Shotcut Video Editor Review - Is It Worth Your Time?

If you are looking for a free video editor, you should definitely opt for an open-source video editor. They come free of cost without locking any feature and they are compatible with all desktop operating systems. The user interface of Shotcut looks powerful still easy to operate. There are dockable panels and flexible layouts to customize the interface.

Coming to the features, there are plenty of video effects and filters to enhance video content. You can do all the standard video editing works comfortably. There are certain advanced features available such as keyframe, audio mixing and much more. However, can we consider Shotcut video editor the best for editing professional-quality videos? Find out the complete Shotcut reviews.

Part 1. How to Download and Install Shotcut

Shotcut is completely compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux. The company has discontinued Shotcut 32 bit version and the current version only supports 64 bit computer. Shotcut is safe to download and the installer is free of spyware and malware. Here are the steps to download and install Shotcut.

Step 1: From your web browser, visit “shotcut.org/download”. It automatically detects your operating system and provides you the installer to download Shotcut that could be compatible with your system.

Step 2: You can download the installer from Site 1(FossHub) or Site 2(GitHub). Besides, you can download the .exe file from Windows installer link or .zip file from Windows portable zip file.

Step 3: After downloading the installer file, install Shotcut from it by following the on-screen instructions.

Step 4: After installation, launch Shotcut and import all video and audio clips from Open File option. Bring them down to Timeline for basic editing.

Part 2. Key Features of Shotcut

Shotcut has all the standard features for basic video editing. Before downloading Shotcut, you should be aware of the features so that you can decide whether the video editor is suitable for your video editing purpose. Here are all the key features of Shotcut that stand out.

Video Capture – You can capture your screen as well as webcam video. Shotcut supports audio capture from the system as well as from the external mic. In fact, the software supports 4K resolution which is great being an open-source video editor.

Standard Editing – You can trim video clips and perform cut-copy-paste on clips. You can also append clips, insert clips in between, and extract audio from the videos. There are keyframes for video filters, presents, and markers. You can drag and drop files and keep notes. Besides, Shotcut uses proxy editing for handling high-resolution video files.  

Audio Features – Shotcut comes with several audio filters that you can apply on your audio clips to enhance them. There are options for volume control, audio mixing, tone generator, and pitch adjustment. The popular fade in and fade out effects are also available along with audio scopes.

Video Effects – There is no dearth of effects and filters on Shotcut. In fact, you can compare Shotcut with premium video editors when it comes to video filters. Besides, there are blending modes and track compositing. Moreover, there are several transitions and deinterlacing. You can opt for 360-degree filters and reverse video clips as well as use video scopes.

Wide Support – Shotcut supports almost all the different video and audio formats. In fact, you get to select different photo file formats. The multi-format timeline supports mixing video and audio of different parameters perfectly. The software also supports network streaming and alpha channel videos.

Part 3. How to Edit Videos with Shotcut

Shotcut is good as a free video editor for standard editing options. You can add texts and titles, crop and trim video clips, as well as split and join clips. Besides, you can control the speed of the video clips as well as add transitions. Thereafter, you can export the video and publish online. Here are the steps about Shotcut editing videos.

Step 1: Launch Shotcut and go to File> New. Select Projects Folder and Video Mode and enter Project Name. Finally, click on Start button to get started.

Step 2: Go to View> Layout> Timeline Project for the best editing layer.

Step 3: To import media files, go to File> Open File> and select media files.

Step 4: To add texts, go to Filters> “+” icon> Video tab> select “Text:Simple”. Thereafter, type anything and choose a font and select any color.

Step 5: To crop any video, go to Filters> Video> and Crop option. You can select various geometry shapes as you think appropriate.

Step 6: To add transitions, keep two clips on the same track and get them overlapped. Choose a transition from Properties and apply to your video.

Step 7: Finally, go to File> Export Video option. You can choose from different option and select frame rate, video resolution, and others from Advanced option.

Part 4. Shotcut Alternative to Edit Videos

There are many reasons why you could be looking for a better alternative to Shotcut. First of all, there is a big lack of advanced video editing features. That is why editing professional-quality videos with Shotcut is not highly feasible. The user interface is not as robust as the standard user interface of video. The editing cannot be as fluent as any premium and professional video editor. That is why we recommend Wondershare Filmora as the best alternative to Shotcut.

Wondershare Filmora is a premium video editor where there is a perfect balance of standard and advanced features. You can also capture screen and webcam video. There are tons of transitions, effects, filters, elements, and much more. There is also a stock media library available. Filmora has wider support for different file formats. Here are the steps on how to edit videos with Filmora.  

Step 1: Download and install Filmora as per your operating system. Launch Filmora and click on New Project option on the welcome screen. Drag and drop media files into Project Media folder.

Step 2: Drag and drop video clips and audio clips on the timeline in proper sequence. Thereafter, you can do basic editing such as trimming, cropping, splitting, and much more.

Step 3: Go to Transitions option and add your desired transitions in between clips. You can also opt for Titles for texts, Effects for animations, and Elements for objects.

Step 4: Once you are satisfied with the editing, click on Export button to save your video to your hard drive.

Part 5. FAQs about Shotcut

Is Shotcut totally free?

Yes, Shotcut is a completely free video editor as it belongs to the open-source software category. It is available for free for Windows, Mac, and Linux users. All the features are completely unlocked, and there is no premium version available.

Is Openshot better than Shotcut?

Openshot is equally good as Shotcut in terms of features. But in terms of user experience and editing 4K videos, Shotcut scores better than Openshot. Shotcut is a more lightweight video editor, and hence, the chances of crashes are relatively low.

Is Shotcut good for YouTube?

Shotcut is particularly good for YouTube if you need only basic editing on your videos. You can export the edited video file from Shotcut to YouTube after basic editing. You can get eh frame rate, video resolution, and aspect ratio as per your requirements.