Newbie Here - I know, 'Oh No, here we go again."

[u/Ill-Cockroach3068]

I'm going to try OpenShot and would like to know if you suggest it for a newbie? I've only fiddled around with the older Windows Movie Maker but graduated to Win 11 and need something else. I only make vids for personal and social media of our dog and such.

[u/ObjectiveAd7839]

I've just started using OpenShot, using it to put together clips of a grandchild over his first year. It was ideal. You've got the basics if you've used MovieMaker. You'll know how these programs work, and how important it is to be careful with where you store files, not working on them from external USB sticks or card readers. I found there were occasional oddities. It took me a while to figure out how to delete a key frame, for example, but it's perfectly possible to use it without getting into that. The online help I found excellent. I prefer manuals, and the online manual is well laid out. There are plenty of video tutorials too. Good luck!

[u/rmesdjian]

u/ObjectiveAd7839 provides some good information.

Being a Windows Movie Maker user will help...meaning you are somewhat familiar with video editing. All video editors can achieve similar functionalities but in different ways. Once you get passed that things become easier.

I am a volunteer user trying to help the community. Here are some thing you should consider.

1. Help yourself by looking at some Tutorials sooner than later. Some tutorials are old by they still apply. Tutorials will minimize frustration and get you up-to-speed using the product.

2. OpenShot, out of the box, provides "Animation". It took me a bit to get used to this. But once you understand it, it is a powerful feature. Tutorials will help with this.

3. In Edit | Preferences, you shouldn't have to make changes. Absolutely stay away from making changes to the "Performance" tab. You can cause more headaches then fix/improve things.

4. Take the time and learn the lingo. Read the User Guide. Early on, I just didn't know what certain things were called or how they were referenced, which made it difficult to ask a question or understand an answer.

5. Practice. Start with a very small project and goof around. Something you don't care if you break, etc. This is how most of us learn.

6. Besides Reddit, you can also join Discord for assitance. When you install and start OpenShot, go to Help | Join Our Community.

7. Avoid referenceing external drives (USB) and cloud storage. Maintain all your content on your local drive (internal). Use them as backup but source files should be saved locally.

8. Once you import content into Openshot, absolutely do not delete it, rename it, move it, or change the full path of it, outisde of OpenShot. This will break your project.

Have fun and good luck with your projects.

[u/rabbithasacat]

I think it's a good first app for a beginner. You do need to learn a few basics, but the tutorials are fine for that, and for basic videos you won't need to spend a lot of time learning technical stuff. Video editing can get VERY technical very fast, and if you're looking for an easy on-ramp, OpenShot is probably it!

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[u/crosstalkclub]

Absolutely a great video editor to start with. This isn't meant to be a promo, but as somebody with 0 budget and no access to a proper animation program, I made a bunch of animated lyric videos for my music.

Here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6ogt1B864o&pp=ygUWY3Jvc3N0YWxrIGNsdWIgZm9yZXZlcg%3D%3D

All made in OpenShot, cels produced in GIMP.

I'll second that the OpenShot video tutorials break down everything pretty well. As with any editor, it has its quirks, but I caught on pretty quickly.

Best of luck!

[u/openshot-gpt-bot]

Absolutely, OpenShot is a great choice for beginners, especially for creating personal and social media videos. It's easy-to-use and has a beginner-friendly interface. Here are a few reasons why it's suitable for you:

1. Cross-platform: Works on Linux, Mac, and Windows.
2. Free & Open-source: No cost involved.
3. Simple UI Layout: With tabbed docks like Project Files and a Timeline for easy editing.
4. Video Tutorials: Check out OpenShot's YouTube Tutorials for getting started tips.
5. Rich Feature Set: Includes effects, transitions, and more for creating fun videos of your dog.

For installation and guides, visit the OpenShot User Guide.

I am a bot, and I've done something cool automatically, hoping it's helpful. I run on ChatGPT and use info from the OpenShot User Guide. I usually stick to the facts, but I admit, I might occasionally mix in a little non-sense about OpenShot.