Shotcut Free Video Editor

Shotcut is a free, open-source, cross-platform video editor available for Windows, macOS, and Linux without watermarks, time limits, or feature restrictions. Originally developed by Charlie Yates in 2004 and maintained by Dan Dennedy through Meltytech LLC since 2012, the editor leverages the MLT multimedia framework for its rendering engine and FFmpeg for format support, enabling native editing of hundreds of audio and video formats without requiring import or transcoding. Key features include multi-format timelines that allow mixing different resolutions, frame rates, and codecs within the same project, frame-accurate seeking for precise editing, and support for resolutions up to 4K and beyond. The interface features dockable and undockable panels including a detailed media properties panel, recent files search, thumbnail playlist view, filter panel with real-time preview, edit history, encoding settings, and a background job queue. Capture capabilities include screen recording, webcam input, audio capture from JACK and PulseAudio, network stream playback, and professional video I/O through Blackmagic Design SDI and HDMI devices. The editor provides over 60 video and audio filters including color grading, chroma key, blur, sharpen, noise reduction, audio normalization, and 3-point editing with ripple, roll, slip, and slide trim operations. Recent versions have added features like timeline markers and regions, keyframe animation for filter parameters, proxy editing for smooth playback of high-resolution footage, and hardware-accelerated decoding. The project maintains active development with regular releases and a growing community forum.