Shotcut Video Editor - Tutorial for Beginners in 11 MINUTES! [ UPDATED ]

https://youtu.be/ehysOpY-lj0?si=msHO8ezNlRqR5RdV

0:00 · Dear all, welcome to this new tutorial dedicated to Shotcut, one of the best and free editors you can use to make your videos quickly and easily on Windows, MacOS and Linux. In just 11 minutes we are going to see everything you need to know to start using it. When you open Shotcut its main interface opens with the possibility to start with a new project or open an existing one.

0:33 · In the first case you can set the Projects folder, the project name and its basic video properties, such as video resolution in HD or UHD for 4K and also frame rate in fps.

0:53 · Click on Start and import your videos, images and audio files by dragging and dropping these directly inside the timeline to start working or inside the Playlist panel to keep a saved link to your media within Shotcut.

1:11 · The general interface is made by several panels on the left, the main video Preview above and the project Timeline at the bottom. You can also close any panel with the cross and reopen it with the buttons on top. You can also undock any panel with the first button and dock it back by double clicking on its top side.

1:37 · You can also select a different workspace from the top right corner! In this video we will use the Editing one only.

1:46 · The timeline is the place where you build your own video. This is made by rows called Tracks, collecting your media files as clips. These show image thumbnails on visual content and sound waveform in time on audio content.

2:04 · You can zoom in and out around the marker by holding down the CTRL (or CMD) key while using your mouse wheel. If the timeline is too small you can enlarge it by dragging from the small dots above.

2:19 · By default you have only a single Video Track but you can create more Video and Audio Tracks by right-clicking on any vacant space and go to Track Operation. Video Tracks welcome visual and audio content and Audio Tracks only sound.

2:40 · To record from your microphone place the marker properly and click on Record Audio. If this does not work make sure to check your input source by going to File, Open Other... Audio-Video Device and try again.

3:01 · The Preview in Project mode shows the timeline content where the marker is.

3:07 · You can place the marker or drag it in time to check specific frames or playback the entire content with the player above or the Spacebar key. You can also switch the Preview in Source mode to check any media file from the Playlist panel.

3:28 · On the right side you can check the volume level with the Peak Meter or open other meters from View, Scopes to check colors and spectrums.

3:41 · Now let's see how to edit clips. Click on any clip to select it and drag it to move it within the same track or in another one. If any video comes with audio both frames and audio are moved together, unless you right-click on the clip and go to Detach Audio.

4:02 · When the visual content overlaps, the clip in the top Video Track is always shown in front of the other clips at the bottom.

4:11 · To trim clips just drag these from their edges. This cuts video and audio content.

4:19 · To cut, copy and paste any selected clip just right-click on it. To split it in multiple pieces fix the marker in time and use the S key. To remove any clip select it and use the backspace key instead.

4:38 · To undo and redo your actions use the Undo and Redo buttons on top. You can also open the History panel on the right to go through your actions made.

4:50 · If you overlap two visual clips within the same track you create a crossfade transition where the opacity level is smoothly changed from the first clip to the second one. You can also right-click on it and go to Properties to changes the transition effect and its options.

5:11 · You can also add fade transitions by clicking and dragging from the top corners of any clip. This way you make the clip appear and disappear by changing its transparency in time, as much slowly as the transition lasts in time. On audio clips, this fade varies its volume level in time.

5:38 · On the left side you get several buttons to manage the entire content from each track. Enable the lock button to block any modification on the track clips; the speaker button to mute or unmute the track and the eye button to hide or show the visual content inside the track.

5:58 · When selecting any clip you can open the Properties panel on the left to adjust its settings. On videos you can correct the playback Speed, duration, aspect ratio and rotation. Switch to Audio to check codec, sample rate and adjust the synchronization. This moves the audio in time but does not shift the audio waveform of the timeline as well.

6:32 · Open the Filters panel to add effects to your selected clip. This shows the list of the effects applied including fade transitions. Click on the plus button to browse for any video, audio or time remapping effect. You can apply blend mode, blur, chroma key, brightness and contrast, color grading, crop and flip. You can also add Size, Position and Rotate to apply basic transformation.

7:11 · All these effects are listed in order. You can select any to adjust its properties at the bottom or edit it directly on the preview when it gets nodes and contours.

7:25 · You can disable any effect by clicking on its checkmark, remove it with the minus button or change its position with the up & down arrows.

7:36 · From the effects list you can also add text on the clip. In this case type within the preview and set all text properties above such as style, size, color and distribution. Drag from the central node to move it and apply any animation from the Preset list.

8:02 · This text effect last as long as the clip is. If you want text to stop at a certain point you can split the clip and remove the text filter where needed. Just remember that the splitted clips are now independent.

8:22 · On audio clips you can switch to Audio to apply other effects such as Gain-Volume to adjust the clip volume; Pan to balance the left and right stereo channels; Pitch to adjust pitch; Equalizer to apply audio filters and many others like Delay, Reverb and Compressor.

8:49 · You can also change filter properties in time by using the keyframes. Next to one or multiple properties you can enable the watch icon to show a smaller track at the bottom, one per each effect property. Each starts with one keyframe saving the current property settings, so just move the marker in time and edit the property to drop another keyframe. These keyframes fix the property value where they are placed so the effect property changes in time according to the saved keyframes.

9:28 · You can also click and drag any keyframe to move it in time and change the speed of the transition between two keyframes. You can also select any keyframe to edit its property above and use the bin button on the left to remove it.

9:45 · To save your project go to Save above. Shotcut projects are saved as .mlt files that you can reopen when you launch Shotcut or from Open File.

9:59 · To render your project open the Export panel. On the left pick any ready template for your video and go to Advanced to customize its settings, including video resolution, aspect ratio, frame rate, audio codec, stereo channels, sample rate and bit rate. Then just go to Export File!

10:26 · Thank you very much for watching this video! Visit our YouTube channel and our website to discover other free tutorials, courses and giveaways!