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.

HQ Formats - 4:2:2

Uncompressed 4:2:2 10bit (working with LW)
ProRes 4:2:2 YUV 10bit 176Mbs HQ
DNxHD 4:2:2 YUV 10bit 176Mbs HQ
MPEG4 Wrapper for Lightworks
MPEG-2 4:2:2 I-Frame w/ M701 tag (for Lightworks only)
MPEG-2 4:2:2 I-Frame (w/out M701 tag) 



Proxy formats

ProRes 4:2:2 YUV 10bit 36Mbs
DNxHD 4:2:2 YUV 10bit 36Mbs 1080P 24
DNxHD 4:2:2 YUV 10bit 60Mbs 720P 24
DNxHD 4:2:2 YUV 10bit 145Mbs 720P 60
DNxHD 4:2:2 YUV 10bit 115Mbs 720P 50

DNxHD and ProRes HQ conversions seem nearly identical, but I think ProRes is a little better quality as a proxy format. DNxHD renders much faster than ProRes. I have a beefy workstation with Matrox hardware and it can handle all of the usable formats pretty easily but I would love to hear about how they work out for others. Please give it a try and let me know about the experience!

Check out http://hdcinematics.com/NewWeb/tools.html for more info. Also available are tools that add custom prefixes and timestamps to files on a directory-wide basis - to help keep clips uniquely named and organized (ExtensionCord). You might want to grab the Matrox and Avid codecs while you're there and download a copy of HD-MINI to audition clips on demand.

With this utility you can select a different flavor of HQ codec from proxy codec and have both conversions done automatically and off-hours. If you use ExtensionCord to add a prefix and (file creation) timestamp to your files before converting, you can edit with the proxies and then offline / link to the HQ clips of exactly the same name at render time.

I hope you can find some use for these ...; )

Cheers!