Free video editing software can be a mixed bag. The tools are often maddeningly simple. Others see more advanced features, read: useful, locked behind subscription packages.
ACDSee's Luxea Video Editor bucks this trend. This comprehensive free (Opens in a new tab) video editing software for Windows contains many professional tools available to both free users and paid subscribers.
ACDSee Luxea Video Editor: prices
- Free, with optional subscription or lifetime license
- ACDSee Luxea subscription options:
- ACDSee Luxea for €29.99 per year (opens in a new tab)
Luxea is a free downloadable video editor: no watermarks, no locked features, you don't even have to sign up until it's time to export your footage. However, the problem is that your exported videos will have a branded intro and outro.
To eliminate this, you can choose to purchase an annual subscription (€29.99/€26.99) or a lifetime license (€79.99/€69.99).
Like Adobe's All Creative Cloud Apps plan (Opens in a new tab), ACDSee also offers a Home plan ($89/€77.99 per year), which includes the software with photo editors (Opens in a new tab). new) for Windows and Mac, 100 GB of cloud storage, and a video converter (opens in a new tab).
ACDSee Luxea Video Editor: interface and experience
- Easy to use, easy to navigate
A traditional interface greets you when Luxea is launched. At the bottom of the screen, a timeline, with the viewer at the top. On the left you will find a selection of tools. Everything is at your fingertips, making navigation a breeze, even if you've never used a video editor before.
Using Luxea is just as easy. Trimming clips involves dragging each end of a clip to the correct position. Most other tasks are done by dragging and dropping the selected tool onto the timeline (or clips you've placed on the timeline). At this point, colored boxes highlight places where tools can be dropped, for greater ease of use. More detailed actions can be performed through the context menu.
Overall, our tests revealed a more advanced editing program than Canva Video (opens in a new tab) or Adobe Express Video Editor (opens in a new tab); Less complex than a Hollywood standard like Adobe Premiere Pro (Opens in a new tab) or DaVinci Resolve (Opens in a new tab).
- Interface and experience: 4/5
ACDSee Luxea Video Editor: Editing
- Classic mounting, simply done
When it comes to mounting, Luxea isn't reinventing the wheel. If you're thoroughly familiar with the editing process, you'll feel right at home here. And if you're new to the art, it's relatively easy to get started.
All the basics of editing are present and correct, based on the timeline, and we were pleased to find that the video editor offers plenty of keyboard shortcuts for a more efficient workflow.
After importing your media, drag and drop it onto the timeline. Everything falls into place, as it should. However, we ran into a slight bug at the setup stage. We couldn't find a way to import directly from our cloud storage (opens in a new tab); you will need your storage application to be assigned to your desktop.
Once opened in the viewer, you have the ability to resize and reorient the media. Useful if you want picture-in-picture mode or want to draw attention to other areas of the screen. And as easy as resizing an image in any drawing software (opens in a new tab).
Right-clicking on clips gives you several options, such as separating the audio tracks from the video tracks, or removing the audio altogether.
But for better control of your output, open the Properties panel. Here you can change the blending mode (if you're familiar with Adobe Photoshop (opens in a new tab), you'll be right here), rotate clips, change the opacity, or one of the Behaviors associated with clips.
It may not be advanced enough for professional users, but Luxea contains most of the tools most editors will need most of the time.
ACDSee Luxea Video Editor: tools and visual effects
- Complete toolkit for prosumers
The toolbox, located on the left of the screen, is, at first glance, deceptively small. But click on each one and you'll find related tools for adding text, narration, and filters to your footage. Fine-tuning effects occur in the Properties panel.
You are also given an element of control over the sound. Luxea is not a full audio editor (opens in a new tab), but after adding a track to the timeline, right-click to adjust clip speed and add audio points to adjust volume during specific parts of your video.
But these are comparable to course editing tools. Although they are managed perfectly at Luxea, in most cases they are something natural.
And that's where Luxea introduces some tasty extras.
For starters, ACDSee offers content packs. These are free downloadable libraries of royalty-free stock images (opens in a new tab) and sound effects (opens in a new tab), themed around events and themes like "wedding," "holidays," and " business".
Then there's the ubiquitous Free Screen Recorder (opens in a new tab), which also downloads to your desktop as a standalone app. In the upper left corner of Luxea is the Save button. Tapping it opens a smart dialog to select the area of the screen to capture.
Luxea also integrates a handful of VFX software tools (opens in a new tab), including Green Screen. Under Advanced Effects, you will find Chroma Key, Color LUT, Clip Speed, Color Step, Replace Color.
Once added to your clip, these can also be adjusted via the Properties panel. For example, when replacing one color with another, you can select the target and replacement color via a simple dropdown menu or by using the color picker to enter the exact match for your footage.
It's another example of ACDSee taking a relatively high level task and making it ridiculously easy. It may not be After Effects-level special effects (opens in a new tab), but it's a welcome addition to a free video editor.
But while Luxea presents one of the best alternatives to Adobe Premiere Pro (opens in a new tab), it doesn't offer the granular and powerful control of Adobe's video editing program.
In this sense, it is more on a par with Premiere Elements (opens in a new tab): a video editor for consumers, prosumers. and small businesses that want to add a serious professional touch to their content. It's gotten some extra love lately too, adding additional color LUTs, subtitles, and more.
ACDSee Luxea Video Editor: Export
- Produce for specific social devices
To turn your edit into a full-length video, tap Produce & Share – an easy-to-use version of the usual export call-to-action. This is where you'll need to sign up for a free ACDSee account or upgrade to a subscription plan. And we liked the fact that we didn't have to hand over any personal information (or payment cards) until now.
Luxea exports files in MP4, Mov, M4V, WebM, GIF and MP3 formats. It's not a huge list, but you do have the option to adjust the resolution and frame rate of the video.
To speed up the process, there are predefined export options: Normal, Better and Better.
If you are creating content to display on a specific device, you can select the predefined template from the list of devices. You can also create your own templates for next time. Finally, you can immediately share your work on YouTube and Vimeo.
When it comes to production, free video editing software isn't super fast, but even when trying to produce a short video on a mid-spec laptop, the machine didn't push its limits.
ACDSee Luxea Video Editor: Dashboard
PriceFree with subscription plan and lifetime license available4Interface and experienceEasy to use, easy to navigate4EditingTraditional non-linear editing software4Tools and VFXWorks with most tools most editors will need, limited VFX4ExportEasy to produce for specific devices or to share on YouTube4I should buy?
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