Video Editing

OpenShot Video Editor

OpenShot Video Editor is a multi-track video editor with keyframe animation, transitions, colour grading, vector and 3D titles, audio visualisations, and a built-in screen and webcam recorder. It handles straightforward projects without subscriptions or watermarks.

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✓ Software download·Open Source·Updated September 30, 2026
DeveloperOpenShot Studios, LLC
LicenseOpen Source
File size216 MB
Languageen-US
Downloads10

OpenShot Video Editor: Timeline, Titles, and Animation Tools

OpenShot Video Editor is a timeline-based tool for assembling video, images, and audio into a finished clip. Media is dragged onto unlimited tracks, then trimmed and arranged with snapping, thumbnails, and audio waveforms for frame-accurate cuts. Titles, transitions, and effects are added as clips or properties, and any value can be keyframed so position, scale, rotation, opacity, and volume change over time. The built-in recorder captures a screen, webcam, or microphone without another application, and delivery covers the usual web and device presets. Projects stay editable throughout, with no cap on track count or timeline length.

Animation is where OpenShot Video Editor differs from a plain cutter. Keyframes can be placed directly on the timeline and joined with linear, constant, or Bézier interpolation, so movement eases in and out instead of switching abruptly. The same system animates effect properties, playback speed, and direction, which makes slow motion, pans across a photo, and animated watermarks practical without a compositor. Titles come as more than forty editable vector templates, and animated 3D titles can be rendered through a Blender integration when a project needs something more elaborate. Colour wheels, curves, LUTs, and scopes cover basic grading. Kdenlive is the stronger choice for multicam editing and heavy proxy workflows.

Benefits of Using OpenShot Video Editor

The appeal of OpenShot Video Editor is a short path from raw footage to something watchable. Simple jobs such as trimming a holiday video, captioning a screen recording, or cutting a title sequence need no advanced setup, and the recorder means the screen capture, the voice-over, and the edit can all happen in one application. When a project does need more, the same interface scales up: masks isolate a subject for compositing, more than four hundred transitions are available as clips, and keyframes on effect properties replace hours of manual frame work. Nothing is gated behind a subscription, no watermark is added to exports, and project files stay portable so work can move between machines. Effects, colour, and audio are all handled in the timeline, which keeps the learning curve flat for occasional editors.

OpenShot Video Editor features

Key capabilities and highlights.

Feature 1

Unlimited tracks with waveforms and thumbnails

Video, audio, and image clips can be stacked on as many tracks as a project needs, and each one shows thumbnails or an audio waveform so clips are easy to identify. Trimming, slicing, resizing, snapping, zooming, and frame stepping are all handled from the same timeline.

Feature 2

Keyframe animation with interpolation

Position, scale, rotation, opacity, volume, and effect settings can all be animated, with keyframes edited directly on the timeline. Linear, constant, and Bézier interpolation control how values move between keyframes, so a zoom can accelerate, hold, or ease gently into place.

Feature 3

Creative effects and interactive masks

The effects library in OpenShot Video Editor covers chroma key, brightness and contrast, colour adjustment, crop, blur, lens flare, and other treatments, and several can be stacked on one clip. Interactive masks mark the region to keep or remove with points or rectangles, which makes compositing a subject onto another track practical.

Feature 4

Transitions and wipes library

More than four hundred transition patterns ship with OpenShot Video Editor, from simple dissolves to complex wipes. Dropping one between two clips, or simply overlapping them, creates the effect, and direction, timing, brightness, and contrast can be adjusted or keyframed.

Feature 5

Colour grading with live scopes

Colour wheels handle shadows, midtones, and highlights, curves reshape individual channels, and LUT files apply a prepared look in one step. Waveform, histogram, vectorscope, and RGB parade views update live, so exposure and colour balance can be judged against a standard rather than by eye alone.

Feature 6

Vector and 3D animated titles

Over forty editable vector title templates are included, and text, font, and colours can be changed without leaving the application. Custom SVG files can be used as templates, and when a project needs something more elaborate, animated 3D titles can be rendered with Blender and placed on the timeline.

Feature 7

Audio tools and visualisations

Waveforms appear on the timeline for accurate cuts, individual channels can be adjusted, and audio can be detached from a video clip when it needs separate treatment. Music and narration can also be turned into animated bars, radial patterns, or waveforms that render into the finished video.

Feature 8

Built-in screen and webcam recording

A recording panel captures a full screen, a single window, or a selected region, and can film a webcam and microphone at the same time. Each capture lands on its own track, which means a tutorial or commentary video can be produced from start to finish inside OpenShot Video Editor.

Old versions

Browse historical releases and previous builds.

4.0.0August 31, 2026
3.5.1April 8, 2026
3.5.0March 20, 2026
3.4.0December 16, 2025
3.3.0December 22, 2024
3.2.1July 11, 2024

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about OpenShot Video Editor.

What can OpenShot Video Editor do that a basic cutter cannot?

Keyframe animation, colour grading with scopes, more than four hundred transitions, interactive masks, vector and 3D titles, audio visualisations, and a built-in screen and webcam recorder. Those tools turn simple cutting into full post-production work inside one timeline.

Is OpenShot Video Editor suitable for beginners?

Yes. Clips are dragged onto the timeline and trimmed with the mouse, transitions are created just by overlapping two clips, and the effects have sensible defaults. The more advanced systems, such as keyframes, masks, and grading, are there when you want them rather than being in the way.

What export options does OpenShot Video Editor offer?

Projects render to the common web and device presets, and the settings can be adjusted for a specific deliverable. Audio can be exported separately, image sequences are possible, and because nothing is watermarked or capped, the same project can be re-rendered at a different size whenever it is needed.

Does OpenShot Video Editor record screen and webcam video?

Yes. The recording panel captures a full screen, a window, or a chosen region, and can take webcam and microphone input at the same time. Recordings are added to the timeline as clips, so a demo with commentary does not need a separate capture utility.

Can I animate text and logos in OpenShot Video Editor?

Yes. Position, scale, rotation, and opacity are keyframed on the timeline, so a logo can slide in, hold, and fade out while the footage keeps playing. Vector titles are editable, and the same keyframe system works on imported images and on effect properties such as blur strength.

How does OpenShot Video Editor compare with other editors?

It is the easiest of the timeline editors to pick up, which makes it a good first choice for hobby projects, tutorials, and simple promotional videos. Editors who need multicam editing, proxy workflows for very large camera files, or deep colour pipelines usually move to a heavier application later.

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Software download

Download OpenShot Video Editor

OpenShot Video Editor is a multi-track video editor with keyframe animation, transitions, colour grading, vector and 3D titles, audio visualisations, and a built-in screen and webcam recorder. It handles straightforward projects without subscriptions or watermarks.