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General Open Source NLE Round-Up

November 10, 2010 Leave a comment

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted any open source NLE updates, and there have been new releases across the board. Here’s a quick round-up of a few noticeable updates.

KDENLive (http://www.kdenlive.org)
Version: 0.7.8
Released: September 14th, 2010
Updates: Improved tools for color correction, improved UI for effects
(you can now adjust some transitions and effects directly on the
monitor), track effects, improved slideshows.

PiTiVi (http://www.pitivi.org/)
Version: 0.13.5
Released: September 21st, 2010
Updates: Periodic backup of the current project file, easy crossfading transitions by overlapping clips, better icon metaphors for link/unlink actions, pixel-perfect icons for various toolbar icons, new “add keyframe” button (and keyboard shortcut), the “missing plugins” installer has been fixed.

OpenShot (http://www.openshotvideo.com)
Version: 1.2.2
Released: September 21st, 2010
Updates: Improved Stability, 3D Animated Titles, Custom Transitions, New Audio & Video Effects, Time-line Improvements / Animations, Improved Effects User Interface, Improved Theme Engine, Razor Improvements, Improved Language Support, New DVD Export, Improved Preferences Dialogue, Improved Exporting of different frame-rates.

LiVES (http://lives.sourceforge.net)
Version: 1.0.10
Released: October 15th, 2010
Updates: Backported fixes from development branch.


Categories: Kdenlive, LiVES, OpenShot, PiTiVi, Video Tags: , , , ,

OpenShot Video Editor’s New Skin

October 21, 2009 Leave a comment

Call me shallow, but in all seriousness the main reason I’ve not tried OpenShot video editor is that I can’t stand the glossy, glassy, bubbly look of their default colour scheme. Dislike KDE? Not that I necessarily do, but OpenShot’s theme was like KDE, but worse, much, much worse.

It seems like that’s all just changed for the better! A new “matt” theme is now available for OpenShot, and at first glance it looks much more appealing to my eyes. This will fit much better with my matt XFCE theme
See the latest blog post over on the OpenShot website, with details of how to change from the default theme, and then have a look at the two screen shots below:
Default (Before):
Matt Theme (After):
I guess that takes away any perceived barrier I had to trying this software. Happy days, I can now temporarily join the OpenShot massive (as long as I don’t visit their website too often).
Categories: OpenShot, Video Tags: , , ,

OpenShot Video Editor Adds New Effects

October 1, 2009 Leave a comment

Some noise on the Interwebs has been made in the last couple of days regarding the latest updates to the OpenShot Video Editor. 

The is now a PPA (that’s Personal Package Archive, for those who don’t use or care about Ubuntu) available for OpenShot, as well as the inclusion of 33 new video and audio effects.
I applaud the work done by the OpenShot team, as I still believe Open Source non-linear video editing has much room for growth. However, I do question the need for 33 new video and audio effects. Some of the new effects are very nice, a welcome inclusion and most likely quite useful. Chroma Key (Green Screen) support is one of those. However, other effects are largely just eye candy which I’m not clear would be truly useful to the serious editor. These include Glow and Water from the video effect selection and Echo from the audio options. How often would a professional video editor use these tools in a commercial solution such as Final Cut Pro? (which actually has over 150 effects and transitions, so I guess there’s a place for them!) From my own, limited, editing experience, I rarely use effects, sticking mostly to simple fade transitions.
The most important aspect of any video editing software is stability and codec support. I can’t accurately comment on OpenShot in this area, as I’ve not tested the software – I just can’t get past that bubble blue button interface.
I couldn’t easily find a complete list of all the new 33 effects, so best to read the blog post on the OpenShot site for more information, complete with a small dig at the PiTiVi team.
Categories: OpenShot, Video Tags: , ,
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