5 Best 4K Video Editing Software for Windows and Mac

Many cameras support shooting videos in 4K. Wondering how to edit these 4K videos on your computer? What is the best 4K video editing software? In this post, I’ve picked out the 5 best 4K video editors for Windows and Mac and the top 5 websites to download 4K stock footage.

If you can’t play 4K videos smoothly on your computer, you can try another 4K player or downscale 4K to 1080p with MiniTool MovieMaker. The last part will explain it in detail.

Best 4K Video Editors for Windows and Mac

This part will explain the features of these 4K video editors in detail. Continue to read this post to learn more.

#1. Shotcut

Shotcut is one of the few free and open-source video editors supporting 4K import and output. It supports a wide variety of video and audio formats based on the FFmpeg library. The sleek and intuitive interface makes it easier for users to edit their 4K video files. Moreover, this 4K video editing software lets you do color correction, apply filters to videos, and more.

Features:

• Support hundreds of video & audio formats
• Support resolutions up to 4K
• Offer basic and advanced editing features
• Screen, webcam and audio capture
• Network stream playback (HTTP, HLS, RTMP, RTSP, MMS, UDP)
• Control video and audio playback speed
• Reverse video and audio files
• Can run as a portable app on an external drive

#2. VSDC Video Editor

VSDC Video Editor has a free and pro version. Both of them can process 4K video files. But the pro version provides more features like video stabilization, hardware acceleration, audio waveform and more advanced settings for sub-pixel resolution, mask tool, chroma key, voice over, etc.

For beginners, the free version is enough to edit your 4K files.

Features:

• Support all commonly-used video, audio and image formats
• 4K and HD export
• Export to social platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Vimeo without hassles.
• Add visual and audio effects to videos
• Make videos compatible with the most popular multimedia devices
• Create different masks for blurring, hiding or highlighting certain parts of a video
• Burn 4K videos to optical discs
• Convert video files from one format to another

#3. iMovie

If you are a Mac user, you can edit your 4K videos with the built-in video editor – iMovie. It’s a free 4K video editor available for Mac, iPhone and iPad. It allows you to add special effects like split-screen, picture-in-picture and green effects. iMovie is simple to use but comes with all needed editing features like cropping, splitting, cutting, reversing, and more.

Features:

• Import and export 4K videos at 60 frames per second
• Stabilize shaky videos
• Offer creative video filters, smart soundtracks and sound effects
• Replace video background using green screen effect
• Wirelessly transfer files from iPhone or iPad to Mac
• Publish videos directly to YouTube in 4K resolution

You may also like: iMovie for Windows – Top 6 iMovie Alternatives You Can Try

#4. Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is a non-linear 4K video editor for macOS. It’s stable, fast, and has auto-save and backup features. Final Cut Pro’s Magnetic Timeline is designed to adjust clips to fit around clips that you drag into place, which greatly saves your time. Compared to other professional-level video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro is much cheaper. It is one-time payment and only costs $299.99.

Features:

• Automatically save all the changes you make during 4K video editing
• Support editing 360° videos in any popular format
• Offer fast exporting speed and excellent real-time playback performance
• Support for third-party FxPlug plug-ins
• Tons of animated 2D and 3D titles, transitions, and effects
• Upload videos directly to YouTube, Facebook and other social platforms

You might be interested in this post: Final Cut Pro VS Premiere – Which One is Better?

#5. Davinci Resolve 17

Davinci Resolve is a professional color correction and video editing software for Windows, macOS and Linux. It has a free version and a commercial version. It’s widely used for post-production and supports almost all video and audio formats. It’s powerful and multifunctional, supporting video editing, color correction, 3D compositing, digital audio workstation and third-party plug-ins.

Features:

• Upscale 1080p videos to 4K
• Packed with professional editing tools
• Offer HDR grading tools and AI-based magic mask
• Support 2,000 audio tracks
• Support Multicam editing
• Offer plug-ins for creating video collages, motion trails, 3D keyer, HSL keyer, noise reduction, and so on.

#6. Movavi Video Editor

A video editor by Movavi is a powerful and easy-to-use 4K video editing software for Windows and Mac users. It comes with hundreds of drag and drop transitions, effects, filters, and titles. In addition, there are many advanced features like automatic color correction, motion tracking, voice-over, audio editing, and much more. You can test out the editor during a 7-day free trial and then purchase a 1-year subscription for $54.95 or a lifetime license for $74.95.

Features:

• AI-based upscaling, background removal, and noise reduction
• Built-in library of intros, sample videos, background music, and sound effects
• Support popular video and audio formats
• SuperSpeed mode for fast conversion and editing
• Direct export to YouTube, Vimeo, and Google Drive

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Top 5 Free 4K Stock Footage Websites

After learning about the above-mentioned 4K video editors, you may want to create a 4K video. When it comes to video editing, using relevant stock videos is important, which makes your video more smoothly and naturally. Where to download free 4K stock footage?

Here are the top 5 free 4K stock footage websites where you can download and use them for free.

#1. Pexels

Pexels is my favorite stock footage website where you can find free stock videos and photos. All photos and videos on Pexels are free to download and use without attributions. You can edit videos and photos as you like. No sign-up is required!

To find the needed 4K stock footage, just enter the keyword in the search bar and hit the Enter key. Next, choose Videos, tap on Size below Join and select 4K. Now, browse these 4K videos. When you find the wanted video, click on Video to open it and click the Free Download button to save the video in 4K resolution.

#2. Pixabay

Pixabay, one of the biggest stock footage websites, hosts over 2.3 million high-quality videos, images and music. Like Pexels, you can download 4K footage from Pixabay without limitations.

Open the Pixabay website, click the down arrow icon on the search bar, choose Videos from the drop-down list, type the keyword and press the Enter key. Then tap on Resolution and select 4K (2160p). Choose the category you want to narrow the results. After that, you can save the 4K video you need from this website.

#3. Videvo

Videvo is another popular stock footage website with thousands of free 4K stock footage, motion graphics, sound effects and music tracks. However, some 4K stock videos are not free.

Go to the Videvo website and search for 4K videos. Find the Filter button and click on it. On the Filter window, check the 4K option. Under the Clip Type, uncheck Premium clips and Editorial clips as needed. Then download your favorite 4K stock videos.

#4. Videezy

Videezy offers you free HD & 4K stock videos, stock photos, After Effects templates and free vectors. It lets you browse stock footage by category like Sky, Water, Nature, Travel, etc. Some 4K stock footage can only be used for personal use and some require attribution.

To search for free 4K stock videos on Videezy, go to the left panel and check the options: Stock Video, Standard, Creative Commons, Editorials Use Only, and 4K. Now save the 4K video you want to use.

#5. YouTube

The last place to find free 4K stock footage is YouTube. As the biggest video-sharing website, YouTube owns numerous royalty-free stock videos and music videos. Just enter “4K stock video” in the search box and you will get the matching results. Find the one you like, and download it to your device.

If you are not a premium member, you can use a third-party YouTube downloader like MiniTool Video Converter. It can download YouTube videos in MP4, WEBM, MP4 and WAV formats. Go to its official website, download and install this free YouTube downloader.

Want to know more free stock footage sites? Check out this post: Top 15 Websites to Download Free Stock Footage with No Watermark

How to Fix 4K Videos Not Playing Smoothly on Windows/Mac

Can’t play 4K videos on Windows/Mac? 4K videos are choppy/lagging on VLC? How to play 4K videos smoothly on your computer? This part will offer you two solutions to fix the 4K videos not play smoothly issue.

Try Another 4K player

The first solution to solve this 4K choppy problem is using another 4K video player. Here recommend KMPlayer. It supports HD playback including 4K, 8K, and Ultra HD. It also supports 3D video playback. This video player can control the video playback speed, record video and audio, and take a picture from a video.

Downscale 4K videos to 1080p

The second solution is using a 4K video converter to downscale 4K to 1080p. Here recommend MiniTool MovieMaker. It’s a free video editor and converter. As a video editor, you can edit videos by rotating, splitting, trimming, merging, reversing, speeding up, slowing down, applying filters, zooming in/out and so on.

Besides that, this software supports converting formats from one to another and changing video resolutions like 4K to 1080p and 4K to 720p.

Here’s how to downscale 4K to 1080p with MiniTool MovieMaker.

Step 1. Download and install MiniTool MovieMaker. Launch this software after completing the installation.

MiniTool MovieMakerClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 2. Shut down the popup window to access the main UI and import the 4K video you want to downscale by clicking on Import Media Files.

Step 3. Drag and drop the 4K video to the timeline and edit the video as required.

Step 4. Click on Export in the top-right corner of the window and adjust the output settings.

Step 5. On the Export window, rename your name, choose an output format and select a destination folder. Then make sure that the resolution is 1920×1080. If not, click on Settings and set the output resolution as 1920×1080.

Step 6. Click on Export to downscale 4K to 1080p. When the process is complete, find the video and you can play it smoothly on your PC.

Conclusion

Now, choose a 4K video editor you like and download some free 4K stock videos to create an amazing 4K video!

If you encounter some problems when using MiniTool MovieMaker, please tell us in the comments section or contact us via [email protected].