To me the final output is the most important thing with any video project. I don't like ffmpeg's encoding outside of AVC, where it uses the world class x264 encoder [if you are hesitant about the world class part, I'm just repeating what they say, :) , but it has been used on real movies you can buy on Blu-Ray off store shelves]. Software like this is built around ffmpeg because it's free. Personally I like the Mainconcept encoder for mpg2 [DVDs], & Wondershare licenses & includes code from Mainconcept. That's a plus, but it's unfortunately made up for with a lack of fine control of encoder settings. I dislike any software that figures you're an idiot & can't be trusted -- provide templates & if I screw up the settings that's my fault, but I insist on being given the opportunity.
So, onto iSkysoft Video Editor...
It lets you use a lot of tracks on the timeline which is cool -- for a lot of people it's also a bit unneeded. The reason for lots of tracks is so you can import all sorts of video &/or audio clips, then move them around arranging & rearranging things. Viewers have notoriously short attention spans, so the average TV show or movie will not have a shot lasting more than maybe 15 seconds. You're not so likely to have several takes you can switch between, e.g. focusing on the person speaking during a conversation, though you can split things up a bit to keep viewers attention. Many people don't like keeping track of clips on more than one or two tracks -- a lot of people prefer not using tracks at all -- so many editing apps let you use a Story Board to arrange things. With a story board you arrange a single picture or icon for each clip.
iSkysoft Video Editor lets you adjust colors. While HDTVs are more forgiving than picture tube sets when it comes to colors, I'd still think about it before changing anything you got out of your camera -- if you didn't shoot the video I'd suggest you don't think about it at all. That's because you may not have a good idea what that video will look like on another screen, on another monitor or tablet or [HD]TV etc. You can easily ruin things, even though to you it looks fine at the moment, maybe because the screen you're looking at won't show you that you're crushing the shadows & anything else dark colored in your video. Or maybe it won't show you where you're blowing out the highlights [white]. If you really need to adjust colors or brightness etc. I suggest using software that provides accurate, standardized meters that can tell you such things.
The editor has what they call Tilt Shift... I think this feature could be handy, but maybe not in the way you'd imagine. People shoot a Lot of video with their cell phones. Usually it's not on a movie set where you have signed permission from everyone you'll capture in your video. Blurring a face or license plate may keep you from arguing a newsworthy exemption in court.
Scene Detection has been a standard feature for years. You can shoot several seconds of black [or white or whatever color you want to put in front of your lens] before or after each time you start shooting video -- later when you look at your footage on your PC or laptop it makes it faster easier to divide things up into those individual shots for editing. With or without that sort of thing Scene Detection can help you find where one clip ends & another begins. You generally don't want to transfer video to your hard drive a clip at a time.
Most every video editor has loads of effects & transitions & such. The more inexperienced you are the more you'll use them as a rule. Many people have a coworker or family member or relative that thinks they have found one or more funny lines or jokes, so they'll repeat them -- often. What *might* have been amusing the 1st time, soon becomes something *maybe* tolerated. Always ask yourself if the effect that looks good to you today will look just as good when you're watching that video later on, maybe much later on. Ask yourself how much your viewers will appreciate it. And ask yourself what's more important, what deserves the most attention -- the person or persons in the video, or your FX & fancy transitions.
In summary...
I try VERY hard to be fair when it comes to software like this. I don't think it would be fair to just give it a pass or fail grade. I don't feel it would be fair to only look at it from the eyes of someone fairly well versed in working with video. There was a time when PC video tech was very young, that I would have given quite a lot for iSkysoft's Video Editor -- that was then... today there's too much well qualified competition.
I would not buy it, regardless the price, because to me if I'm going to invest my time & effort, I demand things that this iSkysoft app can't give me that other software I can buy in the same price range can. It's not iSkysoft's [or Wondershare's] fault that they came late to the party, weren't developing video software decades ago when other companies were. It's not for me to pay for that late start either.
As a free offer on GOTD, if you go by the original spirit & intent you should buy it if you use it -- a good many people can't. If you can't buy any video editor, the iSkysoft Video Editor might work well enough. I could of course be wrong, but IMHO anyone who raves about the app is inexperienced [or paid]. I don't want to imply that there's anything wrong with being inexperienced -- everyone starts that way -- but inexperience can hurt you...
Karl had the courage to post his short example. If he were to post it somewhere else there's a decent chance he'd be criticized. The encoding settings were not correct, the execution of the titling was poor, the execution of the transitions was not high quality nor all that special, the pans & zooms should have been better [though that may have been his camera -- I don't know if he started with a still or video], the size of the video frame itself is a bit unusual [not to mention ill-suited for most mobile devices]. With the possible exception of the pans & zooms [if they were done by the camera] that would not have happened with better software.
If/when you care about how well your video is received, that sort of stuff matters. If your video is something extraordinary you can often get away with video that has low [or no] production values. If the only viewers will be family, those values might or might not matter. If your only intent is to show something, e.g. a how-to video, viewers often could care less, as long as they can see what they need to see. But if you're posting a video that might enhance your reputation, you're toast. Many of the people behind top YouTube channels feel it's necessary to put the same editing expertise to work that's used on broadcast TV -- the people doing TV commercials often exceed that. It's what people expect nowadays, they can tell the difference, & they'll often judge you by it the same way they'll judge your appearance, e.g. how you're groomed, what you're wearing, & how you present yourself. Right or wrong it also often determines your credibility.