Simple Video Editing

Alan German

February 14, 2018

Yesterday…

Video equipment was

usually large, expensive,

and came with a long

learning curve…

Today…

We all have digital cameras and

smartphones that will take videos

at the press of a button!

Why edit videos?

• Crop videos for length (running time)

• Reduce storage requirements (file size)

• Eliminate shaky starts (and ends)

• Smooth out zoom-in/zoom-out sequences

• Combine different shots

Software Options?

But, free is even better!

https://shotcut.org

Shotcut

• Open-source software

• Multi-platform (Windows, Linux, Apple)

• Powerful features but simple to use

• Excellent on-line tutorials

User Interface

Open File

Video controls

Crop the shot by moving the end points

Fine-tune the frame selection with the counter

Export Video to Disk

Export File

provides multiple

options including:

file type (MP4)

resolution (1080p)

using original

format as default

Export File

gorilla_baby.mp4

Size: 57,614 KB

Length: 00.00.33

Be patient!

Rendering video files

takes time (even on a

fast machine)

Creating a 58 MB file

(33 second running time)

required 56 seconds

Combining Video Clips

Drag clip to the timeline

First clip on the timeline

Open/edit a second clip

Drag second clip to the timeline

Second clip on the timeline

Combine the two clips

Now, drag the second clip

to overlay the first clip

Transition created

Automatically creates a

transition (fade out/in)

Create a final transition

Select the second clip

Create a final transition

Select Filters…

Create a final transition

Select Filters… then +

Create a final transition

Select “Fade Out Video”

to fade to black

Let’s see if the demo godsare smiling!