VirtualU update

[user5]

Greetings. I need to update some information about the Lazarus program VirtualU. VirtualU is a Windows platform that makes movies and the newest version should be a pristine, perfectly functioning example for download.

All bugs, even some obscure ones, have been fixed and VirtualU has no memory leaks! If you downloaded an earlier version that you had problems with then I offer my apologies. This program continues under development and all problems are addressed as they become known. Some new features have been added (lightening or darkening videos and resizing videos) and many improvements have been made.

I also apologize for that fact that VirtualU slows down as project length, size, import number and project complexity increase but there's really no way around that. I tested and used all the fastest routines that I could find or come up with and I tried to make VirtualU be as load independent as possible. I tried to preserve speed whenever possible. The end result is pretty good considering what the program must sometimes do. You're talking about up to seven potentially large movie imports being in the same possibly complex project with huge numbers of frames per import that need to be processed. The end result is what really matters and VirtualU provides good quality AVIs, MP4s, MOVs, MPGs and WMVs, with the latter 4 formats providing very small file sized but high quality videos.

VirtualU (VirtualU1) is freely available but VirtualU2 isn't available because I never could get two versions of OpenSSL to work and so thus I'm stymied in my communications attempts. If there's anyone out there who is strong in Free Pascal or any language communications then I'd like to talk to you. Perhaps I could get you points in VirtualU. I don't own it. I'm just the author who has to huckster this stuff: fingalmcginnis@gmail.com

Thank you, Lazarus.

These are all good, solid links.

Download virtualu.exe in temp15.zip
https://od.lk/f/NDJfMTM3NDQ0OV8

Download demo1.zip (demo movie):
https://od.lk/f/NDJfMTM2MDQ3OF8

Download explanatory readme.rtf file:
https://od.lk/d/NDJfMjM2MDM4MV8/readme.rtf
(This is a new link. The old one is kaput.)

Part 1 of a 'TV show' made with VirtualU:
https://youtu.be/Z-zSXxBILdk

Part 2 of a 'TV show' made with VirtualU:
https://youtu.be/1tniPU5DqB8

[user5]

I am deeply sorry but I have a correction to make and it's a big one.

It seems as though VirtualU still has on some occasions difficulty in shutting down correctly. This includes the download file.

I'm really sorry about this. This has been a real problem and I really thought it was fixed. I'm working on it.

I never had or noticed this problem until I replaced a Halt with a termination statement. When I use Halt, the program gets a memory leak! Weird.

[user5]

Much testing indicates that I fixed the VirtualU closing problem. I took everything out of the main form Close procedure except for a Halt statement. I also used OnCloseQuery and CanClose to well-separate Close and other procedures that delete temporary files, which I think were in some kind of linear conflict. Halt seems to ensure a definite shut down but now with no leak.

The download file has been updated and replaced with the newly corrected file. I'm real sorry about this and I apologize but it should be okay now.

[Akira1364]

I did actually run the application, (although it took a minute to find in the list of 32 executables in the extracted folder), and it seems like a pretty cool concept overall, but I would definitely say that you need to make reducing binary dependencies your "priority number 1" development-wise.

[Ñuño_Martínez]

I agree with Akira1364.  The program concept is good but you need to do some redesign in your dependencies.

Also I see you include some third-party applications (Audacity, ffmpeg,...) and libraries (OpenAL, FLAC,... ).  You must be very careful doing that as may be you are not (legally) allowed to do so, even if they're open and free!!!   Also some of those applications and libraries may need some specific configurations.  It will make your application more portable too, as on Linux those applications and libraries may need to be initialised and installed in specific places to work properly.  The best practice is to not include them and tell the user that your application needs them and explain how he/she can obtain and install them.

You may use Cinelerra as guide, as it uses a lot of third-party applications and libraries (actually the same you're using!) but it doesn't include most of them (only a few libraries).