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Show HN: VidStudio, a browser based video editor that doesn't upload your files

vidstudio.app

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Re: Show HN: VidStudio, a browser based video editor that doesn't upload your files

#21

Post by mbesto »

netdevphoenix wrote: post #16
freedomben wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any reason not to just open source it? Personally I'd love to hack on it :-) IANAL, but IMHO AGPL would be a good fit here as it complies with LGPL and also ensures nobody besides you (the copyright holder) can stand it up for profit without contributing back).

> Any reason not to just open source it? Mmmm...potential commercialisation? Always find it curious that people expect to get source code for free in ways that they don't do for other work (ask George Martin to release his drafts and notes).

The parent commenter is making that comment because this is precisely the nature of why the GPL license exists. Most of the processing of this application is FFMPEG, so why should someone who has done zero development on that library commercialize it?

Re: Show HN: VidStudio, a browser based video editor that doesn't upload your files

#23

Post by elpocko »

trinix912 wrote: post #19
elpocko wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LGPL permits you to distribute binaries, but you can't distribute the software as an opaque binary blob with no reasonable way to modify it. What even is the equivalent of a shared library that a user can replace when software runs in the browser? Anyway, OP doesn't do most of the things FFmpeg lists under their "License Compliance Checklist".

> Anyway, OP doesn't do most of the things FFmpeg lists under their "License Compliance Checklist". Legitimately asking, which points and how are they expected to handle it for this type of app (assuming they want to keep it closed source)? As far as I understand it they just need to credit the libraries?

The important thing is there has to be a clear separation between the proprietary parts and the LGPL parts of the app, and they have to provide a way to replace the LGPL parts. I have no idea how this is usually handled in the case of browser-based apps.

Re: Show HN: VidStudio, a browser based video editor that doesn't upload your files

#24

Post by xixixao »

prhn wrote: post #7
elpocko wrote: post #2

> FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly handles final encode FFmpeg's license is the LGPL 2.1. VidStudio looks like closed source software, I couldn't see any indication that it's free software. You're distributing this software to run in the client's browser. I'm not a lawyer but I think you're in breach of the terms of the LGPL. https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html

Closed source is fine, but there are a few other things that are required of LGPL, some of which are - Provide links to the source of the version of ffmpeg you used in your code - User should be able to replace the ffmpeg libs with his own compatible builds if you're using dynamically linked libs. For statically linked libs, you need to provide the tools to re-link against a compatible build. I went through an LGPL r…

Dynamically and statically linked libs is hilarious in the context of webassembly running in the browser.

Re: Show HN: VidStudio, a browser based video editor that doesn't upload your files

#25

Post by kolx »

freedomben wrote: post #13
kolx wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for pointing this out, to be completely honest, I did not consider licensing because the website started as a collection of tools I built to run locally and get into video/audio codecs then I realised it is already a decent collection of tools that other people might want to use too. But I will be making the needed changes to comply fully tonight. At least I comply with this: `Do not misspell FFmpeg (two ca…

Any reason not to just open source it? Personally I'd love to hack on it :-) IANAL, but IMHO AGPL would be a good fit here as it complies with LGPL and also ensures nobody besides you (the copyright holder) can stand it up for profit without contributing back).

I never maintained an open source project and not sure how to even do it properly. I am also not sure how much effort would I have to put to an open source project. I imagine I would need to collaborate with a pretty much anyone who has an interest in the area. Again not that I mind just not sure how much time I have to spare. Right now this is a really slow process and tbh I have to rely on manual testing at least for the editor.

Re: Show HN: VidStudio, a browser based video editor that doesn't upload your files

#26

Post by actionfromafar »

trinix912 wrote: post #19
elpocko wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LGPL permits you to distribute binaries, but you can't distribute the software as an opaque binary blob with no reasonable way to modify it. What even is the equivalent of a shared library that a user can replace when software runs in the browser? Anyway, OP doesn't do most of the things FFmpeg lists under their "License Compliance Checklist".

> Anyway, OP doesn't do most of the things FFmpeg lists under their "License Compliance Checklist". Legitimately asking, which points and how are they expected to handle it for this type of app (assuming they want to keep it closed source)? As far as I understand it they just need to credit the libraries?

User must be able to replace the LGPL library with their own version of the library.

Re: Show HN: VidStudio, a browser based video editor that doesn't upload your files

#27

Post by bensyverson »

b1temy wrote: post #18
xnx wrote: post #5

How does it compare to https://omniclip.app/ , https://tooscut.app , or https://clipjs.mohy.dev/ ?

Also wondering how it compares to https://pikimov.com , another browser-based video editor I've seen making the rounds.

Browser-based video editing is quickly becoming as commoditized as browser-based image editing

Re: Show HN: VidStudio, a browser based video editor that doesn't upload your files

#28

Post by sreekanth850 »

elpocko wrote: post #2

> FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly handles final encode FFmpeg's license is the LGPL 2.1. VidStudio looks like closed source software, I couldn't see any indication that it's free software. You're distributing this software to run in the client's browser. I'm not a lawyer but I think you're in breach of the terms of the LGPL. https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html

LGPL allow you to use the library in closed source.

Re: Show HN: VidStudio, a browser based video editor that doesn't upload your files

#29

Post by kolx »

DoctorOW wrote: post #15

Let me just say the performance is absolutely incredible, and the persistence is so transparent. I actually was given access to an in-browser video editor that chokes pretty quickly so I'm impressed. The tracks didn't seem to work well for me. I'm on Firefox on Windows and couldn't drag and drop tracks to change the order, there doesn't seem to be any layer transformation tools (position, rotation, scale) that I coul…

Thank you for the encouragement. Regarding the track manipulation I have not fully cracked it yet so you can't move clips between tracks yet and track reordering didn't cross my mind but will look into it. Regarding transforms once you manage to get a clip in the track you should be able to click on it and then get on the right hand side of the program monitor you should see a transforms panel with a limited selection of options, at least what I could sort of understand how to program together with LLMs ofc ahahaha.

Re: Show HN: VidStudio, a browser based video editor that doesn't upload your files

#30

Post by kolx »

kevmo314 wrote: post #22

Wild that apps used to be completely local, no accounts, no uploads, and we're back to that as a value prop.

Agreed but I guess at the same time those who spend money to develop software need to find ways to monetise I just wish they were not so predatory. Everything is a subscription now siphoning money out of users on a monthly basis.
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