Video Authoring Application of the Year

jeremy · 01-07-2009, 02:45 PM

What do you use to create and edit video?

--jeremy

H_TeXMeX_H · 01-07-2009, 04:22 PM

Ok, but if mencoder is on there then why isn't ffmpeg ? They can do the very same thing.

trickykid · 01-07-2009, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

Ok, but if mencoder is on there then why isn't ffmpeg ? They can do the very same thing.

That's why the polls aren't open to vote yet so members can make more suggestions to be added.

jeremy · 01-07-2009, 04:31 PM

ffmpeg (which seems to be considered a "Multimedia framework") is in the multimedia poll. mencoder is classified as a video transcoder, so is in this poll. It's a fine line, I agree (and I did almost stick it in this poll).

--jeremy

H_TeXMeX_H · 01-08-2009, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremy

ffmpeg (which seems to be considered a "Multimedia framework") is in the multimedia poll. mencoder is classified as a video transcoder, so is in this poll. It's a fine line, I agree (and I did almost stick it in this poll).

--jeremy

Hmm, ok, but what about transcode, it's in neither this one or that one.

almatic · 01-08-2009, 09:14 AM

Sorry, but this "Poll" is useless.

Those tools in the list are for completely different purposes and cannot be compared. Mencoder is a converter tool while avidemux is a swiss army knife for linear video editing (cutting and merging and so on). Kdenlive and cinelerra however are non-linear video editors.

Blender is completely missing here, although it contains an nle and is one of the most important video tools in linux. Its power lies in the integration with its other components, e.g you can render your spaceships,laser swords and animated stuff directly into your videos.

For serious video editing in linux you are pretty much forced to use a workflow of kino (for grabbing material out of the camera), blender (for compositing, animation, text effects ...) and cinelerra (for producing the final product). This combination covers much of the things that premiere/after effects can do, with some limitations.

You can compare kdenlive, cinelerra, jahshaka and blender with each other (pitivi ? open movie editor ? ...), you can also compare mencoder, ffmpeg and transcode (though they all depend on each other) and maybe you can compare lives with cinepaint, since they both work on single frames, but putting them all in one huge list and asking 'what is best' makes absolutely no sense. They all have something to do with video, that's all they have in common.

What am I supposed to vote here ?

jeremy · 01-08-2009, 09:28 AM

* I've added Transcode.
* almatic, it's unfortunate you think the polls are "useless". Many members like them and it gets a large amount of exposure for applications that are well deserving, most of them Open Source. We openly admit that not all apps in most polls are directly comparable. There are currently almost 30 polls. If we got the categories down as granular as some people ask for, there would literally be 100's if not 1000's of polls, which would worse than the current situation IMHO. It's about striking a balance and making the awards manageable.

--jeremy

H_TeXMeX_H · 01-08-2009, 09:59 AM

It's true that it's difficult to classify apps such that a poll will give you useful info. Each program is a tool and tools can be used in many ways. The polls typically have to do with the way in which programs are used, so if a program can be used in a certain way, then it should be included in the respective poll. This way it will still give you useful info.

almatic · 01-08-2009, 10:19 AM

jeremy, I see your point, you are right about the amount of polls. However I still don't see after what criteria I am supposed to vote. Is transcode better than cinelerra ? I need both if I want to get my edited movies on a dvd. How is the result to be interpreted if mencoder wins ?
Maybe add some criteria for people to consider, that can be compared (bug-freeness, frequency of use, progress of development ...) to make the polls and their results more valuable (unless exposure is the only thing to care about ...).

jeremy · 01-08-2009, 10:24 AM

There is no set in stone criteria. I'd say you should pick the one that has been most useful to you over the last year or the one that you feel has made the most progress in 2008.

--jeremy

almatic · 01-08-2009, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremy

There is no set in stone criteria.

yeah, that's exactly the problem I have with those polls. For every single video related task (except converting maybe) you need a whole set of the mentioned tools.
Anyway, I'd vote for blender as I find myself doing more and more (nle) video related stuff with it. It's useful, stable and overall one of the most amazing open source apps imho. But it's not in the poll ...