VIDEOMAKERS'S FORUM: RESOURCES

Free and Legal Production Software and Resources
By Gary Ferrington

Perhaps you've just finished school where you had access to the latest equipment and software. Now you're on your own. You have student loans to pay. You're broke and yet you'd like to get some free-lance design jobs set-up but can't afford the software. What to do?
    Well, my friend, there are free software programs available that you can legally download and install without the fear of punishment by the cyber police. But their legality is not the only reason for using these tools.
    Although these programs don't have the latest bells and whistles there is a challenge in making do with less. Learning how to solve problems with basic tools enhances one's ability to think through design and production issues. Each of the programs listed below are far more sophisticated than software available only just a few years ago. For example Audacity, a sound editing program, is a far more sophisticated tool than many of the sound studios in the 1960' had available. If some of the great classic hits of that era could be produced with less, what can you do with this well reviewed piece of free software?
      Here are seven programs that will let you do word processing, photo-editing, sound recording/editing, and video work. Each of these has features that will facilitate your production efforts and challenge your creative spirit. You will also find a section on free music and film footage.

(1) Word Processing. AbiWord is a free word processing program similar to Microsoft® Word. It is suitable for typing scripts, papers, letters, reports, memos, and so forth. You can use AbiWord on both your PC and Mac. Read Reviews.
Mac OSX Screen:AbiWord
Windows Screen: AbiWord

(2) Photo Editing. The Gimp: Free Photo Editing Software is a nimble little file-swapping answer to more expensive photo software available for both the Mac and PC. The Gimp performs such tasks as photo retouching, online batch processing, image rendering, and format conversion.
      The GIMP is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages. Read a PC Magazine Review or Digital Photography Review.
Mac OSX Screen:The Gimp
Windows Screen: The Gimp

(3) Audio Editing. Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. Audacity can be used to:
  • Record live audio.
  • Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
  • Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files.
  • Cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together.
  • Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
  • See site for more!

Read OS Review of Audacity or, Jeff Towne's review of audacity for transom.org.
Mac OSX Screen:Audacity
Windows Screen: Audacity

4. Video Editor. HyperEngine AV is a really good video editor according to Proscenia's Ken Loge. "I've been using it for a couple of years and really like it. It's probably the easiest video editor to learn that I've ever come across."
    HyperEngine AV is a non-linear video editing software that lets you capture, import, edit, arrange together and process video, photos, audio and text to create DV quality movies and slide shows.
      It combines an extensive set of features with a streamlined user-interface. It gives you an unprecedented ease of use while retaining the power of real time compositing and real time video and audio effects. HyperEngine-AV is now a FREE download according to Arboretum Systems.
      Read review by Scott Dewbre for Mac Directory

Mac Screen: HyperEngine AV (Windows not available)

5. Video Compositor. Jahshaka 2.0RC3 includes a vast array of features that should keep the visual effects hobbyist happy for quite some time! It comes with real-time 3d compositing & animation (and up to 32k matte layers), editing (in DV, SD, HD and even film), real time image processing with node based effects, opengl based paint and a text module. We also have individual modules for color correction, keying, tracking and boast a full array of media support from DivX up to 4k and more!

 

6. Image Editing. Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics editor (Linux & Windows), with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw, or Xara X using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Supported SVG features include shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, patterns, and grouping. Inkscape also supports Creative Commons meta-data, node editing, layers, complex path operations, bitmap tracing, text-on-path, flowed text, direct XML editing, and more. It imports formats such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and others and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats.
      Inkscape's main goal is to create a powerful and convenient drawing tool fully compliant with XML, SVG, and CSS standards. We also aim to maintain a thriving user and developer community by using open, community-oriented development


7.Web Page Design. Nvu is a complete Web Authoring System for Linux desktop users as well as Microsoft Windows and Macintosh users to rival programs like FrontPage and Dreamweaver. Nvu (which stands for "new view") makes managing a web site a snap. Now anyone can create web pages and manage a website with no technical expertise or knowledge of HTML.


 

Music Resources:

Creative Commons. Creative Commons licenses provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors, artists, and educators. This site provides links to music which can be used in a variety of situations including non-commercial and commercial applications.

Magnatune maintains generous policies regarding non-commercial use of its music. To request music for use in a non-commercial project, you must first meet the legal requirement for "non-commercial use" as defined by the Creative Commons License which governs all Magnatune MP3 files. If you meet these requirements, locate the Magnatune music you want, click the "license" link and then select the option that reads "non-commercial and student projects."

Monotonik is a net.music.label that "exclusively" releases music online in the mp3 format All of its releases are freely downloadable and distributable under a Creative Commons license that allows free non-commercial distribution, and we've been releasing .mp3 and .mod files online since May 1996.

Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program. Student filmmakers receive scores to their productions at no charge. This service is offered in exchange for the professional experience it gives to student composers and musicians. By composing scores for student productions, rather than for practice "sample" films, students gain greater insights into the process of collaborating with directors.

Film Resources:

Creative Commons. Creative Commons licenses provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors, artists, and educators. This site provides links to video that can be used in a variety of situations including non-commercial and commercial applications.

Public Domain Torrents. You can download classic movies and B-movies for free from this site. These movies are in the public domain and can be a great source for footage for use in your movies without any legal troubles. You will need to use bittorrent to download them. Here is a FAQ about bittorrent.

 

 

 

 

 

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