Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Avidemux, a cross-platform video editor especially useful for simple tasks like cutting a video, encoding and so on, has recently reached version 2.6.5.

The application can be used to apply various filters, transcode videos into many formats, insert ("muxing") or extract ("demuxing") audio streams from video files and more.

Another interesting feature is its scripting support, for both the GUI and command line, which can be used to perform various repetitive actions automatically.

avidemux

Changes in the latest Avidemux 2.6.5 include:
  • libva hardware decoding;
  • experimental xvba hardware decoding, ported from xbmc;
  • added back save/load video filter set;
  • Dv encoding;
  • fast, superfast and ultrafast x264 presets;
  • much improved speed for downmixing;
  • support for 10bits h264 decoding;
  • only lock job database when adding a job;
  • fixed the doubled fps bug on mpeg ts;
  • fixed positive and negative audio shift having the same effect.

Avidemux 2.6 has intoruced VDPAU support, OpenGL filters, multiple audio tracks support and other interesting changes. Unfortunately Ubuntu (even Saucy) still has Avidemux 2.5.x available in its repositories, but you can install the latest 2.6.x by using GetDeb.


Install Avidemux 2.6.x in Ubuntu


Ubuntu 13.04 and 12.04 can install the latest Avidemux 2.6.5 by using the GetDeb repository. To add the GetDeb repository, download and install THIS deb.

Important: the GTK version doesn't seem to work - in my test, it failed to start under both Ubuntu 13.04 and 12.04, so I recommend installing the Qt version which doesn't have this bug.

To install Avidemux 2.6.5 (Qt), use the command below
sudo apt-get install avidemux2.6-qt

Then, launch Avidemux 2.6 from the menu / Dash.

For other Linux distributions, Windows or Mac OS X, see the Avidemux downloads page.

Also see: Avidemux documentation.