Chapter 13. Audio, Movie And Video Applications

Table of Contents
13.1. Introduction
13.1.1. Using XMMS
13.1.2. Using Aumix
13.1.3. Kscd CD Player
13.2. Movie Applications
13.2.1. Introduction
13.2.2. Applications
13.3. Webcams And Video Conferencing
13.3.1. Getting Started
13.3.2. Connecting With Another User
13.3.3. Connecting With ILS (NetMeetingTM) Users

13.1. Introduction

If you can not live without your MP3 and video files, this chapter is for you! We will explore the wonderful world of multimedia, especially XMMS, Aumix and Kscd on the audio side; list the best movie applications in the next one; while the last section will be dedicated to webcams and video conferencing. Of course, all these tools are available within your Mandrake Linux distribution.

13.1.1. Using XMMS

First off, XMMS stands for X Multimedia System. With it, you can play a variety of audio sources, such as regular music CDs and MP3s. Let us start with the basics.

Note

We assume that you have used a CD-ROM player before so we will not describe the play, rewind, etc. keys.

To launch XMMS, go in your KDE or GNOME menu and choose Multimedia->Sound->XMMS. You can also create a desktop link as previously described. For command-line aficionados, simply type xmms &.

Figure 13-1. XMMS Main Window

The upper part of the window is called the title bar and holds three buttons on the right part of it:

  • the first one is to minimize the window;

  • the middle one will only show the title bar, along with an oscilloscope and the elapsed time;

  • the last one ends the XMMS session.

Below, you can see the elapsed song time (clicking on it shows the remaining time of the song) and under it, the "Spectrum analyzer" (clicking on it displays one of two spectrum analyzers or disables it); on its right is the name of the audio track playing which also holds its total time; just under is the bit rate in kbps (kilobits per second) – 96 kbps in our example – and the sample rate in kHz (kilohertz) – 44 kHz in our example.

On the left of the spectrum analyzer are 5 letters: you might not see them at first, they are in very dark gray. Here are those letters and what they represent:

  • O: pops up the options menu;

  • A: means the XMMS window will always be on top;

  • I: pops up a file-info box;

  • D: doubles the size of the XMMS window;

  • V: pops up a visualization menu.

Now let's look at the different sliders. The one lying beneath the kbps info is the volume slider; to its right is the balance one. The longest slider is used to browse through your file (rewind and forward functions inside one track).

13.1.1.1. Equalizer And Playlist

Figure 13-2. XMMS Main Window With Equalizer And Playlist

The latter figure shows XMMS's equalizer and playlist. To access them, simply click on the EQ and PL buttons on the right-side of the main window.

13.1.1.1.1. Configuring The Equalizer

The equalizer window acts exactly like the one you probably have on your stereo. If you wish to change the settings, click on the ON button. You can then change the bass and treble levels to your liking. You can also choose the AUTO button, which loads one of several default values you can change (click on the PRESETS->Load buttons to personalize them).

Note

While accessing the above-mentioned menus (PRESETS->Load), you can load from a WinAMP EQF file as well.

13.1.1.1.2. Using The Playlist

The playlist is where are shown the tracks you wish to listen to. It holds 5 buttons which can help you set up your playlist:

FILE +

Clicking on it once pops up a window from which you can select your songs. For example, if you wish to listen to a CD, select /dev/cdrom.

Warning

If you want to be able to listen to an audio CD, you will need to install the xmms-cdread package from the contribs CD.

Clicking and holding the mouse pointer on the FILE + button will pop up 2 other buttons: DIR + and URL +. Release the mouse button on DIR + and choose the appropriate directory where your music is filed (such as /home/queen/MP3/, for example); clicking on URL + lets you enter a specific web address.

FILE -

If you want to delete a file from the playlist, select it with your mouse, than click on FILE - (you can also use the Delete key). Clicking and holding the mouse pops up a three-item sub-menu which holds CROP -, ALL - and MISC -. The first one deletes all files from the playlist except the one(s) highlighted; the second one deletes all files in the playlist. Leave your mouse pointer on the MISC - sub-menu and another sub-menu will pop up. You can now Remove dead files or Physically delete files.

SEL ALL

Clicking on that button will select all the files in your play list. If you click and hold, you will have to other choices: SEL ZERO and INV SEL. The first one selects no files while the latter inverts the file selection.

MISC OPT.

Clicking and holding this button gives you a pull-up menu which shows FILE INFO and SORT LIST. The first one pops up a file-information window where you can edit the title, name of the artist, etc. The second one gives sorting and randomizing options.

LOAD LIST

Clicking once on this button will pop a window from which you can choose the list you wish to listen to. Clicking and holding this button displays a pull-up menu containing two choices: SAVE LIST and NEW LIST. The first one saves the files in your playlist as a list of audio track (in the .m3u format), while the latter simply clears up the list.

13.1.1.2. Playing Audio Tracks

To play audio tracks, simply follow the instructions given in Using The Playlist. Then, just hit the Play button. You can also press on the Eject button: a pop-up menu will appear from which you can load files into your playlist. Right-clicking on the Play button pops up the same menu. Select the desired files with your mouse and then, click either on Add selected files or Add all files in directory. When this is done, click on Close.

Figure 13-3. Loading Files Into XMMS

You can also access your files by right-clicking in the Playlist. This handy menu includes all the Playlist's menus.

13.1.1.3. Using The Options Menu

Now that we are done talking about the basics, let's explore the Options menu. To access it, you may click on the O on the left of the spectrum analyzer (see above). This menu will pop up:

Figure 13-4. Options Menu

These functions are pretty self-explanatory, so we will let you use and discover them by yourself. Let us now speak into more details about the Preferences sub-menu located on top of the Options menu.

13.1.1.3.1. XMMS Preferences

Setting your preferences correctly is of utmost importance if you want to be able to listen to your audio tracks. To access it, either put your mouse pointer on the Preferences entry in the Options menu or simply type Ctrl+P. The first tab, Audio I/O Plugins, holds the input and output plugins necessary to make XMMS function correctly. Make sure the plugins you need (i.e. CD Audio Player to listen to an audio CD) are enabled and configured. If you see (disabled) next to a plugin, audio tracks using that plugin will not work.

Figure 13-5. XMMS Preferences Window

Also, make sure you select the right Output Plugin. If you use KDE, there is a good chance you should use the aRts Driver 0.4, especially if you selected Start aRts soundserver on KDE startup in the KDE Control Center:

Figure 13-6. aRts Soundserver With KDE

If you use GNOME, chances are you will need to use either the eSound Output Plugin or the OSS Driver.

The Effect/General Plugins tab holds a set of effect plugins which range from voice removal to echoing. General plugins can allow you to control XMMS with your stereo, tv or VCR remote control.

Next is the Visualization Plugins tab. You can select one or more plugins while listening to your music.

Figure 13-7. G-Force Visualization Plugin

The Options tab is where you can fully personalize the way XMMS displays information, as well as some general features such as the number of seconds XMMS should (or shouldn't) pause between songs.

The Font and Title tabs allow respectively to choose specific fonts and the information to be displayed in regards with the audio track playing.

13.1.1.4. Skins

Now let's discuss the aesthetics part of XMMS. Like other players, it's possible to change XMMS's skin, that is its window design. To do so, access the Preferences menu and then select Skin Browser. You can also simply combine the Alt+S keys to pop it up.

Figure 13-8. XMMS Skins Browser

As you can see, the Skin Browser selects no skin by default. Simply click on one of the skins and you will get a real-time look at what the skin looks like. Try chaos_XMMS for instance.

Figure 13-9. Chaos Skin

If you wish to add skins to your Skin Browser, you can do so by visiting sites such as the XMMS site, the Skinz site and the Customize site.

When you have found the skin you like, download it in the .xmms/Skins directory. Then select it in the Skins Browser and XMMS will be "wearing" that new skin.

13.1.1.4.1. Other Types of Skins

If you already use another type of audio player, you might be wondering if you can import skins from other applications. The answer is yes... at least for WinAMP skins (in the .wsz format).

Here's an example of a skin found on the WinAMP site which you can add to your Skins Browser:

Figure 13-10. Using WinAMP Skins With XMMS

Simply download the file in your skins directory and XMMS will be able to display it.

13.1.1.5. Streaming

With the wide popularity of streaming radio, XMMS now supports this type of media. Hence, you can listen to your favorite radio sites, whether it be from Shoutcast, Icecast or plain radio sites such as Cool FM.

When you have found a channel you like, simply save it to your hard disk. Shift+Click on the link to save it to your hard disk. Then, insert it in your playlist.

Figure 13-11. Listening to a Streaming Channel

13.1.2. Using Aumix

Aumix is a very small application which allows to control your sound card's mixer. It is user-friendly and does not contain many features, but it will be of great help in order for you to listen to sound files.

In fact, it may happen that you are unable to listen to sound files when launching them from XMMS or any CD Player. Tuning the sound mixer will usually solve that problem.

To launch it, access either your KDE or GNOME menu and select Multimedia->Sound->Aumix. If you prefer using the command line, type aumix &. You can also pass options to it. For more info, please refer to its man page under aumix(1).

Figure 13-12. Aumix Application

Now, let's explore the File menu.

13.1.2.1. File Menu

In the File menu, you can access basic functions which either allow you to load or save mixer settings. The available menu items are:

Load

This menu allows you to load the default mixer configuration contained in the .aumixrc file.

Save

Enables to save new settings to the .aumixrc file.

Load From

Allows to load a different file than .aumixrc.

Save To

Enables to save new settings to a different file than .aumixrc. For example, you might want to save different settings for work, entertainment, raising or lowering the CD volume according to the place where you use your computer, etc.

Quit

Quits the application.

Note

when you launch Aumix, it loads by default the last configuration file you used. Hence, if you used .aumixrc2 – a file which you created – the last time you opened Aumix, this file will be used. However, if you click on the Load sub-menu, it will automatically load the .aumixrc file.

13.1.2.2. View And Mute Menus

The View and Mute menus are pretty self-explanatory. The first one allows to choose which components will be shown in the Aumix window. Hence, if you never use a microphone, you may choose not to view that entry. You can do so by clicking on the check-box next to Mic in the View pull-down menu. The Mute menu allows one feature: to completely mute the sound.

Figure 13-13. Aumix View Menu

13.1.3. Kscd CD Player

Although you can play CDs with XMMS, we will briefly describe one of the available CD players under Mandrake Linux, that is Kscd. It stands for The KDE Project's small/simple CD player.

Figure 13-14. Kscd's Main Window

You can access this application through your KDE menu, then choose Multimedia->Sound->CD Player. From the command line, simply type kscd &.

Note

If you use GNOME, you can access a very similar CD player called gtcd or Gnome CD Player. Choose Multimedia->Sound->Gnome CD Playerto open it or type gtcd & on the command line. However, if you issue kscd & from GNOME, you will still be able to access Kscd.

The buttons on the right are typical CD player ones, such as Play, Stop, Rewind, etc.: we will not describe those.

The ones on the left, however, are more "obscure".

Figure 13-15. The Left Side of Kscd's Main Window

The rectangle labelled Compact Disc Digital Audio permits to switch between available play modes. Click on it and you will be able to display the elapsed and remaining time of a specific song, as well as those of the whole album.

Right below is a box which holds an i. Clicking on it pops up a pull-up menu which holds three subjects: Information, Purchases and Performances. Select one of them and a web browser will open the appropriate link.

On its right is the eject button. And below it is the quit button. You know what those do. Then comes the trickier part.

If you put your mouse pointer on the next button, it will display freedb Dialog. Click on it. The CD Database Editor will appear.

Figure 13-16. CD Database Editor

If you wish to change the title of a song, you can do so in the Edit Track Title field. As for the Edit Play Sequence field, it allows to give Kscd a predetermined playing order. Simply enter the track numbers separated by commas.

The button marked by a ? acts as the shuffle button.

The next button, showing a hammer and a screwdriver, opens up Kscd's configuration menu.

Figure 13-17. Configuration Menu

In the freedb tab, click the check box next to Enable Remote freedb. By enabling this feature, you will have access to the Compact Disc Database hosted on the freedb server (freedb.freedb.org cddbp 888 - is the default value in the freedb server field). Hence, if the album you are playing is in the database, the name of the group, album and songs will be displayed.

In the SMTP setup tab, you can Enable submission via SMTP to the freedb servers. If your album is not included in their database that is. Simply type in your SMTP address and the port (25 by default) and enter a valid e-mail address.

Figure 13-18. Kscd Options

The Kscd Options tab allows you to personalize Kscd's basic options. You may choose the foreground and background colors. The CD-ROM Device field is the most important one, since it tells Kscd where to find the audio source: this should be set to /dev/cdrom. The WWW Browser let's you choose the browser you wish to open when you access information links (through the i box); Konqueror is the default browser.

The right part of the window holds miscellaneous but useful features which are pretty self-explanatory:

Show Tool Tips

Shows information about a button when the mouse pointer is over it.

Enable KPanel Docking

This icon is displayed on the right side of the panel called the "Kicker panel".

 

Play on Tray Close

Plays the first song on the CD when the tray is closed.

Stop Playing on Exit

CD playback stops when you close the application.

Eject on Finish

Ejects the audio CD when all the songs have been played.

Random is Shuffle

Songs are played only once when in random mode, they do not loop.

Help

Launches the KDE HelpCenter in the Kscd section.


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