(Guide/Review) A Look at Kdenlive – Libre Video Editor for GNU/Linux

[Karlston]

A Look at Kdenlive – Libre Video Editor for GNU/Linux

 

I have done my fair share (or more) of video editing in my life, primarily using Adobe Premiere Pro as I was taught in college. However, I try not to use Windows unless I have to, and so I’ve been always on the hunt for better options for my GNU/Linux systems – and I think I’ve found my personal favourite video editor; Kdenlive.

 

Kdenlive is a free video editor that up until this point, has yet to let me down for my personal needs, and has also been easily the simplest and fastest for encoding and exporting videos.

Kdenlive features

The Kdenlive website lists the features as:

• Multi-track video editing
• Use any audio / video format
• Configurable interface and shortcuts
• Titler
• Many effects and transitions
• Audio and video scopes
• Proxy editing
• Online resources
• Timeline preview
• Keyframeable effects
• Themable interface

Performance and Resource Usage

 

The first thing that blew me away when using Kdenlive compared to some other GNU/Linux video editors, was the performance. I currently use a system with a Ryzen 7 1700x, 16GB of DDR4 3000mhz and a GTX 1070 – and boy does this application FLY when I am exporting videos...

 

Regardless of which format, encoder, or filesize; I have yet to find another video editor that comes even remotely close to the speed and performance of Kdenlive. Even on my laptop with a GTX 980 8GB Desktop card, 32GB of DDR4 3000, and an i7-6820HK which is still no slouch, the job is done faster than I ever could have expected.

 

For comparison, I rendered a 2 minute and 19 second long MP4 video at maximum quality 1080P in Kdenlive and another tool (I won’t reveal the name, I don’t want to put any other tools down), Kdenlive completed the task in 53 seconds on this machine, the other tool took nearly 10 minutes. Your mileage may vary, but the difference was absolutely striking.

 

While I was working, I closely monitored the system resource usage of Kdenlive, and saw that the most it used (outside of when rendering) RAM wise was 0.6GB / about 600MB of RAM, and less than 1% CPU usage...So little actually, that KsysGuard told me it used 0% CPU. The program is remarkably light, for how powerful it is!

Final thoughts

I’ve lately taken to streaming games on Twitch during this pandemic as a Linux focused gamer, or at least broadcasting console games via Linux OBS Studio, and editing my highlights and clips to share using Kdenlive...And I have yet to be disappointed by this application. There isn’t a single feature I have personally needed that I haven’t been able to easily use or accomplish, and the render time is mindblowing in contrast to its competitors. The UI is fairly simple and straightforward if you’ve ever used any other similar application, or even for new users alike. Lastly, the tiny footprint and resource usage is never a bad thing!

 

 

A Look at Kdenlive – Libre Video Editor for GNU/Linux