CM Multimedia

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Multimedia applications for CyberMohalla/Sarai

A summary of the proposed work, and estimated timelines in terms of actual days (rather than workdays) is as below:

  • Arrive at a list of hardware requirements, and put together a test machine at Sarai: 1 week.
  • Install Ubuntu Studio, and other needed packages from the main Ubuntu distribution: 3-5 days.
  • Finalise a list of applications to be tested. Install, and configure them: 4-7 days.
  • Testing:
    • Conversion between audio/video formats: 2 weeks.
    • Audio editing / Music sequencing: ???

Note: I'm already on this. I'll add the info here as soon as the whole thing is setup. --Floyd n milan 12:16, 24 May 2007 (IST)

    • Video editing: ???
    • Others: ???
  • Porting to CyberMohalla machines: 2-4 weeks, depending on the setup, and on whether hardware upgrades are needed.

See the links in the other sections below for details.

Linux distributions tailored for multimedia

It also has realtime kernel, which dynebolic doesn't. --Floyd n milan 12:18, 24 May 2007 (IST)

  • Gentoo: Gentoo with rt-sources and other packages from the pro-audio overlay can be transformed into a powerful multimedia centric distribution.

Of these, I would recommend going with Ubuntu Studio, as it will integrate well with stock Ubuntu, and the CyberMohalla distribution.

Useful links

Categories

Conversion between audio/video formats

We would like to be able to convert back and forth between any of the following formats. Wikipedia has details on most of these formats (see links above). I believe that open-source tools can handle conversion between any of these formats:

  • Audio:
    • Uncompressed:
      • PCM (used in CDs)
      • WAV
      • AIFF
      • AU
    • Lossless compression:
      • FLAC
      • Monkey's Audio (APE)
      • Apple Lossless
      • Lossless Windows Media Audio (WMA)
    • Lossy compression:
      • MP3
      • Vorbis
      • Lossy Windows Media Audio (WMA)
      • AAC
      • GSM
      • DCT
      • VOX
  • Video (or audio/video):
    • AVI
    • MOV
    • OGG
    • OGM
    • MPEG
    • MPEG-2
    • MP4
    • VOB
    • DIVX
  • Conversion between formats: Tools include:
    • mencoder
    • VLC (can this be scripted, or called as a library?)
    • transcode
    • gnormalize (handles APE format)
    • FFmpeg

FIXME: Make a table noting which formats can be inter-converted using mukta software tools.

Audio editing, and music sequencing

If possible, please add a couple lines about why the particular application might be useful.

  • Editing
    • Audacity
    • Ardour
    • Jokosher: Somewhat of a different interface than Cubase, etc., but supposedly some people find it intuitive.
  • Music sequencing: I have largely chosen these from the Wikipedia list just by looking through screenshots, and a feature list.
    • MusE: MIDI/Audio sequencer that can also be used to record and edit.
    • LMMS: Linux MultiMedia Studio aims to be a GPL-licensed, FL Studio, Cubase and Logic Pro. Music can be produced by creating/synthesizing sounds, arranging samples, and playing live with a MIDI keyboard.
    • Rosegarden: Digital audio workstation. MIDI/audio sequencer, scorewriter, musical composition, and editing tool. Aimed as a Cubase replacement.
    • Hydrogen: Drum machine.
  • Misc. utilities:
    • JACK: Audio connection kit that can connect a number of applications to an audio device, and allow them to share audio with one another.
    • QjackCtl: GUI interface to JACK.

Video editing

If possible, please add a couple lines about why the particular application might be useful. Wikipedia has write-ups on most of these applications.

  • Kino GTK+-based non-linear video editor. Simple tool, comes with most Linux distributions.
  • Cinelerra: Open-source, non-linear video editing tool that runs on Linux, and has also been ported to MacOSX. Interface is similar to Adobe Premiere Pro.
  • PiTiVi: Caters both to newbies, and experts, and to the varying needs of the video editor.
  • Blender
  • MythTV: Personal video recorder that lets you record video sources (e.g., TV) on to a hard disk, and lets you pause, fast-forward, and rewind "live" shows. Like a TiVo.

3D animation

2D animation

  • Blender
  • Synfig: 2D vector graphics/animation program. Reduces the work of the animator by not forcing them to draw each frame.
  • GIMP-GAP: Animation plugin for GIMP. Simple, and easy to use.

Graphics

  • GIMP: The GNU Image Manipulation Program. Handles many graphics tasks such as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. The Gimpshop plugin replaces the usual GIMP menus with Photoshop-like ones.
  • CinePaint: Paint manipulation, and image processing. Used for motion picture frame-by-frame retouching, dirt removal, wire rig removal, render repair, background plates, and 3d model textures.

Tutorials

In all cases, searching Google for "<Application> tutorials", e.g., "Audacity tutorials" turns up a large number of likely-looking links, so that is probably the best starting point.

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