As you might (or might not) have noticed, there are a few new buttons at the top of www.OpenShotVideo.com. I'm hoping this helps new users get more information about OpenShot much quicker than skimming through a blog.
You might also have noticed the "Videos" button. Today I have published the first ever screencast of OpenShot. I demonstrate a few basic features and export a sample video. Enjoy the show!
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.
June 30, 2009 4:01 PM
The interface looks very user friendly and clean and not intimidating to newbies.
But the second screencast is shown as "Private video" and it seems like I would have to register to watch it.
An extremely minor suggestion: If you aim to be very friendly to beginners/Windowsers I think informal/personal style default values like "My project" is better than the more formal/technical version "Default project".
In general I hope you will continue to do it "the Gnome way", and focus on usability and good default values rather than cramming all functionality into the default GUI. Perhaps a "simple mode" and "advanced mode" if the balance is difficult. I think user friendliness and stability are the two main things current OS video editors are short on.
Really looking forward to the first Ubuntu packaged release :-)
June 30, 2009 4:03 PM
Now the second screencast was available!
June 30, 2009 11:22 PM
Thanks for the comment Polipoli! I like your idea for informal default values. I will take this into consideration. =)
I think the balance between usability and advanced features will be a reoccurring theme. So far the advanced features don't seem to clutter up the UI... and thus aren't very distracting. However, we'll have to keep an eye on this for sure.
July 1, 2009 2:45 AM
I don't hear sound on the first video (actual screencast), but I do hear soundtrack on the edited video (second clip). Is there any sound on the first one?
Thanks for these video clips! Learning to use a new software is much easier with screencasts - both for beginners and pros. Sometimes seeing how some tasks are done is much faster than trying to figure it out from written instructions.
July 2, 2009 5:29 AM
Would be really nice if you would create another button/page that let us know what's on your TODO-List - just a simple list in no particular order seems sufficient ;)
greetings
July 2, 2009 12:56 PM
tjh, thanks for the comment. There is only sound on the 2nd video clip.
Reinhard,
Thanks for the suggestion. I do have a list of "todo"s on LaunchPad, but not directly linked to this blog. I plan on addressing this in the near future. Thanks.