El Director
Veteran
Anyone who has known me for a substantial amount of time knows that I love the Linux operating systems, particularly Ubuntu. Five years ago, when I was producing the first "Leap" movie, I used Linux fulltime on my laptop, but had to keep my editing desktop running Windows because there wasn't a full production suite of software available for Linux at that time. I used to dream about the day that I would be able to produce a movie completely on Linux. There were only two halfway decent editors at the time- Cinelarra and Kdenlive. While everyone claimed Cinelarra was pro, it seemed amaturish to me, so I went with Kdenlive, but found it too unstable to rely upon.
Just recently, I decided to start looking into Linux filmmaking again, and lets just say that if the software I've found now was available back then, there's a good chance that I wouldn't of gotten involved with Adobe and would be a fulltime Linux filmmaker. So here's what I found:
PreProduction: Open/Libre Office (docs and spreadsheets), Thunderbird (calendar & email), Trelby (screenwriting)
I like to run my productions off a spreadsheet that contains my budget, goals, meeting notes, workflows, and anything else I may find useful. The free office suites have me covered there. Obviously you need to interact with actors, composers, and other employees over email. You'll also need a calendar to plan the shoot - Thunderbird. Finally, there's the screenplay. When I was on Linux before, I used Celtx, but I hated typesetting, and feel that the software has become too bloated as of late. Now, there's Trelby. It does one thing only-format screenplays. It's clean, it's simple, it's perfect. Since jumping on the Adobe bandwagon, I've been using Story to write and manage my projects. Fortunately, there is an online only version available that I can access on Linux, so I can still keep my projects there, and use Trelby for offline writing.
PostProduction: Lightworks (editing), Natron/Blender/Nuke (VFX), Ardour (Multitrack Mixing) GIMP/Photoshop (Image Editing)
I was most excited about Lightworks. I remember hearing rumors about it about the time I made the switch to Adobe. I've been playing with it lately, while LW takes some getting used to, knowing that it has been used on hundreds of Hollywood features is reasuring and makes it worth learning. The paid version will let you export EDLs and custom frame ranges, worth every penny if you're willing to take the time to learn the software. I'm finally starting to wrap my head around it. For smaller youtube videos, there's also Kdenlive (which now seems quite stable) and Shotcut (which I quite like). For VFX, Blender was of course around five years ago, but lately it's been used on the VFX short "Tears of Steel" which has validated it as a viable option for not just CGI, but compositing as well. New to the game is Natron, a Nuke ripoff. I've been playing with it, and it doesn't seem quite ready for prime time yet, but shows definite promise. Of course, there is the paid version of Nuke too, but it's quite spendy. I'm hoping Fusion, which was recently released for free by BlackMagic, will find it's way back to Linux. I've played with it on Windows and am very impressed. Then there's the multitrack mixing. Ubuntu Studio comes with Ardour, and I think it will do the job just fine for my workflow, which is ADR based, rather than location based. For image editing, there's GIMP, which isn't bad, but I've been using Photoshop for years, so it's a difficult adjustment. Since I am a subscriber to Adobe CC, the CS6 lineup is included with my membership. I recently found a portable version of Photoshop CS6 that runs great under Wine, so I currently have real, true Photoshop on Linux.
At the time of this writing, there are only a few things that I feel are missing on Linux. A good color grading suite (or plugins for LW) and DVD/BluRay authoring. I do realize that you can purchase Resolve for Linux, but I've tried the free version on Windows, and it won't run on my laptop, which is only 8 months old. I'm not impressed. As far as optical discs, I need something with the power of Encore or DVD Architect, not the cutesy programs currently available.
So where I am at? I'm about 75% confident I could switch back to Linux right now. I am heavily invested in the Adobe suite at the moment, so switching completely right now is a bit daunting. However, I did just shoot a short film and I think that once I finish it with my Adobe tools, I'll try to remake it with just the Linux toolset that I've described above, using it as a chance to learn the workflow and see if there's any gaping holes. I've just ordered the "Tears of Steel" DVD set from Blender, and once it arrives I'm hoping to be able to better understand if it's ready for feature film compositing.
If anyone has any comments or ideas, I'd love to hear them.
Just recently, I decided to start looking into Linux filmmaking again, and lets just say that if the software I've found now was available back then, there's a good chance that I wouldn't of gotten involved with Adobe and would be a fulltime Linux filmmaker. So here's what I found:
PreProduction: Open/Libre Office (docs and spreadsheets), Thunderbird (calendar & email), Trelby (screenwriting)
I like to run my productions off a spreadsheet that contains my budget, goals, meeting notes, workflows, and anything else I may find useful. The free office suites have me covered there. Obviously you need to interact with actors, composers, and other employees over email. You'll also need a calendar to plan the shoot - Thunderbird. Finally, there's the screenplay. When I was on Linux before, I used Celtx, but I hated typesetting, and feel that the software has become too bloated as of late. Now, there's Trelby. It does one thing only-format screenplays. It's clean, it's simple, it's perfect. Since jumping on the Adobe bandwagon, I've been using Story to write and manage my projects. Fortunately, there is an online only version available that I can access on Linux, so I can still keep my projects there, and use Trelby for offline writing.
PostProduction: Lightworks (editing), Natron/Blender/Nuke (VFX), Ardour (Multitrack Mixing) GIMP/Photoshop (Image Editing)
I was most excited about Lightworks. I remember hearing rumors about it about the time I made the switch to Adobe. I've been playing with it lately, while LW takes some getting used to, knowing that it has been used on hundreds of Hollywood features is reasuring and makes it worth learning. The paid version will let you export EDLs and custom frame ranges, worth every penny if you're willing to take the time to learn the software. I'm finally starting to wrap my head around it. For smaller youtube videos, there's also Kdenlive (which now seems quite stable) and Shotcut (which I quite like). For VFX, Blender was of course around five years ago, but lately it's been used on the VFX short "Tears of Steel" which has validated it as a viable option for not just CGI, but compositing as well. New to the game is Natron, a Nuke ripoff. I've been playing with it, and it doesn't seem quite ready for prime time yet, but shows definite promise. Of course, there is the paid version of Nuke too, but it's quite spendy. I'm hoping Fusion, which was recently released for free by BlackMagic, will find it's way back to Linux. I've played with it on Windows and am very impressed. Then there's the multitrack mixing. Ubuntu Studio comes with Ardour, and I think it will do the job just fine for my workflow, which is ADR based, rather than location based. For image editing, there's GIMP, which isn't bad, but I've been using Photoshop for years, so it's a difficult adjustment. Since I am a subscriber to Adobe CC, the CS6 lineup is included with my membership. I recently found a portable version of Photoshop CS6 that runs great under Wine, so I currently have real, true Photoshop on Linux.
At the time of this writing, there are only a few things that I feel are missing on Linux. A good color grading suite (or plugins for LW) and DVD/BluRay authoring. I do realize that you can purchase Resolve for Linux, but I've tried the free version on Windows, and it won't run on my laptop, which is only 8 months old. I'm not impressed. As far as optical discs, I need something with the power of Encore or DVD Architect, not the cutesy programs currently available.
So where I am at? I'm about 75% confident I could switch back to Linux right now. I am heavily invested in the Adobe suite at the moment, so switching completely right now is a bit daunting. However, I did just shoot a short film and I think that once I finish it with my Adobe tools, I'll try to remake it with just the Linux toolset that I've described above, using it as a chance to learn the workflow and see if there's any gaping holes. I've just ordered the "Tears of Steel" DVD set from Blender, and once it arrives I'm hoping to be able to better understand if it's ready for feature film compositing.
If anyone has any comments or ideas, I'd love to hear them.
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