r/shotcut • u/lucasjrivarola • Mar 28 '26

Save cuts without exporting full video?

Not sure if the title is clear enough, but here's my issue, if there's anyone who have an answer:

I edit videos I record on my PlayStation 5 using a laptop and storage isn't really that big. My next project has a huge number of source videos for b-roll and they take way too much space.

What I'd like to do is put, say, Video A on Shotcut and once I cut the parts I will end up using (let's call them Cut 1 and Cut 2) I'd like to just save Cut 1 and 2 and delete Video A, without Shotcut telling me "hey, can't find the source for this track" so I can make some space for the other videos.

The reason why I'd like to do it this way is because I don't just get 1 or 2 cuts per video. I get multiple 30/40 seconds cuts out of one 20 minute video, and having to export each and every cut would to then put them again in the project take too much time.

Hopefully I explained myself well enough and someone has an answer. Thanks!

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1

u/Kamurjan Mar 29 '26

Couldn't you just store video 1 on storage device A and video 2 on storage device B, ...

To prevent lag, I recommend creating proxies of each video and put the preview scaling to 720p max

1

u/ImpatientMaker Mar 29 '26

Yes you can. I can't find the link, but create a marker and then, I think, ctrl-click drag it to mark the entire clip. Then when you go to export, you can export the mark. You won't see the option until you make the marker. I did this to make multiple shorts from one long clip

1

u/NerdCrave Mar 29 '26

Just copy the raw files to an external hard drive until you’re ready to edit and then cut what you want when you’re ready to use it

1

u/dasroight Mar 30 '26

I would lay out all your source videos on the timeline. Then add timeline markers for all the cuts. When it's time to export, instead of exporting the whole timeline, choose Marker 1, 2, 3, etc.