I've just updated my Sun VirtualBox Ubuntu with a whole load of updates and have got 0.7.6 up and running. This is my first real try to see what Kdenlive is like to use.

First, I tried to add a clip, and needed to navigate to mnt/shared/ where my Windows C: drive is mounted (after I finally figured out how to open a terminal and "sudo gedit" to put the right command into rc.local - instead of doing it every time I start up!). The dialogue offered me Root instead of File System which is how the rest of Ubuntu seems to offer that. Not very standard, but no big deal.

Never mind, I selected an MJPEG MOV file and it appeared in the clips list on the left. I selected the Clip Preview tab manually on the player window, thinking "why isn't this a default - seeing as I've got nothing on the timeline?" and nothing happened when I pressed play. It wasn't until I clicked in the clips list pane and its border turned blue until I finally got to see the clip playing. Not great for usability so far :) Surely if a clip is selected then the clip player should work, regardless of window focus?

I am impressed that MJPEG and AVCHD MTS files both load and play, and I was glad to see that dragging the edges of a clip in the timeline allows me to trim off the unwanted start and end section of a clips - like other editors such as the freebie VideoPad I have been using in Windows. I am also trying out OpenShot and haven't figured out how on earth to do that with that one!

Now I'm puzzled by the light green bar on the preview player and timeline. Hovering the mouse pointer over it gives me no clues as there isn't a tooltip to tell me what it's for. I can resize this green stripe but what the heck does it do?

That's as far as I've got so far. Maybe if I watch more tutorials and wade through what documentation there is, perhaps I'll find some mention of this green bar somewhere.

I can't help thinking that good software is so obvious that a manual is hardly necessary :)

Please consider using more labels and tooltips!

You wrote:

"I'm puzzled by the light green bar on the preview player and timeline. Hovering the mouse pointer over it gives me no clues as there isn't a tooltip to tell me what it's for. I can resize this green stripe but what the heck does it do?"

I'm a newbie myself, so my help will be limited. The green line defines a zone. I don't know yet what all you can do with it, but I do know that you can play or loop-play a zone (see the Monitor menu).

Best,

dp

you can also use it to render only that zone instead of rendering the full movie (you'll see the option in the render window).

Thank you!

Would it be possible to add a tooltip? If a newbie can have something briefly describing it with the word Zone in there... it would give them something to search for in the documention/help. And make sure there's a section in there about zones! :)

I just added tooltips to the monitor ruler:


This will maybe help understanding. The green bar defines a zone. Then, you can play or loop only that zone (using the small arrow besides the play button).

If you drag the clip monitor into timeline, that will insert the selected zone in timeline.

The timeline zone allows to render only a part of your project (select the "Zone only" option of the render dialog).

Hope it makes it clearer now.

regards

Excellent, many thanks ... from me and no doubt from the hordes of eager newcomers :)
It is one of those more complex features that will still require some homework, but it gives us a useful start on what to look for.
Cheers