Open source Jahshaka sets sights on Hollywood

What's in store for version 3.0?

I guess the goal for version 3.0 is to really streamline the interface and stabilize the core. We have some really cool interface competitions for 3.0 that when combined with the 2.0 core will really rock. But the coolest feature is we also plan to raise the bar by giving the average user the ability to create uncompressed, real time immersive film quality content and broadcast it over the web in 3D...

We started another project, JahPlayer, to enable this functionality. JahPlayer is a hybrid 2D-3D player based on the Jahshaka real time 3D core and the Jahshaka media player and asset management system. One cool feature we are working on is an embedded version for cell phones so you can author on Jahshaka, type a number in and send some cool media to play with.

Do you think Jahshaka will become widely adopted in the business space where commercial software is used? How does Jahshaka compare and how is it unique among free and commercial apps?

I guess we are unique because our goal is not only to displace the commercial apps but also the facilities that use them... were talking about empowering independent film makers to replace Hollywood by giving them the tools and the network to broadcast over - and empowering video addicts to set up their own virtual broadcast stations that can take advantage of the new "always on" Internet-enabled AV devices and the Web.

Some people have said that open source software is not innovative and follows commercial software, do you have any thoughts about that claim?

That's kind of like Apple trade marking iTunes when audio players have been around for years, talk about innovation. Open source is all about innovation and is actually driving the commercial giants against the wall since we can release innovative new technology faster than they can... our open development pipeline lets anyone jump in and experiment via CVS access and then have stable releases that give them something that's not quite as up to date but that works in production environments.

For example, we have full GPU and GPGPU acceleration in our effects module - anyone with a NV30+ card can download Jahshaka from CVS and really play around in real time. This competes with hardware acceleration features such as real time Blur for Media 100 that costs $8000... and Avid's DNA.

But the innovation isn't just there. Unlike the commercial businesses out there we aren't in a feature war with the competition, so we can think freely. A few good examples of this is a broadcast module we are working on that will turn every Jahshaka node into a small broadcast station... with on-demand and live streaming using Xiph.org's open source codecs. We are also working on a 3D VJ module for dynamic, audio driven 3D visuals.