Good News on the Video Editor Front

[GMU_DodgyHodgy]

I decided to play with the latest version of PiTiVi today to see if I could make a movie of some photos of my kids with movies. I have been unable to do this with KDENLIVE, Kino, Avidemux, etc.

I am happy to report that the latest work completed on PiTiVi has resulted in a stable and functioning application that comes close to MS Movie Maker. Granted it still has yet to include transitions or title pages. However, this functionality is on schedule to be included in the next update.

Having said that it accepts a wide range of file formats and can produce Hi-Def output. I was able to make a slideshow with music and render a movie without anything crashing or getting garbled.

Well done to the PiTiVi Team!!!!

[Twitch6000]

Thanks for this news,I have been wondering what the name of this thing was lol.

I will download it today :).

[GMU_DodgyHodgy]

Thanks for this news,I have been wondering what the name of this thing was lol.

I will download it today :).

Make sure you get the .13.1 version from the PPA sources on launchpad. The work that has really made it work is in that version.

Like I said - there are no bells and whistles - but it does the core functionality flawlessly and its a Gnome app. This is a great day for me because I have hundreds of photos of my kids and wife and I can now make movies I can encode on a DvD and give to family members. W00T!!!

[4ebees]

I decided to play with the latest version of PiTiVi today to see if I could make a movie of some photos of my kids with movies. I have been unable to do this with KDENLIVE, Kino, Avidemux, etc.

Hi there. I'm curious as to the problems you were having with Kino. I use it quite a lot (just finished some videos which started out at 7Gb) and have very few problems with it, so I'm wondering if there's something I may be able to help with.

It's good that PiTiVi has been useful.

You can also make photo/audio videos with Digikam, which allows for one (fade) transition, but is very easy.

SMILE is another app that's good - tricky to use but it has smashing effects.

[Johnsie]

Well, let's hope they can get the bells and whistles so Linux can catch up with Windows and Mac in this software genre.

Windows and Mac make it so easy to do these jobs out of the box, but there doesn't appear to be anything like Movie Maker in an out of the box Ubuntu install.

[GMU_DodgyHodgy]

Hi there. I'm curious as to the problems you were having with Kino. I use it quite a lot (just finished some videos which started out at 7Gb) and have very few problems with it, so I'm wondering if there's something I may be able to help with.

It's good that PiTiVi has been useful.

You can also make photo/audio videos with Digikam, which allows for one (fade) transition, but is very easy.

SMILE is another app that's good - tricky to use but it has smashing effects.

Well Kino never could make things work with photos - and I know it wasn't designed to. DigiKam does OK - but I have a Gnome environment and KDE apps don't work well as they do in KDE and I am not a fan of KDE4. KDENLIVE would also give me crappy output - the music was choppy and the image substandard. And again - being a KDE app - it didn't work as advertised in the Gnome environment. Both apps also crashed alot on me.

PiTiVi just did what I wanted to. More importantly the user interface is more straightforward and cleaner as opposed to KDENLIVE's cluttered interface. If the dedicated development on PiTiVi continues as they have recently publicized - I see it shortly coming to par with Movie Maker.

I am not saying its perfect - but what is there works and is stable even on an older machine.

I am happy.

[Ratscallion]

I think something more professional is needed in this field for Linux. Despite the fact Camtasia studio is not free, the intuitiveness and tools included in it is amazing. Some of the video editors in Linux may offer some, if not all, of these features, though there is one problem: It's hard to use. Kdenlive (I use that in Linux) is very intuitive, though does not include the features I want to use. As I previously mentioned, there are others, many in fact, but they don't look easy to use, which I really need. I want to be able to install a video editor and say "Hey, this looks easy, what can I do here then."

[GMU_DodgyHodgy]

I think something more professional is needed in this field for Linux. Despite the fact Camtasia studio is not free, the intuitiveness and tools included in it is amazing. Some of the video editors in Linux may offer some, if not all, of these features, though there is one problem: It's hard to use. Kdenlive (I use that in Linux) is very intuitive, though does not include the features I want to use. As I previously mentioned, there are others, many in fact, but they don't look easy to use, which I really need. I want to be able to install a video editor and say "Hey, this looks easy, what can I do here then."

Oh I would most certainly agree with your sentiment on more advanced tools for more advanced users. However, I think Linux would benefit from a solid, stable, easy to use app with the core functionality of MovieMaker or iMovie that is well integrated into the desktop environment and is stable. A well integrated suite of Apps with solid functionaltity like F-Spot, PiTiVi, and Banshee as a standard for Ubuntu would be a great feature.

[Ratscallion]

I agree with the fact we need a good, stable, easy to use editor, but with the editing I do, I need to do advanced features as well as transitions, clipping and merging many clips into one.

[kelvin spratt]

If you are using movie maker as a bench mark it can't be very good thats below basic,
Kino/avidmux/kdenlive. are all a lot better applications for video editing and of course Cinelerra is used to make movies. Linux is not that bad when you learn to work with it.

[Ratscallion]

I haven't tried any of those (bar kdenlive), any good? Would you recommend them?

[4ebees]

If you are using movie maker as a bench mark it can't be very good thats below basic,
Kino/avidmux/kdenlive. are all a lot better applications for video editing and of course Cinelerra is used to make movies. Linux is not that bad when you learn to work with it.

I can't say I disagree.

I understand people have problems with some applications. I've used Kino for four years and as I said in my previous post, have completed various activities.

I can't say I can compare Kino et al with other apps on other OSs because I've never used them. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing :)))

I can say that there are functions I would like but as I can do what I want (and more) already , I see little reason to buy another machine (eg. CrApple) to get an OS to then get a application that I've not heard of as doing anything I can't already :))

Furthermore, I understand that Final Cut Pro (name?) has a great rep, but the people I know that have it do LESS editing/special effects etc than I do.

Check out my site:

www.youcantdothatinlinux.com

for an idea of what I'm trying to help others with :)

[GMU_DodgyHodgy]

If you are using movie maker as a bench mark it can't be very good thats below basic,
Kino/avidmux/kdenlive. are all a lot better applications for video editing and of course Cinelerra is used to make movies. Linux is not that bad when you learn to work with it.

Some of those do work. Kino works but is limited on formats it will accept. kdenlive is not stable in Gnome. It just has not worked for me on multiple machines. Cinelerra is quite good - but that is for advanced users and not the needs of the majority. The Movie Maker and iMovie target is where the majority of users want and need to do their personal photo slideshows and movie management for family movies.

[4ebees]

Well Kino never could make things work with photos - and I know it wasn't designed to.



I am happy.

:)

That's good LOL

Again, with Kino I'm not sure what the problem was. It easily imports photos. You set the number of frames (second, whichever) and the hit

Kino - FX - Create (from file) - frames - render. Done.

You can event set a special effect (eg. merge, fade in) while rendering.

Later you set music by:

Kino - FX - Audio filter - dub - select file

then in the 'offset' you can choose to make the sound fade out or rise wherever you like.

As I said in another post...actually, no I didn't :)) Kino isn't necessarily the easiest, but I've not tried the others (on other OSs) so I don't know. Oh, I did say that last bit before. So I've probably no idea how hard my life is :)))

Here's some video I create using only 'nix stuff:

http://wftlbytes.com/

Select the video and you'll see an intro I created for Marcel Gagné's site (check out the credits)

That was done with SMILE and Kino and a bit of GIMP.

[Ratscallion]

some of those do work. Kino works but is limited on formats it will accept. Kdenlive is not stable in gnome. It just has not worked for me on multiple machines. Cinelerra is quite good - but that is for advanced users and not the needs of the majority. The movie maker and imovie target is where the majority of users want and need to do their personal photo slideshows and movie management for family movies.

+1

[4ebees]

Some of those do work. Kino works but is limited on formats it will accept. kdenlive is not stable in Gnome. It just has not worked for me on multiple machines. Cinelerra is quite good - but that is for advanced users and not the needs of the majority. The Movie Maker and iMovie target is where the majority of users want and need to do their personal photo slideshows and movie management for family movies.

Cinelerra has the HARDEST interface I've come across. I've set myself the challenge of learning how to use so I can see what it does (but not today :))

[geoken]

If you are using movie maker as a bench mark it can't be very good thats below basic,
Kino/avidmux/kdenlive. are all a lot better applications for video editing and of course Cinelerra is used to make movies. Linux is not that bad when you learn to work with it.

I'm curious as to why you feel this way about Movie Maker. The program does a great job of incorporating a great many features into an interface that novices can easily use. What specific aspects is it lacking in?

[geoken]

I can't say I disagree.

I understand people have problems with some applications. I've used Kino for four years and as I said in my previous post, have completed various activities.

I can't say I can compare Kino et al with other apps on other OSs because I've never used them. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing :)))

I can say that there are functions I would like but as I can do what I want (and more) already , I see little reason to buy another machine (eg. CrApple) to get an OS to then get a application that I've not heard of as doing anything I can't already :))

Furthermore, I understand that Final Cut Pro (name?) has a great rep, but the people I know that have it do LESS editing/special effects etc than I do.

Check out my site:

www.youcantdothatinlinux.com

for an idea of what I'm trying to help others with :)

Name some of the things things you wish kino could do.

[4ebees]

Name some of the things things you wish kino could do.

One thing I'd like, no LOVE - and I think they're moving towards this, or something similar, in KDEnlive - is to have to multiple video streams showing (eg. one above the other) which you can then view simultaneously along with separate sound tracks. This way you can put various clips together much more easily and synch sound at the same time (1).

What I'm curious about is what the other ones can do and so would like to hear from other people. I have no real experience with the commercial editors though once had a go with one which is no longer available for Linux called MainActor, which had 3D text. That was pretty good.



---------
(1) I understand from Dan Dennedy that this is NOT something which Kino will get because they're only working on bug fixing these days - he's now focusing most of his efforts on KDEnlive.

Sure I can move towards KDEnlive, but it's not stable enough in 8.04 and I prefer LTS distros (I'm far too busy to keep upgrading, modifying, amending and working around/fixing stuff broken every 18 months...hmmmm, this is becoming a long explanation :)) - in short, I don't upgrade until a version has been out for about 6 months.

Anyhoo, that's one of the things I'd like.

[beke]

I have always had trouble with all the apps mentioned in this thread -- never got them running in a stable way on my system or found that they couldn't do (yet) what I wanted them to do.

I can however seriously suggest Blender. Although the interface is difficult to adapt to at first, the VSE-Mode (video sequence editor) offers a powerful solution to nearly all of my problems when it comes to video editing -- and of course you don't have to know anything about animation to work in VSE-mode.

And what Blender is lacking in effects is made up by all the free content floating around in their forum -- just recently I found a 20thCenturyFox-animation where you can change the text, too nice...

If you have the determination to tackle the interface and read the documentation, Blender might be the best choice around.

[GMU_DodgyHodgy]

Well it appears an update to PiTiVi is out - 0.13.1.2. It is not the release including the new functionality scheduled for 0.13.2.

HOWEVER, it runs MUCH faster- a factor of 10. This update shows they are strengthening the current code base, making it faster and lighter before the introduction of new functionality.

It keeps getting better and opens up a new hopeful front to get a tight well integrated video editor in Linux with a clean and intuitive interface.

Yay!

[Twitch6000]

Make sure you get the .13.1 version from the PPA sources on launchpad. The work that has really made it work is in that version.

Like I said - there are no bells and whistles - but it does the core functionality flawlessly and its a Gnome app. This is a great day for me because I have hundreds of photos of my kids and wife and I can now make movies I can encode on a DvD and give to family members. W00T!!!

Well thats all I really need is a simple video editor :).

I have been using kdenlive,but it was a bit buggy :/.

[Ratscallion]

Yeah... KDENLIVE seems very buggy in GNOME...

[_sAm_]

If Cinelerra is so good, why isn't it in the repos for Ubuntu?

I use Sony Vegas on Windows for my movies, but think I will try Cinelerra and see if I like it.

[cooper77z]

no idea why it's not in the repositories, why you gotta hate on cinelerra man, it's a great program. Cinelerra is way above my user level. :popcorn:

[Ratscallion]

I spent a while trying to get it into my software sources... Now I need to just install it.. Looks very complicated :-?

[cooper77z]

yea, I spent about an hour just trying to get cinelerra into the repositories too! But I was a total noob, like 2 days old, at Ubuntu. I am still a noob though. Anyway the easy way to get Cinelerra into the repositories it to cut and paste that deb file from the cinelerra page into 3rd party preferrences in synaptic.

Cinelerra really works fast with small .mov files from my digital camera. There are a lot of tutorials for it and I think it's really easy to add titles just by creating them in gimp and compositing, and I think you can create pretty much and transition you want, but I don't know how yet :)

[Bungo Pony]

Wow, nobody has mentioned OpenMovieEditor yet. It's by far my favorite choice when it comes to 'simple' video editors. It's actually what I do the bulk of my video editing in. Highly recommend it.

[GMU_DodgyHodgy]

More movement on the PiTiVi front - they are now out with version .13.2 - Jailbreak out of deadlock.

It updated on my linux box and it now has audio mixing functionality and it runs even faster than before.

It looks like the project is on track and making continued progress.

[doorknob60]

Yeah I like Pitivi, it's very stable and does what it's supposed to do. The downside is it doesn't have a lot of features yet. For example, I needed to mix two audio tracks in one of my recent videos, but it wouldn't let me (they're apperantly working on that though). I resorted to Kdenlive for that video though and it worked fine. I do like Pitivi a lot though, and I look forward to it getting more features :)

EDIT: Above post: They add it like two weeks after I need it? (audio mixing)...meh. Oh well :P EDIT: No wait, how sad is this, they released it less than 24 hours after I needed it !! GRR! lol.

[GMU_DodgyHodgy]

Yeah I like Pitivi, it's very stable and does what it's supposed to do. The downside is it doesn't have a lot of features yet. For example, I needed to mix two audio tracks in one of my recent videos, but it wouldn't let me (they're apperantly working on that though). I resorted to Kdenlive for that video though and it worked fine. I do like Pitivi a lot though, and I look forward to it getting more features :)

EDIT: Above post: They add it like two weeks after I need it? (audio mixing)...meh. Oh well :P

The latest release now supports audio-mixing. :) 0.13.2