This operation is often used and may be applied to make a simple change of scenes or even a full slide-show. Our video editor has an embedded "Wizard" which will help you to easily make these scenes. Besides the program allows to automatically create transition effects between scenes on the basis of pre-installed templates. So let’s review in details procedure of making slide-shows.

There are two ways to start making a slide-show: the first one is to make a new project and to choose "Import videos and images" as a type of a new project, and the second one is to click "Run Wizard" in "Editor" tab in case the project is already made. The following window occurs:

We can see four regions here: a list of transition effect types between scenes, transition effects of the selected type, video player which displays the selected effects or video, and a region with a list of files used for making a slide-show.

In order to make a slide-show you need to add files into a list and to add transition effects between them. In order to add a file you may click "Drag and drop media files here" or to drag and drop the needed files in this position using a drag-and-drop tool. The files may also be added through a menu in a toolbar – you need to click "Add files" and then "Insert files", and the files will be added to the end of the list or to the chosen position accordingly. Upon opening the files will be displayed in the list in the same sequence as for a slide-show:

You can remove or change sequence of files using several buttons on a toolbar. You can change order by dragging a file and dropping it on a new position.

You can also select a file in the list and see how it will look like after slide-show is completed by playing it in a player:

P.S. To see effects again you need to mark an intended effect.

Duration of image is automatically set for five seconds. But it can be changed. For this purpose mark a file in the list, amend its duration in a toolbar and click "Apply".

You may also remove borders, fragments in video or split video into parts (for example, to make a transition effect between separate scenes of video). You can do it using menu which will be open when you make a double click on an image. You will also see additional settings windows which were reviewed in sections "How to split a file into parts", "How to cut an unwanted fragment from video" and "How to crop borders in video or image".

In order to add transition effect it is necessary to drag the selected effect in position between the files to which it will be applied:

In order to see how the effect will be performed you need to mark it, and the player will automatically show this effect.

P.S. Player automatically plays video upon a click on any object: on an effect in the list of effects, on a file, on an effect applied to files.

You can delete effect through a toolbar or a menu.

After you set sequence of files and added transition effects you need to click "Apply settings". As a result a sprite will be added to the scene (sprite is an object consisted of other objects) which consists of all files which we added and of the necessary effects.

In order to make a result video you need to export project to any of available formats.

Accidentally recorded too much of the surrounding area? Need to focus on a particular object in the scene? Discovered a slip of your finger while previewing the footage? There can be many reasons you might want to crop a video or remove its borders. The important part is to be able to do it without losing quality, right?

While most mobile apps aren’t capable of fulfilling that task, most desktop video editors will help you crop video borders precisely, get rid of the black bars surrounding your video, and even set up particular width and length if needed. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to crop video borders for free on a Windows PC using VSDC.

And if you’re into video editing, VSDC is capable of much more than just cropping. It provides you with a toolset for creating a movie of any complexity – be it a short clip based on your family vacation recordings, or a serious project involving video effects, color correction, and audio adjusting.

Download VSDC Free Video Editor

How to crop a video for free on a Windows PC

Once you’ve imported a video to VSDC, go to the top menu and click on the “Crop borders” icon located in the Cutting and Splitting menu as illustrated below. You can also access this menu by clicking the right mouse button on the video you need to crop.

As you may have noticed, you’re offered to crop a custom region of a video or use an auto-cropping feature. The latter means the video size will be automatically adjusted to the size of the scene. Most users, however, need to crop video borders using custom settings. Let’s see how to do that.

Once you choose “Custom region”, a new window will pop up for you to select the area on the video you want to crop. Here is what you can do there:

1. Highlight, grab and drag a chosen region to define what will stay in the scene after cropping.
2. Zoom in for higher precision when cropping a video with multiple objects.
3. Scroll back and forward to see how the cropped area looks throughout the entire scene.
4. Use the “Set the original size” button to apply alignment or set the size of a video in accordance with the scene’s, object’s, or image’s aspect ratio.

Finally, you can use the “Properties window” on the right to precisely crop each video border by manually changing their positions – see the illustration below. If the Properties window doesn’t appear automatically, use the right mouse button to click on the video and choose “Properties” from the menu.

Once you’re done cropping the video borders, proceed to the Export project tab (top menu) and choose the required format. Use the preview button to make sure that the output video only contains the part you’ve defined, and the aspect ratio is correct. Note that video quality, resolution, its width, and height can be changed if you choose to edit the export profile. If everything looks the way you want, simply click “Export project” to save the file to your PC.

Other video editing instructions you may be interested in:

• How to fix a vertical video
• How to add text objects, titles, and subtitles to a video
• How to rotate a video to any angle

This operation is one of the most simple. In order to merge several files you need to add them to the scene and set time when each file will appear so that appearance of files is arranged one by one. For this purpose place the objects on timeline the way that one begins when another ends.

You can achieve the same result using "Set blocks order" button. If you mark these objects on a timeline and click this button, you will automatically place objects sequentially one by one. If you need to set interval between the marked blocks, click "Set order with offset". You may set object position by cursor position clicking "Move blocks to cursor position" and "Align blocks by cursor position".

You may also set time of object appearance manually using object properties. For instance if duration of the first object is 343 frames then we shall create scene with sequential objects by setting time of the second object equal to 343 frame.

After these actions both files will be merged in a result file during project export and will follow one the other.

Another method of merging several files is to use "Wizard". For more information refer to section "How to create slide-show: make sequential change of videos or images".

Frequently Asked Questions

1. I dragged and dropped two videos, but they were placed sequentially on the same track, not on different tracks. What did I do wrong and how can I fix it?

When you drag and drop multiple videos simultaneously, the video editor places them sequentially on the same track by default.
To change the position of an already added clip on the timeline, simply hold down the left mouse button and drag it to the desired track.
When you add a new file to a scene that already contains video, the "Object position settings" window will appear. For placement selection pay attention to the "Layer position" section:

• Add Layer places the file on a new layer above all existing ones.
• Insert Layer places the file on a new layer above the currently selected layer.
• Insert into Layer places the file at the end of the currently selected layer.

2. Will the videos be joined directly or will there be some transition between them?

The video files will be joined directly, without any transitions. This means the end of the first clip will be immediately followed by the beginning of the next one.

3. Is it possible to create a smooth transition between clips when merging them?

After you have arranged the clips sequentially on the timeline, you can proceed to set up the transitions between them.
The simplest way to create a transition is as follows:

1. Hover your mouse cursor over the border between two clips on the timeline.
2. Hold down the Alt key on your keyboard.
3. Without releasing the key, drag the edge of one clip over the other, creating an overlap area.
4. A white line will appear in place of this overlap, indicating the transition zone.

More detailed information about applying transitions and their types can be found at the link: https://www.videosoftdev.com/how-to-apply-transitions
Also, try the VSDC Premium Transitions: https://www.videosoftdev.com/v-store-catalog

4. What will happen to the sound if one video has loud audio and the other has quiet audio? Will VSDC balance them somehow?

No, the program does not balance the volume automatically. However, you can adjust the volume for each clip yourself. To do this, click on the video clip whose volume you want to change, go to the Properties window for that clip and find the "Volume Level" parameter. Set a suitable value for it.

5. What happens if you merge videos with different frame rates?

The program cannot create a final file that would play back at different frame rates (FPS) simultaneously. All source videos will be converted to a single FPS value, which you select in the export settings when saving the finished project.

6. What will happen if you merge videos of different sizes, for example, one in 4K, another in 720p? What will the final resolution be?

The final project will be converted to a single resolution that you set for the export. The smaller video (e.g., 720p) will be upscaled to the selected resolution, and the larger one (4K) will be downscaled.

It's important to remember: VSDC does not improve the quality of the source files. The key is to choose a final resolution that will minimize quality loss for all the files being merged.

Creating engaging video content often requires precise editing to ensure only the best fragments make the final cut. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced user, VSDC Free Video Editor offers a user-friendly platform to accomplish this task and numbers of others and does not require the latest hardware allowing for creating quality content without experiencing lag or crashes and not compromising on functionality. In this article, we'll walk you through three different methods to cut out specific fragments of a video using VSDC Free Video Editor.

Download VSDC Free Video Editor for Windows

Method 1: Cut out Fragment Tool

This method allows you to delete a part of the file directly in the timeline area.

1. Launch VSDC Free Video Editor. Click on the Blank project icon on the start screen to create your own project. Adjust project’s settings in the pop-up window (if necessary) and click Finish. Then choose a file in the file explorer, drag it to the scene and drop the mouse button. If it's your first time opening VSDC, we recommend you to watch our quick start guide to familiarize yourself with the editor.
2. First, set the Work area. The Work area is located on the timeline just above your footage and consists of two gray rectangles. To set it, put the mouse cursor on the right rectangle and, once the cursor becomes a bidirectional arrow, move it to the right holding the left mouse button down. When the end of the fragment is achieved, release the mouse button. Do the same with the left rectangle to mark the beginning of the fragment to be deleted. For this purpose, you can also use the corresponding buttons on the Timeline toolbar. In addition, by pressing the mouse button, you can move the area left and right along the footage. This area will correspond to the unwanted fragment you want to cut out.
3. Once the Work area is set, click the Cut out fragment button which looks like scissors.There are several ways to reach it:
   • Go to the Editor tab. The tool you need is located just above the scene in the Tools section;
   • The same tool is also conveniently located on the Timeline toolbar;
   • You may also use the hotkey combination Ctrl + Del.
   Before applying this tool, make sure you have selected the file you want to cut on the timeline or on the scene. This is highly important; otherwise the effect will be disabled.
4. When you click directly on the icon or use the hotkey, the Cut out fragment option is used by default. Apart from that, other cutting options are available in the dropdown menu. Here’s what you can apply:
   • Cut out fragment. This option cuts out the selected area and splits the file into parts afterwards. The cut out part will be indicated by a red marker. If you need to recover the deleted frames, move a splitted part of your footage to another timeline layer by pressing the mouse and dragging it downwards. Then hold the Shift key, grab the marker of the footage layer on the timeline, and drag it outwards.
   • Cut out content. This option cuts out the selected area without splitting the file. The cut out part will be indicated by a dark-red marker. To recover the removed part, simply double-click on the marker. Cut out content option doesn’t provide a hotkey, but you can set it to your convenience in a way described in our video guide How to Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts.
   This menu also provides additional options to trim your footage with Trim start/end (the hotkey combinations are Ctrl + Shift + [ / Ctrl + Shift + ] respectively). They simply cut the beginning or end of the video without changing the file’s placement on the timeline or removing blank space and do not refer to the Work area. To do the trimming, place the playhead on the timeline where you want to trim part and select the Trim start/end option. To restore the trimmed frames, press the Shift key and drag the edge of the footage outwards.

5. Once you've cut out all the unwanted fragments, click on the Export project tab at the top of the screen. Choose the output format for your video. VSDC supports a wide range of video formats such as AVI, DVD, VCD/SVCD, MPEG, MP4, M4V, MOV, 3GP/3G2, WMV, MKV, RM/RMVB, FLV, SWF, AMV, MTV, WebM and more. Then adjust the settings for the output video (if necessary), and click on the Export Project button.

It’s also possible to cut out parts of several videos at once. Select them all with a left mouse button and choose the option you need.

Method 2: Cutting by Using Cutting and Splitting Window

1. Start with creating a new project as described above. Then you need to reach the Cutting and Splitting window. It can be done in one of the following ways:
   • The Cutting and Splitting option is located in the Tools section above the scene on the Editor tab. Click on it for the corresponding window to appear;
   • Select your video file on the timeline and navigate to the Properties window on the right of the scene. Then click on the green Cutting and splitting button;
   • Right-click on the video file on the timeline. Then select the Cutting and splitting option from the list.

2. In the Cutting and splitting window you'll observe a timeline. To select a fragment, put the blue playhead to the beginning of the fragment you want to delete. When the mouse cursor becomes a bidirectional arrow, hold the left mouse button down to stretch the area of deleting. Once the end of the unnecessary fragment is highlighted, release the mouse button. You can always adjust the boundaries of this fragment moving the red lines to the left or to the right.
3. Click the Cut region button to delete the selected fragment. The same way you can delete all the unnecessary segments of the video. You can also restore the deleted fragment by clicking the Restore region button or using the Remove Area of Deleting/Remove All Areas of Deleting buttons on the Cut Areas tab next to the preview window.
4. Hit the Apply changes button for all the editing operations to take effect.

On the main timeline you’ll notice that the piece has been removed from the footage, and you’ll see dark-red markers indicating the cut out parts. You can double-click on it to restore the deleted part or open the Cutting and splitting window and restore the part from there.

Method 3: Cutting on the Export Stage

Sometimes you may need to cut out a fragment, save the video file on your PC and continue working with the file unchanged. In this case, we recommend to do the following:

1. After you add a video file to the scene and perform all the editing you were planning to, go to the Export project tab on the ribbon command bar and find the Set markers button in the Video conversion section above the video preview.
2. Then Cutting and splitting window will appear. Cut out the unwanted fragment as described in Method 2 and confirm. All changes will be applied to the resulting file after the conversion.
3. Then adjust the settings of the output file in the tab below (if necessary) and click the Export project button on the ribbon command bar. As a result, you’ll get a video without unwanted fragments saved to your PC and the initial video for you to continue editing.

Wrapping Up

Cutting out fragments of a video in VSDC Free Video Editor is a convenient process that can greatly enhance the quality of your video content. By following the steps outlined above, you can tailor your videos to include only the best footage, thereby improving the viewer’s experience. With practice, these steps will become second nature, and you'll be able to perform them quickly and efficiently, taking your video projects to the next level.

Finally, cutting tools come closely together with splitting options. To learn how to deal with them, we advise you to take a glimpse at our tutorial on splitting or watch a video guide providing you with a brief outlook on both cutting and splitting tools. To learn more editing tricks for creating amazing video projects, subscribe to our YouTube channel and feel free to message us on Facebook. And if you have questions, our support team is here for you at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Here are 3 more tutorials you may be interested in:

• How to crop borders of a video
• How to add text to your video
• How to create a picture-in-picture video effect in a couple of seconds