Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/370852
44 CINEMONTAGE / SEP-OCT 14 44 CINEMONTAGE / SEP-OCT 14 TECH TIPS based effects layer and compositing tool, Bezier and linear movable motion paths and stereoscopic adjustment tools, as well as three- way color-correction effects. These days, GPU acceleration of effects is crucial to keep things moving along quickly, especially at 2K and 4K resolutions. To ensure the fastest speed when using effects, Lightworks boasts a real-time GPU pipeline architecture designed to handle compositing and effects for such things as primary and secondary color correction, blurs, mattes and masks. The speedier your GPU, the faster your system will go. There's also a fully customizable interface in Lightworks that allows you to apply the keyboard shortcuts from programs such as Avid or Final Cut Pro. You can also set up and use Macros to automate your work. Language packs from many other countries are available, so if you're working somewhere in Thailand, it's not a problem. You can change the size and color of user interface elements as well as create effects and export templates as needed. NOW APPEARING ON THE MACINTOSH In June, EditShare announced the much-anticipated launch of its Lightworks Version 12 Mac Public Beta. This marks the first time that Lightworks is will be available on the Mac platform, and EditShare claims that it is the world's first and only three- platform professional nonlinear video editing application; both Windows and Linux platforms are already supported. If you're among many video editors who continue to embrace and prefer the Macintosh for their work, this version should be music to your ears. Lightworks is a serious choice for Mac users looking to make a switch from Final Cut Pro, especially considering the price (see below). Version 12 has many exciting new features. The new content manager boasts a lot more functionality. It not only displays bins, groups and multi-cam bins in one convenient place, but also has the search function incorporated into it. In addition, you can drag and drop files from the OS directly into an open bin and arrange the clips in the order you desire (see Figure 6). There's a new Blur effect in the Effects panel, support for ProRes MOV export, and further optimization of the drawing pipeline, resulting in the elements of the user interface being drawn much more efficiently. In fact, the whole application feels snappier, especially when moving the timeline marker. A NICE PRICE Aside from the fact that Lightworks is a full-featured professional video editing system, what makes it even better is the price. How much is it? Well, you've got two choices. There's Lightworks FREE and Lightworks PRO. As you can probably guess by its name, Lightworks FREE will cost you zero dollars. Naturally, there are some limitations to the free version. After all, there has to be some impetus to upgrade to Lightworks PRO. However, some people might not find the limitations in Lightworks FREE all that limiting, especially if their final output is destined for the Internet on websites, or on such online portals as Vimeo and YouTube. In fact, Lightworks FREE has virtually all the power of the Lightworks application — effects, plug-ins, import formats and editing features. Its major drawback, however, is that it only allows you to export to MPEG-4 format at a maximum resolution of 720p. As mentioned before, this may not be a problem for some, but for most professional editors — especially those working on feature film and television projects — the free version is not going to be good enough, and Lightworks PRO is the version you need. Lightworks PRO has several significant advantages over Lightworks FREE. For one, it includes support of Blackmagic, AJA and Matrox hardware I/O. Next, it allows for project sharing, enabling groups of editors to collaborate and work together within their networked environment (regardless of the operating system they choose). Lightworks PRO also supports exporting to all broadcast mastering formats such as Avid DNxHD, Panasonic and Sony Formats, AVCHD, Figure 6: Lightworks' new content manager with multiple bins and clips. CONTINUED ON PAGE 54