Does anyone know of a good (and simple to use) Ubuntu application to speed up video files?

The only two I know for linux are Kdenlive and Virtualdub. Don't know how to use the first but Vdub you use the video filters section. You might find these too much for your needs though.

This one's supposed to be simple. http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/

avidemux won't import ogv files (unless I'm missing something). I already tried kdenlive and, apparently, you have to do something special to get the speed filter.

I haven't tried Vdub - I'll have to give it a go ~ thanks!

Virtualdub is a windows application, uses avisynth avs scripts. Does run in linux using WINE.

A more usual way is ffmpeg and command line, NOT difficult.

http://youtu.be/qxLeJsxVOMI (4 mins)

Just my opinion, while ogv format is great quality, terrible to edit. But if you are using recordmydesktop as I suspect, you are stuck with it. As you found, Avidemux which is a great little editor does not support the format. Other editors do, openshot for example but you are limited to what they give you in the way of output.
Have a look into ffmpeg which can also capture the desktop & produces avi files that Avidemux can use.

Sorry, I had assumed that all open source software was made for linux or cross platform. Didn't realize Vdub was Windows only.

Dunno if any of these are any good. http://alternativeto.net/software/virtualdub/?platform=linux

This worked perfectly - Thanks!



That would be nice I used to have a nice collection of Windows OSS. Most of it I replaced, but some I haven't been able to.

Really? What message (or error) you get when you try open it?

You can try OpenShot, a non-linear video editor for GNU/Linux. Import the clip. Drag and drop the clip at the beginning of the first track bar. Right click on the track bar and "Properties". Follow these steps to select speed:
http://www.openshotvideo.com/2009/07/sl ... it-up.html
Export the video with the profile you choose.

I don't get a very helpful error message. "Attempt to open /home/rlw/Videos/1.ogv failed!"

My guess is it doesn't have the ogv decoder compiled in.

I tried OpenShot earlier. The video it produced hung up on the same frame for a few minutes, then went to the next frame for a few minutes. Perhaps I selected the wrong profile... but I'm not sure what use there would be in a profile that produces a 9 minute video with about 5 frames total.

LiVES supports this.

Ohh, it seems Avidemux does not support Theora video codec (usually in OGG-OGV container). You must use another program to first convert video to an Avidemux supported format. For example you can use Transmageddon.

I do not know what could be the problem with OpenShot. I've done a little test at 12x with a custom profile and it worked well

I easily could have made a mistake with OpenShot. I downloaded about 5 or 6 video editors and quickly played with them all. rich2005's suggestion to use ffmpeg worked just fine, though - since I don't really need audio.

The OP was about ogv, but if you want to convert to a .avi format (avi is just a wrapper that covers a multitude of sins) a simple way, again command line, is

ffmpeg -i filename.ogv -sameq -g 12 outfile.avi

the -sameq keeps the same quality setting the -g refers to group-of-pictures (GOP) which defines the interval between keyframes, small value is useful for applications such as Avidemux that uses 'smart rendering'

Openshot, the problem is not Openshot but the ogv format. As pointed out, use an avi file and you can speed up your video. Downsides, lots of presets, maybe none suitable for you. Make your own. No smart rendering, which might not be a problem in this case. No sharpen filter, at least I can't find one.