General Idea Of How To Use Shotcut?

[abrogard]

I’m a completely new starter to video editing.

I’m using shotcut on a pc with win10.

What I’m trying to do is make one video from about a dozen home videos of our kids.

I’m currently importing all these videos and then dragging them down to the timeline zone with ‘add video track’ ( which seems to bring the audio too ).

So then I’ve got (right now) four video timelines one on top of the other.

Then I’m working on the top track as ‘my movie’.

I cut bits out of it and join the two sides.

I cut bits out of it and try to put bits in that I’ve cut out of the videos below it on the other timelines.

Is this basically the right way to use it?

[DRM]

Since you are new to video editing you should really go to the Tutorials page here on the website and watch all of the videos listed on Shotcut.

[abrogard]

well thank you for that. I’ll do that. so the answer is somehow more difficult than a mere ‘yes’ or ‘no’ ? Or even a ‘maybe’ ? Or even a ‘sometimes’ ?

[st599]

Hi

There are numerous ways to use a video editor. One way is to have multiple timelines and to do what you’re doing. You may find it becomes a bit bulky and difficult to manage.

Personally, I usually have one video timeline and some audio timelines (usually dialogue, voice over, effects, music and atmos)

For each clip, I then mark the in and outpoints that I want to use (using the keyboard I and O keys) then append it to the video timeline (using key A).

The only bit I miss on Shotcut is the lack of Bins (folders in which you organise all your camera files).

[abrogard]

Thanks for that. I guess if I do the ‘housekeeping’ - get rid of the videos/timelines that I’ve already ‘processed’ then I’ll be virtually at where you’re talking about. Avoiding the ‘bulk’.

So it looks like I’m on a good enough methodology. Thanks.

‘…only bit I miss…’ ? From what? You used to use something else?

I used to use Magix but they only let me use one copy for the price. I have to buy again for each of my children and my wife. Don’t see the point when there’s apparently excellent stuff like this around.

[st599]

I’ve used just about every edit software going.

For personal use, this software is great.

[abrogard]

Well thanks for that.

I’ll take it as an authoritative summary and recommendation.

Which is important to dilettante’s such as I simply because of the plethora of apps out there - I only want to dabble, don’t have much time for learning details, struggling with package after package looking for best/easiest/whatever is a major hassle. Not what I want to do.

So if I can settle on just one and be confident that one’s as good as any and maybe even better than many then small thing though that might seem to you it’s a big thing to me. I can then patiently and happily dig into how it all works and what I can do with it - on those few occasions when I’ve got a bit of time…