Shotcut is a free, open source, cross-platform video editor for Windows, Mac and Linux. Major features include support for a wide range of formats; no import required meaning native timeline editing; Blackmagic Design support for input and preview monitoring; and resolution support to 4k.
Editing Features
- Trimming on source clip player or timeline with ripple option
- Append, insert, overwrite, lift, and ripple delete editing on the timeline
- 3-point editing
- Hide, mute, and lock track controls
- Multitrack timeline with thumbnails and waveforms
- Unlimited undo and redo for playlist edits including a history view
- Create, play, edit, save, load, encode, and stream MLT XML projects (with auto-save)
- Save and load trimmed clip as MLT XML file
- Load and play complex MLT XML file as a clip
- Drag-n-drop files from file manager
- Scrubbing and transport control
Video Effects
- Video compositing across video tracks
- HTML5 (sans audio and video) as video source and filters
- 3-way (shadows, mids, highlights) color wheels for color correction and grading
- Eye dropper tool to pick neutral color for white balancing
- Deinterlacing
- Auto-rotate
- Fade in/out audio and fade video from and to black with easy-to-use fader controls on timeline
- Video wipe transitions:
- bar, barn door, box, clock (radial), diagonal, iris, matrix, and custom gradient image
- Track compositing/blending modes:
- Over, Add, Saturate, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Darken, Dodge, Burn, Hard Light, Soft Light, Difference, Exclusion, HSL Hue, HSL Saturation, HSL Color, HSL Luminosity.
- Video Filters:
- Alpha Channel: Adjust, Alpha Channel: View, Blur, Brightness, Chroma Key: Advanced, Chroma Key: Simple, Contrast, Color Grading, Crop, Diffusion, Glow, Invert Colors, Key Spill: Advanced, Key Spill: Simple, Mirror, Old Film: Dust, Old Film: Grain, Old Film: Projector, Old Film: Scratches, Old Film: Technocolor, Opacity, Rotate, Rutt-Etra-Izer, Saturation, Sepia Tone, Sharpen, Size and Position, Stabilize, Text, Vignette, Wave, White Balance
- Speed effect for audio/video clips
Hardware Support
- Blackmagic Design SDI and HDMI for input and preview monitoring
- Leap Motion for jog/shuttle control
- Webcam capture
- Audio capture to system audio card
- Capture (record) SDI, HDMI, webcam (V4L2), JACK audio, PulseAudio, IP stream, X11 screen, and Windows DirectShow devices
- Multi-core parallel image processing (when not using GPU and frame-dropping is disabled)
- DeckLink SDI keyer output
- OpenGL GPU-based image processing with 16-bit floating point linear per color component
Shotcut 26.1.30 changelog:
Settings > Preview Scaling > Use Hardware Decoder
- Enabled by default, except with NVIDIA on Linux.
- Uses VA-API on Linux, Media Foundation on Windows, and Video Toolbox on macOS.
- Only supports codecs your hardware can decode; automatically falls back to software decoding if needed.
- May not provide a dramatic speed boost unless you use Linear 10-bit CPU processing mode or have a low-powered CPU.
- Has limited impact on seeking and scrubbing—using proxies is still recommended for smooth editing.
- Reduces CPU usage, which can help lower battery drain and keep your system cooler.
- Not integrated with GPU processing mode via 0-copy.
- Transferring uncompressed video between CPU and GPU RAM can be a bottleneck, so this feature is limited to preview scaling or 1080p-60fps (or lower) sources.
Export > Codec > Use hardware decoder
- Disabled by default, as it can sometimes increase export times.
- No resolution or frame rate limits.
- Can reduce CPU usage during export, which may be beneficial for some workflows.
- (Tip: Avoid exporting videos on your lap for long periods!)
- The setting is persistent and will be remembered between sessions and projects.
- Feel free to test it on your system to see if it offers benefits for your specific hardware and workflow.
What"s This?
- This is contextual help! It lets you get assistance for a specific item in the user interface—just click the "What"s This?" icon, then click on the UI element you want to learn about. Usually, this opens a web browser to the relevant documentation, but for some items like toolbar buttons, it may show a tooltip instead if more detailed documentation isn"t available.
- Comprehensive documentation is essential for this feature to be useful. Many users aren"t aware that documentation exists, but it"s now much more complete and accessible. The documentation is available on the website, and a PDF is generated automatically from the forum-wiki-based content. Additionally, the forum offers a Claude AI bot that can help answer questions using the documentation and release notes.
Other New Features
- Added converting a project between GPU & CPU processing modes.
- Added the Blend Mode filter and track option for the Linear 10-bit GPU/CPU processing mode.
- Increased the maximum resolution in Video Mode and Export to 8640 for 8K VR180 video.
- Added Settings > Language > Chinese (Simplified).
Changes
- Improved the appearance of outline in the text filters: Text: Simple, Typewriter, GPS Text, Subtitle Burn In and Timer.
- Changed bulk proxy generation (when you switch Settings > Proxy > Use Proxy ON) to update clips.
- (Previously, you had to turn proxy mode off and back on again to start using the proxies. That requires reloading the project each time, which was a real drag.)
- Changed Timeline > Add Generator and New Generator > Add To Timeline to not seek.
- This leaves the playhead over the clip it just added to facilitate preview and reduce steps.
- Changed simple keyframe defaults in Mask: From File filter to be more convenient for multi-track transitions.
Fixes
- Fixed Brightness filter with a reduced level is different when there was clip with transparency above it (broke in v25.12).
- Fixed Timeline > Record Audio would always reset the selected audio device and require re-selection (broke in v25.12).
- Fixed the Mask: Apply video filter in 10-bit processing modes (incomplete in v25.12).
- Fixed macOS app signing.
- Fixed a crash in the scrub-bar on a very long playlist.
- Improved the reliability of opening URLs (Help menu), Show In Folder, Open With in the Linux AppImage/portable/Snap.
- Fixed app not responding while enqueuing very many proxy jobs.
- Fixed Previous/Next in Subtitles may be unreadable on some themes and OS.
- Fixed reading the alpha channel in 12-bit ProRes with alpha.
- Fixed the Halftone video filter was not copying input alpha channel.
- Fixed it was possible to use Split on a locked track in Timeline.
- Fixed glitchy export job progress and estimated remaining time.
Download: Shotcut 26.1.30 | Portable | ARM64 ~200.0 MB (Open Source)
View: Shotcut Home Page | Other Operating Systems | Screenshot
