Free, in this case, refers strictly to software which is licensed under a Free Software license by the definitions set by the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation. Open Source software refers to software that is licensed under an OSI approved license.
For your reference:
GNU Project - Confusing Words and Phrases that are Worth Avoiding
GNU Project - The Free Software Definition
GNU Project - Various Licenses and Comments
Open Source Initiative - Approved Licenses
These definitions cannot be strictly enforced in the .org boards, as post editing is disabled. However, please do NOT post "freeware", "shareware", or anything which so dilutes the definition of "Free".
Software directly pertinent to AMV creation should be listed here. Most software runs on Free or Open Source platforms, such as GNU/Linux; but some software, such as AVISynth, VirtualDub[Mod], and both programs' associated filters run on Windows. Whether or not this actually makes such projects truly Free or Open Source software is a matter of philosophical debate, but, in this case, it seems healthy to just skip the whole mess and say "this program is licensed under [X], which is a Free Software/Open Source license". That said, news on pieces of software that act as dependencies for software in this list, though, is certainly valid.
This list will, and must, grow to reflect software availability. Contributions are, of course, welcome.
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VIDEO EDITING / COMPOSITING
- Cinelerra - http://www.heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3
Kino - http://www.heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3
Kdenlive - http://www.uchian.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/kdenlive.html
transcode - http://www.transcoding.org/cgi-bin/transcode
mencoder - http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design7/news.html
VirtualDub - http://www.virtualdub.org/
VirtualDubMod - http://virtualdubmod.sourceforge.net/
AVISynth - http://www.avisynth.org/
- mplayer - http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design7/news.html
xine - http://xinehq.de/
VideoLAN - http://www.videolan.org/
- Blender - http://www.blender3d.org/
Inkscape - http://www.inkscape.org/
Sodipodi - http://www.sodipodi.com/
The GIMP - http://www.gimp.org/
CinePaint - http://cinepaint.sourceforge.net/
- Ardour - http://www.ardour.org/
Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/