HPR3717: Video editing with Shotcut on a low end PC

Links

Shotcut video editor website

Useful
Shortcut keys for the Shotcut video editor
C = copy
V = paste
A = duplicate
X = ripple delete
Ctrl + X = ripple delete but send to clipboard
S = split
Tip not covered in my
Podcast

Splits are not fixed and can be adjusted. Once you've split up clips
and put them in the right order on the timeline you can still adjust the
cut point even though you previously split the clip because the clip is
referenced to the original file in the playlist.

Introduction

Hello and welcome Hacker Public Radio audience my name is Mr X
welcome to this podcast. As per usual I'd like to start by thanking the
people at HPR for making this podcast possible. HPR is a Community led
podcast provided by the community for the community that means you can
contribute to. The HPR team have gone to great deal of effort to
simplify and streamline the process of providing podcasts. There are
many ways to record an episode these days using phones tablets PCs and
alike. The hardest barrier is sending in your first show. Don't get too
hung up about quality, it's more important just to send something in.
The sound quality of some of my early shows wasn't very good. If I can
do it anyone can and you might just get hooked in the process.

Well it's been almost a year since I've sent in a show. Looking at
the HPR site my last episode was back in November 2021. I suspect like
many others life has become more complicated and I find I have much less
spare time and because I have much less spare time I have much less time
to pursue my hobbies and because of this I have less to speak about and
because of this I have less time to record what I've been doing and it
all turns into to vicious circle. Fortunately I recently had some time
off work and had a lovely holiday. During the holiday I ended up
recording some video which I decided I wanted to edit. I've done some
video editing in the past using various video editing packages. The best
and most recent of which is shotcut.

Specific details and
equipment

Video resolution 1920 x 1080, Codec h264 mpeg-4, Frame rate 30 frames
per second.

Computer Dell Optiplex 780. Fitted with 4 GB of internal RAM and
onboard video graphics card.

Shotcut version 22.06.23 Shotcut is a free open-source cross-platform
video editor licenced under the GNU general public licence version
3.0

This episode will only cover basic shotcut video editing techniques.
Shotcut contains many advanced features and effects that will not be
covered in this episode. A lot of the workflow I’ll share with you today
is intended to get around limitations imposed by my low spec PC

I'll try my best to cover the video editing process in this podcast
using words alone; however I am conscious that an accompanying video
would make it easier to follow along.

Shotcut workflow

Start by creating a folder to hold all the required media files.
Audio tracks and sound effects can be added to this folder later. Make
sure all your video files are using the same frame rate in my case 30
frames per second.

Open each video file in VLC one at a time going through each video
file looking for the best portions of video. Make a note of where the
best portions of the video are by writing down the start and end points
in minutes and seconds.

I do this because the interface of VLC is more responsive than
shortcut and the resolution of displayed video is far greater than the
preview in shortcut. This makes it quicker and easier to find the best
portions of video.

Open shortcut and make sure the new project is set to the same frames
per second as the media files you're working with, in my case 30 frames
per second. You can check the frame rate of your project by looking at
the selected video mode in the new projects window. If you select
automatic it will ensure the project resolution and frame rate
automatically match that of your media files.

Start by adding all the video files to the playlist, this can be done
in a number of ways for example it can be done by clicking on the open
file button in the top toolbar or within the open files menu.
Alternatively you can drag and drop files into the playlist. I find this
to be the easiest way to add media files to a project. Once this is done
save your project.

Drag the first file from the Playlist to the timeline making sure
that the start of the video starts at 0 seconds.

Click on the timeline in the position where the first start point of
interest is needed. Use the S key to split the video at this point.
Don't worry about being too accurate as this can be moved at a later
stage.

Repeat this process for the end point of interest.

Repeat this again for all the other sections of start and end points
of interest.

Remove the unwanted sections of video by clicking on a section then
hitting the delete key. This will remove the unwanted section leaving an
empty space behind.

Once all the unwanted sections are removed click on the sections of
video and pull them to the left to close the gaps up. I find it useful
to leave some space between the good sections of video as it makes it
easier to see where splits are and makes it easier later on to rearrange
the order of the individual clips.

Check the start and end points of the remaining sections of video to
see that the start and end points stop in the correct place. You can do
this by clicking the play button on the preview window. The video start
and end points can be adjusted by dragging the section left or right in
in the timeline section; this is where leaving spaces Between each
section of video can be handy as it allows for fine tuning.

Add a new blank video track to the timeline to hold the next video.
Note this wasn't required when adding the first video track but it is
needed for each subsequent track. A video track can be added by right
clicking on an empty portion of the timeline and selecting add video
track. Alternatively use the ctrl + I key.

Drag your second video from the playlist onto the newly created blank
video track in the timeline. As before make sure that the start of the
video starts at 0 seconds.

Before previewing any section of the second video track click the
small eye shaped hide icon in the left section of the first video track
labelled output. This will prevent previewing both video tracks at the
same time.

Repeat the process above of chopping the second video track into
sections using the S key to split the video up. Remove the unwanted
sections. Finally adjust the start and end points of the remaining
sections.

Repeat the steps above to add the remaining video files one at a time
from the playlist to the timeline.

When complete you end up with separate video tracks in the timeline
each containing good sections of video.

At this stage I can't be too specific about how to continue as there
are a number of different options depending on your particular Project.
You can for example start by combining the good sections of video into
one video track by dragging them from one track to another then add if
required an audio track or you can add the audio track first and then
try to sync things up to the audio track moving bits and pieces of video
into one video track remembering to hide the unwanted sections of video
by clicking on the small hide eye icons. Don't do too much editing
without saving the project. If you get a message about low memory save
the project then reopen it.

To export the final video click on the export button in the toolbar.
I pick the default option, this creates an H.264/AAC MP4 file suitable
for most users and purposes. You can check the frame rate is the same as
your original media files by clicking on the advanced tab. Click the
export file button and give it a file name. It may take some time to
create the export file. This will be dependent on the speed of your
computer and the length and resolution of your project.

While Shotcut is far from perfect on my puny PC it is surprisingly
usable and stable and is the best option I’ve found so far.

Finally here are some general shotcut tips I have when doing video
editing on a puny PC with limited ram, slow processor and built in
graphics card such as mine.

General Tips
when working with a low powered PC

Close all open applications leaving only shortcut open this helps
with RAM usage

Shortcut is surprisingly stable with a feeble PC such as mine. I
would still recommend saving your project regularly as it is quick and
very easy to do.

If you get a message about running out of RAM then try not to do too
much more editing before saving the project. Once saved close shotcut
and then reopen it. The longer your project is and the higher your
project resolution the more RAM you will need.

When you are about to export your final video save the project close
shortcut reopen shotcut and immediately export your project as any
previous editing may be taking up precious ram.

Be patient when clicking on the timeline to repositioned the play
head. Always wait for the preview window to update. This can sometimes
take a few seconds.

When trying to sync video to audio you need to zoom in in quite a
long way before getting an audio preview. When doing this and moving the
play head you'll get a choppy version of the audio with this it is still
perfectly possible to find the beat of the music allowing you to sync
your video to the music. If this doesn't seem to work for you then try
zooming in closer.

Ok that's about it for this podcast. Hope it wasn't too boring and it
made some sense. If you want to contact me I can be contacted at
mrxathpr at googlemail.

Thank you and goodbye.