Free video editing software OpenShot has announced its latest update, OpenShot 3.4, which includes significant changes aimed at improving performance and usability. This release is highlighted as one of their largest updates, featuring new effects, color grading options, and numerous performance enhancements to address the software’s previous reputation for crashes.
Performance Improvements
The developers claim a remarkable 32% increase in overall performance, alongside better memory usage and extensive bug fixes. Enhancements to the underlying libopenshot core are designed to accelerate operations, such as masking, cropping, and rendering clips. These improvements notably speed up masking tasks, which are reportedly over 60% faster than in the last version.
New Effects and Features
OpenShot 3.4 introduces various new effects, including:
- Sharpen with High Pass mode
- Lens Flare
- Outline
- Spherical Protection for 360°/180° video
One of the most significant additions is the Colour Map effect, which allows users to apply color grading using LUTs (Look-Up Tables) and supports both 1D and 3D versions. Additional features aim to enhance the editing experience, such as:
- On-canvas cropping via the video preview
- A new retiming toggle for clips
- Draggable keyframes
- Improved clipboard integration
- GIF import via FFmpeg
Experimental Features
An experimental timeline option is also included, which, while considered unstable, offers a glimpse into future updates. This feature presents in-timeline keyframe editing and enhanced visuals.
Target Audience
OpenShot primarily serves users who need basic video editing functionalities similar to Windows Movie Maker. It’s user-friendly for creating slideshows or simple edits, but for more complex projects, users might find software like Kdenlive or Shotcut to be more beneficial as they support advanced editing techniques.
Accessing OpenShot 3.4
OpenShot is available for free on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Users can download it directly from the OpenShot website. Ubuntu or Ubuntu-based Linux users (like Linux Mint or Pop!_OS) might prefer adding the OpenShot PPA for easier updates. The instructional commands for installation via terminal include:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:openshot.developers/ppasudo apt update && sudo apt install openshot-qt python3-openshotAfter installation, users can launch OpenShot to explore its newest features.