To cut a video and join parts is a function so useful that many people search for a complete editor only for that, to select scenes, remove unwanted parts, etc., even without caring much for other features. Having tried programs for cutting and joining videos, from specialized tools to full editors, I’m giving here some information for anyone who needs to “clean” a video. I will refer only to freeware, no paid programs nor limited programs, just freeware.

A best choice would be cutters that are also joiners. Why not have 2 in 1, both options available to use whenever any of them is needed? Some more specialized freeware may also be useful in case you are really interested only in cutting or only in joining. A full editor may also be useful, provided it is not too complex, since our purpose, after all, is mainly cutting and / or joining.

Video Cutter Expert lets you export more than one pieces (just press the “Add Clip” button.) For example, if there are more than one positions in the video with advertisements that should be cut, you should create more than one video clips. You can join clips or export them separately and join them later or not. The program lets you also split the video into equal parts, or into equal time length parts, even apply fade-in and fade-out effects.

Shotcut is a free and convenient editor you can use to retouch a movie adjusting and enhancing it any way you like. Using Shotcut you can apply filters such as glow, blur, sharpen, etc. and of course to adjust the colors using color wheels and grading. Audio filters are also available, such as pan or balance.

Vidcutter lets you cut your video and arrange the parts as you want. As is usual with all cutters, a built-in player lets you preview the video and move the marker one frame at a time to ensure the clip is trimmed as accurately as possible. Vidcutter removes unwanted parts of your videos to let you arrange the remaining parts as you want.

DaVinci Resolve will give you power to edit your movie with effects, layers, nodes, and more. The program is full of features, it’s difficult to have problems finding what you need, from image stabilization to HSL curve grading or reframing.

LosslessCut Video Editor will let you use start / stop marks to specify the section that you want to cut and save. Click the cut icon and the marked section will be exported to a new video file without any decoding or encoding. This way you can extract the good parts from your videos and discard lots of data without quality compromises.

Free Video Joiner will let you join several videos. It supports saving as DVD, VCD compatible mpeg, iPod, iPhone, Zune, PSP video. It includes all the necessary video encoders and decoders, you won’t need to download anything else.

Avidemux will let you cut, filter and encode. Tasks can be automated using projects, job queue and scripting.

Media Cope is a cutter, joiner, converter, photo resizer and slideshow maker. It can play almost any audio/video file, cut, join and save it to the format of your choice. Media Cope will also let you crop/pad videos.

Freemake Video Converter will help you convert and rip, burn DVD, create photo slideshows, and also cut unwanted parts from video files, join several videos into a full-length film.

Windows Live Movie Maker is a familiar and easy to use program. Although Microsoft abandoned it, a lot of people still use it and prefer it. To trim a video set a start point and an end point. The program is convenient if you need to define just one start and one end point. In case that you want to export / join several pieces, you can still find your way, but it is not that easy. Since Windows Movie Maker includes also effects, watermark placement, etc, you may want to trim / merge your video with another program and then open it in Live Movie Maker to apply these effects.

Enjoy!