Getting media ready on your disk

When you see a file Sunset.jpg listed in your folder you very likely can guess it is an image and if you have applications capable of displaying it. In fact the format JPG is an image format. That is from the extension of the filename (.jpg) you recognize the format (JPEG) and the type of information encoded (an image).

Similarly you can guess Sunset.txt is some text you can read.

On the contrary when you see a file Sunset.avi, you can guess it is a video but you can’t guess much further. In fact AVI is a container or multimedia format that can contain - as the name suggests - several media. To know for sure what your file is you have to look inside it.

A container format can contain:

So it is not very informative to say just "My video file is an AVI".

To know how to peep inside your multimedia file see the relative HOWTO.

Audio and video streams are encoded using different and various methods. Any specific method is called codec. A multimedia format can contain different codec types.

So when you speak about the format for your video, you must define also the codecs for the streams. You should use definitions like AVI (MJPEG/PCM) to define the container format and the video/audio codecs.

While audio codecs are generally harmless and friendly, video codecs are more complex, challenging and fussy.

Codecs can store the full information (and create a huuuuge file) or can compress the information to save space, but with some loss of quality. Good codecs makes this loss unnoticeable.

It’s very convenient to use a slightly compressed video codec for editing, to reach a comprimise between quality and size.

There are different methods of compression. I recommend you understand at least two general methods:

If you need an image to understand the difference, have a look at this effective image by the BOSH Learning Centre.

When making a video with Cinelerra you will have to think to formats three times.

The original format of your video is chosen by your camcorder.

Cinelerra won’t load just any format. And you have already learned that some formats are better suited for editing than others.

You can try loading your files and see if you are lucky enough to get a decent performance. Or you can convert them to formats recommended for editing and very welcome by Cinelerra.

Here are my recommendations:

Once you have finished editing your video you have to "export" it. This process is called rendering.
You can render your project to several formats, depending on the intended use (DVD, Internet, Windows PC, …)

To know more see How to choose the format for rendering in the Rendering section.

Make sure you have WinFF installed.

I’ve prepared a profile file to make WinFF fit Grandma’s needs. Converting your files will be very easy.

To import the profile in WinFF:

WinFF is now ready to please Grandmas.

Make sure you have ffmpeg installed.

You can convert your footage to DNxHD using the following terminal command. Remember to replace intermediate.mov with your destination filename and original.mts with the file to be converted.

To convert several files at once, you can use a script.

Make sure you have winFF installed.

I’ve prepared a profile file to make WinFF fit Grandma’s needs. Converting your files will be very easy.

To import the profile in WinFF:

WinFF is now ready to please Grandmas.

Make sure you have ffmpeg installed.

You can convert your footage to MJPEG at maximum quality using the following terminal command. Remember to replace intermediate.avi with your destination filename and original.MXF with the file to be converted.

To convert several files at once, you can use a script I prepared for you. The script will put all the converted files into a subfolder called HD.

Make sure you have mencoder installed. It is the MPlayer’s Movie Encoder.

You can convert your footage to MJPEG using the following terminal command. Remember to replace intermediate.avi with your destination filename and original.mts with the file to be converted. Also make sure your footage has a framerate of 25. If your files have a different framerate (e.g. 30) correct the option -ofps accordingly.

To convert several files at once, you can use a script I prepared for you. The script will put all the converted files into a subfolder called HD.

File: /home/raffa/Movie/clip

will give those files inside the folder Movie:

File: /home/raffa/Movie/

will give:

inside the folder Movie.

Install dvgrab with the following command:

The dvgrab command will start the capture; the options (e.g. -a) will define the behaviour of the capture. Let’s have a look at them:

-a (or -autosplit): start a new file when a new recording is detected. This way you’ll get many clips, one for each record button press.

-t (or -timestamp): put the date and time of recording into the file name

-f raw (or -format raw): save the capture as raw DV file with a .dv extension. This is the format I recommend: Cin seems to particularly like it.
Another format that works well in Cin is Quicktime 4 Linux. If you want to save the capture as QuickTime DV movie, use the option -f qt (or -format qt)

To see all the options available, type

If you get an error, see the troubleshooting page for detailed solutions.

To stop the capture press c while holding down the CTRL key.

If you want the video to be previewed on your screen during capture you can make the capturing command longer:

You can modify some options:

capture is the basename for the files

-x 640 -y 360 are the dimensions of the preview vindow

The capure will be saved in your home directory. If you want to store it in a subdirectory of your home folder (e.g. MyProject/SourceFiles) run dvgrab from there.
To enter the directory of destination type:

Nautilus is your everyday file manager, installed by default in Ubuntu (but not in Xubuntu or Kubuntu). It can be extended to perform scaling and rotating operations on image files.

Install Nautilus extension with the command:

Restart you computer.

Right click on an image. In the pop up menu you should now see the Resize images… and Rotate images… options available. You can manipulate a single image or several pictures at once.

Install Imagemagick with the following terminal command:

Imagemagick doesn’t modify the original picture (input.jpg) but it makes a modified copy instead (output.jpg).
If the output name is the same name of an existing file, that file will be overwritten.

Modify your pictures with the following terminal commands:

Enter the folder pictures that contains your picture (input.jpg):

by 90° clockwise:

by 90° counter-clockwise:

by 180°:

You can rotate all the pictures of your folder using a single command. Imagemagick will name the rotated pictures adding a progressive number to the output name (output-1.jpg output-2.jpg …). The asterisc "*" stands for "any name".

Enter the folder pictures that contains all your .jpg pictures:

by 90° clockwise:

by 90° counter-clockwise:

by 180°:

Enter the folder pictures that contains your picture (input.jpg):

for PAL:

for NTSC:

You can resize all the pictures of your folder using a single command. Imagemagick will name the resized pictures adding a progressive number to the output name (output-1.jpg output-2.jpg …). The asterisc "*" stands for "any name".

Enter the folder pictures that contains your picture (input.jpg):

for PAL:

for NTSC:

In Imagemagick by default, the width and height are intended as maximum values. Imagemagick expands or contracts the image to fit the width and height value of your project while maintaining the aspect ratio of the image.