22 Set

It has been a very full month of development on OpenShot 2.0, with all my focus on completing the library (which is a huge part of the development work required to make OpenShot a successful cross-platform application). Like any large complex application, there have been many unexpected issues and delays, but I'm still making good progress, and am very close to my initial schedule. By "very close" I mean, I am about 2 weeks behind schedule on a few tasks, and ahead of schedule on a few other tasks. When you take the average completion % of tasks, I am very close to what I planned.

Effect Framework

One of the key features I've completed is the "Effects Framework", which is how various audio and video effects are added to the timeline. Not only can effects be added to clips, and stacked together, but every parameter / setting can be manipulated with keyframes (powered by the OpenShot curve-based animation framework). I am very pleased with how this turned out, and look forward to getting feedback from users once it is released.

Documentation & Examples

What good is a library if nobody knows how to use it. I have spent the past 2 weeks improving the documentation, adding detailed usage examples, and incorporating diagrams / graphics to explain how everything works. This will help other developers contribute to OpenShot once the library is released, and will also help potential users of the library evaluate how it works. In the long run, having good documentation will help improve the quality of contributions and thus the quality of OpenShot in the future.

Build Instructions

Another area I have improved dramatically is the build instructions, which contains detailed instructions on compiling the OpenShot library for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is designed to be understandable by non-programmers, and will also help people interested in packaging OpenShot for different operating systems and do-it-yourself users who always want the latest version.

Rewards Update

I have successfully processed all physical rewards, including T-shirts, USB Flash drives, and signed certificates. This was a crazy, insane process that taught me much about the US postal system (as well as many other countries and their crazy mail systems). I am so glad that this is behind me now! In all honesty, the rewards process took about 6 weeks longer than I expected it to and about $2,000 more than I originally planned. To make up for this lost time, I just worked longer hours and got less sleep. =) So, being a week or two behind on some tasks is not so bad, considering all the additional labor I had not planned for (at least that is how I feel).

Schedule Update

The library could be released at the end of September, just like my original plan, but there are still some tasks that need to be completed before the library is ready for "prime time". I will keep everyone posted on the schedule, especially as I attempt to complete the library in the next 8 days. Thanks again for all the support. I am so excited to complete the library and move onto the cross-platform Qt interface tasks. This is really going to be an amazing video editor, and the anticipation is killing me. I just wish I had a large staff of people to help me do it quicker. =)