Editing video isn't a pleasant task for everyone. In fact, many users complain about the inevitable complexity of the main tools on the market, their high cost, and the limitations of their demos or free editions (watermarks and low resolution top the list). The Mastershot project by Jacob Beckerman aims to attack all those angles at once. It's a free online video editor without watermarks, with support for exporting up to 1080p, and an interface that aims to simplify its use.
"What do you want from a video editor?"
Although it may seem unbelievable, it's not such a simple question to answer. If your budget is zero, all arrows point to open source alternatives like OpenShot and Shotcut. If you want it easy to learn, you'll discover that most tutorials focus on professional solutions. So, where is the balance point? Free, no limits, and something anyone can master in a short time.
The search leads us to the official Mastershot portal, developed by Jacob Beckerman. Tired of subscriptions, watermarks, and exports at ridiculous resolutions, Beckerman decided to create his own editor, and this is the result so far.
Mastershot: Free Online Video Editor
The first point in favor of Mastershot is that there's nothing to install. A compatible browser and a Google account (another option is to create a dedicated account) is all you need to start editing videos. Once inside the editor, you'll need to load your own material or take advantage of the available stock footage, based on the Pexels portal. You can cut videos and audio channels, inject text, introduce images, and also other videos in a kind of picture-in-picture.
Mastershot enables separation of audio and video, change of color/font/size for text, duplication of content, and zoom control for the timeline at the bottom. When exporting, all it asks for is a name for the file and the output resolution. The options are 480p, 720p, and 1080p, far superior compared to other "free" editors that add watermarks everywhere and offer a resolution worthy of a Nokia 1100.
In summary: A good work in progress
Users definitely need a free online video editor without watermarks that doesn't chain them to a platform or a long subscription, and Mastershot's potential to fill that gap is impressive. However, the key is in the term "potential", because it still has certain aspects that must be included and optimized.
For example, text injection doesn't allow direct modification of its timing, and we must use the mouse to change its duration on screen. Its technical profile reveals that it doesn't get along well with Firefox (the controls stopped responding in our tests), and we detected audio problems when exporting the finished video. Finally, compression support is "Coming Soon".
If you want Mastershot to remove all those sharp edges and you have the ability to help, don't hesitate to buy a coffee for its dev. The entire platform is donationware, and the first goal of its income is to keep the server active. With patience and a little of our support, Mastershot could become the go-to free online video editor.
Official site: Click here
