LightWorks Free Editor

just went to download, and there's no link on the download page...hmm. i installed the Matrox VFW codecs, but there's no visible link to download Lightworks.
 
Did you register?

I've been fooling with this thing for an hour and can't get my videos to import. I'm about ready to toss it.
 
Looks quite intriguing. Oh, that they had Mac compatibility already (not until next year, apparently). And my PC at the office is an ancient hunk of trash that can barely run Acrobat Reader or iTunes, much less any video editing app.
 
Well, it apparently is now sucking in my DSLR video.. so we'll see how that goes. Next up is my XDCam stuff. But I've had zero luck with anything that's already been converted away from camera native...


And yes, for Beta software, it is absolutely typical to register first. They want to know who's hands the software is going in and I don't blame them.
 
Yes, register first.

I'm gonna play with it tonite on some T2i footage and report back. Very small install package!
 
my first experience?....opened the program, and it immediately disappeared. sweet.

yeah...can't even get it to open...screw it. Back to trusty (er) Vegas.
 
Last edited:
Chris Light said:
my first experience?....opened the program, and it immediately disappeared. sweet.

yeah...can't even get it to open...screw it. Back to trusty (er) Vegas.
Click to expand...

Two comments...

1. It's called a beta, but in truth it's an alpha
2. That problem is common and there is a simple workaround. Go into your program files area where the program was installed and run the "ntcardvt.exe". I don't know why that normal icon doesn't open it, but it failed for me too. Answer was at the top of the forum bug list.


I have a feeling working with this thing is going to be incredibly painful. At least for a while.
 
Ergh, need tutorials now...not a program to learn by doing...but I'm pretty sure once you understand it it could be quite nice to work with.
 
This is the post I just made on their forum page:

*****

This is not a beta. It's not even an alpha. This is an internal development product.

And I'm not one to say that lightly as a former software developer and having had to write kernels back in Comp Sci...

I have tried to import the following with zero success:

Avid DNxHD
DPX
Jpeg2000
h264 (7D)
RED R3D
MOV (MJpegA)
MXF from my Sony XDCam Software
MP4 (wrapped Mpeg2 from XDCam)
AVI - NONE worked.

All failed. Failed to IMPORT.

The files either imported on rare occasion and then immediately went offline, or the files failed to import with an import error (no code) or the format was not licensed.

It is beyond me how Avid's DNxHD could show up as unlicensed, since they give the codec away FOR FREE, you can download the source code, and even my freeware encoders like Mpeg Streamclip can see it and use it. And this software is touted as being able to read Avid bins? I can't even get it to read an Avid DNxHD file!

I wish I had more time to fool with it. But I just don't. I've cut on Premiere (3 years), Vegas (7 years), Avid MC4, and now MC5. I'm in the middle of cutting a film on my primary machine and had hoped that this software would be a nice addition to my edit room. This is at least a year or two away from any commercial viability as far as I can see.

It's actually losing my drives. Both internal SATA and my externally connected USB. Check the drive tool, and you see them. Roll over an imported clip and it goes offline. Go back to the drive tool, and the drives are all gone. Except for my c:drive.

Essentially, I have wasted a good 4 hours now fooling with this, and that's all the time I have. I've got to get this film out by Christmas. So best of luck to you guys trying to sort this.


What a shame.


*****



That about sums it up for me.
 
I was able to drop in some T2i (h.264) files and scrub through them just fine. It played them back better than Vegas 9e x64!

I agree its not something you can easily teach yourself, like vegas, but I also agree that its nice to see something like this come to light.

I have hopes for this software!!

:beer:
 
I decided to give this another go at the house instead of the backup editing machine at the office. I was finally able to do an import and get it onto the timeline. It's anything but intuitive. But at least it worked. I need to figure out why it's dying at the office and MAYBE see if I can get something done with this software. I've run Premiere on that machine as well as 4 iterations of Vegas, numerous free utilities, and never a problem. Lightworks... no go.
 
Chris Light said:
never did get it to open....i'd get the splash screen, and then it crashes, every time...uninstalled.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity did you actually run the program from the NTCARD??.exe file in the program's install directory? Clicking on the icon the program actually creates displays the behavior here you describe. But the other method seems to work for everyone.
 
I can import and play AVCHD files well, Win7 64bit.
Perrone,
Oscar winning editors use this software and now they are giving it away for free - I don't think these guys owe us something. They're giving it away for free, labelling it beta as they haven't changed their official website yet, they don't claim it's a final fully working version yet. We didn't spend a penny on it, I think it's fair to at least invest some time learning it and recognizing bugs. It's good to tell them about what's not working or where there are problems, but I don't think it's ok calling their efforts a shame.
 
stip said:
I can import and play AVCHD files well, Win7 64bit.
Perrone,
Oscar winning editors use this software and now they are giving it away for free - I don't think these guys owe us something. They're giving it away for free, labelling it beta as they haven't changed their official website yet, they don't claim it's a final fully working version yet. We didn't spend a penny on it, I think it's fair to at least invest some time learning it and recognizing bugs. It's good to tell them about what's not working or where there are problems, but I don't think it's ok calling their efforts a shame.
Click to expand...

If I crush up some fine crystal, and give it to you in a box marked fine glassware, and tell you famous people once drank from that, does that make it viable for you?

Lightworks as it stood before it was sold to Editshare was a fully functional program. And yes, some very famous editors cut with it. This looks to be a near re-write, or at least the UI is. But not only is this version NOT beta level (come on the program won't even LAUNCH without a work around) but they've left the great majority of features out of this version so far, making them for pay options.

Anyone serious about a film workflow at the upper levels is going to want DNxHD, DPX and R3D support. You get none of those. Anyone serious about using it in a broadcast environment is going to want IMX, XDCam, HDCam support. You get none of those either. You do get DVCPro/HD. PNG import failed last night. As did basic HDV.

So no, they didn't ask for a penny. And thankfully so, because had anyone asked for money for this mess, they'd likely be even more angry than they are now. This was supposed to come to the community with the promises of challenging the big boys. That's how it was played out by the owner of Editshare in numerous interviews. As being positioned in the same space as FCP and Avid. Right now, it's less capable than iMovie.

Maybe it will develop into something. But it's got a LOOOOOONG way to go for that.
 
It doesn't matter what they announced. IMO it's just not appropriate to complain about not getting a fully functional editing software on par with serious broadcast and filmmaking softwares for free.
 
I'm pretty sure his beef is that 1) it's not only not fully-functional, it's seriously flawed, and 2) it's nowhere close to being on par with much of anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top