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  • goannagoanna

    Our solution was to avoid rewriting the Windows-specific code at all (it was, after all, tried, tested and optimized). Instead, we decided to move it to a new operating-system dependent layer which we engineered to have an OS independent interface.

    Once this was complete, we were then able to begin work on a Linux implementation of that same layer. In essence, the Lightworks code is now split in two - the OS-independent code (eg. editing, play-engine, etc) which uses the OS-dependent code (eg. file access, threading, etc).

    The OS independent code accounts for about 97% of the total codebase. The bulk of the work in porting to Linux was actually in re-engineering the existing code, not in writing the Linux-specific layer.

    Linux of course doesn't have [Windows'] Direct3D, so we had to reimplement all the Linux GPU specific code using OpenGL.

    This development has been long-awaited. Once again, risk-averse developers are showing us how OSes, once the mainstay of IT revenue, are losing relevance.

    What's next - Lightworks for Android? -only a few lines of code away.

  • 45 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Lightworks shows that can happen is you leave developers without proper management.

    Horrible horror.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Horrible horror is almost like saying 'free at no cost'

    No, it is real horrible horror, with all idiotism of this phrase closely matched with this software.

  • goannagoanna

    For newcomers, Lightworks for the desktop is relatively new, the NLE having its origins in feature film production.

    Current Lead Developer Ron Fearnside developed quite a few of the technologies we take for granted; working at Quantel, an UK company with a pedigree worth acquainting ourselves with.

    It may be, @subco , that Ron has done an about-turn and resorted to writing Wine layers. Or, as @Vitaliy_Kiselev says, turned rogue because LightWorks have themselves lost the plot and been remiss in managing Ron and his team.

    I totally agree that people and companies cannot rest on their laurels. They have to deserve their reputation afresh with each new day.

    This new day, however, your comments as absurd as those of late journalist Richard Carlton who, in a special, live 60 Minutes TV transmission mission from the USSR and faced with the Union's most eloquent, English speaking philosophers, [Carlton] [boorishly] asserted that Mikhail Gorbachev was just another Kremlin puppet, [that] Glasnost was a passing phase and that nothing would ever change.

    Maybe Richard was playing the devil's advocate - he'd come without doing his homework and tried an old journo trick. If so, it didn't work - the assembled panel (who'd come prepared to reveal to him the biggest scoop of his career) looked at each other with incredulity and finally bemusement as they reached for their coats.

    Carlton returned, none the wiser, to Sydney and obscurity.

    [Edited], Richard Carlton, not Mike (sh*t, sorry, Mike!!!)

  • goannagoanna

    Lightworks Pro for Windows (1 year license) is priced very competitively and we can expect that Linux - and hopefully Mac - versions will be as affordable.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    This new day, however, your comments as absurd as those of late journalist Mike Carlton who, upon a special mission to the USSR and faced with the Union's most eloquent, English speaking philosophers, asserted that Mikhail Gorbachev was just another Kremlin puppet, Glasnost was a passing phase and that nothing would ever change.

    I laughted very loudly here, it just tells about quality of "Union's most eloquent, English speaking philosophers" :-)

    Lightworks Pro for Windows (1 year license) is priced very competitively

    No such thing as "priced competitively" exist, if it does not support features required by modern workflow even $0 price is too high.

  • goannagoanna

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev

    lol - I realise that "Union's most eloquent, English speaking philosophers" was possibly an oxymoron. If the truth be known, a few of them were probably exiles who'd finally dared come to Moscow from Paris, London or the States.

    Anyway, Carlton came over as an arrogant, ignorant Australian brute in their company. He never gave them a chance to speak, so convinced was he that there really was no story!

    It seems the Nine Network might have deleted any reference to that program which they probably wish had never existed.

  • mashmash

    there is a new announcement for linux alpha testers on the lightworks homepage:

    7/01/2013 :: We will be offering users a second attempt at applying for access to the Linux Alpha Program using www.lwks.com/alphas-linux between 3pm-5pm (UK) on Thursday this week.

  • goannagoanna

    Yes, Lightworks is really up against the open source MLT-based GUI editors like Kdenlive and Open Shot which support the codecs.

  • andyharrisandyharris

    @goanna --- is it really the case that you can only import clips with the same frame rate as your project (as described in the import tutorial)? With FCPx one can mix and match between framerates and resolutions.

    I'm a heavy linux user so I may give it a spin.

  • goannagoanna

    @andyharris Honestly I've never tried mixing frame rates or resolutions in Lightworks. I suppose it's become important these days to be able to use clips with different frame rates. Different resolutions have been common for a while.

    I am really only hanging around waiting for LW Linux. I rarely boot to Windows - in fact when installing my system to a smaller capacity) SSD I decided to lose my Windows 7 partition. I have never noticed it's gone.

  • kazuokazuo

    This LW software has a bug that will not go away. Couldn't get it to start even after i turned off my firewall et al.
    And then i realised it is a restricted copy, and many have posted on forums on a similar issue. Argh! Forget it!

  • John_FarragutJohn_Farragut

    Didn't realize the free version would have limited codec support. I thought the idea was to release an open source version. Now it's back to being a fully closed NLE with yearly pays.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Post about open source nature of LW

    http://jeff.ecchi.ca/blog/2012/11/10/lightworks-is-not-anywhere-close-to-open-source/

  • karlkarl

    I have no experience with Lightworks, but tried to find any feature advertised on their web page that is not also available in really free & open source video editors (such as kdenlive, which I use a lot). The only feature I found in that regard was support for stereoscopic images, something I'm not really interested in.

  • mashmash

    i worked on a few real world test projects with lightworks alpha on linux to evaluate this program. the port to the linux platform looks brilliant. most of the GUI and the functional features will do their job on this platform quite well. it's a very precise tool that is following totally different paradigms then most other linux NLEs, therefore it's hard to compare them. if you work with lightworks it helps a lot to imagine an old fashioned studio with linear tape recorders automatically controlled by edit decision lists. everything within lightworks seems to follow this schema of player/recorder and precise EDL control. if you accept this relics of some specific historical background, you will get a very powerful tool in your hands. in contrast to most other linux NLEs lightworks is powerful enough to manage even huge projects very efficient.

    i don't second vitaliys judgment concerning missing features for a useful practical workflow. well -- the internally used mainconcept codecs are one of the weakest parts of the program, using ffmpeg/ffmbc as an alternative will give you much more more control and better quality in this respect, but it's easy to workaround this shortcomings.

    the critics about the 'free/open' nature of the program looks much more problematic to me. i hope, editshare will get this crucial point and set same clear and unmistakable signals to open the program in the promised way very soon, otherwise it will not be a big success on linux. we will see, what they decide...

    but in general i think, linux users should not underestimate their tools! if someone would invest a few month of work, most of the outstanding lightworks project managing features for movie editing could be likewise implemented in blender. MLT and the melted server platform has some other very promising qualities, that are hard to find in any commercial software. it doesn't matter so much, if lightworks will roundup this goods. it's just another NLE with a slightly different focus.

  • dancerchrisdancerchris

    I personally have a love/hate relationship with LWks. The editing is sweet and simple, but as @mash said the paradigm is different and it takes time to get used to. The documentation is weird because the terminology used does not seem consistent. As mentioned by @mash the codec support is spotty particularly with our beloved GH2 footage but there are several transcoders written (I highly recommend AWPro) that provide a work flow that is better than the in program method. One thing that is confusing but powerful is that LWks uses a reel based data management system that is good for large projects but seems cumbersome for occasional hobby use.

    The forum has its fanboys and sometimes testy moderators that can be quick to jump on people that are frustrated and venting with the various problems. They do provide reasonable involvement/support though.

    For me I will stick it out and see where it goes. My druthers are that I'd love to see Blender utilize something like this (perhaps porting through EDL support that LWks has) as I find Blender's compositor fantastic but its VSE sucks. As a hobbyist I'm loath to pay $600-$2000 for an NLE that has some gravitas. The consumer grade stuff just doesn't really cut it anymore.

    My $0.02

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    EditShare®, the technology leader in shared media storage and end-to-end tapeless workflow solutions, is pleased to announce the highly anticipated Mac version of Lightworks

    Lightworks Linux Public Beta. Following an extremely successful Alpha program, the Lightworks 11.1 Linux Public Beta testing will go live on April 30, 2013, making it the only professional NLE on Linux available to everyone.

    Lightworks Windows Release. The full version of the all-new Lightworks for Windows (version 11.1) (currently in Public Beta) will also be released on April 30, 2013.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

  • DirkVoorhoeveDirkVoorhoeve

    I'll go and see their mac version in september myself. I really don't believe it will be there, as they've been shouting mac, linux and 'open source' since 2010 and it still isn't open source at all.

    My experience with the Lightworks paid version: codec support is really not that good: i've had several problems like green screens, sound offset etc. I like to use the free FFmbc-based Eyeframe converter to ingest my avchd material into lightworks. So don't pay for it unless you need their -not so complete- S3D support.

    Also be aware that you will not get support with the paid version: you'll find yourself on their forum getting 'this software is used by hollywood editors so shut up' replies to every serious issue you post. If you want real support (which you will need with this software!) you'll have to buy that seperately.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Special converter to work with free version of Lightworks

    • Converts almost anything to a Lightworks(free) import friendly format(Mpeg2 I-Frame HD)

    http://eyeframeconverter.wordpress.com/features/

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Added preliminary support for native MP4/H.264 MOV handling without using QuickTime (work in progress)

    At http://www.lwks.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=19&id=46319&Itemid=81

  • WalkerWalker

    I am happy to report that Lightworks Linux Beta is working for me quite nicely. The few glitches I have reported might even have been already addressed in forthcoming Beta v11.1K , to be released on 28th May 2013.

  • MikeLinnMikeLinn

    Basingstoke, UK – September 11, 2013 – EditShare®, the technology leader in shared media storage and end-to-end tapeless workflow solutions, will be demonstrating its Lightworks Pro editor running on Mac, Linux and Windows at IBC2013 (stand 7.B26). The tri-platform editor has reached a groundbreaking 600,000+ registered users and is the tool of choice for editors working on a wide range of critically acclaimed films. “With a sizeable and very active Lightworks community behind us, we have an enormous amount of valuable feedback and are able to aggressively develop Lightworks with distinctive features that resonate with the editing community,” states Matthew Sandford, global product manager, Lightworks. EditShare’s Lightworks R&D team drives some 26+ public beta cycles and aims to push out four major releases per year.

    IBC attendees to the EditShare stand can test-drive the latest Lightworks innovations at the Lightworks Bar. In addition to Mac, Linux and Windows support, new Lightworks features shown at IBC2013 include:

    • Support for all AJA video I/O devices including lo XT and KONA LHi (Pro version only; Windows or Mac)
    • Screen Capture Recording (Pro version only)
    • YouTube Export Option for Windows, Mac and Linux (Pro version only)
    • Multicam improvements including: S
      • Simple panel for creating and syncing clips together
      • Sync groups now automatically sync to the record edit
      • Ability to easily swap a clip in the timeline for another clip in the sync group, using drag and drop, clicking a menu or pressing a shortcut key
      • Ability to create a random edit from the sync group
    • User Interface changes including:
      • Timeline indicators on tiles
      • Rulers on timelines
      • Scalable user interface allowing support for Retina displays
      • Appearance changes: Scale, Window Color, Text Color, Heading Color, Subheading Color, Selection Color, Brightness, Typeface and Wallpaper Image
    • Curve Color Effect
    • Avid DNxHD MOV Export Option (Avid DNxHD License only)
    • Enhancements to the Key Assignments Panel including: Ability to create Macros from key assignments
    • Ability to search the panel for the command
  • goannagoanna

    New Lightworks Version 11.1.1.P Now Available as Public Beta

    • Added support for native MP4/H.264 MOV handling without using QuickTime
    • Added entirely new EditShare Licensing Service (ELS)
    • Added initial 48fps file support
    • Added 1080PsF 48fps as an output format
    • Added support for Blackmagic I/O devices. Drivers 9.5 or higher are required (Pro version required)
    • Added support for Windows 7/8 64bit with a separate 64bit installer
    • Added outlining support for the native titling effect (Pro version required)
    • Added ability to let the user specify where media directories are stored using the disk manager tool (Pro version required)
    • Added ability to let the user specify where local projects are stored using the Manage project spaces function (Pro version required)
    • Added support for linking to audio rather than copying it locally
    • Allowed MP4/AVCHD (MTS/M2TS) media to be imported into the Free version as transcode only
    • Added support for linking to files through ALE import
    • Added support for automatic relinking to subclips when importing an AAF
    • Added ability to enable/disable detection of split MXF files
    • Added support for subclips without V tracks on AAF import/export
    • Added ability to automatically flatten multi-level subclips to one level when exporting an AAF to Avid
    • Added ability to read and interpret AVID markers as cue points in AVID AAFs
    • Added new padlock icons to show the state of an edit when using shared projects (Green = Owned by you. Yellow = No owner. Red = Owned by another user)
    • Added ability to drag a tile from out of the viewer copy icon (left click and drag)
    • Added ability to drag single tiles to the New Edit, Bin and Sync Group tools
    • Added ability to auto unjoin all clips when unjoining a cut point using the mouse. This is now the default behaviour, click the cogs icon and and set "Auto unjoin" to "No" to disable
    • Added ability to bypass auto unjoin by holding down ALT before clicking a cut point
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