I'm using Xubuntu 15.10 and I have a Logitech 1.3 Megapixel "RightLight Technology" web cam. I would like to make simple videos just of me sitting at my desk talking. I have looked at Cheese, OpenShot and Kdenlive. Cheese and OpenShot got pretty bad reviews on the Ubuntu Software Center, but Googling around OpenShot got good reviews for being easy to use. Kdenlive got the best reviews on the Ubuntu Software Center and Googling, but it seems pretty complicated and that there will be a substantial learning curve involved. I am not averse to learning but I don't want to do overkill for just taking simple videos. Any feedback as to which is the best way to go? Thanks.

P.S. I heard VLC Media Player could take videos with a webcam but my version (2.2.1) didn't seem to be able to. See first screenshot (24) showing what I needed to do and the second screenshot (25) is my VLC. For a couple of things I could not get the "Direct Show" option and VLC wasn't picking up my webcam or microphone.

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avidemux is pretty straightforward, as long as you are working with *.avi files.

That's the only one I have any direct experience with.

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Openshot and Kino are both good entry-level video editors.

Kdenlive and Cinerella are much more advanced, on the same level as Adobe Premiere.

Avidemux and LiVES are somewhere in between.

For your application, I would give Openshot a shot (no pun intended ).

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Gregg,

Along with OregonJim I can recommend OpenShot:

https://www.maketecheasier.com/opens...-average-user/

Screenshots:
http://www.openshot.org/screenshots/

Manual:
http://www.openshotusers.com/help/1.3/en/

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Wrong - avidemux quite happily handles non avi formats, used to use it a lot, use ffmpeg/mplayer/mencoder now.

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Thanks Frank.

Thanks OregonJim. I liked what I read about Kdenlive a lot but I think I might do better with Openshot. (Maybe like GIMP vs Pinta.) Loved the pun!

Thanks beachboy2. The links won me over. (Esp. in the manual, saying "Learn OpenShot in 5 Minutes!" LOL) Just got it. Appreciate your help.

Thanks Keith. Good to know.

Guys, I got OpenShot and it's just like you said. I put together a slide show. It's totally intuitive and I look forward to using it for editing. But as far as I could tell I could not take video (video capture, I guess it's called). So I Googled around and saw that I could with Kdenlive. So I downloaded it and it says, yes, you can capture video but you have to register your camera and then there are all these config settings it's asking me to make that I am clueless about. WAY over my head or skill level.

So, can I take a video via OpenShot (with my webcam, of course)? And if so, maybe give me a hint as to how. Thanks.

VLC can do some basics with it's menus "View" and "Advanced Controls" otherwise +1 Avidemux.

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You can use ffmpeg to capture video and audio from any video capture device i.e webcam and video capture cards. In addition to ffmpeg, you will need xwininfo to get the geometry and corners of the desktop or a particular window where the application is running from, eg. a web browser.

There are many example codes of using ffmpeg to capture video and audio out there. Also, ffmpeg is constantly changing and some switches to ffmpeg may be dated.

An alternative, If you have a google chrome browser. There is a extension you can install called Screencastify (Screen Video Recorder). You can have a video thumbnail of yourself in a corner and record your desktop and yourself at the same time.

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Thanks jamison. I'm on a computer without the webcam but I'll explore the VLC tomorrow. What do you mean by "basics" though? And are you sure Avidemux will let me take a video with a webcam?

Thanks Phantom. The ffmpeg approach sounds a little complicated for me. I checked out Screencastify and that would be awesome for tutorials. But I need something to take the full picture. Appreciate it.

The program "Cheese" gives you a very easy way to record video from your webcam, which can then be edited with OpenShot. It should require no configuration at all - just press the record button.

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