Best open source NLE software

[lordsmurf]

....

Put down the bong and back away from the computer slowly.

[budwzr]

[intracube]

Current freeware NLEs are all buggy near-useless crap.

I have to agree.

Obscure bugs might be tolerable, but most of the 'free' NLEs I've tried have serious issues with the most basic operations:
- cut points being off by a frame or more
- a/v sync problems
- frequent crashes
- unable to do basic colour correction
- no audio levels/metering
- bad handling of interlaced/progressive content
- etc, etc, etc.

and this is using suitable/established video formats; DV video, MJPEG/PCM in AVI, etc - not recent, CPU intensive, long GOP formats like MTS/AVCHD...

[epsilonalpha]

Current freeware NLEs are all buggy near-useless crap.

I have to agree.

Obscure bugs might be tolerable, but most of the 'free' NLEs I've tried have serious issues with the most basic operations:
- cut points being off by a frame or more
- a/v sync problems
- frequent crashes
- unable to do basic colour correction
- no audio levels/metering
- bad handling of interlaced/progressive content
- etc, etc, etc.

and this is using suitable/established video formats; DV video, MJPEG/PCM in AVI, etc - not recent, CPU intensive, long GOP formats like MTS/AVCHD...

all of those which could be handled easily with avisynth and correct plugin.

[poisondeathray]

Current freeware NLEs are all buggy near-useless crap.

I have to agree.

Obscure bugs might be tolerable, but most of the 'free' NLEs I've tried have serious issues with the most basic operations:
- cut points being off by a frame or more
- a/v sync problems
- frequent crashes
- unable to do basic colour correction
- no audio levels/metering
- bad handling of interlaced/progressive content
- etc, etc, etc.

and this is using suitable/established video formats; DV video, MJPEG/PCM in AVI, etc - not recent, CPU intensive, long GOP formats like MTS/AVCHD...

all of those which could be handled easily with avisynth and correct plugin.

Yes it could, but the actual user editing experience is fricken painful with avisynth. (This is coming from a huge avisynth fan)

A simple edit that might take a few minutes to do in a real NLE might take days to do in avisynth, and that's if you're already familiar with the syntax

Avisynth is great for some things , but sucks at others. That's the truth

[Gavino]

A simple edit that might take a few minutes to do in a real NLE might take days to do in avisynth, and that's if you're already familiar with the syntax

Avisynth is great for some things , but sucks at others.

I can't argue with your conclusion, but can you give an example of a simple edit that would take 'days' to do in Avisynth that could be done in 'minutes' in an NLE?

[dragonkeeper]

The complexities of modern video dictate that you need much more than previously imagined.

The big guns you thought you had in that cheap software are up against laser guided tomahawk missiles now.

The stealth submarine you thought you had, has been reduced to a bathtub & two oars.

That peashooter on your hip is up against armor piercing nuclear tipped machine guns flying around in drones.

Weren't you one of the writers for Sucker Punch ?

[poisondeathray]

A simple edit that might take a few minutes to do in a real NLE might take days to do in avisynth, and that's if you're already familiar with the syntax

Avisynth is great for some things , but sucks at others.

I can't argue with your conclusion, but can you give an example of a simple edit that would take 'days' to do in Avisynth that could be done in 'minutes' in an NLE?

Not talking about a simple trim() or aligned splice.

A simple NLE edit would be syncing up multitrack audio or animating & positioning multiple tracks /overlays and titles , lower thirds , or other elements in/out. Not just linear keyframe interpolation, but adjusting velocity curves so it speeds up and eases in & out . This type of stuff is nightmarishly brutal in avisynth (yeah it's "doable", with some animate calls , but painfully difficult to get the timing down or getting it looking half decently polished) . Even something as simple as RGB curves is "doable" in avisynth or gimp + gicocu, but it's just simpler and faster in a NLE and you get realtime feedback. Yes, avspmod is useful, but it's not the same

IMO it's simply the wrong tool for the job. I can mow the lawn with a pair of scissors by WHY would I when there is a John Deere mower in the shed ? I can hammer some nails into a wall with a screwdriver, but WHY when there is a hammer available?

I doubt even uber coding gurus yourself gavino or didee would be that sadistic to do real NLE type editing in avisynth.

To be fair, the "Pro" NLE's have quirks and bugs as well, but not for the actual editing. The actual editing process is a breeze in a real NLE. Some of the bugs I'm talking about are things like deinterlacing, color space issues, chroma sampling, dithering , scaling. Often there are better methods or workarounds for these in avisynth. Search some of my of previous threads , I've mentioned dozens of quirks/bugs/issues in Premiere and Vegas . I don't see avisynth and retail NLE's as "competitors", I see them as complementary tools with different strengths and weaknesses. But I wouldnt suggest using avisynth for editing video to my worst enemy (I mean real editing, not some simple joins or cuts)

[edDV]

Back in the early 90's the benchmark for a capable edit system and operator was 2000 edits per shift. That and with a reasonable quality prodution result. Today I'd expect 4x that because there is no VTR cue/pre-roll.

That works out to
250 edits per hour
4 edits per minute.

The whole point of a NLE is productivity vs a linear edit system.

[The village idiot]

No mention of NCH VideoPad? I've used it and it works well for simple projects, should be fine for most home users.

Light works is getting there, but it is once again in the two or three steps back to make one step forward. Still not sure if it will really be ready for the November 29 release date since I keep crashing the alpha versions. The previous beta 10.0.4 was actually very stable with a hack to use most any direct show code for import and export. Lacking features were then down to a title tool. I don't think the learning curve is really that steep, but it does have a curve over the drag and drop editors. I think by the time the Mac and Linux versions come out it should be very functional, so it is probably only about a month or so away from being ready.

[budwzr]

The benchmark for "robust" is measured in depth, not appearance.

Too many software GUI's focus on a simple slick interface, but with limited features, and rob the user of the opportunity to grow and advance their editing skills.

Like a "paint-by-number" kit. You follow a predetermined sequence and voila!, you're a "painter".

[PowerFalcon]

Vegas Movie Studio HD, looks interesting. Lightworks, is not a piece of software that I have confidence in, even at it's current stage. I was using Edius 6.03, considering the price tag for some updates, I may resort to Vegas Movie Studio HD for compiling different shots together, with relative ease and power.

[budwzr]

One day, a new NLE software GUI will not have a timeline. There will just be a series of dialog boxes asking for what you want for $39, then everyone will be an editor. That's pretty much what Apple does.

Most everything is canned, but the Apple users feel like they "made" it.