My fellow pro and hobbyist video editors and geeks, our prayers have been heard!
Do you ever find yourself needing to simply edit a couple of clips together, regardless of their format? Maybe you want to add a soundtrack, a title or two along the way. Or perhaps do some basic color correction or time warping on the source material?
Here's how it usually goes: you get an idea, either write it down or jump straight into your NLE and get ready to bring it to life.
But first, you need a full-fledged video editing app on the computer you're using. But even if you have one installed — say, you open up Premiere, Final Cut, or DaVinci Resolve — you'll quickly realize that professional NLEs are picky about the video formats they accept. Then you discover you need to transcode clips and re-save images in different formats...
Now you're questioning that sudden wave of euphoria. You look for reasons not to keep going, and finally...
Nope. Not worth it. I'm outta here!
And that, my friends, is exactly how ideas DIE...
Quietly... In the corners of your mind... Overtaken by a barrage of complications and tedious procedures needed before you can actually work on that damn clip.
But it doesn't have to be like this!
Olive to the Rescue
Meet Olive.
A free, open-source non-linear video editor aiming to provide a fully-featured alternative to high-end professional video editing software.
Those aren't just buzzwords. This little piece of software delivers on its promises!
As you can probably tell, it looks extremely similar to Adobe Premiere. I'm talking about Premiere's better years — specifically CS6 and the earlier CC versions. And that's just the icing on the cake. The NLE feels and functions like a slightly simplified yet perfectly functional version of Premiere. It has neat quality-of-life improvements here and there. And it lacks the subscription fees and random crashes — of course.
Just look at all the formats I was able to import into the project and apply effects, transitions, transforms, change in-out points to, and export the final result as a finished clip!
MP4, MOV, WEBM, GIF, WMV, MPG... It feels liberating and inspiring to know that we now have a tool capable of importing almost any media file. This lets us cut together a quick clip whenever an idea gets stuck in our heads!
To save time, both yours and mine, I'll list some of the key features of Olive as briefly as possible.
The Olive Video Editor Is:
Free
Not just free. Open source too. If you feel adventurous or think you can contribute to the project, feel free to join the dev team.
Tiny
Imagine an app with a toolset similar to Adobe Premiere taking up less than 50 MB on disk when zipped. Seems impossible? Not anymore! Olive is so compact that you'd want to carry it around on a USB stick everywhere. Especially since it...
Works in Portable Mode!
Unzip, configure, use wherever. Regardless of the operating system, since it is also...
Multiplatform
Windows? Mac? Linux? Take your pick.
Imports Anything
As long as there is an open-source decoder available for a format, Olive can import it into the project. I've personally tested over 10 different formats, 4 of which were complete show-stoppers for Premiere, HitFilm, and Resolve, and had zero issues whatsoever in Olive.
Exports to a Variety of Formats
Same logic applies: if open-source decoders bundled with Olive can demux and decode the stream, or if your system has the necessary codecs installed, Olive can output the result into a container of your choice.
And its exports are fast.
Olive is STABLE
Unlike Shotcut, another open-source video editor, Olive is unbelievably stable even when a project contains lots of layers, effects, and different media formats. I don't want to badmouth Shotcut. But after failing to export anything from it three times across two machines, I gave up hope.
Intuitive (and Familiar) Interface
Let's be real: Olive IS basically free Premiere.
It feels like Premiere, it looks like Premiere, but it doesn't crash randomly like Premiere CC 2017+ did.
Isn't that a dream come true?
Supports Animation
You can easily animate values using keyframes and refine your animations with an intuitive graph editor.
Supports Clip Nesting
Even in its current alpha version, you can nest clips into sequences. You can then manipulate these sequences just like regular media clips on the timeline. And it works!
Supports UI Customization
You can reposition almost any panel as either docked or completely undocked, allowing you to place it on a different screen. There's currently no way to save custom layouts, but I'm sure that feature is on the to-do list.
No Project Setup Required
Unlike Premiere, you can start editing immediately. You skip the "New Project" screen and its confusing options—perfect for quick edits. Yet another great time-saver.
Supports Proxies
You better believe it! Olive creates and uses proxies to improve timeline playback performance. This is crucial when working with heavily compressed or non-edit-friendly sources, just like any other professional NLE.
Supports Variable Speed Control
Premiere lets you change clip playback speed by percentage. Olive does the same just as fast and easy.
Decent Title Editor
It's not as powerful as Premiere's title editor, but it's sufficient for basic edits.
In-Editor Audio Recording
This is a great way to record commentary or tutorials directly over your edited sequence. Olive saves WAV files next to your project file and imports them automatically.
Maximize Any Panel with Hotkeys
A crucial feature for editing and previewing is the ability to temporarily maximize any panel. Whether you're in Preview or Effects, just press the hotkey to maximize the active panel. Press it again to restore the normal layout.
See it in action below:
Uses ORANGE Accented UI Elements
Remember what Adobe did to CC Suite apps back in 2015? They changed accent colors from well-readable orange to that awful blue/cyan.
Well, the Olive devs are apparently human and realize that users aren't there to be tortured just because of corporate style. They kept the orange accents, which are highly readable and easy on the eyes.
Thank you, Olive devs!
Olive Is Fast
Even on modest hardware, Olive performs well. It's also surprisingly stable for an early alpha release.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking...
But Olive Isn't the Only Free Video Editor Around!
Sure. Let's talk alternatives!
Before we start, keep in mind that I'll only compare a few specific features that Olive offers out of the box against those in other free NLEs:
- Performance on mid-range hardware. You might not always have access to your powerful PC, needing to edit clips on the go using a laptop with an underpowered or integrated GPU
- Format support. That's what made me fall in love with Olive right away: it imports pretty much anything you throw at it. If you've ever edited video, you know how picky NLEs can be regarding formats. It may struggle with 4K material, but you should generally edit high-quality footage in professional NLEs that offer maximum color precision
- File size and portability. A small file size lets you quickly grab an installer and start drafting ideas, while portability allows you to carry a configured instance anywhere you go
So, please, put down your pitchforks, swords, and torches, and let's take an honest look at whether your favorite NLE can compete with the tiny Olive.
Why Not DaVinci Resolve?
Installer size: 1.3 GB (Editor version 16, requires you for fill in a registration form before downloading)
Portability: none (that I'm aware of)
Format support: limited ("pro" formats mostly, no MKV, WEBM container support)
Resolve is a real power-house and the tool-set you get access to for free is absolutely amazing. Although free, the basic version of DaVinci Resolve is still a proprietary piece of software. And, just like with any proprietary product, the owners can at any moment change their minds and the licensing model and retroactively make all installations of the software no longer usable due to licensing restrictions.
Editing in Resolve can feel tedious (at least for me) when compared to Final Cut, Vegas or Premiere and as with most "professional" NLEs the list of supported video and audio formats and containers is pretty limited, so get ready to transcode those weird and funny videos you found on the internet before you can import them in for cutting.
Besides, to me, DR feels more like a limited trial version than a truly freeware product. While using it, I keep stumbling upon effects and panels disabled in the free version, but taking up valuable space in the UI, which is done deliberately to draw attention and remind the user that a paid pro (or a "Studio") version is available if you wish to unlock those functions.
The software has very high GPU requirements. So high, in fact, that I wouldn't recommend trying it out unless you have at least a good mid-range GPU. Otherwise you'll only experience frustration and constant crashes. The reason is simple: I believe at least half of this NLE relies on GPU without any actual CPU fallbacks. Don't forget: DaVinci Resolve grew up from a very specialized color-grading piece of software which was just several years ago one of the most resource-intensive ones on the market and wasn't even guaranteed to run at all, unless you had like 2GB of GPU and 8GBs of system memory minimum. Blackmagic have done a terrific job optimizing DR since then, but it's still very picky when it comes to hardware.
On a mid-range PC with 8GB system RAM and a GPU with 1GB of RAM where Olive, Premiere CS6 and even HitFilm were able to function normally, DaVinci Resolve 16 kept crashing for me and running out of RAM, even causing Windows to bring down lots of other apps with it. It really is a serious editing app and it absolutely requires a beefy PC with a decent dedicated GPU to work on.
Having said all that, I do encourage you to try out DaVinci Resolve for yourself (it's free!) and not to rely entirely on my ramblings. And if you are a happy user of the editor — stay happy, and realize that people can have opinions that are different to yours. Shocking, I know.
Why Not Blender?
Installer size: 133 MB (Editor version 2.83)
Portability: full
Format support: outstanding (imports almost anything)
If you can deal with Blender's UI or need an editor with powerful compositing tools, go for it. It has a decent NLE as a part of the bundle. Otherwise, I'm not an expert on Blender, so I'll let you try it out and decide for yourselves whether it's a good editing tool.
Why Not HitFilm Express?
December 2024 update: HitFilm Express is a dead product, and the replacement option is not good. See below.
Installer size: 403 MB (Editor version 16.01, requires you for fill in a registration form before downloading)
Portability: none (that I'm aware of)
Format support: limited (no MKV, WEBM container support)
HitFilm Express was a cool NLE, since it was part NLE and part Special Effects Software. There were a couple downsides I discovered while editing a bunch of videos in it:
- it required you to register an account and re-activate the program on a new PC.
- it could be horrendously slow with hi-res (2.5K+) videos.
- the list of supported formats was limited. You would need to transcode or re-mux some of your clips and sources.
- it could feel clunky and lacked important hotkeys as well as some essential functionality like panel maximization.
- it was fundamentally incapable of playing back the clip when HitFilm was not in focus or when any changes took place on the Timeline or in the interface during playback. Developers mentioned that it was done specifically to avoid crashes and race conditions when playback is being performed on an ever-changing stream of data. Which raises questions, since most NLEs are perfectly capable of doing just that without any serious issues.
- Time warping and especially freezing could be very counter-intuitive and tedious.
It was a neat free NLE, but it could feel quirky and gimmicky at times, which could make or break your incentive to finish the project. Still, it wouldn't be fair to note that in spite of all its imperfections the mere fact that it was free for both personal and commercial use, was actively maintained (until discontinued due to a new business strategy, see below), as well as could run on systems where DaVinci Resolve used to crash almost instantly — all of those were serious advantages of HitFilm compared to the competition.
HitFilm Express was free, and one could always just try it out to see whether it suited their needs. In fact, previously I would've insisted you tried it out, since it was also a jack of all trades and, as an actual NLE, it could do more than Olive, albeit it did require online activation. But it was free, at least at the moment, so there was no reason not to give it a whirl.
But now it's dead. Press "F" to pay respects.
Seems like on July 14, 2021 FXhome was acquired by Artlist. Since then, the development gradually slowed down to a crawl. Finally, all perpetual licensing plans as well as the previous business model "Get HitFilm Express for free and pay for add-ons you need once" or "Pay for a HitFilm Pro major version once and get the maintenance update for it" were scrapped — together with HitFilm Express/Pro themselves, which are now considered legacy software.
There were only subscription options available. And if you're like me, you're probably fed up with all of these subscription-only offers, so as of December 2024 I no longer recommend going with HitFilm.
Luckily, as of 2024, there were even more alternatives on the market, many of which were either free or had a perpetual licensing option.
2026 update: HitFilm is DEAD. RIP.
Why Not Kdenlive?
Installer size: 86 MB (Editor version 21.12.3)
Portability: partial (creates files in Appdata/user folder)
Format support: very good (imports almost anything thanks to FFMPEG)
OK, it's 2022 and things are really starting to change. If this post wasn't about Olive, it might be entirely dedicated to another open-source editor — Kdenlive. And, oh my, is it good! Available for Mac, Linux and Windows, it is a very capable NLE with a fair amount of effects, high performance, support for a wide variety of media formats both for importing and exporting, more or less intuitive interface that is completely customizable, it even comes with a Premiere-like keyboard shortcuts scheme.
It supports proxy clips, caching and in general feels like a very capable (and very stable!) video editing suite.
There's one big fat ugly caveat though…
The one thing I didn't care for at all was the constant attempts at contacting some server on the web! Here's a sample of the log from the sandbox environment I was trial-testing Kdenlive in:
Almost any action in the program — be it adding an effect, changing program settings or opening a Render window — was immediately followed by a bunch of connection attempts! I guess it's for usage data collection and analysis, but upon starting the software I wasn't asked or at the very least informed about this. It's infuriating that I wasn't able to disable this via Preferences! I don't know about you, but I consider such behavior completely unacceptable. I do know what kio is and what KIO slave libraries are used for. But nowhere in the manual was I able to find out what server the app is trying to connect to when I'm not calling any web-related functions which still somehow triggers the NLE to try and ping a server somewhere. Maybe I missed something? Please let me know if I did.
So to answer my own question: "Why not Kdenlive?" — as much as I would love to recommend you Kdenlive, I simply can't overlook the fact that the NLE constantly contacts some server on the internet and doesn't allow you to customize this behavior.
Olive Is Love. Olive Is Life
To summarize in a couple words: Olive reminds me of a piece of software called REAPER from the world of Digital Audio Workstations: it's light, performant, intuitive, customizable and just a pure pleasure to use.
Except unlike an app of that caliber, Olive doesn't (yet) have all the bells and whistles you can find in "professional" NLEs, but...
Does it really need to?
For me, in its current form, Olive is an amazing and free idea-drafting tool or a meme-making machine if you're into that kind of thing. Something to carry on a USB stick or quickly download whenever you need a no-nonsense video editing app "on the spot".
I recommend downloading v0.1 since 0.2 is highly unstable.
December 2024 update: I no longer recommend going with the outdated v0.1. The newer rewrite of the editor has seen over 3 years of development. And it shows! It's pretty stable, still incredibly fast and I've been using it more and more not only for quick edits, but for a bit more complex cuts without serious issues. The node workflow and the UX/UI could benefit from some QoL improvements, but the whole experience is night and day compared to the earlier betas in 2020. It's perfectly usable now.
TL;DR: Do go with the latest version.
And if you find yourself enjoying the editor, please support the devs by Donating or becoming a Patron.
