Effects and Filters¶

Effects and Filters are very important components in video editing. In Kdenlive, effects and filters are provided by frei0r or avfilter (Kdenlive does not have built-in effects or filters of its own).

Effects are used to change the appearance of or manipulate a clip. For example, the Transform effect allows to scale and move the clip; the Brightness effect changes the brightness of the clip; effects in the Alpha, Mask and Keying category provide very specific filters for masking or rotoscoping.

Kdenlive has two groups of effects: Video Effects and Audio Effects.

There are several ways to apply effects:

On the clip in the Project Bin, which makes the effect available in all instances of that clip in the Timeline
On the clip in the Timeline, which makes the effect only applicable for that clip in the Timeline at that point
On the track, which applies the effect to all clips in that particular track
On Master, which applies that effect to all clips in all tracks

Note

Not all effects can be used at the track or Master level nor does it make sense.

Built-in Effects¶

When dragging a clip into the timeline, the Flip and Transform effects are always added to the video part of the clip; for the audio part the Volume effect is added by default.

These are the most used effects which you now have at your fingertips without the need to add them manually.

< video part | audio part >

The built-in effects are disabled by default. So you have to enable it before you can use it.

Built-in effects can be used in three places:

on the timeline when a clip is available
on the track header (only Flip on video track and Volume on audio track)
as master effect (only Flip and Volume)

All built-in effects can be disabled/removed in general in Settings ‣ Configure Kdenlive -> Misc

builtin-effect_disable — Under misc you can disable/enable all built-in effects in general. Default: enabled¶

Effects Tab¶

Make the Effects widget visible in Menu ‣ View ‣ Effects.

The Effects widget has eight control icons that show or hide the different effect categories:

kdenlive_effects_tab — Kdenlive Effects widget as a tab in the Project Bin area¶

show-all-effects Main effects shows all video and audio effects (default view)

kdenlive-show-video Show all video effects shows all video effect categories only

kdenlive-audio Show all audio effects shows all audio effects categories only

kdenlive-custom-effect Show all custom effects shows all effects you have created by saving an effect stack.

Show all favorite items shows all effects that were flagged as a favorite effect. This is the same list that appears when selecting Insert an effect from the right-click menu of a clip in the Timeline, or by clicking the Favorite Effects in the Timeline toolbar.

edit-download Download New Effects opens a dialog window where effect templates are listed from the KDE Store

view-filter Only show reviewed assets toggles between the effects which are reviewed and tested by the Kdenlive team and not tested effects (still in test phase)

help-about Show/hide description of effects toggles the information display below the effect list where a short description of what the effect does is displayed when on. Click on the blue effect text opens the online documentation to this effect.

Effect/Composition Stack¶

This widget is also known as the Properties Tab as it lists all effects applied to the currently selected clip as well as each effect’s settings or properties. If a Composition is selected the widget displays the composition’s settings or properties.

< effect | composition >

Note

Only Effects can be stacked, Compositions cannot.

Effect/Composition Stack Functions¶

kdenlive2304_effects-effect_stack — Kdenlive Effect Stack¶

document-save-all Save Effect - Opens a dialog window for entering a name for the effect stack under which it will be listed in the Custom effect category and a comment which will be displayed in the information display

view-split-left-right Compare Effect - Splits the Preview Monitor vertically to do a side-by-side comparison of the clip with and without effects

visibility Effects enabled - Switches the effect stack on or off. This is equivalent to disabling all effects in the effect stack.

keyframe-disable Hide/Show keyframes in Timeline - Switches the display of keyframes in the clip in the Timeline on or off

When an effect is applied to a clip in the timeline you can click on the effect button to enable/disable the clip stack of this clip. When disabled the effect name on the clip is strikeout.

kdenlive2402_effects-effect_stack_disabled — Kdenlive Effect Stack disabled by click on the effect of a clip¶

Effect Functions¶

kdenlive2304_effects-effect_panel — Kdenlive Effect Panel¶

keyframe-disable Hide/show keyframes - Turns the display of the keyframe ruler off or on

zoom-fit-width Use effect zone - Toggles the display to show the effect zone

visibility Disable effect - Turns the effect off or on. The effect stays in the stack but is not applied during playback or rendering.

Presets - Opens a list of advanced options to manage presets for the effect (e.g. reset the effect to its default parameters).

Save effect - Opens a dialog window for entering a name for the effect under which it will be listed in the Custom effect category and a comment which will be displayed in the information display

help-about Open effect documentation in browser - This opens the online documentation to this effect

selection-raise Move effect up - Moves the effect up one notch in the list (effect sequence from top to bottom is important)

selection-lower Move effect down - Moves the effect down one notch in the list (effect sequence from top to bottom is important)

edit-delete Delete effect - Removes the effect from the effect stack

Applying an Effect¶

Where to apply an effect¶

An effect can be applied at four different levels of your project:

you can apply it on a clip in the timeline: it will affect only this clip
you can apply it on an clip in the bin: it will affect all the occurrences of this clip in the timeline
you can apply it on a track: it will affect all the clips on this track
you can apply it on the Master: it will affect your global output

How to apply an effect¶

For applying an effect to a clip in the Project Bin or in the Timeline, you can choose one from the Effects Tab and drag it onto the clip.

You can also double-click on an effect in the Effects Tab which adds the effect to the clip in the Project Bin which appears in the clip monitor. In the Timeline it adds the effect to the clips which are selected. So you can apply an effect to several clips at once in the timeline.

Another method is to use the Favorite Effect icon in the Timeline toolbar and select the effect from there (you add an effect to the favorite effects by right-click on the effect in the Effects Tab and select Add to favorites).

Alternatively, you can use Menu ‣ Timeline ‣ Add Effect to select an effect from the various categories and add it to the selected clip(s) in the Timeline.

And last but not least you can copy effects with all their settings from any clip (Timeline or Project Bin) and paste them to other clips.

For applying an effect to a track, see Track Effect.

For applying an effect to the Master, see Master Effect.

Note

Effects are always added at the bottom of the effect stack, and since the effect order is important can be re-arranged.

Keyframes in Effects¶

Many effects use the concept of “Keyframes”. Keyframes are user-defined points in your clip where you want an effect to start, stop or change. You can set the parameters for your effects to different values at different keyframes and Kdenlive will then gradually change the parameters between the two keyframes so that by the time the video has arrived at the next keyframe it will have adjusted the parameter to match that keyframe. It interpolates between keyframes.

Keyframes types, interpolation¶

Select the keyframe interpolation icon for selecting the keyframe type. See Quick Start for an example on keyframing the RGB adjustment effect.

kdenlive2402_effects-keyframe_panel — Kdenlive keyframe types¶

The first three keyframes are: linear, discrete and smooth (Centripetal Catmull-Rom spline interpolation). This are standard keyframes. More details about keyframes you’ll find here.

The next ten keyframes are easing keyframes which calculations are based on Robert Penners equations[2].

Objects in real life don’t just start and stop instantly, and almost never move at a constant speed. When we open a drawer, we first move it quickly, and slow it down as it comes out. Drop something on the floor, and it will first accelerate downwards, and then bounce back up after hitting the floor.

Easing keyframes: The left end is the start of the movement, and the segments in blue and green represent faster movement.

Smooth (deprecated): Is the smooth Catmull-Rom spline interpolation keyframe before Kdenlive 24.02.

Keyframe ruler¶

The keyframe ruler has zoom bars which makes adjusting keyframes a lot easier if the clip’s duration is relatively long and the effect stack widget is too narrow to display all keyframes nicely spaced.

Keyframes can be copied and pasted between effects and even across clips. Standard shortcuts Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V

Keyframe Curve editor¶

New in version 24.08.

Implemented with version 24.08 the keyframe curve editor is still in alpha state. Improvements will come with upcoming versions.

The curve editor is showing the keyframe type and their curves.

To switch to the curve editor click on switch-to-curve-editor-view Switch to curve editor view.

The curve editor can only be enabled on effects which have following parameters: X, Y, Width, Height, Opacity (Alpha, optional) and Rotation. For all other effects the curve editor is greyed out.

By double clicking into the window new keyframes get added. Hovering over a keyframe the cursor changes to a cross and you can:

move the keyframe to change the value, depending on which tab you are (X position, Y position, Width, Height, Opacity, Rotation). Hold Ctrl moves the keyframe vertically only.
click on the keyframe and change the keyframe type

In this example the cursor enables the second keyframe and you can either change the values by moving the keyframe or change the values directly in the boxes below the curve editor view.

To switch back to the timeline view click on switch-to-timeline-view Switch to timeline view.

Working with Keyframes in the Effect Stack¶

The effect keyframe panel has new icons, improved keyframe grabbing and new functions.

Select the keyframe you want to move
Move the cursor to the position where you want to move the keyframe to
Click on Move selected keyframe to cursor

Select the keyframe you want to duplicate
Click on Copy keyframe
Move the cursor to the position where you want to insert the new keyframe
Click on Paste keyframe

Select all keyframes you want to apply the value on
Go to one of the selected keyframes and change the value(s) as you want
Click on Options and select Apply current position value to selected keyframes
Select the parameters you want to apply and click on OK

Select multiple individual keyframes with Ctrl+Left-click

Select contiguous keyframes with Shift+Left-click

Moving multiple keyframes at once

Keyframe Types¶

Easing functions are based on Robert Penner's Easing Functions.

Exchanging Keyframes Across Effects¶

You can import and export keyframes from/to the clipboard. This feature is not only useful to copy keyframes from one clip to another, it can also be used for example to copy the results of the motion tracker to the Transform effect.

To export the keyframes to the clipboard click on Options in the keyframe panel[1] and choose Copy keyframes to clipboard.

Import keyframes dialog — Importing keyframes¶

To import keyframes from the clipboard click on Options inside the keyframe panel[1] and choose Import keyframes from clipboard. If you have valid data on your clipboard you should see this dialog window where you can adjust the mapping of the data.

For most use cases the default settings suffice. But you may want to copy only a subset of the data and perhaps enter an offset value, for example.

Track Effect¶

Effects can be added to an entire track affecting all clips in that track. Simply drag an effect from the Effects Tab to the header of the desired track, or click on the tools-wizard Track Effect icon and drag the effect to the track’s effect stack.

Master Effect¶

If you want to apply audio or video effects throughout the whole video. Click on the Master button above the track headers to see the Master Effect Stack where you can add effects just like with clips or tracks.

There are specific effects and filters that work On Master only.

Effect Zones¶

Effect Zones allow you to apply effects to specific regions of tracks or the timeline. Zones can be set from the effect zone bar in the Timeline or from the interface in the effect panel.

timeline-effect-zone — Master Effect Zone¶

Masking Effects¶

This feature allows to apply effects only to specific regions of a clip by using masks. In its current implementation the process requires three steps:

Add one of the three available masks: Shape alpha (mask), Rotoscoping (mask) or Alpha shapes (mask).
Add an effect (or effects) to be applied to the masked region
Add the Mask Apply effect to activate the mask to the effects in step 2

Using Rotoscoping (mask) to apply the Saturation effect in one specific region only

You can apply more than one mask per clip by following the same three-step process.

Video Effects¶

The video effects are divided into the following categories:

The available effects are defined by .xml files found in .local/share/kdenlive/effects (e.g. /usr/share/kdenlive/effects).

These .xml files contain the default values for the effects parameters. So if you don’t like the default values for the effects in Kdenlive, you can modify the defaults by editing these .xml files.

See also here for an alphabetical list of effects and filters.

Audio Effects¶

The audio effects are divided into the following categories:

The available effects are defined by .xml files found in .local/share/kdenlive/effects (e.g. /usr/share/kdenlive/effects).

These .xml files contain the default values for the effects parameters. So if you don’t like the default values for the effects in Kdenlive, you can modify the defaults by editing these .xml files.

See also here for an alphabetical list of effects and filters.