Best 5 Highlight Video Makers in 2024

Have you wanted to share those unbelievable sports moments but struggled with highlight videos? Fans and coaches alike find it so hard condensing hours of footage into epic highlights. However, you need the best highlight video maker to make stunning videos.

If you use smart tools like Filmora, you can now turn raw videos into shareable highlight reels. No fancy skills are needed thanks to artificial intelligence doing the work.

Whether you are recapping your kid's winning goal or the championship season, these apps simplify highlight video making for anyone. In this article, we will explore the top 5 highlight video makers that create pro-level sports highlights with minimum effort.

Part 1. Why Special Apps Help Make Sports Highlights

Making highlights by hand is tough. It takes many hours to find top clips. You need editing skills to make it look good. It's hard to keep quality consistent. Highlight video makers fix these issues.

Challenges of Manual Highlights

Creating highlights manually has problems. First, it takes so much time. You watch full games to get a few clips. Spending hours for a 2-minute video. Second, it requires talent. Knowing how to edit clips for impact. Third, it affects your consistency. Some clips look good, others don't.

Other issues arise too while using manual methods. You might miss key moments in the rush. Technical stuff like formats is hard. This overwhelms beginners.

Benefits of Highlight Video Apps

Highlight video makers tackle these challenges. They save time finding clips. AI scans footage rapidly for the best moments. This means less searching, and more creating.

These apps also simplify editing with Intuitive tools and templates to guide you. Now beginners can make pro-looking videos. They improve video consistency with auto effects. Transitions and colors are set to stay uniform.

Most importantly, these apps unlock creativity. Syncing to music beats engages viewers. Smart cropping makes highlights work on any platform. The best apps to make highlight videos turn highlights into art.

Part 2. Top Apps for Making Sports Highlights🏃‍♂️ 

Specialized apps are important for making amazing highlight videos. Let's explore the best app to make sports highlight videos for free. Each app has unique strengths for different needs.

1. Wondershare Filmora

Filmora is the best app for making highlight videos. It blends powerful features and easy design. Great for beginners and experienced editors alike.

Core Features to Enhance Highlight Videos

Filmora has many tools to help you create highlight videos, and the ones listed below are just a small portion of them.

1. Smart Scene Cut: Filmora's Smart Scene Cut uses artificial intelligence to scan clips and detect logical breakpoints for cuts. Now, you can breeze through hours of footage in minutes, automatically dividing long videos into usable scenes based on movement, camera changes, and object detection.
2. Auto Beat Sync: Filmora's Auto Montage Maker makes video editing incredibly simple. Just select your clips and music. This innovative tool automatically finds the best parts of your clips, makes timed cuts matched to the music, and adds cool effects timed with the beat. It does the editing work for you with one click, leaving you more time to capture great footage and choose your favorite songs.
3. AI Portrait: This tool uses AI to remove video backgrounds. It finds people in your clips. With one click, it cuts them out from the background. This leaves just the person with no background. You can now place the person on a new background:

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2. InShot

InShot is a good choice for quick and easy highlight videos. It excels at fast editing on mobile devices, making it perfect for social media creators.

Because of its simplicity and speed, InShot stands out. The app is designed for phones to edit highlights right after an event. As a result, the interface is very intuitive for beginners. They can start editing immediately with no learning curve.

Key Features:

• Quick Trim and Cut: This makes paring down footage simple. This allows you to focus on the essential highlights.
• Music Overlay: This feature helps you enhance videos with soundtracks. You can use InShot's library or your tracks.
• Text and Stickers: Used to annotate highlights. For example, you can add player names, scores, or commentary.
• Easy Export and Share: this is straightforward for social media. After making the reel, one-click uploads it.

3. Lumen5: Best for Automated Highlight Video Creation

Lumen5 takes a unique AI approach to video creation. It turns text into engaging videos automatically. Although not designed for highlights, it excels at recap and promotional videos.

Lumen5's main strength is quickly making videos from text. This makes it great for sports marketers or managers. They can easily create recap or hype videos. It uses AI to analyze text, find relevant visuals, and build a video storyline.

Key Features:

• Text to Video: One of the core features of Lumen5 is that it converts text into video automatically. You just have to provide the written content and allow it to the magic.
• Media Library: Lumen5 has a vast media library. This includes stock photos, videos, and music to supplement the text.
• Brand Kit: This maintains consistent branding in your videos.
• AI Scene Creation: This feature suggests transitions and layouts. This saves time compared to manual editing.

4. Adobe Premiere Rush: Best for Professional-Quality Highlights

Adobe Premiere Rush blends mobile ease with pro editing power. It brings streamlined Premiere Pro tools to phones and desktops, making it great for quality highlights with advanced control.

Key Features:

• Real multi-track timeline: Adobe Premiere Rush is cool, easy to use, and navigate. The timeline offers real-time updates of changes made to edits, going beyond what simpler apps provide for editing.
• Auto-ducking: This feature automatically adjusts the music volume for commentary, saving you the stress of having to adjust volume levels at times.
• Customizable Templates: Motion graphics templates provide professional titles and graphics.
• Color presets: These quickly give highlights a consistent style and tone.

5. KineMaster: Best for Mobile Sports Highlights

KineMaster is a top choice for free mobile sports highlight videos. It stands out for multi-layer editing on mobile. You can combine clips, add overlays, insert text, and mix audio. For sports fans and video hobbyists, this unlocks new possibilities on the go.

Key Features

• Cutting Tools: KineMaster has precise cutting tools. You can trim clips down to single frames. It also offers a chroma key to remove backgrounds. This isolates players or adds custom backdrops.
• Speed Control: It helps you create incredible slow-motion or fast-forward effects.
• Audio mixer: The audio mixer balances commentary, crowd noise, and music.

To help you choose the right tool for your needs, let's compare these top 5 highlight video makers:

✓✓✓ = Excellent, ✓✓ = Good, ✓ = Fair, ✗ = Poor/None

Part 3. Step-by-Step Guide: Creating a Highlight Video with Filmora🏀 

Let's walk through making a video on the best app to make sports highlight videos for free. We'll focus on Filmora's Smart Scene Cut tool to save editing time.

Overview of Filmora

Filmora is made for video creators. Its simple drag-and-drop interface is easy to use. But it packs advanced tools, too. The AI smarts automate editing tasks. This frees you to focus on storytelling. Filmora's AI shines with sports footage. It can pinpoint the most exciting moments. Here's how to make highlight videos:

Step 1. Open Filmora and click on "New Project." Name it and pick an aspect ratio.

Step 2. Click on "Import" to add the video to Filmora's media library.

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Step 3. Right-click the video and select "Smart Scene Cut".

Step 4. Click on "Create" for the video to be uploaded to Filmora's smart scene tool

Step 5. Wait for Filmora to upload and analyze the video once the upload is complete.

Step 6. Review the short AI-picked clips. Select the clips to include.

• Highlight Scene: Filmora scans all your game clips. It finds exciting plays like goals, catches, and big hits and marks these great moments. You pick the best highlights to make a reel.
• Character Scene: Filmora tracks key players across videos. It pulls together their best clips to easily make players highlight reels.
• Custom Object: Choose what to track - a ball, player, anything. Filmora will mark clips focused on that object.

Step 7. Click "Add to Timeline" to insert selections.

Step 8. Polish Your Highlights. Reorder clips for ideal flow, Trim clips precisely for timing. Add transitions between clips. Insert text like scores or commentary. Apply effects like slow motion.

Use an "Audio mixer" to lower the music for key moments.

Step 9. Click "Export" and choose format and quality.

Part 4. How To Choose the Right Highlight Video Maker for You

Picking the best highlight video maker depends on your situation, skills, and goals. Let's look at key factors to consider.

A. Budget:

Cost is a crucial factor to consider when choosing a highlight video maker. When the subscription cost is high, users may not find it accessible. Here's how the apps compare;

• Free options: InShot has a free version with watermarks. KineMaster offers limited tools and watermarks for free. However, Filmora, Lumen5, and Premiere offer free trials.
• Affordable paid options: Filmora's $49.99/year plan provides great value. Lumen5 starts at $15/month for small teams. However, the difference in exchange rates in different regions may affect the subscription rate of these tools.
• Premium options: Premiere Rush requires an Adobe subscription. KineMaster premium is $4.99/month.

For frequent use, a paid app can save time and improve quality.

B. Skill Level

Always consider your experience;

• For Beginners: InShot and Lumen5 are easy to learn and use.
• For Intermediate: Filmora balances power and ease of use. KineMaster also has advanced tools without complexity.
• For Advanced: Premiere Rush enables professional editing. Filmora efficiently serves experienced editors.

C. Required Features:

Think about the tools you need;

1. AI editing: Filmora's Smart Scene Cut and Auto Beat Sync are game-changers. Lumen5 turns recaps into videos with AI.

2. Mobile workflow: InShot and KineMaster enable on-the-go editing. While Premiere Rush transitions between mobile and desktop.

3. Multi-layer editing: Filmora, Premiere Rush and KineMaster allow complex projects.

4. Sports tools: Filmora's motion tracking follows players. KineMaster has great slow-motion controls.

When choosing tools to make the best highlight video for your craft, go for tools that function as an all-in-one pack. Filmora is one such tools that supports multiple functions and features. You should give it a trial.

Part 5. Advanced Tips for Creating Engaging Sports Highlight Videos for Free

Let's explore advanced techniques to take your video highlights to the next level. These tips will make your videos more dynamic and exciting. Getting the rhythm right engages viewers.

Best Practices for Pacing and Timing

• Start with your most exciting clip to hook people.
• Arrange clips to build drama throughout.
• Keep videos tight, around 2-3 minutes.
• Use different clip lengths
• End with a bang. Save an impressive moment for the finale.

How To Enhance Videos with Effects and Transitions

• Use subtle transitions between clips. Try smooth dissolves instead of jarring cuts.
• Add dramatic slow motion for key moments. Don't overuse it.
• Include simple graphics for context. Display scores, stats, player names, etc.
• Experiment with split screens. Show multiple angles of a play.
• Apply color grading for a consistent look. Use color to set the mood.

Incorporate Sound and Music

• Choose music that matches the video energy.
• Keep original sounds for authenticity.
• Use sound effects sparingly. Highlight big moments.
• Include exciting commentary if available.
• Create audio cues. Sync key moments to music beats.

Conclusion

The best highlight video makers like Filmora, InShot, and KineMaster make creating engaging sports highlights simple. With smart AI tools, easy interfaces, and robust mobile editing, these apps cater to different needs. For most users, I recommend Filmora for its unmatched blend of power and simplicity. Filmora enables anyone to craft professional-looking highlights packed with excitement. Whether you're a beginner or expert, Filmora's versatile creative features help capture the emotion of sports moments that fans will love. So, try Filmora to start making shareable highlight reels today.

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