Hey everyone! I'm wondering what free video editors are good but don't take up a lot of RAM on my laptop. My laptop has 12GB of RAM and I was going to download DaVinci Resolve but apparently it gobbles up a lot of RAM .. 16GB, that I don't have. Now I'm leaning towards HitFilm Express uses 4GB of RAM though 8 or more is recommended. I won't probably be doing 4k videos since 2GB or more is recommended. I won't be using Sony Vegas seems to be incompatible with Windows 10. Any recommendations are welcome.

I don't use Windows anymore, only Linux. HitFilm is more of a video compositor than editor. Why can't you use Vegas? I'm pretty sure I used Vegas 10 in Win10 back in the day. You can always use Windows Movie Maker. I never used it, so can't help. I would recommend Aviutl, but it's not very user friendly. Perhaps someone running Windows will chime in...

All my Video editors are free/open source and run in Linux or under Wine. There is very little I can't do with my free tools.

I've tested ShotCut also. It runs in Linux, but I never tested it in Windows. It is a very simple video editor with limited functions, but it works. It uses ffmpeg for importing and exporting, so lot's of options.

I mostly us Kdenlive, it's more advanced. I believe they have a Windows version, but I never tested it.

Contary to popular belief, you do not need a really powerful computer for video editing. Although you might need one for the software. Other than that the difference is speed.

Software:
One of my friends dumped Ad*be Premiere for Vegas and does editing on that, very happy with it. Does use Windows 10.

Although I use linux, There are Windows versions of these:

Openshot: https://www.openshot.org/ Penty of how-to's on their site. The usual cut / join video. Can take a graphic and render as video. Transitions, picture-in-picture all the usual.

Avidemux: A simple Non-linear editor (NLE) http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/ Cut and join, add audio some simple filters. This is the one I use for youtube because it is quick.

12GB ram and you're concerned? My computer does not support more than 4GB haha.
OpenShot is easy to use, and works well on Linux.
Tried it on Windows too, but my video editing needs are so simple that I will rely on VirtualDub till the day I die.

I have Windows 10 and use video editing very occasionally - for family events etc.

I used the free VSDC Video editor in the past - now currently at 5.8.7 - last time I used it, it was at v. 3.5 something. I had to untick bundled software on this earlier download - but this time there was nothing else with it (good news).

Seemed to give good results and had a wide range of options. I have downloaded the latest version but not had chance to use it yet.

I used Movie Maker back when I had XP. Never used it on Windows 7 and for Windows 10, it isn't supported anymore.

I like Sony Vegas and I would use it execpt, I have versions Movie Studio 11/Movie Studio 13.0 and according to their box directions, Windows 10 isn't supported. I'm not about to pay $50 for Movie Studio 15. That's why I want to make the switch to an open source or free software like HitFilm.

I searched for movie maker on my laptop and it didn't come up. I hadn't planned on using movie maker.

I know it's out there, I just don't plan on using it.

It's okay.

Blender is no doubt the best and closest free alternative to After Effects on the market today. It does take awhile to learn cause it's not your traditional non-linear video editor but it can produce some amazing effects if used effectively. I use it myself.

Another good free advanced video editor next in line would be Natron. Both are cross-platform.

Back when I used to use Windows another video editor I used was called Wax 2.0 which has some advanced features as well which may come in handy for you. (If you're not running Windows you can still run Wax 2.0 through WINE on Linux or Mac)

Here's a short list of some other video editors I've used that are effective Lightworks, Cinelerra (formerly called CineFx), Avidemux, Kdenlive, Shotcut and OpenShot.

There are many others out there but this is a good list to start off with. I use Blender, Animatron and Camtasia Studio (which is the only commercial application I've mentioned on this list) for most of my work now but I do mostly 2d animation.

Anyway, hope you find the app you're looking for. Start digging in and giving these a try to find which one works best for you

HitFilm is pretty good. I've used the free version 2 a few years back in Windows. It's a video compositor similar to After Effects. I prefer Aviutl however. It can do the same things and a lot more. Best of all, I can run it in Linux under Wine.

I've been looking around at other editors that have been recommended in this post. Has anyone heard of VSDC video editor?

I've heard of it, but never used it. I assume it's an entry level video editor and therefore is limited in functions. That's my guess anyway...