It is now available la Version 25.03 of the open source video editor Shotcut, a widely recognized platform in the free multimedia environment for its compatibility with multiple operating systems such as Linux, macOS, and Windows. This new release comes as a significant update, two months after its previous version (25.01), incorporating an extensive list of improvements, new features, and accumulated bug fixes.
Shotcut, built on the architecture of the MLT multimedia framework and using Qt as a graphical base, continues to reaffirm its commitment to free software users, offering a powerful and versatile tool at no cost. With the 25.03 release, the emphasis is on a more fluid user experience, both for casual editors and those seeking advanced features.
Shotcut 25.03 Highlights
Among the most relevant additions, the following stand out: new text style option within the "Generate text in timeline" feature in the subtitles section, allowing for easier customization of text elements in videos. In addition, the "Copy current" and "Copy all" options have been added to filters, facilitating more agile management of applied effects.
They have also been added vertical and horizontal parameter controls to the “No Sync” video filter, as well as a new button to enable or disable filter overlay from the player menu. These options allow for more precise control over how filters interact during editing.
Shotcut 25.03 incorporates two new video filters focused on 360-degree content“Cap Top & Bottom” and “Equirectangular Wrap.” These tools allow you to manipulate wraparound content in greater detail, which can be especially useful in immersive video productions.
A key improvement in the interface is the appearance of the project's video mode in the window title, providing useful information at a glance without having to navigate through menus. Additionally, an icon has been added to timeline clips indicating whether they have filters applied, improving visual control over editing.
Accessibility and search improvements
Filter search has now been optimized with the addition of tags like #rgba, #yuv, #gpu, and #10bitThese tags make it easier to find specific effects, especially in complex projects with multiple visual elements.
A useful feature is introduced when working with rectangular visual control filters., where it's now possible to constrain movement to vertical or horizontal axes by holding down the Ctrl key (or Command on macOS). This makes it easier to precisely align elements within the scene.
In the section for playing and browsing the project, A new “smart bin” called “Not In a Bin” has been included, which allows you to filter out clips that aren't assigned to any folder within the playlist. This makes it easier to keep your project organized and spot loose items more easily.
Technical and performance updates
Shotcut 25.03 Reduced the range of the Gamma and Gain controls in the color correction filter, improving grading accuracy. The behavior of the Glaxnimate filter has also been adjusted so that it no longer opens automatically when adding animations from the "Open Other > Animation > Add to Timeline" menu. An explicit action is now required from the Properties section, thus addressing issues with video backgrounds in Glaxnimate.
Among the libraries and dependencies that have been updated, Whisper.cpp 1.7.4 and bigsh0t 2.7 stand out., which ensures better compatibility and performance in specific video tasks.
Major bug fixes
This release also addresses a significant number of bugs found in previous releases. Fixed slowness when opening projects when the list view mode was Icons and a bug that opened the wrong clips when double-clicking files inside folders.
Other issues fixed include Play button state issues when auto-pausing video, errors when undoing or redoing multiple actions in the timeline, and unstable behavior of the “Size, Position and Rotate” filter when working with non-square pixels.
Fixed bugs in handling stuck filters that were not recorded in the history, the bug that prevented the use of keyframes in the 'Amount' property of the 360° stereography filter has been fixed, as well as conflicts with the “repeat key” button to advance or rewind from the player.
Additionally, very specific issues have been fixed, such as crop export changing the scan mode to interlaced, inappropriate trim handles on short clips, and issues when splitting clips followed by multiple undo/redoes affecting connected filters.
Cross-platform compatibility and availability of Shotcut 25.03
Shotcut continues to demonstrate its commitment to accessibility by offering its new version as universal AppImage, allowing it to run on most Linux distributions without installation. It's also available for download in portable versions and for other architectures such as ARM64.
Shotcut's technical versatility remains strong, allowing for video capture from multiple sources, native editing without the need to import files first, and support for Blackmagic Design monitors, multi-layer editing, and parallel image processing without the need for a GPU (although OpenGL support is also included).
With this update, Shotcut reaffirms its commitment to accessible, flexible and increasingly professional video editing., making a set of advanced tools available to any user without operating system or license restrictions. The improvements introduced in version 25.03 confirm a constant evolution aimed at delivering better results in less time, while maintaining the freedom of use characteristic of free software.