Attempting to create a comprehensive list of free and open source tools will probably always remain ‘work in progress’ just for the sheer depth and breadth of the Internet. It’s hard to keep it up to date as there is a constant flow of new technology. We tried to get started in VC Cafe’s Startup Resources page, sites like SourceForge and the Open Source Software Directory do a good job listing many of them, but this curated list from JISC is definitely a good addition. JISC Advance is a service, which provides advice, guidance and training to the UK’s Further and Higher Education community on creating digital media resources and leveraging them for teaching.
| OTHER APPLICATIONS | Webware | Linux | Mac | Windows | Website | Open source | Free | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAD (Computer Aided Design) |  |
Google SketchUp | Google SketchUp | sketchup.google.com/ | |
 |
3D modelling software. Integrates with Google Earth | |
| cloud storage | Dropbox | www.dropbox.com | |
|
||||
| Mozy | mozy.com | |
|
|||||
| collaborative software | |
Dimdim | www.dimdim.com | |
|
|||
|
Etherpad | etherpad.org | |
|
||||
|
ProjectPier | www.projectpier.org | |
|
||||
| Google Docs | docs.google.com | |
|
|||||
| content management system | |
Plone | Plone | Plone | plone.org | |
|
|
|
Drupal | Drupal | Drupal | drupal.org | |
|
||
| digital repository management | DSpace | www.dspace.org | |
|
||||
|
Fedora | Fedora | Fedora | www.fedora-commons.org | |
|
||
|
Greenstone | Greenstone | Greenstone | www.greenstone.org | |
|
||
| eLearning development environment | |
Xerte | Xerte | Xerte | www.nottingham.ac.uk/xerte | |
|
|
| object identification and validation | |
JHOVE | hul.harvard.edu/jhove | |
|
|||
|
DROID | droid.sourceforge.net | |
|
||||
| RSS aggregator | |
Brief | Brief | Brief | brief.mozdev.org | |
|
add-on for Firefox |
| screen capture | |
Jing | Jing | www.techsmith.com/jing/ | |
|
||
|
Camstudio | camstudio.org/ | |
|
||||
| Screen Toaster | www.screentoaster.com | |
|
|||||
| Screencast-o-Matic | www.screencast-o-matic.com | |
|
|||||
| Screenjelly | www.screenjelly.com | |
|
|||||
| Screenr | screenr.com | |
|
designed to work with Twitter | ||||
| Talon | www.aviary.com | |
|
|||||
| screenwriting | |
Celtx | Celtx | Celtx | www.celtx.com | |
|
|
| VLE | |
eFront | www.efrontlearning.net | |
|
|||
|
Moodle | Moodle | Moodle | moodle.org | |
|
||
| web server | |
XAMPP | XAMPP | XAMPP | www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html | |
|
easy-to-install version of Apache |
| CROSS-MEDIA | Webware | Linux | Mac | Windows | Website | Open source | Free | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| audio & video qualitative analysis | |
Transana | Transana | www.transana.org | |
|
||
| collections management system | |
Omeka | omeka.org | |
|
| MOVING IMAGE | Webware | Linux | Mac | Windows | Website | Open source | Free | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| animation (2-D) | |
Pencil | Pencil | Pencil | www.pencil-animation.org | |
|
for traditional hand-drawn animation |
|
KToon | www.ktoon.net | |
|
||||
|
Synfig | Synfig | Synfig | synfig.org | |
|
vector-based | |
| animation (3-D) | |
Blender | Blender | Blender | www.blender.org | |
|
|
| DVD ripping | |
Doom9 | Doom9 | Doom9 | www.doom9.org | |
|
repository for an enormous number of rippers, codecs, filters and much more |
| subtitling | |
Aegisub | Aegisub | Aegisub | www.aegisub.org | |
|
|
|
Gaupol | Gaupol | home.gna.org/gaupol | |
|
|||
|
Miyu | www.fluffalopefactory.com/miyu | |
|
||||
|
Subtitle Editor | home.gna.org/subtitleeditor | |
|
||||
|
Subtitle Processor | sourceforge.net/projects/subtitleproc | |
|
||||
|
VisualSubSync | www.visualsubsync.org | |
|
||||
| video capture and processing | |
VirtualDub | www.virtualdub.org | |
|
|||
| video distribution platform | |
Kaltura | www.kaltura.org | |
|
includes editor and player | ||
| video editing | |
Avidemux | Avidemux | Avidemux | www.avidemux.org | |
|
|
|
Avitricks Classic | www.bobyte.com/AviTricks | |
|
for AVI files | |||
|
Cinefx | Cinefx | Cinefx | www.cinefx.org | |
|
also visual effects; used to be known as Jahshaka | |
|
Cinelerra | www.heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php | |
|
also a compositor | |||
| Clesh | www.clesh.com | |
|
based on FORscene | ||||
|
Hyperengine-AV | sourceforge.net/projects/hyperengine | |
|
||||
| Jaycut | jaycut.com | |
|
|||||
|
LiVES | LiVES | LiVES | lives.sourceforge.net | |
|
also a performance and VJ app | |
|
Lumiera | lumiera.org | |
|
based on Cinelerra | |||
|
Kdenlive | Kdenlive | kdenlive.org | |
|
|||
|
Kino | kinodv.org | |
|
including FireWire capture from DV | |||
|
Open Movie Editor | www.openmovieeditor.org | |
|
||||
|
VideoPad | www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/index.html | |
|
||||
|
Windows Movie Maker | www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx | |
|
||||
|
ZS4 & Zwei-Stein | ZS4 & Zwei-Stein | ZS4 & Zwei-Stein | www.zs4.net | |
|
||
| video playing, converting, etc. | |
Cineplay | Cineplay | Cineplay | www.cinefx.org | |
|
|
|
MPEG Streamclip | MPEG Streamclip | www.squared5.com | |
|
can also edit | ||
|
Mplayer & Mencoder | Mplayer & Mencoder | Mplayer & Mencoder | www.mplayerhq.hu | |
|
||
|
Prism Video Converter | www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index.html | |
|
||||
|
VLC Player | VLC Player | VLC Player | videolan.org/vlc | |
|
probably the best open source app in the world… | |
| video transcoding | |
Cinecode | Cinecode | Cinecode | www.cinefx.org | |
|
drag-and-drop utility to convert anything to Flash |
|
HandBrake | HandBrake | HandBrake | handbrake.fr | |
|
||
| webcam recording | |
Debut | www.nchsoftware.com/capture/index.html | |
|
| STILL IMAGE | Webware | Linux | Mac | Windows | Website | Open source | Free | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| image colour editing | Toucan | www.aviary.com | |
|
||||
| image compression | |
Smush.it | Smush.it | Smush.it | www.smushit.com | |
|
lossless |
| image creation and editing (see also our guide toFree Online Image Editors) |
DrPic | www.drpic.com | |
|
||||
| FotoFlexer | fotoflexer.com | |
|
|||||
|
GIMP | GIMP | GIMP | www.gimp.org | |
|
||
|
ImageMagick | ImageMagick | ImageMagick | www.imagemagick.org/script | |
|
bitmap | |
|
Inkscape | Inkscape | Inkscape | www.inkscape.org | |
|
vector graphics, can be used for video titling | |
| LunaPic | www.lunapic.com | |
|
|||||
| Phixr | www.phixr.com | |
|
|||||
| Phoenix | www.aviary.com | |
|
|||||
| Photoshop.com | www.photoshop.com | |
|
|||||
| Picnik | www.picnik.com | |
|
|||||
| PicResize | www.picresize.com | |
|
|||||
| Pixer.us | www.pixer.us | |
|
|||||
| Pixlr | www.pixlr.com | |
|
|||||
| Splashup | www.splashup.com | |
|
|||||
| Sumo Paint | www.sumopaint.com | |
|
|||||
| image effects editing | Peacock | www.aviary.com | |
|
||||
| image markup | Falcon | www.aviary.com | |
|
||||
| image vector editing | Raven | www.aviary.com | |
|
||||
| panorama creation | |
AutoStitch | cvlab.epfl.ch/~brown/autostitch/autostitch.html | |
|
For the full list, please go to JISC Open Source and Free Software Directory. Thanks to the ResourceShelf newsletter for continuously surfacing up interesting resources.
Co Founder and Managing Partner at Remagine Ventures
Eze is managing partner of Remagine Ventures, a seed fund investing in ambitious founders at the intersection of tech, entertainment, gaming and commerce with a spotlight on Israel.
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
Latest posts by Eze Vidra (see all)
- The potential of Mini Apps to disrupt App Distribution as we know it - December 21, 2024
- Weekly #FIRGUN Newsletter – Dec 20 2024 - December 20, 2024
- 2025 In Media and Entertainment Tech - December 19, 2024
