Lightworks release date

[Brian Drysdale]

NLEs are very personal things, for it to work you have to give up the way you used Premiere. If you try to use them the same way you'll find Lightworks confusing and unintuitive. Lightworks has a very simple logic and once people lock into it they often find that it's the other NLEs that are unintuitive. Lightworks'' strength is as a story telling editor, if that's what you basically do, it's worth persevering.

It's worth checking out the keyboard short cuts, these can be AVID, FCP or Lightworks. I feel that the latter make more sense of the way Lightwork works, but JKL etc are similar. There's a keyboard image of the Lightworks key layout that can be printed out on one of the threads.

If you're experiencing frequent crashing when opening with Windows 8, I'm sure the Lightworks developers would like to hear about it.

[Chris Barcellos]

The problem with Lightworks is that its trying to preserve an antiquated method of film clip management as if he computer doesn't exist. The designers are trying to preserve a work flow that has been effectively done away with by modern computer file management. The old timers that worked with rooms of film clip stored on shelves and in individual boxes want to continue to work that way. The reason that modern NLE' s developed the waythey have was to eliminate the ineffiencies of the old way, and Lightworks needs to adapt or disappear. J ust my opinion, based on my attempt to learn a bit about this NLE.

[Brian Drysdale]

I'm not sure if you're referring to the terminology used e.g racks and bins, which are basically just folders. The interesting thing about Lightworks is that you can use it in a number of different ways, you can break everything down into sub clips or you can just select the clips you want to use on fly. You can do endless edits of the same scene and select the one want.

Apart from mostly using just the mouse, you can use the keyboard or for really fast editing the tactile Lightworks console, however, that's expensive pro gear, so quite a few users have a ShuttlePro v2.

In the future, will Lightworks break everything down for you in the future and automatically log into CUs etc? Who knows. Large productions still use slates, while single person crews use computer files, so there is a range of needs. There has been catch up in aspects of the program, in other areas it was still ahead of the others, although that's a moving target.

As an side, I've noticed that the Lightworks program seems to get smaller with each new version, so the developers seem to be trying to avoid bloated software.

I sense that the thing editors like about Lightworks is that it doesn't try to get in the way of the material. You're aware of the material, rather than the program. However, it's not a drag 'n drop program, although it can do that, but you do need to check the user guide for the full key + mouse combinations to make full use of it and it's not the fastest way to edit.

[Noa Put]

I just installed it and imported some non critical work, what I noticed immediately how painfully slow the import process was, what is just a few seconds in edius took over a minute in lightworks and it was only about 60 videofiles, could it be that lightworks conforms the audio during import so you have a preview of the waveform right after import?

The nle is very responsive though and it's amazing that they can pack a full nle in just a few mb's, but it's also a massive learning curve if you are coming from another nle, like starting all over again. If I would not have the cash to buy from the major players I sure would try to learn to use it. Think I"ll use it on a next personal project just to get the hang of the most basic functions.

[Brian Drysdale]

I gather that Eduis carries out importing operations in the background, which I understand Lightworks doesn't (at least currently) do or at least in the same way. This seems to be one of the Eduis strong points and could be a factor in deciding which NLE you select to use.

Did you download the 32 bit or 64 bit Lightworks? You can either link to or transcode on import, which could affect the import speed.

I don't know what importing changes the Lightworks 11.2 version will have, it seems to be an area the developers are working on.

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Chris Barcellos

The problem with Lightworks is that its trying to preserve an antiquated method of film clip management as if he computer doesn't exist. The designers are trying to preserve a work flow that has been effectively done away with by modern computer file management.

I suspect that Editshare's other post production products may hint how Lightworks might fit in the longer term. Flow Browse - EditShare

My impression of the philosophy is that they want the program to present the material so the editor can make new connections without distractions. How well that works can be open to debate, in the past, the arguments between Avid and Lightworks editors were just as fierce as between mac and PC users. That Editshare is run by former editors (although very much involved in the modern digital workflow), rather than computer people may influence the overall approach.

[Brian Drysdale]

A public beta with fixes for some bugs that some people found when installing the original 11.1 release has been put up for testing. It's only intended for those people to test.

New Lightworks Version 11.1.1.a Now Available as Public Beta

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

I just installed it and imported some non critical work, what I noticed immediately how painfully slow the import process was, what is just a few seconds in edius took over a minute in lightworks and it was only about 60 videofiles,.

I did a quick check on importing some material, with a create link import it was pretty much instantaneous, while it takes time if you transcode on import. Transcoding is something you're more likely to need on the Free version because of the limited codec options.

For the person on a budget, Lightworks does work well on the lower powered computer. There's a small percentage of users with Windows XP and some of the LInux users were upset that they could only beta test the 64 bit and not the 32 bit version.

I believe you can still buy a turnkey Lightworks setup, although the software is the same you'll have all the hardware.

Correction: Max resolution apart from RED - 8bit, 10bit and 16bit DPX files are fully supported in Lightworks for import and export, at resolutions up to 4K.

[Brian Drysdale]

DV Info sponsor Videoguys is now selling a Lightworks keyboard and software bundle. Videoguys.com - Search for "lightworks" The software & keyboard can be bought separately. I guess there may be reduced delivery costs for people in the US compared to buying directly

There are another 4 Shark Byte tutorials, these deal with Drag & Drop,

I gather Editshare is hoping to introduce off line activation for Lightworks in the near future.

BTW If anyone has any suggestions for features on Lightworks, the developers do read their Feature Requests section. The suggestions can cause a bit of debate, but over time quite a few do turn up in the program.

[Brian Drysdale]

Edithare have announced that the Mac version of Lightworks will be demonstrated during London’s third annual SuperMeet. Third Annual London SuperMeet || Creative Pro User Group Network

[Ben Giles]

Really looking forward to the Mac version of Lightworks, which I haven't cut on since 1995. I currently cut on FCP6. FCP X is just not working for me and the way I edit and I'm concerned that legacy FCP will gradually stop working, as the OS evolves.

So I'm looking at Lightworks or a move back to Avid as my future options at the moment.

Thanks for the heads up about CPUG.

Personally, I'm not too keen on these mass meetings from my experiences so far - they seem to exist more to sell gear than genuinely share knowledge. I'll watch from the sidelines!

Ben.

[Brian Drysdale]

There are 3 more Lightworks Shark Byte drag and drop tutorials. These cover using this method in the timeline.

Shark Bytes

[Brian Drysdale]

There's now a public beta version 11.1.1c to test off line activation, plus a few maintenance fixes.

New Lightworks Version 11.1.1.c Now Available as Public Beta

[Brian Drysdale]

A further public beta (11.1.1d) is now available.

New Lightworks Version 11.1.1.d Now Available as Public Beta

The instructions for off line activation can be found in the FAQ section of their web site.

[Jeff Dean]

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

The latest Lightworks version 11.1 for Windows is now released.


There are two versions the Free and the Pro with an annual subscription. .

I would have been interested in purchasing the Pro version but I don't subscribe to software. Not going to do it with Adobe. Not going to do it for Lightworks Pro.