If you live and breathe video editing, whether it be professionally or in your free time, you’re probably looking for the best software to work with.
Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at two mainstream competitors, Camtasia and Final Cut Pro.
We’ll learn more about their capabilities, see how they compare, and help you pick the right one for you.
So, whether you’re working on Windows or Mac, editing complex 360 shots, or trying to create educational resources with your editor, we’ll help you pick the right software for you.
Without further ado, here’s everything you need to know about Camtasia Vs Final Cut Pro.
What Is Camtasia?
Camtasia is a professional-grade video editor and screen recorder that can be used to create and edit videos on both Windows and Mac.
Camtasia was first released in 2002 and developed by TechSmith.
Since its release, it has fast become one of the most popular video editing tools on the market.
Camtasia is usually used to create tutorials, presentations, and video lessons, and it supports a variety of export formats, including:
Windows
- WMV
- MP4
- GIF
- AVI
- WAV
MAC
- GIF
- MP4
- M4A
- WAV
- MOV
With Camtasia, you can record your screen and audio outputs, edit your video and export it, and share it, all from its drag-and-drop style interface.
Camtasia is easy to use, and it’s a popular option for any budding video editors who lack experience with more advanced software.
Camtasia offers a free trial for first-time users.
After the trial, you’ll have to pay to use the software, which will cost you up to almost $300 a year, depending on your subscription.
Camtasia: Key Features
Intrigued by Camtasia? To appreciate the full capabilities of this product, let’s take a closer look at its key features.
Recording Capabilities
First and foremost, Camtasia is a recording software. With Camtasia, you can record your screen, your webcam, or your audio.
With its simple interface, you can toggle on or off any of these options.
This gives you the power to record your screen without any audio or vice versa.
Camtasia, everything you record will automatically appear in your media bin, and you’ll be able to drop it into your video timeline later in the process.
With screen recording, you can frame the area you want to record (meaning you can easily trim out any excess tabs) by simply clicking and dragging your chosen area.
You can even type in the dimensions of the area you want to record if you want to do it manually.
What’s more, Camtasia has designed Instagram and Facebook cover frames that will automatically move around your screen and record with it.
Camtasia also lets you record from your webcam, whether you have an integrated or external device.
Audio Recording
With Camtasia, you can record your audio with or without video. However, you’ll probably need some sort of audio to complete your project.
With Camtasia, you can capture both microphone and system audio from a built-in microphone or an externally connected device.
You can even adjust your audio volume and use auto-leveling to get the quality you need.
Video Editing
Camtasia also has some impressive video editing features.
Once you’ve dragged your desired media clips into your editing timeline, you can preview them, rotate them, resize them, and adjust them as desired.
You’ll also be able to use the following editing tools:
- Media trimming
- Splitting media into multiple parts
- Cut out mistakes from recording
- Delete errors and add new recordings
- Add colorful annotations, including arrows, bubbles, and text
- Include different transitions between clips to make your videos flow
- Use behaviors (essentially pre-made animations) to make your videos more interesting. These effects are things like explosions, fades, and fly-ins
- Add zoom-n-pan animations and different motion effects to enhance or enlarge certain aspects of your videos
The Camtasia Library
You can use the Camtasia library to store any of the media you want to use in your project.
This doesn’t have to be a current project, either – you can also store media to use in future projects.
Simply double-click your media assets to view them, and if you’re ready to add them in, drag them into your timeline, and you’ll be ready to edit them.
In the Camtasia library, you’ll also find plenty of other cool features, including motion backgrounds, music tracks, lower thirds, icons, intros, and outros.
You can also import different media from your computer or the TechSmith library, and you can even share your media libraries with other people, which is great if you’re working on a collaborative project.
Use Templates
If you don’t have the time, desire, or skills to make a video from scratch, you can use any of Camtasia pre-built templates to make your video with.
This will give your videos a consistent branding or personality throughout for a professional-level result.
Camtasia’s templates can be found in the template manager, and you can import any of your desired video templates from the TechSmith library or your own computer.
You can rearrange the template so it suits your video, and they’ll save you lots of time and effort when it comes to editing.
Camtasia: Pro And Cons
Not convinced? No problem. Let’s explore the perks (and downfalls) of using Camtasia for your video projects.
Pros
- Clean User Interface: This makes it easy for users to find their way through the platform and use the tools, even with limited experience.
- Stellar Recording Capabilities: You can record from your screen or webcam and toggle on/off on audio or video so that you can select the right clips for your project.
- Variety of Export Formats: Camtasia supports a variety of export formats for both Windows and Mac, making it a versatile tool for video editors.
- Fast: With Camtasia, it’s quick and simple to export your files, so you won’t have to wait for hours to finish your project.
- Add Interactive Features: You can add a variety of interactive features to your video, such as quizzes, which is great for producing training resources without needing to use third-party software.
Cons
- Crashes and Bugs: When we tested Camtasia, we found that it could often crash when working with larger files. However, this issue seems to vary depending on which version of Camtasia you’re using.
- No Keyframe Tracking: Unfortunately, there’s no keyframe tracking ability included with Camtasia, making it difficult to work with moving and animated objects.
What Is Final Cut Pro?
Final Cut Pro is a video editing software that was first released in 1999 and developed by Macromedia Inc.
Final Cut Pro was later taken over by Apple Inc.
This video editing software was designed to help both editing enthusiasts and professionals edit and convert their videos into different formats.
Because Final Cut Pro was taken over by Apple Inc, it’s only available on Mac OS running OS X version 10.9 or later.
If you have a Mac and you’re a first-time user, you can try Final Cut Pro free for 90 days.
After your free trial ends, you’ll pay as much as $300 a year to use it. Final Cut Pro is fast, stable, and simple to use.
You’ll be able to import videos in various formats, including ALL major professional camera formats, and you’ll have plenty of cool features to play with (which we’ll explore more below).
Final Cut Pro: Key Features
If you’re a Mac user looking for a new video editing software, Final Cut Pro may have piqued your interest.
So, before you dive in, let’s take a closer look at the key features of Final Cut Pro.
Multicam Editing
If you like shooting your scenes with multiple cameras and enjoy capturing different angles and audio files in just one take, you can use Multicam editing to merge them all together.
With its powerful playback and syncing features, you can merge sequences from as many as 16 angles. Multicam editing is easy to use.
Simply separate your files with keywords, sync your clips together (and choose whether you want to sync the audio with them), use the Multicam clip to check whether your video clips are aligned, and you’re good to go.
Move And Trim Video Clips
With Camtasia, you can also move and trim your video clips and manage them efficiently.
You can reduce or extend certain parts of clips without any splits or cuts and remove mistakes or unwanted videos in just a few clicks.
Simply select a clip on your timeline, navigate your cursor toward the section of the clip you want to change, and you can drag parts of the click in or out in just a few motions.
You can also lock parts of the timeline that you don’t want to trim by dragging the green or red overhead handles and clicking on the lock button.
Effects
Final cut pro makes it easy to incorporate a number of special effects into your videos.
Simply select a clip from your final cut pro timeless, select the special effects button in the top-right, and you can go ahead and select an effect.
You’ll have plenty of special effects to choose from, such as blur and color effects, and you can preview them all before you select one.
Simply drag your effect onto the clip, click the thumbnail clip you want to attach your effect to, and you’ll be ready to bring your videos to life.
360 Degree VR Editing
This exceptional feature allows Final Cut Pro users to create stunning content.
You can view, navigate, and edit your 360-degree clips in the 360 viewer section.
If you have a VR headset, you can even connect this to your app and view your clips through the headset!
Final Cut Pro will automatically recognize any footage caught by a 360 camera or spherical rig, and adjust your editing capabilities accordingly.
However, you may need to install additional plugins to import or edit your footage in-depth.
Presets And Filters
Although Final Cut Pro has a handful of its own presets and filters, you can also import external presets and load them into the Effects Presets folder in your ProApps library.
Once imported, simply reboot Final Cut Pro to view your presets, and you can go ahead and add them to your videos.
You could import animations, animated icons, text message templates, and many more.
HDR Video Support
Final Cut Pro also supports HDR videos, and you can even use the HDR Tools effect to convert certain HDR video clips to different color spaces.
You can create brilliant HDR files to be viewed on certain HDR displays, and you can also create HDR10 and HLG movie files.
These would make your videos suitable for streaming on Blu-ray discs, broadcasts, or even live TV.
Advanced Color Grading
You can choose from different color gradient options on Final Cut Pro, and you can even use these to create different motion graphics templates.
You can also use its wide range of color correction tools to change the look of every single clip in your video and work your way through still images to adjust shadow levels, mid-tone levels, highlights, color balance, and more.
Final Cut Pro: Pros And Cons
So, we know that Final Cut Pro has a LOT to bring to the table.
But, like other video editing software, it doesn’t come without its issues. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of using Final Cut Pro.
Pros
- Beautiful Interface: Final Cut Pro boasts an attractive and user-friendly interface. This makes it easy to use, even for beginners, and all of its key features are easy to find. Although it’s simplistic, it’s still pretty powerful.
- Seamless Video Editing: With Final Cut Pro, it’s easy to edit. You can move and trim video clips with just a few clicks, and you can even use captures from multiple cameras and angles to bring your movie to life.
- 360 Degree Editing: If you’re trying to edit videos that have been captured with 360 software, it can be tricky. However, Final Cut Pro can automatically recognize these files and present you with the best ways to edit them.
- Dynamic: You can work on more than one project at a time and edit videos for a separate project while working on your current project. This is great for editors and professionals working on multiple videos.
- Great Shortcuts: You’ll have access to over 400 shortcuts which, when learned, can speed up your editing time significantly. This is great for professionals and novice users alike.
Cons
- Only for Mac: One of the biggest drawbacks of Final Cut Pro is that it can only be used for Macs.
- Audio Mixing and Editing Can Be Tricky: Although Final Cut Pro is a dynamic, user-friendly software, it can be difficult to mix and edit audio files. Beginner users may struggle to get to grips with the process.
Camtasia And Final Cut Pro: How Do They Compare?
So, which one comes out on top? Honestly, it’s a close call. As you’ve probably realized, both of these editing tools are pretty exceptional.
However, to answer this question, you’ll need to focus on your own needs.
In a nutshell, we’d recommend Camtasia for beginner editors or those who want to make tutorials or training materials SPECIFICALLY from their own screen recordings.
Remember, this is the key selling point of Camtasia.
You can also export your video in a variety of formats, more than some other editing software, making it a great investment if this is your niche.
However, Final Cut Pro is more dynamic and, sometimes, a little more complex.
If you want to edit your own video recordings (not just screenshots, although you can), this is probably the best software for you.
Final Cut Pro is a more versatile choice for hobbyists and professional editors, as you won’t be limited to just editing your own recordings.
Both Camtasia and Final Cut Pro come with similar price tags, and they both offer free trials, so don’t make your decision based solely on cost.
Features are more important, and as you can see, both Camtasia and Final Cut Pro have different target audiences in mind.
The Bottom Line
In today’s world, video editing and marketing is a booming industry.
Businesses are always looking for talented editors to take control of their content, and if you’re not doing it for profit, video editing is just as popular as a hobby.
Whether you’re editing for business or pleasure, the right software can determine how successful your end product will be.
We think Camtasia and Final Cut Pro are two fierce competitors in the market; however, they have very different capabilities.
Although their weaknesses balance each other out, both of these products offer something for everyone, and if you can afford to splash out on software, we’d recommend seriously considering both of them!
