OpenShot
Laggy transport controls, jerky video playback, audio is good -- ChromeOS/Linux appImage
Describe the bug: Even with a simple project of 20 seconds of a static image (no transforms or effects), transport controls are laggy or "jumpy" and sometimes do not immediately respond. Hitting play starts playback but the cursor will jump several frames at a time, and the frame counter skips accordingly. A more complex project exhibits the same behavior but with jumpy video playback as well.
Audio playback is fine in all cases. The lag improves somewhat if the app window is not maximized — the smaller the window, the more the improvement.
This behavior started after the most recent ChromeOS updates since February 2025. I am not sure which one. Prior to this, OpenShot versions 3.2.1 and 3.3.0 worked flawlessly on this machine.
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
- Start OpenShot (ChromeOS appImage)
- Open a project whether simple or complex
- Attempt to use transport controls for preview
Expected behavior: Smooth advancement of timeline cursor and frame counter, with smooth video playback.
System Details:
- OpenShot Version 3.2.1, 3.3.0, 3.3 daily build
- Operating System / Distro: ChromeOS / Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
- Device: Acer Chromebook Spin 311
This is the 2nd post I've seen regarding performance issues with OpenShot in ChromeOS since the latest updats to ChromeOS.
I am assigning this to the lead developer for his review.
Please provide the following details (I don't know anything about ChromeOS):
- What version of ChromeOS are you running now?
- What version was ChromeOS before the February upgrades were applied?
- Are you aware of any changes to the Linux environment in ChromeOS pre/post upgrades?
- Have you tried running the AppImage instead to see if that suffers the same symptoms?
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Version 135.0.7049.128 (Official Build) (64-bit)
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Unsure. But this machine automatically updates for every new version of ChromeOS, so as of February it would have been the latest version prior.
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I fairly often check for updates to the Linux environment, so there may have been changes. The updates are verbosely detailed during the process but are basically inscrutable to me. Aside from updates, I have not separately installed or uninstalled any Linux components.
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I have been running the appImage exclusively. (Apologies, I should have made that more clear than just the brief mention in "Steps to reproduce the behavior".) The behavior persists across appImages for 3.2.1, 3.3.0, and the most recent daily build of 3.3 as of my report.
The lag improves somewhat if the app window is not maximized — the smaller the window, the more the improvement.
To elaborate on this: I normally run OpenShot full screen (F11) on this 11" Chromebook. I have found that if the window is resized to around 1/4 of the screen, the lag/responsiveness issues stop. I was able to work smoothly in OpenShot today on a multi-track project, albeit slowly and with a postage stamp sized preview pane.