How to Clip and Edit VR Porn: Free Software and Settings

Lone Editor

This could be you the Producer/Editor or a single person who creates start to finish.

Clipping means cutting a short piece out of a long VR scene, for a trailer, a preview or a clip store. Do not open the file in a full editor and export it again. That re-encodes every frame, takes a long time at 8K, and throws away quality. Cut it losslessly instead. It takes seconds and the clip is exactly as sharp as the source.

The Free Tool: LosslessCut

LosslessCut is free and open source, and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It copies the part you choose straight into a new file without re-encoding, so 3D layout, resolution and quality all stay the same.

1. Open the VR file. It shows as the flat frame with both eyes side by side. That is normal.
2. Play to where the clip should start and set the start point. Do the same for the end.
3. Add more segments if you want several clips from one scene.
4. Export. Each segment becomes its own file in seconds.

Why the Start Point Moves

Video files store a full picture only every so often. These full pictures are called keyframes, and the frames between them only store changes. A lossless cut has to start on a keyframe, so LosslessCut moves your start back to the nearest one before it. The clip may start a fraction of a second early, or a few seconds early on some files.

• For previews and clip stores, a slightly early start does not matter. Keep the lossless cut.
• If you need an exact frame, LosslessCut's smart cut re-encodes only the few frames around the cut point and copies the rest.

The Same Cut From the Command Line

If you already use FFmpeg, one line does the same job. This cuts 60 seconds starting 10 minutes in:

ffmpeg -ss 00:10:00 -i scene_180_LR.mp4 -t 60 -c copy clip_180_LR.mp4

The -c copy part is what makes it lossless. It copies the video instead of encoding it again, and it snaps to keyframes the same way.

Keep the File Name Tags

VR players decide how to show a file from tags in its name, such as _180 and _LR. A lossless cut does not carry the name over by itself. Name every clip with the same tags as the source, or the player will show it as a flat, split screen video.

Clipping Checklist

• Cut losslessly, never by re-exporting from an editor.
• Accept a slightly early start, or use smart cut for exact frames.
• Copy the VR tags into every clip's file name.
• Open each clip in a headset before you upload it.

Cutting a whole VR scene works like editing any scene. You trim, join takes, fix color and mix sound. What changes is the size of the files, and the fact that anything you add on top of the picture has to work in 3D. Here are the editors that handle VR, free ones first.

Shotcut: Free

Shotcut is a free editor with a set of built-in 360 filters. They convert fisheye to equirectangular, turn a flat graphic into the VR shape, and move or level the view. It works with VR180 in the standard shape, twice as wide as tall. DeoVR, a VR video player, publishes a free series of Shotcut tutorials for VR, which is the easiest place to start.

• Good for: trimming, joining, fades, simple color fixes and adding titles on a zero budget.
• Weak at: smooth playback of 8K files. Use proxies, covered below.

DaVinci Resolve: Free, With One Big Limit

DaVinci Resolve is free and has the best color tools of any editor. The catch for VR: the free version edits large files but exports no larger than 3840 by 2160, at up to 60 frames a second. That is too small for a sharp VR180 3D file, which is usually 6K to 8K wide. To export at full VR size you need DaVinci Resolve Studio, a one-time purchase of $295.

• Good for: color grading VR footage, and full editing if you buy Studio.
• Free version trick: grade and edit in the free version, then export at full size only after you upgrade, since the project carries over.

Adobe Premiere Pro: Paid, Built for VR

Premiere Pro has immersive video tools for both VR180 and 360. It can show your timeline in a headset while you edit, its effects and transitions detect VR clips, and it can mix different VR layouts in one sequence. Canon sells a paid plug-in that converts its dual fisheye footage inside Premiere. It is a monthly subscription, so it suits people who edit VR every week.

Make Editing Smooth: Use Proxies

8K VR is hard to play back even on a strong computer. Every editor above can make proxies: small, light copies of your footage that you edit with. When you export, the editor swaps the full files back in. Build proxies before you start cutting, and editing becomes smooth. More on the machine itself in our editing hardware guide.

Titles and Graphics Must Work in 3D

This is the most common VR editing mistake. A flat title dropped onto a side by side frame shows up in only one eye, or stretched, and looks broken in the headset. To add text or a logo:

• Put it in both halves of the frame, one copy for each eye, lined up.
• Convert it to the VR shape first. In Shotcut, the 360 rectilinear to equirectangular filter does this.
• Keep it near the center and not too close to the viewer, or it strains the eyes.
• Check it in a headset. A screen will not show you the problem.

Cuts That Feel Right in a Headset

• Cut less often than in flat video. Each cut drops the viewer into a new place, which is jarring when you are inside the scene.
• Use fades between positions rather than hard cuts.
• Never zoom, spin or move the view in the edit. Motion the viewer did not make causes motion sickness.
• Keep the horizon level. A tilted horizon feels like the room is falling.

For flat editing basics, see our porn video editing guide. For the full list of editors, see porn editing software.

Porn Work Flow

Adult Website Editor Workflow

A VR export is only right if the player shows it right. The picture can be perfect and still play as a flat, split screen video if the file name or format is off. This article covers the settings and the naming that make a VR file play correctly.

Match the Source

• Resolution: export at the size you shot. Do not shrink an 8K VR180 file to 4K to save space. It looks soft in a headset, where every pixel is spread across your view.
• Frame rate: keep the frame rate you shot at. VR is often shot at 60 frames a second because smooth motion feels more real in a headset.
• Layout: keep side by side as side by side, and top and bottom as top and bottom. Never mix layouts in one file.

Codec: Use H.265 for Large Files

H.265, also called HEVC, makes files about half the size of H.264 at the same quality, and it is the usual choice at 6K and 8K. Many devices cannot play an 8K file in H.264 at all. Export in H.265, then test on the headset your buyers use.

Name the File So Players Know What It Is

VR players read tags in the file name to decide how to show it. The tags below are the ones DeoVR documents, and most VR players follow the same habit. They are not case sensitive and can appear in any order.

• _180 for 180 degree equirectangular, _360 for 360.
• _LR, _SBS or _3DH for side by side.
• _TB, _3DV or _OverUnder for top and bottom.
• _fisheye for 180 degree fisheye, and _fisheye190 for Canon's 190 degree VR lens.
• _mkx200 and _vrca220 for 200 and 220 degree fisheye lenses.

So a standard VR180 3D scene is named something like scene_name_180_LR.mp4. Keep the same tags on every clip and trailer you cut from it.

Export Two Versions

• A master: full size, high quality, kept on your own drive as the file every future edit starts from.
• A delivery file: the size and codec each site or player asks for. Check each platform's upload rules first. Our deliverables guide covers masters and delivery files in general.

Always Test in a Headset

A computer screen cannot show you whether VR is right. Before you upload, put the file on a headset and check:

• The scene fills the view in front of you and does not repeat or split.
• Both eyes line up. If the image looks doubled or hurts to look at, the layout is wrong.
• The horizon is level and the camera height feels natural.
• Titles and logos sit in 3D, not in one eye.

Five minutes in a headset saves you a refund, a bad review and a re-upload.