Open sourced NLE Lightworks Beta is finally out!

[tin3tin]

Lightworks Beta is finally out!

http://www.lightworksbeta.com/

You have to register at the site to download the software but it is free.

This will be the Blender of Video editing - no doubt!

A YouTube Video to get you started here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gCDFfXUcGk

A lot of the controls are only acceable through keyboard shortcuts.
Click on the fingerprint icon to see the keyboard shortcuts.

A few to get started:
i = inpoint
o = outpoint
v = insert
space bar = play/stop

[Mug Funky]

thanks for the heads-up! i hadn't checked my email for a bit.

downloading now. i'm so gonna cut my showreel tonight.

[edit] what gives? that doesn't look like an open source license to me? i'll have to read beyond the first few lines methinks. but certainly limiting backups to 1 copy is a bit strange.

[edit 2]

this is really not ready for public consumption.

supports as input:

- blackmagic 8 bit mov (2vuy, produced with qtoutput plugin for avisynth) with 16 bit stereo audio
- straight 24bit and 16bit wav files
- limited mp4 support (doesn't seem to do a lot)

so far i've tried:

- avs
- m2ts
- vob
- ts
- mpg

- h.264 in all the above containers
- mpeg-2 in all the above containers, 420 and 422 (encoded in HC)
- apple prores (it sees the audio, not the video)

i'm going to keep trying with this, but so far it's very alpha, not really beta. almost any action will result in a crash, and the crashes extend to explorer when it dies while loading a file, resulting in non-unlockable files.

[smok3]

I did quite some projects (film and video) on older offline Lightworks machines and it is a 'story telling' editor as no other, but don't expect any decent composing stuff.

what they promise as IO is this:

I/O Support

MXF Op1a, MXF OpAtom, Quicktime and AVI
DV25, DVCPRO 25, DVCPRO 50, and DVCPRO HD
MPEG-2 I-Frame SD and HD
HDV
Uncompressed SD and HD at 8 bit and 10 bit
Avid DNxHD*
Apple ProRes*
AVC-Intra*
RED R3D*
DPX 10 bit* and 16 bit*
Sony IMX
Sony XDCAM HD*
Sony XDCAM EX*
Sony XDCAM HD422*
Panasonic P2
Image Import and Export as stills or sequences (DPX, BMP, TARGA, JPEG, GIF, PSD, TIFF, DPX, JPEG2000, PICT, QT Image, SGI, and PNG)
Export presets for Apple TV, iPhone, iPod
Broadcast Wave Format with drop and non-drop frame timecode options
Import and Export OMF I and OMF II
Import and Export AAF
MDA support for Edit While Capture with Geevs servers
Telecine 29.97i to 24p pulldown removal
30fps and 25fps import to 24fps project
Frame-accurate capture tool with support for batch, clip, and on-the-fly capturing
Frame-accurate insert and assemble edit-to-tape
Serial device control (RS-422, RS-232)
FireWire device control
* available separately at extra cost

[Zarxrax]

I had signed up to be in the closed beta of this, and I really hope they have improved it since then. I spent several hours with it and couldn't even figure out how to put clips into a timeline and move them around, and I finally just gave up. I also fought really hard with it trying to convert footage into a format that it could use.

[smok3]

full workflow example:

a. got the bunny of the bunny site (720p version) + flac stereo file
b. transcoded video to 24fps Matrox MPEG-2 I-Frame HD, flac to wav
c. import into 24fps project
d. make edit to sync video to audio
e. edit as 1080p (sf) 24 fps, using the synced edit
f. export as 24fps Matrox MPEG-2 I-Frame HD

snapshots,

rooms:

http://s4.postimage.org/1ucldxdes/rooms.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/1ucldxdes/)

editing:

http://s4.postimage.org/1ucbgpag4/bunny1.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/1ucbgpag4/)

shark:

http://s2.postimage.org/1vepmzauc/shark.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/1vepmzauc/)

opinions,

pros:
- very smooth editing (best i've seen) when material is actually imported, and this is a 'supermarket' pc.
- the install file size is only 15,5 MB (16.318.536 bytes), what the ... ?
cons:
- there will be a learning curve for ppl that never used this system before i imagine (it is quite different i guess)
- matrox codecs
- there is no titler as it seems
- crashes badly with multilayered timelines or effects
- there is no ubuntu version? :P
questions:
- are Magic bullet looks and other premiere plugins actually/really working?

speed editing quick-guide (this is what i remember from my old editing days):

Remember is not about in and out, it is about mark&park. Here is how you can for example setup the keyboard:

Replace = .
Reverse = j
Stop = k
Play = l
Mark = i

http://s1.postimage.org/2zwz1ayis/keys.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2zwz1ayis/)

usage:
a. press l to play, press i to mark, press k to stop, press . to add to edit.
b. go to a.

about the mouse:

rmb drags windows around, rmb + lmb brings any window to front,
rmb moves shark around, rmb+lmb with shark eats the windows, lmb shark to spit out what has just eaten.

about the bunny:

(c) copyright 2008, Blender Foundation / www.bigbuckbunny.org

about the shark:

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/attacks/relarisk.htm

[smok3]

osx and linux version may come in late 2011, according to
http://www.editshare.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=220

quote:
We are still receiving questions regarding OS support for Lightworks. Currently, Lightworks runs on Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit, and Windows XP 32-bit. We are looking to port it to Linux and OSX, but this won’t happen until late 2011.

p.s. i can' see any source code posted yet, where is it? or is this some new sort of beta exe open-source model?

[Mug Funky]

yes, i second the call for sauce.

they seem to have grabbed hold of a buzzword and run with it without so much as googling for the meaning of the phrase "open source".

maybe by 2011 they'll be touting "cloud based" editing? they already have an app store i see (open source indeed).

not a fan so far. i feel like writing all over it with red pen, giving them 3/10 and asking them to see me after class.

the 3/10 is for good intentions. -3 for shitty implementation and releasing too early, and -4 for not actually being open source in any way, shape or form.

to editshare: work hard over the next year to earn back our trust. don't pull out the "but it's free - you get what you pay for", or you'll find your "open" code being auctioned off at a closing-down sale.

[mpucoder]

The impression I get is that they announced the project as open source, got a bunch of people like us to respond with the hope of being early beta testers, then picked out a "team" to allow access. I wonder if the "team" is being paid, or just dupped into working for free?
If the team works for free and is a diversified group of people chosen psuedo-randomly would that make the project, in their minds, open source?

[smok3]

question(s):
any cool non-destructible ways from lightworks > after effects (cs4) ?

[Zarxrax]

question(s):
any cool non-destructible ways from lightworks > after effects (cs4) ?

It doesnt have any lossless export options?

[smok3]

It doesnt have any lossless export options?
sure it does, i meant timeline -> timeline.

[Yellow_]

Lossless in what sense? For example it uses Quicktime as the decompressing codec for h264AVC from something like a HD shooting DSLR which captures full levels and converts to Matrox Intermediate for internal consumption whether you've installed the Matrox pack or not, personally I used withou it, then the so called lossless output in uncompressed Matrox codec with squeezed levels and reduced data.

From the limited tests I did lossless from LW beta is a falacy. :-) along with the Open Source version.

I think the whole thing so far is pityful. Seems like it's a case of get users to try it, see how fantastic it is to use (open to interpretation) then hold out with any OSS move until big enough user base willing to pay for additions like DNxHD. An open specification codec for adoption being towted as payware addition.

Do I sound bitter. Give them benefit of the doubt I suppose, time will tell I guess. Don't think much of the way they've approached the open source community or there lack of openess with regard to development, lot's of talk on the forum of paid for additions, Linux version and the big trouble they have with licensing for codecs, not wishing to implement FFmpeg :-) How can OSS NLE's like Kdenlive and Openshot use codecs without license and the fact they have very little money available to fight patent/IP claims yet EditShare won't. Sooner they open source the better and let it get forked the better. :-)

[smok3]

Lossless in what sense? For example it uses Quicktime as the decompressing codec and converts to Matrox Intermediate for internal consumption whether you've installed the Matrox pack or not, personally I used withou it, then the so called lossless output in uncompressed Matrox codec with squeezed levels and reduced data.

lossless in a sense that matrox avi files will not work nicely with AE, so i'd preffer another format (and since as you mentioned the internals are lossy), that would be some sort of 'uncompressed' stuff.

But the real feature would be (for me) consolidated (from original source, which is again either lossy or lossless) 'uncompressed' AE ready composition with adjustable head/tails - clip based. Basically once i'am out of LW, i'd like to finnish in AE.

the so called lossless output in uncompressed Matrox codec with squeezed levels and reduced data
If they will want to go linux/OSX, they will have to figure out something different than matrox codec pack anyway. Personally i'am atracted by: speed of startup, speed of editing, the unspoken storytelling quality (compared to say premiere or final-cut), but i still look at it as an offline editor.

[tin3tin]

Lightworks beta 10.0.4 is out.:)