It seems like just yesterday we released version 1.0 of OpenShot. However, two months have passed, and we have a brand new version just busting at the seams with excitement and anticipation. I am proud to announce the immediate availability of OpenShot 1.1!

40 different bugs and features have been addressed in this version, including some highly requested features such as Undo/Redo support! As tradition, here is a video I put together announcing 1.1. All of the footage was filmed on my Canon HF S100, and edited with OpenShot (of course).

Here are the highlights:

• Speed, speed, and more speed improvements. Over 1300% faster rendering previews after an edit. 1000% faster launching OpenShot. Seriously though... it's way faster.
• Undo / redo (with history panel)
  
• Improved export screen. Only your installed formats and codecs are listed. Improved notifications after the export has finished (using libnotify). One of the most common crashes of OpenShot was selecting an export format that was not installed. So this should provide much more stability.
• Multiple copies of effects can be added to clips. A common scenario would be using 2 chroma key effects, each with a different shade of green or blue.
  
• Dynamic tiling of overlapping clips (Brady Bunch style). This can take an unlimited number of clips (that are all on separate tracks playing at the same time), and tile them across the screen. OpenShot does all of the math, and the user only has to click 1 menu option (in the Layout menu). Just imagine the possibilities.
  
• New effects have been added: Contrast, Edge Glow, Saturation, and Cartoon.
• Fade in / out menu has been added. This is the quickest and easiest way to dissolve / fade a clip (including audio).
• Edit titles with ease. Use our simple title editor or Inkscape. Just right click on a title, and select "Edit Title". Also, when you duplicate a title, it will now create a new SVG and add it to your project.
  
• New keyboard shortcut to cut / slice clips. Just press the "c" key, and it will cut clips at the position of the play-head (i.e. the red line).
  
• Improved localization and translations. Many labels, buttons, and tool-tips were missing from our translation system. Also, numbers on the export screen (such as bit rate) would not work in other languages. These have been fixed, and OpenShot works much better in other languages.
• Timeline scrolling has been improved to better support lots and lots of tracks. The left and right side of the timeline will always stay in sync now.
  
• H.264 support has been improved to support Debian.
• View the full details of this release

If you are upgrading OpenShot from our PPA, you might need to use Synaptic instead of the Update Manager. We have a few new dependencies, and the Update Manager might not allow you to upgrade.

This will be the last version of OpenShot to support Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10. Moving forward, we will only support 9.04 and greater. This is due to gtkbuilder support (or lack thereof) in those older distros.

A big thanks to all of the contributors that have helped with version 1.1: Andy Finch, Olivier Girard, Dan Dennedy, Francesco (hva), Moimael, Cody Parker, Joop Mevissen, Ptf, Benjamin Drung, and everyone who emailed, submitted bugs, submitted translations, asked questions, and supported us.

I hope everyone enjoys using OpenShot 1.1 as much as we enjoyed creating it!

Guess what! Not only has OpenShot been accepted into Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) and will soon be a 1 click install, it will be version 1.1 of OpenShot! This is a far better version than 1.0, and because many users will not bother upgrading OpenShot to future versions, it is great to have this version accepted.

This has been a goal of mine since I started the project. Ubuntu was the first distro I fell in love with, and I am super excited to be accepted into the Ubuntu universe. This will be the easiest way for most people to install OpenShot.

On a somewhat related note, we have also found a Sponsor for Debian, and are currently waiting to be approved for Debian. In the next 1 to 2 weeks, I expect OpenShot 1.1 will also be available in Debian Unstable. I will let everyone know once this has happened! We have lots of Debian users, and because so many distros are based off of Debian, it will be great to be in their repository also.

NOTE: This only lets you import the project files as a "clip". You will not be able to edit the individual parts of the project files unless you return to Kdenlive or Kino. Still... it's a great feature that might be useful to a many people.

OpenShot has two methods for fading a clip in and out. You can drag and drop a transition onto the timeline, overlapping the edge of a clip. Or you can open the clip properties dialog, and set the video fade in / out.

The benefit of using transitions is the flexibility to use different wipe designs and patterns. The benefit from setting the clip fade in / out properties is the fade belongs to the clip. If you move the clip, the fade moves with it (very nice).

With OpenShot 1.1, we have introduced a new "easier" way to fade clips. Simply right-click on a clip (video, image, or audio), and choose an option from the "Fade" menu.

We are quickly approaching version 1.1, and need to finalize our translations as soon as possible. If you would like to help translate OpenShot, now is your chance! All you need is a web browser and a LaunchPad account:

I have some great news for everyone today. As you can see by the title of this article, OpenShot is now officially included in the Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) repository. If you have an alpha version of Lucid, you can already find it in the Software Center. Just search for "openshot".
A big thanks to Benjamin Drung, who helped me improve the packaging and guided me on what to do each step of the way. Also, thanks to the hundreds of supporters who voted on the Ubuntu bug report for OpenShot packaging. We were the #2 bug on Ubuntu's Launchpad page (based on the number of users affected).

Even though we are now included in the Ubuntu repository, we still need to get included in Debian. We are searching for a Debian sponsor, who can help us upload the "openshot" package into Debian. If you are a Debian developer, please consider helping out our project and sponsoring us. =)

Details on the "openshot" package can be found on mentors.debian.net.

The GNOME Journal has just published an interview with me about OpenShot Video Editor! I am excited to be included in their newest issue, which is all about multimedia on Linux.

GNOME Journal, Issue 18

• Pitivi by Jono Baco
• What's new in Banshee by Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier
• Boston Summit Recap by Jason Clinton
• An interview with Jonathan Thomas, creator of the OpenShot video editor by Paul Cutler
• Writing Multimedia Applications in Vala by Jim Nelson

For anyone wondering what is next for OpenShot Video Editor, here is a post just for you! After the successful launch of version 1.0, we did not waist any time coming up with a plan for our next version.

Version 1.1 is focused primarily on stability and speed. So far we have improved our speed for previewing edits on the timeline over 1300%!

Here are a few things to look forward to in version 1.1:

• Speed Improvements
  
  
• Undo / Redo (with History panel):
  
  
  
• Improved Export Screen (now aware of installed codecs)
  
  
• Multiple copies of effects can be added to clips:
  
  
  
• Dynamic tiling of overlapping clips (Brady Bunch style):
  
  
  
• Improved Title System
  
  
• Improved Timeline Seeking (more accurate)
  

We are about 90% completed with version 1.1 so far. We will soon start translating the new English phrases, and updating the help manual. I would like to thank all of the contributors who are working with me on version 1.1!

Our goal is to be the easiest to use video editor on Linux, without sacrificing flexibility and power. While this can be a difficult line to walk, I really think we are on our way to achieving that goal. I hope everyone is as excited as we are about version 1.1, so stay tuned!

I am proud to announce that OpenShot Video Editor 1.0 has just been released! This release is jam-packed full of new features, bug fixes, and some shiny new graphics! We hope you enjoy it!

• Transition snapping - Transitions now snap to the nearest clip or the play-head.
• Improved Stability - Just try and crash OpenShot now. We dare you. Seriously though, many common issues that would crash OpenShot have been resolved, and the overall stability is great now.
• Improved Accuracy - The accuracy of our edits and cuts has been improved. No more skipped frames, out of place frames, or flashes of white.
  
• New Transitions - 28 new transitions have been added.
  
  
• New Titles - 29 new titles have been added (both in 4:3 and 16:9 ratios). Also, titles are higher quality, and look great up to 1080p. Based on your project's aspect ratio, the Title Editor will automatically show you the correct aspect ratio titles. In other words... no more squished or stretched titles.
  
  
• New Themes - Two new themes have been added, making a total of 4 themes. A) simple theme with smaller icons for small screens. B) flat blue theme - a theme with no glass or gloss.
  
  
• Time Format Improved - The time format has been changed to include the frame number, instead of the millisecond:
  
  
• New Profile - HDV 720p 24 fps
• More Languages - There are now 42 languages included with OpenShot version 1.0!
• Help Manual Integrated - The help manual is now integrated, and will launch in your native language (assuming we have a translation for that language). Currently, French, Spanish, and English are 100% translated.
• User Interface Enhancements - Many small changes to the UI have been made to simplify OpenShot. The "Open Project" toolbar button has been replaced by the "New Project" button. This removes the confusion between importing files and opening files. A few other buttons, labels, and icons have been changed also.
• Window State Fixed - The window state now correctly recognizes "maximized", and is more reliable. In other words, when you resize the window, vertical panes, or horizontal panes in OpenShot, it remembers your screen layout the next time you launch it.
• Clip Properties Fixed - The IN and OUT properties have been fixed to not allow the user to overlap them. The "Add Effect" button has been fixed to work correctly with audio effects.
• Chroma Key Fixed - Some users were unable to see the color picker on the chroma key effect. This has been fixed.
• Tooltips Translated - The main screen has been improved to show translated tooltips on all of the toolbars.
• Lock File Fixed - The lock file now verifies that it is valid, instead of preventing OpenShot from launching.

Not good enough? Still want more? Well, soon we will be cleaning up our LaunchPad project to better structure everything. Once that is complete, we will start work on our roadmap for the next version. As always, we will listen to you (our community) and try and make the best video editor that Linux has ever seen!

2009 has been a great year for OpenShot. I thought it might be fun to look back at the highlights of 2009, and reflect on our journey so far.

Even though I started this project in late 2008, releasing my first screenshots in December 2008, the real development work didn't start until March 2009. On March 16th I moved OpenShot away from the Gstreamer framework and to the MLT framework. This was obviously a big decision, and one that I felt I had to make. By the end of April 2009, OpenShot had integrated the MLT framework and could generate thumbnails, arrange, and preview videos!

As the months rolled on, we continued to add features and refine the user experience. Here is a quick recap of how OpenShot evolved throughout 2009. One of our users (Diode) has put together a more detailed list of blog posts and dates, if you want to dig into more details.

By June 2009, we had added the ability to composite layers of videos, support for image sequences, and we introduced our Build Wizard (providing users a way to actually install OpenShot).

By July 2009, we had implemented transitions, providing a way to blend different video clips together. We also added a Title editor and an export video screen. Now that OpenShot could export video, we could finally call ourselves a "Video Editor"!

By August 2009, we added the ability for alpha masks, duplicate clips, key-frame animation, audio & video fading, speed control, distortion of images and videos, and pre-set animations.

By September 2009, we integrated translations into our source code and began the process of translating OpenShot into many languages (we are now in over 40 languages). We also introduced our first DEB installers, making it easier than ever to install OpenShot in Ubuntu and other Debian-based distros.

By October 2009, we announced our first PPA, once again making OpenShot easier to install. This PPA was greeted with much excitement from our users, but quickly turned into an issue with FFmpeg conflicts. News spread quickly that OpenShot would break VLC, Totem, and any other FFmpeg based application. Unfortunately, this was a step backwards for OpenShot, but we pressed on.

By November 2009, we introduced 33 effects (30 video effects and 3 audio effects). This added some great new features, such as video rotation and chroma-key (i.e. green screen). We also added a static timeline and changeable themes.

In the last 2 months of 2009, we added a 50 page help manual, which has now been translated in 3 languages (many more on the way). We launched a new users website, with forums. We have also removed the old PPA, and added a new PPA that does not touch FFmpeg at all. It only works for Karmic (Ubuntu 9.10), but it is safe to install side by side with VLC, Totem, and other FFmpeg applications. We have focused a lot of attention on Debian packaging, and hope to soon be included in Debian and Ubuntu repositories.

So, that about wraps up the progress we have made in 2009. Version 1.0 will soon be ready, and along with that version will come a few new features, and a few surprises. =) I hope everyone has had a great 2009, and on behalf of the entire OpenShot team, I wish you a happy new year!