We are certainly priced right out of Premiere ourselves. But, for doing anything serious, you still need a decent editing program, so here are our free and cheap programs - Hopefully you'll find this useful - do add any thoughts or further information in the comments.
All these programs have free tutorials on Youtube, and are legal, free downloads from the official websites.
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VIDEO
Almost Free - Serif Movie Plus. You can order this for a one-time payment of £61, and download a free version. Although hard to get used to, it has a good chroma key function and basic colour correction, ideal for creating quick videos for Youtube. http://www.serif.com/movieplus/
FREE - Hitfilm. Hitfilm is a more advanced programme, the basic version is free, and you can purchase affordable special effects package upgrades, particle effects, gun flashes, etc, again this is not subscription based, and free for basic use. https://hitfilm.com/
FREE - Da Vinci Resolve. Full Hollywood-grade professional programme, ideal for any work that needs advanced colour correction. Do be aware that you need a PC with a good graphics card to run this, as it is a very heavy programme. Again, you can purchase upgrades, but the basic system is free. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/davinciresolve
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STILLS
FREE - GIMP You may find yourself needing to create still images for your project, or to edit photos. Again, there is one alternative to Photoshop, that we know of, which really stands up: and that is Gimp. It has a different interface to Photoshop, and can take a while to get used to, however, once you have done so, it is a quick and simple program to use.
https://www.gimp.org/
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AUDIO
FREE - Audacity is an audio editing and recording programme, free to use:
http://www.audacityteam.org/download/
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ANIMATION
FREE- Blender 3d is a well known free animation programme for 3d animation.
https://www.blender.org/
FREE - OpenToonz is the 2D software used by anime companies such as Studio Ghibli, and to create TV shows such as Futurama - and it is also free:
https://opentoonz.github.io/e/