Video editing software for absolute beginners

It’s not too often I can say this, but when the folks at MAGIX called their video editor MAGIX Video easy, they weren’t exaggerating.

MAGIX Video easy is completely conceived for the video editing newbie, people with little computer experience and even children. It’s not that it’s childish or even particularly basic, but it has been designed with simplicity and ease in mind. When you first install the program, you are offered an introductory video that gives you an overview of how it works. MAGIX Video easy also comes with extensive help files and online support, something that’s always appreciated by those new to a subject.

The interface itself is very simple and by simply watching the intro video you should have a good idea of how it works. You add your videos (analog or digital), images and any music you want and use the intuitive tools to modify them, cutting and moving, changing order and adding effects and transitions. When you are happy with your MAGIX Video easy video, you hit ‘Finish movie’ and save your creation.

Among MAGIX Video easy’s strongest points is its variety of save formats. You can save the end video to your computer as normal, upload it to YouTube, burn it to DVD or send it to a MAGIX online album (although registration is required for this). Among its worst points, however, is the lack of formats that the program accepts – MAGIX Video easy had problems recognizing a large number of my video files in various common formats. In addition, it can only save files to the computer in .WMP format, which in my book is a pretty major limitation.

MAGIX Video easy is a great option for beginners, as long as the format restrictions don’t affect you.