I took a few minutes to chat with Jonathan Thomas, creator and all round nice guy from OpenShot (better known as “iMovie for Linux” around these parts!), to find out what the application is up to, what their plans are for the future and when we can expect a stable release…
Would you like OpenShot to be the default editor in Ubuntu?
Yes, OpenShot should be the default video editor in Ubuntu. That is my goal, and will continue to be my goal.
How far off is a stable release of OpenShot?
We are rapidly moving towards a 1.0 release. We are trying to finish up our documentation, tweak our packaging for Ubuntu Karmic, and make a few final UI improvements. So, yes we are almost there… to a stable release.
The development on OpenShot is super-fast. What is it that gives OpenShot such a quick development time?
Development is super fast because I’ve dumped a ton of personal time into the project, and chosen a great video framework, MLT. Dan Dennedy (the creator of MLT, and contributor to Kdenlive) has been a huge help, and has been instrumental in helping me resolve many tough issues.
One year from now, what can users expect OpenShot to be like?
In 1 year, users can expect OpenShot to be faster, easier to use, more wizards to simplify more complex work flows, and integrated into more products, such as Blender. Hopefully our community will be very large, and eventually I hope Ubuntu will re-evaluate PiTiVi and put OpenShot in it’s rightful place.
Exciting stuff!
Thanks to Jonathan for taking the time to answer my questions, much appreciated!
You can download OpenShot via the official site @ http://www.openshotvideo.com/
If you feel you could lend a hand or want to get involved in OpenShot, check out the Launchpad page @ https://launchpad.net/openshot