| Pitivi
ideo editing software for Linux
is, to put it nicely, quirky.
Some editors only work with specific file formats, some work nicely for
basic video editing but can be wildly temperamental on seemingly
identical machines, and some are powerful to the point of overkill for
the average user. PiTiVi is a non-linear video editor based on the GStreamer
multimedia framework. After hearing some positive comments, and seeing
development efforts really
picking up on the project, I decided to take it for a spin. It is
very much in development, but not in the traditional sense. It
feels very stable, and the interface isn't confusing or a hindrance. It
is, at the moment, very basic when it comes to functionality. There are
not plugins or extensions currently available (though feature requests are welcome).
However, the project has
taken the time to plan its path forward -- and with the basics down,
I can't see why real headway won't come quickly. I'd feel as if I were being unfair to readers
(or the PiTiVi team) if I called this a review. It isn't, because it
really can't be. It would be a lot like reviewing an underlying
library that powers a far more complex application. PiTiVi is still
very much a skeleton waiting to be fleshed out -- but it's a good,
strong skeleton to build on.
My
PiTiVi installation is running on my Ubuntu 9.04 laptop,
with the packages from the PiTiVi PPA repository (of course, source
tarballs and packages
for other distributions are available). It seems one the most
critical factors for success, stability, and an all around good
experience with PiTiVi is a complete, updated set of the GStreamer
libraries and plugins.
All
of the blood-and-guts functions are there -- grouping and ungrouping
clips, cutting, linking, deleting, and importing and exporting in every
format combination known to humankind, depending on your installed
GStreamer libraries. The interface is clean, easy, and very much
drag and drop. I could haul video off of my Flip camera and plunk it
into PiTiVi without fuss or fanfare. The video I fiddled with was about
six minutes long, and the import was fast (really fast) and
zooming in and out of the timeline and skipping around frames was
responsive and stable.
Right now, PiTiVi will appeal to casual users needing a very basic
video editor. I hope it will appeal to developers even more -- this
project has a lot to work on, as well as a lot to work with.
PiTiVi might not be your video editor now, but it's a project worth
keeping an eye on.
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