As you know, I am creating a complex timeline for my non-linear video application. I had the choice between the GnomeCanvas (which is obsolete) and a lesser known goocanvas (which is cairo based). I originally choose to use the GnomeCanvas, because it is much more well known, and there is more documentation for it.
After working with the GnomeCanvas in Python for many hours, something became very apparent, the Python bindings for the GnomeCanvas are incomplete and buggy. For example, CanvasGroups are not supported, they throw an exception when used. CanvasPixbuf objects don't expose all of their properties, such as the pixbuf property. So, once you create a CanvasPixbuf, there is no way to change the image. Arghhh!
I have now switched my focus to the goocanvas library, and things are going much better. I hope to have a release of my timeline demo in the next 2 weeks (still lots left to complete).
OpenShot Video Editor(TM) is an open-source program that creates, modifies, and edits video files. Copyright (C) 2008 Jonathan Thomas.
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
July 15, 2008 9:33 PM
"Battle of Redundancy"
Two soldiers are set upon the world to battle Pitivi, the evil offspring of Gstreamer. Because this is Pitivi's world of Non Linear Editors, time and space do not follow any known laws of physics. Two souls can be in the same space and time but cannot see or hear each other. The effectiveness of their weapons to battle the creature cannot be shared. Each soldier is doomed to fail because he can gather NO knowledge from the others. This is their story:
Jonathan Thomas
(http://myvideoeditor.blogspot.com/), is a newcomer to the Monster that is Pitivi. Jonathan is a brave soul. He was not commissioned by the great GSOC but choose to battle Pitivi on his own accord. Jonathan has a unique battle plan. He is not attacking Pitivi directly, but is going after his father: Gstreamer.
Brandon Lewis
(http://dotsony.blogspot.com/), is a Pitivi's more familiar foe. Brandon is the faithful and obedient servant of Edward Hervey, the high priest and developer of GNonLin, Pitivi's Dark Soul. Brandon is also an active and loyal soldier of GSOC.
We enter the story as the battle ensues:
It looks like Brandon may be getting the upper hand against the steely eyed creature. He raises his 'sword of GooCanvas' high above the creature's head and strikes down hard! Pitivi appears to be stunned, but a weakness in the library ( http://tinyurl.com/6nnplg ) once again allows Pitivi's escape.
Meanwhile (in the same time and space) and with no knowledge of Brandon's battles with the creature, Jonathan slips up and chooses GnomeCanvas, an unsupported and half baked canvas widget and takes a deadly blow from the mighty sword of Gstreamer! Jonathan is down and the crowd cheers. The Gstreamer developers in the audience start chanting: "We Invited You To Join Us But You Refused!, We Invited You To Join Us But You Refused!" The developers hold up placards that read: http://tinyurl.com/5wluz8
The battle continues...
July 16, 2008 12:05 AM
Very funny, confusing, and nice comment all wrapped up into a short story. However, I would like to clarify a few points:
1) I have been following the development of Brandon Lewis's project through his blog and I am a member of the Pitivi's mailing list. I do not live in a parallel universe (as far as I can tell). =)
That means the fundamental plot of your story is invalid.
2) The problem that Brandon is having with GooCanvas should not be a problem in my design. I'm not saying that it won't come full circle and bite me in the ass, but I'm feeling very good about GooCanvas in my architecture.
3) People may not agree, but I don't feel like I'm competing with Pitivi. They have a cool product, and I will enjoy watching it be improved by people like Brandon and Edward Hervey. And though we might share some libraries, my vision is far away from where they are today (and where they will likely be tomorrow).
For example, there are many Windows based video editors that use the QuickTime libraries and C++. Should all those project come together and form a single project... just because they share a language and library? I think we all know the answer to that.
Thanks again for the comment!
-Jonathan
July 17, 2008 3:50 AM
Hi,
Interesting to follow the progress of this project - do you plan on hosting it on Launchpad, or somewhere similar?
If you need any web space, I am able to help - I have just got a host for my own project which gives me > 500 GB of space (I use < 10mb) and 5TB(!) of transfer a month. Needless to say, there is plenty of spare capacity going.
July 17, 2008 11:21 AM
Thanks for the offer Andy. That's a lot of capacity and transfer bandwidth!
To answer your question, I honestly haven't put much thought into where I will host the website, when I will create a real website, if I will use LaunchPad, etc...
I am definitely interested in your offer though. I'll let you know when I get closer to that point.
Thanks,
-Jonathan