LINUX
`MULTIMEDIA
`HACKSM
`
`Kyle Rankin
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`Beijing - Cambridge - Farnham - Kijin - Paris - Sebastopoi - Taipei
`- Tokyo
`Akamai 1012
`iii
`Akamai 1012
`111
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`T
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`O’RE|LLY°°
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`

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`Linux Multimedia Hacks”
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`by Kyle Rankin
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`Copyright © 2006 O’Reilly Media,_lnc. All rights reserved.
`Printed in the United States of America.
`
`Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
`
`O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online
`editions are also available for most titles (safari.oreilly.com). For more information, Contact
`our corporate/institutional sales department: (800) 998-9938 or corporate@oreilly.c0m.
`
`Editor:
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`David Brickner
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`Production Editor:
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`Jarnie Peppard
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`581168 Editor:
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`Rael Dornfest
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`COVE!‘ Designer:
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`Marcia Friedman
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`Executive Editor:
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`Dale Dougherty
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`Interior Designer:
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`David Futato
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`Printing History:
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`November 2005:
`
`First Edition.
`
`Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell-Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered
`trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc. The Hacks series designations, Linux Multimedia Hacks,
`the image of a stereoscope, and related trade dress are trademarks of O'Reilly Media, Inc.
`
`Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are
`claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc.
`was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps.
`
`While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and
`author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use
`of the information contained herein.
`
`Small print: The technologies discussed in this publication, the limitations on these
`technologies that technology and content owners seek to impose, and the laws actually
`limiting the use of these technologies are constantly changing. Thus, some of the hacks
`described in this publication may not work, may Cause unintended harm to systems on which
`they are used, or may not be consistent with applicable user agreements. Your use of these
`hacks is at your own risk, and O'Reilly Media, Inc. disclaims responsibility for any damage or
`expense resulting from their use. ln any event, you should take care that your use of these
`hacks does not violate any applicable laws, including copyright laws.
`
`ENG»?
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`3.ot7<;»
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`"‘-§:';»
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`fin This book uses RepKover",' a durable and flexible lay—flat binding.
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`ISBN: 0-596-10076-0
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`[M]
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`iv
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`iv
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`contents
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`Credits .
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`ix
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`Preface .
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`1
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`Chapter 1. Images .
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`1. Take a Screenshot
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`2. Convert from One Image Format to Another
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`3. Make Image Thumbnails
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`4. Animate Images
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`5. Leave a Watermark
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`6. Pull Images from a Digital Camera
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`7. Manage Photos with f—spot
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`8. Edit Images
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`9. Remove Red Eye from Photos
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`10. Create a Slideshow
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`II. Automatically Synchronize Your Camera and Computer
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`12. Make a Screen-Capture Movie
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`Chapter 2. Audio .
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`. 33
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`13. Mix Your Audio for Perfect Sound
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`14. Surround Yourself with Sound
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`15. Play Multiple Sounds at the Same Time
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`16. Get MP3 Libraries for Red I-Iat—Based Distributions
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`I7. Configure Network Sound
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`18. Manage Your Audio with XMMS
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`19. Shuffle Your Music the Smart Way
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`20. Try Rhythmbox
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`21. Let amaroK Rock Your Music Collection
`22. Store amaroK Data in MySQL
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`23. Enable Your Multimedia Keyboard
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`24. Rip CDs from the Command Line
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`25. Rip CD5 Straight from Konqueror
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`26. Get a Grip on CD Ripping
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`27. Edit ID3v2 Tags from the Command Line
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`28. Add Album Art to ID3 Tags
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`29. Automate Music File Tagging
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`30. Correct Music Metadata with MusicBrainz
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`31. Clean Music Metadata at the Command Line
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`32. Clean Music Metadata with a GUI
`33. Pass the Mic and Record Audio
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`34. Edit Audio with Audacity
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`35. Convert from One Audio Format to Another
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`36. Normalize the Volume of Your Audio Files
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`37. Make Your Computer Talk to You
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`38. Search Audio for Hidden Messages
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`39. Burn Audio CD5 from the Command Line
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`40. Automate Audio CD Burning with K3b
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`41. Turn Your Computer into a Turntable
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`42. Use an iPod with Linux
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`43. Sync Your iRiver with Linux
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`44. Use Other Portable Audio Players
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`45. Use a Bluetooth Headset with Linux
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`46. Find All Your Media Files
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`Chapter 3. Video .
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`47. Master Video Output Options
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`48. Use MPlayer
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`49. Advanced MPlayer Tweaks
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`50. Create Family—Friendly Edits of Movies
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`S1. Crop Video During Playback
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`52. Add Custom Subtitles to Video
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`53. Play Restricted Media Formats
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`54. Watch Videos in ASCII Art
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`55. Try xine-Based Video Players
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`56. View VLC, the Cross-Platform Video Player
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`57. Probe Video Settings
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`58. Rip a VCD
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`59. Rip a DVD
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`60. Encode a DVD to MPEG4 from the Command Line
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`61. Rip and Encode DVDs with a mencoder Frontend
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`62. Rip and Encode DVDS with K3b
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`63. Convert from One Video Format to Another
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`64. Create Archos—Compatible Video
`65. Convert Dual—Layer DVD to Single~Layer DVD
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`66. Use a Digital Video Camcorder with Linux
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`67. Edit Video
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`68. Resize a Video
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`69. Create 21 VCD
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`70. Create a DVD
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`71. Customize a DVD Menu
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`72. Create Self-Booting Movies
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`Chapter 4. Broadcast Media .
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`73. Install a TV Tuner
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`74. Watch TV on Your Computer
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`75. Output to a TV with NVIDIA Cards
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`76. Cut Commercials
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`77. Create a DVR with MythTV
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`78. MythTV as a Digital Hub
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`79. Take (Remote) Control
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`80. Browse Streaming Radio Stations
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`81. Rip Streaming Audio
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`82. Rip Streaming Video
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`83. Command-Line Streaming MP3 Player
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`84. Build a Linux Jukebox with jinzora
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`85. Stream Video with VLC
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`86. Grab Podcasts from the Command Line
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`87. Get Podcasts with a GUI
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`88. Broadcast Sound to AM with a Monitor
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`Chapter 5. Web .
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`. 266
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`89. Install the Macromedia Plug-in in a Flash
`90. Use the Real RealPlayer
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`91. Watch Videos Within Firefox
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`92. Kaffeinate Konqueror
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`93. Install the Acrobat Reader Plug-in
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`94. Control Your Media Player with Firefox
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`95. Grab Color Profiles from Other Web Sites
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`96. Browse Graphical Sites from an xterm
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`' 97. Star in Your Own Reality TV Show
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`98. Make Internet Phone Calls with Skype
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`99. Turn Your Linux Box into a PBX
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`100. Host a Photo Gallery
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`viii
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`contents
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`

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`This material may be protected by Copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code)
`
`

`
`Encode a DVD to MPEG4 from the Command Line
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`open up the DVD in your favorite video player application and check the dif-
`ferent chapters to see. In the following examples, I will encode all of chapter
`one from a DVD I have ripped into ~/example/VIDEO_TS, so change the
`chapter and file paths to suit your DVD.
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`Full Quality Encoding with MP3 Audio
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`The simplest method for 2—pass encoding encodes the DVD at the full bitrate
`(or how many bits you can use to store a second of video). This method will
`create a larger resulting file, but it won’t require a preliminary step of calculat-
`ing a bitrate to create an output file of a specific size. This requires two differ-
`ent mencoder commands, one for each pass:
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`$ cat "'/example/VIDEO_TS/VTS_01*.VOB | mencoder -oac Inp31ame -ovc lavc - \
`lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vpass=1 -o examp1e.av:i -
`3; cat “'/example/VIDEO_TS/I/TS_a1*.VOB I mencoder -oac mp31ame -ovc lavc - \
`lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vpass=2 -o examp1e.av.i
`-
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`These commands concatenate all the VOB files for chapter one as input for
`mencoder. mencoder sets the output audio codec (-oac) to MP3, and sets the
`output video codec to MPEG4 (vcodec=mpeg4). At the end of the second pass
`example.avi will be finished and ready to play. On my 1.2 CH2 Pentium-M
`processor, 2~pass encoding usually takes twice as long as the length of the
`movie, so a two~hour movie takes four hours to encode.
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`‘A
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`_
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`You can encode into formats other than MPEG4 with this
`method; just view the MPlayer manpage for information on
`the different values you can pass the vcodec parameter.
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`Encode with Specified Bitrates
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`If space is a concern, you will likely want to specify a particular bitrate for
`mencoder to use so you can create a smaller output file. Although you could fig-
`ure out which bitrate to use by picking different bitrates at random and seeing
`how big the resulting file is, or possibly through calculation, mencoder can cal-
`culate some acceptable bitrates for you. This calculation will add some extra
`time (on a 1.2 CH2 Pentium—M, it adds 15 to 20 minutes for an average movie)
`to the process, but after you use it a few times you will probably notice a range
`of bitrates that fit with the file size you want. The first step is to remove any pre-
`vious temporary files created by the calculation process and then launch the
`special mencoder calculation command:
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`$ rm frameno. avi
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`$cat '‘'/examp1e/VIDEO_TS/VTS__o1*.VOB { mencoder -oac mp31ame -ovc frameno -o \
`f:rameno.av:i —
`
`168
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`I Chapter 3, Video
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`

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`Rip and Encode DVDs with a mencoder Frontend
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`Recommended video bitrate for 650MB CD: 710
`Recommended video bitrate for 700MB CD: 785
`Recommended video bitrate for 800MB CD: 934
`Recommended video bitrate for 2 x 650MB CD: 1679
`Recommended video bitrate for 2 x 700MB CD: 1828
`Recommended video bitrate for 2 x 800MB CD: 2126
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`Text will scroll by as mencoder processes through the video. The last lines of
`the output will give you rough estimates for bitrates to use for 600, 700, and
`800 MB files (suitable for CD5). After you have chosen which bitrate to use,
`run the same 2-pass encoding commands as before, but with the addition of
`the vbitrate option (in this example 780):
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`1: cat "/example/VIDEO_TS/I/TS_01*.VOB | mencoder -oac mp31ame -ovc lavc -\
`Iavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vpass=1:vbitIate=78o -o examp1e.avi -
`$ cat "'/example/VIDEO_TS/VTS_o1*.VOB I mencoder -oac mp31ame -ovc lavc -\
`-lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vpass=2:vbitrate=780 -o examp1e.av1'
`-
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`mencoder will process through the video as in the previous example, only
`this time with an output file that meets your space requirements.
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`Reducing the bitrate for encoding will cause the output file to
`lose Video quality. If you aren’t pleased with the quality of a
`particular bitrate you might want to experiment with higher
`bitrates until you find one that has acceptable quality loss.
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`
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`i.
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`E.
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`if #61 Hip and Encode DVDs with a mencoder Frontend
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`
`The acidrip utility gives you access to many of the common mencoder
`functions that rip and encode a DVD in a GUI.
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`In “Encode a DVD to MPl{i(}4 from the Cjoinmand Linc“ [Hack #60], I discuss
`how to use mencoder’s 2—pass encoding to turn VOB files you have extracted
`from a DVD into an MPEG4 .avi file. This method works great; however,
`some people are turned off by the thought of doing encoding entirely from
`the command line. If you want to use mencoder to encode a DVD, but
`would rather have a GUI, the acidrip utility provides you with most of the
`major mencoder options you might want in a GUI interface.
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`First, install acidrip. If you search Google a bit, you can find third—party
`acidrip packages for most distributions. For example, Debian packages are
`available in Marillat’s third—party repository that also houses packages such
`as mplayer and mencoder. If you can't find a pre—built package, then down-
`load the acidrip and accompanying lsdvd packages from the official site at
`http://untrepid.com/acidrip and follow the installation instructions.
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`With acidrip installed, type acidrip to start the program. The default screen
`that greets you (see Figure 3-3) can be a bit intimidating at first since it has
`so many options. For basic ripping there are only a few options you need to
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`Chapter 3, Video
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`I
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`169