Natron Nodes

The Future

I'm not going to lie, folks: The future of Natron is bleak. The institution that offered support for Natron up until recently cut its ties with the project, and the two main developers have had to move on to other paid jobs. There is currently nobody willing to take over the project, despite how far the previous developers have brought the code.

Sure, Natron is buggy (tip: Save often). How could it not be? With only two developers supporting a massive set of features in the last couple of years, it is surprising it works as well as it does. The point is that the groundwork is done.

Natron's crux is the thing that makes it attractive; that is, the enormous amount of things you can do with it is also what puts off would be maintainers and new developers. It is nearly guaranteed that a lot of the code is going to be cryptic and under-documented. Getting up to speed just to correct the most obvious bugs is going to require climbing a steep learning curve.

Regardless, Natron needs developers. Better yet: It needs an institution willing to adopt the project and provide a stable home for it. Otherwise, Natron will end up disappearing. So, if you or anybody you know can help, get on it now, while the last modifications are still fresh and before Natron succumbs to bit rot.

Do it for free software; do it for the kitties.

Up Ahead

Natron is complex and powerful, and one article doesn't do it justice. In a future issue, I'll show you how Natron can make your video creations much more interesting, you'll see a real-life project using some of Natron's coolest features.

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Tutorials – Natron

    Natron allows you to create eye-catching effects and combine different video clips in surprising ways, letting you build up your clips like a pro.

  • Embed Elements into Your Clips Using Natron

    Tracking is good for stabilizing video clips, and it helps you put stuff in scenes that wasn't there in the first place.

  • Slideshows with Kdenlive

    Kdenlive plays to its strengths when editing larger video projects and also helps users create appealing slideshows with impressive effects.

  • Gobbling Up

    Most video editors supply you with a generic catalog of transitions, usually in the shape of tired wipes and fades. But what if you wanted something a little more special? FFmpeg to the rescue.

  • FOSSPicks

    Graham reviews the best free software, including OBS Studio 20, Green Recorder 3.0, gtop, Bitcoin Core v0.14.2, Natron, Solarus, and more!

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News