With 8 GB of RAM and an entry-level graphics chip from NVIDIA on my laptop, using Adobe Premiere Pro is a mess. I tried alternative free video editors, then examined Adobe Premiere Pro vs. Kdenlive. I settled on the latter for basic video editing with text overlays and a few effects. Read on to learn more on why I made this choice.
1. Kdenlive Is Free
Adobe Premiere Pro costs $22.99 per month. Paying for the monthly subscription just to keep the program alive on my PC is a dead weight in my pocket. I agree that the features that Premiere Pro brings are unmatchable. But for the kind of video editing I do, Kdenlive works fine.
I do not have to pay a penny to install and use Kdenlive. Like Premiere Pro, Kdenlive is regularly updated to fix things and add new features to improve efficiency. As I get all I need to edit a video from a free program, it is not worth paying for an expensive monthly subscription.
2. Kdenlive Is Not Resource Hungry
My laptop is not designed for professional video editing. It has modest features that enable me to do my tasks seamlessly. When I edit videos on Adobe Premiere Pro, my laptop becomes painfully slow. I cannot browse the Internet or use another program properly. I have to wait until I complete the video editing or just drop it midway to use another program.
Premiere Pro makes my PC struggle to make all opened programs work fine. Premiere Pro comes with many processes like Creative Cloud Libraries that consume a major chunk of memory collectively.
Kdenlive, on the other hand, does not stress system resources. It coexists with other programs. While editing on Kdenlive, I can listen to songs on YouTube, which I have opened in a browser, and open another program in the background. It makes no difference, as Kdenlive behaves as just another program on my laptop.
And finally, when I complete my editing and export videos, I have to disable the Internet and end all the unnecessary programs to make room for Premiere Pro. It uses a majority of the resources and exports at a snail’s pace.
I know the export time depends on the effects used in the video, video quality, length, etc., but Kdenlive exports in less time comparatively with less resources. Meanwhile, I can use other programs and do some work instead of waiting for the export to complete.
3. Kdenlive Is Easy to Adapt
Kdenlive has a simple and intuitive interface with everything you need to edit a video. It is easy to find options to edit video, color correct, add effects, and edit audio. Everything is available on the screen instead of navigating in the menu and finding the options. A person without any editing knowledge can understand how to use it.
Premiere Pro also has a simple interface, but the jargon puts me off. Perhaps it is not an issue for a professional editor. At first, I even found it hard to find options to add text to my video in Premiere Pro, which is not the case with Kdenlive.
Tip: use Kdenlive with these keyboard shortcuts for an efficient experience.
4. Kdenlive Is Community Driven
Most of the features on Kdenlive are contributed by the community. It has a great open-source community that just wants to make Kdenlive better and help its users. The community helped Kdenlive users like me get advanced motion-tracking capabilities. It has seven tracker algorithms to help various tracking uses so that I get the best tracking of a motion in the video.
To get similar advanced tracking tools on Premiere Pro, I have to use plugins from third-party sources. I have to shell out extra money to buy the plugins and install them on my PC, which stresses the resources even more.
If I need extra features that are not available on Kdenlive, I can visit the KDE Store, find add-ons, and download to use them for free.
5. Rendering a Video Is Easy on Kdenlive
After successfully editing my video on Kdenlive, I can easily render the video with easy-to-understand formats. I will have a clear idea of the output with the options I select while exporting. Its no nonsense way of integrating different rendering options makes the whole exporting process a no-brainer.
Premiere Pro, on the other hand, gives options for presets and formats that I cannot comprehend. I feel like I should seek professional help to export my video in better quality. If I select a preset and a format, I have to wait for the render to complete to see how it looks.
Once I tried Kdenlive, I fell in love with the free feature-rich program that’s available on Windows, Mac, and Linux. From basic editing to creating content for social media platforms by adding your watermark on the video, Kdenlive enables you to do everything. I am also thankful that the Kdenlive community makes it better with each passing day. For me, the Adobe Premiere Pro vs. Kdenlive debate leaves just one clear winner: Kdenlive.
Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Guru Prasad.
