Previously, I mentioned my love for Camtasia. What attracted me was the extensive video editor that was part of the package. What turned me off was the fairly steep price. Probably just right for professionals, but a little too high for many amateurs. Now, I think I’ve found the solution in the open source Kdenlive.
Kdenlive offers at least the options that Camtasia Studio, and even more. I’m only missing a quick speech bubbles, but you can reach a similar result, although it’s a little more involving. The interface is intuitive and similar to many of the best commercial video editing software out there, so you’ll get used to it really quickly. And if you need that little more, there are about 20 video tutorials available, many more articles and a user forum.
If that very short introduction enticed you to go try out Kdenlive, don’t be disappointed by the fact that it’s a Linux program. If you have a Mac, there’s a MacPort available. If you have any system that runs VirtualBox, there are images. And best of all, there is also a live DVD available that you can burn and boot.
There really is no excuse not to try it out.
A big thank you to NixiePixel for introducing me to Kdenlive!