Limitations
Video FPS must be the same |
Today, Blender’s main limitation is not having support to Motion-Compensated Frame Interpolation. This means you cannot mix videos with different framerate (FPS) in the same project without losing audio/video synchrony in some of them. There are two ways of dealing with this problem. The first one is, being aware of this limitation, establish the framerate for the whole project and warn the people that are going to record the footage to set all cameras to use the same FPS. Since this will not always be possible, and since more complex projects tend to mix different media sources (therefore, with different FPS), you will almost certainly have to resort to a second alternative: transcode the videos that have different FPS to the project’s framerate. Use the Velvet Revolver addon to transcode all media inside the same folder, automating the task. |
Few resources for audio |
The second main limitation in Blender for video editing is related to audio. Even though its audio tools will suffice to simpler projects, there are few resources available. It’s possible to do panning or to change the volume levels, but there isn’t, for example, an internal way of monitoring the levels of the sound output. This task requires using Jack to connect Blender to external monitoring software, such as jkmeter or jack_mixer (seen on this image). This is not difficult, but adds an extra step. For projects that need dedicate and more sophisticated audio care, use the Blue Velvet addon and export your audio cuts and tracks from Blender directly to Ardour, the appropriate program to do that. |
Not everything is super automatic |
There is a limitation that may arise, especially for those that use different advanced video editors. Not everything in Blender will be as automatic as in other programs. Both Final Cut and After Effects, for example, have years of development in a multimillionaire industry – that’s why they will definitely do one task or another in a simpler or more automated way. To circumvent this limitation, plan yourself and… invest. Know what you want done and try to find someone that can implement what you have in mind. Problems ask for creative answers and when we talk about answers written in open code, the solution for a person can solve the problem of many others. This is exactly how the Blender Velvets came to existence, with the objective of improving Blender as video editor using the program’s own forces. |