Export a video

The Export workspace turns a sequence into a video or audio file. You pick a preset for where the video is going, change its settings if you need to, choose where the file goes, and export. Exports run in the background, so you can keep editing while they render.

Open the Export workspace#

Press Ctrl+M, or click "Export" in the title bar.

The workspace shows the Program Monitor, the timeline and the export page. On the export page, filter chips and preset tiles are on one side. The other side shows the chosen preset, "Settings", "Save to" and the "Export" button, which stays pinned at the foot of the panel while the tiles scroll.

Wabcut exports the current sequence. To export a different one, switch to it with the sequence pill in the title bar first.

Choose a preset#

1. Click a chip at the top to show one destination (YouTube, Shorts, Twitch, Discord, GIF and WebM, or "General"), or "All" to show every preset.
2. Click a tile. The chosen tile is highlighted, and the card beside it shows the format it makes.

Each tile says what it makes and shows an estimated file size and export time. The "For gaming" group has a preset for each platform:

The "General" group has the rest:

To make a vertical video from a wide edit without cropping off the action, make a Shorts version of the sequence first (see the Shorts workflow).

Fit a clip under Discord's upload limit#

The Discord presets make a file that stays under 10, 25 or 50 MB. The sizes are decimal (10 MB is 10,000,000 bytes), the smaller reading of "MB".

1. In the timeline, set In and Out around the moment.
2. Choose "Discord 10 MB", "Discord 25 MB" or "Discord 50 MB".
3. In "Settings", set "Range" to "In to Out".

Wabcut sets the bitrate from the length you export so the file lands at about 95 % of the limit, and a long clip gets a smaller picture. If the first pass still ends over the limit, the clip is encoded once more at a rate that fits. If the range is too long for the size, the tile says how much fits: shorten the range, or pick a bigger size.

Read the estimates#

The chosen preset's card shows the "File size" and "Export time" for the range you export, names the encoder that will do the work (for example "NVENC (NVIDIA GPU)"), and lists anything worth knowing, such as:

• a 16:9 sequence being centre-cropped by a vertical preset;
• a sequence smaller than the preset being upscaled (no detail is added);
• a sequence faster than 60 fps being exported at 60 fps by a gaming preset.

The estimates update as you edit. With a constant-quality setting, the size depends on the picture, so treat it as a guide.

Change the settings#

Click "Settings" to open every option. Your choices apply on top of the chosen preset. The header shows the format the export will write, for example "MP4 · H.264 · 1920 × 1080 · 60 fps".

• Settings that depend on each other move together: ProRes and DNxHR go into a MOV file, and choosing MP4 for a ProRes or DNxHR export switches the codec to H.264.
• The presets export stereo sound. With a 5.1 master, choose "As the master" or "5.1" to keep 5.1. A 5.1 master exported to stereo is downmixed.
• If a combination of settings can't work, the panel says why above the "Export" button.

Burn in captions or save a caption file#

In "Settings", set "Captions" for a video export:

• "Burn in" draws the captions into the picture, exactly as the Program Monitor shows them. Use it for Shorts, TikTok and Reels.
• "SRT file" or "VTT file" writes a caption file next to the video.
• "Off" leaves the captions out.

To make and style captions, see Captions.

Choose where to save#

Under "Save to", Wabcut suggests a file named after the sequence, next to the project file (or in your Videos folder when the project isn't saved yet), and numbers the name when it is taken. Type another path, or click "Browse…". The file extension follows the format.

The file appears only when the export is complete. If you cancel, or the export fails, nothing is left behind. A file with the same name is replaced only once the new one is finished.

Export and follow the queue#

1. Click "Export". The export starts in the background.
2. While an export runs, the button reads "Add to queue". Click it to line up another export, for example the same sequence with another preset. Exports run one at a time.
3. Under "Queue", each export shows its progress, speed (frames per second) and time left. Click its × to cancel it.
4. When an export is done, it says how long it took and how fast (for example "0:10 · 6× realtime"). Click "Show" to see the file in File Explorer. A failed export says why, in plain words.
5. "Clear" removes finished exports from the list.

Each export takes a snapshot of the sequence when you click "Export". Your later edits go into the next export, not the one already queued.

Hardware encoding#

With "Encoder" set to "Auto", Wabcut uses your GPU's video encoder when it has one: NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF or Intel Quick Sync on Windows (VideoToolbox on the macOS preview, VA-API on the Linux preview). It first makes the encoder encode a test frame with the real settings. If that fails, it uses a software encoder (such as x264 or x265) instead. "Settings" shows the encoder the export will use; choose "Software" to always use the software encoder.

What you see is what you export#

Wabcut renders each exported frame with the same engine that draws the Program Monitor ("preview == export"), so the file matches what you watched: effects, colour, blend modes, green-screen keying, captions and graphics included.

• Exports always read your original media, never the proxies you edit with. If an original is offline, Wabcut lists the missing files. Relink them with File > "Relink Offline Media…", then export again.
• "Match Source" keeps the sequence's frame rate, so 60, 120, 144 and 240 fps recordings export frame for frame, and variable-frame-rate captures never drift. The "For gaming" presets export at up to 60 fps.
• Redactions follow the footage into every export.
• Audio plug-ins sound the same in the export as in playback, as long as the plug-in itself is deterministic. See Use audio plug-ins.

Export from the command line#

wabcut-cli renders a saved project without opening the editor:

& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Wabcut\bin\wabcut-cli.exe" render "D:\Videos\raid.wabcut" "D:\Videos\raid.mp4" --preset youtube-1440p60

• --preset takes a preset id, such as match-source, youtube-1080p60, shorts-1080x1920-60, discord-25mb, prores-422-hq or audio-wav. These are the export library's presets; their bitrates can differ from the tiles. The full list is in the developer docs (Export).
• --range all|in-out|work-area, --sequence <name>, --encoder <name> and --no-audio change the rest.
• Progress shows in the terminal. Ctrl+C cancels and leaves no file.
• In the portable ZIP, wabcut-cli.exe is in the bin folder.

Known limits#

• No HDR and no transparency (alpha) in exports. HDR game captures are tone-mapped to SDR.
• Captions export as burn-in, SRT or VTT only: there are no SCC, MCC, STL or DFXP files.
• The queue lives inside Wabcut: there is no separate encoder app and no watch folders.
• Hardware encoding is tested on NVIDIA GPUs. The AMD, Intel, macOS and Linux encoders have had less testing; when one fails its test frame, Wabcut uses software instead.
• Check every redacted export by eye before you share it.