How to crop video at the edges [4 ways / examples]

Good day!

Often the video comes across unnecessary elements located at the edges of the image: some random faces, logos, uneven black stripes, etc. If desired, all this can be easily removed (more precisely cut off superfluous).

True, I will immediately note that if you cut off something unnecessary, we will have to recompress the video (this can be a rather lengthy process on not very powerful PCs / laptops).

I will present my step-by-step examples below in three programs (each has its own advantages / disadvantages).

By the way, if you need to cut the video to length (that is, for example, cut off the advertisement at the beginning of the video or at the end of the credits), then use the following instruction.

👉 Note!

In order for you to have no problems opening and editing video files, I recommend installing a full set of codecs.

4 step by step examples

Method 1: using the Video-MONTAGE program

Official website: //video-editor.su/

Program "Video-MONTAGE" is designed for video processing and creating your own videos. Primarily aimed at novice users.

Benefits (within the framework of our task):

supports almost all video formats (the latest version has over 500 of them!);
all actions are performed step by step (the program is designed for a beginner);
the program has many filters, effects, transitions and other interesting "things" that can significantly transform your video (for example, you can make a beautiful video congratulation);
you can pre-select the final size of the output video;
The software is completely in Russian;

Perhaps the only drawback is that the program is paid (the free version will have a small logo at the beginning of the video). Below, step by step, I will present in it the solution to the current problem.

1) And so, after starting the program, open a new project.

New project (Video-Editing 9.25)

2) Next, add to the project the video (arrow-1 👇) in which you want to crop the edges (by the way, if you need to glue / combine several videos in parallel to this operation, add them all to the project at once).

3) After click on the icon "Cropping" on the taskbar of the editor (the tool should open: "Cropping video" ). An example is in the screenshot below.

Add video files + crop

4) Now you need to select with the mouse the area of the video that you need (everything that is not in the rectangle will be cropped). A very handy tool to remove all sorts of bumps and black stripes around the edges ...

Select the desired area with the mouse - i.e. the one that we will leave (Video-Editing 9.25)

5) Please note that after cropping, the editor will automatically show you how the final video will look after compression (i.e. if you cropped something wrong, you can reopen the tool and correct it).

In addition, I would advise you to use a tool to change aspect ratio : 16: 9/4: 3, etc. (👇).

Aspect Ratio (Video Editing 9.25)

6) If everything is "OK" - you can proceed to saving the video. To do this, open the section "Create" and choose a format "AVI video file" .

Save Video (Video Editing 9.25)

7) After that, all that remains is to select the video quality (by the way, you can simply specify the file size that you need at the output) and press the button "Create video" .

Codec selection, output size setting and saving (Video Editing 9.25)

It's all! Simply? I think yes...

Method 2: using Movavi Video Suite

Official website: //www.movavi.ru/

A very interesting and multifunctional program for processing any video materials (you can create almost professional * videos!).

It captivates, first of all, with its thoughtfulness: the tools are easy and simple to use (and at the first start - you will be accompanied by tips with arrows!).

An example of trimming in Movavi Video Suite:

1) Standard - first launch the program and import the desired video (you can add several videos at once if you plan to combine them into one file).

Importing Files - Add Files (Movavi Video Suite Software)

2) After, we transfer the videos to the lower scale and click on the icon "Cropping" (arrow-2 👇) - then select the area that needs to be left (exclude "black" stripes and interfering areas).

You can also immediately specify the aspect ratio (in most cases, 16: 9 is relevant).

Rotate and crop - aspect ratio - Movavi Video Suite

3) The final touch is to save the resulting video. If you are going to view it on a PC, it is better to choose the AVI or MP4 format (quality: good).

Save Video - to MP4 - Movavi Video Suite

In general, that's all. Simple too! 👌

Method 3: using the converter "Format Factory"

Official website: //www.pcfreetime.com/

A very solid video file converter. Allows you to transcode video to many formats: MP4, Divx, MOV, FLV, etc.

It differs from other software of this kind with a simple interface, high speed, support for hundreds of formats (including video can be converted for mobile gadgets).

Features (for our task):

supports a large number of video and audio files;
the ability to quickly crop video both in length and in width / height of the picture;
there are problems with converting MKV format (rarely WMV);
pay attention to the installed version - you need at least 4.7.0.
Russian interface.

Now about how to work in it ...

1) After starting the program, in the menu on the left, select the format into which you want to convert your video (most often they use MP4 or AVI for viewing on a PC).

To MP4 (Format Factory)

2) After add the file and go to the menu "Clip" .

to add a file

3) Activate the tool "Crop" (in the menu on the right) and select the area you need (see the red rectangle in the screenshot below).

Note: if you only need an excerpt from a film (video), you can set the exact start and end time (the program will cut the specified area for you).

Crop

4) After specifying all the settings to start video encoding to work - just click on the button "Start" in the top menu of the program.

Start - start converting

In my opinion, everything is quite simple.

Method 4: using VirtualDUB

Official website: //www.virtualdub.org/

This program is quite popular. Used to process AVI files. Allows you to convert, cut, glue, apply filters, etc. In fact, it is a mini-editor + converter.

Features (regarding our task):

supports only AVI files (although they are the most common, but still ...);
the program is free;
not all VirtualDUB elements are translated into Russian;
there are many filters for the program (moreover, many of them are created by fans);
not all actions are performed step by step (there may be some difficulties for beginners).

1) And so, after starting the program, you need to open the video (standard combination Ctrl + O) and go to the section "Video / Filters" .

By the way, I will show all the actions in English. version of the program, because full support of the Russian is not there. See example below. 👇

Video - Filters (video, filters)

2) Then click the "ADD" button (ie we are adding a new filter).

Add

3) After, find the filter in the list "null transform" and add it to your project. Next, select it from the list and click on the tool "Cropping" (cropping).

Crop the edges of the video (for example, if there are black bars on the sides)

4) In the window that opens, you will seeX-axis and Y, with which you can crop the edges of the video (just change the value (see the arrow in the screenshot below) and you will see how the axis moves to the left / right).

Setting up cropping

5) After you cut the edges of the video, you need to select the compression codec for the audio and video track. I'll show you how to do this for video (for audio - the same way).

First you need to open the section "Video / Compression" .

Compression video

Then select the required codec from the list and open its settings.

Note: Most often AVI files use Xvid or Divx codecs.If you do not have these codecs in the list, install one of the sets that I recommended at the beginning of the article.