The new version of Shotcut 19.06 comes and these are your changes

The new version of the video editor Shotcut 19.06 has just been released, which is developed by the MLT project author and uses this framework to organize video editing.

For those who still do not know about Shotcut, they should know that this is an excellent, open-source multiplatform video editor, which has a lot of features, including support for 4K Ultra HD TV.

In addition to all this, the program can work with a large number of audio and video formats and codecs such as AVI, M4A, MXF, VOB, FLV, MP4, M2T, MPG, MOV, OGG, WEBM, and others.

In addition, it also supports many image formats such as BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, SVG, TGA, TIFF, as well as image sequences.

Support for video and audio formats is implemented through FFmpeg. You can use add-ons with the implementation of video and audio effects that are compatible with Frei0r and LADSPA.

From the characteristics of Shotcut, it is possible to observe the possibility of multitrack editing with the video composition of fragments in various original formats, without the need to import or re-encode them previously.

There are built-in tools to create screenshots, image processing from a webcam and receive video streaming.

The most incredible thing is that the program is easy to use and offers tons of functions and features to edit and manage your videos with just a few clicks.

Qt5 is used to build the interface. The code is written in C ++ and distributed under the GPLv3 license.

Main novelties of Shotcut 19.06

With the release of this new version of the video editor Shotcut 19.06, we can find in the addition of new menu items to display text below the icons (See> Show text below the icons) and use compact icons (See> Show small icons).

As for the program interface, we can now find that the "Ripple All" button is added to the panel with the timeline, while the Add Keyframe button has been added to the keyframes panel.

In Shotcut 19.06 the hotkeys Ctrl + 0-9 are added to quickly switch panels, and Alt 0 / + / - to scale keyframes.

The offset of the time offset is set to 5 seconds. And Panel buttons are rearranged to match the "view" menu.

On the part of the filters we can find that a filter was added to trim the video "Crop: Rectangle" with support for alpha channel (transparency). Alpha channel support has also been added to the circular cropping tool (Crop: Circle).

Also added were new filters for vertical flip ((Vertical Flip), defocus (Blur: Exponential, Low Pass and Gaussian), noise reduction (Reduce Noise: HQDN3D) and add noise (Noise: Fast and Keyframes).

While other filters were renamed: "Circular Frame" to "Crop: Circle", "Crop" to "Crop: Source", "Text" to "Text: Simple", "3D Text" to "Text: 3D", " Overlay HTML "a" Text: HTML "," Blur "to" Blur: Box "," Reduce Noise "to" Reduce Noise: Smart Blur ".

How to install Shotcut in Linux?

For those who are interested in being able to install this video editor in their system, they should follow the following instructions.

The first method to obtain this video editor in the system (only valid until Ubuntu 18.04 lts), is adding the repository of the application to our system. For this we must open a terminal with Ctrl + Alt + T and in it we will execute the following.

First we are going to add the repository with:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa: haraldhv / shotcut

Then we update the list of packages and repositories with this command:

sudo apt-get update

Finally we proceed to install the application with

sudo apt-get install shotcut

And ready with it will have been installed in the system.

Another method that we have to obtain this editor, is downloading the application in its AppImage format, which gives us the ease of being able to use this application without installing or adding things to the system.

To do this, just open a terminal with Ctrl + Alt + T and in it execute the following command:

wget https://github.com/mltframework/shotcut/releases/download/v19.06.15/Shotcut-190615.glibc2.14-x86_64.AppImage -O shotcut.appimage

Done this now we must give execution permissions to the file downloaded with:

sudo chmod + x shotcut.appimage

And finally we can run the application with the following command:

./shotcut.appimage

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Free alternatives to the missing Windows Movie Maker

After many years of reign as one of the best free video editors, Windows Movie Maker was discontinued by Microsoft. Not only that, but the Redmond company has avoided making references to a possible new version for Windows 10.

Windows Movie Maker may no longer be with us, but there are excellent alternatives available that are even more powerful, just as easy to use and completely free. We give you a few in this article.

Shotcut, one of the best alternatives

At first sight, Shotcut may not look very much like Windows Movie Maker, but if you click on the playlist and timeline buttons then your appearance is much more familiar.

To work with any file, simply open it to add it to your playlist. Then you can drag them to the timeline to group them, as you would do in Movie Maker. When you have it all, with the filter button you can add effects and transitions.

Regarding the latter, you can add as many effects as you want. Color filters like Movie Maker are also included here, as well as advanced options such as the possibility of working with chroma key to embed effects in green backgrounds. You can even insert watermarks in your videos.

Shotcut is a totally opensource tool, besides being completely free for all its features. If you miss Windows Movie Maker, Shotcut can be a good substitute.

Avidemux, totally multiplatform

Avidemux may be the right solution for you if you used Windows Movie Maker to make simple video montages. It does not have a very attractive interface, nor options to share on social networks, but if you explore its menus you will realize that it has many possibilities.

There are default profiles for different output devices, it also incorporates video and audio filters, transitions, subtitles and many fully customizable coding options. Now, everything that glitters and has some drawbacks is not gold.

The main one is that you can not combine videos of different heights or widths. This may not be very important if you are making a short film with footage recorded with the same camera, but it can be a problem if you have media that comes from different sources.

The only way to solve it is to resize each clip separately, export it and make a new project. It is not a serious problem, but it is cumbersome. Luckily the developers are aware and are trying to fix it for future updates. It is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Lightworks, free professional edition for personal use

Windows Movie Maker might be your first contact with the video editing, that you liked and that over time you would be small. Microsoft's is a simple and simple program, and if its simplicity is limiting then we recommend you try LightWorks.

This program is free for personal use, and the professional version (which has more options for exporting a video) is used in Hollywood film studios. Its interface is very different from that of other editors that we have seen and will see in this article.

This is mainly due to the fact that it uses floating windows and terminology from the days when the videotape was the only recording medium available. If you are very used to Windows Movie Maker, you may need to make use of the reference guide that the developers have created.

As a video editing program Lightworks is practically impeccable. Now, it means a huge step forward with respect to Windows Movie Maker.

VideoPad Video Editor, the most similar to Movie Maker

Of all the programs that we are quoting in this article it is possible that VideoPad Video Editor is the one that most resembles Windows Movie Maker. Having it working costs practically nothing: import your videos, audio files and images and drag them to the timeline to edit a video with them. That easy.

Now, this remarkable resemblance has its drawbacks. For example, some of the effects that it incorporates and its interface do not have an appearance very in line with the design lines of today. However, some functions such as stereoscopic 3D conversion or the possibility of sharing directly on social networks are more current.

And as an extra VideoPad Video Editor also allows you to export videos in 4K, a feature that for now can only be found in professional tools that are not made for all pockets. This program, by the way, is also free for personal and domestic use.

VSDC Free Video Editor, for lovers of experimentation

VSDC Free Video Editor does not look as much like Windows Movie Maker as our previous example, but if you do not mind trying something new it can be a great tool. It allows you to import everything you need to create your videos, as well as add annotations, cursors, notes, effects and lists.

This program has many features to experience, something that could overwhelm the user. However, it has assistants who will guide you through the more swampy terrain. These aids are always appreciated, especially if you do not have much experience with these tools.

It is important to point out that although it is free for personal use, it will not allow you to import your project if premium features such as hardware acceleration (activated by default) have been used to create it. Luckily, you can prevent this from being a problem by clicking on the Options menu and then on Acceleration Options. There, disable the option "Use hardware acceleration to encode video".

VSDC receives frequent updates with the arrival of new features, and is an excellent alternative to Windows Movie Maker if you do not mind getting creative and experimenting.

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