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If there’s one area in which Chromebooks are sorely lacking, it is video editing. That’s not to say that you can’t edit videos with a Chromebook. There are a few online editors out there such as FlexClip, WeVideo, Clipchamp, and others that all have their own redeeming qualities. That said, online video editors do have limitations. For starters, you have to have some good bandwidth because all of your video elements are being uploaded to the software’s servers. This is a lot to ask of a cloud-based editor and as I have personally experienced, creating longer videos with many layers can end up being more trouble than it’s worth.
Then, you have a variety of Android applications that are designed to edit videos on the go. Some, like Kinemaster, showed a lot of promise and are capable of creating high-quality, 4K videos. Kinemaster offers a huge library of templates, effects, and editing tools that, honestly, can create amazing videos that are perfect for even well-established creators. Unfortunately, Kinemaster and other Android video editors have failed to fully embrace the larger screens and keyboard inputs found on ChromeOS devices. The interfaces aren’t intuitive or user-friendly and despite fully supporting ChromeOS, they simply aren’t that great. Other app makers obviously don’t think that the ChromeOS ecosystem is worth their time and have foregone creating a desktop interface at all. I’m looking at you, Adobe Rush.
When Google revealed that ChromeOS would be adding the ability to run Linux applications, I really got my hopes up that this would be the be-all, end-all solution for video editing on a Chromebook. If ChromeOS could harness the power of a pro-level editor like DaVinci Resolve, Chromebooks could realistically be a viable alternative for users that have relied solely on macOS and Apple’s Final Cut. Anyway, that’s my pie in the sky for ChromeOS at the moment. Back here, in reality, there’s some exciting news to share about video editing on ChromeOS that doesn’t involve Linux.
LumaFusion
If you live in the Apple ecosystem and you do any video editing, it’s likely that you’ve heard of LumaFusion. Originally designed for iPhones and iPads, LumaFusion is the gold standard for mobile video editing with powerful tools that you simply won’t find in web-based and most mobile editing software. Audio keyframing, auto-ducking for audio, LUTs importing and the list goes on and on. There’s a reason that LumaFusion is used by leaders in just about every field that creates video. It really is that good. With the release of Apple’s M1 processors, LumaFusion is now available for macOS as well but until now, has remained inside the walls of the Apple ecosystem.
Just over a year ago, LumaTouch slyly tweeted that the company was working to bring LumaFusion Android and by extension, ChromeOS. The best part of that news was the fact that Google and LumaFusion have not been shy about the fact that the companies are working together to ensure that the powerful video editing app is being honed to work equally as well on a ChromeOS desktop as it does on mobile. As a matter of fact, Google even highlighted LumaFusion on ChromeOS during this year’s I/O developer event back in May. That news arrived on the heels of Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event where the tech giant announced that LumaFusion would eventually be available for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8.
Fast forward a few months, and LumaFusion is now officially available for Android and ChromeOS in an open Beta, Early Access build. To help with the ongoing development, early adopters can enjoy a 30% discount on the app which brings the price down to $19.99. That’s a one-time purchase price and you will enjoy lifetime support and updates to LumaFusion. When the finished version of LumaFusion is released, Early Access users will receive the update at no additional charge.
Of course, we went ahead and purchased the Beta build of LumaFusion and are excited to put it through the paces. You can fully expect to see more content about this exciting app that has joined the ChromeOS ecosystem and who knows, we may even use it to edit a video or two for the Chrome Unboxed YouTube channel. Stay tuned for an in-depth look at LumaFusion on ChromeOS. If you’re interested in purchasing LumaFusion, you can grab the Early Access version at a discounted price over on the Google Play Store at the link below. You can also find some awesome how-tos and feature highlights on the LumaTouch YouTube channel here.
