Shotcut is an open source video editor available for Windows, Mac, or Linux. Based on MLT Multimedia Framework, it features cross-platform capabilities in conjunction with the WebVfx and movit plugins. It also includes 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.

Shotcut was originally conceived in November, 2004 by Charlie Yates, an MLT co-founder and the original lead developer. The current version of Shotcut is a complete rewrite by Dan Dennedy, another MLT co-founder and its current lead. Dan wanted to create a new editor based on MLT and he chose to reuse the Shotcut name since he liked it so much. He wanted to make something to exercise the new cross-platform capabilities of MLT especially in conjunction with the WebVfx and movit plugins.

Wide Format Support

• Support for the latest audio and video formats thanks to FFmpeg

• Supports popular image formats such as BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, SVG, TGA, TIFF as well as image sequences

• No import required - native timeline editing

• Frame-accurate seeking for many formats

• Multi-format timeline: mix and match resolutions and frame rates within a project

• Webcam capture

• Audio capture

• Support for 4K resolutions

• Network stream playback (HTTP, HLS, RTMP, RTSP, MMS, UDP)

• Frei0r video generator plugins (e.g. color bars and plasma)

• Color, noise, and counter generators

• EDL (CMX3600 Edit Decision List) export

• Export single frame as image or video as image sequence

Audio Features

• Audio scopes: loudness, peak meter, waveform, spectrum analyzer

• Volume control

• Audio filters:
Balance, Bass & Treble, Band Pass, Compressor, Copy Channel, Delay, Downmix, Expander, Gain, High Pass, Limiter, Low Pass, Normlize: One Pass, Normalize: Two Pass, Notch, Pan, Reverb, Swap Channels

• Audio mixing across all tracks

• Fade in and out audio and fade video from and to black with easy-to-use fader controls on timeline

• Cross-fade audio and video dissolve transitions easily by overlapping shots on the same track of the timeline

• JACK transport sync

• Tone generator

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, Lens Correction, 3D LUT, 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

Editing Features

• Trimming on source clip player or timeline with ripple option

• Easy-to-use cut, copy, and paste operations

• 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

Cross Platform & Codec Independent

• Cross platform support: available on Windows, Linux, and macOS (OS X)

• Codec independent so does not rely on system codecs

• Can run as a portable app from external drive

• UI translations: Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Italian, Occitan, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Ukrainian

• Batch encoding with job control

• Encode/transcode to a variety of formats and codecs thanks to FFmpeg

• Stream (encode to IP) files and any capture source

• Video quality measurement (PSNR and SSIM)

• Perform integrity check of an audio/video file

• View detailed information about an audio/video file

Display and Monitoring

• External monitoring via Blackmagic Decklink card on NTSC monitor

• External monitoring on an extra system display/monitor

• UI themes/skins: native-OS look and custom dark and light

• Control video zoom in the player: fit viewable area (default), 50%, original (100%), and 200%

• Flexible UI through dock-able panels

• Detailed media properties panel

• Recent files panel with search

• Thumbnail and waveform caching between sessions

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, 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