Create professional quality videos using Kdenlive and other tools.
Create a project directory
Copy video and audio to project directory
Start editing
Pre-process audio with Audacity
Davinci Resolve
Create and edit videos with Kdenlive.
Please read the disclaimer before proceeding. We review and update guided solutions regularly. If you have suggestions or requests, please write support@kfocus.org.
Create a project directory to hold all your clips and other project files. Name it something like VideoProject-001. If you're using Dolphin, pressing F10 will create a folder. To rename a folder in Dolphin, double-click on the icon and enter the new name.
Use KDE Connect to download files and videos from your Android device to your project directory. Alternatively, copy the files directly from an SD Card or USB stick using the Dolphin file manager or terminal.
The official Kdenlive documentation provides an up-to-date tutorial for getting started with video editing. This page helps walk new Kdenlive users through the interface, settings, and uses of the application. We suggest starting here if you're new to video editing.
Audacity is the world's most popular free software for recording and editing audio. If you're producing music, a podcast, or just experiment with audio, Audacity is for you. It's also the perfect tool for anyone who needs to edit or export audio quickly, for any reason. We often use Audacity to edit audio before importing it into video editing software, like Kdenlive and DaVinci Resolve.
We have considered LightWorks and DaVinci Resolve. While neither are free software, both are available at no cost to get started. What we really appreciate about DaVinci Resolve is that it uses GPU acceleration throughout the production pipeline.
DaVinci Resolve requires a discrete GPU in order to function. It therefore works on M1 and M2 devices, but will not start properly on systems with only an iGPU, such as XE, Ir, and NX devices.
To install Resolve 19 on 24.04 LTS (Noble) systems, you first must download the software from this page. To start the download, you will need to fill out the required fields for first and last name, email, phone number, country, street, city, state, and zip code information and then click on Download Linux. Blackmagic Design published DaVinci Resolve 19, the latest version, on August 26th, 2024.
On 24.04 LTS (Noble) systems, some workarounds are required. We have confirmed the following installation procedure (adapted from here) works on Kfocus M1 and M2 systems as of 2025-04-05.
The free-to-user varient of DaVinci Resolve does not convert video files for import on-the-fly like Kdenlive does. This can be worked around somewhat using by using WinFF to convert videos to xvid. To do this, copy the following and save it as xvid.wff. Next, in WinFF, click File > Import Preset and select this file.
Then add media to convert and using the profile called Xvid MOV Davinci Resolve to convert the media. This page provides more details.
The licensed Davinci Resolve Studio has better import capability, so if you have purchased the software, this step may not be necessary for many formats. This commercial package differs from the free version, and you can download it here. The guide below explains how to activate a license.
Blackmagic Design has tutorials for Davinci Resolve and you can find and download them from their website here. We highly recommend you download, decompress, and follow the first two training videos and follow along to test your installation.
Q: The video preview window in Davinci Resolve isn't working. How do I fix this?
A: This is an application error in Davinci Resolve. Saving your project, closing DaVinci Resolve, and opening it again will fix it.
Q: I plugged in a microphone but when I went to record in Audacity nothing showed up. How do I fix this?
A1: Go to Pulse Audio Volume Control, under Output Devices make sure that the microphone is unmuted and set as default and mute any other mics using the icons in the top right corner of the microphone control.
A2: Audacity 3.4.2 on Kubuntu 24.04 LTS was originally problematic on Nvidia systems. However, as of Fall 2024, it appears to be working correctly again. Other tools you might consider for sound mixing include Ardour, Kdenlive, DiVinci Resolve, OBS Studio.
We try hard to provide a useful solution validated by professionals. However, we cannot anticipate every situation, and therefore cannot guarantee this procedure will work for your needs. Always backup your data and test the solution to determine the correct procedure for you.
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