There was no intent to criticize, sorry it came across that way. I’m genuinely trying to understand your point of view, but some of it is a mystery to me:
I checked. Every major button has tool tips. What OS and Shotcut package are you using that doesn’t have tool tips?
When doing a click and drag, how would a user know where in a clip to start and stop? Video cuts often need to be frame-accurate, and need to be seen to be accurate. In/out points and the Split tool make this process accurate, fast, and easy. Are you really sure you would prefer to edit video the same way as audio? I would wager most long-term video people would not.
This already happens. Drag a clip to the Timeline window and Track 1 gets automatically created and is ready to export. There’s a faster way… drag a clip to the Source window and export direct from Source. A timeline isn’t even required to transcode video. Shotcut is fast at common tasks. What more do you feel is lacking?
Lots of people including myself already do this for multi-cam video. With audio waveform thumbnails turned on, just match spikes between tracks. What do you feel is lacking?
This request was unclear. Does shrink mean stop playback before the end of the clip, or speed up the entire clip to fit the new length? It already does the former, which is far more common than the latter.
Drag and drop already works between Windows Explorer, the source window, and the timeline. It works to move clips around the timeline. Standard Ctrl and Shift + click works to select multiple clips. What do you feel is lacking?
The default video mode is Automatic so a new user doesn’t have to understand resolution. It adapts to the first video added to the timeline. Then export is as simple as choosing the YouTube preset and hit Export. Or choose nothing and use the capable H.264 export default. What do you feel is lacking?
Fair point. There is a Documentation category in the forum that is evolving, but it is curiously difficult to find. Shotcut is also a moving target as new features are released almost monthly.
Fair enough. But simple tasks can be easily covered in four tutorial videos, already in wide circulation. That’s not a lot of investment to ask of a new user on a sophisticated tool.
I have a background in recording engineering for classical and jazz as well. I can testify that sitting a new user in front of Cubase or ProTools is very daunting to them. Shotcut is in the same category as those tools. ProTools doesn’t scare you because you know the terrain. New users wouldn’t. I do not feel that “real” DAWs are ahead of Shotcut in terms of simplicity at all. Audacity is technically not a DAW.
To summarize, we aren’t criticizing you so much as we’re trying to understand what you want to be different. Half the things you mentioned are already there. The volunteers in the forum help around a hundred new forum members a month, and few of the new users have made Shotcut sound like the Everest struggle you’ve portrayed. So unfortunately, it will take further explanation to help us understand what functionality you feel needs to change. Defaulting the timeline with a ready-to-go empty track? Okay, that could be useful. Fix the documentation? Yes, we know, it just takes time when the effort isn’t backed by corporate dollars. Beyond that? Most new users seem to click along pretty well. So help us understand better.
You do raise the well-established point that the educational arc of the tool or website or forum could use a makeover. Since you know what it’s like to be a new user, maybe this is an opportunity for you to contribute tutorials that address exactly what is missing. There is room for you to make a name for yourself if you want it.