Has anyone had a play with the Lightworks NLE?

I'm really liking this software!...and its free, it has the keyboard shortcuts setup of MC aswell.

at the their website it says this year they will be adding support the the AJA and Blackmagic hardware which I have both of, its a real shame that Lightworks does not have its own title generator but its early days....and not that many effects, and 3rd party plugins dont work that well for now.....but hey for free its awesome it feels MC-ish in the way it edits well for me anyway. Lightworks I'm liking it!

Search is your friend:

http://community.avid.com/forums/t/82697.aspx

and the race to the bottom continues.  Next thing you know, people will be complaining about a $10 upgrade cost! 

 

However I would like to try it.  Is that PC only?

Don't be to quick call it a race to the bottom on this one.  As I understand it, right now in beta format a lot of the codec support is free so that it can be tested.  When they come out of beta for the 1.o release, they will change to an a la carte format where you buy the installations for the codecs you need.  If you're sticking to dv, dvcprohd and a couple of other base formats, you'll get them at the entry level price.  If you want support for prores, RED, DNx and the like, you'll need to pay for it.  They haven't said what that cost will be.  They also plan to roll out the mac version later this year according to their roadmap.

I started on this system and it was very intuitive for someone with absolutely no background in editing at all.  The great part about it was the Steenbeck like controller, which they will be updating.  Editshare is bringing this out in order to complement their hardware and media storage systems.  Every single Scoresese film since about 1994 has been edited on it as has most of Baz Lurmans films.  I have it running in bootcamp on my mac but haven't had time to put it thru the torture test as of yet.

This NLE feels really good to edit with...the 3rd party support is a little flaky at the moment...but I have some of them working with it, I like how when you sync clips for multicam editing it makes it's own 'sync clips' bin and from within that bin you can play all your synced clips at once from within the bin its self you dont even have to load into source monitor and the tile view is big enough to edit from this is freaky good.

switthaus:

However I would like to try it.  Is that PC only?

At the moment, yes, but OS-X support is expected later this year.  Linux support is also planned.

Just be aware that Editshare take the line that LW is beta software only at this stage.  If you decide to use it you become part of their beta test regime, or even part of their alpha testing.  They are moving across to open source, but it isn't there yet.

In practice this means that there is a limited range of codec support and a limited range of frame rates and image sizes.  Within those constraints it's the same LW that some of us at least know and love.  If you have your old LW console squirrelled away somewhere you can even plug that in and use it.

I suspect that Editshare's longterm goal is to use software to support their media servers and other products.  For example, while you can currently download the software and use it for free, if you want the console it will cost you.

switthaus:

the race to the bottom continues.

Scott, if you're talking cost, I agree.  If you're talking quality I disagree strongly.  I've had Lightworks installed since last year on my second Avid system, and apart from two additional media folders, there seems to be no impact on that PC.

But boy!  Can I cut fast with it!

Hi,

Tim:

the tile view is big enough to edit from

Just in case you're not aware, in frame view you can change the size of the displayed frames by selecting them and pressing CTRL+L to make them larger and CTRL+K to make them smaller.

ciao,
Carl 

yeh wow thanks!

jwrl:

Scott, if you're talking cost, I agree. If you're talking quality I disagree strongly.

Certainly talking cost. Can you imagine how frustrating it must be for a company like Avid to see it's users positively discussing yet another low-cost/free software that will add more competition to the mix? And this is a software that has its core market (film, broadcast) firmly in the center of it's sites.

Rex, since this one is right in your wheelhouse, do you see Lightworks becoming a player again in your slice of the market? If so, more trouble ahead.

FCX, PremierPro and now Lightworks...gonna be a busy year learning stuff to stay competitive....

any quick short cut on keyboard for dissovle?

switthaus:

FCX, PremierPro and now Lightworks...gonna be a busy year learning stuff to stay competitive....

You know how to edit!  So why would it take very long to learn different interfaces?

Tim:

any quick short cut on keyboard for dissovle?

Lightworks Forum

 

AndrewAction:

You know how to edit!  So why would it take very long to learn different interfaces?

Hacking around a new interface is a lot different than feeling comfortable with a client behind me paying by the hour.  Sure, I can work around the interface, but getting the system to work the way it was designed to do takes time.  

Much like Avid editors going over to FCP.  Once they stopped trying to make FCP work like an Avid, things get much smoother.  I experienced that with FCP and DS and I am sure it will be that way with FCPX, PP and Lightworks.  I have to be sure I feel good about working with a client on a system before I will chance it.

Scott, the thing about lightworks users is that they have always been a tenacious lot when it comes to standing by the software.  Tariq Anwar, Scott Hill, Thelma Schoonmaker, all have stuck with Lightworks since it's introduction in the early 90's.  Chris Gill, who used to work quite a bit for Danny Boyle went over to Avid for a few years and has recently returned.  As for it becoming a player in TV and Movies again, it really depends.  In my experience, the studios don't care what you cut on so long as you can guarantee them that one, it won't cost more, and two, it won't cause them problems (see reason number one).  So, the people who use it are going to continue to use it and those of us who like it or are looking for an alternative will give it another shot.

Here's the thing though.  I have a friend who was the poster child for the professional FCP film editor.  He has always been one to try new techniques and when he transitioned from film to the digital realm with Avid.  However, he never felt comfortable on it.  It never felt to him like it was smooth.  Ten years later, along comes FCP and he went after it like it was the second coming.  He loved it, but, after a few versions he felt as though Apple was not getting it, that there were things they needed to be fixed.  At a trade show he once showed an Apple developer how when you move something on track 2, you lose all of your renders.  The developer just sat there for 3 minutes saying "it's not supposed to do that" over and over again. So, FCPX comes out, and here Scott is (my editor, not Witthaus), looking at it and thinking that Apple has shifted the base use of the software further away from what he needs.  Keep in mind, this is not a guy who is pragmatic like me, but who generally believed that Apple was going to show a new way and look after it's core users of creatives, not become a mobile phone company.  So now, he's looking at Lightworks, a piece of software that could have a low entry level cost, but more importantly is aimed squarely at the needs of the professional film and television editor and is stated as such in their literature.

So, lightworks.  It has been thru some bumpiness with owners.  It's brand power in the marketplace had gone away, but......  Everyone who ever used it always said that it was intuitive, easy to figure out, relatively bug free and powerful.  And then there's that awesome controller.  Editshare inherited a piece of software that already worked and all they need to do is make it better and port it over to other OS's.  I don't think they're going to take over the editing world, but if they do it right, they're going to get some play.

As for learning the software, in 1998 I started my first job as an apprentice TV drama edited on Lightworks.  I had no film background, my degree was in physical education.  The only thing I had ever edited was high school football highlight videos using two vhs decks with no controls other then my own sense of timing.  After two hours with the assistant I was digiitzing and organizing the dailies on my own.  After 4 days I was spitting out EDLS and tapes.  After two weeks the editors were letting me come in on weekends and edit scenes unsupervised.  After 6 weeks I had completely taken over from the assistant who was now supervising the ADR sessions.  So yeah, it's easy to learn.

 

This post is way longer than I planned.

Even MC looks more user friendly than Lightworks.

While MC has made huge steps towards the user,

it seems to me that LW's is where MC was when it started.

It's not a matter of the interface but a matter or trimming.

Trimming on LW's is as weird as was the drop & drag of MC before some years.