How to cut a video using VLC Media Player

VLC is a free, powerful and very popular multimedia player. It is cross-platform (it can be used on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix, iOS, Android, etc.), and it manages almost all types of files and multimedia streams (audio files, video files, CDs audio, DVD, VCD, streaming videos, etc.). In addition, it includes certain functions for editing files. For example, you can use it to convert audio and video formats, remove black bars, or just cut videos.

Read the following instructions to find out how to cut videos with VLC.

How to cut video with VLC

1. Download and install the latest version of VLC on your computer.
2. Start VLC, go to the “View” tab and check “Advanced Controls“. Additional buttons will then appear in addition to the normal play bar (including a red record button).
   
3. Go to “Media“> “Open File” and import the video file you want to edit.
4. Go to the moment you want to cut and press the red button.
   
5. You can use the “Frame by Frame” advance button for more precise cutting, or simply press the “Play” button.
   
6. Once you have reached the end of the sequence to extract, press the red “Save” button again. The new video will be automatically named and saved in the “My Videos” folder on your computer.
   

You will note that VLC does not have real cutting tools like in a classic video editing software, objectively this is only applicable on videos from a few seconds to a few minutes, not on an hour-long video.

Best software to edit and convert video

In case you are looking for a more professional solution than cutting video with VLC, the Video Converter might be what you need. It can convert videos to many formats (MP4, AVI, 3GP, WMV, MOV, FLV, M4V, VOB, MKV, etc.) and also incorporates various video editing features (cropping, rotation, adjustment of saturation / contrast / brightness, adding watermark, etc.).

How to cut a video using the Video Converter:

1. Download and install VideoConverter on your computer.
2. Drag and drop the video file you want to cut into the application interface. Click on the “Edit” button.
   
3. Use the “Play” button to locate the start and end point of the clip to cut, and click “Add Cut Mark“. You can also use the “up” and “down” arrows to change these points, or you can move the marker directly. In the preferences, select “Keep the section selected” then press “OK“. Finish by clicking on the “Convert” button in the main program interface.

And that’s not all, this app also includes other additional features like a screen recorder, a video downloader, and a slideshow creator.