I use iMovie and iDVD on my Mac for basic video editing. On Linux, however, there are lots of software to choose from. Robin Miller gives us a run-down as to the state of video editing in Linux and it looks like it still has a long way to go before it can compete against applications on other platforms.

He states:

There have been several notable improvements recently that have moved FOSS video editing tools a little closer to practicality, but FOSS desktop video editing still has a long way to go before it can be taken seriously by people who need to turn out high-quality video productions on tight deadlines.

Kdenlive which is an open source non-linear video editing suite for KDE that uses the MLT video rendering engine. Whilst Kdenlive has yet to reach version 1.0 status, major development is still undergoing with a roadmap to reach at least version 0.6 in the very near future. This tool shows a lot of promise for users who want to dabble into video editing, perhaps someone can create a video-podcast on Linux for us. :)

An alternative video editor to Kdelive is Kino. Kino just released its version 1.0 but along with the official release announcement, the developer also announced that no major features will be added in the next 12 months or so but they would rather improve on MLT, the same engine used by Kdenlive. Maybe it is time that the community pitches in and helps improve Kino, especially those who love the Gnome desktop platform over KDE.

After mentioning Kino, Joe Brockmeier wrote a timely article on "How to create video titles and graphics with Kino" over at Linux.com. Whilst it is definitely not as easy as Apple's iMovie but nothing beats free and open source, right!?!

I urge you to try it out and see if you like it. I am hoping that you would and eventually consider helping out the Kino project by providing some of your coding hours. I hate to see one single open source video editing tool to dominate the market - choice is important.

If you are into animation try Synfig. Based from its website it is defined as "a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation software package, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality 2D animation with fewer people and resources."

I must confess that I do not do animation but I do love watching animated movies. There are popular commercial software that costs thousands of dollars per seat but I was pretty amazed by the quality of the output from this open source application, Synfig.

If you are an avid animator, I definitely recommend that you check this out before you spend your hard earned money on expensive commercial software.