I'll admit, I had no idea that the PC version of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV (set to ship on December 2) included a full-featured video editing program. 

The Video Editor feature will let you grab in-game footage, make real-time edits, and then output the clips to WMV movie files. You can also edit the clips, add effects like music, text, transitions and more. Once complete (or incomplete, depending on how lazy you are), the videos can be shared on the new Rockstar Games Social Club TV site, which just went live today. I can already hear machinima fans moaning in ecstacy.

Rockstar has passed along some screens of the video editor, along with some impressive looking examples of videos produced with the tool, and a long FAQ on its use. Hit the jump to check out the videos, which look like they were put together with as much care and vision as some of Grand Theft Auto IV pre-release trailers and spots. I can't wait to see what people come up with on their own.

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Video Editor

The all new Video Editor feature allows you to capture in-game footage, make real time edits and render those clips out as WMV movie files. The clips can also be spliced together into a video complete with post effects like music, text and transitions, and other features typically found in video editing suites. You can then share your video(s) with others to view and rate in Rockstar Games Social Club TV.

Clip Capture
At any time during the game (single or multiplayer), press the F2 key to dump a chunk of footage to your hard drive. Depending on how data intensive things are in the world at that time, the clip should be about 30 to 40 seconds long. Captured footage will be the action that occurs PRIOR to pressing F2. Note that if you have a slower machine, you also have the option to turn off this feature altogether.

Launching the Video Editor
To launch the Video Editor, call it up using your in-game mobile phone. A prompt will let you know that any unsaved data will be lost, after which you jump into a separate menu to view and edit your clips. You arrive at this screen with the following choices:

•    Clips
•    Editor
•    Gallery
•    Upload
•    Online

Clips
All the raw footage you've captured in-game can be viewed quickly in the Clips section. There are standard DVD style controls for video playback. In addition, you can hold down the right mouse button to move the camera and view your clip from alternate angles and then update your clip thumbnail making it easy to organize your clips.

Editor
Selecting Editor allows you to create a video from your raw clips. Here you can name your video, string multiple clips together, add music, titles, and transitions.

Your raw footage clips appear on the left side of the screen. The upper right portion of the screen is the storyboard editing space. Drag and drop your clip footage into the storyboard to create a video. Double click a thumbnail on the storyboard to edit it. You can add markers within your clips which allow you to place cameras and filters, and adjust audio and speed settings.

To quickly create a video for upload, make sure you have at least one clip in the storyboard editing space and then hit the Web option in Export To Gallery.

Gallery
The section labeled Gallery contains all of the complete, exported videos. By default, the last exported video is displayed in the preview window. The thumbnails on the right side of the screen are arranged with the most recent ones appearing at the top.

Upload
In the section labeled Upload, players can submit their exported web videos to the Social Club. The left side of the screen shows local videos that you have created. The right side is a web portal displaying all the videos that you have uploaded.

Online
The Online section will minimize Grand Theft Auto IV and will take you directly to the Rockstar Games Social Club TV website using your default web browser. There you can view clips others have uploaded as well as rate clips and comment on them.

The Video Editor is a full featured tool. For more details visit: www.rockstargames.com/iv/pc/videoeditor