Jahshaka – Open source real time video editing and effects software

Some of the most expensive software packages are the ones which are related to the music and movie industry. Industry standard animation software and post production software for audio and video editing does not come cheap, for whatever reason. So if you are looking for a post production video editing software with professional capabilities but don’t want to empty your wallet, try this open source software Jahshaka.

Jahshaka is a cross-platform real time video editing and effects software which is geared towards beginners and intermediate users. While it might not be as powerful as the commercial tools developed by bigwigs like Adobe, Autodesk, Pinnacle and Sony, it has plenty of features and capabilities just waiting to be exploited.

Jahshaka takes advantage of the power of OpenGL and OpenML to give its users exceptional levels of performance. It supports a large number of video formats and allows real time full video and audio editing, animation, and a special effects operations. The program has been designed to deliver the best performance even with slower processors and being cross-platform it supports all major operating systems – Windows, Linux and Mac.

Key Features:

Multimedia support:

• Video: avi, dv, mpeg (1 and 2) + limited mov and mp4
• Audio: ogg, mp2, mp3, wav
• Image: still images, image sequences
• Many codecs supported including mpeg4, mjpeg, dv, mpeg (1 and 2), h263 + others
• Direct use of Editor projects in all modules
• X3D, OBJ and 3DS scene file support for 3D scenes embedded GLSL shader support

Player:

• Cross platform OpenGL accelerated playback
• Correct aspect ratio presentation
• Frame accurate seeking for most supported formats
• Visualization for audio playback 
• Variable frame rates for image sequences and muted video 
• Optional Play list support 
• Cached playback of image sequences 
• Customizable zoom levels and auto zoom options 
• Image analysis (luminosity and color samples) 
• Pressure sensitive transport controls 
• Limited Keyboard control & Drag and drop from the media table

Encoder:

• Integrated previewer
• Various output formats supported including divx, mpeg1&2, flash, dv & psp
• Automatic aspect ratio sensitive scaling 
• Once started, the encoder runs in the background 
• Drag and drop from the media table for previewing

Editor:

• Multi track editing PAL and NTSC supported with automatic temporal and image re-sampling 
• Mixed resolution and format editing 
• Mixed audio support (with automatic re-sampling) 
• Automatic compositing and audio mixing between tracks 
• Track level compositing control  Cut level compositing control 
• Transitions with variable luma masks 
• Customizable zoom levels and auto zoom options 
• Drag and drop media, filter and mask capabilities 
• Reusable output without a render sequence requirement 
• Alpha channel output in non-rendered sequence mode 
• Comprehensive keyboard controls 
• Auto save and recovery 
• Multiple undo/redo levels Selectable 4:3 or 16:9 outputs 
• Various de-interlacing techniques 
• Various filters (chroma, alpha shaping, key frameable compositing etc) 
• Fixed pan and scan for 16:9 to 4:3 conversion (via track level controls) 
• Integrated access to the Encoder functionality

The Jahshaka project was almost dead for two years, when it was “held up by a group of sponsors who had alternative goals”. After being liberated from these forces, Jahshaka is moving towards releasing a new version v3. However, right now the only available version is v2.