Best Green Screen Software 2024: Top 7 Free & Paid
Reviewed by Kristina Knight, Journalist , BA
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The introduction of video design has opened a whole new world of possibilities for video creators of all kinds – including students, businesses, social media influencers, and marketing professionals. It’s never been easier or more affordable to create gorgeous, eye-catching videos. Here we analyze several of the free and low cost green screen software solutions which help content creators create custom backgrounds, animations, and effects for their video content. We will review each of the top 7 free and paid green screen software programs so you can learn about their features and see which one may best meet your needs.
Top 7 Best Green Screen Software 2024
- Wondershare Filmora: Editor’s Choice
- Adobe Premiere Pro CC: Most Powerful
- Camtasia: All Around Solution
- Movavi: Best Screen Recorder
- Wevideo: Best for School Projects
- Adobe After Effects: Best Animation
- VSDC Free Video Editor: Value Pick
What Is Green Screen Software?
Green screen software is a type of video editing software that allows users to superimpose images on top of previously recorded footage and change backgrounds. It accomplishes this by using a green background, which is the opposite color of the spectrum captured by film cameras; thus, when the footage is played back, it appears as if the user’s video was shot in front of a green screen. Users can then create customized backgrounds, animations, captions, and other post production features to enhance the video using chroma keys software. This technology was once the purview of Hollywood, but its digital rendition is more sophisticated and accessible than ever before.
Best Green Screen Software April 2024
Wondershare Filmora
With both a user-friendly experience and an array of excellent features, Wondershare Filmora provides an excellent overall green screening and video editing experience for content creators. Wondershare Filmora is our Editor’s Choice.
- Lots of excellent features
- Easy to use interface
- Lot of background options for green screening
- Not quite as powerful advanced features as some high end software
- Free trial is short and limited
Wondershare Filmora is a fantastic piece of software for all types of content creators looking for a program to help them create the perfect content for their social media channels or YouTube. It has incredible filters, overlays, and effects that you can use to bring life to all of your videos. You can easily edit your videos with their user-friendly interface, which makes it very easy and seamless to apply green screen effects with stunning backgrounds that blend in perfectly with your video. These features set this software apart from the competition.
Adobe Premiere Pro CC
Adobe Premiere Pro CC is among the industry standards for video editing and graphic design, allowing you to create incredible effects, backgrounds, and animations. This program’s new version combines speed, precision, and creativity with a slew of new features. We give Adobe Premiere Pro CC the nod as Most Powerful.
- Powerful features
- Excellent video quality
- Integrates with comprehensive Adobe ecosystem
- Occasional glitches
Adobe Premiere Pro is designed for advanced video editing, and is more inline with professional green screen software than other more basic services. This means it offers a lot more bells and whistles than some of the other programs on the market. Content creators can animate by keyframes, or convert existing shapes into reusable symbols. Everything works with speed and precision, even when you can capture and blend videos from multiple sources. Occasional glitches, freezes, and bugs sometimes occur when new updates are pushed out.
Camtasia
Possessing standout screen recording, green screening, and video editing features, you cannot go wrong with Camtasia. We award this software our Best All Around Solution.
- Easy to learn and use
- Vast library of templates, themes, and assets
- Good screen recording feature
- Freezes and crashes from time to time
Camtasia is a powerful screen recorder and video editor that’s easy for beginners to learn. With its green screen features, you can change out backgrounds with royalty-free images and even use PowerPoint integration to project presentations that are automatically recorded for later viewing. Best of all, there are many templates, libraries, and themes available within the program, from which you can choose or create your own. Overall a fantastic option, but users do report an occasional bug or crash.
Movavi
Movavi is solid on all accounts, if not spectacular. We see it as a great solution for recording live action on your computer, such as gaming. Thus, we award this software the title of Best Screen recorder.
- Intuitive interface
- Great screen recording feature
- Good motion tracking feature
- Features are just average
Movavi Video Editor is a powerful, beginner-friendly video editor with a variety of helpful tools, an intuitive interface, and an affordable price. It’s great for gaming videos, vloggers, and those who want to make videos that would impress their followers, clients, or anyone. Whether you want to trim, merge, or rotate clips, cut out subtitles and add animated captions, or even create your own special effects using professional templates, Movavi can do the job. However, none of Movavi’s features are exceptional. It’s a great choice if you want basic features, good screen recording, and a reasonable price.
Wevideo
Though not the most advanced, Wevideo is versatile and easy to use. Students, new content creators, and small businesses will benefit from its easy to use basic features and intuitive processes. We select Wevideo as the Best for School Projects.
- Easy to learn
- Teams can work collaboratively
- Great ROI
- Features are limited
WeVideo is an online video editing software that provides a variety of tools for customizing your videos. You can easily and quickly edit your footage to make it stand out, from trimming and cropping to green screen removal. If you want to try something new, you can overlay your footage with any of WeVideo’s 1 million stock images or backgrounds. The software’s chroma component is strong and green screening is impressive. The company markets their tool as a good solution for K-12 and higher education projects, and we agree that Wevideo is an effective means to make an impressive school report. Customers in search of advanced editing features may be disappointed as Wevideo comptes on the more basic functions.
Adobe After Effects
Adobe After Effects possesses a brilliant array of video editing features and a strong green screen background service – all at a surprisingly good price point. This software stands out with motion graphics, whether that means adding text to images or creating whole animated scenes; hence we think its the Best for Animation.
- Amazing video effects
- Strong green screen background editing
- Reasonable price
- Somewhat harder to learn than the other competitors
- Customer service is not always responsive
Adobe After Effects is for anyone who wants to get their videos noticed. You can add text and graphics, animate them, and then add effects that range from subtle to downright stunning. And now, you can start with hundreds of presets from well-known motion designers. So whether you’re a seasoned pro or someone looking to try something new.
Adobe After Effects is the most powerful video creation tool around. It features animation features so you can set text and graphics in motion. Make them revolve, wiggle, bounce, rotate, flip, flop, and more. Add exciting effects to bring static images to life or add motion where there was none before. Create faster with fresh presets that let you spin graphics, twirl titles, and capture eyeballs—all while saving precious time. On the downside, users will find this software somewhat more complicated to learn than most of the other options. This Is not for you if you want easy or just the basics.
VSDC Free Video Editor
This software is designed specifically to be an impressive yet free green screen editor and video editor. However, the interface, asset library,and features are just basic compared to the competitors. We recommend VSDC as the Value Pick – perfect for anyone who wants a free choice and does not need advanced features. It’s the best free greenscreen software.
- Impressive free software
- Can do all the basics
- Limited advanced features
- Less stock assets than paid services
VSDC Free Video Editor is a program that allows you to edit videos in a fast and easy way. It is completely free, but it contains all the same basic tools and features as expensive video editing and green screen effect. VSDCis fast, fairly easy to use, and creates very good quality outputs for free. Its chroma key feature helps make great backgrounds which can then be enhanced with effects, filters, and transitions. It’s a great choice for a start with video editing, but does fall short on advanced features – not unexpected for a completely free service.
How to Choose Best Green Screen Editor
It is not always easy to find the perfect green screen editor. How do you find green screen videos? Our list includes everything from beginner-friendly, simple solutions to professional video effects solutions. Selecting the right green screen editor will help you achieve an optimal level of control without an overwhelming learning process, so you get the green screen footage you need. Consider your content creation needs and specific features that are meaningful and add value for your business. Whatever your choice, a green screen video tool can take your content creation to the next level.
Best Free Green Screen Software
Various of our competitors offer free trials or highly limited free versions. We find that VSDC Free Video Editor is an outstanding free option.
Final Thoughts
Video content remains the standard for audience engagement for content creators including marketing, social media, and streaming gamers. We have reviewed the top seven green screen tools that can create backgrounds and assist with animations. For today we find three software packages to rise above the competitors; Wondershare and Camtasia are all around performers, while Adobe Premiere Pro CC is the most powerful tool for more advanced animation projects.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Green screens are backgrounds painted in green that allow for the removal of the background in post-production, creating the illusion of a subject being filmed against a different background. This effect has been used in entertainment for decades, and as technology has progressed, it’s become easier to manipulate video footage and make editing even more realistic. Now you can use green screen software to create your own green screen videos at home.
Chroma key is a way to add video effects to your video. The technique involves filming in front of a green screen and then removing the green color in post-production. This can be done very easily in many video editing software products, and because it is so easy, it has been made popular by YouTubers who want to add visual effects to their videos. Chroma key has also been used in other mediums, including radio and print media.What is chroma key software?
Green screen editing software uses technology where the subject appears to be in a different location than they actually are. A green screen is used as a background, and it’s made up of fine green fabric stretched over a frame. It can be hung from a wall or mounted on a movable stand. The color green has been chosen because it produces almost no color cast in the final composite. An image or video file is then edited as the new background.
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