How to Clip a Highlight From a Long Game Video
Drop the full recording into the Video Cutter, set the start a couple of seconds before the play and the end just after it, then press Cut a video. With Exact cut off, MP4 and MOV recordings are copied without re-encoding, so the original quality is kept and even a long file finishes quickly. If the clip is too big to send, run it through Compress Video.
Who this is for
You filmed your kid's whole football match, a school game or a pickup run, and you only want to send the goal to the family chat. Or you have a long gameplay recording and need one play. The job is the same: find the moment, cut it out, send it.
Step 1: find the play
Open the Video Cutter and drop in the recording. Nothing is uploaded, so you can start straight away, even with a large file. Drag along the timeline to move through the match. The thumbnails on the strip help you spot where the action changes.
Step 2: set the start and end
Stop a couple of seconds before the play and press ⇤ Start here. Watch the moment, then press End here ⇥ just after it lands. Tap the Start or End time to choose which point the nudge buttons (−1 s, −0.1, +0.1, +1 s) move, and fine tune it. The Length readout between them shows how long your clip will be. Press ▶ Play to check it.
Step 3: fast cut or exact cut
Leave Exact cut off for the quickest result. ClipCut copies the original video data instead of re-encoding it, so the quality is untouched and the length of the full recording barely matters. MP4 and MOV clips start right on time; with other formats the clip can start a moment early.
If the start has to land on an exact frame, turn on Exact cut (slower). The clip is then re-encoded, which takes longer, especially for a long section.
Step 4: make it easy to send
Press Cut a video. The result shows the new file size before you download. A 20 second clip from a 4K phone recording can still be large, so if your chat app turns it down, open Compress Video, which re-encodes it to a 720p MP4.
Posting it to TikTok, Reels or Shorts instead? Set Format to 9:16 before you cut (on a phone it is under the Shape tab) and drag the bright frame onto the action. Changing the format re-encodes the clip, so it takes longer than a plain cut.
Several highlights from one game
After you download, press Keep editing. The same recording stays loaded, so you can move the handles to the next play and cut again. To chop a whole recording into equal parts instead, use Split Video.
Limits and what to do if it fails
Long 4K recordings use a lot of memory, especially on phones. If an export fails, close other tabs and try again, or cut a shorter section. Exact cut on a long section is slow because every frame is re-encoded, so leave it off unless you need it. Your file stays on your device the whole time and is wiped from the page when you close the editor.
Whose footage is it?
Clips you film yourself are yours to share. TV broadcasts of professional games are usually owned by the league or the broadcaster, and platforms can mute or remove posts that use them.
Try it on your clip
Free in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and the file is wiped from the page when you close the editor.
Open the Video Cutter →