Whatever you're importing, the new Play Engine automatically identifies interlaced or progressive material, adjusts your settings accordingly, and improves playback performance overall. Version 12 adds a new content manager, enabling you to handle all your Clips, Edits, Bins and Searches from a single interface. Video-editing enthusiasts – along with professionals – will, however, find it’s a powerful tool to add to their armoury, particularly now it’s completely free. The power of the program is indisputable, but despite an attractive front end, it’s not really a tool for the casual user who simply wishes to quickly and easily edit a selection of video footage together. Need to apply some special effects? There’s multicam editing, stereoscopic support, multiple and secondary colour correction alongside effects that can be applied in real-time by utilising the power of your graphics chip.

Lightworks 12 offers a complete set of video-editing tools, including media management and fast, precise trimming. The feature list starts with support for a wide range of containers: ProRes, Avid DNxHD, AVC-Intra, DVCPRO HD, RED R3D, DPX, AVCHD (with AC3 audio), H.264, XDCAM EX / HD 422 and more. Wrong: Lightworks – which ticks all the previous boxes, having been used on films such as Pulp Fiction and Shutter Island – is an open source package, free for anyone to use. (There's a Pro version with extras, but this build provides all the key features you need), But there’d be a hefty price to pay, right? In a perfect world, your software choice would have been associated with films that won major Academy and Emmy Awards. If you really want to make a splash editing movies, you’d ideally use the software that’s espoused by the professionals.

Lightworks video editor download