Heres the difference between linear editing vs non linear editing software.
Linear Editing
This type of editing is very limited and is very traditional in the sense of how people used to cut physical flim and then use clear tape to stich it back into place and then re roll the tape on to the roll when they where done.
You typically have 1 Video track and 1 Audio track and can't do much more than that.
Programs that use Linear Video Editing are iMovie on Apple devices, Clipchamp built-in with Windows this replaces Windows Live Movie Maker (Video Editor comes with Windows 10 within Photos app, Clipchamp comes with Windows 11).
Non-Linear Editing
Non-Linear Editing is the type of editing that true modern movie productions use.
You typically can have over 50+ Video tracks and 50+ Audio tracks and can do much more than that. Depending on your computer and the way that your software is coded will determine how many tracks you can truly have. There are other variables where you might be able to have 100 video tracks if your working with 1080p footage for an example. Higher the resolution the higher the overhead which previewing what your working on will take longer.
Adobe software is notorious for becoming corrupted while working on larger projects, this is something that Linus Tech Tips has expressed there issues with Adobe Premiere Pro and end up resorting to other NLE software such as Blackmagic's DaVinci resolve.
Adobe does allow for dynamic link between Premiere Pro and After Effects. If you also have Adobe Audition installed you can tap into having better audio editing.
NLE Software
When it comes to choosing your software of choice there's many Non-Linear Video editing options.
So when I first started many years ago I started with Sony Vegas Pro, I liked the ability for easy fading of clips to essentially dog ear the clip to easy add a fade, if I wanted to split a clip all I had to do was move the playhead anywhere and press "S" key and then the clip would be split.
I did like Sony Vegas Pro a lot but it did not have After Effects support and if I made anything inside of after effects I would have to add a green screen artificially and then having to remove the green screen in Sony Vegas because Sony Vegas did not have .mov codec support.
I learned a lot from Sony Vegas from the use of Proxies to take 4k footage and making it easier to work with by creating a lower quality version of the footage your working with, then when your ready to export what you had done you could use the full original source of what you had edited with a click of a button.
Sony Vegas is the idea of Final Cut Pro on Windows essentially, Sony also no longer creates or maintains the software and sold it to the MAGIX company. Sony Vegas the name has been changed to Vegas Edit Pro.
Next Adobe Premiere Pro feels like a semi downgrade from Sony Vegas. Lets take for an example with a simple task as splitting a clip. In Sony Vegas I can press S and split and move the clip around super fast. In Adobe it's super annoying to the fact where when you want to split the clip you have to first switch from the Main cursor to the Razor tool to split the clip then you have to then switch back to the Main cursor to then move the clip together. Its honestly pretty slow compared to other programs that don't have this clunky behavior. If you want to you can setup your own little tools to make your use of switching tools a but faster but requires you to go out and set that up.
So if you have an MX Master Mouse from Logitech then you can change the Forward and Back buttons to C and V shortcuts as just 1 example same applies to if you can remap any other buttons on whatever mouse you might have. If you don't have a mouse with programmable buttons this can be pretty painful overall, let alone buying a $100 mouse to make the ability for terrible software design just a little bit less painful to use.
so if Adobe Premiere Pro is irritating to use with how clunky the interface can be then what other solutions might there be to resolve it other than mapping all of your shortcuts to your mouse? simply just change the program that you're using it's that simple. if you're just starting out I would probably say for most average users Sony Vegas/ Vegas Edit would be a good start.
If you're more serious about your editing and don't want to be slowed down by Premier Pro then pro then just use BlackMagic Davinci Resolve, but for somebody like me and who likes using After Effects then for somebody like me with using the dynamic link ability it's really nice to be able to drop After Effects compositions without having to export them. I can just directly use .AEP files inside of Adobe Premiere Pro.
LE Software
When it comes to linear editing software there is some purpose to it whether or not if you wanted to do something simple but don't want it to be overly complex for the average person who wants to do something simple.
The emergence of linear editing software has been popularized on the mobile phones with iOS and Android. think how simple it would be to take a video that's in your gallery load it into an editor quickly split it take two segments out delete a section bring it together and then export it again it has popularized how simple modern video editing can be.
Not all the time is linear editing all that powerful because it's typically designed to be a single video track and audio track type of functionality where it isn't all that overly complex. If you're wanting to add text that's just a overlay on the video instead of a separate video track that you can layer on top.
Programs Master List
Linear Editing
Android - VivaCut
PC - Video Editor comes with Windows 10 within Photos app, Clipchamp comes with Windows 11
Apple/ iOS - iMovie
Non-Linear Editing
PC - Vegas Edit/ Adobe Premiere Pro/ BlackMagic Davinci Resolve
Apple/ iOS - Final Cut Pro
Free NLE Options
Lightworks - Website - I have used lightworks before and played around with it but in my opinion if you don't have many options it's worth a shot to use, you do have to create a free account for the use of the program. There are "No watermarks on export" and "720p export only" the 720p export is completely fine for anyone just starting out.
Kdenlive - Website - Open source program, has multi track editing, PC/ Mac OS/ Linux, tons to try out with no restrictions to use the software. No account needed to sign up.
Blender - Website - Blender isn't necessarily just a 3D program but it does way too many things to count shot to try to use and to experiment with to see if you're able to use it, also Open source program as well.
Shotcut - Website - Open source program, this software competes with Kdenlive, definitely another contender to try to try out no restrictions tons of things going on to experiment with and use.
Notes - I don't really want to list Blackmagic davinci resolve free, Hitfilm free due to the fact that they are just a cut down version of there paid version of their respective program. Adobe doesn't have free versions of there software.
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