Linux Audo/Video FAQ Development [Archive]

jggimi

8th June 2003, 16:40

Doom9's Linux forum needs a FAQ. Do you agree? Are you willing to help craft it?

I've been the moderator of Doom9's Linux forum for several months -- and while I may have been involved with XFree86 development in the days when the Intel 286 was king -- I've been out of the Linux world for many years, and I'm certainly a newbie when it comes to A/V transcoding/encoding in the Linux environment. Therefore I am soliciting your involvement.

A top-down approach -- beginning with a structure, first -- might be the best way to get started. Here's my take on one possible structure for a FAQ: The world of Linux and Linux distributions.

Installing a Linux distribution on a Windows PC, and managing a dual-boot environment.

Tarballs, packages, and source distributions -- installing applications on your Linux system.

A/V players

MPEG-1/2 video tools.

MPEG-4 video tools

Audio transcoding tools

Using Windows emulation, and managing wine

Web resources and linksThoughts? Comments? Questions? Complaints?

Anacondo

8th June 2003, 18:26

Hmm, such a faq will be a nice thing to do, but maybe you should focus in the "media" part insted of explaining so many things about Linux in general. I believe there are many tutorials, faqs and guides out there about linux principles and basics, so you could just point to them. I think you could avoid a lot of hard work that way.

I myself am planning to write a complete guide about ripping in Linux, but my knowledge is very limited at the moment. I plan to try all available solutions and find the one that suits me best. Right now I'm pretty out of time, but by the end of this month I'll be plenty of time (if things go well with my exams). But if I can help in any way just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Cheers.

Joe_Bloggs

8th June 2003, 18:33

What about Java ? Many linux users use ds.jar instead of the WINE /PVAstrumento combo to correct errors related to Digital Video Broadcasting. It works for me using w2k. I leave it up to you to explain why it can work in several operating systems irespective of hardware.
It would be nice if Linux users had access to avisynth. This appears to be a Visual C++ 6 project.
In addition VirtualDub for Linux would also be a winner as it is a springboard for numerous projects and addons.
------------------------------------------------------
Regards Joe_Bloggs
W2K,Redhat9
------------------------------------------------------
PS I got mplayer to compile and run and play a DVD. Unfortunately It required a path to fonts for its gui and I had no idea where to point it to. However it played perfectly.

avih

8th June 2003, 18:35

Originally posted by Joe_Bloggs
PS I got mplayer to compile and run and play a DVD. Unfortunately It required a path to fonts for its gui and I had no idea where to point it to. However it played perfectly.

what OS?

Joe_Bloggs

8th June 2003, 21:19

I should have said mplayer under Redhat9. Mplayer is of course listed in AVI&DVD players section in the doom9 forum. As are its ports to the windows environment.

jggimi

9th June 2003, 02:30

Shortly after I started this thread, before any replies appeared, TactX and I had a PM conversation. As it elaborates on my thinking, and, specifically addresses Anacondo's concerns, TactX has given me permission to share our conversation:T:
--
If you need some help for the FAQ, I could help you on these topics:

- Debian/GNU Linux FAQ
- MPlyayer/MEncoder FAQ

and maybe some other topics.

As for the Debian FAQ I don't want to write an installation and setup FAQ, but just give some good links on how to setup ALSA and such stuff.
The main part of the debian FAQ should imho be about apt and especially its unofficial packages (which you will need to do proper DVD-ripping).

But note! My time will be highly limited...

J:
--
...I wasn't thinking of getting too complicated. I'm hoping a FAQ would be: 1) brief, 2) easy to keep up-to-date, 3) mainly pointers to other resources.

This is to be a FAQ for newbie Linux A/V folks, as I don't want to replace the many Linux FAQs all over the web. I'd rather just point to them.

As we build it, we may not want to get down to the level of, for example, discriminating between different distributions, or discriminating between X11 GUIs. I was thinking of simple questions and simple answers -- and, using Debian as an example ...

Q: What links should I bookmark for Debian installation and support?
A: We recommend starting with link, link, link, and link.

So other than a brief discription of Debian and a few links ... the FAQ probably shouldn't need any more Debian info. I think that meshes with what you'd like to contribute ... and the limits on your time.

Now, the mplayer / mencoder parts of the FAQ ... these should, obviously, have more depth ... while still trying to keep both the questions and the answers simple. Using mplayer as an example:

Q: My distribution came with an mplayer that doesn't play my files. Why? What should I do?
A: Distributors must pay for licensed codecs, and free distributions remove such licensed codecs from the players. If you obtain the current source distribution from www.mplayerhq.hu you may enable features and include your licensed codecs that were disabled in the distribution's version.

T:
--
But how do you want to post the FAQ?
Send all the Questions and answers to you, so you can post them?
Or allow anyone to post in a FAQ-thread?

Both ways have pros and cons...

J:
--
They do. I've seen it both ways. It's a personal preference, of course, but I prefer two sticky threads. The FAQ should be a single post, that cannot be replied to, but can be edited by me or another moderator. I'd also like a separate sticky for all the updates / questions / clarifications / comments. This way, both threads are at the top for easy access, but the newbie doesn't have to wade through a discussion thread to get their question answered. This avoids that pitfall, and with having both "sticky" -- it's easy for members to suggest changes.

wnowak1

10th June 2003, 22:48

I am pretty good with linux and do some c programming on the side. (nothing advanced). I'm also a novice w/ the ripping process under windows. Like many others, I'm looking for linux solutions to this method. So, If you would like, I can offer help and maybe we can form some sort "community" and get linux ripping/encoding to be a little more under way...

Anyone interested can contact me on icq: 5843358
or drop an email to : wnowak1@linkwall.com

jggimi

12th June 2003, 02:12

Thanks, wnowak1.

A few days ago, madluther and I had a PM conversation about the FAQ which others may be interested in seeing. He's given me permission to share it with the forum.

I've been travelling, and didn't manage to get around to excerpting it until today.

M:
--
I would like be involved with this, I have been thinking of writing a Wine setup HOWTO for the following set of applications ( all of which I currently use under wine)...

[Note: Madluther has since published it in this forum as a thread called A better wine vintage (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=55377).]

J:
--
Thank you for the very kind offer! I would love to exploit your wine experience, and I look forward to it eagerly.

If -- as I currently envision it, this is a relatively short, simple document containing common questions and answers ... a HOWTO -- well, a guide -- will probably be overkill. If the FAQ is too long, it will become difficult to read through. A post in the forum does not have the flexibility of a web page.

However, a Q&A with a link to a HOWTO would be perfect!

I haven't given a whole lot of thought to the kinds of Qs and As that would be needed for a wine section. OK, I haven't given it any consideration before now. (My wine experience has been very limited.) Here's the only question I can come up with at the moment:

Q: I delete my .wine directory and rebuild it every time I try to use a new Windows app. I still struggle with figuring out what works and what doesn't. What wine settings should I use for <list of applications>?

A: Here are recommended starting settings. You should be able to get reasonable results with these: <followed by a table of apps and settings.>

I know there should be more questions ... and I'd be interested in what you think of this sort of "short form" FAQ, perhaps with a link to a guide, rather than having it included in the text.

M:
--
I agree that a complete HOWTO would be overkill, and its really not neccessary. Most of the setup is documented here on this forum. All it needs is an update which I could post in the same thread. The setup is very simple so I dont anticipate too many problems / FAQ's there.

Some FAQ's I think that would be helpful are:- "A Dialog box in application X doesnt draw properly how do I make it work or workaround this". or "I have Codec X on my windows partition, how do I use it in Wine". Basically tips and tricks I've discovered or read about.

Joe999

16th June 2003, 04:13

First, I have to say this is a great idea. Media capture and encoding was the single most difficult part of my transition to Linux, simply because I could never find much information on any subject in one place.

I like the idea of adding debian apt repositories, but would it be possible to add mandrake urpmi as well? I havn't used mandrake for a while, but I think adding PLF, contribs, and Texstar's should cover the majority of what's out there compiled for mandrake.

jggimi

19th June 2003, 19:33

Here's a cut at the opening few questions in the FAQ. I've only written 3 brief Q&As, but I think that with this brief section, I managed to encompass the first three sections of the proposed outline: The world of Linux and Linux distributions.
Installing a Linux distribution on a Windows PC, and managing a dual-boot environment.
Tarballs, packages, and source distributions -- installing applications on your Linux system.Let me know what you think!

---------------------------------------------------------------
Sample FAQ (Release 0.0.0.0.1 Alpha) :rolleyes:

Last update: (xx June 2003) All comments, corrections, and criticisms should be made in <link TBD>.

1) What is the absolute minimum I need to know?

Linux is a public domain "clone" of Unix. It looks and acts like Unix, though there is no Unix software built into it. Various commercial companies and non-commercial organizations produce packaged, installable versions of Linux. These various versions of Linux are called distributions.

The commercial companies make revenue from support and maintenance contracts, and from retail sales of packaged CD/DVD-ROMs. If you have a broadband internet connection, and need no support beyond the distributor's web site, then Linux can be free. Otherwise, expect to pay a fee for retail packaging.

A fairly comprehensive description of the most popular distributions for PCs, with links to download and install them, can be found at LinuxISO.org. They also have a fairly good intro to Linux at that site.

2) Windows is too complicated for me. Will Linux be worse? Do I need to be a technical wizard?

With most popular Linux distributions, you do not need a great deal of knowledge to install and use the packaged applications available from your distributor. However, if you wish to install Linux applications from other sources, or you wish to alter the capabilities of a prepackaged application, then new skills will be needed.

Applications you install are available in several forms, and different skills are needed with each type, such as Packages - designed for your distribution, similar skill level as needed to install software in Windows. Binary archives - containing executable programs and other files requiring a manual installation. Source distributions - often require significant configuration, compiling, and installation tasks.The web is a great resource for picking up the knowledge needed. You might try starting with http://www.ctssn.com, http://www.linux-tutorial.info, http://linuxsurvival.com, or tutorials and other education available from your distributor.

3) Can I keep Windows?

All major distributions for PCs are Windows-aware, and will set up your PC to be dual-boot. You just need to ensure you have sufficient disk space for a Linux partition. There are even distributions designed to run from CD-ROM, that use no disk space at all.

If your Windows partition(s) are FAT32, then your distribution will be able to write files there, if you desire. Windows NTFS partitions can be read, but not written to. For more information, check with your distributor.

Joe_Bloggs

20th June 2003, 23:33

Dear Jggimi.
How about recomending a good book/distribution combo.
Especially one that caters for the uninitiated.

I myself would advise new users to buy a small hard disk
(no more than 40Mb) to experiment with a new operating system.
This way by installing to this and not involving a fully
working operating system ,you can afford to mess up big time
with no lasting effects to your original operating system.

In my experience disk partitioning is tricky for new users and
the slightest mistake could trash a working windows system unless
one takes precautions of trying stuff out on a different HD.:)

jggimi

21st June 2003, 00:07

Thank you Joe; I appreciate the comments!

What if I were to make a stronger recommendation for newbies to start with a cd-based distribution (such as Knoppix), and then acquire an additional hard drive to avoid partitioning problems? In this way, they can get their feet wet without making a larger committment of capital that a burned CD, and at low risk of doing something that might damage their Windows system.

And if you (or anyone else) has a book/distribution combo recommendation, I would be happy to add them to this section of the FAQ.

Joe_Bloggs

21st June 2003, 00:39

processing...

Joe_Bloggs

21st June 2003, 01:28

Knoppix looks good! On a bad day I could trash my own operating system without the help of another OS. Hence in my opinion it is probably better to advocate a seperate hard disk in the event that you would wish to try out a new operating system. Some people are very litigeous and will sue if anything happens to their precious files.
It is alway a good Idea to back up valued data to a medium that cannot be accidently trashed.:)

mtc

22nd June 2003, 00:14

A good book that I've purchased and reffered to many a time while getting used to Linux is:

Linux & Windows Interoperability Guide by Ed Bradford & Lou Mauget.
ISBN: 0-13-032477-9

It cover all aspects of using windows and linux together, Dual boot issues, Samba etc. I think it uses Redhat in its discussions and cover all Windows versions including XP.

I would that knoppix looks good as a safe way to introduce yourself to linux, but would reccomnd Mandrake as a good version to start with for a first time user who want a fully functioning linux, as the nice built in scripts that come with it just make things like setting up you internet, sharing your internet connection, accessing windows partitions etc so easy.

Although as you get more used to linux you'll probably want to move on to another distro such as Debian, Slackware etc.

Anyway thats my 2c. When I get some time later I'll be happy to contribute more :)

Chris

Joe_Bloggs

23rd June 2003, 23:34

What is the overall difference between the confusing distributions of
linux. What do they have in common and in what way do the differ?
Eg. RedHat V Mandrake V Knopppix V Debian V SUSE V Allcomers I can't
remember or am in ignorance of.

There has been some good news on the nvidia graphics front as gart
drivers have been released. This may taint my kernel even more.

Consider this post as fuel to the dimly glowing embers of Linux/Audio
Video FAQ Development.

:devil:

blixi

12th July 2003, 17:09

Hi !

I have read the thread allmost. Some recommantations:

- Building the FAQ using a wiki ? Maybe with write access just for some people.
- NO distro recommendation. It will leadto a distro war. There are several site out there that explain which, how and the like
- main point should be video editing and preferable native linux solutions
- another section is wine and encoding chains, preferable mpeg2encoding, as this is the weakest point under linux (alltough there is an mpeg2 encoder

How can I contribute ?

About me: I'm a vdr user. Using Linux since '98 I'm familiar with it for dayly usage. Win gotted kicked a year ago. My main interest is to convert vdr recordings, not so much converting dvd's.
OS: Mandrake (currently 9.1)

Regards

Steffen

jggimi

12th July 2003, 17:27

Thank you, Steffen. I appreciate your input -- especially about distributions!

I've not had any time recently to work on this, and won't for another few weeks, yet.

By vdr, I suppose you mean Video Disk Recorder (such as http://www.cadsoft.de/people/kls/vdr/ ) ??

blixi

12th July 2003, 17:35

Yep exactly. I meant the Video Disk Recorder by klaus schmiedinger et all.

No need to hurry. Just remember me if I can contribute something :) I guess I have enought to do myself too the next days.

Steffen

phro

10th August 2003, 00:22

I think that going into discussion about linux distros and pros/cons discussion of linux vs other OS's is a bit out of the reasonable scope of a linux video processing readme. Perhaps a brief paragraph or two discussint the pros of linux as it relates to a/v work and some references to some of the other good documents out there to help newbs cut their teeth on open source.

I would suggest that such a guide would be better overall if it kept to the more a/v related items you listed: A/V players, MPEG-1/2 video tools, MPEG-4 video tools, Audio transcoding tools, Using Windows emulation, and managing wine, Web resources and links. That way we can focus on adding our a/v knowledge and experience to the linux documentation thats already out there without reinventing the wheel with install guides that have been around for quite some time now.

I'm not trying to say we shouldn't help newcomers to linux at all. I just think we could save some effort and use the extra space in the document to provide better or more useful information about the actual a/v stuff.

Joe_Bloggs

10th August 2003, 02:00

Welcome to the forum, your views are valued. The distro war did not manifest itself as many observers predicted. Perhaps that is because nobody gives a damn. In my narrow view Linux is too dependant on wine. Stop whining just do.

It sounds an obvious requirement but how many people bother to check if their hardware is supported by linux drivers. I recently bought an ATI video product my self and did not even bother to check the linux driver situation! I must be mad and my psychiatrists agree with me.
Don't buy stuff unless it has linux support.
It is too damn hot :devil:

jggimi

11th August 2003, 17:15

Thanks, phro, for your suggestions, and welcome to Doom9's forum!

(I wish I had time to work on this ... now it looks like October before I'll be able to spend much time on it.)

toySOILDer

14th August 2003, 05:03

i'm sure you guys have gotton most of the input you need on this, but here's my 2 cents. I think i would be a great idea to have a basic faq on like seting up your DVD drive, what dvd software there is, how to use the different prgms, how to use WINE *succesfully*, things like that. I'm relativly new to linux, but with windows and Xvid i know a whole lot. So i'll be glad to help where i can. But as far a general faq i think thats been done over and over agian. since this is doom9.org i think it should focus mainly on the dvd backup aspecs.

jggimi

14th August 2003, 16:33

Thanks!

greensh

19th August 2003, 20:25

I don't recommend the isolinux website as a source for details about Linux distributions; instead http://distrowatch.planetmirror.com/ is the place to go.

I've been using Linux for over a year now (college Unix background). The "best" Linux distribution I've found so far is Yoper (www.yoper.com). It's the fastest one to run and install and the forums are very helpful and free. At this point I would NEVER go back to "winders" since I now see it as a toy.

The options to encode video are more robust in Linux. Yes, it requires some learning, but you can't beat mplayer/mencoder/transcode. Why use the spyware DivX5 crap when you can use LAVC (divx playback compatible)? I have extensive knowledge about DVD conversions under Linux and it can ALL be done using only one script! You just kick the script off; there's no dorking around with 5 non-automated, winders programs to get a good encode. It's kind of like having an extended AVIsynth that does it ALL. Anyway, I'll be glad to help anyone trying to eventually free themselves from the M$ domination :sly:

jggimi

20th August 2003, 05:24

Welcome to the forum, Greensh, and thank you for your very informative post!

I'd love to pick your brain ... as soon as I have some time.

VILLA21

27th August 2003, 13:32

"...I don't recommend the isolinux website as a source for details about Linux distributions; instead http://distrowatch.planetmirror.com/ is the place to go..."

Another source is(was) my University, always updated:

http://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/linux/

I"m just a couple of days only in Linux world, got a lot to learn...:)

greensh

28th August 2003, 17:16

Wow! Thanks so much for hosting such a great site... this is very valuable since other links can be too congested at times. My friend and I greatly appreciate the BEOS as well... he's been wanting to try running it for awhile now and we didn't know these were available. Maybe you can host the Yoper images as well; I still feel it's the best Linux there is and I'm enjoying kde 3.1.3! It took me 20 minutes to install it this week. :cool:

mdkusr

23rd October 2003, 04:49

No one mentioned where to get all the good stuff i see! :devil: Anyway, I think this site is in order for this thread - http://plf.zarb.org/

-M

PS. If I remember anymore off the top of my head, I'll post them. i used to have them all on Becky's, but that board is no more. :( I used to mod on that board and miss it much!

jggimi

23rd October 2003, 20:08

Thanks. I still haven't had much time to work at this, but still want to complete it.

phro

13th November 2003, 17:20

This is such a great resource waiting to happen. I see all kinds of excellent technical advice being dispensed in the win32 sections, it'd be great to get that information flowing for the linux folks too. Maybe we could get a list of questions for this FAQ started, then we could submit answers and all jggimi would have to do is put 'em together in one spot.

jggimi

13th November 2003, 18:31

Great idea! I've gone back through the this thread, and after reviewing comments and suggestions: I'm of the opinion that the FAQ should stay away from the "New to Linux" areas entirely, and just provide links to recommended Linux Newbie websites elsewhere, and other resources such as the book/CD recommendatation that mtc recommended. That would eliminate duplicating other's work. And it eliminates the whole area of religeous discussions of distributions, problems with disk partitioning and installation, and the like. There is no end to newbie problems, and therefore, no end to good suggestions, and tips. But there are better places to go for that sort of help. All we need do is point to them.

That leaves possible sections on A/V players, MPEG-1/2 tools, MPEG-4 tools, DVB tools (if Joe wants to write it up), Wine, and perhaps sections on ripping / burning.For example:Newbie Questions:

Q1: Where do I go for information and help?
A1: Here are some resources that members recommend, organized by area of interest:

....(a list of subject areas and links or other resources follow that short A1)....

A/V Players:

Q2: ...So Q2 would start the next section. Thoughts?

joedan

22nd November 2003, 19:31

i am also part of the crowd who has had it with windows and really only keeps it for games and encoding -since i dont know how to encode on my linux box :/

it would be great if someone with experience on encoding on linux (like greensh :)) would write a guide on what tools he uses and how. this would be more of guide for people that know how to encode but want to start doing it on linux. it doesnt need to be very complicated or in depth but it will get the ball rolling and people with less time (like Anacondo :)) could add to it. as people use the guide problems will pop up etc and imo it would make this forum more active and hopefully will lead to improved guides, recommendations, hints.

i am sure that there are a lot of people who use linux to encode but just dont have the time/motivation to do a guide by themselves but would be willing to make improvements to a guide and help people out

just my 2c

doug_s

23rd November 2003, 14:28

How about adding this section to the FAQ ?

Are there guides for dvd backup using Linux ?

Yes, the following guides are available:

DVD ripping and transcoding under linux (http://www.bunkus.org/dvdripping4linux/en/single/index.html)

Mencoder guide (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/mencoder.html)

Linux digital fansubbing guide (http://dominia.org/djao/dvdsub.ver3.html)

The first one was what I used to learn dvd backup in linux. The only difference I have with it is I think newbies shouldn't use quantiser settings. Although it doesn't mention newer tools like avidemux it's still pretty useful for beginners.

shadowhunter

15th December 2003, 16:31

Your distro:

In linux there are many distro's. See them as OS's who are almost the same. I will review some of the most important (to me):

Fedora Core: The free variant of Red Hat. Try this if you like Red Hat. Easy to set up. Everything is easy. Only the rpm system is not that good IMHO. Great for a desktop user. (Never tried it)

SuSe: This linux version seems to be IMHO the best of the 3 great distro's. Most stable, efficient, and with the best package manager YAST. (Never tried it)

Mandrake: It seems that Mandrake aims to be the newbie distro. It is IMHO the best newbie distro. In fact, when I tried it, I threw it after a month away it was too easy.

Debian: I like this distro. Seems to be very stable (even Sid, aka unstable) and has a VERY good package management system. Though the packages are outdated for the stable, testing and even sid (XFree 4.2). Definetly worth trying if want to get your hands dirty

Slackware: This distro seems to have some myths around it. It is fast, stable but hard. It has actually NO package management system.
If you have the time try it. I didn't like it for a minute.

Arch linux: This is a generaly unknown distro and has quite some potential, a debian-like packagemanager (pacman), fast (i686-based, can only be run ppro and higher), it is however a bit buggy cause of it short existance, however I see this one having a larger user base than slack and debian. Try this one if your not new to linux, it is a bit hard for newbies.

Gentoo: My distro. Why? I like its packagemanager (portage), it is extremely fast, very stable. It has the latest packages, you only have to compile it all from source. I'd recommend it to everyone. It is the best distro I used. Try this one.

There are also the live cd's like Knoppix and Gnoppix or Movix, but those are not the ones you want on your hard-drive. I would personally start with mandrake. learn some linux.

if you like setting up linux and have time:
Get a debian/slack. Try to set it up *exactly* the way you want it. If you have succeeded and you want something else go for Arch. Then make up your mind which of these tree is the best for you. If you haven't found your flavour (or want a bleeding edge system, like me) get yourself a gentoo.

if you don't have time or don't like setting up linux:
Go for SuSe. I have seen several users who are happy about SuSe because it works. Fedora has flaws. Mandrake also.

*note: There are rumors of people who can't play Xvid or DivX files with Mandrake/SuSe/Red Hat/Fedora Core because of legale reasons. The distro's changed the source. (this is also why I am gentoo)

Some players to check out:
-Ogle (I use this for my DVD's)
-Mplayer (For any other movie)
-Xine (don't use this software, seems to do the same as Mplayer.)

Now some basic tools: (incomplete, i know)
-Mencode (like Mplayer)
-lame
-oggvorbis
-transcode
-avidemux
-kino
-cinerella (seems to be quite hard but powerful)

installing from source:
be root.
this is easy. make a directory for the built.
>mkdir test
change to it
>cd test
if source package is tar.gz
>tar -xzvf /path/to/package
if source package is tar.bz(2)
>tar -xjvf /path/to/package
Now you should read the documentation but who does that. Default you do:
>./config(.sh)
>make
>make install

and you got your package. RPM an DEB are distro specific. read your distro's documention for installation of binaries.

I hope I have helped some people in changing to linux. Have fun. That is what linux is all about. Make sure you learn the command line.

Have fun.

Geert.

vinks

28th December 2003, 14:50

i think its worth doing a remaster'd livecd with knoppix with all the tools needed to "backup" a dvd, its very possible and easy to install the live cd as a normal distro. it would be good starting point to get people to at least use some of the tools without worrying about how to install the tools. and if people like it, then can go off and learn how to install it from scratch and what not.

mikeX

31st December 2003, 01:13

hi,
i have a few suggestions as well:

** concerning an mpeg-4 related part of the FAQ:
i believe the main focus should be on xvid and ffmpeg since they are both open source software licensed under the GPL, thus fitting better into the concept of Free Software which GNU (and therefore GNU/Linux) stands for

maybe another FAQ could be made addressing settings specific to these codecs especially since ffmpeg doesn't come for windows (right?) and xvid seems to have a slightly different configuration for linux (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?threadid=67510)

** concerning the applications used for encoding:
well at the moment i'm only aware of 'mencoder' and 'transcode'
i think some quick guides to these two great tools should be at least linked to the FAQ, a quick comparison would also be a good idea, something like:
mencoder --> pros & cons
transcode --> pros & cons

links to the most popular frontends for the two would be a great thing for newbies

(i'm kinda new to transcode and i haven't really used mencoder)

i'm also willing to do a greek translation of the FAQ for the greek doom9 forum

btw i'm gonna try my luck in the xvid forum for the settings thing jggimi, no need to move the thread ;)

artronic

9th February 2004, 22:52

Hi there.

I would like to pitch in. I love and have been promoting Linux for a while now.
I've used Xine, Mplayer and DVD::RIP successfully (well, after upgrading to Mandrake 9.2 I lost DVD::RIP, but I'm not giving up).
I had some trouble with Transcode, but I still think it's the most powerful video tool in Linux.
XCDRoast is my burner of choice and Grip is my audio tool.

So, if anyone needs some help with guides and stuff, I would like to help. It's time to give something back. The only thing I ask for is deadlines not too tight. I can only spend so much time on it, but I'll get it done.

Thank you.

jggimi

12th February 2004, 14:37

:thanks: I just wish I had time to work on this. I've been swamped with work the past few months, and, well, I expected to begin work in September. We're well past that now.

Swamped with work = good for me. Bad for the forum. :scared:

Big-Wayne

29th February 2004, 17:42

Having just converted to Linux I need all the help I can get.
Have to agree with a few of the other posts about keeping it AV related, afterall there are so many 'linux how-to' sites out there that it can become confusing. This site is THE site to go for AV related matters.

greensh

1st March 2004, 04:29

First off, I want to congratulate everyone here on the interesting articles and links being posted... and my apologies. I've been delinquent on posting (please don't spank me) because I didn't receive regular emails that anyone posted here. Okay now for the first goodie. This is my little guide on a complete/correct installation of MPlayer. You can goto www.mplayerhq.hu and get the latest pre3 or opt like I do for the bleeding edge CVS version (for that just D/L the latest CVS snapshot tarball). Then get the other packages I list in this guide from www.freshmeat.net and/or divx.com, etc. I don't provide specifics for those installs, but ask questions here if you get stuck... this is just covering MPlayer and is everything I can remember going through on Yoper after a fresh install. Following will be a section of my encoding script if there's any interest. It handles the toughest video I've seen yet; NTSC/mixed music videos and movies (clips) are not even challenging :o)

Installation of MPlayer/Mencoder

condensed version so you might not need to RTFM (Read The 'Fine' Manual)

install -d /usr/lib/win32
tar zxvf extralite.tar.gz
tar jxvf win32codecs.tar.bz2

Reorganize the win32 directory (if necessary) so it's the parent and change all ownership/permissions. Using mc for this is much easier.

Install the following codecs (if necessary); DirectFB, lame, xvid, libdv, divx5

Install libdvdcss, libdvdread, libdvdnav, chaplin, and rar

tar jxvf MPlayer-XXXX.tar.bz2
unzip MPlayer-XXXX-patch.zip
mv config ~/.mplayer
unset CFLAGS
sudo chmod 777 /dev/dvd
sudo chmod 777 /dev/dsp
sudo chmod 777 /dev/dsp1
sudo chmod 777 /dev/rtc
sudo chmod 666 /dev/fb0
unset CFLAGS
./configure --prefix=/usr --confdir=/etc/mplayer --enable-largefiles \
--disable-tv --enable-menu --enable-gui --enable-shared-pp --disable-sighandler \
--with-freetype-config=/usr/bin --with-reallibdir=/usr/lib/win32

make
make install (as root)

mkdir ~/.mplayer
cp etc/codecs.conf ~/.mplayer
cp etc/example.conf ~/.mplayer/example.conf
cp etc/input.conf ~/.mplayer/input.conf
cp etc/example.conf ~/.mplayer/config (edit this file to suit your setup)

extract a font directory to ~/.mplayer/font
(where 14 is the font size. You can chose your font size of 14, 18, 24 or 28)

tar jxvf font-arial-iso-8859-1.tar.bz2

(or use this instead, but not recommended):
ln -sf /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/luxisri.ttf ~/.mplayer/subfont.ttf

unzip a skin to ~/.mplayer/Skin/default

dmesg | grep DVD
ln -s /dev/<dvd drive> /dev/dvd
chmod 666 /dev/<dvd drive>
chmod 777 /dev/dsp
chmod 666 /dev/fb0
chmod 777 /dev/rtc

Ensure no sound servers (i.e. Arts in KDE) are active or these will prevent OSS from working with /dev/dsp!

Add the following two lines into /etc/rc.d/sysinit.rc:

#RTC (Real Time Clock)
echo 1024 > /proc/sys/dev/rtc/max-user-freq

You need these for avidemux:

mad-0.14.2b.tar.gz
a52dec-0.7.4.tar.gz

shevegen

18th May 2004, 00:39

Today I switched to Linux entirely (got tired of Windows finally..), a bit prematurely as I was using Debian Woody 3.r2 on my old 1999 PC to test extensively before making a full transition(somehow I havent got the X Server to work yet on the debian PC, but its cool to work with c++ and perl there and i am addicted to simple but powerful things, this way IMO you learn most and fastest... well except for the X-Window stuff... :D), and am now sitting on my somewhat newer Athlon with Suse 8.2 (eh, a bit old, but the graphical UI works nicely and i browse with firefox so its fine for me).

I know quite some things about encoding etc under Windows and Xvid, but am a bit lost with Linux as there is so much more INFORMATION. q:)

Enough of my idle self-chatting.

* _I_ think that a FAQ for encoding etc... Under Linux is a perfect idea - but __without__ chatting about distributions, please.

* Also, any FAQ should include many good URLs. Well, if some URL seems to be not good enough, dont include it... but be sure to include some good resources. :)

* I would go for a WIKI (i love wiki) ___BUT___ it should include a ("static") CORE html page which is maintained by few people, like in a forum thread here (just switch to the Xvid's faq in this forum, this is quite what i mean).

I can help out - or try to help out - with whatever is necessary including mirroring the FAQ and contributing to a knowledge base, but right now i am the one who must learn before i can try to be a teacher.... :)

hans-jürgen

21st May 2004, 23:21

Originally posted by jggimi
A/V players

MPEG-4 video tools

Audio transcoding tools
There are two Wiki pages on Audiocoding.com that give a short overview about these topics, so I thought I might add them here:

http://www.audiocoding.com/modules/wiki/?page=MPEG-4+players and
http://www.audiocoding.com/modules/wiki/?page=Software+Audio+Players+for+Linux/BSD also mentioning multimedia players like Mplayer, VLC, Xine, Real and Helix Player etc. Furthermore there are pages about the different MPEG standards with many links to sites like the official FAQs from the MPEG and others.

The new FAAC project page on Freshmeat.net offers an overview of Linux multimedia software using the AAC encoder and/or decoder FAAD2 in the Dependencies section and provides links to existing ports, RPMs and source code packages:

http://freshmeat.net/projects/faac/

Freshmeat also lists the available software projects (mainly for Unix, Linux and Mac OS X) in different categories, so having a look at their multimedia/video/audio folders will bring up some useful applications, too.

shevegen

29th May 2004, 13:32

very good, i start contributing to them (made locale links on my video faq site to not forget it, bookmarks tend to get messy if i use them :D )

hope i be an avid and quite good linux user in 2 or 3 weeks of activity

BITS

9th July 2004, 02:07

i have to agree with a couple here, ANOTHER "how to install linux" guide is EXTREMELY not needed. im suprised i dont see "how to install linux" spam in my email...its so abundant.

i say focus on nothing but the a/v. i mean, you really dont see people here asking how do i install windows? its just not related to these topics. and if users cant figure out how to install Linux from the information available on the net already, then imagine how unmotivated they are. you going to be the entire forums tech support for a large amount of distros installed, configured, and trouble shooting them in many different ways? i'll pass on that.

i would really love to see a capturing faq for linux, ive read a couple, but ive never had hardware that i liked enough to use that would run. to me if you can pull off analogue capturing, or .dv capturing on the Linux platform, it would seem like you would get a grip pretty quickly. ive never tried capturing yet on linux. ripping a dvd is easy, but authoring i have never seen on linux (excluding emulating a app).

in the end though i always come to this, if you can get it done already on one platform, then use it. dont fix it if it isnt broke.

what i would REALLY like to see, is a mp4 authoring application on linux. im willing FOR_SURE to throw in my extrememly limited C or java skills to dev one of those...that would be nice. Hell, i havent even seen a mp4 creation guide for linux, how about one of those?

hans-jürgen

9th July 2004, 07:51

Originally posted by BITS
what i would REALLY like to see, is a mp4 authoring application on linux. im willing FOR_SURE to throw in my extrememly limited C or java skills to dev one of those...that would be nice. Hell, i havent even seen a mp4 creation guide for linux, how about one of those? MPEG-4 on Linux has been the "business" of the MPEG4IP project for a long time now, so you will find some useful applications and also documentation on their site and forum. Since the documentation hasn't been very good and hard to find in the past, there are some external guides for MPEG4IP like the one from Everwicked.com and an article in the Linux Journal, but both are outdated already (e.g. with their recommended FAAC settings).

Anyhow, you can capture live video and audio with mp4live and either write MP4 files with it or send the bitstream through RTSP to the internet. They also offer a well-known file muxer called mp4creator, but no MP4 editor. AVI transcoding can be done with a Linux script called mp4encode, but this is not their main interest, since Cisco (the company behind MPEG4IP) is all into internet live streaming of course.

Another open source MPEG-4 project is GPAC, they started with Windows versions and have ported their player and muxer to Linux in the meantime, as far as I know.

The IBM Toolkit for MPEG-4 is platform independent, because they use a Java VM for their freeware applications (player and muxer), but they are not open source.

Last but not least you can also create MP4 files with VLC, Mplayer and probably some other multimedia players that use the ffmpeg library (not sure about Xine).

dwflo

5th November 2004, 21:02

May I add another distro? Try SimplyMEPIS 2004.4, or an earlier version.

I am new to Linux, but I get so frustrated with Windoze, I wanted something better, got tired of all the "fixes and patches".

I downloaded all the distros I could get from FreeBSD, to Suse. They all were difficult simple to install, but either did not function properly after rebooting, or left me at a console. Not having enough knowledge of the Linux commands for the different consoles, I wanted an installation the was GUI based.

The SimplyMEPIS CD is a "Live" version that can be installed to a hard drive. There is an installation utiliy available in KDE.

I found a problem with my C-Media sound card not working in KDE. Attempting to get the problem solved, using the 2004.4 release.
Video works fine, but haven't used the provided software to capture. Still learning the ropes.

There is plenty of software installed from multimedia players to CD/DVD burners. And plenty others to download for DVD authoring, to ripping. The only problem with some software, is getting it installed. A lot have to be compiled before they can be installed. Others come in "Packages" that are installed with a package handeling utility.

Hope this info is of some value.

Sir Integral Hellsing

16th February 2005, 16:04

dwflo: FreeBSD isn't a Linux Distribution, it's a operating syste of it's own, but it is similar to Linux in many ways.

My opinion on this matter is that you should skip everything regarding the OS, and focus on applications.
For example, someone could write a guide about how to make an XviD avi, someone could write a SVCD guide, someone else a capturing guide etc.
Personally I'm looking for the best way to do a DVD9->DVD5 rip and would much appreciate if someone wrote a guide on how to do it.
When I'm sufring on Linux forums I often feel that some people have a far greater experience with Linux than with Multimedia/Video.
It'd be great If you Guru's here on Doom9 could write some guides, I would gladly contribute but I'm not using Linux atm, due to a shared family PC:(