quinta-feira, 11 de novembro de 2010

Linspotting FAQ


The Linspotting project had a great overall reception from all over the world. This is both rewarding and motivating. However, since not all sides of the project were entirely understood we leave here a simple FAQ for reference.

1) What is the Linspotting project?
A meta-package for Linux Caixa Magica, a certification, a video editing workflow manual (EN and PT) and a demo video. See the full explanation here.

2) Is the video a commercial for Linux?
No it is not. The video is an ironic view over the way Linux / Open Source works. It's meant for a niche, not for a general audience.

3) "I don't get the message"
The video has quite some subtleties. To fully get it it helps if:

- you've seen Trainspotting (awesome movie...)
- you are familiar with the Linux "ecosystem"

Bonus points, if you understand Portuguese.

4) Can I install "Linspotting" on other Linux distributions?
You want to install Kdenlive not Linspotting. On other distributions you don't get the formal certification of the package set that is needed for a full workflow (kdenlive, mlt, ffmpeg, etc) but Kdenlive should work nicely. There's nothing stopping other Linux distributions from certifying video editing as well.

5) Is Linux / Kdenlive suitable for professional video editing?
Yes.


6 comentários:

Jorge Albán disse...

Dont speak much portugese yet I got a kick out of your Linspotting video.

Downloading Caixa Mágica as I write this, just to try the task-video-editing package. Do you recommend the 32 or 64-bit version ?

Have been trying for ages to find a pro video editing workflow in Linux.
It is not about any "magic bullet" application... It is about workflow quality, usability and stability, so your Linspotting project hits the nail right on the head.

Already using ffmpeg + MLT + OpenShot + handbrake + Avidemux + Devede, but it isnt always easy to configure all the codecs and dependencies for my students in Linux Mint, plus OS has some severe limitations such as lack of Waveform, Color Correction and Quantization Encoding to avoid quality loss, so RPM and KDE here we go!

Thanks a lot really,
Costa Rica, Central America
Jorge Alban
http://artenemo.org

Panoramix disse...

@Jorge Albán

Both 32 and 64 bit versions were tested and work. If you have a 64 bit machine the 64 OS should be faster.

Jorge Albán disse...

Thanks Panoramix. Indeed a 64-bit capable machine would run slightlty faster, but just as important, as page 6 of the Linspotting manual states, be able to recognize 8 Gb of RAM, very useful for Full HD editing.

Very impressed, to say the least, with Caixa Mágica 15, not only did it recognize the hardware brightness controls and system fan of my Dell Vostro 3700 laptop, something only Linux Mint does, but the live cd did activate both Broadcom 4353 Wireless and Nvidia VGA... something no other Linux distro had ever done ! (not even PCLinuxOS).

However, synaptic cannot find the "task-video-editing" package in the default repositories... So it really isnt a "single click solution"...

Can anyone please share what repos should be added and how to go about it in Caixa Mágica?

Very surprised there isnt a single Caixa Mágica review in Distrowatch.. Im considering writing about it and Linspotting in my next blog entry !!

Regards
Jorge Albán
http://www.ayerestabaaqui.blogspot.com

Panoramix disse...

@Jorge Albán

You must have the "contribuicoes" repository active in apt. You can do that via the Synatic GUI. It is pre-installed, it may at most have to be activated for the meta-packaqe to be found. Don't forget to reload / update the repo info.

Jorge Alban disse...

@Panoramix

Yup. Just opening Synaptic Package Manager> Configuration> Repositories and activating the very last repo listed: http://ftp.caixamagica.pt/15/contribuicoes/X86_64/media/ did the trick. Thanks for the great manual too. Its Linux pro video "slice'n dice" time !

Panoramix disse...

Great that it worked well. Have fun!