Anyone using MainActor? at DVinfo.net

Jeff Miller · November 3rd, 2005, 11:22 AM

I wanted to do a project in Cinelerra, it's really powerful and has a cool UI. However being unable to drop clips in space and bind video to it's audio tracks was killing me. Those problems are being worked on but until then I'm trying Mactor. It's got some problems, but it is workable. Anyone else playing with it?

Brendon Whateley · November 6th, 2006, 03:06 PM

A little over a year has gone past since the question was last asked. I'm about to buy MainActor so that I can move my workflow between Windows and Linux. I have far more processing and storage HP in Linux hardware than Windows, so will do most processing on Linux. But I also have a Windows laptop, and it would be nice to do some stuff ont the laptop.

I'm running out of patience with all the little problems I experience with Pinnacle Studio, not least of which is the pile of back versions I seem to HAVE to install because I've been upgrading for so long...

Currently my biggest problems are lack of ability to properly deal with 24pa footage and crashes.

Any comments on MainActor?

Jeff Miller · November 6th, 2006, 04:20 PM

I went on to use MA for a couple weeks after posting this. In the end, I wound up going with Premiere. MA is a neat product and all but it just wasn't stable enough for my editting style and project size. He11, 300 gig and a ~thousand cuts, Premiere was barely able to handle it.

MA was cool enough to use though, and extra special props to whomever outside the top ten software companies who dares write an NLE. I was able to work past stuff like inability to rename timelines. But stability was the killer, having to save every couple cuts "just in case" wasn't doing it.

BTW, I was running MA on Linux. No experience with it on windows. Ironically I work almost backwards of your setup, with Linux doing all the capturing/storage and windows desktop/laptop doing all the editting!
But stop by the MA forum and see what's up, get the free trial, it doesn't cost to try it out.

Peter Jefferson · November 8th, 2006, 08:54 PM

i use mainactor when im given difficult files which no other nle can handle. I also work with web based content, so editing divx on a timeline helped alot.. Also, mainactor runs a background rendering engine, so its about quarter realtime when it comes to output.. superfast and stable. I like the particle engine too. lol

November 3rd, 2005, 11:22 AM	#1
Jeff Miller Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 227	Anyone using MainActor? I wanted to do a project in Cinelerra, it's really powerful and has a cool UI. However being unable to drop clips in space and bind video to it's audio tracks was killing me. Those problems are being worked on but until then I'm trying Mactor. It's got some problems, but it is workable. Anyone else playing with it?

November 6th, 2006, 03:06 PM	#2
Brendon Whateley Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 59	Asking again. A little over a year has gone past since the question was last asked. I'm about to buy MainActor so that I can move my workflow between Windows and Linux. I have far more processing and storage HP in Linux hardware than Windows, so will do most processing on Linux. But I also have a Windows laptop, and it would be nice to do some stuff ont the laptop. I'm running out of patience with all the little problems I experience with Pinnacle Studio, not least of which is the pile of back versions I seem to HAVE to install because I've been upgrading for so long... Currently my biggest problems are lack of ability to properly deal with 24pa footage and crashes. Any comments on MainActor?

November 6th, 2006, 04:20 PM	#3
Jeff Miller Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 227	I went on to use MA for a couple weeks after posting this. In the end, I wound up going with Premiere. MA is a neat product and all but it just wasn't stable enough for my editting style and project size. He11, 300 gig and a ~thousand cuts, Premiere was barely able to handle it. MA was cool enough to use though, and extra special props to whomever outside the top ten software companies who dares write an NLE. I was able to work past stuff like inability to rename timelines. But stability was the killer, having to save every couple cuts "just in case" wasn't doing it. BTW, I was running MA on Linux. No experience with it on windows. Ironically I work almost backwards of your setup, with Linux doing all the capturing/storage and windows desktop/laptop doing all the editting! But stop by the MA forum and see what's up, get the free trial, it doesn't cost to try it out. __________________ (insert long list of expensive stuff)

November 8th, 2006, 08:54 PM	#4
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	i use mainactor when im given difficult files which no other nle can handle. I also work with web based content, so editing divx on a timeline helped alot.. Also, mainactor runs a background rendering engine, so its about quarter realtime when it comes to output.. superfast and stable. I like the particle engine too. lol