Install

Grab the latest build from GitHub Releases:

  • Windows installer — qlipq-setup-x64.exe runs a short setup wizard and adds a Start-menu shortcut and an uninstaller. Recommended.
  • Windows portable — qlipq-windows-x64.zip: no install, just unzip and run qlipq.exe.
  • Linux — qlipq-linux-x64.tar.gz: extract and run qlipq (loads its bundled FFmpeg libraries from ./lib).

Every build bundles the FFmpeg libraries QlipQ needs — there’s no separate ffmpeg to install.

1. Add watched folders

In Settings → Watched folders, add the folder(s) where your recordings land (for OBS this is your recording or replay-buffer output path). QlipQ can auto-detect the OBS and NVIDIA Share output folders and offer them as one-click presets. It scans these folders — including subfolders — on launch and watches for new files while it runs.

Tick Hide auto-captured highlights to keep NVIDIA App’s automatic Highlights out of the queue (they’re tagged NVIDIA APP (Highlights) in the file, versus NVIDIA APP for a manual recording; a clip’s encoder is shown in the editor’s debug panel). Highlights that aren’t hidden are marked with a Highlight badge in the queue. This sets the default; the queue’s filter bar can override it per session (show all clips, only highlights, or hide them).

2. Choose an output folder and naming template

Set an Output folder for exports. The naming template controls how exported (and renamed) files are named. Available tokens: {date}, {time}, {datetime}, {source}, {name}, {index}.

3. Pick your output quality

Settings → Output defaults controls export quality and is applied to every export:

  • Quality — a named preset, a custom CRF, VBR (CRF capped by a max bitrate), or a target bitrate.
  • Frame rate, resolution (down to 720p / up to 4K), codec (H.264 / H.265), container (mp4 / mkv), and audio bitrate.

The editor shows an estimated file size for the current clip, and you can override the quality per clip.

4. Edit and export

  1. Pick a clip from the Queue (each shows its date, length, and size). A filter bar is pinned to the top of the queue: search by filename and narrow the list by status, game (the {source} label), tag, or highlights (all clips / only highlights / hide them). When any filter is active it shows how many clips match and offers Clear filters to reset. By default a clip starts playing as soon as it’s selected — turn this off with Settings → Playback → Play clips automatically when selected to open clips paused.
  2. Set the in/out points on the timeline — the scrubber highlights the in/out window and marks each endpoint, and playback loops within it (pressing play jumps to the in-point and loops back when it reaches the out-point). Each point has an editable timestamp with ±0.5 / ±1 / ±5 s nudge buttons, or press Set (or the I/O keys) to capture the current playhead. Type a timestamp in the playhead field to jump, drag the scrubber (playback keeps going if it was already playing), or use the −60/−5/−1 / +1/+5/+60 second jump buttons. Timestamps read as frame-accurate timecode — h:mm:ss.ff, where ff is the frame within the second — so a single ←/→ step changes the last digits by one.
  3. Keyboard shortcuts default to Adobe Premiere Pro — Space play/pause, I/O set in/out, ←/→ step a frame, Shift+←/→ jump 5 s, Home/End go to start/end, Ctrl+M export — and are rebindable in Settings → Editor shortcuts. With a clip selected, Delete removes its file from disk after a confirmation (Enter confirms the prompt) and Shift+Delete removes it immediately without asking.
  4. Optionally enable crop and adjust the rectangle.
  5. Toggle audio tracks and set their levels (your selection carries to the next clip); changes are reflected in the preview as you make them. On export, the enabled tracks are mixed together into one track at the levels you set.
  6. Click Export clip. If a file with the same name already exists you can overwrite it or append a timestamp to keep both, and the After export setting decides what happens to the original (keep, delete, move, rename, or prompt). Use Show file to reveal the exported clip.

Preview vs. export. The preview decodes frames in-process and tonemaps HDR sources to SDR for display — it’s a visual guide, and exports always use the original file, untouched. Its sharpness is set by Settings → Preview quality (720p / 1080p / 1440p / Source; default 1080p) — higher is sharper but costs more decode/GPU work, so lower it if playback stutters. If an HDR clip (especially a Windows HDR desktop recording) previews too dark, Settings → HDR preview → Brightness lifts it with an adjustable gamma (higher = brighter; 1.0 = off; Reset restores the default). Both affect the preview only.

Diagnosing preview stutter. If the preview stutters or the audio drops out, enable Settings → Playback → Show debug panel in the editor. The panel adds a Debug card under the editor showing the clip’s details, whether it’s decoding on the GPU (hardware) or in software, and — while playing — live video/audio buffer levels, dropped frames, and audio underruns. Software decoding of heavy 1440p/4K AV1/HEVC is the usual cause; it never affects exports.

Next: set up the OBS replay buffer.