Recommendations for open source video editor software

[Draco1962]

I am seeking some recommendations for a free, open source video editor. My preferences would be:

- one that you can pretty much begin editing existing videos without a lot of learn time spent

- a full editing package that will allow you to cut, crop, insert, etc.

- allows editing and saving in a variety of popular formats

- able to strip and insert audio tracks as needed.

[nullPointer]

In terms of FOSS video editing software, I think Lightworks is where it's at. It's one of those that's so good even the professionals use it. But ... it also has a professional grade learning curve. I think if you put some time in to learn the ropes you can really get some amazing results (I haven't).

Now if you're just looking to edit some home videos or something, I think Windows Live Movie Maker does a fantastic job. Obviously not open source, but it is free. It has most of the tools you need, and nothing you don't (but it's not particularly robust either).

[Draco1962]

I am not opposed to learning something new, but something that has an intuitive GUI that can be figured out easily without having to take a graduate level course to use its features is always nice. I will probably give Lightworks a try. Windows Movie Maker is OK for some quick work, splicing, etc., but has a very limited feature set and the idea I am kicking about will require a bit more firepower than it can offer. Also, it does lack being able to save videos in other formats.

[nullPointer]

Don't discount Handbrake when it comes to converting video formats. It's certainly more convenient to have all your tools in one box, but not always possible - particularly in FOSS land. Handbrake is a fantastic stand-alone tool to have in your video manipulation quiver.

[hansolo77]

I've always used Virtualdub (http://www.virtualdub.org/) for all my video editing needs. It has lots of plugins you can get to increase it's functionality.

[Tom Speirs]

Yeah, Ive always used virtualdub too.

[Draco1962]

I tried Lightworks and have to say I was a bit disappointed. Very limited range of size/frame rate combinations. Took forever to find out that the executable setup in the shortcut is wrong and you have to point to another file - seriously? Like 2 hours of my time searching for this solution in a forum dated over a year ago and they have yet to fix it? Not impressed.It may be feature rich but much of it is clouded behind too many flaws.

I tried Virtual Dub, but it it limited as to what video formats it will accept. What I need to be able to do is crop out some image details, also be able to splice in other video segments and apply effects. Unfortunately, I may have to go out of pocket to find one program that works across several formats and basically allows for editing videos much as you would still images.

Not giving up totally, just setting it aside for today.

[nullPointer]

Sorry to hear about the frustrating trial run there Draco. Here's a couple of resources that might help you find something more to your satisfaction:

If you don't mind laying down some cash, here's the Five Best Video Editors (as decided via Hive Five voting on Lifehacker). If you feel like really digging into feature comparisons, here's a rather extensive comparison of video editing software on Wikipedia.

Good luck man!

[DazzleHP]

I'm going to have to chime in here and give some love for AviDemux! It does everything pretty much - and waaay faster than all the other freebies, and yes i have tried most - both in Windows and Linux. It's not the most intuitive per se (it's not pretty either) but once you know your way around its hella fast FYI all the basic stuff, cropping, fading etc can be done in seconds - its the more advanced stuff that takes some learning (but not that much). Also i've not found any better free software for encoding! it's where AviDemux shines! Pixel Perfect encodes at small sizes and a stupid amount of encode options - none do it better or faster IMO.

If you need proof:

My Channel

The latest 8 vids were encoded using AviDemux - the source vids look way better trust me! Nothing you can do about youtube re-encoding unfortunately.

[hansolo77]

Don't give up on VirtualDub. If you're having trouble with file formats, use a conversion tool to put it into a format more easily used (like AVI). A great free tool I found and use often is called SUPER by eRightSoft (http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html). It will let you convert just about everything to everything, provided you have all the proper codecs installed. Once you get it converted, VirtualDub is my choice for video editing. You could also load VirtualDub up to run through a hosted video, and have an AVS script running for your conversions. Lots of freedom with VirtualDub.

[celly]

Wish i could help but, i use VirtualDub also and Xilisoft Video Converter. Hand in hand with Fraps thats all i need.

Xilisoft, however lets me convert the .avi from Fraps to tons of different formats (mainly mp4 or mkv for me) and then use with GameEx.