Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 7, 2011. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
From Shutter Island through The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Pulp Fiction to Gangs of New York and Laws of Attraction, the list of films edited with Lightworks reads like a small “who’s who” of serious films.
Developed in 1989, the first nonlinear editing program was long a favourite among editors on larger productions. After several sales, Lightworks has now ended up at Editshare, which announced last April that it would release the package as open source. Now – after the closed beta phase – the public beta phase has begun, and everyone is free to test the package and integrate their own workflow into the open program – and do so for free. Alongside multi-user capability, support for Adobe After Effects, BCC, Combustion and other third-party products, as well as multicam editing and dual-SDI output, Lightworks also handles everything else expected of a professional editing program.
The roadmap for further development includes:
Q1 & Q2 2011
• Blackmagic support
• AJA support
• DVS support
• Stereoscopic adjustment toolset
• Export options for DVD and BluRay
• Titling tool
• Interoperability improvements with AAF and XML
Q3 2011
• New effects such as image stabilisation
• Audio plugins
• File delivery
• Remote editing
2011-Q4
• Full 64 bit version
• Linux & OSX support
Further links:
- More information and download
