When ready to take the next step and go professional, Adobe Premiere Pro will be a great investment. We encouraged you to begin your editing journey with iMovie, see how the software performs for the videos you wish to create, and go from there. Diving into the deep end with Adobe Premiere Pro without considering just what you need in terms of software can result in you paying out for functionality available in iMovie. Start small, aim highĪs a free application direct from Apple with the most basic of functionality, iMovie is a no-brainer if you're just starting out. You get the familiar timeline feature where you can easily drag and drop files, cut and paste clips together, and make a quick video or few, but in order to really dive into multi-channel editing with better format support, as well as integration with other design apps, you're going to want to consider Premiere Pro, part of the Creative Cloud suite of apps. iMovie, however, is a great place to start, especially if you're not certain what you need in terms of video editing features or even what you're doing. It's not meant to be as powerful, nor will it allow you to create content that matches the quality possible with Premiere Pro (Apple's own Final Cut Pro is the company's competitor for matching Adobe's offering). IMovie is not competing against Adobe Premiere Pro. IMove is a great place to start, while Premiere Pro is for professionals and enthusiasts. The software is well built, runs well, and offers all the advanced features you'd expect from a tool that costs you a monthly subscription. Adobe has been working on Premiere Pro for a decade and it shows.

iMovie just doesn't compare, but it's also available at no additional cost after picking up a new Mac and is incredibly easy to learn.Īdobe Premiere Pro is the company's flagship video editing software, used by numerous professionals and enthusiasts. Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple iMovie are similar in design but different in available performance.Īdobe Premiere Pro is the more powerful suite of video editing tools, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise considering it's the only commercial option here. Not everyone will need to purchase and use Premiere Pro (and not everybody will have the skill), but free options like iMovie may not have all the features and format support required. Battle of the video editorsĬhoosing video editing software to use depends on what you need to do. When you fancy diving into the deep end and making some serious videos with effects, export to various formats, and use cool transitions, you'll want to check out Adobe Premiere Pro.

For the absolute basic video editing - when you only want to stitch together a few clips - iMovie is more than enough in most cases.

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