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Natron: Open-source compositing software for Mac, Windows and Linux

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Re: Natron: Open-source compositing software for Mac, Windows and Linux

#21

Post by quadrangle »

zaphar wrote: post #17
LinuxFreedom wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a compositing package, much different from blender. If you believe that blender is a "quality video editor" please try at least kdenlive to understand what a decent video editor looks like. The video editing feature set in blender is a nice addon for hardcore Blender users but totally inaccessible for anybody else and missing a lot of must-have features. But it is nice, however, to see that they are working o…

I have in fact tried kdenlive in the past and found it be (for my needs which are admittedly small) to be subpar compared to Blender. Addtionally, so as far as I know it's only available on Linux while both Blender and Natron appear to be available on multiple platforms which is an important feature to me. I'm not a professional video editor of course and everyone looks at this stuff with different slightly desires.…

Are you aware that kdenlive has been totally redone for qt5 / KDE5 and has had lots of continued work lately?

Overall Blender, Kdenlive, Natron, and perhaps the new Openshot 2 are the current best FLO options for video with some stuff like Pitivi something to keep a watch on.

Re: Natron: Open-source compositing software for Mac, Windows and Linux

#22

Post by quadrangle »

Joeboy wrote: post #19
zaphar wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have in fact tried kdenlive in the past and found it be (for my needs which are admittedly small) to be subpar compared to Blender. Addtionally, so as far as I know it's only available on Linux while both Blender and Natron appear to be available on multiple platforms which is an important feature to me. I'm not a professional video editor of course and everyone looks at this stuff with different slightly desires.…

I'm with you on the Blender VSE vs Kdenlive question fwiw. First tried Kdenlive years ago and couldn't get sound to sync, so gave up. Tried again a few months ago, can't remember what the exact problem was but found it to be wanting compared to Blender. I will admit that Blender has an unusual UI that will deter a lot of people.

was a few months ago when you tried kdenlive before or after their recent major overhaul? Basically, did you use the older version that was the traditional sequential-numbers versioning or the newer date-based versioning? (note that lots of progress has happened in even just the last few months)

Re: Natron: Open-source compositing software for Mac, Windows and Linux

#23

Post by Joeboy »

quadrangle wrote: post #22
Joeboy wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you on the Blender VSE vs Kdenlive question fwiw. First tried Kdenlive years ago and couldn't get sound to sync, so gave up. Tried again a few months ago, can't remember what the exact problem was but found it to be wanting compared to Blender. I will admit that Blender has an unusual UI that will deter a lot of people.

was a few months ago when you tried kdenlive before or after their recent major overhaul? Basically, did you use the older version that was the traditional sequential-numbers versioning or the newer date-based versioning? (note that lots of progress has happened in even just the last few months)

Dunno to be honest. I've become a bit cynical because for the last decade or so people have claimed that there are good FOSS editors, then when you try and use them they fall apart at the first opportunity. Blender's the only NLE I've found that's not comically flaky. It's possible Kdenlive really has improved though.

Re: Natron: Open-source compositing software for Mac, Windows and Linux

#25

Post by mpnordland »

dr_zoidberg wrote: post #3

I have an older, portable version lying around in my machine and I really liked it (though knowing very little about compositing when I downloaded it). It helped me do some nice animations to explain a few things through video. Now I'm a bit surprised that they require you to register to download any version... I know it's free, but it still feels unnecesary... I just want the file, why do I have to register?

Here is an unencumbered download link for Linux:

http://downloads.natron.fr/Linux/releases/64bit/files/Natron...

Replacing Linux with Windows does not work for me, but it may for you if you are using that OS.

Re: Natron: Open-source compositing software for Mac, Windows and Linux

#27

Post by lcrs »

jscheel wrote: post #6

Huh, guess I can stop keeping my really old copy of Shake around. Was so bummed when Apple canceled that.

Shake is more complete than Natron still - and some parts of Shake are still world class, the spline-based warping for example is still on par with Nuke and Flame, and the included versions of Keylight and Primatte haven't been hugely improved on since. And Smoothcam is super handy.

I have had to take increasingly drastic measures to keep it running on modern Linuxes though, and on OS X it sadly now seems impossible :(

Re: Natron: Open-source compositing software for Mac, Windows and Linux

#28

Post by touchofevil »

I'm a compositor & motion graphics artist. I've never used Natron, but I've done a lot of compositing in After Effects and a little bit of compositing in Nuke (which is the industry standard for photorealistic vfx compositing). Another free compositing option is BlackMagic Fusion [0]. Fusion is a node based compositor, like Natron and Nuke. Fusion has a free version that has a few restrictions and a paid version that is $1,000.

I've always been surprised that open source software like Blender and Natron has not really caught on at studios. Nuke licenses cost between $4,000 and $8,000 per seat, plus a maintenance cost of over $1,000 per year per seat. These cost add up very quickly and vfx jobs even at big studios generally end up having a razor thin profit margin of 3-5% [1][2] So it's strange that these vfx studios haven't embraced open source software to cut costs.

[0] https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/fusion

[1] https://vfxsoldier.wordpress.com/about/

[2] http://www.ew.com/article/2013/04/05/peter-jackson-hollywood...

Re: Natron: Open-source compositing software for Mac, Windows and Linux

#29

Post by FatalBaboon »

touchofevil wrote: post #28

I'm a compositor & motion graphics artist. I've never used Natron, but I've done a lot of compositing in After Effects and a little bit of compositing in Nuke (which is the industry standard for photorealistic vfx compositing). Another free compositing option is BlackMagic Fusion [0]. Fusion is a node based compositor, like Natron and Nuke. Fusion has a free version that has a few restrictions and a paid version that…

I think it is the accumulation of people not wanting to learn something new (fear of the unknown), managers not knowing about it (misaligned agendas) and executives wanting the peace of mind of knowing the job will be done (because it has been done the same way many times over).

Same reasons many things in technology remain prevalent when they're the worst possible tools (allow me to only name PHP to avoid a useless war).

Re: Natron: Open-source compositing software for Mac, Windows and Linux

#30

Post by touchofevil »

FatalBaboon wrote: post #29
touchofevil wrote: post #28

I'm a compositor & motion graphics artist. I've never used Natron, but I've done a lot of compositing in After Effects and a little bit of compositing in Nuke (which is the industry standard for photorealistic vfx compositing). Another free compositing option is BlackMagic Fusion [0]. Fusion is a node based compositor, like Natron and Nuke. Fusion has a free version that has a few restrictions and a paid version that…

I think it is the accumulation of people not wanting to learn something new (fear of the unknown), managers not knowing about it (misaligned agendas) and executives wanting the peace of mind of knowing the job will be done (because it has been done the same way many times over). Same reasons many things in technology remain prevalent when they're the worst possible tools (allow me to only name PHP to avoid a useless…

Yeah, a lot of it comes down to network effects. Studios have to ramp up staff quickly, so they need to be able to find freelancers that already know the software they are using. So the studios have to use the "industry standard" software, unless they want to train artists, which wouldn't make sense since they are constantly ramping up and down their freelancer workforce. The Foundry (makers of Nuke) are surely making a tidy sum off of this situation.
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