Entry tags:
Things for which I do not care: learning curves
Yesterday, after a slight hiccup where I kept grabbing my Windows 7 installer disk, then wondering why it was trying to install Windows instead of Ubuntu, I made the switch to Ubuntu-land.
So last night, I watched Whale Rider, about which proper thoughts shall come, and it was such a beautiful movie that I was immediately inspired to find me some vidding software and keep going with the Amy Vid of Doom. (And, once I get that done, I can go back to the Delenn Vid of Doom And Pain And Agony.)
(Actually, what I really wanted to vid was Whale Rider, but I don't yet have a song, and I feel like it's something that will require more than 20 minutes of thought, being a story centred around a tribal culture with which I'm not all that familiar, and also it's from New Zealand, and we Australians have this tendency to appropriate all the nice bits of NZ for ourselves. And, um, Russell Crowe. So if I'm to vid Whale Rider, I need to know what I'm talking about, and do it really, really well. Anyway.)
I've been reading a lot about vidding in Ubuntu, and![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
beccatoria left some helpful comments that sent me back through her own posts about switching OSs. These are the applications I've tried so far:
- PiTiVi is the default editor that comes with Ubunu. It's very much in its early stages, and lacks even basic features. I may give it another look in a few updates' time.
- OpenShot is widely recommended as the ideal Ubuntu equivalent to Windows Movie Maker. As it froze as soon as I opened it for the first time, I'm inclined to agree with that assessment. It seems like a solid, basic program, and has an impressive array of effects. Unfortunately, these don't include fade in/out, which Ioveruse at every opportunity. Nor does it do that thing WMM does, where it automatically breaks your imported files up into smaller clips. That feature was the entire reason I stuck with WMM so long, dammit! I'm keeping OpenShot around in case the effects come in handy, but at this stage, I don't want it to be my main program.
- KDenLive is a non-linear editor with a heap of features and effects, which I may some day understand. It's currenly the contender for Liz's New Vidding Program, on account of how it's highly functional and not totally counter-intuitive. On the other hand, it also doesn't do the handy clip-cutting business. I LIKE MY CLIPS TO COME IN HANDY BITE-SIZED CHUNKS, DAMMIT! Anyway, as far as I can tell, to clip an episode into bits, you have to first put it on the timeline, so really, what you end up with is a timeline full of crap. This vaguely offends my sensibilities, and seems difficult to manage. Not impossible, I presume, since the world is full of people who have successfully mastered Video Editors That Aren't WMM, but dammit, learning things is HARD, and the tutorials are not entirely helpful.
On the plus side, it does have a really handy feature where you use a slider to determine just how much you want to alter the speed of your clip. No more Benny Hill-style double speed shenanigans for me! I think that once I get this clip issue sorted, I'll really enjoy this program.
In other, totally separate news, the cat is currently trying to bury himself inside my bag of fresh laundry. He's purring like a motorboat as he attempts to excavate a nest inside a pile of socks and knickers. Is it because they're warm? Or was he just offended that I removed all the cat fur from my black shirts?
So last night, I watched Whale Rider, about which proper thoughts shall come, and it was such a beautiful movie that I was immediately inspired to find me some vidding software and keep going with the Amy Vid of Doom. (And, once I get that done, I can go back to the Delenn Vid of Doom And Pain And Agony.)
(Actually, what I really wanted to vid was Whale Rider, but I don't yet have a song, and I feel like it's something that will require more than 20 minutes of thought, being a story centred around a tribal culture with which I'm not all that familiar, and also it's from New Zealand, and we Australians have this tendency to appropriate all the nice bits of NZ for ourselves. And, um, Russell Crowe. So if I'm to vid Whale Rider, I need to know what I'm talking about, and do it really, really well. Anyway.)
I've been reading a lot about vidding in Ubuntu, and
beccatoria left some helpful comments that sent me back through her own posts about switching OSs. These are the applications I've tried so far:- PiTiVi is the default editor that comes with Ubunu. It's very much in its early stages, and lacks even basic features. I may give it another look in a few updates' time.
- OpenShot is widely recommended as the ideal Ubuntu equivalent to Windows Movie Maker. As it froze as soon as I opened it for the first time, I'm inclined to agree with that assessment. It seems like a solid, basic program, and has an impressive array of effects. Unfortunately, these don't include fade in/out, which I
- KDenLive is a non-linear editor with a heap of features and effects, which I may some day understand. It's currenly the contender for Liz's New Vidding Program, on account of how it's highly functional and not totally counter-intuitive. On the other hand, it also doesn't do the handy clip-cutting business. I LIKE MY CLIPS TO COME IN HANDY BITE-SIZED CHUNKS, DAMMIT! Anyway, as far as I can tell, to clip an episode into bits, you have to first put it on the timeline, so really, what you end up with is a timeline full of crap. This vaguely offends my sensibilities, and seems difficult to manage. Not impossible, I presume, since the world is full of people who have successfully mastered Video Editors That Aren't WMM, but dammit, learning things is HARD, and the tutorials are not entirely helpful.
On the plus side, it does have a really handy feature where you use a slider to determine just how much you want to alter the speed of your clip. No more Benny Hill-style double speed shenanigans for me! I think that once I get this clip issue sorted, I'll really enjoy this program.
In other, totally separate news, the cat is currently trying to bury himself inside my bag of fresh laundry. He's purring like a motorboat as he attempts to excavate a nest inside a pile of socks and knickers. Is it because they're warm? Or was he just offended that I removed all the cat fur from my black shirts?
I has an icon for this reply! Yay!
Thank you.
It is so... quiet and ...big at the same time. That is so rare, it's a thing of love.
Also:
Is it because they're warm? Or was he just offended that I removed all the cat fur from my black shirts?
Both?
Re: I has an icon for this reply! Yay!
Yes! You hardly even notice that the incidental music is straight out of a Cheap Incidental Music Library, because it's used so well. (I didn't notice until the end credits, and only because two of my friends are very much into sound editing.)
no subject
I was thinking quiet/big in the emotional and thematic and dramatic tension ways -- the way it just quietly builds on itself and your emotions so subtly, you hardly notice how deeply you're drawn in until the closing credits roll, and you surface for air.
(unintentional whale imagery was unintentional).
no subject
Very subtle. And I read the book yesterday as well, and was surprised at how masculine it was, and the extent to which Pai (her name is Kahu in the book) is really just a symbol. I can't imagine movie!Pai putting up with that.
no subject
*Toddles off to IMdB, to check her hunch, and back again.*
Yup. The book was written by a man (who went to an all boys' school). The movie was adapted to a screenplay, and directed, by a woman.
That could explain the difference in focus, right there...
no subject
I look forward to reading your thoughts about it.
no subject
I don't know what exactly is up with the borkiness of your Windows 7 key, but there might be a possibility you can use VMWare or VirtualBox or whatever the Linux virtual machine program is to install Windows and vid from there. I have no idea if your computer can handle that or not, but it's a thought.