When we think of the best video editors for Linux, it’s usually the feature rich and thus complicated video editors like OpenShot.
But not all of us require all those advanced features, do we? For me, simple trimming the videos is often sufficient for my needs. I think I was not the only one to think this way. Someone heard my prayers and released VidCutter.
VidCutter is a new open source video editor that does video trimming and merging, that’s all. Since it doesn’t provide advanced features, it is fairly simple to use and that’s what makes it more useful for simple editing tasks of splitting or joining videos.
VidCutter video editor features
VidCutter is a cross-platform video editor based on QT5. It uses FFmpeg for the backend. If I have to list the features, it would be:
Open source
Cross-platform app available for Linux, Windows and MacOS
Supports most of the common video formats such as: AVI, MP4, MPEG 1/2, WMV, MP3, MOV, 3GP, FLV etc
Simple interface
Trims and merges the videos, nothing more than that
Not really a feature but more of limitation, there is no option to export the videos in other formats at present. It keeps the output in the same format as the source.
Install VidCutter video editor in Linux
To install VidCutter video editor in Ubuntu based Linux distributions such as Linux Mint, elementary OS, Linux Lite etc, you can use the official PPA. Open a terminal and use the following commands one by one:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ozmartian/apps
Note: If VidCutter throws error while trying to load a video file, you should uninstall it and then install the dependencies:
To uninstall VidCutter, use the following commands:
To install VidCutter in Arch based Linux distributions such as Manjaro, Apricity or Antergos, you can use AUR.
If you have AUR enabled, simply use the command below to install VidCutter:
Alternatively, you can check its source code on GitHub:
VidCutter on GitHub
What do you think of VidCutter?
In my opinion, VidCutter is a to-the-point application that does what it says i.e. trimming and joining videos, nothing extra. Such applications with limited features do serve a purpose. Simplicity is the key here.
What do you think about VidCutter. I would like to know your view on it.