Warning: Before you read any further you need to know that VLMC is pre-alpha code. This means it’s not even beta. Much of this will not work. Do *not* consider VLMC a replacement for your current video-editing software. This post is designed only to give you a preview of what is to come. I think this is an exciting project but will take some time before it is ready for prime time.

Another note, this software is currently NOT available for Mac OS X. Although if you use a Mac, you’ve already got a great product in iMovie.

With that said…

I’ve been interested in free or open source video-editing software for some time. Years ago I played with a build of Jahshaka, which has been recently reinvented as Cinefx. I found it sorely lacking and very difficult to use.

Given my bent towards all things open source, I have been a big fan of VLC for my media playing and sometimes transcoding needs. VLC aptly handles streaming (both the sending of a stream and the receiving of it) as well as it can rip a DVD with the best of them. This is a preview of the new VLMC video-editing software, put out by the same folks as VLC.

First, download and install the software. Find the most recent release, which is easy to do since they are dated.

When you first run the software, it will warn you, much like I did at the beginning of this post.

Provided you are OK with that, click on I understand.

Most of the time when I open the program (despite my best efforts) it tells me I didn’t close it nicely. Again, it’s pre-alpha code so this stuff is normal.

I click No each time. Not sure what would happen if I clicked Yes. It’d probably eat my car or something drastic.

So then you get the create project screen.

Then you move to the New Project Wizard.

You can then fine tune the settings for your new project.

Once inside the program the main editing window looks like this:

You’ll need to import some video. For the purposes of this demo, I used some footage from archive.org.

Click Import, then move the files you want to import to the panel next to the file list using the blue arrow.

Once you get them imported, drag one to the timeline on the right side.

To remove a section, simply use the scissors to place two cut marks and then use the mouse button to move the clip around.

I hope you have enjoyed our tour of VLMC. I am thrilled at the possibilites for this application.

If you’ve not downloaded and upgraded to the newest version of WordPress, you should. Man is it interesting!

If you’re reading this, then the upgrade worked!

Sorry to break such a long streak of linkblogging, but hey, this warranted something other than.

I love me some Skitch, and I use Jing on the PC. Jing takes a while to load and can be a memory hog when it’s loaded, and then there’s that creepy orb staring me in the face. What if I want to take a quick screenshot (using the work PC), annotate it and go!

Enter Fireshot. It allows you to take quick screenshots, add the requisite arrows and text and save it as a PNG, JPG, or more. I know Jing is against JPG as a format, but Fireshot embraces it.

Here is a quick one I did a few minutes ago…(click to see bigger version)

I like that it integrates seamlessly with Firefox, adding a Superman-esque S in the top right corner of the browser window. There’s no Flickr integration like Skitch, but it’s an easy upload anyway.

Way to go Fireshot! I’ll be keeping this one around.

I am posting this using the extremely nice looking Airpress, a new blogging client based on Adobe AIR. It’s an early release, currently in 0.3 beta.

It’s a bit clunky, and I think the Mac Dock-style animation is a bit much and distracting. In times like this, functionality needs to rule.

So I’ll keep it installed, just to see where it progresses.

Some time ago I got my hands on a copy of Filezilla that was a nightly build that worked on the Mac. Being a nightly build, however, meant dealing with an unofficial release that was buggy.

When they announced that Filezilla 3.0 had been released, I fired on the Windows machine to download it. Once the dust settled (it’s been a while since XP has run in anything other that the virtual sense) I was liking me some new Filezilla.

I checked to see if a Mac version was available and found the build server to be down. I sighed, and forgot about it.

I checked a few days later to no avail, but today, lo and behold, it works!

So check me out, runnin’ Filezilla on the Mac. And it looks and acts just like the PC counterpart, save for the fact that the download is 12 megs for Mac and only 2.6 for the PC (or thereabouts).

Either way, you can download Filezilla here. Of course it’s available for all PC, Mac, and Linux.