FFEdit Express — User Guide
Overview
FFEdit Express is a simple video trimming tool that drives ffmpeg. Set an in point and an out point, and export just that range as a lossless copy — no re-encoding, so it is fast and there is no quality loss.
Opening a video
- Drag and drop a video file onto the drop zone in the middle of the window
- Or click Open Video…, or Open… at the top left of the editing screen
Timeline controls
Drag on the timeline to move the playhead, the in point, or the out point. The handle nearest where you start dragging is selected automatically.
| Handle | Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Playhead | White vertical line | Current playback position |
| In point | Green bar | Where the export starts |
| Out point | Red bar | Where the export ends |
| B/W marker | Orange ◇ | A black or white frame found by the scan |
Playback and navigation
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| ▶ / ⏸ | Play / pause |
| ⏮ / ⏭ | Jump to the start / end of the video |
| −30s … +30s | Move backward or forward by the shown amount |
| .000 | Snap the current position to the nearest whole second |
Setting the in and out points
- Move to the position you want, using the timeline or the nudge buttons
- Click Set In to put the in point at the current position
- Click Set Out to put the out point at the current position
- Use Go to In / Go to Out to jump back to each point
The length between the in and out points is shown in the middle of the screen.
Scanning for black and white frames (scene-change detection)
FFEdit Express can find black and white frames automatically and mark them on the timeline, which is handy for locating scene changes.
- Click Scan B/W Frames to start the scan
- When it finishes, orange ◇ markers appear on the timeline
- Use ◀ Prev / Next ▶ to step between markers
Note: Only black or white frames lasting 0.5 seconds or longer are detected. You can stop a scan in progress with Cancel.
Exporting
- Enter the output path in the Output field (a path with
_cutadded is suggested automatically) - Or click Browse… to choose a location from a dialog
- Click Export
The export is a lossless copy using ffmpeg’s -vcodec copy -acodec copy. Nothing is re-encoded, so it is fast and there is no loss of quality.
If a file with the same name already exists, _1, _2, … is appended automatically.
Copying the ffmpeg command
The $ ffmpeg … command shown above the Export button can be copied to the clipboard with the button at its right end. You can paste it straight into Terminal and run it there.
Requirements
- macOS 14 or later
- ffmpeg (install with Homebrew)
brew install ffmpeg