• Speed Ramping Functionality
• Motion Editing Features
• Colour Grading & Colour Correction
• Cut & Split
• Transitions
• Effects
• Audio
• Text
VideoProc Vlogger is an incredible piece of video editing software that was released around five years ago by Digiarty Software. The fact that it has been installed well over four million times from 180 different countries tells you how popular this app really is.
The appeal is twofold. The first is how easy it is to use. Creating video edits is simple, streamlined and intuitive, making it perfect for both amateurs and pros. The second is how powerful the features are, especially adding camera movements and speed changes. Digiarty has managed to create something simple yet incredibly powerful, which is no easy feat.
As an avid Premiere Pro user I decided to give Vlogger a spin to see if it could achieve everything I do in my much more expensive paid alternative. Would VideoProc Vlogger stand up to not just the best free video-editing software or the best video-editing software for YouTube, but give some of the best video-editing software overall a run for its money? Well.
User experience
Vlogger is one of the easiest pieces of video editing software that I’ve ever had the privilege of using. Both amateur and professional users would have little trouble picking this application up.
The interface is well laid out with clear icons and text descriptions. The main features each take you into a separate interface which really helps to not overwhelm the user with too many controls. Menu rollouts can be expanded and reduced to further simplify the overall layout. Vlogger does a few things very well and this helps to ensure that the overall interface remains clutter free and easy to use.
Features
The feature set is where Vlogger really shines. Various video editors, for a long time, have had presets that users can drag and drop onto footage but these are often very simplistic and not suited to production and cinematic quality results. In Vlogger, you’ll find all the standard editing tools that you would expect such as importing and exporting footage, trimming tools, text titles and audio tools, but you’ll also get – for free – access to cinema camera movement effects, speed-ramping functionality and great quality colour-grading tools. Let’s take a look at each of these.
1. Camera movements
This is the feature set that I am most impressed by. I was expecting a set of simple zooms and pans so was pleasantly surprised to see a much more advanced set of movements including tilts, rolls, and trucks. It’s really easy to apply these to a video clip but where these really step up to the next level is in their editability. After adding an effect, users can then make adjustments to each of the keyframes in the effect. For example, in Zoom Rotate each of the three keyframes can be edited with the ability to fine-tune scale, rotation and timings. This level of customisation enables editors to get exactly the looks they want.
Multiple motion effects can be applied to a single clip and I would say this is where things can get a little disorganised and confusing. Because they are built on keyframe technology, editors can quickly find keyframes from two different effects overlapping each other, making it difficult to tell what is contributing to the motion at a particular point in time.
2. Control speed
Many cameras and phones can now shoot at high frame rates per second enabling footage to be slowed right down. These beautiful slow-mo shots used to require complex software to control them but that’s not the case with Vlogger. The Speed tools are as intuitive and simple to use as the Movement tools which means retiming footage is a breeze. Keyframes and timings can be adjusted with keyframe curves providing an additional level of customisation.
3. Colour grading & colour correction
Alongside the Movement and Speed features, there are also advanced colour grading tools. A variety of presets can be added to clips with the added ability to import your own LUT files for an even more powerful workflow. This is all possible, even on 4K footage and HDR photos.
Price
VideoProc Vlogger is Freeware.
Should I buy VideoProc Vlogger?
It’s hard to find anything wrong with VideoProc Vlogger. The fact that it has such an extensive toolset and at the same time is completely free will make it very appealing to a wide audience. Sure, Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro include a more extensive set of tools and functionality, but you do have to pay for them. Da Vinci Resolve is free, like Vlogger, and includes a similar set of tools. Admittedly, Resolve has more advanced colour-grading capabilities, but if you’re happy with making a few basic edits then Vlogger is perfect, and undoubtedly among the best free video-editing software available now.
