Want to crop your videos but don’t know how to start?
A video editor needs to know how he can crop his videos. There is a way to do this using the VLC that is installed in your computer. This guide will teach you a simple way to get what you want. This might appear as complicated at first sight but it will be shown to you in a digestible way. An alternative way would be to use Wondershare Filmora. You will also be guided on how to use this software to crop your videos. Don’t worry and just take it one step at a time.
How to Crop a Video using VLC
Have you ever heard of the VLC media player? If not, you can browse through it online and install it on your computer. Aside from watching content, you can also crop videos with it. Cropping is a way to remove spaces that you would not want to be included on your video.
Find the software on your computer and don’t be overwhelmed by the interface.

Then click the Media and select Open File to choose the video that you want to crop. You should prepare the videos that you want to be cropped and rename them to avoid confusion.

Click the Tools on the menu and select the Effects and Filters.

After that, click on the Video Effects and under that select Crop. Doing this, will open the cropping editor.

You need to enter specific pixels on the left, right, top and bottom. This will depend on your preferences. If it is your first time and you don’t know the exact pixels then just input what you think would be enough.

After entering your preferred pixels, you can preview it. If you would like to adjust then just simply repeat entering the specific pixels.

You decided to save the cropped video. Find the Tools menu and select Preferences.

Find the Show settings and click All. In the search bar type Croppadd then save your previous preferred pixel settings. Lastly, click Save.

In the Media menu select the Convert/Save. You can drag and drop the cropped video to the File box.

You can select your file format and codecs by clicking Convert/Save.

Find the Edit Selected Profile and click the Video Codec. Then under the Filters tab, select the Video cropping filter. Finally, click Save.

In the Destination file select where you want it to be saved.

Then click Start.

Congratulations on getting here! You finally cropped your video using the VLC media player.
Although there are disadvantages to using this as your cropping tool. Like for example you want the real-time preview of what you’ve changed in your video. This would be a turn off for some that want their outputs to be shown to them immediately. Aside from this, there is a chance that you will forget one step to make and thus, the whole process would need to start over from scratch. Lastly, is the freedom to batch crop multiple videos. This is especially important for those that need to have many clips in one video. A user might lose the continuity of the story within his video.
While one of its strong suits is the affordability of the software. It is completely free and has no additional charges that may surprise you in the future. Finally, your output won’t have watermarks that could destroy the aesthetics of your video.
What are your experiences with using it as a cropping tool? What would you recommend to improve it? It is up to you the user if you want to continue using this as your partner in removing the excess in your videos.
An Easier Way to Crop a Video using Wondershare Filmora
Have you heard of an editing tool called Wondershare Filmora Video Editor ? What are your first impressions of this software? You can download this for free by going to the official site.
Wondershare Filmora is a useful editor that can help you produce the content that you want. It is packed with beneficial tools that you can learn to apply. If it is already installed on your computer then proceed to opening it.
For Win 7 or later (64-bit)
For macOS 10.14 or later

Prepare your videos that you need to crop. You can drag and drop your video or click the Import.

Select the video clip that you want to crop. Then, click the Crop tool and choose if you want the Crop or Pan & Zoom.

You can also right click the video clip .Under the Video tab you can select the Crop and Zoom or Crop to Fit then adjust to your preferred ratio.

One of the advantages of Filmora is you can preview what you have cropped immediately. This will greatly help you if you’re not sure what kind of crop that you want. If you’ve thought that you made a mistake then a simple Undo button could fix it. In short, you’re not going through the gruesome process of starting all over again. You can also do the batch cropping of multiple videos helping you ensure the smoothness of flow in the final output.
Although the Filmora is not free, there is a trial that you can use to test it to check if this video editor would meet your needs. It has tools that a beginner to expert video editor could use to produce high quality videos that would make the audience think that it was life from the movies.
The Bottom Line
The journey of exploring different options would help you make the decision. Both VLC media player and Wondershare Filmora have their great features which would aid the user to crop his videos in an efficient way. What are your thoughts on each of them? As an individual you have varied needs that a video tool should meet.
After reading this, you’ve had a clearer view of what these video softwares offers. Did this guide help you decide which would fit your needs as a video editor? What are your suggestions for improvement?
You could share with us the tips and tricks you know on cropping videos using these applications.