I admit I only touched the surface of the program, but having tried other NLEs before, I loved the simplicity of the whole process. I played with many of the filters, the special effects, and a lot of things I could but would not use on my film, but the experience revealed me that HitFilm 3 Express works a bit like Lightroom: it’s very easy to drag a filter of a desired effect, adjust parameters, see what it does, and decide to keep it or simply delete it. It took me a whole afternoon and some long hours after dinner to get something together, and my little film does not compare with Portal Combat, but was enough for me to understand that I love the interface in this NLE, and want to explore it further. Or better, I felt the urge to grab some video files and just try the program. Watch the film and you’ll be in “I want to do something like that” mood in no time. The author’s new film was made with Express (and a little help from features on other packs). One good example of what can be achieved comes from Ryan Connolly, from Film Riot fame, who launched a new film, Portal Combat simultaneously with the presentation of HitFilm 3 Express. It does sound as little, but in the right hands the HitFilm3 Express can do wonders.
The free version includes Integrated editing & 3D compositing and 157 effects and presets.
If you need unlimited power, the HitFilm 3 Pro, for $299,99 is your thing, It includes Integrated editing & 3D compositing, 157 effects and presets, 14 premium effects packs, 12 exclusive effects, 130 plugins for Vegas Pro, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X, DaVinci Resolve, After Effects and Motion, Professional chroma key and denoiser, 16-bit rendering, 4K, OpenEXR export and OpenFX plugins. It was conceived to offer filmmakers a choice – they can use the powerful free editor & compositor, they can purchase individual packs if they require specific additions for projects, or they can grab 3 Pro and get all of them and more. It is not even, the creators say, a “lite” version of 3 Pro. And yes, the 3 Express isn’t a new version of 2 Express.
If you’re like me and want to start slowly, then the FREE version is your thing. The list of packs extends further, but if you need them all you’re probably better off starting with the HitFilm3 Pro version. And you even can have a pack like the Sci-fi adventure pack, including semi-automated lightswords, 3D laser blasts and 100% authentic opening title crawl. Or the Audio-visual pack, to generate incredible, audio-powered spectrum and waveform patterns.įor $24,99 you can have a Colorist pack, to give your videos the professional look they deserve with advanced grading tools and support for cinematic LUT files. Or the Premium Formats pack, which enables support for the Dolby AC3/AVCHD and MPEG-2 video formats. It offers you with a hand-picked selection of color grading, titling, motion graphics and compositing effects. Some of the packets cost $9.99! The Starter Pack, for example. Why? Because when I first looked at the add on packets, after installing the editor, I felt compelled to buy some, because the prices are SO accessible and I don’t need to buy them all, just those I need.
I truly believe this old-fashioned marketing gimmick will work here.
Gillette did it giving razors away and expecting people to become faithful and regular buyers of their blades… and that’s where the saying comes from. This is not a new technique, the old “giving away the razor, selling the blades” principle works here. Yes, it is free, but it is conceived to make you want to have either the HitFilm 3 Pro or buy the multiple expansion packages available to make the free version a more versatile tool. Well, let’s say that this “free” is, partially, a marketing trick. Being new to video, as I am essentially a photographer (and a journalist) who wants to explore the new option in his DSLR, I must admit I fell in love with HitFilm3 Express when I opened and tried it: everything seems to be in the right place.