In my first article I tried out various audio/video apps to see what Linux had to offer for video production. For the most part I was pretty disappointed with the whole experiment. Several months have passed so I decided to take another look to what has progressed since then. There were two programs that I left out because they were either not realized or it was to soon to try it out.I downloaded the new Suse 9.1 live CD to test my hardware out. I booted it up on my test machine and Suse detected all of my hardware without A hitch. I then downloaded the install CD and installed it along side of WindowsXP. Installation was drop dead easy. Everything was automatic. This had to be the easiest OS installation that I have ever done.
Machine Specs:
-idec small form factor PC
-AMD Athlon xp 2800+
-512 MB ram
-On board video, usb, firewire, and 10/100 network
Main Actor V5:
Main Actor is a video editing program from Main Concept. It is available for Windows and now Linux. I downloaded the demo for the Linux version and was happy to see that it had watermarks added to the footage instead of being save-disabled. I clicked on the rpm and yast popped up and installed it without incident. One thing that bothers me about Linux is that it doesn’t tell you were it put the executable so you can launch the program. With Suse you can hit the files tab in Konqueror before installing to see were everything is going. If you install the rpm from the CLI you can use the -qpl switch to see were everything went. It would be nice if you had some kind of option to make a shortcut on the desktop or even have it added to the launch menu. After a quick investigation I found the file in my /usr/bin directory. This may seem like a no brainer to Linux folks but to people coming from A different platform this would be a problem.
When you launch MainActor it opens up with a time line, preview window, media player, effect window, and a file browser. It should seem very familiar if your used to programs like Adobe Premiere or Final cut pro. The first thing I noticed when loading media files is that the interface is very snappy. I Added some files to the time line and added a few transitions. One nice thing is that you can scrub through the time line and see your transitions in real time. It could handle just about any type of media files that I could throw at it including stills, video, and audio clips.
Main Actor comes with a nice variety of effects and transitions for audio and video. One thing that I found interesting was inclusion of an audio transition. I’ve always done this by hand but it was nice to have the option available if I was in a hurry. The time line is layered out in a similar way to other editing programs. I liked the different zoom options you had by either stretching the slider or using the scroll wheel on the mouse. Another feature I’d never seen on another editor is the “search” option on the clip window. I could see this being useful if you had a huge project going on but, with multiple time lines available and a organized clip area I probably wouldn’t use it much. I then decided to plug my camera in and try out the video capture. The capture window has many features including: capture preview, deinterlaced options, and time setting options.
We’ll if your looking for a “prosumer” video editing program for Linux then Main Actor is your answer. I’ve been using the demo for a few days and I have to say that it has been very solid. The OS is free and the program is $199. I’m going to be ordering this for my “luggable” editing machine.
Jahshaka:
Jahshaka has to be one of the most interesting programs that I’ve used in a while. Its interface was a little weird at first but when you get it, you begin to understand how each part of the program works. Its a combination motion graphics, animation, effects, paint, and titling in one. Its being developed on Red hat Linux but there are ports for OSX, Irix, and Windows. Its still in the Alpha stage but I thought is was far enough along to give it a try. For some reason the latest realize is only available for Windows but I’m sure that will change soon.
When you first launch the program you are presented with the “desktop”. This is the central location where you load and organize your media files. Every section of the program gets its files from here. Its a good idea because it would be a mess trying to organize everything if each section had its own media. Your presented with a set of buttons on the bottom left part of the screen that takes you to each part of the program. each section has a main window, layers box, and a row of tabs that takes you to the various options and settings. One thing thats nice is every section of the program has a “get desktop” button that takes you back to the main window. Its kind of like a media “home” key.
The coolest thing about Jahshaka is that just about everything can be made 3D. You can add video clips and alter their shape and transparency in 3D on the fly. You can stack multiple layers just like most graphic and editing programs. The program is a bit buggy but it is still in Alpha so thats to be expected. It runs really smooth when sliding 3D effects around which is very cool. I’m going to be watching the progress of this project very closely.
Conclusion:
I’m happy to say that this article went much better then the first one. I really liked both of these programs. I probably would have never discovered them if they were only available for Windows. Multimedia on Linux is really starting to make some headway.
Its going to be interesting from here. I just discovered that my Tascam us-428 usb board now works with Linux so I guess my next article will be “Audio Production with Linux”
About the author:
I run a video production business based in Raleigh, NC. I have been using computers since I was programing in basic on My Atari 400. I later moved to the Amiga and eventually traded it in for the x86 world. I’m currently on a mission to make my computer world Microsoft free.
If you would like to see your thoughts or experiences with technology published, please consider writing an article for OSNews.
What I am really looking forward to is when Linux video apps start supporting Jack and Jack Transport. This will mean sample accurate sync with Ardour, and the ability to have your audio appear on channels in Ardour’s mixer.
At the moment, I think the only video app with Jack support is mplayer, and that is just audio out.
This is vital for dubbing to picture (which I do mainly rather than much video editing). I find the audio side of apps like Cinerella or Main Actor very hard to use and restrictive compared to Ardour.
I’m an independent myself, and have often entertained the thought of linux plus a low cost nle. I’d never heard of Main Actor before. Interesting read.
Not that I’ve used it, but Kino seems to be a valid option for Linux video production.
I tried the new MainActor version, 2 weeks ago. It crashed on load while loading the fonts. Apparently, it could not read correctly my two 18 MBs-each unicode fonts that the EIOffice office suite installs, and so it crashes. Removing the fonts temporarily makes MainActor to work correctly.
I have been in contact with the MainActor people regarding their bug and they were very receptive and helpful. Hopefully, they will release a fixed version soon.
I tried Mainactor under PCLinuxOS and it didn’t want to install, saying that it needed libdraw1394. ok…checked the list of installed packages and lookie here: libdraw1394! Hmmmmmmm……well hope they make it work better than this…
It might be needing a newer version. I had installed all that months ago because Kino needed them too, so I was ok regarding dependencies.
Try mainactor 5 for linux mandrake taste:-)
It works here
regs
hgm
Perhaps I’ve been living under a rock, but MainActor looks very interesting. I tried Kino and avidemux2 (which are great for tiny clips), but not good for editing. I’ll have to give this one a shot!
I’m not a video guru by any means, but lately i’ve had to play with Cinerella. It’s alright from what I can see, dunno how it’d compared to these though as I haven’t use either for long enough to judge. Just thought I’d mention it.
links
theres no links to the programs mentioned in the review.. i know to just google for them, but you would figure..
Cinepaint is a fork of the Gimp used in the motion picture industry:
http://cinepaint.sourceforge.net/
(the windows version doesn’t work very well but the Linux version is apparently quite functional).
Avidemux, is a nice little program for editing video.
http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/
looking forward to that next article!
I’ve played around with Audacity for linux and windows but it’s really way more basic than the most basic consumer audio apps. I still haven’t quite figured out how to use the various plugin architectures on linux either – that would be cool to cover in an article. (hint, hint).
Figures! I should have scrolled down a liiiitle bit more and seen that Mandrake flavored version!
3D animation software:
Alias Maya http://www.alias.com/eng/index_flash.shtml
Softimage XSI http://www.softimage.com/home/
SideFX Houdini http://www.sidefx.com/
Blender3D (OSS) http://www.blender3d.com/
2D animation software:
MOHO (OSS) http://www.lostmarble.com/
2D Compositors/Image Tracking:
Apple Shake http://www.apple.com/shake/
2D3 Boujou 2 http://www.2d3.com/
Discreet Flint
Rendering:
Mental Images Mental Ray http://www.mentalimages.com/
Pixar Renderman https://renderman.pixar.com/
NVIDIA Gelato Film Renderer http://www.nvidia.com/
Paint:
Cinepaint (OSS) http://cinepaint.sourceforge.net/
IFX Amazon Paint http://www.ifx.com/amazon/
GIMP 2.0 (OSS) http://gimp.org/
Adobe Photoshop 7 (works on Wine)
Video Editing:
IFX Piranha HD http://www.ifx.com/piranha/
Discreet Smoke http://www.discreet.com/
Jahshaka (OSS) http://www.jahshaka.org/index.php
Cinelerra (OSS) http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3 & http://www.lmahd.com/cinelerra.html
Main Concept MainActor 5 http://www.mainconcept.com/index_flash.shtml
KDEnLive (OSS)
Audio Editing:
Lmuse http://lmuse.sourceforge.net/
Ardour http://www.ardour.org/
Hydrogen http://hydrogen.sourceforge.net/
Web Design:
Macromedia FlashMX (Works on Wine)
Macromedia DreamweaverMX (Works on Wine)
NVU (OSS) http://nvu.com/index.html
Quanta (OSS) http://quanta.sourceforge.net/
Asset Management:
NXN Alienbrain http://www.alienbrain.com/
Linux Movie pics: http://linuxmovies.sourceforge.net/linux.movies.gallery.html
A brief example of studios using Linux in production: Digital Domain, Disney, Double Negative, Dreamworks, Flash Film Works, Hammerhead, Industrial Light & Magic, Pixar, Rhythm & Hues, Tippett Studio, Sony Pictures, Weta Digital.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~salsaman/lives/
Moho is not OSS.
I agree, and thats just the tip of the iceberg.
Piranha HD look so cool. I wish it was free like the OS. For now I will stick with Final Cut Pro HD and Premiere Pro for my systems. I’m also amazed what Desreet Smoke can do, alittle out of my league right now.
What is a good linux to start with?
I love how he complains about not seeing where the program was being installed, only to find after looking that it was in the user binaries directory where ALL user installed programs go. Nothing like not knowing how Linux works. Granted, it’s not called something a novice might recognize like “Program Files”
but it’s not THAT obscure.
hardware support and dependency problem would be able to solve one day…
Im working with audio-creation software. Well Ive interested and put on Suse 9.0 and 9.1 to see what they have. HA HA HA. Somuch fun. 10 years after PROJECT 5, CUBASE or even FRUITY LOOPS…Keep on servers and dont get exposed!
I’m currently on a mission to make my computer world Microsoft free.
Go get a Mac – SCNR!
No Photogenics?
I still haven’t quite figured out how to use the various plugin architectures on linux either – that would be cool to cover in an article.
Whats the problem? I had problems once with getting ladpsa-plugins to work, and they work excellent in audacity. Just install them, and they should work, TAP’s or Steve Harris’ plugin-packs are great. The plugins should go in /usr/lib/ladspa, but this should be taken care of by the suitable installer of audacity and plugins.
Yeah if you buy a Mac right now Apple will give you Final Cut Express for only $99. That’s $200 off regular price.
Sorry if I forgot some software. The list is huge and I’m sure Eugenia wouldn’t like me filling up an entire page. I do try to periodically update the list here http://www.linuxforum.com/forums/ in the “Software” forum (see sticky post). There are other applications such as Nuke for compositing, Rush and GRender for network render distribution, etc. Eyeon has recently stated they will soon port their products such as Digital Fusion to Linux. Even rumors are spreading the Maxon may offer Cinema4D and their 3D paint program to Linux. There really is no need to limit yourself with a Mac when you can use Linux on your current hardware with a wider range of selections to choose from.
There really is no need to limit yourself with a Mac when you can use Linux on your current hardware with a wider range of selections to choose from.
Why not go for a mac and use Final Cut pro HD, instead of paying out the nose for Linux app’s like Piranha HD or even Shake, when i can get it on the mac cheaper and better support from Apple that Lunix vendors.
“Everyone knows macs are for fags… remember the rainbow logo? …”
……no i just remember you.
Re:”Why not go for a Mac and use Final Cut pro HD, instead of paying out the nose for Linux app’s like Piranha HD or even Shake, when i can get it on the mac cheaper and better support from Apple that Linix vendors.”
Please don’t compare FCP Pro to Discreet’s Smoke or even Cinelerra which offer more than what Apple is offering this industry. Cinelerra can be purchased as a turnkey system or obtained for free since it’s OSS where as FCP Pro HD cost $1299.00 Canadian. By the time Jahshaka 3.0 is released I’m sure that will be another OSS that will blow away Apple’s offerings since it will support major film formats including open source ones such as ILM OpenEXR and the Foundry’s OpenFX. It will also be offered free for all platforms (Linux, Irix, Windows and OSX).
As for Apple’s Shake for Linux I have already stated on this site in other threads that Shake for Linux can be purchased from authorized resellers that equal Shake for OSX. Not to mention Shake is not the only comp solution for Linux studios. There are others such as Nuke, Discreet Flint and soon to be ported Eyeon’s Digital Fusion with network rendering.
What kind of hardware would a Linux artist run such highend software on? Well isn’t it nice to know studios have several competitors to choose from such as the new dual 64-bit Xeon workstations that support Hyperthreading or having AMD 64-bit. Apple is at least 6 months away from releasing their new IBM PPC dual core 64-bit workstations and no word again as to when or if they will even offer DCC cards for studios that purchase their systems. Hmmm..why wait when studios can get that now? Looks like Apple is playing catch up once again
Well, MainActor definately is easier to use than Cinelerra. (shoot, I can’t even figure out how to load a clip using CInelerra in order *to* edit it) I’d like to see more solutions, commercial and OSS. I find it reassuring and like to try out my options, to use the best one, no matter who makes it. One less reason to boot up Mac OS X is good with me.
Yes Cinelerra is a little difficult to grasp but then again it’s intended for professionals who are already trained on other highend editing software. Try this link I found with Google ( http://cvs.cinelerra.org/docs.html ). One thing I like about the other open source editor Jahshaka is it’s intended to assist with workflow in production. The tool set will be similar to Smoke but also have a way of doing things similar to what’s found in Shake, Fusion, XSI and Maya. See version 3.0 concept screen shots here ( http://www.jahshaka.com/features/interface.html ). Once the final product is released I’ll be dumping Cinelerra for Jahshaka.
Thanks for your contributions.
I have some things to add on the forum over there. You say: privmsg me. I just post it here and hope thats ok too.
“Apps not tested on Wine:
Newtek Lightwave (3D) http://www.newtek.com/“
Works on WINE. There are even screenshots of this on winehq.org. This is of version 7.5c. I don’t know regarding 8.0. I haven’t run it myself anyway as i don’t have a license.
VIPS: An imaging tool great for editing large photos: http://www.vips.ecs.soton.ac.uk (What i’m gonna use when i got my digicam tomorow
.
LIVES: video editor: http://www.xs4all.nl/~salsaman/lives
There is no mention of Discreet Smoke, Flame. Effect, Inferno.
There are no CAD/CAE related applications or links.
There are no vector drawing mentions. Illustrator could be added in the “not sure to known WINE list” although it just doesn’t work from what i’ve read. It should be portable given it runs on IRIX and MacOSX. Anyway, Sodipodi and Inkscape could be added (http://www.inkscape.org and http://www.sodipodi.org).
You could add POVRay, a raytracer http://www.povray.org
Hmm and generative art is not included (this is a subject i’m highly interested in). See for example http://www.generative.net there are some FLOSS applications like Kandid and Evolvotron but i haven’t used them yet. Browsing art on a late friday night is just so much fun
And finally some offsite links to other websites like http://www.linuxartist.com may be cool.
Good luck with your efforts.
PS: Is the list you provide copyrighted, or am i free to (partly) use it? Frankly, i think there should be a Wiki related to Linux and visual creativity.
http://linuxmovies.sourceforge.net/software/index.html
Thanks for the links. I’ll try and take time this weekend out of my already busy schedule to look over them and add to the list. Discreet products Smoke was already listed in the editing section and so is Discreet Flint in the compositing section. Discreet’s Flame and Inferno as far as I know are only supported on Irix systems. Also, regarding the missing CAD/CAE applications that is not my field so I’m not familiar with those applications. If you know of any that are ported to Linux or run on Wine and are used extensively in the workforce then please let me know.
I try to filter the garbage applications from what is really useful. Example applications such as Poser and Wing3D may sound cool to someone new to art but really the applications are laughed at by professionals. Also I cannot add every single plug-in available to applications. That’s why you see in my signature the link to Pluginz.com which is a good portal for all plug-ins used by studios.
“Re:”Why not go for a Mac and use Final Cut pro HD, instead of paying out the nose for Linux app’s like Piranha HD or even Shake, when i can get it on the mac cheaper and better support from Apple that Linix vendors.”
Please don’t compare FCP Pro to Discreet’s Smoke or even Cinelerra which offer more than what Apple is offering this industry.”
Who was comparing FCP to Discreet, I thought the post read Piranha boner… Even Discreet has reconized it’s customers use FCP and are offering compatibility with FCP through XML.
“What kind of hardware would a Linux artist run such highend software on? Well isn’t it nice to know studios have several competitors to choose from such as the new dual 64-bit Xeon workstations that support Hyperthreading or having AMD 64-bit. Apple is at least 6 months away from releasing their new IBM PPC dual core 64-bit workstations and no word again as to when or if they will even offer DCC cards for studios that purchase their systems. Hmmm..why wait when studios can get that now? Looks like Apple is playing catch up once again
”
Do you know what your even saying! Apple already offers a dual processor system. Hyperthreading doesn’t mean MP, Intels a year away. Xeons a marvelous chip, I’m getting one.
Re: “Who was comparing FCP to Discreet, I thought the post read Piranha boner”
Are you trying to impress us with your linguistic skills by using language like “boner” and misspelling “recognized” in a post? Take time to actually read before you post a comment. Crackerjack, commented on the price difference between highend Linux applications and Apple’s FCP for OSX. He referred to Linux applications “like” Piranha HD and Shake which in reference covers a broad range of software.
Re: “Even Discreet has reconized it’s customers use FCP and are offering compatibility with FCP through XML”
FCP is not the only software to use XML so please don’t try to make me believe Discreet implemented this in their products just for FCP users.
Re: “Do you know what your even saying! Apple already offers a dual processor system. Hyperthreading doesn’t mean MP, Intels a year away. Xeons a marvelous chip, I’m getting one”
Now this made me laugh. You first set out to bash what I said regarding Intel being ahead of Apple with their new Intel Xeon 64-bit Hyperthreaded processors then say you want to get one too. I suggest you read up on what the new processors offer compared to Apple’s product line. Apple has already stated to the media they are disappointed that IBM is behind on releasing their new dual core processor. I would be too if I was Jobs realizing the competition beat you by 6 months. Some companies such as Liebermann http://www.go-l.com/ will be offering what they class as super workstations that offer four 64-bit processors. Even their laptops geared towards professionals like other distributors blows away anything Apple is offering. Liebermann and several other distributors already offer 64-bit laptops where as Apple has already commented this is highly unlikely for them since IBM has expressed cooling issues with the G5 processors.
Apple stated that they weren’t pleased with the slow turn around on processors, but compared to Intel the 970fx is a great chip, even if it’s only at 2.5. Apple has systems priced right, when compared to Xeons.
“FCP is not the only software to use XML so please don’t try to make me believe Discreet implemented this in their products just for FCP users.”
Actually that’s right, because made the announcement at NAB this year about FCPHD.
DarkKnight, Discreet made the announcement at NAB that they were supporting FCP XML-based interchange format. Marc Petit at Discreet, I believe, even referred to FCP as the editorial tool of choice. (I can’t remember his exact words but you can look it up) DK you really dislike FCP and Apple a lot?
Linux Video editing is in a sucky state. Main Actor for linux is really old and not updated (Why has 6 been promised for over 3 years now and not released yet it has for the windows platform??)
It will NOT capture reliably from a DV source, so you have to use OSS tools for capture. many of the OSS tools will not capture to decent DV formats (DV AVI type 2 . a native no conversion format) so you need to convert formats and LOSE resolution by going to quicktime.
Sorry, but I demand my final edited footage to look as good as what was shot. Mainactor CAN NOT DO THAT. Cinerella cant stay running long enough to even show me that it cant. kdenlive is promising if it did not keep crashing when I try a DV capture.
These projects are busy adding “features” and ignoring stability.
Mainactor is not an option… no updates for over 3 years means it is dead.
Cinerella is not an option, these prima-donnas know nothing about video editing and are busy adding eyecandy instead of making somthing workable let alone the fact they are busy screaming “RTFM” to everyone that ask’s them a question.
Our only hop is to get some real programmers working on a real solution or hope that Avid decid to port AvidExpress DV to linux (HA! fat chance)
The origional article states he is a pro editing company… thet can not be as you will lose money dinking with linux for video editing.
I am not happy that is the current reality as I love linux, but vido editing on it sucks bad.
Use Cinelerra. it is full feature video, audio editor with realtime effects, multitracks, firewire. etc.. the BEST for linux. and free. http://www.heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3
While not the easiest to use, but pretty well documented. Cinelerra is a very flexible editor.
http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3