Shotcut Video Editor

Shotcut is a free, open-source, cross-platform video editor offering a comprehensive set of professional editing features including multi-track timeline, 4K resolution support, wide format compatibility, and hardware-accelerated encoding. Developed by Dan Dennedy since 2011, Shotcut is built on the MLT Framework and the Frei0r video plugin system, with over 12,000 stars as of 2026. Key features include: multi-track timeline (unlimited tracks for video and audio with drag-and-drop clip arrangement, trimming, splitting, and ripple editing), wide format support (native editing of many formats via FFmpeg including ProRes, DNxHD, H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9, and professional camera formats with no import or transcoding required), 4K and high resolution (support for 4K, 8K, and ultra-high-definition video editing and export), hardware acceleration (GPU-accelerated decoding and encoding via NVIDIA NVENC, Intel QSV, AMD VCE, and VideoToolbox on macOS for faster rendering), filters and effects (over 50 video and audio filters including color grading, chroma key, blur, sharpen, noise reduction, stabilization, speed changes, and audio normalization with keyframable parameters), color grading (3-point color correction with lift, gamma, gain controls, color wheels, scopes including waveform, vectorscope, and RGB parade), keyframes (animate filter parameters and clip properties over time with smooth interpolation), audio editing (multi-track audio mixing, peak meters, audio scoping, fades, and audio filters including EQ, compressor, and noise gate), timeline rendering (background rendering of timeline sections for smooth preview playback on complex projects), playlist and clips (organize source clips in playlist bins with thumbnails and metadata), export presets (optimized export presets for YouTube, Vimeo, social media, and professional delivery formats), and cross-platform (Windows, macOS, and Linux with portable and installer versions).