New version of the world's most confident video editor

OpenShot 3.5 is, yet again, the biggest and fastest release ever

A new version of free video editor OpenShot has been released, with the app’s developers calling it as one of the ‘biggest releases’ ever in its 18-year history¹.

OpenShot 3.5 ships with a new default timeline (it had been available to test in earlier builds). This offers the same functions as before (zooming, scrolling, editing, etc), along with the new keyframe panel enabled by default, and is said to be ‘faster’ than before.

Indeed, the whole app in general (effect and frame processing especially) is said to be as much as 35% faster than before. It sounds impressive, but it is against a slow benchmark as OpenShot has long held a reputation being crash prone and sluggish.

And to wit: the last release claimed to be ~32% faster than the one before it, which also claimed to the ‘fastest ever’ – not that any improvement in OpenShot’s speed and stability isn’t welcome, but it helps to keep claims in perspective.

All video effects in OpenShot are said to support masking, with new mask controls reportedly available. A new Chroma key effect also ships, offering softer edges and improved fidelity (and, that word again) ‘faster’ performance.

Audio workflows may see a boost thanks to (here’s that word again) ‘faster’ file handling and new audio transitions to make applying cross fades between audio tracks easier (no more needing to overlap clips and keyframe an audio duck at the end of one and start of the other).

Exports are said to produce smaller files but at high quality, aided by improved GPU acceleration – improved, albeit no specifics given.

AI video editing features available in OpenShot

Interestingly, OpenShot 3.5 includes ComfyUI integration, albeit billed as being in an ‘experimental’ state.

ComfyUI is an open-source, node-based program used for AI image generation. It’s often used in video editing workflows for subject separation, upscaling, style transfer and SAM2-powered object tracking and masking/rotoscoping (latter is most likely to be practically useful).

Of course, OpenShot 3.5 also comes with the usual bug fixes and lower-level tweaks that help keep it ticking over on all the operating systems it supports. Maintenance is rarely headline-grabbing stuff, but it’s arguably the bulk of most development efforts.

Install OpenShot 3.5 on Ubuntu

OpenShot is free, open-source software. It’s available for Windows, macOS and Linux. Download it for all major OSes, with a standalone AppImage runtime for Linux, from the OpenShot website.

It’s made using Qt 5 – a Qt 6 port is on the way – and is powered by libopenshot (a C++ library) and the MLT multimedia framework (which other Linux video editors such as Kdenlive and Shotcut use).

If you use Ubuntu (or an Ubuntu-based Linux distro like Linux Mint or Pop!_OS), you can also use the official OpenShot PPA instead.

To add this PPA, open your terminal and run: 

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:openshot.developers/ppa

Then refresh, and install OpenShot:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install openshot-qt python3-openshot

After installation finishes up, launch OpenShot from your preferred app launcher or menu to check out the new (and existing) features.

Whether this release matches the hyperbole each one coasts on (see footnote below) remains to be seen. In all the years I’ve tried using OpenShot for editing – most of its aforementioned 18-year history – I’ve never found it reliable, fast or that enjoyable to use.

For modern editing using open-source software, Kdenlive and Shotcut remain the gold standards for me, while those seeking end-to-end professional workflows can try and get BlackMagic’s DaVinci Resolve up and running – it supports Linux, just very specifically.

1. Deja vu given every OpenShot release makes similar claims.
   
   OpenShot 3.2 was the ‘most exciting version yet’.
   OpenShot 3.2.1 was a ‘game-changer for free, open-source video editors’.
   OpenShot 3.3 was the ‘best version we’ve ever released’ and ‘faster than ever’.
   OpenShot 3.4 was the ‘largest update’ in its history (and ~32% faster).
   OpenShot 3.5 is the biggest update (again) and the fastest (since the last one).
   
   On the plus side, the confident boosterism is now being handled by the master of confident boosterism: AI (based on the amount of tell-tale tics peppered throughout the official announcement). ↩︎