James Crafting Digital Media

Audacity, Blender, Drupal, GIMP, Scribus, and other Open Source Tools
1. ed
ISBN: 978-1-4302-1888-3
Verlag: Apress
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 450 Seiten

Open source software, also known as free software, now offers a creative platform with world-class programs. Just ask the people who have completed high-quality projects or developed popular web 2.0 sites using open source desktop applications. This phenomenon is no longer underground or restricted to techies-there have been more than 61 million downloads of the Audacity audio editor and more than 60 million downloads of the GIMP for Windows photographic tool from SourceForge.net alone. Crafting Digital Media is your foundation course in photographic manipulation, illustration, animation, 3D modelling, publishing, recording audio and making music, DJ'ing, mixing and mastering audio CDs, video editing and web content delivery. Every technique described in the book can be achieved on GNU/Linux, but many of the applications covered run on Windows and Mac OS X as well. New to GNU/Linux and a little daunted? Don't worry-there's a step-by-step tutorial on Ubuntu for either temporary use or permanent installation. If you are a creative type who wants to get started with open source software or an existing GNU/Linux user looking to explore this category of programs, this is the book for you! Realize your own personal projects and creative ambitions with the tools this book will place at your fingertips.

Daniel James is the director of 64 Studio Ltd, a company that produces a 64-bit GNU/Linux distribution designed specifically for creative users, and does custom development work for OEMs with multimedia products. He worked on LinuxUser & Developer magazine for around seven years, serving as editor from autumn 2005 until early 2007. More recently, his media work has expanded to include a long-held interest in sound recording, with several music and voice-over projects completed at his own studio. He also contributes regular articles on music recording and related technology to Linux Format and Sound on Sound magazines.

Autoren/Hrsg.

James, Daniel

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contents at a Glance;5
2;Table of Contents;6
3;Foreword;13
4;About the Author;14
5;About the Technical Reviewer;15
6;Acknowledgments;16
7;Introduction;17
8;PART 1 Introduction;18
8.1;Chapter 1: Working with Free Software;19
8.1.1;The Two Meanings of Free;19
8.1.2;GNU GPL: a Bill of Rights for Computer Users;21
8.1.3;Is Free Software Un-American?;22
8.1.4;Linux: the Last Piece of the GNU Puzzle;23
8.1.5;Hello Open Source;24
8.1.6;Distribution Explosion;25
8.1.7;The Year of the Linux Desktop;25
8.1.8;My Story;27
8.1.9;What Free Software Is Good At, and Where There Are Gaps;28
8.1.10;Being a Good Free Software Citizen;29
8.1.11;Beta Testing and Bug Reporting;30
8.1.12;Jargon-Busting Guide;30
8.1.13;Mouse Conventions Used in This Book;31
8.1.14;Freesoftwarecreative.com;31
8.1.15;Further reading;32
8.2;Chapter 2: Getting Started;33
8.2.1;Distro or No?;33
8.2.2;Ubuntu Compatibility;33
8.2.3;Booting from the Optical Drive;34
8.2.4;The Ubuntu Live CD;35
8.2.5;Ubuntu Desktop installation;36
8.2.6;Partitioning;38
8.2.7;Completing the Installation;41
8.2.8;Installation from the Internet with Wubi;45
8.2.9;Running Wubi from CD;49
8.2.10;A Tour of GNOME;51
8.2.11;Network Configuration;56
8.2.12;Additional Software Installation;60
8.2.13;Setting Up a Printer;63
8.2.14;Further Reading;64
9;PART 2 Tools;65
9.1;Chapter 3: Photography;66
9.1.1;Getting Photos into the Computer;66
9.1.2;Using F-Spot to Import Photos;68
9.1.3;GThumb: An Alternative to F-Spot;71
9.1.4;Card Readers and Bluetooth;72
9.1.5;Scanning Prints, Slides, and Negatives;72
9.1.5.1;A Word or Two About Resolution;74
9.1.5.2;Making the Scan;75
9.1.5.3;Scanning within the GIMP;75
9.1.5.3.1;Which File Format to Use?;76
9.1.5.3.2;The GIMP’s Selection Tools;77
9.1.5.3.3;The Path Tool;81
9.1.5.3.4;Choosing Colors;83
9.1.5.3.5;Zooming and Measuring;85
9.1.5.3.6;The Move and Alignment Tools;86
9.1.5.3.7;Cropping and Rotation;87
9.1.5.3.8;The Scale Tool;89
9.1.5.3.9;Shear, Perspective, and Flip;90
9.1.5.3.10;Text and Fonts;91
9.1.5.3.11;Text and the Layers Dialog;93
9.1.5.3.12;Bucket Fill and Blends;95
9.1.5.3.13;Pencil and Paintbrush;97
9.1.5.3.14;The Eraser Tool;98
9.1.5.3.14.1;Airbrush and Ink;99
9.1.5.3.15;Cloning and Healing;100
9.1.5.3.16;Blur, Sharpen, and Smudge;102
9.1.5.3.17;Dodge and Burn;103
9.1.6;Other Useful Programs;104
9.1.7;Further Reading;104
9.2;Chapter 4: Illustration and Font Design;105
9.2.1;Bitmaps vs. Vectors;105
9.2.2;Vector Graphic Formats;107
9.2.3;Inkscape: An SVG Drawing Tool;107
9.2.3.1;Inkscape’s Transformation Tools;108
9.2.3.2;Shape Tools;111
9.2.3.3;Line-Drawing Tools;116
9.2.3.4;The Fill Tool;117
9.2.3.5;The Text Tool;118
9.2.3.6;Diagram Connectors;120
9.2.3.7;Creating Gradients;122
9.2.3.8;Selecting Colors from an Image;122
9.2.3.9;Managing Colors;123
9.2.3.10;Pixmap-to-Vector Conversion;124
9.2.3.11;Exporting Pixmaps;126
9.2.4;Forging Fonts;127
9.2.4.1;Typefaces, Fonts, and Glyphs;127
9.2.4.2;Font File Formats;127
9.2.4.3;Sketching a Font;128
9.2.5;Forging Ahead;128
9.2.5.1;Editing the Font Images;130
9.2.5.2;Importing Glyphs from Inkscape;132
9.2.5.3;Spacing and Kerning;133
9.2.6;Installing Your New Font;134
9.2.7;Other Useful Programs;136
9.2.8;Further Reading;136
9.3;Chapter 5: Animation;137
9.3.1;Free Software for Movie Production;137
9.3.2;The Importance of Storyboarding;139
9.3.3;KToon: a Tool for Cartoonists;140
9.3.3.1;KToon’s Drawing Tools;143
9.3.3.2;Exporting from KToon;146
9.3.4;Hand-Drawing vs. Tweening;147
9.3.5;Synfig: a Tweening Animation Tool;148
9.3.5.1;Broken Ubuntu Packages in Jaunty;149
9.3.5.2;Getting Started with Tweening;151
9.3.5.3;Creating the Animation;153
9.3.5.4;Layers and Colors;156
9.3.5.5;Rendering and Exporting;159
9.3.6;Other Useful Programs;160
9.4;Chapter 6: 3D Modeling;161
9.4.1;The Three Ages of Blender;161
9.4.2;Starting Blender;162
9.4.3;Changing Views;164
9.4.4;Changing the Selection;165
9.4.5;Moving, Rotating, and Scaling objects;167
9.4.6;Free Object Manipulation;169
9.4.7;Panning and Zooming;170
9.4.8;Creating Mesh Objects;171
9.4.9;Saving Your Work;173
9.4.10;Adding Color and Texture to an Object;174
9.4.11;Using Edit Mode;177
9.4.12;Copying and Grouping Objects;178
9.4.13;Putting Text on the Model;184
9.4.14;Adding a Plane and a World;186
9.4.15;Using Lighting Effects;187
9.4.16;Final Render and Output;187
9.4.17;Further Reading;188
9.4.18;Other Useful Programs;188
9.5;Chapter 7: Publishing;190
9.5.1;The DTP Revolution;190
9.5.2;Free Software Alternatives;191
9.5.3;Working with Scribus;192
9.5.3.1;The Concept of Frames;194
9.5.3.2;Working with Properties;195
9.5.3.2.1;The Text Tab;196
9.5.3.2.2;Text Effects;198
9.5.3.2.3;Text Alignment and Style;201
9.5.3.3;Importing Text and Images;204
9.5.3.4;Frame Shapes and Colors;208
9.5.3.5;Managing Fonts;210
9.5.3.6;Spot and Process Colors;211
9.5.3.7;Managing Document Layout;214
9.5.3.8;Linking and Unlinking Frames;216
9.5.3.9;Generating PDFs;217
9.5.3.10;Output and the Litho Process;221
9.5.4;Further Reading;221
9.5.5;Other Useful Programs;222
9.6;Chapter 8: Making Music;223
9.6.1;The Beat Goes On;223
9.6.2;A Question of Control;224
9.6.3;Mixxxing It Up;225
9.6.3.1;Running Mixxx for the First Time;226
9.6.3.2;Troubleshooting Mixxx;226
9.6.3.3;Hit the Top, My Selector;230
9.6.3.4;Beat Matching;232
9.6.3.5;Making a Custom Skin;232
9.6.4;Beats from Scratch;233
9.6.4.1;Laying Down the Groove;236
9.6.4.2;Chaining the Song Together;238
9.6.4.3;Selecting the Right Sounds;239
9.6.4.4;Exporting from Hydrogen;243
9.6.5;Sequencing with MIDI;243
9.6.5.1;MIDI on GNU/Linux;245
9.6.5.2;Getting Seq24 and AlsaModularSynth;246
9.6.5.3;Running AlsaModularSynth;249
9.6.5.4;Beginning the Sequence;251
9.6.5.5;The Seq24 Song Editor;254
9.6.5.6;The Seq24 Configuration File;255
9.6.5.7;Triggering Hydrogen Drums with Seq24;257
9.6.6;Further Reading;258
9.6.7;Other Useful Programs;258
9.7;Chapter 9: Recording Audio;259
9.7.1;From Disc to Tape to Disk;259
9.7.2;The Input Side;260
9.7.3;Making a Podcast;262
9.7.3.1;The First Recording;264
9.7.4;Splitting, Cutting, and Pasting;268
9.7.4.1;Exporting the Podcast;271
9.7.5;Ardour: Rock Harder!;274
9.7.5.1;The Real-Time Linux Kernel;275
9.7.5.2;Configuring JACK;275
9.7.5.3;Starting Ardour;278
9.7.5.4;Recording Drums;281
9.7.5.5;No Drums or Microphones?;284
9.7.5.6;Hey Mr. Bassie;286
9.7.5.7;Guitars and Keyboards;288
9.7.5.8;Editing in Ardour;290
9.7.5.9;Exporting the Session;293
9.7.6;Further Reading;295
9.7.7;Other Useful Programs;295
9.8;Chapter 10: Mixing and Mastering;297
9.8.1;Optimizing Your Sound;297
9.8.2;Digital Audio and the Full Scale;297
9.8.3;Finding the Balance;301
9.8.4;The Pan Control;303
9.8.5;Mixer Automation;304
9.8.6;Compression, Limiting, and Equalization;304
9.8.7;Mastering Principles;307
9.8.8;Hope You Like JAMin Too;309
9.8.8.1;The Equalizer;311
9.8.8.2;Heavy Dub Pressure;312
9.8.8.3;Reaching the Limit;313
9.8.8.4;Making a Scene;314
9.8.8.5;Testing Your Results;316
9.8.9;Audio CD Production;317
9.8.9.1;The CD Still Rules;318
9.8.9.2;Burn, Baby, Burn;318
9.8.9.3;Making It Pretty;322
9.8.9.4;Ardour Integration;327
9.8.10;Other Useful Programs;327
9.8.11;Further Reading;328
9.9;Chapter 11: Video Editing;329
9.9.1;Converting Video with Avidemux;329
9.9.1.1;Importing from DVD;332
9.9.2;Format and Codec Choice;333
9.9.2.1;Cropping and Resizing;334
9.9.2.2;Cutting to Fit;338
9.9.3;Getting Video from a Camera Tape;340
9.9.4;Command-Line DV Capture;343
9.9.5;Open Movie Editor;343
9.9.5.1;Making the Interface Fit;344
9.9.5.2;Adding Opening Titles;345
9.9.5.3;Working with Video Clips;347
9.9.5.4;Importing Audio;351
9.9.5.5;Exporting the Finished Movie;351
9.9.5.6;Compiling Open Movie Editor from Source;353
9.9.6;Further Reading;354
9.9.7;Other Useful Programs;354
9.10;Chapter 12: Web Content;355
9.10.1;Distribution and Competition;355
9.10.2;Free Content;356
9.10.3;Web 2.0 and Platform Choice;357
9.10.4;Installing the Apache Web Server;358
9.10.5;Installing the MySQL Database Management System;361
9.10.6;Installing the PHP Scripting Language;362
9.10.7;Installing the Drupal Content Management System;362
9.10.7.1;Configuring Drupal;365
9.10.7.2;Security Updates;368
9.10.7.3;Creating Initial Site Content;376
9.10.7.4;Enabling Drupal Modules;378
9.10.7.5;Selecting a Drupal Theme;381
9.10.7.6;Streaming Audio;384
9.10.7.6.1;Show Me the Money;384
9.10.7.6.2;Setting Up Icecast;386
9.10.7.6.3;The Streaming Client;387
9.10.7.6.4;Launching Your Station;391
9.10.8;Further Reading;392
9.10.9;Other Useful Programs;392
10;PART 3 Appendixes;393
10.1;Appendix A: GNU/Linux Commands;394
10.1.1;Mounting Filesystems;394
10.1.2;Finding Files and Text within Files;395
10.1.3;Move, Copy, Delete, and View Files;395
10.1.4;Metacharacters;396
10.1.5;File Permissions;396
10.1.6;chmod Modes;397
10.1.7;Symbolic Links;398
10.1.8;User Administration;398
10.1.9;Printing;398
10.1.10;man Pages;399
10.1.11;Shutdown and Reboot;399
10.1.12;Installing Software;400
10.1.13;Linux Kernel Modules (Drivers);400
10.1.14;System Services;400
10.1.15;Debian/Ubuntu Runlevels;401
10.1.16;Networking;401
10.1.17;Archiving;401
10.1.18;Bash Shell (Terminal);402
10.1.19;X Windows;402
10.1.20;Tips and Tricks;403
10.2;Appendix B: GNU Free Documentation License ;404
10.2.1;GNU Free Documentation License;404
10.2.1.1;0. PREAMBLE;404
10.2.1.2;1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS;404
10.2.1.3;2. VERBATIM COPYING;406
10.2.1.4;3. COPYING IN QUANTITY;406
10.2.1.5;4. MODIFICATIONS;406
10.2.1.6;5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS;408
10.2.1.7;6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS;408
10.2.1.8;7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS;408
10.2.1.9;8. TRANSLATION;409
10.2.1.10;9. TERMINATION;409
10.2.1.11;10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE;409
10.2.1.12;11. RELICENSING;410
10.2.1.13;ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents;410
11;Index;411