Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Flowblade, a multitrack video editor for Linux, has reached version 0.10, getting a new audio mixer, a range log panel, new UI icons and more.

Flowblade video editor

Flowblade provides powerful tools to mix and filter audio and video: cut or join videos, create movies from video clips, audio and graphics files and so on.

The application "employs film style editing paradigm in which clips are usually automatically placed tightly after the previous clip - or between two existing clips - when they are inserted on the timeline. Edits are fine-tuned by trimming in and out points of clips, or by cutting and deleting parts of clips. Film style editing is faster for creating programs with mostly straight cuts and audio splits, but may be slower when programs contain complex composites unless correct work flow is followed", mentions the Debian package description.

Even though it has been under development since 2009, Flowblade has only recently made it into the Ubuntu (Saucy) and Debian (testing/unstable) repositories.


The latest Flowblade 0.10 has been released yesterday and comes with some interesting changes, such as:
  • new Audio Mixer window with VU meter + gain and pan controls for all tracks and master out (Requires MLT 0.8.8);
  • a Range Log panel has been added - this enables the user to save and name Mark In/Out ranges on media files. This is very useful when working with long files that have many areas of interest;
  • marks can now be placed to identify positions on the timeline;
  • Affine Blend compositor provides single point of control to create keyframed composites with both opacity and affine transform and all the standard blend modes (Requires Frei0r 1.4);
  • image sequences of numbered frames can now be imported as media;
  • rendering presets for commonly used file types are now available;
  • single track rendered transitions for quick dissolves and wipes;
  • The GUI was updated with over 20 new icons and custom buttons
  • the tabs position is now customizable;
  • configurable Timecode display position;
  • a keyboard shortcuts window has been added (Help > Keyboard Shortcuts);
  • much more. For a complete list of new features / changes, see the Flowblade release notes.

Flowblade audio mixer
The new Flowblade audio mixer

For more information about Flowblade, see our previous article and the application homepage.



Download Flowblade video editor


Note: Flowblade requires a resolution of at least 1152x768.

Ubuntu / Debian and derivatives: Like I was telling you above, Flowblade is available in the Ubuntu (Saucy) and Debian (testing/unstable) repositories, but it hasn't been updated to the latest version (0.10). You can download the latest version from the Flowblade downloads page (deb included).

Important: some features require MLT 0.8.8 and Frei0r 1.4 which are not available in the repositories - you can install these in Ubuntu by using a PPA such as this one (it has both MLT 0.8.8 and the latest Frei0r from Git for Ubuntu Raring, Quantal and Precise).

Arch Linux users can install Flowblade via AUR.

For other Linux distributions, download the Flowblade source from Google Code.

To help you get started with Flowblade, its developer has created a reference guide - check it out HERE. There are also 3 video tutorials linked at the bottom of its Google Code page.