What's new in VidCutter 6.0.5.1
Jun 16, 2021
- Update to latest FFmpeg and mpv and switch to new libmpv Render API.
- Latest Flatpak for Linux @ https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.ozmartians.VidCutter
- Latest Snap for Linux @ https://snapcraft.io/vidcutter
- Latest Windows installer @ https://github.com/ozmartian/vidcutter/releases/download/6.0.5.1/VidCutter-6.0.5.1-setup-win64.exe
- Ubuntu PPA updated @ ppa:ozmartian/apps
- Arch Linux and openSUSE community packages already updated some months ago as v6.0.5 which is the same as this release.
New in VidCutter 6.0.0 (Aug 10, 2018)
- MAJOR FEATURE: video filters menu option added to app menu accessed via right-click or the bottom-right menu button. the first filter available is BLACKDETECT which automatically creates clips in your clip index based around black scene changes that are detected. selecting the filter once a media file has been loaded will prompt for a black scene minimum duration in seconds, allowing you to tweak the black frame sensitivity to reduce or increase the amount of scenes detected. this is mainly useful for skipping commercials (e.g. comskip) or auto-detecting scene transitions. More filters will be added in future updates.
- MAJOR FEATURE: automatic chapters created per clip in your list. enabled by default and can be toggled via Settings -> General and a new toggle button in the left hand side group of the UI buttons.
- MAJOR FEATURE: chapter names can be edited from their default set values via new edit chapter option when right-clicking on a clip in your list. all clip will default to "Chapter " as their default text which is what a media center or half-decent player will display in menu and you are able to skip directly to each clip point using standard previous/next buttons (if they are set in their default state, obviously)
- External media file joins (when wanting to just join a set of files using the the ADD button under the Video Index) are fixed; the last version broke this once timeline progressbars were added. Progress for external joins is displayed in progressbars overlaying associated clips directly in the Clip Index which replaces timeline progressbar functionality when all clips are external (i.e. not loaded via Open Media thus not associated with a project)
- Added new "Enable use of PBOs" setting under the Video category for use of pixel buffer objects when rendering OpenGL video. Used for noticeable performance improvements when working with huge/4K media files.
- Fixed a bug caused when removing a clip with a start time but no end time from your index.
- OSD (on-screen display) text defined for all user actions + standardised OSD case and wording/format.
- Main clip list's scrolling mode changed to per pixel for smoother vertical scrolling and no snapping of clips as they are scrolled into view.
- snap + Flatpak manifests completed w/ app now available from respective stores and repos (i.e snapcraft.io + flathub.org). These builds come prepacked with the very latest releases of FFmpeg, libmpv, MediaInfo as well as the UI libraries for Qt5 and PyQt5.
- Fixed clip index heading not extending to full width of list when it becomes scrollable when more than 4 clips are added to the index.
- UI improvements to media stream dialog; most consistent across differing desktop sizes and stream configurations
- Flatpak: Qt 5.11 + dependency updates + NVIDIA h/w decoding fixes
New in VidCutter 5.5.0 (Feb 6, 2018)
- The most requested feature is finally added; media stream configuration! A new media stream button has been added and enabled for use when clips are all derived from the same source media OR media files added manually all share the same codecs, formats, etc... A view of all detected streams including video, audio, text/subtitles. Chapters are not included as they are treated differently by FFmpeg and followng the usual rule of thumb in VidCutter which is they will be included in your end result if the original source is not corrupt or in some weird non-standard configuration.
- Migrated main toolbar buttons from QToolBar + QActions to new custom widget VCToolBarButton handling QPushButton with attached. This allows working pressed states on existing toolbar buttons which QToolBar buttons (for reasons I cannot fathom) do not.
- Tools section added to settings for setting paths to three main tools used by VidCutter; FFmpeg, FFprobe and MediaInfo. Set to Defaults button reverts changes to defaults, especially useful for users of bundled packages of app (AppImage, Windows and macOS which contain these tools prepacked). Allows you to use different versions of said tools.
- End of file is now being observed in the mpv library event pool so that playback state resets position back to the start, in pause and all controls in their default states.
- Ability to set clip index list to the left or right (default) of main window.
- Support for WTV (.wtv - Windows Recorded TV Show) media files (playback and cutting/joining) added.
- New code for restarting app whe changing themes is causing problems in Windows, starting app again resolves things. My patience for Windows shell is at an all time low so will fix this when my care factor returns (if ever). Windows shell is a joke.
- Required dependency of PyOpenGL python module introduced for users on slightly older Ubuntu, Fedora and Ubuntu based Linux distributions. such as Mint or ElementaryOS. This now fixes things if you were experiencing immediate segmentation faults when launching. no OpenGL context could be created. Again, this only applies to Linux and only to those distro mentioned above. No user manual tasks needed, Ubuntu and Fedora packaging scripts already updated so it should all be seamless to the end user.
- ffprobe code fixed for media that is either problematic or imperfect. stdout and stderr streams separated for ffprobe calls, thus fixing ffprobe JSON parsing errors and allowing the addition of the new .WTV media file format.
- Minor changes/improvements to a few other front panel buttons w/ pressed states where previously unavailable + minor cosmetic improvements to color schemes of hover/active state buttons
- Linux desktop and appdata metadata files switched to reverse domain notation file names as per freedesktop.org specs
- Fullscreen mode rewrite for Qt 5.10 changes + better support in wayland.
- OpenGL helpers added to X11 and Wayland based Linux platforms to better assist with fullscreen functionality and video render compatibility any where an OpenGL context can be created.
- Updated keyboard shortcuts information to include some added keyboard and mouse based shortcuts.
- Defined cutting regions shown on the timeline are now hidden during the "generating thumbnails" process (mainly evident when turning thumbnails on/off or resizing the application's window)
- Better detection and prompting if application exit is attempted while video processing jobs in progress, if user decides to continue quitting then kill all VidCutter associated jobs gracefully and force the usual cleanup routines
New in VidCutter 5.0.5 (Dec 3, 2017)
- patch release mainly for users of the AppImage binary which has been overhauled and tested on Ubuntu Trusty, Vivid + KDE Neon. Also contains latest nightly binary of FFmpeg so SmartCut will work properly (FFmpeg needs to be fairly recent for proper HEVC and MPEG-4 Part 2 formats to work in SmartCut mode)
- fixed timeline slider tooltip displaying time position to only appear when mouse is over the slider widget. this stops it from constantly appearing whenever media position changes. No longer displays constantly during playback unless mouse hovers above timeline.
- Removal of Python 3 OpenGL module to allow app to work on Linux distros containing older 3.0.1 versions of the module. The dependency on python3-opengl has now been removed and was only necessary for Ubuntu users on Vivid due to a broken PyQt5 OpenGL implementation in the core PyOpenGL package. Vivid is no longer a supported distro version so it should be okay to omit on a permanent basis.
New in VidCutter 5.0.0 (Nov 15, 2017)
- SmartCut feature introduced for frame accurate cuts; beginning and end clip segments are reencoded and joined with middle segment for each clip defined in the Clip Index along source video's defined keyframes
- SmartCut enabled via app settings as well as toggle button on the main interface. SmartCut can take up to 2 mins vs a few seconds so use it only if frame accuracy is a requirement
- new progress bars on clips in timeline to visualise video processing in more accurate and modern way
- thumbnail generation accuracy fixed so thumbnails generated accurately
- match frame with timecode placement
- new "View keyframes" button option available under Video Info which displays the source video's defined keyframes which are utilised by the new SmartCut feature
- improvements made to standard quick cutting to make them as frame accurate as can be given the source's media codec and container
- improvements to stream mapping to help ensure all source media's streams (video, audio, text/subtitles) are included in the target video produced. only if problems are found during the cut/join process will this be abandoned and FFmpeg then allowed to make its usual "best choice" in choosing the best streams for you
- single app instance code added along with a settings option to force all file manager associated tasks to the single already loaded instance of VidCutter
- vcp registered as "VidCutter Project file" for Linux and Windows installations
- more debugging information available for the console or "--debug" command-line argument
- new verbose logging option added to settings for even more verbose logging in the application log file, console window and debug command- line output if running with the "--debug" argument (Linux only)
- new app icon; hopefully this one sticks :-)
- countless more improvements and fixes that aren't worth documenting but available in the freely available commit logs if you're interested
New in VidCutter 4.0.0 Pre-Release (Jul 27, 2017)
- Outstanding work is purely cosmetic stuff; toolbar button changes and a new settings dialog box are whats not complete in these pre-releases. But all else re new OpenGL direct render engine, direct MPV binding via Cython C libs. stand-alone joining or adding external files existing project etc...
New in VidCutter 3.5.0 (May 29, 2017)
- Redesigned timeline & slider with timecode labels at fixed intervals as per regular video editors
- Thumbnail previews on timeline; the entire timeline background is overlayed with thumbnail previews which looks good + helps you target where you want to mark a start/stop point. thumbnil generation is threaded so will not slow the app down or hinder your use of it. thumbnails will regenerate on app resize
- Thumbnail previews and on screen display toggle buttons added to far left of main toolbar; what they do is self-explanatory
- Slider movement/sync with mpv backend improved; should be less jumpy on problematic videos with bad indexes
- Configurable seeking time lengths; this is for the up+down and shift up+down keys which were set to 2 secs and 5 secs forwards and backwards. you can now set the number of secs as preferred via new spinboxes added to the settings menu labelled Seek #1 and Seek #2
- Additional on screen display text added to various functions
- Fixed bug when clearing clip index and you could not continue navigating video requiring you to reload
- Continue button added to the job completion dialog and set as the default button selection
- Libmpv bindings library updated with the latest changed from upstream; should not be noticeable to users albeit improved playback or slider position sync
- VidCutter project files (.vcp) can now be preloaded like regular videos either by passing file path on command line or drag 'n dropping project onto a VidCutter application/shortcut icon
- New icon, let me know if you find the old icon still being used someplace
- Some other minor bug fixes from user issues that I am sure I have forgotten to list
New in VidCutter 3.2.0 (May 9, 2017)
- Dark and light themes; chosen in the new settings submenu found in the Rightclick menu or via menu toolbar icon
- New app icon
- Improved timeline look + new slider image + remove awkward mouse cursor Previously in use to standard pointing hand cursor which feels better IMHO.
- New VidCutter project file format; this is the same as an EDL but includes The full path to the media file associated with it. These can be saved and Opened after program launch to set you back to where you last were in a Cutting project.
- EeePC and better support for HiDPI
- Better handling of multistreamed video sources including VOB files; if the
- Standard method of creation produces a 0 length file the app will now run
- It again using various other methods to achieve th desired result. all cases
- Reported by users as bugs in this area are now working. in most cases you
- Will continue to get back exactly what you put in (pardon the pun). some VOBs
- Are problematic so until the UI is built to allow users finer control over the
- Backend settings the app will continue to make its own best judgement on
- Behalf of the user. so, in the worse case scenario you should now get back a
- Valid video file instead of 0 length video, but it may only include a single audio
- Track rather than all the tracks from the source. keep in mind that in these rare
- Cases the app will choose the best quality audio/video track when it can only
- Work with just the one stream. The next version will allow you to select which
- Streams from source media to include in your final generated video file.
- Improved handling of corrupted media files. the app should now work with far
- More source files than before.
- Time counter widget created allowing manual entry of timecode. just click on
- The time segment to edit and video will seek to that exact point OR use the
- Up/down arrow controls to the right of the running time code, highlight the
- Segment you wish to increase or decrease (i.e. hours, mins, secs, msecs)
- New dark theme; app is now better integrated for those who prefer to work
- With the darker side of the force; configurable via new menu option
- Video zoom level option added; configurable via new menu option
- "Check for updates..." now checks for the latest release version of the app
- Via the GitHub API and alerts user accordingly. It only offers to take user to
- Release page while also explaining to stick with distriubution specific packages
- If running on Linux. Automatic updates are a goal of the future but would only
- Be for Windows, macOS and AppImage linux versions.
- The app will automatically check for updates; it will do this weekly and only
- Disturb the user if an update has been released AND it has been at least one
- Week since the last time updates were checked for.
- New startup graphic.
- New look dialogs including updater and about.
- Application settings now saved across all platforms; this includes window
- State and geometry as well as new settings in right-click context menu.
- New settings submenu (rightclick or menu toolbar icon). some blurb
- On the settings (since i am too lazy to produce a help file right now):
- Themes = select from the new dark and light themes (requires app restart)
- Keep individual clips = each clip made from the clip index, which are then
- merged to produce the final product, are not deleted at end of proceess.
- They can be found in the same folder as the final produced video file
- with file name sequence 001....00n appended.
- Use native dialogs = on by default; can switch off to not use your
- desktop manager's native file open/save dialogs and instead use a generic
- cross*platform version supplied by Qt framework.
- Always on top = sets application window as the top*most window, avoiding
- others apps from displaying over the top of it.
- Toolbar labels = self*explanatory; allows you to set the main toolbar
- labels to display beside icons (default), under icons or hidden from view.
- Hardware decoding = on by default to make the most of your GPU hardware.
- Switch this off if you are experiencing problems with the video playback.
- This option doesn't affect video cutting itself and is primarily for playback.
- Keep aspect ratio = as the title suggests, switching this off caues video
- fill the available frame space rather than maintain its intended ratio for
- viewport width and height. This option doesn't affect video cutting itself
- and is primarily for playback.
- Zoom = zoom in video from half its original size and up to double. This
- option doesn't affect video cutting itself and is primarily for playback.
- a few minor changes to keyboard shortcuts; check the keyboad shortcuts
- cheatsheet via right*click or toolbar menu options.
New in VidCutter 3.0.1 (Apr 13, 2017)
- Complete rewrite of multimedia backend which now uses libmpv to drive video viewing and enables frame stepping for greater accuracy in cutting. this has greatly shortened to the list of dependcies to enable this app to work and should allow for quicker and easier installation for all users.
- Multiple streams (audio/video) support. output file will now mirror the original source regarding number of streams included.
- Frame level accuracy when stepping through video via cursor keys or mouse wheel. see the new Keyboard Shortcuts menu option for more details.
- Improved UI in many areas including main toolbar redesign.
- Keyboard shortcuts now advertised to user via new menu option
- Exception handing improved with all errors, even those not surfaced to user, are logged. application log file can be viewed by the user via new menu option.
- Mediainfo library now used to generate metadata for media information which works a million times better than what the previous gstreamer codecs had to offer.
- Hardware accelerated video via vdpau or vaapi depending on what user has installaed. this is all dependant on libpmpv which is the by far the best multimedia library in the opensource world. fallback options also exist if user has no power codecs installed so things should all still work on a minimual workstation setup.
- Many UI fixes and improvements that I cannot be bothered to list but should overall make the app feel much more professional than ever before