The wait is over! One of the big features I have been secretly working on over the past few months is a new feature which I'm calling the "Animated Title Editor". Using Blender 2.5+ behind the scenes, OpenShot can now easily generate animated 3D title sequences.
This feature has been in my dreams since I started working on OpenShot. I have always enjoyed working with Blender to create animations, but I also realized that most users will never have the time to learn a professional 3D animation package. Blender is simply too complicated for most users, which is why you don't see more 3D titles on videos created with Linux.
My goal is to bring the power of Blender, the creativity of the Blender community (in the form of templates) to OpenShot in the most intuitive interface possible. I really feel like I've accomplished that, which is why I'm so excited about this feature. =)
Here are some pictures to explain how it works:
Step 1: Choose a template.
Step 2: Change some settings, such as the text, color, size, and font. Preview any frame in the animation by moving the slider.
Step 3: Click the 'Render' button (and wait for a few minutes while your title is being generated). A preview of each rendered frame is shown, so you can watch the animation as it's created.
Step 4: The new animation is then added to your OpenShot project as a clip. It will have the same height, width, and fps (frames per second) as your OpenShot project. Drag your new clip onto the timeline and enjoy!
As far as I know, OpenShot is the first FOSS video editor to incorporate 3D title animations (not including Blender of course). Hopefully this feature (along with a few more we are working on) will start to differentiate OpenShot from the pack of FOSS video editors.
This feature will not be available until our next version is released, which we are all working on, so please be patient. Soon enough everyone can test it out. But please don't mess up your current install of OpenShot trying to install this "alpha" feature. =)
More news soon, so stay tuned.
June 29, 2010 2:19 AM
This seems really cool! and it's true that the openshot team is moving a step forward of the other linux nles! good work and keep on moving!
June 29, 2010 2:29 AM
Congratulations! this is a killer feature. I like very much the 3D titles of Fringe. But, will you work in a simple title editor? (like Kino) I like too the Kino simple 2D title editor, I can make a movie like titles with it. Oh, and please, don't forget dv capture feature ;)
June 29, 2010 3:06 AM
Great new… but still nothing to simply rotate 90°/180°/270° (with no crop, just going from landscape to portrait). Very usefull in everyday use.
See bugs :
— https://bugs.launchpad.net/openshot/+bug/486174
— https://bugs.launchpad.net/openshot/+bug/506192
— https://bugs.launchpad.net/openshot/+bug/506195
June 29, 2010 4:56 AM
Brilliant! A really clever implementation as well, using Blender.
Looking at the screenshots, I feel the UI of the title generator could use a little bit of polish but apart from that, it looks fabulous :-)
June 29, 2010 7:06 AM
That's the work of a genius. Thanks a lot. Looking forward to contribute myself for 3-D 3D.
June 29, 2010 7:08 AM
That rocks! And it hopefully inspires me and others for similar "glue" work.
June 29, 2010 7:40 AM
I love your editor. However I would like to see it working again on my Ubuntu Lucid. It stopped working with a segfault and reverting ALL packages from the PPA to the standard Ubuntu version did not help, while on any other Ubuntu Lucid I can get it to work. :-(
I hope the new version will fix that.
June 29, 2010 8:46 AM
Very nice! Not only is it an impressive feature but I guess the underlying code and template system could be used for lots of other nice 3D effects in the future. Looking forward to trying it!
June 29, 2010 9:08 AM
@Imerion,
You are correct. This template system does not have to be limited to titles, and in fact could easily be used for particle effects, smoke, snow, fog, shooting stars, alien invasions, you name it. =)
June 29, 2010 9:34 AM
OpenShot already stands out - way out - in comparison to other FOSS video editors. I absolutely love it!
I'm in the middle of giving a three part video editing on Linux talk to our local LUG, and of course OpenShot is the star.
Keep up the great work!
June 29, 2010 9:39 AM
Nice, Jonathan! I like the possibilities this opens in the future. Do you have a video of it in action?
June 29, 2010 9:47 AM
@Patey,
I was planning on showing some videos, but ran out of time and just resorted to using screenshots. I will post a video soon. Thanks!
June 29, 2010 10:22 AM
Which are these "few more" features you are working on?
June 29, 2010 1:24 PM
Kudos to the Developer.
June 29, 2010 2:52 PM
@Marco,
Great question. I would love to reveal these other features, but what's the fun in that? I will be posting articles soon with more details of the 1.2.0 release.
We are slowing down and taking our time with the 1.2.0 version. We want to be sure it's the most stable and most fun version yet. =)
June 30, 2010 1:52 AM
So this means we're going to have more 3D special effects? Cool!
June 30, 2010 12:11 PM
I'm a big blender fan. I hope you release a nice tutorial on how to extend this with templates and other fonts. I'll add a few things in my free time.
Also glad to see that it can be used for other effects. Gun flashes, lightning and the like should be easy to animate for you =D
June 30, 2010 1:08 PM
@Rorkimaru,
Yes, I will publish a tutorial soon on how to create these Blender templates so that OpenShot can use them. Thanks for the comment!
June 30, 2010 4:42 PM
hi, nice to see blender stuff here, I`m also a blender user.
In the OpenMovieEditor I siggested some cool features integrating blkender stuff like using UV distorts tyo make transitions or even effects (all in 2D to get realtime): http://www.openmovieeditor.org/board/viewtopic.php?id=839
I also had this project calles GVFX, but never took off because NLE developers never knew HOLLYWOOD FX or SOFT EXPLODE for premiere pro and never could make then understand how to do the same with blender as external render engine for 3D transitions: http://gvfx.blogspot.com/2008/01/script-gfvx-firts-version.html
If you wish some of this i would be very happy to help.
July 1, 2010 6:13 PM
awesome!!!! thank you so much for your hard work! :)
July 1, 2010 9:37 PM
This is a huge step in the right direction. What would really kick this up to the next level would be being able to have 3d templates use clips already in openshot to create effects like the intro to every video at ted.com where you can see many video "surfaces" flying around amid various special effects.
As a Blender user, I'd be happy to create .blend file templates if you'll bring the code and let us know any special formatting / naming needed.
Congratulations, and 5 thumbs up! :D
July 1, 2010 10:03 PM
@Vid,
I will be publishing a tutorial / instructions for producing new blender titles & effects. It is really quite simple, and there are not that many rules to follow. Pretty much any .blend file can be used and automated, as long as it's from Blender 2.5.
I can definitely use your help, as well as any other Blender artists who want to jump in. Stay tuned, and I'll post the instructions soon. =)
July 2, 2010 12:45 AM
Thanks JT,
Moving text around doesn't interest me that much, but when we get the ability to make templates that can use video clips from OpenShot, I'm in 100%!
Anyway, nice work and thanks for pushing ahead with a great new surprise feature!
July 2, 2010 4:00 PM
Jonathan,
Thanks for the answer way back when (Jan) when I asked how you did the flying text. Based on your answer, I tried blender, watched endless videos by a 14 year old explaining how easy Blender is, and still couldn't figure out the flying text. Then you were nice enough to remember my post from way back when to let me know about this new feature.
OpenShot is awesome, and your incredible attention to detail and supporting the community is amazing.
Todd