What follows is a list of some of the best video editing softwares, most of which are open source that students studying film can use to edit their videos.

How to choose the best video editor

Which educational software is the best for students? Before we continue, you need to answer these four questions;

What is the purpose of your video and where are you planning to use it? If you have created a video for the purpose of sharing on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or classwork slideshows, then there is no need to install a professional video editing software like Adobe Premier, Avid Media Composer or Final Cut Pro.

What are your laptop or computer specifications? If you are using a computer with Pentium processor, or Windows XP Operating system (OS) or Low ram and No Graphic Card then you need a low memory consuming video editing software

What is the format of your video? There are different video formats depending on the sophistication of the camera. Be sure to find out which video format your camera records and whether the format is compatible with your video editing software. Video formats include;

• 3g2
• 3gp
• 3gp2
• 3gpp
• 3gpp2
• asf
• AVI
• f4a
• f4b
• f4v
• flv
• GXF
• HDV
• LXF
• m4a
•  m4b
• m4r
• m4v
• mov
• mp4
• MPEG-2 PS, MPEG-2 TS
• MPEG-TS (ts)
• MXF (OP1a, OP-Atom)
• Oga
• Ogg
• Ogv
• ogx
• QuickTime
• VOB
• WAV
• webm
• wma
• wmv

List of free video editing softwares for campus students

 If you are a student pursuing a Film course, then video editing is an important part of the course. There are many video editing softwares available, therefore we are going to focus on free video editing softwares that can meet the following classwork needs;

• Cutting a video
• Breaking a video clip into multiple clips
• Sequencing Video clips
• Adding titles, Captions, and Images to imported videos
• Adding Audios or voice overs to videos
• Upload videos to YouTube and Vimeo
• Render Videos

Blender for 3d Creation

Blender is available for all operating systems. Requires some training to understand how to use it.

Editing features

• Animation tools
• Modelling tools
• File compression
• Node based material

Openshot Video Editor (Windows, Mac and Linux)

OpenShot is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. It is simple and quick to learn unlike blender.

Editing features

• 3D animation effects
• Drag and drop
• Clip resizing, rotation, trimming and snapping
• Curve based key frame animations
• Image support
• Audio support
• Real-time previews
• Audio mixing and many more.

Videopad Video Editor

VideoPad is available for both Windows and Mac.

Editing features.

• 3D video editing
• DVD burning
• video stabilization
• effects and transitions
• color control
• drag-and-drop
• importing and exporting files to YouTube
• text and caption overlay

Freemake Video Converter

Freemake Video Converter is only available for Windows.

Editing features.

• Video Merging
• Adding and removing audio
• Clipping sections of a video
• Adding subtitles
• DVD burning
• File conversion to various formats

VirtualDub for video capture, processing

VirtualDub Only available for Windows.

Editing features

• Batch processing
• Video splitting
• Adding and removing audio
• File compression

Davinci Resolve

Davinci Resolve is one of the best free video editing softwares that you will ever find. It can handle big video editing projects and competes with paid editing softwares like Adope Premier Pro.

It comes with more features which means you need a machine which  has a ram of not less than 8GB ram.

Resolve is ideal for both seasoned professional and beginners. You can find  video tutorials on how to use it on Youtube.