Lightworks release date

[Brian Drysdale]

For anyone using Linux, here is a screen capture of Lightworks running on Ubuntu Linux.

Screen capture of Lightworks on Ubuntu Linux - YouTube

It's still pre alpha, but was demoed at NAB .

[David Stuart Shapton]

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

I'm not sure of how the business plan works.

It could be a sort of Ryanair (a very cheap budget airline) approach, by getting the volume, since for most people (even for many hobbyists) the pro subscription makes sense. This means they get a steady revenue stream from this, as against the buy the software and wait until the customer wants to update approach of say Sony Vegas. The customer having the advantage of always having the latest version at what appears to be a lower cost, even in the long run. It also helps to avoid the problem of pirate copies being used.

Lightworks could also create a synergy with their other post production products, so clients may be tempted by a package deal. They're also selling the Lightworks Console and keyboard hardware, and I assume they may continue to do turnkey professional packages.

Lightworks had fallen below the radar for many people, so perhaps Editshare felt they had to have a more "revolutionary" game plan. In tight economic times, with endless codec changes, it seems to make sense for the customer. Having the same NLE as used on many Hollywood feature films would be attractive to quite a few would be film makers.

Bryan,

Yes, it's all about volume. The model is that by keeping the barrier to entry very low, but with sufficient incentive to upgrade to the pro version (full codecs, real-time title tool etc) enough people will pay the $60 per year to fund continued development. We have such a huge community out there that we're confident about the future of Lightworks. Of course, the more people subscribe, the faster the updates come - but there will always be a free version for people that just want to "dabble". If it becomes part of your primary workflow, then the $60 is fairly trival.

The alternative, which is a "pay once" model, would have increased our expenses massively. We'd have had to license the codecs on that basis instead of a yearly renewal. Our gut feeling is that we'd have had to charge TEN TIMES as much.

[David Stuart Shapton]

Originally Posted by Steve Game

During a short conversation with an Editshare rep. at BVE in February, I asked what their business model was. The guy became quite agitated and seemed very unsure of his words. There were inferences that major customers were paying for full support and that the online community provided support for free. I finished the conversation unconvinced.

Steve, you may have been talking to someone at Editshare who was not directly involved in Lightworks.

Editshare's main business is shared storage and workflow solutions, and this has given them the confidence and financial ability to develop and promote Lightworks. So we don't have a "hard" or "obvious" business model for Lightworks except that it's being developed as a core part of the company, and we've pitched the price for the Pro version very low, at $60 per year, so that if you like the software there's very little reason not to upgrade from the free version. With over a quarter of a million downloads of the beta version, we've every reason to think that the uptake of the fully functional, cross platform versions will be more than ample to support continued development.

[Lynne Whelden]

I'm probably alone in this wish but...
I love hard copy books. I would love to have a printed "quick start" guide or even a manual that describes the basics of using the software. (Given how long Sony Vegas has been around, believe it or not, there's only one outdated book available. Whereas for FCP, there are many good books to choose from. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?)

To me it's not very reassuring to run into a problem, then hope that someone in a chat room will deem my need important enough to respond to. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they don't. Then what?

[David Stuart Shapton]

There's a manual now for Lightworks and a Quick Start Guide on the Lightworksbeta site. There will be a new professionally authored manual with the new release on 28th May - so you don't have to rely on the forum, but if you do, you'll find it incredibly responsive: the developers and product managers post frequently there.

[Brian Drysdale]

Training material will be important and I gather Editshare are putting together professionally prepared material for the release version. PDF tutorials over and above the manual have been suggested, so you don't seem to alone in wanting hard copies because at least one person on the lIghtworks forum wants to print out PDF tutorials.

There may be a market for a print version of the manual, giving people the choice of a free PDF that can be downloaded or a hard copy to be purchased separately.

I'm hoping they provide some interactive tutorials in the future.

I suspect the 3rd party manuals will need some time for the market to be assessed and for the potential writers to use the new version in anger on productions. There are new options on the release version, so these may need to be assessed by working editors before offering useful hints.

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Adrian Frearson

I presume that OSX/Windows will roll out first, followed by Linux versions later, but it's a bit unclear if this is the case. .

It seems that the Linux version is coming before the OSX version. I don't know the reasoning, perhaps in programming for Linux you're on the road to the OSX version with positive advantages going that route. Also, many of Editshare's other products are available on Linux.

However, I did come across a hint on another web site that the mac version is hoped to be available before the end of the year.

[David Stuart Shapton]

Brian, you're right.

OS X and Linux are down the same path, and we reach a releasable version of Linux before OS X.

In an ideal world, we'd release all versions at the same time.

Just for information: the way we've built the new versions of Lightworks is that all three OS versions share 95% of the same code, and it's only the remaining 5% that is OS-specific.

So, for example, if we were to add new features, or fix any bugs, we can fix them in all three versions at the same time, unless it's in the OS-Specific layer.

We're not talking about release dates until we have a reasonable idea what they might be ourselves, but now that the Windows version is (nearly!) done, we can put all our resources into the Linux version, and much of that work will take us closer to having an OS X version.

I hope this clarifies things.

Let me know if I can help with any other questions about Lightworks!

[Brian Drysdale]

After approx one and half years as a public beta, the release version is now available.

http://www.lwks.com/

Lightworks big selling point was that it was designed by editors, not computer people, so it really is a matter of feeling your way into it, rather than expecting it to be the same as other NLEs. However, it's no more difficult to learn than any other professional editing program. The biggest shock often being that it doesn't have a rigid layout, however, you can set the layout anyway you want depending on the operation you're doing.

There are a number of video tutorials around for the beta, although the release version has more powerful drag and drop. However, you may find it better to not get into drag and dropping everything, but use the mouse to click your way through timelines and make full use of the scroll wheel. This is a lot quicker than dragging stuff around. There is a specialist keyboard on sale at the new web site. plus the console.

Lightworks autosaves and now auto backups after every 10 editing operations.

This is the Windows version, Linux and then mac versions are to follow. Although some people are using bootcamp on their macs. Lightworks doesn't seem to be as demanding as some NLEs in computing power and people have been using older machines. Although, with say longer GOP H.264, you'll need a fast system with extra RAM etc for smooth operation.

You can upgrade from the free version to a pro version that uses a wide range of codecs (there's an education option as well) and AVID DN X HD is also an upgrade option. I notice that Boris is for sale, so that might be of interest as well.

You need the pro version to use directly use codecs from DSLRs and modern camcorders, otherwise you'll need to transcode to edit these on the free version. Note the titler is in the pro version. not the free version

[James Clarke]

the link does not work

[Brian Drysdale]

The web site is extremely busy. Last time I looked there was approx 10,000 users on the site, I suspect the site has crashed from the pressure.

EDIT: Just checked again the link is working, but there are nearly 17,000 users.

[Brian Drysdale]

A note for DSLR users among the known issues.

"Performance issues working with H.264 files natively. This will be resolved in the update shortly"

This aspect seems to be a work in progress. The drag and drop is noticeably different to the beta, however, I notice one rather neat scroll wheel function for viewing tiles in the bin has been lost. Hopefully, it'll return in the next update.

I notice there have been nearly 80,000 downloads in just over a couple of days. Although, I'm not sure how some of them are going to know what to do, since there has only been approx 1,100 downloads of the user guide. However, I expect many will be using the on line video tutorials that people have made.

UPDATE The scroll wheel function for viewing tiles in the bin will be back in the next build.

NOTE DSLR Post Prep seems to work well with the free version of LW

[Brian Drysdale]

If anyone is thinking of using the free version for a serious project, rather than just playing or testing, it would be a good idea to test your workflow and settings first.

Using the free version can involve transcoding and since Lightworks is basically a broadcast and film NLE, rather than a multimedia platform, so you don't want to put a lot of work into editing something only to run into export difficulties. This seems to be more of an issue with the free version, since you don't have the wider range of codec options found in the Pro version.

Regarding their web site forum, developers seem to be pretty quickly across any possible issue that might need adjustments to the software. There are some known issues which can be checked on the downloads page.

[Brian Drysdale]

It was a bit slow in getting going, but the educational license for teachers now seems to be available. I gather it does currently involve some e-mails.

[Brian Drysdale]

With currently over 160,000 downloads of V11 since Monday/Tuesday, Lightworks seems to arrived again from being a feature film niche player. Their next step is the 64bit version, which is due in the near future.

Lightworks is a neat option to have available and like selecting a camera, it comes down to if a particular NLE is the right tool for the job. It might look a bit strange to the IT eye and seem clunky at first glance, but this program is incredibly fast for editing sequences. All NLE's have their advantages and disadvantages, so it is a matter of matching up your requirements. One surprise is how small this program is, only 200 MB is needed compared to the GBs required by some of the other programs.

For anyone interested, here are links to some on line video tutorials. They're for the beta version, so some drag & drop aspects will have changed, plus you can import stills into the timeline as video and the Pro version has a titler. Like Photoshop there are a number of ways of doing things, so the methods used in one or two tutorials aren't the quickest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ZPs02cYB9lU

http://www.youtube.com/user/shaunslwvids?feature=watch

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...A&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSMPse?feature=watch

I don't know if Chris wants to create a Lightworks sub forum, but perhaps he might consider putting up a link similar to that used for the RED camera.