Linux Multimedia Hacks

Hacks 47–72: Introduction

Using video under Linux is often regarded as voodoo. After all, many of the most popular video programs are complicated command-line utilities such as MPlayer and transcode, with upwards of one hundred options. What’s worse, when you go online for help, many of the examples list long commands that look more like an incantation or line noise than a program.

Video formats don’t make things easier either. Underneath that seemingly simple .avi file might be any number of video and audio codecs. With so many competing video codecs, different versions of those codecs, competing container formats, and the fact that many of these codecs require proprietary licensing, it’s no wonder video under Linux mystifies people and leaves them running back to Windows.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Out of the confusing and complicated command-line tools, a number of handy frontends have emerged that take a lot of the sting out of watching and editing video under Linux. When you find you need to stray from the basics, sometimes the command-line tools still provide you with the most power and flexibility, so it might comfort you to know that the command-line utilities themselves continue to improve as well. Nowadays they do a lot of the work of sorting out file formats on your behalf, so you don’t have to worry nearly as much about endless strings of command-line arguments.

In this chapter, I cover a broad range of video hacks using mostly standard command-line tools. Many of ...