LumaFusion for iOS review: multicam editing gives video app a pro toolset

LumaFusion for iOS enters a mobile video editing market that happens to be one of the most exciting industries to keep an eye on at the moment. This past year has seen both Da Vinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro offering iOS apps of their desktop versions. What is even more incredible is that these apps are almost as fully featured as their desktop counterparts. 

LumaFusion is a relative newcomer to the video-editing software world but has gradually been cementing itself as a viable alternative, especially for content creators who need editing capabilities on the go.

User experience

LumaFusion is really easy to use. As it has been designed explicitly with touch functionality in mind, users will find it to be a natural extension of their hands. It is even easier to use with a stylus such as an Apple Pencil. As with any editing software, it’s important to be able to move around the timeline efficiently and LumaFusion delivers a seamless experience in this area.

After downloading the app, getting a project set up is quick and easy. Footage can be imported directly from your hard drive which means you don’t need to worry too much about your file sizes. If you use an SSD then this process is even quicker.

The quicker your tablet, the better your overall experience of the software will be. The 9th generation iPad with an A13 Bionic chip I’ve been using with LumaFusion proved to be more than enough hardware to provide an enjoyable experience.

Multicam Studio

In many ways, LumaFusion is like any other non-linear editor. It provides all the necessary editing tools that enable editors to edit raw footage into a final video. In these areas, in recent years, LumaFusion has sought to bolster its offering and create an environment for the fast processing of footage into a final edit.

One area that LumaFusion has sought to really up its game is editing setups with multiple cameras. This has, of course, always been possible but with LumaFusion’s new Multicam Studio it offers some dedicated tools to get the job done quicker.

The thing that underpins the effectiveness of the Multicam studio is the automatic synchronisation. I was able to import my footage and get it correctly lined up without any hassle at all. All the groundwork required for creating an initial edit was done for me. Perfect.

A traditional workflow for editing multiple cameras is to cut up the resulting footage using manual cut-and-delete tools. This has a number of downsides such as being time consuming, audio and video can become misaligned and effects must be copied onto every single cut section rather than to a whole piece of footage from each camera.

LumaFusion addresses all of these issues by providing a nice workflow that replicates live switching functionality within an offline editing environment. The process of switching is friendly and natural with users only having to hit play and then click between the different camera angles. The footage is automatically cut at the right locations. These can, of course, be fine-tuned and adjusted after the switching process is complete.

One nice feature is the ability to add effects such as colour corrections to the whole of the pre-cut camera angle rather than only cutting sections. This really helps the editor to keep track of their edits and to make footage-wide corrections when required.

Price

You can buy the app on the Apple Store for £29.99/$29.99. There are additional in-app purchases available, but all the main functions we've covered are included in the original purchase.

Should I buy LumaFusion for iOS?

LumaFusion is maturing fast. Its feature set and most notably the addition of Multicam Studio make it a force to be reckoned with. It is unfortunate that there is no free-trial available but at the low cost of £29.99 it’s not a huge outlay to try it out and revert back to another editor. LumaFusion works on multiple platforms including iOS, Android and ChromeOS so the flexibility across a range of operating systems makes this a very attractive and flexible option for video editors.