~Four years later, I still can’t get the hang of this software when it comes to cropping a portion of frame. The number of likes on my original post, plus the ensuing discussion, make me think this is more of a usability problem than a user problem.
cut everything outside the rectangle and make the image resolution equal to the rectangle dimensions
I get it that I need to set the Video Mode first to my output resolution (2560x1440, out of a 3,840x2160 source). I’ve done that. Then what? I don’t want to resize; I want to crop.
I used Crop:Rectangle and figured out the exact position (pixels from the left 640, right 640, top 720 and bottom 0), but that left black bands to the left and at the top.
Switched to Crop:Source, but the numbers there are completely different from the Crop:Rectangle ones. I managed eventually to guess some numbers by trial and error, but I still don’t quite understand how to think about Crop:Source. The docs page didn’t illuminate me.
I suspect this complexity is somewhat necessary given Shotcut is a desktop video editor. On the other hand, cropping with a mobile editor like YouCut is (fortunately, but also by necessity) far more intuitive - it works exactly like in image editors. Could ShotCut adopt this UX somehow?
I’ve made a test now. I have the 24.01.28 version and I downloaded a 2160p file, making what you try to do. It’s perfect. The only thing that I’ve made it was to use the same framerate as the original clip.
Start with not trying to manually copy parameter values from a different filter. I only really use Crop: Source for 2 use case: remove bad edges and center-cropping. Sometimes, I have film scans and analog/SD sources that have some ugly edges that need cleaning. Center-cropping is a simple way to make something that does not match the project aspect ratio fill the frame.
A fair amount of thought and effort was put into the Apply to Source button partly inspired by your old thread. Use Crop: Rectangle to have a visual rectangle control to define the crop region, but automate the modifications required to alter the Video Mode and setup the Crop: Source filter.
Fundamentally, in a multitrack video editor there are a lot of use cases, and it is rarely working with a single asset like an image editor. The “How to Export a Cropped Area” section, however, specifically targets the simple, common use case of cropping a single asset. The alternative is to build a dedicated tool–possibly through a separate window in Shotcut–but I personally lack an interest in doing that. There are many software companies out there building single- or few-purpose tools based on a common engine: converter, trimmer, cropper, splitter, joiner, cleaner, etc.–all separate! Basically, one can view these little apps as a simple means to an ends. Personally, I think they are SEO fodder to game sales.
