Photo + Video
Photo: Photo editors, Image viewer, Image converter, Image metadata editor Video: Video player, Media centers, Streaming, Downloader, Editing and transcoding, Post Production, Live Streaming, 3D Favorite proprietary, open source or freeware tools
Autostitch takes a step forward in panoramic image stitching by automatically recognising matching images. This allows entire panoramas to be constructed with no user input whatsoever.
Photo Editors
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll.
Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster graphics editing, but in digital art as a whole. The software's name is often colloquially used as a verb (e.g. "to photoshop an image", "photoshopping", and "photoshop contest") although Adobe discourages such use. Photoshop can edit and compose raster images in multiple layers and supports masks, alpha compositing and several color models including RGB, CMYK, CIELAB, spot color, and duotone. Photoshop uses its own PSD and PSB file formats to support these features. In addition to raster graphics, Photoshop has limited abilities to edit or render text and vector graphics (especially through clipping path for the latter), as well as 3D graphics and video. Its feature set can be expanded by plug-ins; programs developed and distributed independently of Photoshop that run inside it and offer new or enhanced features.
Photoshop's naming scheme was initially based on version numbers. However, in October 2002 (following the introduction of Creative Suite branding), each new version of Photoshop was designated with "CS" plus a number; e.g., the eighth major version of Photoshop was Photoshop CS and the ninth was Photoshop CS2. Photoshop CS3 through CS6 were also distributed in two different editions: Standard and Extended. With the introduction of the Creative Cloud branding in June 2013 (and in turn, the change of the "CS" suffix to "CC"), Photoshop's licensing scheme was changed to that of software as a service subscription model. Historically, Photoshop was bundled with additional software such as Adobe ImageReady, Adobe Fireworks, Adobe Bridge, Adobe Device Central and Adobe Camera RAW.
Create incredible photos anywhere with all-new Lightroom CC and 1 TB of cloud storage. Get powerful editing features on any device in a new, easy-to-use interface.
Edit in full resolution and have both your original photos and edits backed up to the cloud. Organize your photos with searchable keywords that are automatically applied without the hassle of tagging. And easily share and showcase your photos in fun ways.
With easy-to-use sliders, filters, and quick adjustment tools, the intuitive Lightroom CC interface makes it simple to create photos that look just the way you want. You can edit your full-resolution photos anywhere — on mobile devices, the web, or your desktop. Edits on one device are automatically applied everywhere else.
Adobe Lightroom is available as part of the Photography plan, which costs $9.99 per month. The highest subscription tier refers to the All Apps + Adobe Stock plan for the Adobe Creative Cloud, which costs $82.98 per month (Source: Adobe, 3 July 2019).
Adobe Creative Cloud, formerly Adobe Creative Suite, is a collection of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications made by Adobe.
Adobe Creative Cloud includes at least 20 applications. Desktop applications include:
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
It is possible to subscribe to individual applications, and Adobe Bridge is free.
Online photo editor, made with HTML5. Open, edit and save PSD and XCF - Photoshop and Gimp files. Convert between PSD, XCF, JPG, PNG and WebP.
Pixlr® makes it easy to transform everyday images into stunning works of art. Whether you’re applying a quick fix to your photos or adding your personal touch with effects, overlays, or borders, Pixlr has everything you need to make your moments beautiful. Getting started with Pixlr is free and easy - install the app to discover the magic of Pixlr today.
Features: • Powerful features in a simple and easy-to-use interface. • Apply quick fixes to your photos with features such as crop, straighten, resize, and more. • Auto fix feature balances out colors and adjusts for poor lighting conditions in a simple one-click fix. • Easily modify different elements of your photo and adjust its color, contrast, resolution, and texture. • Merge two images with the Double Exposure tool. • Erase imperfections with heal and red-eye tools. • Make your photos pop by adding or removing color from select parts of your photo with the Color Splash brush. • Add impact to your photos by adding focus to specific elements of your image with the Focal Blur tool. • Add your personal style to photos with over 100 effects, 340 overlays, and 200 borders. Adjust transparency, resize, and rotate each element to create the perfect touch. • Transform your photos into works of art with the Stylize feature - choose from effects such as pencil sketch, watercolor, and many more.
Advanced features available for Pixlr Pro members: • Influence Masks make it easy to enhance specific elements of your photo. Pro members can create up to 5 different Influence Masks and have advanced masking controls such as:
- Select the area you want to enhance with the Brush Masking tool or select by color, marquee, or object.
- Control how effects are displayed with gradients.
- Make your photo speak for itself - shape your photo into letters or words with type masking. • Advanced Double Exposure tools to adjust transparency and blend images with 11 different blend modes.
Paint.NET is a free image and photo editing software. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.
The app is completely free through a direct download on the website, though there is a small fee involved for access to the app through Windows Store.
GIMP is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, and more.
GIMPshop is essentially Gimp with some cosmetic changes. The Gimp’s menu structure and naming conventions are a constant source of frustration for users accustomed to Photoshop.
gimpshop.com is owned by a greedy domain squatter and NOT the developer. Please have everyone you know update their bookmarks.
GIMPshop shares all of GIMP's advantages, including the long feature list and customisability, while addressing some common criticisms regarding the programs interface. It modifies the menu structure to closely match Photoshop's, adjusts the programs terminology to match Adobe's, and in the Windows version, uses a plugin called Deweirdifier to combine GIMP's numerous windows in a similar manner to the MDI system used by most Windows graphics packages.
While GIMPshop does not support Photoshop plugins, all of GIMP's own plugins, filters, brushes, etc. remain available.
Due to the changes to the interface, many Photoshop tutorials can be followed in GIMPshop unchanged, and most others can be adapted for GIMPshop users with minimal effort.
Demand on hard disk is only 30.1 MB (GIMP needs 84.9 MB). Basic installation in difference to GIMP only with english user surface, no other languages.
NOTE: This software is NOT open source as it bundles adware with the application: the source code is NOT available. Also, the person that runs gimpshop.com basically stole Scott Moschella's original GIMPshop and used it to make money from advertising, even going so far as to pretend like they were Scott and including donation links. More info can be found at the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIMPshop
Image Viewer
XnView is a utility for viewing and converting graphic files. XnView is provided as FREEWARE for private non-commercial or educational use (including non-profit organization).
Image IPTC, EXIF metadata support, EXIF auto rotation support, IPTC editing, Batch convert, batch rename, Create or edit Multi-page file (TIFF, DCX, LDF), 44 languages support (Windows only), Multipage TIFF, Animated GIF, Animated ICO support.
Portable version with support of 42 languages: http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/xnview_portable Version for U3 USB: (1) http://www.xnview.com/en/downloadwin32.html (2) http://software.u3.com/Product_Details.aspx?ProductId=301&Selection=2&Lang=en-US
Fast and compact image viewer/converter trying to be simple for beginners and powerful for professionals. Many supported file formats and features. Features included: multi-language support, Thumbnail option, Painting, slideshow, toolbar skins, fast directory browsing, batch conversion/editing, multipage editing, alignment (rotation) of single pdf pages around a small corner (e.g., 2 °), scanning to pdf-Files, OCR_KADMOS plugin, file search, change color depth, scanning, cut/crop, IPTC edit, capturing, lossless JPG operations, effects, ICC support, EXE/SCR creating, many hotkeys, command line options and plugins.
Image converter
XnConvert is an easy image converter for graphic files, photos and images available on Windows, MacOSX and Linux. It supports more than 400 file formats (jpeg, tiff, png, gif, camera raw, jpeg2000, WebP, OpenEXR, ...). You can resize, add a watermark, change contrast, brightness or gamma, apply filters and many other things.
Image metadata editor
ExifTool supports many different metadata formats including EXIF, GPS, IPTC, XMP, JFIF, GeoTIFF, ICC Profile, Photoshop IRB, FlashPix, AFCP and ID3, as well as the maker notes of many digital cameras by Canon, Casio, FujiFilm, HP, JVC/Victor, Kodak, Leaf, Minolta/Konica-Minolta, Nikon, Olympus/Epson, Panasonic/Leica, Pentax/Asahi, Ricoh, Samsung, Sanyo, Sigma/Foveon and Sony.
ExifTool is also available as a stand-alone Windows executable and a Macintosh OS X package.
Graphical user interface to ExifTool for reading and writing metadata in images.
Download link: http://u88.n24.queensu.ca/exiftool/forum/index.php?topic=2750.0
Video Player
VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
Features:
Simple, fast and powerful media player. Plays everything: Files, Discs, Webcams, Devices and Streams.
Plays most codecs with no codec packs needed: MPEG-2, DivX, H.264, MKV, WebM, WMV, MP3...
Media center - entertainment hub
Kodi, formerly XBMC, is a free and open source media player and entertainment center for Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, XBox, and iOS. Kodi is designed to be the perfect companion to a home theater PC - it supports an almost endless range of remote controls, and combined with its beautiful (and highly "skinnable") interface, Kodi feels very natural to use from the couch.
Currently Kodi can be used to play almost all popular audio and video formats around. It was designed for network playback, so you can stream your multimedia from anywhere in the house or directly from the Internet using practically any protocol available.
Plex bridges the gap between your computer and your home theater, doing so with a visually appealing user interface that provides instant access to your media. Plex can play a wide range of video, audio and photo formats as well as online streaming audio and video. The real power of Plex is found in its library features: Organize your media into versatile libraries, automatically retrieve metadata from the Internet, and display your libraries using one of the visually stunning skins.
The Plex mobile app lets you remotely stream music and video to your smartphone over WiFi, and use your smartphone as a remote control for your media center,
Streaming - Video-sharing
Twitch.tv is a live-streaming portal that primarily focuses on video gaming, but also used for many other purposes.
YouTube is a video-sharing website, the site allows users to upload, view, and share videos.
Available content includes video clips, TV clips, music videos, movies, and other content such as video blogging, short original videos, and educational videos.
Everything on YouTube, except movies ( https://www.youtube.com/movies/ ) and some channels is free.
YouTube Premium, with its paid membership, offers: • Background play, audio mode and offline access to YouTube Music app • Videos without ads • Original shows from YouTube creators https://www.youtube.com/premium
Live streaming
OBS Studio (also known as Open Broadcaster Software, or OBS) is a screen-casting and live-streaming software available across multiple platforms including macOS, Windows and Linux. Boasting features typically only found in commercial screen recording apps, OBS also provides one of the simplest workflows with an intuitive and easy-to-learn interface that makes recording and streaming a breeze. It's also totally free and open-source.
With its long standing history of continued updates and considering its ease of use and free cost, it's no wonder OBS is one of the most popular and highest recommended apps for screen-casting and live streaming.
NOTABLE FEATURES:
Cross-platform (available for Mac, Windows and Linux). Encoding using H264 (x264) and AAC. Support for Intel Quick Sync Video (QSV), AMF and NVENC. Unlimited number of scenes and sources. Live RTMP streaming to Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, DailyMotion, Smashcast and more. File output to MP4, MKV or FLV. GPU-based game capture for high performance game streaming. DirectShow capture device support (webcams, capture cards, etc). Windows 8 high speed monitor capture support. Bilinear or lanczos3 resampling. Light and dark themes to support various working conditions and preferences.
Twitch Studio is our free streaming app designed from the ground up to meet new streamers needs. It enables you to stream directly on Twitch and provides a guided and intuitive experience when setting up your stream. If you’re thinking about becoming a streamer or tried and gave up because it was too difficult, Twitch Studio is for you!
Downloader
Features:
- Download from all kind of platforms: YouTube, vimeo, twitter & many more
- Download multiple videos/playlists/channels in one go
- Select the resolution and format you want to download in
- Download private videos (currently only tested on YouTube)
- Multithreaded, up to 32 videos can be downloaded synchronously
- Shows how much size the download will use up on your system
- The app automatically keeps ytdl up-to-date
youtube-dl is a small command-line program to download videos from YouTube and more than 1000 sites. It requires the Python interpreter and is therefore platform-independent.
It augmentable with front-ends such as Youtube-DLG. It can be integrated in other programs and so be used to watch online videos in local applications such as MPV.
The GitHub repository was shut down in October 2020. It was restored the following November. Meanwhile, youtube-dl was forked to youtube-dlc (a.k.a yt-dlc) during this time. The development of youtube-dlc was soon discontinued. But further youtube-dlc forked to yt-dlp.
The development of youtube-dl began in 2006 by rg3. rg3 withdrew in 2011 and the lead developer has changed.
Editing and Transcoding
Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It supports many file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF, using a variety of codecs. Tasks can be automated using projects, job queue and powerful scripting. The basic use is cleaning up the video from the wrong shoots, to only keep the good ones.
PLEASE NOTE : It's a simple tool dedicated to a single task... It IS a LINEAR editor, NOT to edit and mix multiple videos, when you have multiple videos, it stacks them one after an other. It does NOT parrallel multi-video edit, but it's not its goal !
Edit video faster than ever before with the powerful, more connected Adobe Premiere® Pro CC. Dozens of brand-new features include a redesigned timeline, improved media management, and streamlined color grading. Sync your settings and shortcuts to any computer in any edit bay in the world and get access to new features the moment they're released. Your entire creative world, together in one place.
Adobe Premiere Pro CC is a powerful, customizable, nonlinear video editor that lets you edit your way. Import and freely combine virtually any type of media, from video shot on a phone to raw 5K and higher resolution footage, and then edit in its native format without wasting time transcoding.
The sleek, highly intuitive Adobe Premiere Pro CC user interface frees you to focus on your creative work. A customizable timeline and numerous editing shortcuts enable faster, keyboard-driven editing.
Staying organized is easy with robust media management options. Use the Link and Locate commands as well as XML and AAF workflows to make precise decisions about your project's assets. With the demands of shorter production schedules and high-resolution digital media formats, real-time performance on rich complex sequences is crucial — and Adobe Premiere Pro CC deliver the fastest solution in the industry. The Mercury Playback Engine supports the vast majority of formats, and you can now use multiple GPU cards to accelerate render and export times.
Using Creative Cloud™, keep your favorite settings, keyboard shortcuts, and workspace layouts in sync, on any machine, in any edit bay in the world. As part of Creative Cloud, Adobe Premiere Pro CC tightly integrates with other Adobe creative applications.
Shotcut is a free, open source, cross-platform, non-linear video editor.
Supports hundreds of audio and video formats and codecs thanks to FFmpeg. No import required which means native editing, plus multi-format timelines, resolutions and frame-rates within a project. Frame accurate seeking supported for many video formats.
Blackmagic Design SDI and HDMI for input and preview monitoring. Screen, webcam and audio capture. Network stream playback. Supports resolutions up to 4k and capture from SDI, HDMI, webcam, JACK & Pulse audio, IP stream, X11 screen and Windows DirectShow devices.
Multiple dockable and undockable panels, including detailed media properties, recent files with search, playlist with thumbnail view, filter panel, history view, encoding panel, jobs queue, and melted server and playlist. Also supports drag-n-drop of assets from file manager.
FFmpeg is the leading multimedia framework, able to decode, encode, transcode, mux, demux, stream, filter and play pretty much anything that humans and machines have created. It supports the most obscure ancient formats up to the cutting edge. No matter if they were designed by some standards committee, the community or a corporation. It is also highly portable: FFmpeg compiles, runs, and passes our testing infrastructure FATE across Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, the BSDs, Solaris, etc. under a wide variety of build environments, machine architectures, and configurations.
It contains libavcodec, libavutil, libavformat, libavfilter, libavdevice, libswscale and libswresample which can be used by applications. As well as ffmpeg, ffplay and ffprobe which can be used by end users for transcoding and playing.
The FFmpeg project tries to provide the best technically possible solution for developers of applications and end users alike. To achieve this we combine the best free software options available. We slightly favor our own code to keep the dependencies on other libs low and to maximize code sharing between parts of FFmpeg. Wherever the question of "best" cannot be answered we support both options so the end user can choose.
Everyone is welcome in FFmpeg and all contributions are welcome too. We are happy to receive patches, pull requests, bug reports, donations or any other type of contribution.
Security is a high priority and code review is always done with security in mind. Though due to the very large amounts of code touching untrusted data security issues are unavoidable and thus we provide as quick as possible updates to our last stable releases when new security issues are found.
Post production
Adobe After Effects is the premiere digital video effects software used industry wide for film making and TV production as well as creative work including high-end video intros and audio-reactive music visualizers. With a full gamut of professional features, the software is capable of handling practically any imaginable visual task.
After Effects utilizes a powerful layer-based approach to compositing and masking with a familiar timeline for arranging and manipulating visual elements in time. Layer properties such as position, scale, and rotation are easily animated using configurable key frames on the timeline while layer styles and blend modes make it easy to mix imagery in sophisticated ways.
Originally available under a version-based, one-time purchase, After Effects is now available strictly through a subscription to Adobe's Creative Cloud service.
3D
Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.
It can be used for modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, water simulations, skinning, animating, rendering, particle and other simulations, non-linear editing, compositing, and creating interactive 3D applications, rigid body, fluid, cloth and softbody dynamics, modifier based modeling tools, powerful character animation tools, a node based material and compositing system and Python for embedded scripting.
Blender is Free Software. Free to use for any purpose. Forever.
