Analysis of media object management methods in nonlinear video editing systems

Abstract

A comparative review of approaches to organizing media assets in open-source and commercial video editors is presented. Common patterns and bottlenecks in existing implementations are identified. The article uses comparative analysis to examine architectural approaches to media object management in nonlinear video editing systems. Seven systems are considered: open-source solutions Kdenlive, Shotcut and OpenShot, commercial products DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and Vegas Pro, as well as the Russian product VideoMONTAZH. Based on source code and documentation analysis, four criteria for classifying management methods are identified: type of media content, metadata structure, principles of data organization, including reference and copying semantics, and storage architecture. It is established that domestic professional solutions are absent, while foreign open-source systems demonstrate mature architectural patterns. The most balanced approach is implemented in Kdenlive: a centralized media asset registry with hybrid semantics and checksum support provides reliability with economical resource use. Recommendations are formulated for developers of cross-platform video editors: using hybrid semantics with optional media consolidation, centralized metadata storage with hash-based indexing, and separation of master clips and their timeline instances.