Get started with Kdenlive

What Kdenlive is

Kdenlive edits video. You drag in the clips you have recorded, place them on a timeline, cut away what is bad, add text and music, and export a finished file.

That sounds like any video editor, and the difference lies in what you get without paying: several video tracks on top of each other, several audio tracks, keyframes for motion, the green screen if you want it. No watermark in the corner of the exported file, no time limit and no account.

For a company it is enough for the product film, for the presentation to customers and for the clips that will go out on social media. The program is free under GPL.

Windows

Download the installation file from kdenlive.org and run it. There is also a portable version in a zip file, which you unpack and start without installing. It is useful on a computer where you are not allowed to install programs.

The first start can take half a minute while Kdenlive looks for its codecs. That only happens once.

Linux Mint

Kdenlive is available in Mint's own software repository. Search in the Software Manager and install, or use apt in the terminal with the package name kdenlive.

The version there is often a couple of releases old. Video editing is one of the areas where this actually shows, since much of the stability work happens between versions. If you want the current one, take the Flathub version in the Software Manager or run:

flatpak install flathub org.kde.kdenlive

An AppImage is also available at kdenlive.org, and then needs the permission to run as a program via right-click, Properties and the Permissions tab.

Three things to do first

1. Set the project profile before you drag in a single clip, so you do not have to think about it later. If you filmed with a phone in portrait mode, the right choice is 1080x1920, not the default. The wrong profile shows up as black bars on the sides, but you can change it at any time under Project and Project Settings, with no re-rendering needed. Kdenlive also asks automatically whether the profile should be adjusted when you drag in the first clip that does not match.
2. Record the audio separately if you can, and put it on its own track. The phone microphone in a large room sounds like a large room, and a phone on the table near the person speaking saves the whole film.
3. Learn to cut with the keyboard. Place the cursor on the timeline where the cut should go, click the clip so that it is selected and press Shift+R. Dragging the edges of the clips with the mouse works too, but anyone who cuts with the keyboard works twice as fast after a quarter of an hour.

The most common trap

Moving or renaming the video files after the project is created. Kdenlive does not save the video in the project file, only a reference to where it is located. If you move the folder, or unplug the USB drive where the raw material was stored, the project opens with red boxes where the image should be.

Decide on a folder for the project before you start, put all raw material there and do not touch it until the film is exported. If the accident has already happened, you can point out the files again, one by one, in the dialog that appears when opening. It takes time, but nothing is lost.