MiniDV format. It can play DV, HDV, AVCHD, iFrame, Animation Codec, and other video formats. You can import 4K videos directly to iMovie and export them as 4K videos at 24fps/30fps/60fps. You can also share the 4K video to YouTube from iMovie directly.

Pros:

1. Switching across different devices:

This free 4K video editor is designed to work together using different devices (iPhone, iPad & Mac). You can begin a project on your iPhone, then transfer it to your iPad using AirDrop or iCloud Drive. It allows you to share what you have worked on to different devices, and you can also send projects from your iPad to your MacBook or iMac.

2. Advanced editing features:

What makes this free 4K video editor special is the ability to add some innovative editing functions when creating and editing your videos. Understandably, any video editor should offer basic editing features; however, iMovie allows you to work with more advanced functions like split-screen , picture-in-picture , and green-screen effects .

3. Saving all the original files

An advantage of working with different devices provides an opportunity to save all original files. It saves you time since you can import any media you need to get your project started in the video editor without losing the original files.

Cons:

• Distorted files: If you don’t follow the importing and exporting process, the files might get distorted, resulting in fuzzy images.
• Only available on iOS/macOS/iPad devices

2. VSDC

Supported OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8/10

VSDC is a free 4K video editor that allows for beginner-level editing. It supports recording voice-over, capturing the desktop screen, editing the video and audio files. With VSDC, you can blend multiple footage layers into a single composition. You can easily apply a picture-in-picture effect and make things change their appearance or position.

VSDC allows you to import 4K video, audio, and image files. To successfully import these files; Click ‘Shift + I’ to add an image, ‘Shift A’ to add an audio file, and ‘Shift V’ to add a video file. VSDC allows you to export 4K videos to PC or share to web platforms like YouTube. To export these files, go to the export project tab at the top, and then set the profile to the highest quality. Click the Edit profile button and then select the 4K preset from the list. Choose the video and audio quality size, and then save the video as 4K.

Pros:

• Every tool for video editing is available
• Amazing Visual Effects
• Efficient Text Processing
• Lots of Blending modes

Cons:

• Pro editing features are missing
• Available for Windows only
• Audio waveform and hardware acceleration features are not available

3. ShotCut

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Shotcut is another free 4K video editor made for Linux, Macintosh, and Windows gadgets. It has wide arranged support that features its astounding usefulness. This 4K video editing software may not be the most alluring programming you see, yet it can assist with making the process of editing smooth and straightforward.

This professional video editing software support almost all the latest audio and video formats, including ProRes, DNxHD, and 4K, and it allows you to trim, cut, insert, and overwrite the video and audio. With its video effects, you can do color correction and grading, add fade-in and fade-out effects, reverse the clip, and even edit the 360° videos.

Here is a completed video tutorial from YouTuber Kevin Stratvert, which provides almost all information about how to use Shotcut, including how to create a project, add media, edit clips and export.

Pros:

• Easy Access: The 4K video editor is open source. Users can easily alter the source codes, enabling the process of editing simple and clear.
• Shotcut has every one of the required instruments to give excellent outcomes to clients. It has all elements of good video editing software and a bunch of other supportive and current choices.
• Shotcut offers an easy-to-use interface that allows you to finish a project quickly while having it examined by multiple members of your team. Its preview panel gives users access to a quick start menu, and its view menu lets them decide which features appear on the screen. The software’s video and audio filters are the most amazing of all its features. These filters can be customized, and they can be combined and layered in a variety of ways. Adjusting is now easier thanks to the easy checkbox and slider systems. Shotcut is so good that it makes even the most complicated effects understandable to the average user.

Cons:

• The platform might be a bit confusing when using the software for the first time because the interface isn’t intuitive.

4. LightWorks

Supported OS: Windows, Linux, and macOS

Lightworks is another video editor that can edit 4K videos from EditShare for people who have video editing experience. It has a simple and intuitive user interface, and you will find LOG, EDIT, VFX, and AUDIO tabs at the top of the interface. It integrates some paid royalty-free audio files, so you don’t need to find the background music from somewhere else. This software has some advanced editing features such as Multicam editing and batch export. It even supports third-party plugins, such as Boris FX, Boris Graffiti, and GenArts Sapphire. It enables its users to freely edit videos, even to the extent of trimming a video down to the size you desire.

However, if you want to export the videos in 4K, you need to pay, since it is limited to Lightworks Pro users.

Pros:

• The software allows clips to be easily imported and provides a platform where these clips can be played. This is made possible because this 4K video editor provides an interface made of panels such as bins, timeline, and edit review.
• Lightworks provides an easy way of applying varieties of effects from different clips in a coordinated manner. The software utilizes the hub-based framework to put together clips and recordings, which is needed for clips with numerous effects and tracks.
• Navigating this software, a right-click menu allows the user to export videos directly to YouTube. Also, the software automatically saves your work, so you don’t lose the files you’ve worked on.

Cons:

• Poor quality exporting options when making use of the free version (720p only)
• You need to register first to use it

5. Filmora Instant Cutter Tool

Supporting OS: Windows and Mac

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Filmora is one of the best video editors for beginners to create professional-looking videos in a modern way. One of the biggest advantages of using Filmora is its resources. You can now search the resources in the search bar and drag and drop them to the timeline to preview the result without paying first.

Some of you may say, Filmora is not a free video editor since there will be a watermark at the export video. But here, I will introduce the Instant Cutter Tool which is a perfect tool to trim and merge large 4K videos and action camera videos. This free 4k tool provides a proper way of instantly trimming or merging videos without de-coding, which means the video resolution will not be changed. Using the instant cutter tool, you can upload or merge files of huge sizes in different formats, such as MP4/MOV or MTS/M2TS.

Note: You can try some legal ways to remove the Filmora watermark without paying .

Pros:

• Clean and Intuitive User Interface
• 4K Video Support
• Trim and merge large videos quickly

Cons:

• Limited video formats supported when using Instant Cutter Tool

Part 2: Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

While the general features of the best free 4K video editors have been discussed, it’s important you are aware of some specific requirements your system must possess to edit your videos successfully. Irrespective of the kind of device you’re using to edit your videos, you need to pay attention to some features your device must have. However, these requirements depend on the 4K video editing software free.

• Central Processing Unit (CPU): The Processor of the software being used must be Intel Core i7, 2.3Ghz four-core; this is applicable if you will be editing your videos offline. Then, Dual Intel Xeon 2Ghz six-core is applicable if you will be editing your videos online.
• Random Access Memory (RAM): Preferably an 8GB Memory if you’re editing offline, and 32GB Memory if you’re editing online.
• Internal storage: The required storage must be sufficient because 4K videos are huge files.

Note: Offline editing refers to editing a proxy file of the original source material ; online editing is the editing of the original material.

Part 3: Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

• Choose the software based on your hardware: To choose the best 4K video editing software free, you must not opt for an editing software with higher requirements than your hardware; such software won’t work well on your device. You should instead select an editing software with lower requirements.
• Split large 4K videos into several parts: It has been reiterated that 4K videos are huge files; to edit your videos smoothly, it is recommended to split up the videos and edit one after the other. This will save you from heavy data loss.
• Enable graphics accelerator: A graphic accelerator is used in video editing to turbocharge your video exporting. It’s usually clung to a video board of your system. It makes the editing easier and faster by preventing a heavy workload.

02 Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

03 Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

Part 1: Top 5 Best Free 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

1. iMovie

Supported OS: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

iMovie is one of the most popular free 4K Video editing software. Using iMovie, you can create a professional-looking video even without any editing experience. You can import 4K images and 4K videos to iMovie, and then trim, split and add titles, transitions, filters or effects to the video by dragging and dropping. What’s more, you can import and export 60 frames per second video in iMovie.

iMovie is a video editing software that imports video footage from digital video cameras that use the MiniDV format. It can play DV, HDV, AVCHD, iFrame, Animation Codec, and other video formats. You can import 4K videos directly to iMovie and export them as 4K videos at 24fps/30fps/60fps. You can also share the 4K video to YouTube from iMovie directly.

Pros:

1. Switching across different devices:

This free 4K video editor is designed to work together using different devices (iPhone, iPad & Mac). You can begin a project on your iPhone, then transfer it to your iPad using AirDrop or iCloud Drive. It allows you to share what you have worked on to different devices, and you can also send projects from your iPad to your MacBook or iMac.

2. Advanced editing features:

What makes this free 4K video editor special is the ability to add some innovative editing functions when creating and editing your videos. Understandably, any video editor should offer basic editing features; however, iMovie allows you to work with more advanced functions like split-screen , picture-in-picture , and green-screen effects .

3. Saving all the original files

An advantage of working with different devices provides an opportunity to save all original files. It saves you time since you can import any media you need to get your project started in the video editor without losing the original files.

Cons:

• Distorted files: If you don’t follow the importing and exporting process, the files might get distorted, resulting in fuzzy images.
• Only available on iOS/macOS/iPad devices

2. VSDC

Supported OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8/10

VSDC is a free 4K video editor that allows for beginner-level editing. It supports recording voice-over, capturing the desktop screen, editing the video and audio files. With VSDC, you can blend multiple footage layers into a single composition. You can easily apply a picture-in-picture effect and make things change their appearance or position.

VSDC allows you to import 4K video, audio, and image files. To successfully import these files; Click ‘Shift + I’ to add an image, ‘Shift A’ to add an audio file, and ‘Shift V’ to add a video file. VSDC allows you to export 4K videos to PC or share to web platforms like YouTube. To export these files, go to the export project tab at the top, and then set the profile to the highest quality. Click the Edit profile button and then select the 4K preset from the list. Choose the video and audio quality size, and then save the video as 4K.

Pros:

• Every tool for video editing is available
• Amazing Visual Effects
• Efficient Text Processing
• Lots of Blending modes

Cons:

• Pro editing features are missing
• Available for Windows only
• Audio waveform and hardware acceleration features are not available

3. ShotCut

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Shotcut is another free 4K video editor made for Linux, Macintosh, and Windows gadgets. It has wide arranged support that features its astounding usefulness. This 4K video editing software may not be the most alluring programming you see, yet it can assist with making the process of editing smooth and straightforward.

This professional video editing software support almost all the latest audio and video formats, including ProRes, DNxHD, and 4K, and it allows you to trim, cut, insert, and overwrite the video and audio. With its video effects, you can do color correction and grading, add fade-in and fade-out effects, reverse the clip, and even edit the 360° videos.

Here is a completed video tutorial from YouTuber Kevin Stratvert, which provides almost all information about how to use Shotcut, including how to create a project, add media, edit clips and export.

Pros:

• Easy Access: The 4K video editor is open source. Users can easily alter the source codes, enabling the process of editing simple and clear.
• Shotcut has every one of the required instruments to give excellent outcomes to clients. It has all elements of good video editing software and a bunch of other supportive and current choices.
• Shotcut offers an easy-to-use interface that allows you to finish a project quickly while having it examined by multiple members of your team. Its preview panel gives users access to a quick start menu, and its view menu lets them decide which features appear on the screen. The software’s video and audio filters are the most amazing of all its features. These filters can be customized, and they can be combined and layered in a variety of ways. Adjusting is now easier thanks to the easy checkbox and slider systems. Shotcut is so good that it makes even the most complicated effects understandable to the average user.

Cons:

• The platform might be a bit confusing when using the software for the first time because the interface isn’t intuitive.

4. LightWorks

Supported OS: Windows, Linux, and macOS

Lightworks is another video editor that can edit 4K videos from EditShare for people who have video editing experience. It has a simple and intuitive user interface, and you will find LOG, EDIT, VFX, and AUDIO tabs at the top of the interface. It integrates some paid royalty-free audio files, so you don’t need to find the background music from somewhere else. This software has some advanced editing features such as Multicam editing and batch export. It even supports third-party plugins, such as Boris FX, Boris Graffiti, and GenArts Sapphire. It enables its users to freely edit videos, even to the extent of trimming a video down to the size you desire.

However, if you want to export the videos in 4K, you need to pay, since it is limited to Lightworks Pro users.

Pros:

• The software allows clips to be easily imported and provides a platform where these clips can be played. This is made possible because this 4K video editor provides an interface made of panels such as bins, timeline, and edit review.
• Lightworks provides an easy way of applying varieties of effects from different clips in a coordinated manner. The software utilizes the hub-based framework to put together clips and recordings, which is needed for clips with numerous effects and tracks.
• Navigating this software, a right-click menu allows the user to export videos directly to YouTube. Also, the software automatically saves your work, so you don’t lose the files you’ve worked on.

Cons:

• Poor quality exporting options when making use of the free version (720p only)
• You need to register first to use it

5. Filmora Instant Cutter Tool

Supporting OS: Windows and Mac

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Filmora is one of the best video editors for beginners to create professional-looking videos in a modern way. One of the biggest advantages of using Filmora is its resources. You can now search the resources in the search bar and drag and drop them to the timeline to preview the result without paying first.

Some of you may say, Filmora is not a free video editor since there will be a watermark at the export video. But here, I will introduce the Instant Cutter Tool which is a perfect tool to trim and merge large 4K videos and action camera videos. This free 4k tool provides a proper way of instantly trimming or merging videos without de-coding, which means the video resolution will not be changed. Using the instant cutter tool, you can upload or merge files of huge sizes in different formats, such as MP4/MOV or MTS/M2TS.

Note: You can try some legal ways to remove the Filmora watermark without paying .

Pros:

• Clean and Intuitive User Interface
• 4K Video Support
• Trim and merge large videos quickly

Cons:

• Limited video formats supported when using Instant Cutter Tool

Part 2: Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

While the general features of the best free 4K video editors have been discussed, it’s important you are aware of some specific requirements your system must possess to edit your videos successfully. Irrespective of the kind of device you’re using to edit your videos, you need to pay attention to some features your device must have. However, these requirements depend on the 4K video editing software free.

• Central Processing Unit (CPU): The Processor of the software being used must be Intel Core i7, 2.3Ghz four-core; this is applicable if you will be editing your videos offline. Then, Dual Intel Xeon 2Ghz six-core is applicable if you will be editing your videos online.
• Random Access Memory (RAM): Preferably an 8GB Memory if you’re editing offline, and 32GB Memory if you’re editing online.
• Internal storage: The required storage must be sufficient because 4K videos are huge files.

Note: Offline editing refers to editing a proxy file of the original source material ; online editing is the editing of the original material.

Part 3: Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

• Choose the software based on your hardware: To choose the best 4K video editing software free, you must not opt for an editing software with higher requirements than your hardware; such software won’t work well on your device. You should instead select an editing software with lower requirements.
• Split large 4K videos into several parts: It has been reiterated that 4K videos are huge files; to edit your videos smoothly, it is recommended to split up the videos and edit one after the other. This will save you from heavy data loss.
• Enable graphics accelerator: A graphic accelerator is used in video editing to turbocharge your video exporting. It’s usually clung to a video board of your system. It makes the editing easier and faster by preventing a heavy workload.

02 Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

03 Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

Part 1: Top 5 Best Free 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

1. iMovie

Supported OS: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

iMovie is one of the most popular free 4K Video editing software. Using iMovie, you can create a professional-looking video even without any editing experience. You can import 4K images and 4K videos to iMovie, and then trim, split and add titles, transitions, filters or effects to the video by dragging and dropping. What’s more, you can import and export 60 frames per second video in iMovie.

iMovie is a video editing software that imports video footage from digital video cameras that use the MiniDV format. It can play DV, HDV, AVCHD, iFrame, Animation Codec, and other video formats. You can import 4K videos directly to iMovie and export them as 4K videos at 24fps/30fps/60fps. You can also share the 4K video to YouTube from iMovie directly.

Pros:

1. Switching across different devices:

This free 4K video editor is designed to work together using different devices (iPhone, iPad & Mac). You can begin a project on your iPhone, then transfer it to your iPad using AirDrop or iCloud Drive. It allows you to share what you have worked on to different devices, and you can also send projects from your iPad to your MacBook or iMac.

2. Advanced editing features:

What makes this free 4K video editor special is the ability to add some innovative editing functions when creating and editing your videos. Understandably, any video editor should offer basic editing features; however, iMovie allows you to work with more advanced functions like split-screen , picture-in-picture , and green-screen effects .

3. Saving all the original files

An advantage of working with different devices provides an opportunity to save all original files. It saves you time since you can import any media you need to get your project started in the video editor without losing the original files.

Cons:

• Distorted files: If you don’t follow the importing and exporting process, the files might get distorted, resulting in fuzzy images.
• Only available on iOS/macOS/iPad devices

2. VSDC

Supported OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8/10

VSDC is a free 4K video editor that allows for beginner-level editing. It supports recording voice-over, capturing the desktop screen, editing the video and audio files. With VSDC, you can blend multiple footage layers into a single composition. You can easily apply a picture-in-picture effect and make things change their appearance or position.

VSDC allows you to import 4K video, audio, and image files. To successfully import these files; Click ‘Shift + I’ to add an image, ‘Shift A’ to add an audio file, and ‘Shift V’ to add a video file. VSDC allows you to export 4K videos to PC or share to web platforms like YouTube. To export these files, go to the export project tab at the top, and then set the profile to the highest quality. Click the Edit profile button and then select the 4K preset from the list. Choose the video and audio quality size, and then save the video as 4K.

Pros:

• Every tool for video editing is available
• Amazing Visual Effects
• Efficient Text Processing
• Lots of Blending modes

Cons:

• Pro editing features are missing
• Available for Windows only
• Audio waveform and hardware acceleration features are not available

3. ShotCut

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Shotcut is another free 4K video editor made for Linux, Macintosh, and Windows gadgets. It has wide arranged support that features its astounding usefulness. This 4K video editing software may not be the most alluring programming you see, yet it can assist with making the process of editing smooth and straightforward.

This professional video editing software support almost all the latest audio and video formats, including ProRes, DNxHD, and 4K, and it allows you to trim, cut, insert, and overwrite the video and audio. With its video effects, you can do color correction and grading, add fade-in and fade-out effects, reverse the clip, and even edit the 360° videos.

Here is a completed video tutorial from YouTuber Kevin Stratvert, which provides almost all information about how to use Shotcut, including how to create a project, add media, edit clips and export.

Pros:

• Easy Access: The 4K video editor is open source. Users can easily alter the source codes, enabling the process of editing simple and clear.
• Shotcut has every one of the required instruments to give excellent outcomes to clients. It has all elements of good video editing software and a bunch of other supportive and current choices.
• Shotcut offers an easy-to-use interface that allows you to finish a project quickly while having it examined by multiple members of your team. Its preview panel gives users access to a quick start menu, and its view menu lets them decide which features appear on the screen. The software’s video and audio filters are the most amazing of all its features. These filters can be customized, and they can be combined and layered in a variety of ways. Adjusting is now easier thanks to the easy checkbox and slider systems. Shotcut is so good that it makes even the most complicated effects understandable to the average user.

Cons:

• The platform might be a bit confusing when using the software for the first time because the interface isn’t intuitive.

4. LightWorks

Supported OS: Windows, Linux, and macOS

Lightworks is another video editor that can edit 4K videos from EditShare for people who have video editing experience. It has a simple and intuitive user interface, and you will find LOG, EDIT, VFX, and AUDIO tabs at the top of the interface. It integrates some paid royalty-free audio files, so you don’t need to find the background music from somewhere else. This software has some advanced editing features such as Multicam editing and batch export. It even supports third-party plugins, such as Boris FX, Boris Graffiti, and GenArts Sapphire. It enables its users to freely edit videos, even to the extent of trimming a video down to the size you desire.

However, if you want to export the videos in 4K, you need to pay, since it is limited to Lightworks Pro users.

Pros:

• The software allows clips to be easily imported and provides a platform where these clips can be played. This is made possible because this 4K video editor provides an interface made of panels such as bins, timeline, and edit review.
• Lightworks provides an easy way of applying varieties of effects from different clips in a coordinated manner. The software utilizes the hub-based framework to put together clips and recordings, which is needed for clips with numerous effects and tracks.
• Navigating this software, a right-click menu allows the user to export videos directly to YouTube. Also, the software automatically saves your work, so you don’t lose the files you’ve worked on.

Cons:

• Poor quality exporting options when making use of the free version (720p only)
• You need to register first to use it

5. Filmora Instant Cutter Tool

Supporting OS: Windows and Mac

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Filmora is one of the best video editors for beginners to create professional-looking videos in a modern way. One of the biggest advantages of using Filmora is its resources. You can now search the resources in the search bar and drag and drop them to the timeline to preview the result without paying first.

Some of you may say, Filmora is not a free video editor since there will be a watermark at the export video. But here, I will introduce the Instant Cutter Tool which is a perfect tool to trim and merge large 4K videos and action camera videos. This free 4k tool provides a proper way of instantly trimming or merging videos without de-coding, which means the video resolution will not be changed. Using the instant cutter tool, you can upload or merge files of huge sizes in different formats, such as MP4/MOV or MTS/M2TS.

Note: You can try some legal ways to remove the Filmora watermark without paying .

Pros:

• Clean and Intuitive User Interface
• 4K Video Support
• Trim and merge large videos quickly

Cons:

• Limited video formats supported when using Instant Cutter Tool

Part 2: Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

While the general features of the best free 4K video editors have been discussed, it’s important you are aware of some specific requirements your system must possess to edit your videos successfully. Irrespective of the kind of device you’re using to edit your videos, you need to pay attention to some features your device must have. However, these requirements depend on the 4K video editing software free.

• Central Processing Unit (CPU): The Processor of the software being used must be Intel Core i7, 2.3Ghz four-core; this is applicable if you will be editing your videos offline. Then, Dual Intel Xeon 2Ghz six-core is applicable if you will be editing your videos online.
• Random Access Memory (RAM): Preferably an 8GB Memory if you’re editing offline, and 32GB Memory if you’re editing online.
• Internal storage: The required storage must be sufficient because 4K videos are huge files.

Note: Offline editing refers to editing a proxy file of the original source material ; online editing is the editing of the original material.

Part 3: Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

• Choose the software based on your hardware: To choose the best 4K video editing software free, you must not opt for an editing software with higher requirements than your hardware; such software won’t work well on your device. You should instead select an editing software with lower requirements.
• Split large 4K videos into several parts: It has been reiterated that 4K videos are huge files; to edit your videos smoothly, it is recommended to split up the videos and edit one after the other. This will save you from heavy data loss.
• Enable graphics accelerator: A graphic accelerator is used in video editing to turbocharge your video exporting. It’s usually clung to a video board of your system. It makes the editing easier and faster by preventing a heavy workload.

02 Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

03 Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

Part 1: Top 5 Best Free 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

1. iMovie

Supported OS: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

iMovie is one of the most popular free 4K Video editing software. Using iMovie, you can create a professional-looking video even without any editing experience. You can import 4K images and 4K videos to iMovie, and then trim, split and add titles, transitions, filters or effects to the video by dragging and dropping. What’s more, you can import and export 60 frames per second video in iMovie.

iMovie is a video editing software that imports video footage from digital video cameras that use the MiniDV format. It can play DV, HDV, AVCHD, iFrame, Animation Codec, and other video formats. You can import 4K videos directly to iMovie and export them as 4K videos at 24fps/30fps/60fps. You can also share the 4K video to YouTube from iMovie directly.

Pros:

1. Switching across different devices:

This free 4K video editor is designed to work together using different devices (iPhone, iPad & Mac). You can begin a project on your iPhone, then transfer it to your iPad using AirDrop or iCloud Drive. It allows you to share what you have worked on to different devices, and you can also send projects from your iPad to your MacBook or iMac.

2. Advanced editing features:

What makes this free 4K video editor special is the ability to add some innovative editing functions when creating and editing your videos. Understandably, any video editor should offer basic editing features; however, iMovie allows you to work with more advanced functions like split-screen , picture-in-picture , and green-screen effects .

3. Saving all the original files

An advantage of working with different devices provides an opportunity to save all original files. It saves you time since you can import any media you need to get your project started in the video editor without losing the original files.

Cons:

• Distorted files: If you don’t follow the importing and exporting process, the files might get distorted, resulting in fuzzy images.
• Only available on iOS/macOS/iPad devices

2. VSDC

Supported OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8/10

VSDC is a free 4K video editor that allows for beginner-level editing. It supports recording voice-over, capturing the desktop screen, editing the video and audio files. With VSDC, you can blend multiple footage layers into a single composition. You can easily apply a picture-in-picture effect and make things change their appearance or position.

VSDC allows you to import 4K video, audio, and image files. To successfully import these files; Click ‘Shift + I’ to add an image, ‘Shift A’ to add an audio file, and ‘Shift V’ to add a video file. VSDC allows you to export 4K videos to PC or share to web platforms like YouTube. To export these files, go to the export project tab at the top, and then set the profile to the highest quality. Click the Edit profile button and then select the 4K preset from the list. Choose the video and audio quality size, and then save the video as 4K.

Pros:

• Every tool for video editing is available
• Amazing Visual Effects
• Efficient Text Processing
• Lots of Blending modes

Cons:

• Pro editing features are missing
• Available for Windows only
• Audio waveform and hardware acceleration features are not available

3. ShotCut

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Shotcut is another free 4K video editor made for Linux, Macintosh, and Windows gadgets. It has wide arranged support that features its astounding usefulness. This 4K video editing software may not be the most alluring programming you see, yet it can assist with making the process of editing smooth and straightforward.

This professional video editing software support almost all the latest audio and video formats, including ProRes, DNxHD, and 4K, and it allows you to trim, cut, insert, and overwrite the video and audio. With its video effects, you can do color correction and grading, add fade-in and fade-out effects, reverse the clip, and even edit the 360° videos.

Here is a completed video tutorial from YouTuber Kevin Stratvert, which provides almost all information about how to use Shotcut, including how to create a project, add media, edit clips and export.

Pros:

• Easy Access: The 4K video editor is open source. Users can easily alter the source codes, enabling the process of editing simple and clear.
• Shotcut has every one of the required instruments to give excellent outcomes to clients. It has all elements of good video editing software and a bunch of other supportive and current choices.
• Shotcut offers an easy-to-use interface that allows you to finish a project quickly while having it examined by multiple members of your team. Its preview panel gives users access to a quick start menu, and its view menu lets them decide which features appear on the screen. The software’s video and audio filters are the most amazing of all its features. These filters can be customized, and they can be combined and layered in a variety of ways. Adjusting is now easier thanks to the easy checkbox and slider systems. Shotcut is so good that it makes even the most complicated effects understandable to the average user.

Cons:

• The platform might be a bit confusing when using the software for the first time because the interface isn’t intuitive.

4. LightWorks

Supported OS: Windows, Linux, and macOS

Lightworks is another video editor that can edit 4K videos from EditShare for people who have video editing experience. It has a simple and intuitive user interface, and you will find LOG, EDIT, VFX, and AUDIO tabs at the top of the interface. It integrates some paid royalty-free audio files, so you don’t need to find the background music from somewhere else. This software has some advanced editing features such as Multicam editing and batch export. It even supports third-party plugins, such as Boris FX, Boris Graffiti, and GenArts Sapphire. It enables its users to freely edit videos, even to the extent of trimming a video down to the size you desire.

However, if you want to export the videos in 4K, you need to pay, since it is limited to Lightworks Pro users.

Pros:

• The software allows clips to be easily imported and provides a platform where these clips can be played. This is made possible because this 4K video editor provides an interface made of panels such as bins, timeline, and edit review.
• Lightworks provides an easy way of applying varieties of effects from different clips in a coordinated manner. The software utilizes the hub-based framework to put together clips and recordings, which is needed for clips with numerous effects and tracks.
• Navigating this software, a right-click menu allows the user to export videos directly to YouTube. Also, the software automatically saves your work, so you don’t lose the files you’ve worked on.

Cons:

• Poor quality exporting options when making use of the free version (720p only)
• You need to register first to use it

5. Filmora Instant Cutter Tool

Supporting OS: Windows and Mac

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Filmora is one of the best video editors for beginners to create professional-looking videos in a modern way. One of the biggest advantages of using Filmora is its resources. You can now search the resources in the search bar and drag and drop them to the timeline to preview the result without paying first.

Some of you may say, Filmora is not a free video editor since there will be a watermark at the export video. But here, I will introduce the Instant Cutter Tool which is a perfect tool to trim and merge large 4K videos and action camera videos. This free 4k tool provides a proper way of instantly trimming or merging videos without de-coding, which means the video resolution will not be changed. Using the instant cutter tool, you can upload or merge files of huge sizes in different formats, such as MP4/MOV or MTS/M2TS.

Note: You can try some legal ways to remove the Filmora watermark without paying .

Pros:

• Clean and Intuitive User Interface
• 4K Video Support
• Trim and merge large videos quickly

Cons:

• Limited video formats supported when using Instant Cutter Tool

Part 2: Things You Need to Pay Attention to Run Free 4K Video Editors

While the general features of the best free 4K video editors have been discussed, it’s important you are aware of some specific requirements your system must possess to edit your videos successfully. Irrespective of the kind of device you’re using to edit your videos, you need to pay attention to some features your device must have. However, these requirements depend on the 4K video editing software free.

• Central Processing Unit (CPU): The Processor of the software being used must be Intel Core i7, 2.3Ghz four-core; this is applicable if you will be editing your videos offline. Then, Dual Intel Xeon 2Ghz six-core is applicable if you will be editing your videos online.
• Random Access Memory (RAM): Preferably an 8GB Memory if you’re editing offline, and 32GB Memory if you’re editing online.
• Internal storage: The required storage must be sufficient because 4K videos are huge files.

Note: Offline editing refers to editing a proxy file of the original source material ; online editing is the editing of the original material.

Part 3: Tips for Editing 4K Videos Smoothly

• Choose the software based on your hardware: To choose the best 4K video editing software free, you must not opt for an editing software with higher requirements than your hardware; such software won’t work well on your device. You should instead select an editing software with lower requirements.
• Split large 4K videos into several parts: It has been reiterated that 4K videos are huge files; to edit your videos smoothly, it is recommended to split up the videos and edit one after the other. This will save you from heavy data loss.
• Enable graphics accelerator: A graphic accelerator is used in video editing to turbocharge your video exporting. It’s usually clung to a video board of your system. It makes the editing easier and faster by preventing a heavy workload.

Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro: A Beginner’s Guide to Advanced Video Editing Techniques

How to Use Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro with Detailed Steps

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Those new to the Final Cut Pro or Pro X programs will be finding it a little challenging to add effects or edit videos. It’s a complex film editing software that takes a while to use. With our help, however, we can have you mastering the Ken Burns effect in Final Cut Pro. Do you want to know how to make ken burns effect in final cut pro? Listen closely.

• Part 1: How to Make Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro
• Part 2: How to Zoom in Final Cut Pro Using Keyframing

Part 1: How to Make Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro

To make a Ken Burns Effect, Final Cut Pro X (or a Ken Burns Effect on Final Cut, since they are both extensions of one another) simply follow our guide.

First, let’s talk about what Ken Burns is and why he has an effect named after him in Final Cut programs!

What is the Ken Burns Effect

Ken Burns is a world-famous American documentary filmmaker. He is well known for producing documentaries that take a candid if somewhat old-world-feeling look into different worlds. He has covered Baseball, the Civil War, and other fascinating times and places. Arguably, he is best known for using archival footage as film footage. How does he do this? By using the Ken Burns Effect, of course.

The Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro X allows the editor to zoom in and out, slow pan, and scroll across archive photography and still film. This will enable you to substitute whole parts of the program you are making with photographs if you haven’t taken enough footage. It is commonly used in editing, particularly when making things like wedding videos , which often feature lots of photos of the happy couple.

Anyway, let’s look at how you implement the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro.

Steps to Making the Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro

Now that we know what is Ken Burns Effect. Let’s go over the steps to making the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro.

Step 1 – Import your video. From your timeline workspace, select the clip, or highlight the section of the clip, that you want to apply the Ken Burns Effect to.

Step 2 – Enter into the viewer mode to do this. From here, select the pop-up menu from the list of options at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3 – Hold down both the shift key and the letter C. This is the fast way to cut out what you need. You can always stick to the right-click to cut a clip if you are more comfortable with this.

Step 4 – scroll down until you find the Ken Burns Effect option in the control panel. The effect should now appear on your page, in the area you selected.

Ken Burns Customization

You can also customize the ken burns effects in Final Cut.

Step 1 – To transform from the Ken Burns Effect into customization mode, drag the green box in the viewer.

Step 2 – Adjust the green box’s size, shape, and height until you are happy with where it is placed.

Step 3 – Checking what you have already put in place using the preview option is a good idea at this stage. You can edit mistakes out later, but when you are trying to edit for speed, it is best to get it right the first time around!

Step 4 – Adjust the viewer to accommodate any changes you need to make – don’t click the done button until you are sure. That being said, you can always back-step should you mis-click. You can also just start over with the effect customization if you messed up.

Part 2: How to Zoom in Final Cut Pro Using Keyframing

Now that we know how to open and apply the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro. Let’s examine how we zoom in Final Cut Pro using keyframing. Keyframing, of course, involves basic animation that allows movement to be added to a still frame. So how do you use the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro X in conjunction with keyframing? Let’s talk you through it.

You can use keyframing to zoom and pan. We will talk you through how you use it to zoom in, and you should be able to work out the rest from there.

Step 1 – Set the playhead at the start of the chosen clip. This is where you want the zoom effect to start from.

Step 2 – Click to select the effects menu. It should be at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3 – Seek out the scale and position tools. You can use these to size your animation, decide how much of a zoom you like, and how fast it will go.

Step 4 – Follow keyframe > size > position and ensure your clip is covered as you need it. You can always come back to this step a few times if you don’t get it immediately right.

Step 5 – Set the playhead where you want the clip and animation to end. Remember – if you zoom or pan too fast, you might glitch in your footage. Do it on time for the best results.

As a Pro Tip: you will be baled to view all keyframes on your clip if you select show video animation from your timeline.

The Ken Burns Conclusion

The Ken Burns Effect is famous for a reason. It allows you to fill up space if you don’t have footage for certain things. It can be used to depict ancient battles without the use of CGI.

The Ken Burns Effect, Final Cut Pro (X) technique lets filmmakers go to places that they wouldn’t otherwise get to. It is excellent for both glimpsing into the past, and for flashing forward into imagined futures. Best of all, it lets you go there when you aren’t a big-budget Hollywood film producer. We love anything that saves a buck or two while we edit.

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Those new to the Final Cut Pro or Pro X programs will be finding it a little challenging to add effects or edit videos. It’s a complex film editing software that takes a while to use. With our help, however, we can have you mastering the Ken Burns effect in Final Cut Pro. Do you want to know how to make ken burns effect in final cut pro? Listen closely.

• Part 1: How to Make Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro
• Part 2: How to Zoom in Final Cut Pro Using Keyframing

Part 1: How to Make Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro

To make a Ken Burns Effect, Final Cut Pro X (or a Ken Burns Effect on Final Cut, since they are both extensions of one another) simply follow our guide.

First, let’s talk about what Ken Burns is and why he has an effect named after him in Final Cut programs!

What is the Ken Burns Effect

Ken Burns is a world-famous American documentary filmmaker. He is well known for producing documentaries that take a candid if somewhat old-world-feeling look into different worlds. He has covered Baseball, the Civil War, and other fascinating times and places. Arguably, he is best known for using archival footage as film footage. How does he do this? By using the Ken Burns Effect, of course.

The Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro X allows the editor to zoom in and out, slow pan, and scroll across archive photography and still film. This will enable you to substitute whole parts of the program you are making with photographs if you haven’t taken enough footage. It is commonly used in editing, particularly when making things like wedding videos , which often feature lots of photos of the happy couple.

Anyway, let’s look at how you implement the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro.

Steps to Making the Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro

Now that we know what is Ken Burns Effect. Let’s go over the steps to making the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro.

Step 1 – Import your video. From your timeline workspace, select the clip, or highlight the section of the clip, that you want to apply the Ken Burns Effect to.

Step 2 – Enter into the viewer mode to do this. From here, select the pop-up menu from the list of options at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3 – Hold down both the shift key and the letter C. This is the fast way to cut out what you need. You can always stick to the right-click to cut a clip if you are more comfortable with this.

Step 4 – scroll down until you find the Ken Burns Effect option in the control panel. The effect should now appear on your page, in the area you selected.

Ken Burns Customization

You can also customize the ken burns effects in Final Cut.

Step 1 – To transform from the Ken Burns Effect into customization mode, drag the green box in the viewer.

Step 2 – Adjust the green box’s size, shape, and height until you are happy with where it is placed.

Step 3 – Checking what you have already put in place using the preview option is a good idea at this stage. You can edit mistakes out later, but when you are trying to edit for speed, it is best to get it right the first time around!

Step 4 – Adjust the viewer to accommodate any changes you need to make – don’t click the done button until you are sure. That being said, you can always back-step should you mis-click. You can also just start over with the effect customization if you messed up.

Part 2: How to Zoom in Final Cut Pro Using Keyframing

Now that we know how to open and apply the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro. Let’s examine how we zoom in Final Cut Pro using keyframing. Keyframing, of course, involves basic animation that allows movement to be added to a still frame. So how do you use the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro X in conjunction with keyframing? Let’s talk you through it.

You can use keyframing to zoom and pan. We will talk you through how you use it to zoom in, and you should be able to work out the rest from there.

Step 1 – Set the playhead at the start of the chosen clip. This is where you want the zoom effect to start from.

Step 2 – Click to select the effects menu. It should be at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3 – Seek out the scale and position tools. You can use these to size your animation, decide how much of a zoom you like, and how fast it will go.

Step 4 – Follow keyframe > size > position and ensure your clip is covered as you need it. You can always come back to this step a few times if you don’t get it immediately right.

Step 5 – Set the playhead where you want the clip and animation to end. Remember – if you zoom or pan too fast, you might glitch in your footage. Do it on time for the best results.

As a Pro Tip: you will be baled to view all keyframes on your clip if you select show video animation from your timeline.

The Ken Burns Conclusion

The Ken Burns Effect is famous for a reason. It allows you to fill up space if you don’t have footage for certain things. It can be used to depict ancient battles without the use of CGI.

The Ken Burns Effect, Final Cut Pro (X) technique lets filmmakers go to places that they wouldn’t otherwise get to. It is excellent for both glimpsing into the past, and for flashing forward into imagined futures. Best of all, it lets you go there when you aren’t a big-budget Hollywood film producer. We love anything that saves a buck or two while we edit.

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Those new to the Final Cut Pro or Pro X programs will be finding it a little challenging to add effects or edit videos. It’s a complex film editing software that takes a while to use. With our help, however, we can have you mastering the Ken Burns effect in Final Cut Pro. Do you want to know how to make ken burns effect in final cut pro? Listen closely.

• Part 1: How to Make Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro
• Part 2: How to Zoom in Final Cut Pro Using Keyframing

Part 1: How to Make Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro

To make a Ken Burns Effect, Final Cut Pro X (or a Ken Burns Effect on Final Cut, since they are both extensions of one another) simply follow our guide.

First, let’s talk about what Ken Burns is and why he has an effect named after him in Final Cut programs!

What is the Ken Burns Effect

Ken Burns is a world-famous American documentary filmmaker. He is well known for producing documentaries that take a candid if somewhat old-world-feeling look into different worlds. He has covered Baseball, the Civil War, and other fascinating times and places. Arguably, he is best known for using archival footage as film footage. How does he do this? By using the Ken Burns Effect, of course.

The Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro X allows the editor to zoom in and out, slow pan, and scroll across archive photography and still film. This will enable you to substitute whole parts of the program you are making with photographs if you haven’t taken enough footage. It is commonly used in editing, particularly when making things like wedding videos , which often feature lots of photos of the happy couple.

Anyway, let’s look at how you implement the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro.

Steps to Making the Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro

Now that we know what is Ken Burns Effect. Let’s go over the steps to making the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro.

Step 1 – Import your video. From your timeline workspace, select the clip, or highlight the section of the clip, that you want to apply the Ken Burns Effect to.

Step 2 – Enter into the viewer mode to do this. From here, select the pop-up menu from the list of options at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3 – Hold down both the shift key and the letter C. This is the fast way to cut out what you need. You can always stick to the right-click to cut a clip if you are more comfortable with this.

Step 4 – scroll down until you find the Ken Burns Effect option in the control panel. The effect should now appear on your page, in the area you selected.

Ken Burns Customization

You can also customize the ken burns effects in Final Cut.

Step 1 – To transform from the Ken Burns Effect into customization mode, drag the green box in the viewer.

Step 2 – Adjust the green box’s size, shape, and height until you are happy with where it is placed.

Step 3 – Checking what you have already put in place using the preview option is a good idea at this stage. You can edit mistakes out later, but when you are trying to edit for speed, it is best to get it right the first time around!

Step 4 – Adjust the viewer to accommodate any changes you need to make – don’t click the done button until you are sure. That being said, you can always back-step should you mis-click. You can also just start over with the effect customization if you messed up.

Part 2: How to Zoom in Final Cut Pro Using Keyframing

Now that we know how to open and apply the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro. Let’s examine how we zoom in Final Cut Pro using keyframing. Keyframing, of course, involves basic animation that allows movement to be added to a still frame. So how do you use the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro X in conjunction with keyframing? Let’s talk you through it.

You can use keyframing to zoom and pan. We will talk you through how you use it to zoom in, and you should be able to work out the rest from there.

Step 1 – Set the playhead at the start of the chosen clip. This is where you want the zoom effect to start from.

Step 2 – Click to select the effects menu. It should be at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3 – Seek out the scale and position tools. You can use these to size your animation, decide how much of a zoom you like, and how fast it will go.

Step 4 – Follow keyframe > size > position and ensure your clip is covered as you need it. You can always come back to this step a few times if you don’t get it immediately right.

Step 5 – Set the playhead where you want the clip and animation to end. Remember – if you zoom or pan too fast, you might glitch in your footage. Do it on time for the best results.

As a Pro Tip: you will be baled to view all keyframes on your clip if you select show video animation from your timeline.

The Ken Burns Conclusion

The Ken Burns Effect is famous for a reason. It allows you to fill up space if you don’t have footage for certain things. It can be used to depict ancient battles without the use of CGI.

The Ken Burns Effect, Final Cut Pro (X) technique lets filmmakers go to places that they wouldn’t otherwise get to. It is excellent for both glimpsing into the past, and for flashing forward into imagined futures. Best of all, it lets you go there when you aren’t a big-budget Hollywood film producer. We love anything that saves a buck or two while we edit.

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Those new to the Final Cut Pro or Pro X programs will be finding it a little challenging to add effects or edit videos. It’s a complex film editing software that takes a while to use. With our help, however, we can have you mastering the Ken Burns effect in Final Cut Pro. Do you want to know how to make ken burns effect in final cut pro? Listen closely.

• Part 1: How to Make Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro
• Part 2: How to Zoom in Final Cut Pro Using Keyframing

Part 1: How to Make Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro

To make a Ken Burns Effect, Final Cut Pro X (or a Ken Burns Effect on Final Cut, since they are both extensions of one another) simply follow our guide.

First, let’s talk about what Ken Burns is and why he has an effect named after him in Final Cut programs!

What is the Ken Burns Effect

Ken Burns is a world-famous American documentary filmmaker. He is well known for producing documentaries that take a candid if somewhat old-world-feeling look into different worlds. He has covered Baseball, the Civil War, and other fascinating times and places. Arguably, he is best known for using archival footage as film footage. How does he do this? By using the Ken Burns Effect, of course.

The Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro X allows the editor to zoom in and out, slow pan, and scroll across archive photography and still film. This will enable you to substitute whole parts of the program you are making with photographs if you haven’t taken enough footage. It is commonly used in editing, particularly when making things like wedding videos , which often feature lots of photos of the happy couple.

Anyway, let’s look at how you implement the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro.

Steps to Making the Ken Burns Effect Final Cut Pro

Now that we know what is Ken Burns Effect. Let’s go over the steps to making the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro.

Step 1 – Import your video. From your timeline workspace, select the clip, or highlight the section of the clip, that you want to apply the Ken Burns Effect to.

Step 2 – Enter into the viewer mode to do this. From here, select the pop-up menu from the list of options at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3 – Hold down both the shift key and the letter C. This is the fast way to cut out what you need. You can always stick to the right-click to cut a clip if you are more comfortable with this.

Step 4 – scroll down until you find the Ken Burns Effect option in the control panel. The effect should now appear on your page, in the area you selected.

Ken Burns Customization

You can also customize the ken burns effects in Final Cut.

Step 1 – To transform from the Ken Burns Effect into customization mode, drag the green box in the viewer.

Step 2 – Adjust the green box’s size, shape, and height until you are happy with where it is placed.

Step 3 – Checking what you have already put in place using the preview option is a good idea at this stage. You can edit mistakes out later, but when you are trying to edit for speed, it is best to get it right the first time around!

Step 4 – Adjust the viewer to accommodate any changes you need to make – don’t click the done button until you are sure. That being said, you can always back-step should you mis-click. You can also just start over with the effect customization if you messed up.

Part 2: How to Zoom in Final Cut Pro Using Keyframing

Now that we know how to open and apply the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro. Let’s examine how we zoom in Final Cut Pro using keyframing. Keyframing, of course, involves basic animation that allows movement to be added to a still frame. So how do you use the Ken Burns Effect in Final Cut Pro X in conjunction with keyframing? Let’s talk you through it.

You can use keyframing to zoom and pan. We will talk you through how you use it to zoom in, and you should be able to work out the rest from there.

Step 1 – Set the playhead at the start of the chosen clip. This is where you want the zoom effect to start from.

Step 2 – Click to select the effects menu. It should be at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3 – Seek out the scale and position tools. You can use these to size your animation, decide how much of a zoom you like, and how fast it will go.

Step 4 – Follow keyframe > size > position and ensure your clip is covered as you need it. You can always come back to this step a few times if you don’t get it immediately right.

Step 5 – Set the playhead where you want the clip and animation to end. Remember – if you zoom or pan too fast, you might glitch in your footage. Do it on time for the best results.

As a Pro Tip: you will be baled to view all keyframes on your clip if you select show video animation from your timeline.

The Ken Burns Conclusion

The Ken Burns Effect is famous for a reason. It allows you to fill up space if you don’t have footage for certain things. It can be used to depict ancient battles without the use of CGI.

The Ken Burns Effect, Final Cut Pro (X) technique lets filmmakers go to places that they wouldn’t otherwise get to. It is excellent for both glimpsing into the past, and for flashing forward into imagined futures. Best of all, it lets you go there when you aren’t a big-budget Hollywood film producer. We love anything that saves a buck or two while we edit.

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

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