2. Movie Applications

Abstract

This section discusses movie players available with Mandrakelinux. It introduces some applications, hints about the problems you could face while using them, and suggests resources to get the best out of them.

2.1. Introduction

The main problem with video players under GNU/Linux is that most popular video codecs are proprietary, and to implement them in a free software application (mainly due to the cost of licensing), the codecs have to be reverse-engineered. This is very complex and may not be legal in some countries, which limits the availability of such codecs, and thus the type of video files which may be displayed under GNU/Linux.

For example, it will be virtually impossible to play some compressed digital video files or DVDs without downloading the corresponding codecs from the Internet.

[Warning]Warning

In some countries, the status of the DVD playback and reverse-engineered codecs are still under review. That is why Mandrakesoft does not include all the plugins to use those codecs[11]. The information included here is meant to help Mandrakelinux users who know that, in their country, using these codecs and plugins is legal. Mandrakesoft does not encourage law violation and you should verify the law(s) that apply in your case, before you download and use these codecs and plugins.

2.2. Totem

Totem is the default media player under Mandrakelinux based on Xine libraries which can play video and audio streams and files, but we'll concentrate on its video capabilities here. One of its nicest features is that it can be completely controlled using the keyboard.

Double clicking on a supported video file will launch Totem, open the file, and start playing it. You can also launch Totem by selecting the Multimedia+Video->Totem Movie Player entry from the main menu. Totem can also be run from a terminal: type totem --help to see all available options.

Figure 11.7. Totem's Interface

Totem's Interface

Totem's interface is shown in Figure 11.7, “Totem's Interface”. It is a very simple interface composed of the following:

  • Display Area. This is the area where the movie being played will be shown. Of course, you are not restricted to watch the movie inside this little area, press the F key to switch between full-screen and windowed modes. When in full-screen mode, moving the mouse will show the play controls at the bottom of the screen and a button to exit full-screen mode at the top right corner.

  • Position Control. Using this slider you can “jump” to any part of the movie you want to, just drag the slider right, or press the right arrow key, to forward; drag the slider left, or press the left arrow key, to rewind.

  • Volume Control. Using this slider you can adjust the volume level of the movie being played, just drag the slider right, or press the up arrow key, to make it louder, or drag the slider left, or press the down arrow key, to make it softer.

  • Play Controls. A reduced set of the usual VCR controls: Previous (keyboard shortcut: B), Play/Pause (keyboard shortcut: P) and Next (keyboard shortcut: N).

  • Status. Located at the bottom left of Totem's window, it shows the play status of the movie (Playing, Stopped, Paused) and the current time out of the total movie time.

[Tip]Tip

All controls can be hidden/shown pressing the H key.

To play a DVD just insert the disc in the drive, Totem will be opened and the DVD title will start playing. When playing DVDs it is recommended that you switch to full-screen mode. To eject the disc, choose Movie->Eject from the menu, or press the Ctrl-E keys.

Use the different entries in the View menu to adjust the video view, zoom in and out, change the aspect ratio, etc. Feel free to investigate!

2.3. Other Movie Applications for Linux

Xine

Xine is one of the most interesting video application for GNU/Linux. It supports a wide range of formats and input sources. It is fast, flexible and extensible. It is also provided as a library on which many players are based.

MPlayer

MPlayer is yet another interesting application and supports multiple output drivers, and even older video cards. It also supports DVD, AVI, VideoCD, amongst others. You will probably have to download and install winDLLs and proprietary codecs to make it work with many popular video formats. On one hand this might seem unfortunate, but on the other it gives you access to all formats supported under Windows®.

XMovie

This application is tailored to playback high resolution movies such as MPEG1, MPEG2 and AVI files. It is not really made to playback compressed files such as Quicktime®, but does support MPEG2 streams.

Kaffeine

Kaffeine is a KDE application based on Xine libraries. Its capabilities are very similar to those of its “parent”, but it is better integrated in the KDE environment.

Finally, there are other video applications for GNU/Linux such as vlc (an MPEG2 files/streaming video and DVD player), Ogle (a DVD player which supports menus and navigation) and RealPlayer® (which is proprietary software). We encourage you to explore them as they may answer your specific needs.



[11] The boxed set editions of Mandrakelinux do include some of the codecs.