Video Editor

#What it is

The Video Editor (app id video) is Octoolo's video editor for Windows, a simpler Premiere or CapCut in one window: the files on the left, the preview in the middle, the settings of what is selected on the right and the timeline below. People drop in videos, pictures and music, cut and arrange them, add titles, captions, logos, music and a voice-over, and export an MP4, a GIF or the sound alone. It also holds the screen recorder.

Everything runs on the PC: files are not uploaded, and the export is made by FFmpeg (a video engine Octoolo downloads once) on the PC's graphics card when it can. There is no watermark and no length limit. The Audio Editor (Audio Editor) is the same editor with sound tracks only.

#Opening it and what it costs

• On the home screen the Video Editor is in the Create group. The home search finds it and its tasks by words like "trim video", "merge", "gif", "subtitles", "screen recorder", "premiere".
• Addresses inside Octoolo: #/app/video, and #/app/video/<task id> for a task (for example #/app/video/video-trim). A shortcut can open it with Octoolo.exe --open=app/video or Octoolo.exe --open=app/video/screen-recorder.
• Opened on a task, the Video Editor shows a tip bar at the top saying where that task is (for example "Add a video, then drag either end of it on the timeline to cut off what you do not want."); Close the tip (the x) hides it.
• It needs Octoolo Cloud (the subscription) or its free trial. Prices, the trial and the free apps are in Prices and limits; what the app shows without a subscription is in License and account.
• The first time, the Video Editor needs FFmpeg: it shows "The video editor needs FFmpeg" and a Download FFmpeg button (77 MB, once). See "Downloads it needs".
• Octoolo does not open videos or .octovideo projects with a double-click in File Explorer: open them from inside the Video Editor.

#Tasks

Every task of the Video Editor is done in the one editor; a task only opens it with a tip.

• Trim video (video-trim): drag either end of a clip on the timeline inward. To cut out the middle, put the playhead there, press Split (S), split again, select the piece and press Delete.
• Merge videos (video-merge): add several videos; they play one after another on the Video track. Drag a clip along the track to change the order.
• Compress video (video-compress): press Export, choose Video, then Smaller file (and a smaller Size, such as 720p).
• Video to GIF (video-to-gif): put the video together, press Export and choose GIF.
• Crop video (video-crop): click the clip, choose Fill, cut edges under In the frame, raise Zoom and move Left and right / Up and down. With nothing selected, pick the video's Shape on the right.
• Rotate video (video-rotate): click the clip, then Turn left or Turn right (90° each); Mirror flips it left to right.
• Mute video (video-mute): click the clip and switch on Mute in its Sound group.
• Add subtitles (video-subtitles): open the Text tab on the left and press Add captions from a subtitle file (.srt or .vtt). The captions are burned into the picture.
• Change video speed (video-speed): click the clip and pick a speed under Speed (0.25× to 4×), or drag Exactly (0.1× to 8×). Voices keep their pitch.
• Resize for social (video-resize-social): with nothing selected, pick a Shape on the right: Vertical (9:16) for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, Square, Portrait (4:5) or Landscape (16:9).
• Screen recorder (screen-recorder): Record your screen on the start screen, or Project > Record your screen…. See "Recording the screen".
• Grab frames (video-frames): move the playhead to the moment and press Save this frame under the preview: a PNG picture.
• Loop video (video-loop): select the clip and press Duplicate (Ctrl D) as many times as it should repeat. A GIF export loops forever by itself.
• Reverse video (video-reverse) is not available yet: the Video Editor cannot play a clip backwards.

Conversions are in the Converters app, not in the Video Editor: Convert video (video-convert) and Extract audio (video-extract-audio). The Video Editor's Project menu has shortcuts to them (Convert video files… (in Converters) opens the Converters app; Take the sound out of a video… opens the same tool in a window over the editor). See Converters.

#The Video Editor's window

• Title bar: the project's name (by default "My video"), and its state: "Kept on this computer as you work" (not saved as a file), "Not saved yet" (changed since it was saved) or "Saved as <name>". On the right: the Project menu and Export (Ctrl E).
• Left, Media tab: Add videos, pictures, music, and every file in the project as a card. A card's + (Add to the timeline) puts it on the timeline; its x (Remove from the project) shows only while the file is not used on the timeline. A file the preview cannot play as it is shows "Getting it ready…" while a playable copy is made.
• Left, Text tab: the kinds of titles (click to add at the playhead, or drag onto the timeline) and Add captions from a subtitle file.
• Middle: the preview. Click on it to select the title, picture or clip under the pointer.
• Right: the settings of what is selected: a clip, a title, a picture or a sound. With nothing selected (press Esc) it shows Your video: Name, Shape, Frames a second and Background.
• Bar under the preview: To the start, play/pause, To the end, the time ("0:05.3 / 1:20.0"), Split, Delete, undo, redo, Text (adds a title at the playhead), Save this frame, and the timeline's zoom (minus, a slider, plus, Fit = show the whole video).
• Timeline: the tracks Text, Pictures, Video, Music and Voice, a ruler to click or drag through, and the playhead.

An empty Video Editor shows "Start your video" with Add files, Record your screen and the four shapes. Files can also be dropped anywhere on the window ("Drop to add to your video").

#How to make a video

1. Open the Video Editor and drop the videos, pictures and music on the window, or press Add files (Add videos, pictures, music later). On an empty timeline the videos and pictures line up on the Video track in the order added and the music goes on the Music track; the video takes the shape of the first video or picture ("The video takes the shape of <file>: <shape>. Change it on the right.").
2. Files added when the timeline already has something go to the Media list only. Press a card's +, or drag the card onto the timeline where it should go.
3. Cut: drag the ends of clips, or split with S and delete pieces. Drag clips along the Video track to reorder them.
4. Click a clip to set its speed, volume, fades, framing, turn and color on the right.
5. Add titles (the Text tab or the Text button), captions, a logo on the Pictures track, music on Music and a voice-over on Voice.
6. Press Space to play. Press Export (Ctrl E), choose Video, a Size and a Quality, press Export and choose where to save the MP4.

The project is kept as it is left: closing the editor or Octoolo loses nothing (see "Projects").

#Trimming, splitting and cutting out the middle

In the Video Editor (video-trim):

• Trim the ends: drag the left or right edge of a clip on the Video track. A clip cannot be longer than its file. Nothing is thrown away: drag the edge back out and the cut part returns.
• Split: put the playhead where the cut goes and press S or Split (also at the top of the right panel). With nothing selected it splits the clip under the playhead; with a title, picture or sound selected it splits that item. The fades at the cut are reset.
• Cut out the middle: split where the unwanted part starts and where it ends, click the piece, press Delete. The clips after it move up: the Video track never has gaps.
• Precise playhead: the left and right arrow keys move the playhead one frame; with Shift, one second. Home and End go to the start and the end.

When the playhead is not over the selected item or a clip, Split says "Move the playhead over the selected item to split it there." or "Move the playhead over a clip to split it there."

#The timeline: tracks, moving and snapping

The Video Editor's timeline has five tracks:

• Text: titles and captions, each at its own time.
• Pictures: pictures laid over the video (logos, stickers), each at its own time.
• Video: the main track. Videos and pictures play one after another with no gaps; the video lasts as long as this track. Drag a clip to move it elsewhere; a marker shows where it will go.
• Music and Voice: two sound tracks mixed under the video. A sound can be dragged to the other track, or moved with Track on the right.

Titles, pictures and sounds can be dragged anywhere in time, and their edges dragged to make them shorter or longer. Edges snap to the start, the playhead and the ends of clips and other items. Anything past the end of the Video track shows shaded ("After the end of the video: not in the export") and is cut off in the export.

Dragging a card from the Media list: a video or a picture dropped on the Video track (or elsewhere) becomes a clip at that place; a picture dropped on the Pictures track goes over the video; a sound file goes on the sound track it is dropped on (on Music when dropped on another track). The + on a card puts a video or picture at the end of the Video track and a sound on Music at the playhead.

Zoom the timeline with the minus and plus buttons, the slider, the + and - keys, or Ctrl and the mouse wheel over the timeline; Fit shows the whole video. While playing, the timeline follows the playhead.

#Clip settings: speed, sound, fades, framing, turn and color

Click a clip on the Video track (or on the preview) and the right panel shows its settings (its file name, "Video" or "Picture", and its length on the timeline). At the top: Split, Duplicate and Delete.

• Speed (videos, video-speed): 0.25×, 0.5×, 1×, 1.5×, 2×, 4×, and Exactly, a slider from 0.1× to 8×. The clip gets shorter or longer on the timeline. The sound changes speed with the picture and keeps its pitch. Frames are not invented: slow motion shows the recorded frames for longer.
• Shows for (pictures): Seconds, 0.5 to 30 (dragging the clip's end can make it longer). A picture on the Video track shows for 5 seconds when added.
• Sound (videos that have sound): Mute (video-mute), and Volume from 0 to 200%. Separate voice and music… is here too (see "Separate voice and music in the Video Editor").
• Fade: In and Out, up to 3 seconds each (or half the clip's length if it is shorter than 6 seconds). In the export the picture fades from and to black and the sound from and to silence (the preview shows the fade over the video's Background color).
• In the frame (video-crop): Fit, with bars (the whole picture, with bars in the background color) or Fill, cut edges (no bars, the edges cut off); Zoom from 50% to 300%; Left and right and Up and down (-100 to +100) choose which part is in view; Turn left, Turn right and Mirror (video-rotate).
• Color: Brightness, Contrast and Color strength (saturation), each -100 to +100, and Reset.

Every clip has its own settings, and Duplicate copies them. Phone videos show upright as the phone recorded them; Turn left/Turn right fix a video that was filmed the wrong way round.

#Titles and text

In the Video Editor, open the Text tab on the left and click a kind of title to add it at the playhead (for 4 seconds), or drag it onto the timeline; the Text button under the preview adds a Title at the playhead. The kinds: Title, Lower third, Caption, Statement, Quote, Meme and Label.

Click a title to change it on the right (Text, with its start and end times):

• Words: the text; Enter starts a new line. Long lines wrap at 90% of the frame's width.
• Look: the seven kinds as one-click looks; Font: Clean, Bold, Classic, Typewriter or Handwritten; Size; Bold, Italic, CAPITALS; Line up: Left, Middle, Right.
• Color: eight colors or Another color (any color).
• Behind the words: None, Shadow, Box or Outline, with a color for the box or the outline.
• When: Starts at and Lasts, in seconds.
• Fade: In and Out.

Drag the text on the preview to move it (it snaps to the middle) and drag its corner to size it. The export draws titles exactly as the preview shows them. Only these five fonts are offered: the Video Editor cannot use other fonts installed on the PC.

#Captions from a subtitle file (.srt or .vtt)

In the Video Editor (video-subtitles):

1. Open the Text tab on the left.
2. Press Add captions from a subtitle file and choose an .srt (SubRip) or .vtt (WebVTT) file.
3. Each caption becomes a text item in the Caption look on the Text track, at its time. The editor says "Added N captions." or, if the file has none it can read, "No captions were found in that file."

The captions are burned in: drawn into the picture of the export, so they show everywhere but cannot be switched off by the viewer. Each caption is a separate text item: click one to change its words, look, place or timing (there is no way to restyle all captions at once). Formatting tags in the file (such as <i>) are dropped, and the file's own positions and styles are ignored.

The Video Editor does not write captions from speech (it cannot transcribe), and it cannot add a subtitle track that can be switched on and off.

#Pictures over the video (logos, stickers, watermarks)

In the Video Editor, a picture can sit over the video, like a logo or a sticker:

1. Add the picture (PNG, JPG, WebP...) so it is in the Media list.
2. Drag its card onto the Pictures track at the time it should appear. (The + on a card puts a picture on the Video track as a clip instead.)
3. It appears at the top right, a third of the frame wide, for 5 seconds, with a short fade.
4. On the right: Size (3% to 100% of the frame's width), See-through (0% to 95%), When (Starts at, Lasts) and Fade (In, Out). Drag it on the preview to move it and drag its corner to size it. Drag its edges on the track to change how long it shows.

A PNG's transparent parts stay transparent. To keep a logo on for the whole video, make it last as long as the video. An animated GIF counts as a video: it goes on the Video track, not over it.

#Music and voice-over

The Video Editor has two sound tracks under the video, Music and Voice, played together with the clips' own sound and mixed into one sound track in the export.

• Add a song or a recording: on an empty project it goes on Music from 0:00; later, press its card's + (it goes on Music at the playhead) or drag it onto Music or Voice.
• Drag it along the track to place it, drag its ends to use only part of it.
• Click it to set, on the right: Volume (0 to 200%), Clean up (Reduce background noise, Even out loudness), Speed (0.5× to 2×, "The pitch stays the same."), Fade In and Out, Track (Music or Voice) and When (Starts at, Lasts).
• Turn the video's own sound down with the clip's Volume, or Mute it.

A song longer than the video is cut off at the end of the video. The Video Editor has no voice recorder: record a voice-over with Record your voice in the Audio Editor (Audio Editor), save it as WAV and add that file. To put another video's sound under this one, first take its sound out with Project > Take the sound out of a video….

The clean-up switches make a cleaned copy of the sound (it shows "Working on it…" meanwhile) that is heard and exported from then on: Reduce background noise takes out steady hiss and hum, Even out loudness brings the sound to the usual level for speech (-16 LUFS). Details are in Audio Editor.

#Separate voice and music in the Video Editor

The Video Editor can split a clip's sound, or a sound on the Music/Voice tracks, into the voice and the music with AI on the PC (Demucs, the same vocal remover as the Audio Editor's vocal-remover):

1. Click the clip (or the sound) and press Separate voice and music… (in the clip's Sound group, or the sound's Voice and music group).
2. Choose Voice and music or Voice, drums, bass, other, and press Separate. The first time the button says Download (107 MB) and separate (91 MB if another AI tool already downloaded the AI runtime).
3. For a clip, its sound is split into parts on the sound tracks, lined up with the clip, and the clip itself goes quiet (its Volume is set to 0; turning it back up brings the original sound back on top of the parts). The voice goes on Voice and the music on Music when they are free at that time. For a sound on Music or Voice, the parts replace it: the voice takes the sound's place and the other parts go on free tracks. When no track is free, new sound tracks are added ("Sound 3", "Sound 4"...). The editor says, for example, "Separated in 0:14: Voice on Voice, Music on Music. Turn parts off on the right."
4. Click a part: Parts of the sound (or Parts of the song) has a switch for each part and No voice, Voice only and All parts. A part that is off stays on its track, silent, and is left out of the export.

How long it takes, what is downloaded and what can go wrong are in Audio Editor ("Separate voice and music").

#The video's shape, frame rate and background

With nothing selected (press Esc or click an empty part of the timeline), the Video Editor's right panel shows Your video (its size and length):

• Name: used as the file name when saving or exporting.
• Shape (video-resize-social): Landscape (16:9 · YouTube, TV, 1920 × 1080), Vertical (9:16 · TikTok, Reels, Shorts, 1080 × 1920), Square (1:1 · Instagram posts, 1080 × 1080) or Portrait (4:5 · Instagram, Facebook, 1080 × 1350). Every clip is placed in the new shape by its own In the frame settings. Other shapes (4:3, 21:9, a custom size) are not offered.
• Frames a second: 24, 25, 30 (the default) or 60. The export uses it.
• Background: the color around pictures that do not fill the frame ("Shows around pictures that do not fill the frame."): eight colors or any other.

The first video or picture added to an empty project sets the shape (a tall one Vertical or Portrait, a near-square one Square, the rest Landscape).

#Exporting a video (MP4)

In the Video Editor press Export (or Ctrl E). The Export window:

1. Video ("MP4: plays everywhere"), GIF ("Moving picture, no sound") or Sound only.
2. Size: 720p, 1080p or 4K: the number of pixels on the short side (a Landscape video at 1080p is 1920 × 1080, at 4K 3840 × 2160; a Vertical one at 1080p is 1080 × 1920).
3. Quality (Video only): Best, Balanced (the default) or Smaller file.
4. The line under it shows the size in pixels, the length and "about N MB", a rough guess.
5. Press Export, choose the folder and name in Windows' Save dialog (the project's name by default).

While it works the window says "Exporting…", "Drawing pictures and titles (1 of 3)…", then "Putting it together: H.264 on the NVIDIA graphics card." (or wherever it runs), with a progress bar and "about 0:42 left". Stop ends it and deletes the unfinished file; closing the window stops it too. At the end, "Your video is ready" shows where it is, "Made with ...", and Show in folder and Open it (opens it in the PC's usual player).

What the MP4 is: H.264 video and AAC sound (192 kbps, 48 kHz stereo), at the project's frame rate, made to start playing quickly on the web. The picture is always encoded again. The bit rate it aims for at 30 frames a second: 1080p about 9.3 Mbit/s at Best, 5.6 at Balanced, 3.1 at Smaller file; 720p about 4.1, 2.5 and 1.4; 4K about 37, 22 and 12. 60 frames a second takes 1.5 times that. The sound of the clips, the music and the voice are mixed with a limiter, so a sound turned up to 200% does not crackle.

The encoder: Octoolo tests once per run which H.264 encoders work on the PC and uses the first of: the NVIDIA graphics card (NVENC), the AMD graphics card (AMF), Intel graphics (Quick Sync), Windows' own encoder (Media Foundation), then the processor (OpenH264). If one fails during an export, the next is tried. Only one export runs at a time. The Video Editor exports MP4 only; for MOV, MKV, WebM, H.265 and other formats, convert the MP4 in Converters (Converters).

#Exporting a GIF

In the Video Editor (video-to-gif): press Export, choose GIF, pick a Size and press Export. The GIF is at most 640 pixels wide (its height follows the shape), at most 15 frames a second, with its own palette of colors, and it loops forever. It has no sound. Titles, captions and pictures over the video are drawn into it. GIFs grow fast: a few seconds is the sensible length. For WebP or APNG animations, use Converters (Converters).

#Exporting the sound only

In the Video Editor press Export and choose Sound only: the whole timeline's sound (the clips' sound, the music and the voice, mixed) as MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, Opus or Ringtone (an iPhone .m4r, the first 40 seconds). At the end the window says "Your sound is ready". The formats are described in Audio Editor ("Exporting"). To save one video's sound without editing it, use Project > Take the sound out of a video… or Converters.

#Saving a frame as a picture

In the Video Editor (video-frames): move the playhead to the moment (the arrow keys step one frame), then press Save this frame under the preview and choose where to save it. The picture is a PNG of exactly what the preview shows, titles and pictures included, at the project's frame size (1920 × 1080 for Landscape), named after the project and the time (for example "My video 0-05-3.png"). The editor says "The frame is saved." It saves one frame at a time; there is no export of every frame or one frame per second. For JPG, convert the PNG in Converters or open it in the Photo Editor (Photo Editor).

#Projects: kept as you work, saved and opened

• Kept as you work: the Video Editor keeps the project on the PC a moment after every change, and it comes back as it was the next time the Video Editor opens, even after closing Octoolo or restarting the PC. There is one kept project for the Video Editor. The undo history is not kept between visits.
• Save the project (Project menu, Ctrl S) saves it as an .octovideo file where you choose; after that, Ctrl S saves into the same file. Save the project as… (Ctrl Shift S) saves a copy under a new name. The editor says "Saved <name>".
• Open a project… (Project menu, Ctrl O) opens an .octovideo file.
• New video (Project menu) starts an empty project. If the work is not in a saved file it asks "Start a new video?" ("What is on the timeline goes. Save the project first to keep it.", or "What you changed since <name> was saved goes." when the project was saved before and changed since); New video confirms, Cancel keeps the project.

A project file holds the timeline and the places of the files it uses, not the files themselves. Moving, renaming or deleting a video, picture or song breaks it: opening the project then says "A file of this project could not be found." (or "N files of this project could not be found."). Put the files back where they were, or remove those clips and add the files again. To move a project to another PC, copy the files to the same folders there. There is no "relink" or "collect files" command.

#Undo and redo

The Video Editor keeps the last 100 steps: undo with Ctrl Z or the undo button under the preview, redo with Ctrl Y, Ctrl Shift Z or the redo button. A slider being dragged counts as one step when it is let go. Opening a project, starting a new one or reopening the editor starts a fresh history.

#Recording the screen

The screen recorder (screen-recorder) is in the Video Editor: press Record your screen on the start screen, or Project > Record your screen…. The window "Record your screen" opens:

1. Record: A screen (pick one: "Screen 1", "Screen 2"..., with its size; "main" marks the main one), A window (pick it from the list; Refresh updates the list) or An area (press Choose an area, drag over what to record on the screen, then press Enter or Record this area; Esc or Cancel gives up; Choose again starts over). A picture on the right shows what will be recorded.
2. Sound: Microphone and Computer sound, each with a switch, a device list ("Windows' default" or a named device) and a level meter. Both are on by default and are mixed into one sound track.
3. Size: Full, 1080p (the default) or 720p (scaled down, never up). Frames a second: 30 or 60. Quality: Standard or High (twice the bit rate).
4. Show the pointer (on by default) and Hide Octoolo while recording (on by default: Octoolo's window goes down when recording starts).
5. Save in: the folder (Videos\Octoolo unless changed), with Change and Open.
6. Press Start recording.

A small bar at the top of the recorded screen shows "Rec", the time, pause and stop; it can be dragged aside, and Windows 10 (version 2004 and later) and Windows 11 keep it out of the recording. The recorder window itself shows "Recording", the time, the size so far, the picture size and where it is encoded (for example "NVIDIA graphics card"), with Pause/Resume and Stop and save.

Pause and resume as often as needed. Stopping ("Saving your recording") joins the parts into one MP4 and Octoolo's window comes back. The recorder then shows "Saved", the file name, its length and size, and Edit it, Play (opens it in Windows' usual player) and Show in folder.

#Screen recordings: format, size and where they are saved

• Screen recordings from the Video Editor's recorder are MP4 files: H.264 video, encoded on the graphics card when it can (NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, then Windows' encoder, then the processor), and AAC sound at 160 kbps, 48 kHz.
• They are saved in the Videos folder, in Octoolo (for example C:\Users\<name>\Videos\Octoolo), unless another folder is chosen under Save in (that choice lasts while the recorder window is open). The name is the date and time: "Screen recording 2026-10-08 at 14.30.05.mp4" ("(2)" is added if the name is taken).
• Size: about 0.07 bits a pixel at Standard (1080p at 30 frames a second is about 4.4 Mbit/s, about 2 GB an hour), twice that at High or at 60 frames a second.
• There is no time limit other than the free space on the disk, and no watermark.
• A recording is written in parts (Matroska .mkv files named "... (part 1).mkv") while it runs, which survive if Octoolo or the PC stops; stopping joins them into the MP4 and removes them.
• Edit it puts the recording on the Video Editor's timeline, after what is there (on an empty timeline it becomes the first clip and sets the video's shape), and closes the recorder: "<name> is on the timeline, after what was there."

The screen recorder records a screen, a window or an area with sound. It cannot record a webcam, cannot stream (to YouTube, Twitch...), has no scheduled recording and no drawing on the screen while recording. A window must be open (not minimized) to be listed and recorded.

#Files it opens and saves

• Opens: video, sound and picture files that FFmpeg reads: MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, WMV, FLV, WebM, MPG, TS/M2TS/MTS, 3GP, animated GIF (as a video), MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, FLAC, OGG, Opus, WMA, AIFF, JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP, AVIF and more. Drop files on the window or use Add files / Add videos, pictures, music. Folders cannot be added ("Folders cannot go on the timeline: add the files in it."). Subtitle files: .srt and .vtt (Text tab). Pictures are shown in the preview as they are, so use JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP or AVIF pictures: a TIFF picture, for example, can be added but the preview cannot show it (convert it to PNG first).
• The preview: files the preview can play as they are (H.264, VP8, VP9 or AV1 video in MP4, MOV, MKV or WebM; MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV, OGG, Opus, FLAC sound) play directly. Anything else (for example H.265/HEVC video from a phone, AVI, WMV, WMA) gets a playable copy first ("Getting it ready…" on its card): H.264 at most 720 lines high, for the preview only. The export always uses the original file.
• Saves: MP4 (H.264 + AAC), GIF, sound files (MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, Opus in .ogg, .m4r ringtone), PNG frames, and .octovideo project files (JSON text with the timeline and the files' places).
• The original files are never changed.

#Keyboard shortcuts

The Video Editor's keys work when no window (Export, a recorder, a question) is open, and, except Ctrl S, Ctrl Shift S, Ctrl O and Ctrl E, when no text box has the focus.

#Where it keeps things

All in the app's local data folder, %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app (for example C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\com.octoolo.app):

• editor\project.json: the Video Editor's project as it was left (the Audio Editor's is editor\project-audio.json).
• editor\copies\: playable copies made for the preview (.mp4, .m4a) and the cleaned-up sounds (.flac). Kept for next time; they are not deleted automatically.
• editor\stems\: the parts made by Separate voice and music, one folder per song (five FLAC files). Kept, so separating the same song again is instant.
• editor\stills\: titles and pictures drawn for an export (PNG); ones older than a day are removed when a later export draws its titles.
• engines\ffmpeg\: FFmpeg. engines\onnxruntime\ and engines\models\ai-stems\: the AI runtime and the vocal remover's model, if downloaded.
• logs\octoolo.log: Octoolo's log (export and recording errors are written there).

Outside it: screen recordings in Videos\Octoolo (or the folder chosen), and exports, frames and project files wherever they were saved. Uninstalling Octoolo keeps %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app unless "Delete the application data" is ticked in the uninstaller, and never touches recordings, exports or project files.

#Downloads it needs

• FFmpeg (version 8.1.3, LGPL build), a one-time download the app shows as 77 MB (80.7 million bytes), the first time the Video Editor (or the Audio Editor, the Media Player, the converters or the screen recorder) is opened: "The video editor needs FFmpeg", Download FFmpeg, progress, Cancel. It is checked against its fingerprint, kept in %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app\engines\ffmpeg for every tool that needs it, and a stopped download goes on where it stopped (Try again). Settings > Downloaded parts shows it; it cannot be removed there.
• For Separate voice and music only: the AI runtime (15.4 MB) and the vocal remover model (91.3 MB), downloaded the first time it is used (the button says Download (107 MB) and separate, or 91 MB when the AI runtime is already there). They can be removed in Settings > Downloaded parts and download again when needed. See Downloads on first use.

#Privacy

The Video Editor does not upload videos, pictures, sounds, recordings or projects: they are read, played, separated and exported on the PC. The preview plays the person's files from inside the app, only files they added. What goes on the internet: the one-time downloads above (FFmpeg from its makers' builds on GitHub, the AI runtime from Microsoft's packages, the vocal remover model from Hugging Face), and Octoolo's usage counts (which apps and tasks are used, with error messages stripped of file names and paths), which can be turned off in Settings. See Privacy and data.

#Troubleshooting

#The Video Editor only shows "The video editor needs FFmpeg"

The Video Editor needs FFmpeg (77 MB, once). Press Download FFmpeg and wait; the editor opens by itself when it is in. If it says "The download failed: Could not reach the download server..." the PC could not reach GitHub, where FFmpeg comes from: check the internet connection, a VPN, proxy or firewall, then press Try again (it goes on where it stopped). "the file arrived damaged (its checksum did not match). Try again." means the download was corrupted on the way: press Try again.

#Files do not go on the timeline when I drop them

Files dropped on a Video Editor that already has something on its timeline go to the Media list on the left, not onto the timeline. Press the + on the file's card, or drag the card onto the track and time where it should go. Only an empty timeline takes dropped files at once.

#"... could not be added" or "It is damaged, or not a video or sound file."

The Video Editor could not read the file: it is damaged, still downloading, not a video, sound or picture, or in a format FFmpeg cannot read ("FFmpeg cannot read it ..."). "There is no picture or sound in it that FFmpeg can read." means the same. Try the file in the Media Player; re-download or re-export it from where it came from. Several files at once: "3 files could not be added: <the first reason>".

The editor works with files that are in a folder on the PC. If nothing happens when files are dropped, or it says "Octoolo could not see where those files are.", they came from somewhere that is not a folder (a web page, inside a ZIP, a phone browsed in File Explorer): save or copy them to a folder first, then add them.

#A video shows no picture or plays badly in the preview

In the Video Editor, formats the preview cannot play (H.265/HEVC, AVI, WMV...) get a playable copy first: the card says "Getting it ready…" until it is made; long files take a while. If it fails the editor says "<file> cannot be shown here: <reason>". The copy is only for the preview (at most 720 lines high, so it can look softer); the export uses the original at full quality.

In 0.8.0, a clip that needed such a copy stays black in the preview once Octoolo has been closed and opened again, whether the project came back by itself or was opened with Open a project… (the export still works). To see it again: add the same file again (drop it on the window or Add videos, pictures, music), put the new card on the timeline with + or by dragging it where the old clip is, set its cut and settings again and delete the old clip. The copy is found again at once, without waiting.

A TIFF picture shows nothing in the preview: convert it to PNG or JPG and add that instead.

#The music or voice is not louder in the preview at 200%

The Video Editor's preview plays sounds at most at their recorded level: a Volume above 100% is heard at 100% while editing, and is louder only in the export.

#Export fails with an error

The Video Editor's Export window shows the reason in red:

• "The timeline is empty: add a video or a picture first.": a video or GIF needs at least one clip on the Video track (titles and music alone cannot be exported as a video; use Sound only for music alone). With music but no clip, Video fails with an "FFmpeg stopped: ..." message instead; the fix is the same.
• "Drop the file on Octoolo or choose it first.": the editor may not use one of the project's files. In 0.8.0 the usual cause is a sound with Reduce background noise or Even out loudness on, in a project kept from before Octoolo was last closed (or opened with Open a project… after a restart): its cleaned copy is no longer allowed, and that sound is also silent in the preview. Fix: click the sound, switch its clean-up off and on again (the copy is found again at once), then export again. The other cause is a file that was missing when the project was opened ("A file of this project could not be found."): put it back where it was and open the project again, or remove those items and add the file again.
• "Could not open <path>: ...", or "FFmpeg stopped: ..." with "No such file or directory": a file the project uses was moved, renamed or deleted, or is on a drive that is not connected. Put it back, or remove that item and add the file again.
• "The disk is full.": free space on the drive you save to (an export can take several GB).
• "Octoolo cannot write in that folder.": choose another folder (for example Videos or Documents); some folders are protected by Windows or by Controlled folder access.
• "This computer has no H.264 encoder that works.": none of the encoders (graphics card, Windows, processor) started. Update the graphics driver and restart Octoolo; if it persists, send the log (%LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app\logs\octoolo.log) through Help and feedback.
• "A video is being exported already.": wait for the other export or stop it.
• "FFmpeg stopped: ..." or "FFmpeg made an empty file.": FFmpeg's own message follows. Try again, try Balanced or a smaller Size, and if it persists send the message and the log through Help and feedback.

#Export is slow

The Video Editor's export is fastest on a graphics card's encoder; the done message says where it ran ("Made with H.264 on the NVIDIA graphics card." or "...on the processor."). On the processor, 4K and long videos take a long time: choose 1080p or 720p. Speed changes, many titles and pictures over the video also add work. Update the graphics driver if it runs on the processor although the PC has a graphics card.

#The exported file is bigger or smaller than "about N MB"

The size in the Video Editor's Export window is a rough guess from the size, quality and length; the encoder spends more bits on busy pictures and fewer on still ones. For a smaller file choose Smaller file and a smaller Size, or compress further in Converters.

#Captions file says "No captions were found in that file."

The Video Editor could not read captions from the file: it is not SRT or WebVTT, or its times are not in the usual form (00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,500). Open it in a text editor to check, or save it again as .srt from the subtitle tool that made it.

#The screen recorder: "That window is closed or minimised: choose another, or restore it."

In the Video Editor's screen recorder, the chosen window was closed or minimized. Restore it, press Refresh, pick it again. Minimized windows are not listed. "That screen is no longer connected." means a monitor was unplugged: choose another screen. "That area is not on its screen: choose it again." means the area no longer fits (the screen's resolution changed): press Choose again.

#The screen recording has no sound, or the microphone fails

In the Video Editor's screen recorder:

• Check that Microphone and/or Computer sound are on and their meters move before starting. Computer sound records what plays on the chosen output device ("Windows' default" unless another is picked): play the sound through that device.
• "The microphone could not be opened: ..." or "The computer's sound could not be opened: ...": the device is missing, in use exclusively by another app, or blocked. Pick another device, close the other app, and check that Windows lets desktop apps use the microphone (Windows Settings > Privacy & security > Microphone).

#The screen recording stopped by itself

In the Video Editor's screen recorder, "The recording stopped by itself." or "The recording stopped: ..." means FFmpeg ended early (the recorded window closed, the disk filled up). What was recorded is kept and saved. If the parts could not be joined the message ends with "The recording is in <folder>, in parts.": the .mkv part files are there and play in the Media Player.

#"No H.264 encoder works on this computer." when recording

The Video Editor's screen recorder found none of its encoders (graphics card, Windows, processor) working. Update the graphics driver and restart Octoolo; if it persists, send the log (%LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app\logs\octoolo.log) through Help and feedback.

#Limits and what it cannot do

• It cannot play a clip backwards (video-reverse is not available yet).
• It exports MP4 (H.264), GIF and sound only; for MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, H.265 or AV1, convert the MP4 in Converters. It cannot export without re-encoding (no lossless "smart cut").
• No transitions between clips (cross-dissolves, wipes): only fades to and from black.
• No keyframes or animation (no pan-and-zoom over time, no moving titles), no picture-in-picture of a second video, no green screen / chroma key, no stabilization, no filters or LUTs beyond brightness, contrast and color strength, no blur of faces or areas.
• One video track: videos always play one after another; a second video cannot play over the first.
• Two sound tracks (Music and Voice); more appear only when a sound is separated into parts.
• No free crop box: cropping is done by framing (Fill, Zoom, position) in one of the four shapes (16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:5); no custom frame size, no 4:3 or 21:9 project.
• Turning is by 90° steps only, and Mirror is left to right.
• Speed is per clip, from 0.1× to 8×, with no speed ramps; no pitch control for clips.
• Titles: five fonts only (the PC's own fonts cannot be chosen). Captions are burned in; no soft (switchable) subtitle tracks and no automatic captions from speech.
• No voice recorder inside the Video Editor (it is in the Audio Editor); no webcam recording.
• The screen recorder cannot stream, record a webcam or schedule recordings.
• Save this frame saves one PNG at a time; no batch export of frames.
• Project files do not contain the media, and there is no relink of moved files.
• The preview plays sound at most at 100% volume; files it cannot play show from a copy at most 720 lines high.
• An export holds at most 1000 clips, 1000 titles and pictures and 300 sounds ("The timeline has more in it than one export can take.").