If you are a content creator who shot visual content for their new project, you might need a handy tool for post-production editing. One such tool is Lightworks, which provides you with the utility of professional-grade video editing. Whether you have to create a high-quality movie trailer or edit your daily vlogs, this video editor is the right choice.
However, if you are new to video editing, read this article till the end to learn everything about the Lightworks video editor and how it works. The article covers a detailed review of the tool's features, pros and cons, and other essential details, along with its alternatives.
Part 1. A Brief Overview of Lightworks Video Editor Software
Introduction and Positioning
Lightworks is a professional-grade video editing platform that provides speed and precision in terms of generating high-quality content. Used in the editing of acclaimed films, it's designed for editors who demand efficiency and creative control. Besides video editing, it also offers precise control over sound and VFX of the video. The tool has an intuitive interface with a universal timeline to process videos of all sizes.
Technical Specifications and Pricing Models
The platform also has a large variety of video codecs, such as ProRes and DNxHD, along with delivery codecs like H.264, which makes it appropriate for high-quality production workflows. It also comes with both free and paid versions, which provide basic editing functions free of charge and offer advanced features for a fee.
Part 2. A Comprehensive Overview of Lightworks Video Editor Features
Lightworks editing software offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to support both creative and technical aspects of video editing. Mentioned below are some of the core features offered by this tool to accelerate your video editing process:
Core Features
- Multi-Track Timeline Editing: The tool offers multi-track timeline editing for complex layering of footage and sound. Users can drag and drop multiple media files within the timeline and perform precise editing.
- Custom User Interface Templates: It offers a customizable workspace where users can create and save interface layouts. You can streamline repetitive tasks and make the editing efficient across the platform.
- Precise Trimming: Lightworks offers precise trimming of video and audio to remove the unwanted segments seamlessly. You can perform multitrack trimming for fast and accurate adjustments.
- Multiple Resolution Exports: From full frame 2K to DCI 8K, Lightworks supports exporting projects in various resolutions. Other than exporting, you can also choose the resolution to playback in order to preview the quality before saving.
- Advanced Color Correction: It offers a lot of color correction options and the user can modify such features as saturation, brightness and gain. These features enable professional grade color correction directly on the editing timeline.
Pricing Plans
| Plans | Pricing |
| Create | $13.99/month |
| Pro | $27.99/month |
Pros & Cons
After reviewing the overview and features of this video editing tool, let's consider some of its advantages and disadvantages. This can assist you in deciding whether Lightworks meets your video editing needs or if you might want to explore other available options:
- It provides a very flexible working environment where the users can design and modify the layout to suit them.
- Lightworks provides redefined audio editing tools for professional-grade sound design without external plug-ins.
- This tool offers export options for platforms like YouTube and other social media directly from the interface.
- Unlike other tools, Lightworks does not add a watermark to the exported videos and its free version.
- Some advanced features require you to avail the pro version of the tool.
- Unlike other video editors, Lightworks does not offer an extensive stock or effect library.
- Users have reported slow and limited output rendering while exporting heavy video files.
Part 4. A Quick Lightworks Tutorial: Discovering All Dynamics
As discussed in this Lightworks review, the tool offers an intuitive interface for performing video editing. Let us explore the steps-by-step guide on how to use this Lightworks to perform editing:
- Press the "Import Clip" button to add the video you want to edit.
- Once imported, drag the video to the editing timeline of Lightworks to proceed.
- Enable the "Video FX" section and choose a feature such as "Colour."
- Access "FX Settings" and adjust the attributes according to your preferences.
- Trim the unwanted part of the video by dragging the end of the video track.
- After editing, press the "Export" option and select the format.
- Click the "Export" button to save the video to your device.
Part 5. Exploring an Alternative: Wondershare Filmora for Creators
Although Lightworks video editor provides a powerful editing experience, its high subscription cost and high learning curve may be too much to handle for a new user. But the editing is simplified with the help of Wondershare Filmora that has a convenient interface and intelligent AI-based tools. This one-stop multimedia editor is the best for the beginners due to the easy user interface.
The tool is a better value for price as it offers an extensive suite of features along with a stock library at minimal cost. Besides powerful video editing functionalities, this tool provides a vast variety of export options, allowing users to save their created content in different formats. You get the ability to save your edited media file as videos, image sequences, Live Photos, and GIFs.
Secure DownloadCoherent Features Offered By Filmora
- Magnetic Editing Timeline: Filmora offers a magnetic editing timeline, making it easier for users to manage and organize multiple media clips efficiently. You can arrange and precisely edit each clip without affecting the entire workflow.
- Multi-Cam Editing: Multi-cam editing utility allows the user to synchronize and switch between multi-camera angle footage in real time. This is an advantage when it comes to podcasts and interviews to make the content more dynamic and professional-looking.
- Extensive Assets Library: From numerous effects and filters to compelling music for background score, Filmora offers an extensive asset library for users to make their content more compelling. It enables you to effortlessly enhance videos with transitions, titles, and sound effects.
- AI Video Enhancer: The one-click auto video enhancer of the tool automatically removes blurs and artifacts from the video, leaving the visuals crisp and clear. You get the ability to export the visual content in 4K quality to achieve high-quality results.
- AI Voice Enhancer: Unlike Lightworks video editing software, users get the ability to automatically enhance the voice clarity in the media imported using advanced AI with Filmora. This feature finely removes unwanted noise from the background and makes the video sound flawless.
- AI Captions: It employs the best AI speech-to-text feature to automatically identify the words that are spoken in your video and convert them into subtitles. The captions are properly synced and can be adjusted as per the preferences.
Pros & Cons
- Users can translate the generated captions for their videos into numerous languages to make the content accessible to a wider audience.
- You obtain the ability to isolate the subject in the video automatically with the help of the AI Portrait Cutout feature.
- It allows you to generate videos and stickers with a text prompt according to your preferences.
- If you have a shaky video with jitter, the AI stabilizer automatically stabilizes the video.
- Advanced motion tracking lets you track any moving element, like text, stickers, or images, in the video.
- In the free version of Filmora, the exported video has a watermark.
Pricing Plans
| Plans | Pricing |
| Basic | $9.99/month |
| Advanced | $34.99/year |
| Perpetual | $49.99/one-time-purchase |
Ratings & Reviews
G2 Ratings:4.5/5
User Reviews
"Fantastic and very easy to use" - Spence
"Excellent tool for creating educational and personal videos" - Cindy P.
Supported Operating Systems
Windows: Windows 7 - Windows 11
macOS: macOS 10.11 and beyond
Making Video Editing Efficient With AI and Filmora
Having discussed all the functionalities of Filmora in detail, let us have a look at the steps on how to edit your videos using the intuitive interface of Wondershare Filmora:
- Begin the process by launching Filmora and clicking on "New Project" from the homepage.
- Next, import the video to the interface by dragging it to the editing timeline.
Secure Download- Place the playhead in the area you want to keep on the video track within the timeline.
- Press the "Scissor" icon located on the playhead and cut the video into segments.
- Now tap on the "Bin" icon to remove the unwanted part of the video.
- Head to the top toolbar of the interface and press the "Effects" option to enable the effects library.
- Select the effect of your choice and press the "+" icon located on the thumbnail to apply it.
- Repeat the procedure by accessing the "Filter" section to apply vibrant filters to the video.
- Access the "Titles" section from the toolbar at the top and select the "AI Captions" from the left side.
- Next, select the language and hit the "Generate" button.
- Customize the captions using the "Text" panel on the right once they are generated.
- Head to the "Video" panel on the right and enable the "AI Tools" section.
- Next, scroll and locate the "AI Video Enhancer" and turn it on.
- Press the "Generate" button to begin the AI enhancement process.
- Isolate a subject or object from a video by accessing the "AI Tools" under the "Video" panel.
- Next, turn the toggle on for "AI Portrait Cutout" to isolate the object efficiently.
- Now choose the effect of your choice and apply it to the isolated subject.
- Click on the "Audio" panel on the right side of the interface.
- Enable AI audio enhancements such as "AI Voice Enhancer" or "Audio Ducking."
- Once you are satisfied with the results, hit the "Export" button to save your edited video to your device.
Part 6. Why Filmora Might Be a Better Fit for Modern Creators?
After learning about both video editors in detail, you might be wondering which one to choose. Here are a few reasons that make Filmora a better fit for your content needs:
| Feature | How is It Better than Lightworks | Status | Note | Link |
| Drag and Drop Functionality | Easy media management with intuitive drag-and-drop interface. | User-friendly editing | ||
| Instant Preview | See edits in real-time without rendering like in Lightworks. | Real-time feedback | ||
| One-click AI Tools | Automate enhancements to save time with smart AI assistance. | Auto-enhancement | ||
| Screen Recording and Voiceover | Built-in tools to capture screen and record voice commentary. | Built-in capture | ||
| AI Audio Ducking | Balances dialogues and background music intelligently. | Smart audio mix | Learn more | |
| Green Screen | Remove and replace background with built-in chroma key feature. | Chroma key | ||
| Beginner-Friendly Tool | Unlike other editors, it offers an intuitive UI for first-time users. | Easy to learn | ||
| Auto Reframe | Automatically adjusts framing for different aspect ratios. | Smart resizing | View | |
| Smart Short Clips | Converts long videos into social-ready short clips. | Quick sharing | ||
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Conclusion
To wrap it up, this article provided a complete review of Lightworks video editor and how it works. The tool offers a set of features to perform precise video editing along with audio enhancements. While Lightworks works best for basic video and editing, it lacks various AI-powered features. This necessity is fulfilled by an advanced video editing tool, Wondershare Filmora, that offers a simpler interface with automated enhancement abilities.
