Our Verdict
Shotcut's unpaid open source video editor in chief serves up altogether the basics but it is fewer consumer friendly than some competitors.
For
- Completely free
- Cross-platform (Mac, Windows, Linux)
- Does non require luxuriously end equipment
Against
- Lacks social media congenial output options
- Playback on the timeline is often choppy
- Lacks features like 360-degree VR editing, multicam redaction, and motion trailing
Tom's Guide Finding of fact
Shotcut's free open source video editor program serves up all the basics but it is less consumer friendly than much competitors.
Pros
- + Completely unblock
- + Cross-weapons platform (Mac, Windows, Linux)
- + Does non require high end equipment
Cons
- - Lacks social media friendly output options
- - Playback on the timeline is often choppy
- - Lacks features like 360-degree VR editing, multicam redaction, and motion tracking
Shotcut 21: Specs
Minimum system of rules requirements:
Microcomputer: Windows 7 (64-bit)
Mac: MacOS 10.10
Linux: glibc 2.27 (64-bit)
Memory: 4GB of RAM for SD, 8GB for HD, and 16GB for 4K video production.
Graphics: Well-matched with OpenGL 2.0. On Windows, you can besides employ a lineup with DirectX 9 Oregon 11 drivers.
Shotcut is a completely free, full-featured, coarse source video editing syllabu that deserves respect.
It's marketed as a consumer/prosumer orientated intuitive app that gets the business finished minimal interface complexity, and for the most part, it succeeds.
Primary features like importing TV, keyframing on a timeline, cutting and splicing, and adding transitions, titles, and effects, are all accomplished in hardly a some clicks with plenty of drag and drop for good evaluate.
Unlike more or less former free packages, like our circulating fave HitFilm Express 15, Shotcut works even with lower-goal computers, devising it one of the best atrip video editing software package programs around. If you're an amateur-slash-prosumer videographer with a mid-even Mac, Windows, operating theater Linux system, and do not need a whole lot of bells and whistles surgery hand holding to accomplish your goals, Shotcut may make up a white match for you.
We've fagged some clock with Shotcut 21, the to the highest degree recent version, so we tail outline what we like and don't like about IT. Show on for our full Shotcut review.
Shotcut 21 review: Interface
Spell information technology's non as intuitive equally Hitfilm or iMovie, anyone World Health Organization is still vaguely familiar with non-lineal video editing should follow able to arrest the hang of Shotcut pretty quick. It's leisurely to learn, but most novices are not going to impartial leap out right into the program and straightaway find their way around. Watching an instructional video or 2 leave go a long style in getting new users wont to to this software package's conventions. Oscillate your mouse over a tool to display (albeit in tiny print), its function.
The default layout is thin and a minute text heavy, but you tush use the top side menu to switch out different workspaces — or create a custom one — that will make the program more comfortable. All panels are dockable — you can ajar and nestled panels at will or separate them from the application frame to focus along a single aspect of your project. You can also switch background colors from unenlightened, lightly, and system, nonnegative the app supports external monitors.
The app lets you create six-fold tracks for audio and video, while conveniently located tools let you stitch it all together in any way you'd the likes of by easily splitting, trimming, and snapping clips conjointly. A history timeline makes it easy to keep track of everything you have done to your footage piece an audio meter lets you supervise your levels.
Because Shotcut is barefaced-author, there are a couple of weird things that Mac and Windows users may take some time getting accustomed – such as buttons that you think will toggle off and on but do not, or it can take single clicks to reckon a menu or set of filters. But after working in the program, IT all becomes second nature.
Shotcut 21 review: Filters and transitions
Shotcut comes with a moderate array of built-in filters sectional into Favorites, Video only, and Audio solitary. Some of these filters are simple presets while others, suchlike the chroma key, are customizable. I found these elements more than sufficient for about consumer adjusted short movies of friends, family, outings, and occasions.
In increase to built-in filters, Shotcut also provides transitions that you can use to connect clips. One handy feature is the control bubbles at the top edges of each clip that allow you to click and drag to produce a fade-in and fade-out effect flat on the timeline instead of searching for and applying a dinner gown transition. You rear end pile up effects in multiple layers on the timeline or use keyframes to animate effects, which whol works as expected.
Adding a regular transition requires some doing, first to sweep up one lop atop another where the overlap creates an automatic crossfade – which is kind of cool – but if you want any other transition style, you have to click the transition space so seek out early customizable options. Most video editors LET you drag out and drop transitions 'tween cuts wherever you want.
Shotcut 21 followup: Schoolbook editing features
Shotcut's textual matter features actually shine. You get many choices of static operating theater revived text with classic TV styles like lower thirds, operating theater animations in which your titles drop in from the top OR slide across the canvas over time. Text features are flexible and illogical, which encourages experimentation.
The app also has an pick for 3D text with adjustable features that include size, depth, and tilt. You can design your own text and titles and save them atomic number 3 presets for future use.
Shotcut 21 review: Exportation video
Shotcut is compatible with and can export to many file formats. Unlike many consumer packages, you have to consult the documentation or video tutorials to find retired which export preset will best fit a posting to YouTube or Facebook. It's non hard to find, but it would beryllium great if it were labeled intrinsically, arsenic that's what most users are looking.
Shotcut 21 review: The newest updates
Shotcut is updated pretty regularly with bug fixes and sport updates and this holds true for 2021. Bug fixes have far exceeded feature updates this year and IT's optimum to attend the News page on Shotcut.org to stay circulating.
While, up to now, there undergo been no major feature updates, incremental changes and improvements were implemented. These include, only not by a long sight are limited to, additive video filters so much as Contemplate, Deband and 360: Equirectangular to Stereographic. The latter can be used to create "Tiny Planet" videos — a style of video that can be created in many of the higher death video editors. And 350 video filter performance has been improved. Shotcut has added a Rush along adaption to the Timer also.
A new GPS Text video filter allows users to add GPS data to videos. These tooshie include parameters such as focal ratio, distance and altitude. It's pretty slipperiness and stern add another dimension to action and outdoor videos.
With direct support for GoPro .LRV files As placeholder videos, users with lower end systems make another option for improving performance (see the next section for an additional tip off). WebP, a format that supports vivification and alpha transparency and creates smaller files while maintaining upper-class, has been added to Shotcut's exportation function.
For a riddled list of changes for Shotcut 21, head over to the Shotcut Web log.
Shotcut 21 review: Performance
One important feature added in the previous version was Preview Scaling. This is designed to take some of the load hit your system by letting you lower the resolution Eastern Samoa you add and slay certain clips, tracks, transitions, and exceptional effects. The idea is to edit your video at the same size as the curriculum's trailer window.
Preview scaling lets you set your picture to preview at 360p (for a 1080p screen), 540p (for a high-density screen), and 720p (for 4K UHD footage). This new feature is not presented as a be-all final stage-all for performance issues on its ain, though. As an alternative, information technology's fashioned to live used aboard another feature called flat-growing-resolving power proxy, which is still under growing. In that location's besides an analogous advanced export mount for reviewing drafts.
Shotcut 21 review: Finding of fact
Shotcut offers all the basic functionality of a soundly television app, though it does sol with somewhat of a gawky feel. For those used to operating in a Mac or Windows environment, the open source conventions and interface bequeath take a bit of getting accustomed. Information technology's too missing more flashy consumer features variously contained in apps like VideoPad,HitFilm Convey, and DaVinci Resolve same VR, multicam editing, and movement tracking. Merely that's probably non then big a deal for most amateur memory makers.
For video novices and friendly media posters, there are easier and more spontaneous freeborn packages available than Shotcut (such atomic number 3 the aforementioned HitFilm and VideoPad). Just for those familiar with video editing and who search an app with plenty of useful features, moderate system requirements, and is completely freeborn, you have aught to lose by giving it a slam.
Jackie is an psychoneurotic, awake technical school writer and editor in northern Calif.. A wildlife advocate, cat fan, and photo app fanatic, her specialties include cross-political platform hardware and software, art, designing, photography, video, and a wide range of creative and productivity apps and systems. Formerly senior editor program at Macworld and creativity editor program at The Next Web, Jackie now writes for a variety of consumer tech publications.
Shotcut 21 review
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/shotcut
