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Consumer Video Editing in Linux by Robin Liss Published on Mar 8, 2002 12:00 AM

With more and more consumers getting fed up with Windows and the expense of video editing applications on the platform, Linux and video editing applications in the Linux environment are becoming more and more appealing. This article reviews capture programs, video editing programs and other utilities for video in a Linux environment. If you're a consumer with a little computer experience and an interest in video editing, Linux is a great environment for you to edit your video's in.

Linux is an free software operating system with special rules (read about it at GNU.org) which is very reliable. Linux can run on any computer. Linux is developed by the open source community - a group of programmers who work for free on Linux, improving it for no compensation. You can buy copies of Linux at your local computer store or download it for free over the web. Although it takes some skill to install, it is getting easier and easier everyday and the average computer use can do it.

What is Linux?

The benefits of Linux are that the operating system, and almost all of the programs that run on it are free. The code behind Linux and most Linux programs is open source - meaning anyone is free to run it, play with it or modify it. Another benefit of the entire open source movement is that because their is a lack of corporate control, innovation is heavily encouraged and pursued. There are no boundaries with open source! Linux also is a much "leaner" environment to work in that Windows or Mac, meaning that Linux programs and the operating system often take up less space on a hard drive, less processing power and less RAM meaning more of your computer's resources can be devoted to storing and rendering your video projects.

Getting Linux on Your Computer

If you are interested in working in Linux to edit your videos it will take some work but it is well worth it. The first thing you need is a computer that is running Linux. You can convert your existing computer to a Linux based computer, however your old programs and most of your old files will not work. You can always download Linux for free from a variety of locations, I prefer SourceForge.net. SourceForge.net is a web site that helps to coordinate open source development efforts among programmers, especially those working on Linux and Linux programs. You can download the latest version of Linux from SourceForge.net for free at http://sourceforge.net/ foundry/linuxkernel. There are also versions available at http://www.debian.org and http://www.libranet.com. If you feel more comfortable (or can't download a huge file) you can buy Linux on CD at your local software store. RedHat and Mandrake both offer their own versions of Linux on CD for $59.99 and $29.99 respectively. The versions CD include tools that will help make the software installation easier, and are best for those with limited computer experience.

Buying a Computer that Comes with Linux

If you are in the market for a new computer you can buy a computer that comes with the Linux operating system on it already. By no means is Linux a limited operating system, you can do all your internet, email and office tasks on a Linux computer with ease, and it will be much cheaper in the end - so Linux is a great choice for a new computer. Many computer companies offer Linux preinstalled on computer systems. You should look into purchasing one from your local computer store, but if you really like the Dell guy, Steve, and you want to go with a bigger manufacturer, Dell offers Linux on their Precision workstations for as low as $1206.00 (Dell.com). As with any video application, in any operating system, make sure you get the fastest computer you can afford with the largest hard drive, because video takes up huge amounts of space.

Capturing Your Video in Linux

FireWire

Before you can even consider the editing process you need the right tools to capture your video. Most users will want to transfer their video from their camcorder to their computer via IEEE 1394 FireWire. SourceForge.net has a project dedicated to integrating FireWire into Linux. Support for FireWire has been integrated into the Linux Kernel (the core of the Linux operating system) since release 2.3.40.To capture FireWire video with Linux you need a compatible FireWire card. Whether or not your card is compatible is dependent on the FireWire chipset in your FireWire capture card. Currently Linux supports FireWire capture on Texas Instruments CILynx/PCILynx2 and OHCI compliant chips. Check your manufacturer's web site or the material that came with your card to find out what chipset it has. Many Sony VAIO computers contain proprietary chips that do not work with Linux, however some systems do (SourceForge.net).

Once you have the drivers and support for FireWire you need to capture your video, and for that you need the right capture software, which is free. If you haven't noticed already, this is one of the great parts of working with video on in Linux, almost everything is free. Again, there is a project, heavily supported by SourceForge, developing FireWire capture software for Linux, called A Direct Digital Video Player: Capture. , available at http://linux4mac68k.free.fr/IEEE_1394/capture_0.2.0.tgz. The program captures from the camcorder to your computer.

Analog Capture

If you are interested in transferring your video through the old fashion analog way, there are options available to you, although it is on what analog capture card you have. As with the FireWire cards, it is all dependent on the chipset in your capture card. The Bt8xx chipset, made by Conexantis used in many capture cards made by STB, Diamond, ATi and other manufacturers and people have had success with capturing video with cards with this chipset (http://www.nmt.edu/~kscott/video). At http://www.suse.de/en/support/howto/broadcast2000/index.html there is a great tutorial on what is needed to do analog video with Linux. The site will direct you to the capture software and drivers needed for analog video capture.

Editing Your Video

Once you have the video onto your Linux computer, it's pretty much useless unless you can edit it, and for that you need good video editing software. A lack of professional quality video editing tools has been the largest weakness of video on Linux. Currently, there are no tools available that match the ease of use or features of Adobe Premiere of Ulead MediaStudio but what is available should suit the needs of almost all home consumers and most professionals.

Broadcast 2000

A very popular video editing software program for Linux is Broadcast 2000c. The company which makes Broadcast 2000 recently stopped supporting it because of legal issues, however it is still available at many web sites for free. You can download it from Tucows at http:// linux.tucows.com/nmedia/preview/59371.html. There is a guide at Suse Linux at http:// www.suse.de/en/support/howto/broadcast2000/ which should guide you through the important features of Broadcast 2000.

MainActor

An alternative option that will cost you is MainActor by MainConcept, a video editing and capture program which sells for $99. MainActor includes all the features you need to capture edit and export your video. The software includes both analog and DV (FireWire) capture software, although you will need to check if your capture card is supported. MainActor also includes a video editing which features composting, animation, transition, effects, 2D and 3D titles and many export options. You can read a review of MainActor by DaveCentral.

Other Video Programs / Utilities

If you want QuickTime on Linux, there is support for, it also in development with SourceFordge.net. OpenQuicktime bring support for QuickTime playback and encoding through the QuickTime codec. You can download it for free at http://openquicktime.sourceforge.net.

If you are interested in streaming your video over the web, you will need to encode it into a format that is proper for web streaming. FFMpeg Streaming Multimedia System is another free SourceForge.net project which offers many encoding options. Using FFMpeg you can convert video to and from the following formats: MPEG-1, MJPEG, DiVX (MPEG-4), AVI, RealVideo, ASF, and a few more. You can also decode MPEG-2 Video but not encode in MPEG-2 Video. You can download FFMpeg Streaming Multimedia System from SourceForge.net at http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffmpeg.

Is it for Me

Linux certainly takes more work to install and setup than Windows; however the disadvantages seem to stop there. Because video editing is so computer intensive, we often push our computers to their limits when editing video and anyone who has worked with video in a Windows environment has experienced the unreliability of Windows and gone through many crashes. Linux is considered much more reliable than Windows and once you have it installed will most likely give you much fewer headaches.

Linux and most of the associated programs are also free, and if you've ever wanted to work with quality tools you know how expensive video editing software can get. Although the video editing software on Linux is behind that on the windows platform, it is catching up and will suit the needs of most users. Plus it's free.

Because Linux is so reliable, because it takes up so little space and so few resources, and because the software is free, it is a wonderful platform to edit video on. Working in Linux you can dedicate your computer to the video editing project you are working on and not worry about system errors. If you are a home user with a little computer experience I would strongly suggest you try video editing in Linux. It's really not that difficult, it's very reliable, and hey it's free, so why not!