VirtualDub
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| VirtualDub | |
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| Developed by | Avery Lee |
| Latest release | 1.7.8 / 12 February 2008 |
| Preview release | 1.8.0 / 24 February 2008 |
| OS | Microsoft Windows |
| Genre | Video editing software |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | www.virtualdub.org |
VirtualDub is video capture and video editing software for Microsoft Windows, written by Avery Lee. It was originally created for the purpose of compressing anime videos of Sailor Moon.[1]
Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License and hosted on SourceForge.net, VirtualDub is free software.
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[edit] Features
VirtualDub has many advanced features, is able to use plugins to add different video processing techniques, and can process *.avi files, if the required video and audio codecs are installed.
[edit] Filters
VirtualDub comes with a number of filters. Examples include reducing the video size by half, converting the video to grayscale, arbitrary rotation and about a dozen more. Plugin filters further extend VirtualDub's capabilities. A filter SDK is available for developers to create their own video and audio filters.[2]
[edit] Editing
In addition to filters, entire image sequences can be saved to hard disk as BMP or TGA files, which may be later modified. In addition, the sound track can be extracted from a video, and modifications made to it; filters can be applied before the track is spliced back in. Frame sequences and sound tracks must be edited in external software programs.
VirtualDub can also help overcome a common problem with digital cameras that also record video. Many models, especially Canon, record in an M-JPEG format that is virtually incompatible with some NLE programs, such as Vegas 6.0 and 7.0; simply saving such an AVI file as an "old-style AVI" in File allows the video to appear in Vegas.
[edit] Creation
VirtualDub can also be used to create a video file from a series of bitmaps or targas. Individual frames are created in an external graphics program like Paintshop Pro, Photoshop, or the GIMP, or a series from a digital stills camera. The images must be in sequential order without any missing numbers (e.g. 001.bmp, 002.bmp, 003.bmp...). From those, the frame rate can be adjusted, and other modifications such as the addition of a sound track can be made.
[edit] Video capture
VirtualDub has excellent digital and analog capture capabilities. It supports both DirectShow & Video for Windows capture.
Capture features include capture to any AVI (only) variant, audio VU meters, overlay and preview modes, histogram, selectable crop area, video noise reduction, auto stop settings (based on capture time, file size, free space, and/or dropped frames), and designate alternate drive(s) for capture overflow.
VirtualDub supports DV capture from Type 2 (VfW) FireWire controllers only (capture will not work with Type 1). There is no DV batch capture, still image capture, or DV device control capability.
[edit] Advanced Systems Format support
Early versions of VirtualDub supported importing of Microsoft's ASF file format, but this was removed in version 1.3d following an alleged phone call from a Microsoft employee claiming that it infringed one of Microsoft's patents. Avery Lee was never officially contacted by Microsoft's legal department, nor was any legal action ever taken. Microsoft never identified any specific patent numbers that it believed to have been infringed. Speculation by others is that US patent 6041345 might be relevant.[3]
Microsoft released a public specification of the ASF format in 2003, making its implementation possible in 3rd party software products, but no further attempts to bring back ASF import capability into VirtualDub have been made as of February 2008. It is believed that implementing ASF support based on the specification might still conflict with the terms of the ASF end-user license (terms that prohibit ASF code being subject to an "excluded license" such as the GNU GPL), but no such restrictions exist on implementing ASF support via DirectShow or WM Format SDK APIs.[citation needed]
Microsoft's patent has been labeled a software patent and is one of many such patents that have affected open source programmers as well as large software companies.
[edit] Trademark issues
In August 2006, VirtualDub's German users who hosted copies of VirtualDub, or even linked to them on their web pages, began receiving cease and desist letters from a company that claimed to have German word mark on "VirtualDub".[4] However this issue appears to be on the way to a settlement.[5][6]
[edit] Forks
Being an open source project, VirtualDub has spawned a number of forks.
- VirtualDubMod was started to include extra features not in Avery Lee's version – such as support for MPEG-2 and Ogg Media.
- VirtualDub-MPEG2 added MPEG-2 support and restored ASF/WMV support, removed from the original since version 1.3d
- Nandub, a modification of the Open Source VirtualDub video encoder with Smart Bitrate Control
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ VirtualDub history - virtualdub.org
- ^ VirtualDub SDK
- ^ Advogato: Microsoft patents ASF media file format, stops reverse engineering
- ^ Illicit word mark registered on "VirtualDub" in Germany - virtualdub.org
- ^ Update on "word mark" issue in Germany - virtualdub.org
- ^ "Word mark," again - virtualdub.org
