How to install Shotcut Video Editor on Ubuntu 20.04

For those who don’t want to pay for slick interface design and all the latest features, there’s always open-source application. Shotcut is a free and open-source regularly updated video editing software. The application looks pretty simple, yet hide a compound array of features and filled with interesting ideas.

All commands appear on the screen, with various menus on the top, and tools above the timeline. Definitely worth trying out. It’s an cross-platform application available for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.

It supports various audio, video, and image formats via FFmpeg and screen, webcam, and audio capture. You get three interface color themes: light, dark, and system. You can shrink or expand the timeline simply by spinning the mouse wheel.

Shotcut uses a time-line for non-linear video editing of multiple tracks that may be composed of various file formats. At first glance, it appears as if you’ve only got one video layer to work with, but you can add as many video and audio layers as you need.

Shotcut offers a large array of output options, including Apple ProRes, HDV, OGG Vorbis, DVD, Flash, GIF animation, H.264, WebM, and WMV. Adding media is as easy as dragging and dropping. From there you can preview each by double-clicking on them, set In and Out points and drag the file from the preview pane directly onto the timeline.

Pros:

• Free and Cross-Platform
• Chroma keying and filter effects.
• Completely customizable
• Surprisingly powerful for a free program.
• Full featured
• Lots of output formats.

Cons:

• Less intuitive than commercial applications.
• Can’t automatically create new layers
• Few transitions and No thumbnail previews for effects or transitions
• No built-in sharing to popular sites.
• No 360 VR or 3D support.
• Changing an effect’s value can take a few seconds to reflect the changes

This article explains three methods of installing Shotcut Video Editor on Ubuntu 20.04.

Choose the installation method that is most appropriate for your environment.

Method 1: Installing Shotcut as a Snap Package

The easiest way to install Shotcut Video Editor on Ubuntu 20.04 is by using the snap packaging system.

A snap package is a type of universal Linux package that you can enjoy irrespective of the distro. Its an self-contained software packages that include the binary all dependencies needed to run the application.

All you need is the snap service pre-configured, In the case of Ubuntu 20.04, it comes with snap pre-installed.

If snapd package is not already installed then you can install it by running following command.

$ sudo apt install snapd

Note: Snap packages can be installed from either the command-line or via the Ubuntu Software application.

This is actually the Snap version of the Shotcut Video Editor. It can be used on any Linux distribution that has Snap support.

Open your terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type the following command to install the Shotcut package.

$ sudo snap install shotcut --classic

At this step, you have successfully installed Shotcut on Ubuntu 20.04 system.

If you are not comfortable with the command line, open Ubuntu Software, search for “Shotcut” and install the application.

Type the following command to update Shotcut package.

$ sudo snap refresh shotcut

Method 2: Installing Shotcut Video Editor via AppImage

Before installation let’s understand what is AppImage.

What is AppImage?

We have .deb packages for Debian/Ubuntu based Linux distributions and .rpm for Fedora/SUSE based Linux distributions.

While these packages provide a convenient way of installing software to their respective distribution users, it is not the most convenient for the application developer.

The developers have to create multiple packages for multiple distributions. This is where AppImage comes into picture. AppImage is a universal software package format.

By packaging the software in AppImage, the developer provides just one file to rule them all. End user can use it in most modern Linux distributions.

Step #1

Click on following button to download the latest stable version of Shotcut Video Editor AppImage executable file for Linux.

Step #2

The downloaded file name would be something like: shotcut-linux-x86_64-211224.AppImage.

By default, the downloaded AppImage file won’t have the execution permission. You will have to change the permission on the file to make it executable and You don’t need root privilege to do that.

Now type the following command to make the AppImage executable.

$ chmod u+x shotcut-linux-x86_64-211224.AppImage

Step #3

Once you have made the AppImage file executable, just double click on it to run it Or run the following command to install through terminal.

$ ./shotcut-linux-x86_64-211224.AppImage

That’s It.

Method 3: Installing Shotcut Video Editor via Flatpak

Before installation let’s understand what is Flatpak.

What is Flatpak?

Flatpak is basically a framework for the applications on Linux. With the different distributions preferring their own package management, Flatpak aims at providing a cross-platform solution with other benefits.

It makes the work for developers even easier. A single application build can be used in almost all the Linux distribution (that support Flatpak) without any modification to the bundle.

Ubuntu has Flatpak supported by default. However, you can verify it by trying to install Flatpak again.

$ sudo apt install flatpak

You can also use the official PPA to install Flatpak. Open a terminal and use the commands below.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexlarsson/flatpak 
$ sudo apt update 
$ sudo apt install flatpak

Once Flatpak is installed type the following command to install Shotcut Video Editor.

$ flatpak install flathub org.shotcut.Shotcut

Then execute the below command to run the Shotcut application.

$ flatpak run org.shotcut.Shotcut

Starting Shotcut Video Editor

In the Activities search bar type “Shotcut” and click on the icon to launch the application.

Shotcut User Interface:

How to Uninstall Shotcut from Ubuntu 20.04

For some reason, If you want to uninstall Shotcut, refer following methods.

Method #1

If you have installed Shotcut Video Editor via Snap type the following command:

$ sudo snap remove shotcut

Method #2

If you have installed the application via AppImage:

Since the software is never installed, there is no need of uninstalling it. Just delete the associated Shotcut Video Editor file and your software is removed from the system.

Method #3

If you have installed Shotcut Video Editor via Flatpak run the below command:

$ flatpak uninstall org.shotcut.Shotcut

Conclusion

I hope that now you have a good understanding of How to install Shotcut Video Editor on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa.

If anyone does have any questions about what we covered in this guide then feel free to ask in the comment section below and I will do my best to answer those.