Video editing in Linux - Has anyone done it?

[Thom 98]

Hey guys,
I've been using linux as my main OS (Ubuntu 8.10 and Linux Mint) for the last few month and I find it to be quite good. However, for editing videos I'm still dual booting into Windows because I payed good money for my Adobe Production Bundle which doesn't work on linux (at least not very good).

On another forum, I found some links to video editing programs for linux and even some distributions that were designed for video and audio editing only: Ubuntu Studio is one of those distributions.
There're also some good editing programs out there. The most know are probably Kino, Cinelerra and KDEnlive. The last one I discovered only recently and it looks absolutly great! Way better than all the programs I could find for free on windows and you can download the liveDVD on the website with KDEnlive, Blender and Audacity on it, so you don't have to install linux permanently if you only plan on trying it out. It even supports HDV and AVCHD!

So, with all those great apps for linux I was wondering if there's actually any one using them? I mean, sure, they don't have all the stuff that Final Cut or Premiere have so pros won't use them, I guess, but I think there're a lot of beginners who don't want to spend that much money on a program when they can get everything they need for free, right?

 

[gingerheadman]

I know this thread is a bit old but seeing no one else has replied to it I think I will anyway.

I for one use Cinelerra for all of my video editing needs. I used to use Kdenlive but that kept crashing so I switched to Cinelerra. I'm glad to see one person other than myself here who uses Linux. Blender can also be used as a video editor although I have never tried it myself.

 

[Yodaman]

Blender can also be used as a video editor although I have never tried it myself.

I tried it one and it felt 'clunky'. It wasn't very intuitive and you couldn't do much with it. Of course that was several versions ago so it may have changed, but I've never used its editor since I've moved to Sony Vegas Movie Studio.

 

[grinner]

It's a different way of thinking. It can feel limiting sometimes as most users come from windows ar mac worlds. Ilike many things about Smoke and many things about Jaleo but when it came time for me to purchase, the bottom line was the best fit for my clientele. They were all most comfy with Avid so to this day, that's what I still have. As ai do more original programming and now less work for outside clientele, what tools I utilize matter less. I'll either sell the Adrenaline for half of what I paid and get a nice FCP suite or I'll work it into the ground then move on to FCP. That's the plan today, anayway and that could easily change by the time my current system croaks.

 

[Beaulercoaster]

Kino is only useful if you have a DV or Mini DV camera - I have two digital camcorders which both record to memory cards, and they don't work with Kino.

Cinelerra is just a plain disgusting program to work with. It has a really good feature set, but it crashes a lot and the interface is terrible. If you have a high resolution screen (and a lot of patience) it will do for you, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Kdenlive has improved in leaps and bounds. I used it to edit my short documentary film, which last year won a local film festival. It has some fantastic video effects and transitions and a multitude of export options. IMHO it's as good as Sony Vegas.

Blender has a horrible video editing component. It's a good program for CGI Graphics work, but NOT for video editing.

 

[Thom 98]

I just found this nifty Linux Distribution with all the needed video editing tools preinstalled: http://www.artistx.org/site2/

 

[FrostBlue]

Aaahh...the quest for a complete , feature rich editor on Linux...
I have been looking into this for a long time.

Kdenlive seems really good and has gotten very stable (stablish actually) recently. Only problem, I cant figure out how to render uncompressed file sequence from it. It imports sequences tho.

Cinelerra has surprising features for a free software, but is not the easiest to use. It needs to generate a XML file to import a file sequence, but this can be achieved easily with some free utilities. Crashes a lot, especially while importing footage it just rendered back into it. Also doesn't really have a scissor tool, you either have to make clips before dragging them to timeline or use shortcuts like Cut,Copy and Paste for selecting and editing footage. Cant drag clips from one track to another and such other small stuff which you just simply assume to be there in an editing app.

I am happy to see some serious video people are considering these apps but I wouldn't use them on a paid job.

Also theres no real solution for speed ramping,removing 'jello effect',etc. and we miss out on the whole range of plugins available for commercial apps.

I still use Linux only without Windows for everything. But am seriously considering buying SonyVegas Platinum for editing.

For now this seems to be the only hope in future http://lumiera.org/ (a rewrite of Cinlerra with new interface and all). Just wanted to share this...peace...

 

[wheatgrinder]

having a bootable CD with basic tools is a great idea. I could imagine being on location or hitting up against a deadline, and you just need a quick edit and render.. but your PC OS crashes hard! Pop in the CD, boot the system and your back in operation, though limited, your not completely DEAD int he water.