Useful tools for digital media creators
IMAGE EDITORS:
GIMP & GIMPSHOP
GIMP began its life as an Open source image editor in Linux, and is now available as a port for Windows and OS-X as well. Gimp is arguably the most rich and flexible alternative to Photoshop. Many plugins are available to extend the default feature set.
The official GIMP site is at http://www.gimp.org/. The windows installer is at http://www.gimp.org/windows/ The OS-X download is at http://www.gimp.org/macintosh/
GIMPshop on the other hand is a variant of the original program designed to operate in a similar way to Photoshop, developed by Scott Moschella. The website is at http://www.gimpshop.com/
Paint.net For windows users is probably the next best alternative. Whilst quite flexible, it doesnt have all the bells and whistles of Photoshop or GIMP, but very easy to use, and plugins are available as well. The website is at http://www.getpaint.net/
AUDIO PROCESSING SOFTWARE:
Audacity is probably the most feature rich and flexible Open Source audio editor available. Audacity also began its life as a Linux program, but has been ported for Windows and OS-X as well. With many processing and special effects plugins, Audacity is a must for anyone working with sound files. The website is at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
NON LINEAR VIDEO EDITING:
Lightworks has been around a long time in video editing, and is still a very usable product for those with Windows 7 etc. As with all the NLE’s, familiarity is the key to its use. Recently Lightworks was converted to an Open Source project and V10.0.4 is now a public beta version available for download. The public beta is available at http://www.lightworksbeta.com/
3D video:
For the adventurous person with heaps of spare time, there’s only the one. Blender is arguably one of the most powerful 3D modelling and animating application available today. Available for Linux, Windows, and OS-X Check out Blender at http://www.blender.org/
VIDEO PLAYERS:
For Windows, where you want to play just about anything, Media Player Classic Home Cinema is a versatile player derrived from “Media Player Classic” With command line and web interface controls, MPC-HC even integrates well with automation and scripting controls. MPC-HC works well as a front end for many codec libraries. Give it a try at http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/
MEDIA FILE CONVERTERS:
For those who want to transcode video and audio between quicktime, H264, flash, Mpeg, DVD, DIVX, AVI, MP3, and more theres no better all round tool than WinFF. WinFF is a command shell and control interface for “FFmpeg”, a versatile command line media converter that originally started in the Linux world. Available on Windows and Linux, WinFF is a must. The website is at http://winff.org/html_new/ for OS-X users, go to http://www.ffmpegx.com/ for the equivalent OSX frontend to FFmpeg.
