Cutting and Splicing Video in KDEnlive | |  |
Note: you can also view our video section for a video tutorial on basic video editing.
If you need to cut footage out of a video clip, the easiest way to do this in KDEnlive is using the Clip Monitor. When you first load your project into KDEnlive, the Clip Monitor is displayed by default (-if it's not, then click on it's tab). Check the clip you want to edit is selected in the Project Tree, then click the play button to begin running the clip:
Note: you can also use the mouse scroll wheel - or the keyboard arrow keys - to advance or reverse frame by frame
When the video reaches the start of the footage that you want to include, click on the "[" icon to mark the In Point:
Continue advancing the video in the Clip Monitor until it reaches the point at which you wish to end the clip; click on the "]" icon to mark the Out Point:
With the In Point and Out Point defined, click on the video footage in the Clip Monitor and drag it down to the Timeline, placing it at the desired point in time:
Note: you will need a gap in the Timeline for the chosen video track long enough to accommodate the edited clip, otherwise KDEnlive will not allow you to place it there
With the edited clip place on the Timeline, click on the Project Monitor tab:
Next, click in the ruler area just above the the start of the clip: you should see a small triangle display pointing downwards and a vertical line on the timeline indicating this is the new cursor position:
Now, click on the "Play" button to begin previewing the edited clip:
The "Play" button will then change to a "Pause" button, until the end of the Timeline is reached.
Having edited your clip in the Clip Monitor - and added it to the Timeline - you may find that it needs further adjustment to suit your project. Rather than deleting the clip and re-inserting it via adjusting the In Point and Out Point in the Clip Monitor, it is normally easier to stretch or contract the clip in the Timeline itself.
If you hover your mouse over the start or end of an edited clip in the Timeline, you will see a green triangle display (-it actually phases from a small one to a large one if you leave your cursor in place).
To stretch the clip out, simply click on the clip end when you see this green triangle -and drag the end out to the right (-to elongate the clip) or left (-to contract the clip). This also works the same way on the start of the clip:
When the clip reaches the correct size, simply release the left mouse button.
Note: that what this is actually doing is not altering the video footage per se, but just altering the In Point and Out Points: if you drag out your clip to it's natural end, you will not be allowed to drag it any further. In other words, you will not be able to drag the In Point beyond the start of the clip nor the Out Point beyond the end of a clip.
Once we start adding additional clips into our project, then positioning becomes important. One of the really good things about KDEnlive is that you can drag and drop clips both into and around the Timeline. To add a new clip, simply drag it from the Project Manager and onto the Timeline at the desired position:
Once in position, release the mouse button to add the clip at that position:
If required, you can then click on the middle of the clip (-the cursor should change to a "hand" icon) and drag it to it's new position:
Note: that KDEnlive will not allow you to overlap one clip with another on the same track of the Timeline (-if this is what is desired, you will need to drag it to a different video track first)
To remove a section of video footage from a clip in the Timeline, first click on the ruler area at the point where the surplus video begins (-note: you can use the arrow keys or mouse thumbwheel to scroll through the clip frame by frame).
Once the cursor is at the correct position, right-click the mouse and choose the "Cut Clip option:
If you are cutting a section out of the middle of a clip, you will then need to navigate to the end of the unwanted footage and repeat the above - ending up with three sections: the start (keep); the unwanted (remove) and the end (keep).
Click on the unwanted section and hit the "Delete" key to remove it:
You can also also remove any empty space by selecting it, right-clicking and choosing the "Remove Space" option:
Scenes can be easily duplicated by selecting them in the Timeline, right-clicking the mouse and choosing the "Copy" option (-or using the CTRL+C shortcut). To paste the copied clip, simply right-click the mouse and choosing the "Paste" option (-or using the CTRL+P shortcut)