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FilmCraft: free download and install guide

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Replaces Adobe Premiere ProVideo editorLicense: Apache-2.0
Source code on GitHubOfficial site: getartcraft.com

Download

Latest version 0.14.0, released 2026-10-28

Other downloads (22)Other processors, portable versions, Linux packages and the command-line tool.

Windows

macOS

Linux

FreeBSD

Web

  • Web version (.zip)14.3 MB

    filmcraft-web-0.14.0.zip

    SHA-256 58140e222600c3fbb8ab5fdb94b95abf31cf13d2ad057182b7a6b64843a7a330

Every button downloads the official file from the project's GitHub release. GenGrades does not host or change it.

How to installAll versions and release notes on GitHubAll checksums (SHA256SUMS.txt)

What FilmCraft is

In one or two sentences, before anything else.

FilmCraft is a free, open-source video editor from the ArtCraft team (GitHub: storytold) that rebuilds the Adobe Premiere Pro workflow in pure Rust, with the same panels, tools and shortcuts. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD and in the browser, and the project calls it alpha software.

Main features

What it can do, one sentence each, and whether we actually tested it.

  • Premiere-style workspaces and shortcuts

    Source and Program monitors, bins with thumbnails and a multi-track timeline, in Editing, Assembly, Color, Effects and Audio workspaces with dockable panels. The Keyboard Shortcuts editor has presets for FilmCraft, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and Avid key layouts.

  • Three-point editing and every trim

    Mark In and Out, then insert (,) or overwrite (.); lift and extract; ripple, roll, slip, slide, rate stretch and razor tools; a Trim Monitor and dynamic trimming with J, K and L. Edits run on exact integer time, so 23.976 and 29.97 drop-frame never drift.

  • Lumetri-style colour grading

    Basic Correction, Creative looks, Curves, Color Wheels, HSL Secondary and Vignette, graded in linear light in 32-bit float, with a waveform and vectorscope computed from the graded frame.

    The README says Lumetri, keys and export rendering still run on the CPU, which slows big footage.

  • Premiere's effects and transitions

    The README lists Premiere 26's full Video Effects bin (93 effects in 16 folders), the Legacy bin and around 30 transitions, with Premiere-style keyframes, value and velocity graphs, and a GPU compositor built on wgpu.

    The roadmap lists measuring fidelity against Premiere as work still to do, so how closely the effects match Premiere's look is not measured yet.

  • Audio mixing and loudness meters

    Momentary, short-term and integrated loudness and true peak to ITU-R BS.1770 and EBU R128; clip effects such as parametric EQ, DeNoise and DeHummer; Audio Track and Clip Mixers with sends and submixes; Read, Latch, Touch and Write automation.

    No VST3 or Audio Units plug-ins can be loaded.

  • Titles and captions

    A text engine with OpenType shaping, Type, Shape and Pen tools on the Program monitor, and caption tracks (Subtitle, CEA-608, CEA-708, Teletext) that import and export SRT, WebVTT and SCC and can be burned into exports.

  • Its own codecs, no FFmpeg inside

    Decodes H.264, HEVC, ProRes, VP8, VP9, AV1, DNxHD/DNxHR, AAC, Opus and more in MP4, MOV, MKV/WebM, AVI and MXF with its own Rust code; exports H.264 MP4, ProRes 422 HQ, DNxHR, PNG sequences, animated GIF and WAV.

    H.265 export works only through a hardware encoder; AV1 export and camera RAW are not supported yet.

  • Timeline exchange with other editors

    The README lists Final Cut Pro 7 XML, FCPXML 1.9–1.11, OpenTimelineIO, CMX 3600 EDL, AAF and OMF 2.0 for moving timelines between FilmCraft and Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, Avid Media Composer and Pro Tools.

    Premiere's own .prproj project files cannot be opened yet.

Who it is for

The people it helps and the problems it solves, and where it ranks.

Built for

  • People who learned Premiere Pro and want a free editor with the same panels and shortcuts
  • Linux and FreeBSD users who need a desktop video editor laid out like Premiere
  • Editors who hand timelines to other apps through XML, EDL, AAF or OpenTimelineIO
  • Developers who want an AI agent to edit video through a command line or an MCP server

Problems it solves

  • They want Premiere's way of working in an editor that costs nothing and whose code is open.
  • They work on Linux or FreeBSD and want a native editor with Premiere's panels and shortcuts.
  • They need to pass a cut to colour, sound or another editor in a standard interchange format.
  • They want an agent to cut, grade, mix and export through the same commands a person uses.

What it is good at

What the project's documentation says you can do with it.

  1. Case 1

    Per the README: cut a short trailer with three-point editing in the Assembly workspace.

    Input

    A bin of MP4 clips and a music file: mark In and Out on a clip in the Source monitor, press , to insert it on V1, then adjust the cut with the ripple and roll tools.

    What the docs say

    The README says the monitors, patch and target buttons, insert, overwrite, lift and extract work as in Premiere, and every edit runs on exact integer time so cuts never drift. Caveat: it also says camera and phone files in the wild are less tested than conformance streams.

  2. Case 2

    Per the README: grade a clip in the Color workspace.

    Input

    Select a clip, open the Lumetri Color panel, set exposure and contrast in Basic Correction, then push the shadows and highlights with the Color Wheels while watching the waveform.

    What the docs say

    The README says grading happens in linear light in 32-bit float and the scopes read the graded frame. Caveat: Lumetri still renders on the CPU, so graded playback of big footage can be slow.

  3. Case 3

    Per the README: bring a Premiere Pro sequence into FilmCraft.

    Input

    Export the sequence from Premiere Pro as Final Cut Pro 7 XML (or AAF or OpenTimelineIO), then import that file into a FilmCraft project.

    What the docs say

    The README says import merges the file's bins, media and sequences into your project as one undoable step and links each media file it finds on disk; FCP7 XML carries nested sequences, transitions, Motion, Opacity, Time Remap and audio levels with keyframes. Caveat: the .prproj file itself cannot be opened yet.

  4. Case 4

    Per the README: add subtitles and export an H.264 MP4.

    Input

    Import an .srt subtitle file onto a caption track, fix a line in the Text panel, then export the sequence as H.264 MP4 with the captions burned in.

    What the docs say

    The README says captions import and export SRT, WebVTT and SCC with frame-exact timing and can be burned into exports, and H.264 MP4 with AAC uses the project's own encoders. Caveat: H.264 is the only software delivery codec; H.265 needs a hardware encoder.

Where it falls short

What it does badly, with the evidence, and what we could not settle.

Weak

Weak

  • Alpha software, not yet a full Premiere Pro replacement

    Evidence: The README calls FilmCraft alpha and gives the project's own estimate: about 86% of Premiere Pro's features exist, but it is only about 56% ready for real work.

  • Cannot open Premiere .prproj projects

    Evidence: README, Status: .prproj files can't be opened yet; sequences have to come over as FCP7 XML, AAF or OTIO.

  • No plug-ins

    Evidence: README, Status: no VST3 or Audio Units hosting and no OpenFX hosting.

  • Slow with big footage

    Evidence: README, Status: Lumetri, keys and export rendering still run on the CPU, and on Linux VP9 and AV1 decode in software.

  • Windows and Linux get much less testing

    Evidence: The README says Windows and Linux get far less testing than macOS, and the roadmap puts launch-crash reports on macOS 12, Intel UHD graphics and Windows 11 at the top of its list.

  • The web version leaves features out

    Evidence: docs/web.md: the browser build is single-threaded, and render previews, proxies, Project Manager and mask tracking report an error on the web for now.

  • Not for paid client work or teams that swap Premiere projects, yet

    Evidence: With .prproj files unsupported, no plug-ins and the project's own readiness estimate at about 56%, editors on deadlines, or who must open Premiere projects from others, should not switch to FilmCraft yet.

Uncertain

Uncertain

  • Whether it opens your camera and phone footage reliably

    Why unsure: The decoders are bit-exact on conformance streams, but the README says camera and phone files in the wild are less tested.

  • Whether effects and grades look the same as in Premiere

    Why unsure: The roadmap lists measuring fidelity against Premiere as upcoming work, so no comparison exists yet, and we have not compared them either.

  • How fast it runs on your computer

    Why unsure: The README quotes decoder speeds at 1080p and the time for one short export; long 4K projects are not measured there, and we have not measured them.

License, formats and platforms

The facts, each with its source and the date we checked it.

SpecValueNote and source
Price0 USD

Free and open source

Source: github.comchecked

LicenseMIT or Apache-2.0

Dual-licensed, at your option; GitHub's license field shows Apache-2.0

Source: github.comchecked

Written inRust

No FFmpeg inside; codecs written from the public specifications

Source: github.comchecked

PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, web

Windows x64, ARM64 and 32-bit; macOS universal (Apple silicon and Intel); Linux x86_64 and aarch64, plus riscv64; FreeBSD x86_64; a WebAssembly web build

Source: github.comchecked

Code signingWindows code-signed; macOS signed and notarized

Source: github.comchecked

Video it opensH.264, HEVC, ProRes, VP8, VP9, AV1, DNxHD/DNxHR, MPEG-2, MJPEG

In MP4, MOV, MKV/WebM, AVI, MXF and MPEG transport streams; no camera RAW yet

Source: github.comchecked

ExportH.264 MP4, ProRes 422 HQ, DNxHR, MXF, PNG sequence, GIF, WAV

H.265 only through a hardware encoder; no AV1 export yet

Source: github.comchecked

Timeline interchangeFCP7 XML, FCPXML 1.9–1.11, OTIO, CMX 3600 EDL, AAF, OMF 2.0

No Premiere .prproj yet

Source: github.comchecked

Agent controlCLI, JSON control channel, MCP server

More than 650 engine commands; filmcraft-cli commands lists them

Source: github.comchecked

Interface languagesEnglish, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and more

Per the roadmap: Simplified Chinese 99.6% of strings (engine errors stay English); French, Italian, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil) and Indonesian near 100%; German menus only

Source: github.comchecked

Common questions

Answer first, then why, an example, the limits and what to do next.

Is FilmCraft free?

FilmCraft is free and open source, under the MIT or Apache-2.0 license at your choice.

Why

The ArtCraft team publishes the source code and every build on GitHub, and the README describes the Crafting Apps as free, open-source creative tools.

Is FilmCraft safe to download?

FilmCraft's official builds are published on its GitHub releases page and getartcraft.com, and they are signed: Windows installers and executables are code-signed, and the Mac app is signed and notarized.

Why

Each release includes SHA256SUMS.txt with a checksum for every file, and the download buttons on this page link straight to those official files.

Limits

We have not audited the code or run the builds ourselves.

Next step

Download only from the GitHub releases page, getartcraft.com or the buttons on this page.

Can FilmCraft open my MP4 and MOV videos?

FilmCraft opens MP4 and MOV files with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and AAC using its own decoders, and also reads WebM, MKV, AVI and MXF.

Limits

The README says camera and phone files in the wild are less tested than conformance streams, and camera RAW and E-AC-3 are not supported yet.

Next step

If a file won't open, the project asks for bug reports with real footage on its GitHub issues page.

How does FilmCraft compare with Premiere Pro?

FilmCraft copies Premiere Pro's panels, tools, shortcuts and effects list, but the project itself says it is not yet ready to replace Premiere on real work.

Why

The README, re-measured on 2026-10-10, puts feature breadth at about 86% and readiness for real work at about 56%.

Limits

Premiere .prproj files can't be opened, there is no plug-in hosting, and H.265 and AV1 export are limited.

Does FilmCraft run on Mac and Linux?

FilmCraft runs on macOS, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, and a WebAssembly build runs in a modern browser.

Why

The Mac download is one universal app for Apple silicon and Intel; Linux gets AppImage, Flatpak, .deb, .rpm and tarball builds for x86_64 and ARM64.

Limits

The README says Windows and Linux get far less testing than macOS.

How do I update FilmCraft?

Update FilmCraft by installing the newer release; on Linux the README documents two shortcuts.

Why

The AppImage updates itself with AppImageUpdate using the .zsync files in each release, and running the tarball's install.sh again updates that installation.

Limits

The README does not describe an automatic updater inside the app.

Next step

On Windows and macOS, download the new version from the box at the top of this page; its version comes from the latest official GitHub release.

How to install FilmCraft

Step by step for each system, plus the fixes the project documents for common problems.

Windows

  1. Click Download for Windows at the top of this page. You get the x64 installer, filmcraft-<version>-windows-x64.msi, where <version> is the version number shown in the box.
  2. Double-click the downloaded .msi file and follow the installer. The README says FilmCraft's Windows installers and executables are code-signed.
  3. Have a Snapdragon or other ARM PC, or 32-bit Windows? Use filmcraft-<version>-windows-arm64.msi or filmcraft-<version>-windows-x86.msi from Other downloads instead.
  4. Prefer not to install anything? Download filmcraft-<version>-windows-x64-portable.zip from Other downloads, unzip it and double-click filmcraft.exe in the unzipped folder.
  5. To install several Craft apps at once, use ArtCraft Launcher.

If something goes wrong

FilmCraft flashes in Task Manager and quits before its window appears.
The README traces this to some graphics drivers (AMD's atio6axx.dll). Pick the graphics backend yourself: open PowerShell in the folder that contains filmcraft.exe, run $env:WGPU_BACKEND = "vulkan" (or "dx12"), then & .\filmcraft.exe. Run Remove-Item Env:WGPU_BACKEND afterwards to restore the default. Don't use gl: it can bring the crash back.
On a laptop with two AMD GPUs, the window crashes in amdvlk64.dll (exit code 0xc0000005).
The README says this happens when the GPUs were installed from different driver packages of one vendor. FilmCraft draws with the newer driver and notes it in %APPDATA%\FilmCraft\Logs\filmcraft.log; installing one driver package for every GPU removes the duplicate.

macOS

  1. Click the macOS download at the top of this page. You get filmcraft-<version>-macos-universal.dmg, one app for both Apple silicon and Intel Macs.
  2. Double-click the .dmg file. In the window that opens, drag the FilmCraft icon onto the Applications folder next to it.
  3. Open FilmCraft from your Applications folder. The README says the Mac app is signed and notarized.
  4. Developers and AI agents can also get the command-line tool, filmcraft-cli-<version>-macos-universal.zip, from Other downloads; it is signed and notarized too.
  5. To install several Craft apps at once, use ArtCraft Launcher.

Linux

  1. At the top of this page, download the AppImage for your computer: filmcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage for most PCs, or filmcraft-<version>-linux-aarch64.AppImage for ARM64. The README says the AppImage runs on any distribution.
  2. Open a terminal in the download folder, make the file executable with chmod +x filmcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage, then start it with ./filmcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage.
  3. On Debian or Ubuntu you can use the .deb package instead: sudo apt install ./filmcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.deb.
  4. On Fedora or RHEL, use the .rpm package: sudo dnf install ./filmcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.rpm. The same .rpm is listed for openSUSE.
  5. For a sandboxed install, use the Flatpak: flatpak install --user filmcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.flatpak.
  6. The tarball needs no administrator rights: unpack filmcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz and run ./install.sh inside it, which puts FilmCraft, its command-line tool and desktop integration in ~/.local. To install for all users, run sudo ./install.sh --prefix /usr/local instead.
  7. RISC-V (riscv64) machines can use filmcraft-<version>-linux-riscv64.tar.gz, which needs glibc 2.39 or newer (for example Ubuntu 24.04 or Debian 13).
  8. On Gentoo, the community-maintained ::snakebyte overlay packages the release as media-video/filmcraft-bin. The FilmCraft team does not maintain it, so report packaging problems to the overlay.
  9. To update: the AppImage updates itself with AppImageUpdate using the .zsync files in each release, and running the tarball's install.sh again updates that installation.
  10. To install several Craft apps at once, use ArtCraft Launcher.

FreeBSD

  1. Download filmcraft-<version>-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz from Other downloads at the top of this page.
  2. As root, copy its contents into /usr/local with the command from the project's FreeBSD packaging script: tar -xzf filmcraft-<version>-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz --strip-components 1 -C /usr/local.
  3. Start the app with filmcraft; the command-line tool is filmcraft-cli.

Web

  1. The web version is a static website you host yourself. Download filmcraft-web-<version>.zip from Other downloads and unzip it.
  2. Upload the folder's contents to any server that serves static files; there is no server-side code. The server must send .wasm files as application/wasm.
  3. Serve it over https:// (or open it on localhost): WebGPU only works in a secure context, and over plain HTTP the app falls back to WebGL2.
  4. To try it on your own computer, run python3 -m http.server 8765 inside the unzipped folder and open http://localhost:8765/ in a modern browser.
  5. Your media stays on your machine: the project's web notes say nothing is uploaded anywhere.

More about FilmCraft

What works today

FilmCraft is a non-linear video editor laid out like Adobe Premiere Pro: Source and Program monitors, bins, a multi-track timeline and the Editing, Assembly, Color, Effects and Audio workspaces. According to its README, editing, trimming, multicam, colour, keyframes, effects, titles, captions, mixing, codecs and export work today. Saves are atomic, auto-save keeps a rolling set of versions, and a crash-recovery journal written about a second after each edit brings back unsaved changes after a crash or power cut.

The codecs are the project's own Rust code, written from the public ITU-T, ISO and IETF specifications and checked frame by frame against ffmpeg, which is used only as an outside test reference. No FFmpeg ships inside the app. Hardware decoding works on macOS (VideoToolbox), Windows (Media Foundation) and, for H.264 and HEVC, Linux (VA-API).

How it compares with Premiere Pro

The project tracks two numbers against Premiere Pro, last re-measured on 2026-10-10. Feature breadth, meaning Premiere's menu items, effects, transitions, panels and formats that also exist in FilmCraft, is about 86%. Readiness for real work, the team's own estimate of how close FilmCraft is to replacing Premiere on real projects, is about 56%.

The README names the biggest gaps. Premiere's .prproj files can't be opened yet. There is no VST3, Audio Units or OpenFX plug-in hosting. H.264 is the only software delivery codec, and H.265 export needs a hardware encoder. Lumetri, keys and export rendering still run on the CPU. Windows and Linux get far less testing than macOS. Sequences can still move between the two apps through Final Cut Pro 7 XML, AAF or OpenTimelineIO.

FilmCraft is a clean-room implementation. The README states that it contains no Adobe code, icons, images, presets or LUTs, and that the project is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Adobe.

Built for AI agents

Every menu item, button, slider and drag is a command with an id and typed parameters, and the README counts more than 650 of them. The desktop app, the filmcraft-cli command-line tool, a JSON control channel and an MCP server all run the same commands, so an AI agent can cut, trim, grade, mix and export the way a person does. The README says the trailer and grades in its screenshots were made this way, by an agent driving the running app.

About the Craft Apps

FilmCraft is one of the Crafting Apps, free and open-source creative tools from the ArtCraft team, each written from scratch in Rust and each able to stand on its own: PhotoCraft for image editing, VectorCraft for vector illustration, LightCraft for photo libraries and raw development, PdfCraft for PDFs, EffectCraft for motion graphics and visual effects, and DesignCraft for page layout. FilmCraft is dual-licensed under MIT or Apache-2.0. The ArtCraft name and logos are trademarks of the ArtCraft Team and are not covered by that license.

Sources

Sources

  1. FilmCraft README (github.com), accessed
  2. FilmCraft releases on GitHub (github.com), accessed
  3. FilmCraft license (Apache-2.0) (github.com), accessed
  4. FilmCraft on getartcraft.com (getartcraft.com), accessed
  5. FilmCraft roadmap (github.com), accessed
  6. FilmCraft on the web (docs/web.md) (github.com), accessed
  7. Hosting FilmCraft for the web (github.com), accessed
  8. FilmCraft FreeBSD packaging script (github.com), accessed
  9. FilmCraft macOS DMG window (github.com), accessed

Changelog

Changelog

  1. Page created from the project's README and GitHub releases.

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