SlowMoVideo might just be my favourite video-manipulation tool available for Linux: the effects it can create from even the simplest of footage is amazing.
Hyperbole over, on to the facts.
SlowMoVideo is a Qt4 application designed for intelligently slowing down video clips.
Rather than achieve this by ‘time stretching’ your footage, as most video editors do, SlowMoVideo allows you to “smoothly slow down and speed up your footage” with the option to apply motion blur for an added fluidity of image.
To better see what SlowMoVideo is capable of the developer, Simon Eugster, has put together a series of videos that show off the various features of the ‘app’.
The first one embedded below sees a series of time-lapse images clouds moving ‘too fast’ ‘slowed down’ to ‘normal’ speed.
Note that the image sequence is the same although has been colour graded in parts for visual distinction.
So how does it work? The official site explains it thusly: –
“slowmoVideo tries to find out where pixels move in the video (this information is called Optical Flow), and then uses this information to calculate the additional frames. [It does this] …with curves that allow arbitrary time accelereation/deceleration/reversal.
I.e. it uses magic.
Creativity
The possibilities this application provides for creative individuals is wide: it’s not just ideal for time-lapse enthusiasts but for film-makers too, as this “slow motion dream sequence” video demonstrates: –
Features
SloMoVideo’s feature stack looks like this: –
- Videos supported by ffmpeg can be used
- Image sequences can also be loaded
- Intelligent and configurable slowdown of footage
- Optional Motion blur can be added to footage
More information on SlowMo, including instructions on how to compile it, can be found @ slowmovideo.granjow.net
Thanks to Tushant M