Basic video editing?

[gognub]

I recently changed my laptop's operation system - from Windows to Linux. I had to find alternatives to the video editing programs I used to use. Natron looked really good so I installed it.  I'm new to composition software.I mostly mix photos, audio and sometimes video parts. Can Natron perform basic video editing and transition actions, and also adding audio? From what I read it's specialised in effects and this was one of the reasons I chose it. It's very different from what I used - Pinnacle Studio and Corel VideoStudio. I searched for linux alternatives to these but the programs I found were more like Windows Movie Maker than the professional ones. Really looking forward to try something new and different.

[Alessandro Dalla Fontana]

For editing video on Linux: Lightworks.
For some simple works also Blender Video Sequencer can be good.

[gognub]

Thanks for the great suggestions. They both look good! I saw you need to sign in to use Lightworks, can it work offline?

[Alessandro Dalla Fontana]

The licensed version works offline, the free version I don't know.

[OldSkoolVFX]

gognub ...

I've done some extensive work in Blender's VSE (Video Sequence Editor).  It's design is quite anti-intuitive but it works just fine for most editing purposes.  There is also an addon to shift between the VSE and the compositor and back again.  This would be for more complicated edits which opens up all the capacity that Blender has to offer from 3D modeling and animation to a compositor to put together complicated shots including 3D, greenscreen shots, etc.  I have also started in the compositor without using the 3D portion of Blender and finished in the VSE for the final edit by draging the scene into the editor ("Add > Scene").

The VSE is found by changing the default 3D editing pane to the VSE pane.  In the default 3D pane look for the little cube icon at the bottom left and click it to bring up a list of editors.  The VSE is the icon of a strip of film.  I sometimes like to have the video in the editor instead of in a different pane and this is a great way to start if you are new to the VSE.  Look for the icon with the checkerboard square AND the strips and click it to put the VSE in "combo" mode.

Alternatively to all the above Blender comes equiped with editable layouts.  If you go to the top of the interface you will find an icon with two squares next to a rectangle and the text default.  click the icon to bring up a list of preset layouts and there should be one for video editing.

Some tips:

1: When you drag your videos or image sequences into blender make sure you check the format and frame rate.  Blender will not generate it from the footage. This can be founld in the properties editor pane under scene in the dimensions section.  When the audio strip and video strip are the same length, your frame rate is set correctly.

2: I like to switch the audio and video strips.  Blender will import the audio strip on top of the video strip. "G" (think Grab) will let you shift the selected strips. "Shift" selects multiple strips. "B" Box selects strips, and "K" is a soft edit or cut which allows you to tweak your edits by dragging the ends.

3: Ignore channel 0.  It is supposed to show you info but I never see anything there.  VSE will balk at having strips there so just ignore channel 0.

4: Under "view" there is an option to "show seconds".  This will toggle between time (ON) and frames (OFF).

5: To modify a strip select it and use "Add > Effect Strip > ?".  This will add a new strip above the strip you added it to. press "N" and look to the right and and you will see that this strips "blend" option is set to "replace".  That means that it is replacing the original strip below.  Obviously you can get different effects by changing the blending options.

That should get you started if you choose to use Blender's VSE.  Good luck.

Also note that when Natron gets a dopesheet, it could also be used as a video editor.

[soz...@gmail.com]

You can also take a look at Kdenlive and Cinelerra along with blender and lightworks...
At the moment there isn't a prefect video editing solution (in the open source world) that can do both nice editing and also powerfull effects, all the softwares are good at one or other or can do a bit of both...

Natron isn't suited for editing but can do very advanced image manipulation on a per shot basis...
you can edit your shot separately with one natron project per shot , and edit them together with kdenlive or blender for instance...

But it depends on the needs that you have, it may be overkill to use various software , maybe one or another can do everything that you want if it's not too complicated...

Hope that can help, and welcome to the sometime a bit sad but also awesome world of linux and opensource :)

[gognub]

Yup, sometimes it's a bit sad as you said(like finding good software alternatives) but as a whole Linux surpassed my expectation, like it's flexible customization, one click updates and much more :)

Are these advanced image manipulations in Natron like for example the transitions in videos/presentations? Or are more similar to editing in photoshop? Maybe this info could come in handy one day...

[soz...@gmail.com]

Yes Natron is more like a photoshop for video or animations...
Kdenlive is more the software you need for transitions and simples filters over an image, it's also easier to understand than blender.

[tint...@gmail.com]

For basic video-editing you should check out the cross platform video editor: http://www.shotcut.org
In fact Natron and Shotcut should marry and have some beautiful children together. ;-)

[clan...@gmail.com]

A simple video and slideshow like movie maker (but better) you can use ffDiaporama.
Serge

Le lundi 9 mars 2015 21:08:04 UTC+1, gognub a écrit :
> I recently changed my laptop's operation system - from Windows to Linux. I had to find alternatives to the video editing programs I used to use. Natron looked really good so I installed it.  I'm new to composition software.I mostly mix photos, audio and sometimes video parts. Can Natron perform basic video editing and transition actions, and also adding audio? From what I read it's specialised in effects and this was one of the reasons I chose it. It's very different from what I used - Pinnacle Studio and Corel VideoStudio. I searched for linux alternatives to these but the programs I found were more like Windows Movie Maker than the professional ones. Really looking forward to try something new and different.

If you want a

[tintwotin]

Round tripping clips to/from Natron would properly be most simple solution to integrate it better with NLE softwares.

BTW. Shotcut saved project files (XML MLT) can be converted to EDL which can be opened by Blender: https://eyeframeconverter.wordpress.com/mlt2edl/

[OldSkoolVFX]

I could not get Shotcut to run on Ubuntu 14.04.

[Rc Spam]

Shortcut is very buggy and it's often crashes on my 14.04 .

For me, kdenlive is the most advanced video editor.

If you work with image seq then you can use cinelerra-cv because only some short video file types are considered.

[Rc Spam]

Kdenlive ppas:

stable: https://launchpad.net/~sunab/+archive/ubuntu/kdenlive-release

unstable (for me stable;): https://launchpad.net/~sunab/+archive/ubuntu/kdenlive-svn

cinelerra: https://launchpad.net/~cinelerra-ppa/+archive/ubuntu/ppa

[Frédéric Devernay]

Please note that there are a bunch of new plugins in the "Tile" group for *very* basic editing (don't expect much from it):
- AppendClip to paste clips together with fadein/dissolve/fadeout
- FrameRange to trim a clip
- FrameHold

[vikrant...@gmail.com]

Hi, i probably shouldn't be replying after 3 years :) but, i just installed natron in ubuntu, and it has a dope sheet !. can you tell me how can i use it as a video editor