Of course, there are a number of projects I haven't mentioned here. Without exception, they are all unusable. They either haven't achieved usability yet (Pitivi and Jahshaka), they are poorly designed, unstable and resource-hungry (Cinelerra), or they are dead on the vine (MainActor and Diva).

One of the great weaknesses in open source software in the video domain thus far has been a lack of imagination. In the commercial world, because of the way the industry has developed, there has long been a handful of sharply divided paradigms for editing. Market strategy being what it is, it's in the interest of commercial developers to keep their products for the various paradigms in separate tracks: more programs equals more redundant software sales, and the ability to set high prices for some markets while giving away the software for other markets (usually bundled with hardware). So far, open source developers have been content to emulate it, and it's a philosophy that has hobbled the development of a killer application for video editing on Linux. All three of the projects covered here would do well to take a look at the asset management, footage commenting and multi-camera switching strategies innovated by Drew Pertulla and implemented in his now-fallow multi-track editor Cuisine and at other innovations among the also-rans. Fortunately, OpenMovieEditor and Blender are starting to break the mould, and I have high hopes that KDENLIVE will follow suit.

However, what's left is quite usable and in some cases bordering on downright impressive. So, grab your cameras, get a script, and dive on in! By: Dan Sawyer is thejounder oj Artistic Whispers Productions. a small audio/ video studio in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been an enthusiastic advocate jor jree and open source software since the late 1990s, when hejounded the Blenderwars filmmaking community. He currently is the host oj 'The Polyschizmatic Reprobates Hour', a cultural commentary podcast, and 'Sculpting God', a science-:fi,ction anthology podcast. Author contact injormation is available at.