The fact that Linux has more multimedia application choices than Mac OS X and Windows combined may come as a surprise to many, but not to those who know Linux well. In Linux Multimedia Hacks, author Kyle Rankin showcases the best available multimedia tools so you can maximize the entertainment capabilities of your favorite OS. Included are tips and tricks for connecting to iPods, creating MP3s and Oggs, watching and making DVDs, turning your Linux box into a Tivo ala MythTV, and much more.
You don't have to be a Linux server guru to make use of this book. Linux Multimedia Hacks takes the best of Linux's multimedia tools and with step-by-step instructions shows even novice users how to do cool and useful things with images, audio, and video. It includes entry level hacks that nearly all Linux users will want, such as installing codecs for audio and video playback and managing thousands of photographs. Later, you'll find hacks that cover a variety of advanced projects, from ripping and organizing media files with metatags, to editing video and audio tracks, to creating your own DVDs. Basic or advanced, each hack stands on its own, so you can feel free to jump around to only the sections that interest you.
The book is divided into five easy-to-understand chapters:
Images: tips range from basic image edits to automated image manipulation
Audio: hacks include audio format conversion and tweaking metadata within audio files
Video: learn how to covert between video formats, plus how to create your own VCDs and DVDs
Broadcast Media: tips include how to access and create you own web broadcasts as well as watch and record TV
Web: learn how to make your multimedia creations available to the world
As one of the most powerful multimedia platforms around, Linux has far more capabilities and features than meets the eye. This latest Hacks book gives you the technical chops to enjoy them all.
Kyle Rankin is a system administrator for The Green Sheet, Inc., the current president of the North Bay Linux Users Group, and the author of "Knoppix Hacks" and "Knoppix Pocket Reference". Kyle has been using Linux in one form or another since early 1998. In his free time he does pretty much the same thing he does at work--works with Linux.
The tool on the cover of Linux Multimedia Hacks is a stereoscope. By independently presenting slightly different images, together called a stereopair, to each eye, stereoscopes simulate the depth perception humans experience in real life. The first known stereoscopes were developed around 1833, predating the invention of photography, and used drawings for the stereopairs. In the early days of photography, stereopods and travel photographs were very popular, due to their vivid presentation of faraway places.
Jamie Peppard was the production editor and proofreader for Linux Multimedia Hacks. Nancy Reinhardt was the copyeditor. Reba Libby and Claire Cloutier provided quality control, and Lydia Onofrei provided production assistance. Ellen Troutman Zaig wrote the index.
Marcia Friedman designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is from fotosearch.com. Linda Palo produced the cover layout with Adobe InDesign CS using Adobe's Helvetica Neue and ITC Garamond fonts.
David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Keith Fahlgren to FrameMaker 5.5.6. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Helvetica Neue Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano, Jessamyn Read, and Lesley Borash using Macromedia FreeHand MX and Adobe Photoshop CS. This colophon was written by Jamie Peppard.
