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.
What you’ll learn
- Install and configure Ubuntu GNU/Linux for creative applications.
- Get productive with Ardour, Audacity, Avidemux, Blender, FontForge, the GIMP, Hydrogen, Inkscape, Mixxx, Scribus, Synfig and other tools.
- Chain these applications together and make them serve your creative vision.
- Find and install the applications cross-platform, if you want to reach out beyond GNU/Linux.
- Share your creative works with the world using Drupal Web 2.0 technology and Icecast media streaming.
- Locate and engage with software and project hosting communities, to connect with other creators.
And you’ll find out why being a part of the open source community means so much more than just saving money.
Who this book is for
This is a book for anyone using Linux who wants to be creative employing the tools Linux has to offer them. It is for Linux artists who want to make their tools serve their creative goals, while not having to worry about the money to pay for those tools. It is a book for anyone who wants to be a part of the creative community in Linux.
Table of Contents
- Working with Free Software
- Getting Started
- Photography
- Illustration and Font Design
- Animation
- 3D Modeling
- Publishing
- Making Music
- Recording Audio
- Mixing and Mastering
- Video Editing
- Web Content
Author(s): Daniel James
Series: Expert's Voice in Open Source
Edition: 1
Publisher: Apress
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 450
Apress - Crafting Digital Media (December 2009) (ATTiCA)......Page 1
Contents at a Glance......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Foreword......Page 14
About the Author......Page 15
About the Technical Reviewer......Page 16
Acknowledgments......Page 17
Introduction......Page 18
The Two Meanings of Free......Page 21
GNU GPL: a Bill of Rights for Computer Users......Page 23
Is Free Software Un-American?......Page 24
Linux: the Last Piece of the GNU Puzzle......Page 25
Hello Open Source......Page 26
The Year of the Linux Desktop......Page 27
My Story......Page 29
What Free Software Is Good At, and Where There Are Gaps......Page 30
Being a Good Free Software Citizen......Page 31
Jargon-Busting Guide......Page 32
Freesoftwarecreative.com......Page 33
Further reading......Page 34
Ubuntu Compatibility......Page 35
Booting from the Optical Drive......Page 36
The Ubuntu Live CD......Page 37
Ubuntu Desktop installation......Page 38
Partitioning......Page 40
Completing the Installation......Page 43
Installation from the Internet with Wubi......Page 47
Running Wubi from CD......Page 51
A Tour of GNOME......Page 53
Network Configuration......Page 58
Additional Software Installation......Page 62
Setting Up a Printer......Page 65
Further Reading......Page 66
Getting Photos into the Computer......Page 69
Using F-Spot to Import Photos......Page 71
GThumb: An Alternative to F-Spot......Page 74
Scanning Prints, Slides, and Negatives......Page 75
A Word or Two About Resolution......Page 77
Scanning within the GIMP......Page 78
Which File Format to Use?......Page 79
The GIMP’s Selection Tools......Page 80
The Path Tool......Page 84
Choosing Colors......Page 86
Zooming and Measuring......Page 88
The Move and Alignment Tools......Page 89
Cropping and Rotation......Page 90
The Scale Tool......Page 92
Shear, Perspective, and Flip......Page 93
Text and Fonts......Page 94
Text and the Layers Dialog......Page 96
Bucket Fill and Blends......Page 98
Pencil and Paintbrush......Page 100
The Eraser Tool......Page 101
Cloning and Healing......Page 103
Blur, Sharpen, and Smudge......Page 105
Dodge and Burn......Page 106
Further Reading......Page 107
Bitmaps vs. Vectors......Page 109
Inkscape: An SVG Drawing Tool......Page 111
Inkscape’s Transformation Tools......Page 112
Shape Tools......Page 115
Line-Drawing Tools......Page 120
The Fill Tool......Page 121
The Text Tool......Page 122
Diagram Connectors......Page 124
Selecting Colors from an Image......Page 126
Managing Colors......Page 127
Pixmap-to-Vector Conversion......Page 128
Exporting Pixmaps......Page 130
Font File Formats......Page 131
Forging Ahead......Page 132
Editing the Font Images......Page 134
Importing Glyphs from Inkscape......Page 136
Spacing and Kerning......Page 137
Installing Your New Font......Page 138
Further Reading......Page 140
Free Software for Movie Production......Page 141
The Importance of Storyboarding......Page 143
KToon: a Tool for Cartoonists......Page 144
KToon’s Drawing Tools......Page 147
Exporting from KToon......Page 150
Hand-Drawing vs. Tweening......Page 151
Synfig: a Tweening Animation Tool......Page 152
Broken Ubuntu Packages in Jaunty......Page 153
Getting Started with Tweening......Page 155
Creating the Animation......Page 157
Layers and Colors......Page 160
Rendering and Exporting......Page 163
Other Useful Programs......Page 164
The Three Ages of Blender......Page 165
Starting Blender......Page 166
Changing Views......Page 168
Changing the Selection......Page 169
Moving, Rotating, and Scaling objects......Page 171
Free Object Manipulation......Page 173
Panning and Zooming......Page 174
Creating Mesh Objects......Page 175
Saving Your Work......Page 177
Adding Color and Texture to an Object......Page 178
Using Edit Mode......Page 181
Copying and Grouping Objects......Page 182
Putting Text on the Model......Page 188
Adding a Plane and a World......Page 190
Final Render and Output......Page 191
Other Useful Programs......Page 192
The DTP Revolution......Page 195
Free Software Alternatives......Page 196
Working with Scribus......Page 197
The Concept of Frames......Page 199
Working with Properties......Page 200
The Text Tab......Page 201
Text Effects......Page 203
Text Alignment and Style......Page 206
Importing Text and Images......Page 209
Frame Shapes and Colors......Page 213
Managing Fonts......Page 215
Spot and Process Colors......Page 216
Managing Document Layout......Page 219
Linking and Unlinking Frames......Page 221
Generating PDFs......Page 222
Further Reading......Page 226
Other Useful Programs......Page 227
The Beat Goes On......Page 229
A Question of Control......Page 230
Mixxxing It Up......Page 231
Troubleshooting Mixxx......Page 232
Hit the Top, My Selector......Page 236
Making a Custom Skin......Page 238
Beats from Scratch......Page 239
Laying Down the Groove......Page 242
Chaining the Song Together......Page 244
Selecting the Right Sounds......Page 245
Sequencing with MIDI......Page 249
MIDI on GNU/Linux......Page 251
Getting Seq24 and AlsaModularSynth......Page 252
Running AlsaModularSynth......Page 255
Beginning the Sequence......Page 257
The Seq24 Song Editor......Page 260
The Seq24 Configuration File......Page 261
Triggering Hydrogen Drums with Seq24......Page 263
Other Useful Programs......Page 264
From Disc to Tape to Disk......Page 265
The Input Side......Page 266
Making a Podcast......Page 268
The First Recording......Page 270
Splitting, Cutting, and Pasting......Page 274
Exporting the Podcast......Page 277
Ardour: Rock Harder!......Page 280
Configuring JACK......Page 281
Starting Ardour......Page 284
Recording Drums......Page 287
No Drums or Microphones?......Page 290
Hey Mr. Bassie......Page 292
Guitars and Keyboards......Page 294
Editing in Ardour......Page 296
Exporting the Session......Page 299
Other Useful Programs......Page 301
Digital Audio and the Full Scale......Page 303
Finding the Balance......Page 307
The Pan Control......Page 309
Compression, Limiting, and Equalization......Page 310
Mastering Principles......Page 313
Hope You Like JAMin Too......Page 315
The Equalizer......Page 317
Heavy Dub Pressure......Page 318
Reaching the Limit......Page 319
Making a Scene......Page 320
Testing Your Results......Page 322
Audio CD Production......Page 323
Burn, Baby, Burn......Page 324
Making It Pretty......Page 328
Other Useful Programs......Page 333
Further Reading......Page 334
Converting Video with Avidemux......Page 335
Importing from DVD......Page 338
Format and Codec Choice......Page 339
Cropping and Resizing......Page 340
Cutting to Fit......Page 344
Getting Video from a Camera Tape......Page 346
Open Movie Editor......Page 349
Making the Interface Fit......Page 350
Adding Opening Titles......Page 351
Working with Video Clips......Page 353
Exporting the Finished Movie......Page 357
Compiling Open Movie Editor from Source......Page 359
Other Useful Programs......Page 360
Distribution and Competition......Page 361
Free Content......Page 362
Web 2.0 and Platform Choice......Page 363
Installing the Apache Web Server......Page 364
Installing the MySQL Database Management System......Page 367
Installing the Drupal Content Management System......Page 368
Configuring Drupal......Page 371
Security Updates......Page 374
Creating Initial Site Content......Page 382
Enabling Drupal Modules......Page 384
Selecting a Drupal Theme......Page 387
Show Me the Money......Page 390
Setting Up Icecast......Page 392
The Streaming Client......Page 393
Launching Your Station......Page 397
Other Useful Programs......Page 398
Mounting Filesystems......Page 401
Move, Copy, Delete, and View Files......Page 402
File Permissions......Page 403
chmod Modes......Page 404
Printing......Page 405
Shutdown and Reboot......Page 406
System Services......Page 407
Archiving......Page 408
X Windows......Page 409
Tips and Tricks......Page 410
1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS......Page 411
4. MODIFICATIONS......Page 413
7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS......Page 415
10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE......Page 416
ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents......Page 417
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