Linux distributions

[Theiananator]

I am currently involved in a big video editing project. I have been told that linux excels at this sort of thing. However, since there are so many different distributions, I was wondering which one would be the best for video editing.

 

[MournSanity]

In my experience, Linux is crap at this sort of thing (hopefuly it won't be forever). A Mac with Final Cut Pro or even a wintel PC with Sony Vegas or Adobe Premeire will serve you better.

 

[TJmoney]

Mandrake is probably the easiest to use. Suse also has a good reputation for ease, though I have never used it. Red Hat (fedora) is the de-facto standard, though I personally don't like it much. If you like to really dig deep into software gentoo is great, and is probably the most configurable distro out there, but it is NOT easy to use.

Pretty much any disto will preform pretty much the same, they all use the same software, its just packaged differently. The only real difference between distros is the look&feel and the administrative tools.

Knoppix is really nice, since it runs off the cd and requires no install, though I don't know if it includes any editing tools.

I'd use knoppix to get a feel for linux, then use makdrake if you like it and think it will be useful.

 

[KoolDrew]

I would just use Windows. A MAC is not any better and niether is linux.

 

[Nothinman]

Depends on the project and the tools you want to use. You should probably pick the tools you want to use and then use the OS that runs them. Linux is great for automated conversions and such with tools like transcode, mpgtx, mencoder but direct editing tools like Final Cut Pro or Vegas Video are still pretty young last I checked. But if you want there's Kino or Cinelerra.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
I would just use Windows. A MAC is not any better and niether is linux.

A MAC is part of a network card, and won't be of much assistance in this situation.

 

[shortylickens]

If its not too late:
www.distrowatch.com
breaks down all the linux flavors and (with a little searching) you can find one that will help with your video project.

I will say that most versions are different enough from Windows that IF you just start learning to use it now, you probably wont know enough to start on a complicated project right away.
Same for MacOS. Its a lot of work to learn a new operating system just to experiment with different software, especially if you are used to using complicated software in Windows.

 

[MikeMike]

bah, whoever says gentoo is difficult, im running my first linux on gentoo 64.

whatever floats your boat, gentoo has basically a hand holding pamphlet to print out/view and a TON of ppl to help you.

MIKE

 

[Randabis]

As much as I like gentoo, I hate waiting on sources to compile.

Ubuntu was therefore a better alternative.

 

[daveqb]

I think use Linux if your used to it
Otherwise use Linux if batch, fast, high quality encoding is in order. If special effects are the way then may head to a Mac or Windows.

Essentiall, I agree with shortylickens