Plenty of powerful new features debut in the latest release of video editing software Lightworks.
The Lightworks 2025.1 update is now available with the headline upgrade being a completely reworked video play engine that provides a substantial performance boost, ensuring faster, snappier, and more responsive editing.
Research to support macOS Sonoma led to LWKS reimagining how it handles CPU to GPU handling, resulting in improvements not just for Mac users but also for Windows and Linux users.
Snap and Flatpak installers for Linux users, alongside existing .deb and .rpm options, aim to make the software more accessible to a broader range of Linux distributions and reduce the challenges associated with package management and dependencies.
New export options allow users to create AVID DNxHR (MXF and MOV) media files along with user-customizable uncompressed formats. The update will enable users to export AV1 and H.265 in a MOV container.
New “Beyond 4k” support introduces UltraHD formats (5k, 6k, and 8k) editing with export support for Apple ProRes, Cineform, AVID DNxHR, AV1, and H.265.
Impressively, certified Apple ProRes export adds support for the export of user-customized resolutions up to UHD 8K.
You can now create custom mask shapes using SVG files
SVG file import capabilities for masks enable easier custom mask creation. The new update also allows for greater control and flexibility with multiple masks, including features like click-and-drag bounding boxes, multi-select options, and intuitive shape manipulation. Users can now easily create and share their custom effects using our new ‘Create template from shader code’ panel directly from within Lightworks itself.
There are a whole load of UI improvements too, including:
- The ability to create folders directly within the Import panel provides a more organized workspace from the outset. The panel has been streamlined by removing the 'Destination' heading and adding color improvements to the location headers to help distinguish different sections better.
- The new 'Routing' subtab on the Media tab of the project card allows for individual media creation settings for imported clips, rendered clips, recorded clips, and proxies, with separate destination locations for each.
- Trimming has been improved by making drag-in-black the default behaviour for trims, making the introduction to Lightworks trimming easier for new users. Users can choose to enable or disable the 'Trim when playing' feature, which is now off by default unless a Console is attached.
- For greater control over bin organisation, there are new options to show timestrips for tiles and compact tiles in bins, which can be toggled on or off. Users can now set a bin to list view or tile view independently, rather than being project-based.
- The timeline settings panel now includes an option to choose what the mouse wheel does, allowing users to nudge frames or move to the next/previous event, with a temporary switch available by holding the Shift key.
- Additionally, multiple clips and sequences can now be loaded into their respective viewers in Fixed Layout mode (Edit & Assemble) by selecting multiple clips and dragging them to the viewer. Clips and sequences can be removed from viewers either by clicking the X icon next to individual names, or removing all of them in one go by holding down the Shift key and clicking any one of the X icons.
- Lastly, Lightworks Pro users can now enable video scopes on full-screen playback by toggling the button located in the bottom right corner of the full-screen display.
Lightworks is available on a sliding scale from free to $19.99 a month, with some of the more advanced features, such as 8K support, reserved for the pricier tiers. More info here.
tl;dr
- The Lightworks 2025.1 update introduces a reworked video playback engine, enhancing performance across macOS, Windows, and Linux platforms, with improved installation options for Linux users.
- New export features include support for AVID DNxHR, customizable uncompressed formats, and UltraHD formats (5k to 8k) with certified Apple ProRes export capabilities.
- Enhanced mask creation allows for SVG file imports, providing users with greater flexibility and control over custom effects and multiple masks.
- UI improvements feature organized folder creation in the Import panel, refined trimming functionalities, customizable bin views, and options for loading multiple clips in viewers, along with full-screen video scopes for Pro users.