HD Video Editing with Blender

Posthis writes "While the VSE sequence module has been part of Blender for a while, the upcoming version v2.46 comes with some new powerful video editing features, like Proxy editing, optimized FFmpeg support, and more. Not many use Blender strictly as a video editor because it's not very straight-forward, but given the fact that it now deals with HDV and 24p footage much more comfortably compared to other OSS video editors, it makes it a sound contender. This new tutorial shows the basics of how to use it as a video editor and put your masterpiece together."

Comments

Now if only I could find ...

[Skapare]

... a video input/output card for Linux that supports component (YPbPr) video.

The real question is...

[TheShadowzero]

Is it still insanely counter-intuitive and hard to learn? The blender i used for rendering was nigh-impossible to figure out without at least three tutorials.

Re:Will It Blend

[Anonymous Coward]

You still suck. Quit whining about Blender just because you're too lazy to learn how to work it.

Re:Yes, the UI sucks.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, it sounds like every other 3d modeling app I've ever used!

Re:Yes, the UI sucks.

[rabiddeity]

Wow, it sounds like every other 3d modeling app I've ever used!

Yeah, except this is an article about using it as a video editing and compositing tool, so we're not comparing it to Maya and the like. We should be comparing it to Premiere and Final Cut Pro. Does being powerful mean it must be difficult to figure out? I don't think so. Adobe Premiere took me about half an hour to figure out, behaves pretty much like film junkies would expect a video editing tool to work (with terminology like "razor tool" and "shuttle"), and doesn't have any rusted pointy edges to catch yourself on. If only Premiere didn't cost so damn much.

Looking at the tutorial, it seems like you CAN use Blender to edit and compose videos, but it seems like choosing a Leatherman to do surgery because it has a scalpel and tweezers and a screwdriver all in one tool. But you don't need a screwdriver when doing surgery. It'd be nice if they scrapped the existing UI skin and started with a deliberately limited interface specifically for video composition. Hide the buttons related to 3D rendering, rework it to make it look like Premiere or Final Cut Pro. Separate audio and video tracks. That's a start. Then start adding back in useful Blender features to the UI, under a separate extra toolbar or something. I don't need to know about the internals, I don't care that a fade transition effect is actually a Frazzleby-Zharfontane Swinklebury Matrix Transform chained to an iDCT followed by whatever. In fact I don't even want to see those things. It's confusing and irrelevant. In Premiere I drag the transition to the timeline between the two cuts and it works. I can tweak it if I want, but by default it does pretty much what I want. The focus is not on the how, but the what. KISS method.

I want a tool that only edits video and does it well. If you can fake it with a UI skin, then do it! This is one thing the pro tools do so well, and it's something the free tools would do well to emulate. Call it "Blender for Video". Same internals, different UI.

One more thing: make the goddamn windows look right according to what OS it's compiled for. I made this point about GIMP before, and it applies equally to Blender. Spit and polish make a huge difference.

3D kits are difficult to handle. Quit wining.

[Qbertino]

Once again lots of Blender UI bashing from the less knowledgable here. Please listen to this:

3D kits are difficult to handle. Period. That goes for Maya, Softimage, Lightwave, 3DSMax, Houdini and Blender. That even goes for Cinema 4D, allthough they claim to be the easiest to use in the pro legue.

Pro-level 3D with pro-level tools is a non-trivial task, and trying out every feature in each of these packages and learning to use it takes well over a year, a stack of books and porbably even some hands on training by a professional. Somebody who is good at operating a 3D kit usually knows nothing else about computers. These software behemoths are like Emacs with the brakes removed - allmost an operating system by themselves.

That you need a stack of tutorials to get going with a full-range 3D package is the *norm*, not an exception. Blender has some unusual UI concepts (most of which make perfect sense and actually are and allways were innovative) but it is definitely not any more difficult to handle than Lightwave or 3DSMax. Take that from someone who has a full commercial license of Lightwave 8 *and* has been using Blender since 1.8.

Re:3D kits are difficult to handle. Quit wining.

[Tetsujin]

These software behemoths are like Emacs with the brakes removed - allmost an operating system by themselves.

Funny how creating a powerful, intuitive, user-friendly GUI for OSs is what catapulted computers from being nifty novelties into being essential productivity tools from the top to the bottom of society in every sphere, from social to economic. Funnier still is how many bozos are too stupid to realize this, still think command-line interfaces are where the cool kids hang out, etc. It's ridiculous. Get. Your. Farking. Interface. Sorted.

Compared to the challenge of creating the tools themselves, the task is trivial; but it takes the skillset of a designer, not a math jock or code monkey.

Let's get this straight:

It doesn't just take a designer. It takes a designer who understands what the program is and what it's supposed to do, and how people are going to work with it and (if you really want to pander to the audience) what they expect, what they're used to. In short, it's a harder problem than you acknowledge.

And, in general, for an interface to be easy to use it must be limited. Too many options means users complaining that your app is too complicated, or too cluttered with buttons and huge-ass menus. That's the problem with current GUIs - they don't scale well to large sets of possible commands. And a mesh editor is pretty much all about the large command set...

Honestly, I don't give a shit about what made computers massively popular commodities instead of niche items - not in this context. Blender, 3DS Max, Photoshop, etc. - these aren't apps that everybody runs. They're for specific groups of users - people who will do a lot of work with the app, can afford to take the time to learn to use it right in exchange for being able to use it more efficiently.

'Course, I do like command-line interfaces, and I like the Blender UI, so therefore I must not know a damn thing, right? :D

Re:Yes, the UI sucks.

[Qbertino]

Even after you know it, the UI still sucks. There's not enough feedback, it's too modal, the tools for aligning objects are weak, the keyboard shortcuts manual is over forty pages, and things that aren't implemented just silently don't work. Other than that...

I see you haven't used 3DSMax yet.