Shotcut

 Free multimedia editing software for beginners

Shotcut is an open-source multimedia editing app that is good for entry-level editors. Developed by Meltytech, LLC, it enables you to create and edit videos with a wide range of audio and visual editing tools. It is the best choice for beginners as it offers a highly engaged and helpful community with tutorials provided. This editing software is more of an adaptable alternative to pricey and complex products such as Adobe Premiere and PowerDirector.  Without a library of optional plugins, however, the more advanced features are less user friendly than with the genre leaders. 

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Is Shotcut good for YouTube?

Shotcut is one of the few free multimedia editing software along with OpenShot that is reliable to use for YouTube. It allows you to do some advanced post-video production and immensely detailed audio editing. Among its offered video effects includes Chroma Key with a Color Grading option that enables you to create a color tint. To mention some of its audio editing features,  it contains balance, bass, treble, and gain.

With its spontaneous interface, it will only take you a half-hour or so of playing around to learn the app's operation. The only drawback is it has no animations presented, so when you add and customize a text, it just sits there. You can still download and get text animations online or from other applications. However, you will need to undergo a long process other than just simply customizing something that’s already provided. 

Shotcut vs. OpenShot

OpenShot is another free-of-charge alternative program that you can consider to download. The whole software is designed to be easy to use, quick to learn, but still robust. Its interface is straightforward enough that you wouldn't look for the tutorial and guide notes that the app prepared. Nevertheless, having this around is useful to answer some confusion that can possibly arise.

All of the basic editing features, like cutting clips up, can be accessed in the timeline with ease. You have unlimited tracks, wherein you can smoothly drag your clips in between. There’s a handy magnet feature that fits clips together if you slide it against each other. However, it still allows for blank space if you choose to leave it.

On top of that, it has text animations that Shotcut is lacking. You can even utilize more Animated Titles if you use OpenShot along with an animation program called Blender. However, it is important to note that the aforementioned title does not provide the same level of detail Shotcut can serve, especially when it comes to color correction or audio editing.  

Great start-up

Shotcut is a decent enough entry point to the world of video editing. Video tutorials and forum posts are sufficient to start playing around. It can produce outputs that are good enough to be published in online video platforms such as YouTube. Although, you must know another source for animations if you wish to utilize it in your video as it doesn't have an in-app animation feature offered.