So I’ve been reading about some of the new features in kdenLive and I am pretty stoked to see some forward development for video editing on Linux.  Some of the new features include:

Main Features:
* Capture video from your camcorder, webcam or screen
* Mix a large number of different formats (depending on your FFmpeg install): mpeg, flash, mp3, ogg, png, jpeg, dv, hdv, …
* See the result of your work (effects and transitions) in realtime
* Export your work in several formats (hdv, dv, mpeg, …)
* Create titles, slideshows and more

For those not familiar with this application, Kdenlive is an open source multi track video editor based on the MLT video framework and FFmpeg.

So how do we get this baby installed in ubuntu as there isn’t a “.deb” package on their website, and the current package in the main repo is on 0.5? Well, if you cruise over to the Wiki Documentation, you will find a nice tutorial written by Mads Dydensborg. The tutorial did work for me, and I am successfully running 0.7. The only thing I couldn’t figure out is why it installed a sleu of KDE apps and made launchers for them? This can be resolved by unselecting them in the alacarte tool. Below are the steps for installing.

1) Add a repo to your sources.list

• echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-members-kde4/ubuntu hardy main | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

2) Get a load of extra packages

• sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gtk-qt-engine-kde4 bzip2 kdebase kommander subversion g++ cmake pkg-config kdelibs5-dev libsdl1.2-dev libxml2-dev

3) Make a new directory

• mkdir kdenlive

4) Move into the new directory

• cd kdenlive

5) Download the script

• wget http://www.kde-apps.org/CONTENT/content-files/85826-kdenlive_builder_wizard.kmdr.bz2

6) Extract, rename and make executable the script

• `bunzip2 85826-kdenlive_builder_wizard.kmdr.bz2 && mv 85826-kdenlive_builder_wizard.kmdr kdenlive_builder_wizard.kmdr && chmod +x kdenlive_builder_wizard.kmdr

7) Sort out a path by typing:

• export PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/kde4/bin

Run the script

• kmdr-executor kdenlive_builder_wizard.kmdr

9) follow the instructions on-screen. Press “Cancel” after success.

10) In file browser (nautilus) navigate to the /kdenlive directory which you created in step 3

11) click “kdenlive_start” and you are in business.

12) Use alacarte (sudo apt-get install alacarte) to add ~/yourpath/kdenlive/kdenlive_start to your menu.

I hope this helps with getting people to trry out publishing their videos on Linux!

Josh

Tags: Ubuntu Video Editing, Video Applications