Australian company Blackmagic Design offers their video editing application DaVinci Resolve for a wide range of high quality ultra HD effects, render queue, and video uploading options among other features.
$0
Free
VideoScribe
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
British company Sparkol offers VideoScribe, a video editing application supporting whiteboard style animations and presentations.
DaVinci Resolve is perfect for any video editing needs. It provides a lot of tools to control images, logos, text, transitions, as well as any other imported media that has been dragged to the timeline. It lets you create deliverables of very good quality and control every single detail from setup to final video export. It might not be the best option for a quick, simple video edit if the user does not how to use it because it will take a while to get on board on how to use it, even for simple edits.
If you need to spice up your presentations but don't have the money/budget/team for full video production or animation, this software is for you. In skilled hands it can also look as good if not better than productions that would cost 5-6x more, including turnaround time. I think the basics of video still apply here, you want to have a story, a narrative, some storyboarding and an idea of where you want to go, but the tools this software provides will help you achieve that (and edit it later) quickly and efficiently
Resolve isn't extremely difficult to learn, at least from a UI perspective. I've found learning the node system isn't a steep learning curve. Users who can visualize how they want a grade or match to look can find their way around the software and use simple tools to get close to their result. People can do this without a lot of experience with the software.
Resolve provides extremely complex color grading opportunities, depending on how deeply you wish to use the software. One can fine tune an image, or use a plethora of masks, camera tracking, effects, and small tweaks to get images precisely where they want. It's a versatile software with so many options for every color grading scenario.
Resolve is free to use. I'm not too familiar with the NLE function of the program, but as a free software, one can accomplish a lot of work without needing to pay. Noise reduction can be a critical element of Resolve, so in that case, you'll need to purchase the full version to utilize the software to its fullest.
Resolve is popular enough that the internet provides many resources, forums, and tutorial videos to better learn the software. This is a big deal for helping to navigate Resolve's capabilities.
It's fast and customizable! You can import your own vector graphics and PNGs to utilize or take advantage of their huge library of resources, from graphics to icons and sound
You don't have to have a background in animation or graphics (though it doesn't hurt) to utilize the program, really expanding who in your company can take advantage of it
The support and resource documentation is amazing. From multiple series of videos to text-based help and I believe if i remember correctly even emails when I first signed up, it's hard to feel frustrated or lost with how to start with all the support available
Some of the vector rendering for imported pieces could still use work, I've discovered a workaround for adding a stroke to images to help smooth the edge but this can be tiring
The PNG rendering often seems to be under a super heavy compression and can pixellate even higher-res images that are brought in. I utilize almost exclusively custom created graphics to use in this program so seeing that fixed would be great
It would be nice if there was a super-basic audio editor in the program, even something that didn't do much but let you edit the start and end of clips
Da Vinci Resolve is up there amongst the big, professional video editing packages like Apple's FinalCutPro and Adobe Premier Pro. To just be included in this league, the package needs to have a plethora of features that the common man does not need. In essence, this overwhelming amount of features makes the product tricky to learn, but once you have the hang of it, it is a dream.
Not only do they have classes available in Los Angeles, but they'll also allow you to work from home with the manual and demo materials, and then let you test out to get a certification. They get back to you quickly when you email, and they've got a "family" approach to customer service, they make you feel like you're important to them.
I learned so much from this instructional exercise, and I appreciated how the educator is an expert all-day colorist. The section on sound reduction was particularly instructive. I noticed a few inconsistencies between certain methodologies in this instructional exercise and approaches suggested in the Advanced Color Grading in Resolve 15 instructional exercise (e.g., where to place sound reduction in the hub tree), but this is to be expected given that there is no one right way to do any of this. I also learned a lot about Resolve's "Restoration" modules for working with authentic film. This instructional exercise will come up again and again in my work.
Every video or graphics program has its own purposes, VideoScribe is very specifically for taking images, moving them around with nice visual transitions and having something come together quickly. I've also used it to animate infographics in far less than half the time it would have taken me in Premiere. It definitely has serious limits in the type of animation you can do, which is important to be aware of, but if that works within the framework and scope of your budget, then it's incredible.
Remember - the only limits to how sophisticated you can make this look are how creative you are, to begin with. I did things with this program I don't think I'd seen in any of their samples, simply because I have a background in it all and had a new set of tools to play with.
Davinci Resolve allows us to make quick edits and improve the sound on our company webinars and demo videos. This adds a lot of polish, and since we can do it in-house, it's cheaper and allows us to post and share those videos quickly.
We've used the software for some flashier marketing videos, and that does drive some positive attention and business our way. Most of that higher-level work is handled by outside agencies, but the fact that we can do some of it in-house saved us money.
Won over $300k+ in new biz by changing from an old PowerPoint deck to a short (4-5 min) video and reframing how we shared the information
Modified the same deck to be shown at annual conventions as a less "pitch" and more "informational" way of educating the audience, and never saw as many people visiting our booth for information. Likely could attribute additional new biz leads to this effort as well
Got to save a LOT of money in the time and production of the deck which was then able to be utilized instead on other things to make future decks better, like a new microphone and better monitors. Seriously I can't believe how inexpensive this program is
