This is a tough question because often times this all depends on a few factors:
- What format is your raw footage recorded in? (.mov, .wav. .mpeg, etc. )
- How frequently do you release videos?
- How experienced are you in video editing.
While the pro apps are definitely nice to have and can be really useful to those of us with experience. But for some people that can be like going from training wheels to a car. Most often it's not a smart investment for some youtubers who just simply need to make cuts and add additional sound and etc. Some of the more powerful basic features are already included for free with iMovie, and I cannot speak for Windows products since I edit video exclusively on a Mac.
For most beginners, I would highly recommend that you consider investing in an iMac if you truly want to be serious about YouTubing.
Your workflow often must boil down to your post production needs!
I swear by Macs simply because they have so much powerful software ready to use for anyone.
iMovie is usually a very good editing software to work on gaming videos for most of your basic needs.
Some of these needs could involve:
- Titles and additional audio
- Basic trimming
- Exporting directly to YouTube
- Basic audio editing
- Misc vfx options
For most YouTubers that's really all you need. Especially if the focus should be more on the
content within the video as opposed to the technical aspects behind making one.
A step up from iMovie would be naturally
Final Cut Pro X, which is also a great program. But packed with way more additional features that channels with more production value may want to invest in one. Though in the past I have
exclusively used FCP X for editing Let's Play videos because of the speed and accessibility I have on making these videos. Which are often edited, exported, and uploaded all within the same day. Though FCP is no longer on the same level as Premiere Pro, and that has even more advanced features available. But I really don't recommend Premiere Pro unless you have a moderately advanced knowledge of editing video.
FCP X and iMovie are highly recommended by me because they have way more flexibility than some of the more professional programs which can be picky with certain video codecs and may require tinkering from more experienced hands. Not to mention the connectivity with YouTube itself, and that you can relatively make videos faster with these programs.
On PCs
Sadly, the extent of my knowledge of the most basic video editing program on Windows was Movie Maker from Windows XP. And that was NOT a great program. However, HitFilm 3 Express just became available to everyone for free and it's a very powerful video editor for Mac & PC. It handles very similarly to Premiere Pro so it may be tough to jump into, but once you get the hang of it you can mess around with more of the advanced features it offers!
Hope this helps!
