The main web page http://www.virtualdub.org/ defines VirtualDub as follows:
"VirtualDub is a video capture/processing utility for 32-bit Windows platforms (95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP), licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). It lacks the editing power of a general-purpose editor such as Adobe Premiere, but is streamlined for fast linear operations over video. It has batch-processing capabilities for processing large numbers of files and can be extended with third-party video filters. VirtualDub is mainly geared toward processing AVI files, although it can read (not write) MPEG-1 and also handle sets of BMP images."
VirtualDub is an Open Source tool and freely available to all. Various software tools have their place in the VirtualDub world, and we will cover them to some degree in this book. Use those that best fit your needs.
My personal video efforts revolve around the world of Windows XP and its Movie Maker software: a digital video editor that, like VirtualDub, has a significant user base. Movie Maker is similar to VirtualDub in that it focuses on handling AVI files. I can do lots without leaving Movie Maker, but video editors are always looking for that something special in their next project. When I have that yearning, I often turn to the world of VirtualDub to achieve it. It’s been in my toolbox for years and I’m always encouraging others to use it too. I’ve written books and magazine articles on Movie Maker and publish a weekly newsletter. I try to keep my writings focused on Movie Maker but felt honored when asked to write this introductory chapter. VirtualDub is just too good a software package; writing about it is easy.
Besides providing great editing touches, the world of VirtualDub builds bridges and links for those needing to work with files from different environments. In fact, as I’m writing this chapter in one window on my computer, VDubMod is actively working in another, converting a file from a DVD to an AVI file that I can use in Movie Maker.
VirtualDub started with a Windows AVI base for computer-based work, but has been branching out to other file types. CD/DVD/TV systems use a different video format, standardized by MPEG files. MPEG-1 files are the standard for VCDs. MPEG-2 is the standard for SVCDs and DVDs. VirtualDub, with its roots in AVI files, can’t open the MPEG-2 files of a DVD. VdubMod, however, can handle the file type.
You don’t have to wait any longer to see what you can do with VirtualDub. Pictures are worth a thousand words and videos are even more so. Here’s a figure showing a video of a bride and her attendants arriving for the wedding ceremony, with the overlying text being added by the subtitler filter—one of the add-on filters for VirtualDub:
It’s playing in the filter preview window, which lets you quickly scrub through the video (‘scrub through’ means to quickly change the frame location by grabbing and moving that slider under the preview window) to see what the applied effect looks like at any frame of the video.
When you want to add some effect to a clip, and your primary editing software can’t do so, check VirtualDub and its related software. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.