There’s a wealth of excellent creative software for Windows available as open source or freeware: from audio editors and music tools, to graphics software and 3D animation. However, there’s been nothing worthwhile in the area of video editing. This has now changed with the release of Lightworks (at http://www.lightworksbeta.com). Although this is the first release of Lightworks Open Source (and this is still a beta), the application itself has been around since 1989. It was a pioneer of digital non-linear editing (NLE) along with Avid and was truly innovative at the time. EditShare bought the floundering program in 2009 with the intent of releasing it as open source. It’s now done this, releasing version 10.0.1 Public Beta at the time of writing.
Originally based on the venerable Steenbeck film editing system, Lightworks retains some of the quirkiness of its youth, so it works rather differently to other video software. But it’s incredibly lean, fast and offers features comparable or better than high-end commercial tools.
To begin, Lightworks will ask you to assign a number to your computer (to distinguish multiple systems on a network), so just enter 1 here. The program itself is 32-bit and will run on Windows XP, Vista or 7 (32- or 64-bit versions). When you first run it, right-click the desktop icon and select ‘Run As Administrator’. It will ask what keyboard layout you want. If you’re familiar with Avid or Final Cut Pro you can choose one of these, otherwise select Lightworks.
You can then create a project. Enter a name and choose the frame rate (usually 25fps). This project is saved in a ‘room’ (Room #1 by default), which is just another way of saying a workspace. You can rename this to whatever you want.
You’ll also see a project card (window). This is where you can select your playback settings for video and sound. Like most high-end tools, Lightworks will handle whatever you throw at it and make it all conform to the settings you choose here. It supports resolutions up to full high-definition (1080p) in QuickTime (MOV), AVI or MXF format. For those using Panasonic P2-type cameras, it also recommends you install the free Matrox video codecs for Windows (included on the cover disc) for full DVCPRO HD codec support.
The interface uses a lot of floating windows, which can’t be docked, but can be minimised and ‘pinned’ to lock in place. Click on the third icon on the toolbar and you can open a new timeline window. Click the second icon and you can import some media. Lightworks gives you the option to link, copy to a local folder or convert the clips you select. It has excellent preview features and playback is smooth and fast. You can also capture from a DV camera via FireWire.
Aside from getting used to the interface itself, the tricky bit is how the timeline works when editing and trimming clips. This is kind of back-to-front compared to other NLEs. Try to think of each clip as a strip of film that you’re sliding back and forth. This is visually represented by a curl at the beginning and end of each clip, with the cursor and its function changing depending on where you click. It also uses the idea of joining the clips (as you would with real celluloid) when a trim is complete.
We found some of the guidelines in the quickstart guide to be incorrect and the program did tend to crash at times — it’s still a beta, after all. The good thing is Lightworks constantly saves every move you make, so you’ll never lose work due to a crash. It also doesn’t load P2 MXF footage with the picture and sound in sync (yet).
Lightworks is a powerful program and a genuine rival to the expensive commercial programs out there. It can be hard to get your head around it, as it does things very differently to other NLEs. The workflow can seem counterintuitive at times, but persistence will pay off. EditShare has a lot of support and goodwill from end users, and even though there’s still work to be done, this is now officially the best open-source video tool around.
Working with Lightworks
I find Lightworks very good but can be a bit hard to understand.