Shotcut Tutorial 3: Exporting a thumbnail or 2D video from VR

04.12.2023

Learn how to export a video thumbnail or 2D video from your VR video, using the free open-source VR video editing software, Shotcut.

This is a guest post by talented VR creator XR Stereo Video - most videos on his DeoVR channel are rendered in Shotcut. Check out his other Shotcut tutorials:

This tutorial covers how to export regular flat videos or images so that you create the perfect thumbnail or export VR content as regular 2D videos.

DeoVR is currently working on automatic thumbnail generation from videos, but for now, exporting from video has been difficult. Shotcut, however, makes things very easy.

First, your video will have to be in the standard VR format, equirectangular, so you might have to first run it through your included camera software.

Then, load up Shotcut and follow these instructions.

Create a 2D flat thumbnail from your VR video

Select the perfect frame :

Import your video(s) into Shotcut and onto the timeline
Select your desired clip in the timeline by clicking on it
In the Filters subwindow, press the “+” sign to add a new filter, search for “360” and select the “360: Equirectangular to Rectilinear” filter
Navigate to the frame of your choice in the Timeline

Frame the image

Click on the video preview to drag it and scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in and out
Frame your image how you want it to look
To export the frame directly to 1280x720, go to “Settings/ Video Mode” and select one of the HD 720p options (be careful that you don’t render your video in 720p - make sure to revert to the native video mode of your video after saving the thumbnail)

Export as high-resolution PNG

To save the thumbnail, go to “File”, then “Export”, then Frame”. (There is also the Ctrl+Shift+E shortcut but this may clash with AMD software)
Save your frame as png
Now you can import that frame into your preferred image editing software

Create 2D landscape video from your VR content

This can be used to promote your VR content on social media, or if a client requests it.

Import the video into your timeline
In the Filters subwindow, press the “+” sign to add a new filter, search for “360” and select the “360: Equirectangular to Rectilinear” filter
Frame your video the way you want by clicking on the video preview, then click to drag the video and scroll to zoom in and out
Select your output resolution by going to Settings/Video Mode. Go to the Export tab, enter your preferred encoding settings and export your file

Now you can easily make thumbnails for Deo VR or export regular video from your VR video, for promotion on social media or other purposes.

Join the discussion at the DeoVR forum, Facebook and Reddit.