Lightworks Free Video Editor

[Lynne Pruskowski]

Lightworksisn't just video editing software. It unlocks your potential as a video editor. A unique journey crafted for all levels, empowering you to create stunning videos that match your vision. No prior experience or technical expertise needed, just the courage to make your first cut.

Whether you're a budding creator or an experienced filmmaker, Lightworks allows you to breathe life into your video projects and create something truly special. Start your video journey today and see where it takes you!

Lightworks is a freemium non-linear editing system (NLE) for editing and mastering digital video. It was an early developer of computer-based non-linear editing systems, and has been in development since 1989. Lightworks won a 2017 EMMY Award for being one of the first to create digital nonlinear editing software. The development of an open-source version was announced on April 11, 2010.[3] However, no source code of the program has been released. In July 2020, a Lightworks product manager confirmed that they "Still hope to announce something in the future" about Lightworks' open source development.

OLE Limited was founded in 1989 by Paul Bamborough, Nick Pollock and Neil Harris. In 1994 it was sold to Tektronix.[10] In 1999 it was sold on to the newly formed Lightworks Inc., then owned by Fairlight Japan, and then purchased by Gee Broadcast in May 2004.[11][12]

Under Gee Broadcast ownership, new product releases resumed with the release of the Lightworks Touch range,[13][14] and the Alacrity[15] and Softworks[16] ranges for SD & HD editing.[17] Softworks offered the Lightworks User Interface and toolset in a software only package for laptops or office workstations. Softworks and Alacrity supported mixed formats and resolutions in real time and project output in different resolutions without re-rendering. Alacrity supported dual outputs while the same facility was available for Softworks users as an option.[18]

At the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters, NAB Show, on 11 April 2010, EditShare announced that they plan to transform Lightworks into Lightworks Open Source.[20] It was presented at IBC in Amsterdam September 2010.[21]

On 9 November 2010, EditShare announced that Lightworks would be downloadable on 29 November of the same year, at first exclusively for the users who had registered during the initial announcement,[22] but subsequently publishing the software as "public beta".[23]

EditShare planned the release of the open source version in Q4 of 2011, after they finished code review.[23] They plan to make money from proprietary plugins offered in their associated online shop, including plugins needed to access professional video formats. Shortly before the scheduled release date of 29 November 2011, EditShare announced that an open source release of the software would be temporarily delayed, but did not announce a new release date. The announcement noted that they were not yet satisfied with the stability of the new version.[24][25]

After an 18-month beta program, EditShare released Lightworks 11, for Windows only, on 28 May 2012. The non beta release of Lightworks includes a host of new features for editors, and runs on wide range of PC hardware. The software was re-designed and re-written for portability (versions for Linux and Mac OS X have also been released) and now supports many more codecs including AVCHD, H.264, AVC-Intra, DNxHD, ProRes, Red R3D, DPX, XDCAM HD 50, XDCAM EX, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K, but only for the paid Pro version. The free version supports DV, MPEG, Uncompressed and other codecs for both import and export.[26][27][28]

On 29 May 2013, v11.1 stable release was made available for download. A major development in the Pro version is improved performance of the H.264/AVC codec in MP4 and MOV containers. This makes it possible to edit this format natively, even with less powerful CPUs. This should interest HDSLR and GoPro camera users. Native editing of H.264 MTS files has been possible since version 11.0.3.

This version of Lightworks has also replaced HASP with the new EditShare Licensing System (ELS), which eliminates some installation problems. Lightworks Free users can now download the 64 bit version, which was previously limited to Pro users. The Free version now also comes with a 30-day Pro Trial period.[29]

EditShare demonstrated the Linux version at the NAB in Las Vegas in April 2012, and posted a video of it running on Ubuntu on their YouTube channel.[30] At IBC in Amsterdam in September, an updated Linux demo was presented, and EditShare announced that the initial Linux alpha version would become available on 30 October .[31] Lightworks 11 alpha for Linux was released on 30 April 2012, but only to a limited audience.[32] The Linux version of Lightworks was made available as a Public Beta on 30 April 2013.[33][34][35]

In October 2018, Lightworks released version 14.5 for Windows, Linux and Mac platforms. 14.5 added a vast array of new features including variable frame rate support, a huge amount of codec support including Red Cinema R3D, Cineform and Blackmagic Q1 codecs.[citation needed]

In September 2020, a new company, LWKS Software Ltd, founded in August of the same year[39] by two members of the development team, took ownership of Lightworks, as well as QScan AQC software. the agreement also mentions Key member of the development teams of both software joining the new company.[40]

Now then; I've got a treat for those budding film-makers among y'all. A 'portable' version of the grand-daddy of non-linear video editors, and the one that kicked the whole genre off wayyy back in 1989:-

I've been hum-ing & haa-ing about this for quite some time now. Many folks reckoned it was Windows-only, quite a few said they always used the online version, but a handful were saying it IS available for Linux although a PITA to figure the download out. They were bang on the money with that last statement, an' all; the perpetually self-renewing 90-day free trial is obscured to the nth degree, and I ended up getting instructions from a video-site's blog on how to read & use the website!

I'm pretty good at figuring this stuff out normally, but without a nudge in the right direction, I would never have found it if left to my own devices. Talk about hiding in plain sight. It was there in front of me all the time, but completely camouflaged. Of course, they'd rather you stumped-up for the expensive SAAS permanent monthly subscription, wouldn't they?

I could have installed the .deb, then figured-out the necessary steps for creating the portable from that, but I decided to be clever, and figure it all out directly from the contents of the extracted .deb package. Which took a bit longer, and involved not only a dedicated launcher but also a substantially-modified version of their own 'wrapper script'.....eventually combining the two together for maximum effect (after I'd finally sussed out the right order for everything)..!

You'll need to visit the Lightworks website & register for a free account. This is necessary, because you want these details to 'sign-in' when the app first fires up.....having done which, you get 90 days of free use. At that point, the 'free' license expires.....but you simply sign-in again, and you're up-and-running once more; the cycle will repeat ad infinitum. No muss, no fuss.....no cost.

One's half a meg, the other's around 20! These are the Nvidia & OpenGL core runtime libraries; not included in the official driver packages, but easily installed from the PPM. (Search for "libcg"; "lib "cggl" should pop-up alongside it.....select and install the two together).

I cannot say what the procedure will be for Intel/AMD chips/GPUs. You won't know until you fire-it up; initially, I will advise launching via the terminal, since this will help to identify anything that may be needed.

As with all the portables, d/l; unzip; move the portable's directory anywhere you like outside the 'save'. Click to enter, click 'LAUNCH' to fire it up. Scripts permit adding/removing a Menu entry if required, from wherever the thing may be. It'll even run happily from a flash-drive...

There's always sacrifices when you get a free ride. I'm just amazed to be able to get the thing running like this at all, if I'm perfectly honest..! I haven't really had a chance to experiment with it yet, so watch this space....

I still haven't really had a proper chance to explore and find out just what this can do. On two occasions in the intervening 5 months, I've needed to quickly edit a couple of short vids, but I've stuck with Openshot for those, simply because I know what I'm doing with it.....and I just didn't have the time to learn a new work-flow from scratch.

This does run; you can sign-in, bring up the projects page, double-click a project to bring up the edit screens, etc. You can mess about with the settings, you can import/view videos, etc; it's obviously all functional, I had just hoped I would have been able to give a slightly more "in-depth" review of how well - or otherwise! - it worked.

They've done a bit of an overhaul on the initial 'Projects' page; two rows of project 'spaces' instead of three, spaces and most functions now have rounded corners, and in general everything just looks that much smoother and properly finished. Nice.

Several new features have been added, which I haven't had a chance to look at, yet. Actually, I still haven't rendered anything with it yet, but don't let that put you off; everything appears to be fully-functional. I will eventually get around to testing, trust me!

Additional scripts allow the addition/removal of a Menu entry, should one be required. Check out the 'MenuReadMe' for instructions. (Don't forget about the perpetually-renewing "free trial", either; re-sign in once every 90 days.....and off you go again!)

No glaring changes; just general tidying-up, and making the user experience slicker than ever. It IS a good-looking app, no question of that; I've seen some screenshots of the Windows build of this, and TBH, the Linux build leaves it in the dust as far as GUI presentation goes.

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