Crafting Digital Media: Audacity, Blender, Drupal, GIMP, Scribus, and other Open Source Tools

449 Pages·2009·10.86 MB·English

by  Daniel James

CYAN YELLOW
MAGENTA BLACK
PANTONE 123 C
BOOKS FOR PROFESSIONALS BY PROFESSIONALS® THE EXPERT’S VOICE® IN OPEN SOURCE
Companion
eBook Available
Cra ftin g Dig ital Media
Audacity, Blender, Drupal, GIMP, Scribus, C
and other Open Source Tools r
a

Daniel James
Dear Reader, f
t
Free creative software tool chains went from dream to reality in recent years. They Crafting
i
are mature, world-class and competitive. There have been more than 61 million
n
downloads of the Audacity audio editor, and more than 60 million downloads
of the GIMP for Windows image manipulation tool from SourceForge.net alone. g
Crafting Digital Media is your foundation course in image manipulation,
illustration, animation, 3D modeling, publishing, recording audio and making
music, DJ'ing, mixing and mastering audio CDs, video editing and web content D
delivery. Every technique described in the book can be achieved on GNU/Linux, Digital Media
but many of the applications covered run on Windows and Mac OS X as well. i
New to GNU/Linux, and feeling a little daunted? Don't worry; there is a step- g
by-step tutorial on Ubuntu, for either temporary use or permanent installation.
i
t
You’ll learn how to:
a
• 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. l Audacity, Blender, Drupal, GIMP, Scribus,

• Chain these applications together and make them serve your creative vision. M
• Find and install the applications cross–platform, if you want to reach out beyond
and other Open Source Tools
GNU/Linux.
• Share your creative works with the world using the Drupal content management e
system, Web 2.0 technology and Icecast media streaming.
• Locate and engage with software and project hosting communities to connect d
with other creators.
i
Companion eBook FPO a
And you’ll find out why being part of the Free Software community also means
A manual for creative media on a modest budget
being part of a creative community.

See last page for details S
E
on $10 eBook version L
T CD INCLUDED
TI
D
TE Ubuntu CD
A
L
E inside!
R
SOURCE CODE ONLINE
Daniel James
www.freesoftwarecreative.com J
ISBN 978-1-4302-1887-6 a
www.apress.com m
53999
e
s
US $39.99
Accompanying CD includes Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) Desktop Edition,
Shelve in:
including Audacity, Blender, GIMP, and other applications
Multimedia
User level: 9 781430 218876
Beginner–Intermediate
this print for content only—size & color not accurate trim: 7.5 x 9.25 spine = 0.84375 448 page count
(cid:132) CONTENTS

Crafting Digital Media
Audacity, Blender, Drupal,
GIMP, Scribus, and
Other Open Source Tools

(cid:132) (cid:132) (cid:132)
Daniel James

i
(cid:132) CONTENTS

Crafting Digital Media: Audacity, Blender, Drupal, GIMP, Scribus, and Other Open Source Tools
Copyright © 2009 by Daniel James
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4302-1887-6
ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4302-1888-3
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The source code for this book is available to readers at www.freesoftwarecreative.com.

ii
(cid:132) CONTENTS

For Martha.

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(cid:132) CONTENTS

Contents at a Glance
■ Foreword ......................................................................................................................... xii
■ About the Author ............................................................................................................ xiii
■ About the Technical Reviewer ........................................................................................ xiv
■ Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... xv
■ Introduction .................................................................................................................... xvi
PART 1 ■ ■ ■ Introduction ................................................................................................. 1
■ Chapter 1: Working with Free Software ............................................................................ 3
■ Chapter 2: Getting Started ............................................................................................... 17
PART 2 ■ ■ ■ Tools .......................................................................................................... 49
■ Chapter 3: Photography .................................................................................................. 51
■ Chapter 4: Illustration and Font Design ........................................................................... 91
■ Chapter 5: Animation .................................................................................................... 123
■ Chapter 6: 3D Modeling ................................................................................................. 147
■ Chapter 7: Publishing .................................................................................................... 177
■ Chapter 8: Making Music .............................................................................................. 211
■ Chapter 9: Recording Audio .......................................................................................... 247
■ Chapter 10: Mixing and Mastering ................................................................................ 285
■ Chapter 11: Video Editing .............................................................................................. 317
■ Chapter 12: Web Content ............................................................................................... 343
PART 3 ■ ■ ■ Appendixes .............................................................................................. 381
■ Appendix A: GNU/Linux Commands ............................................................................... 383
■ Appendix B: GNU Free Documentation License .............................................................. 393
■ Index ............................................................................................................................. 401
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(cid:132) CONTENTS

Contents

■ Foreword .......................................................................................................................... xii
■ About the Author .............................................................................................................. xii
■ About the Technical Reviewer ........................................................................................... ix
■ Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ x
■ Introduction ....................................................................................................................... xi
PART 1 ■ ■ ■ Introduction .................................................................................................. 1
■ Chapter 1: Working with Free Software ............................................................................. 3
The Two Meanings of Free ............................................................................................................................ 3
GNU GPL: a Bill of Rights for Computer Users ............................................................................................... 5
Is Free Software Un-American? .................................................................................................................... 6
Linux: the Last Piece of the GNU Puzzle ........................................................................................................ 7
Hello Open Source ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Distribution Explosion .................................................................................................................................... 9
The Year of the Linux Desktop ....................................................................................................................... 9
My Story ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
What Free Software Is Good At, and Where There Are Gaps ....................................................................... 12
Being a Good Free Software Citizen ............................................................................................................ 13
Beta Testing and Bug Reporting .................................................................................................................. 14
Jargon-Busting Guide .................................................................................................................................. 14
Mouse Conventions Used in This Book ........................................................................................................ 15
Freesoftwarecreative.com ........................................................................................................................... 15
Further reading ............................................................................................................................................ 16
■ Chapter 2: Getting Started ................................................................................................ 17
Distro or No?................................................................................................................................................ 17
Ubuntu Compatibility ................................................................................................................................... 17
Booting from the Optical Drive .................................................................................................................... 18
The Ubuntu Live CD ..................................................................................................................................... 19
Ubuntu Desktop installation ........................................................................................................................ 20
Partitioning .................................................................................................................................................. 22
Completing the Installation .......................................................................................................................... 25
Installation from the Internet with Wubi ...................................................................................................... 29
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Running Wubi from CD ................................................................................................................................ 33
A Tour of GNOME ......................................................................................................................................... 35
Network Configuration ................................................................................................................................ 40
Additional Software Installation .................................................................................................................. 44
Setting Up a Printer ..................................................................................................................................... 47
Further Reading ........................................................................................................................................... 48
PART 2 ■ ■ ■ Tools ........................................................................................................... 49
■ Chapter 3: Photography ................................................................................................... 51
Getting Photos into the Computer ............................................................................................................... 51
Using F-Spot to Import Photos .................................................................................................................... 53
GThumb: An Alternative to F-Spot ............................................................................................................... 56
Card Readers and Bluetooth ........................................................................................................................ 57
Scanning Prints, Slides, and Negatives ....................................................................................................... 57
A Word or Two About Resolution ............................................................................................................ 59
Making the Scan ..................................................................................................................................... 60
Scanning within the GIMP....................................................................................................................... 60
Other Useful Programs ................................................................................................................................ 89
Further Reading ........................................................................................................................................... 89
■ Chapter 4: Illustration and Font Design ............................................................................ 91
Bitmaps vs. Vectors ..................................................................................................................................... 91
Vector Graphic Formats ............................................................................................................................... 93
Inkscape: An SVG Drawing Tool .................................................................................................................. 93
Inkscape’s Transformation Tools ............................................................................................................ 94
Shape Tools ............................................................................................................................................ 97
Line-Drawing Tools ............................................................................................................................... 102
The Fill Tool .......................................................................................................................................... 103
The Text Tool ........................................................................................................................................ 104
Diagram Connectors ............................................................................................................................. 106
Creating Gradients ................................................................................................................................ 108
Selecting Colors from an Image ........................................................................................................... 108
Managing Colors ................................................................................................................................... 109
Pixmap-to-Vector Conversion ............................................................................................................... 110
Exporting Pixmaps ................................................................................................................................ 112
Forging Fonts............................................................................................................................................. 113
Typefaces, Fonts, and Glyphs ............................................................................................................... 113
Font File Formats .................................................................................................................................. 113
Sketching a Font ................................................................................................................................... 114
Forging Ahead ........................................................................................................................................... 114
Editing the Font Images ........................................................................................................................ 116
Importing Glyphs from Inkscape ........................................................................................................... 118
Spacing and Kerning ............................................................................................................................ 119
Installing Your New Font ........................................................................................................................... 120
Other Useful Programs .............................................................................................................................. 122
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Further Reading ......................................................................................................................................... 122
■ Chapter 5: Animation ..................................................................................................... 123
Free Software for Movie Production .......................................................................................................... 123
The Importance of Storyboarding .............................................................................................................. 125
KToon: a Tool for Cartoonists .................................................................................................................... 126
KToon’s Drawing Tools ......................................................................................................................... 129
Exporting from KToon ........................................................................................................................... 132
Hand-Drawing vs. Tweening ..................................................................................................................... 133
Synfig: a Tweening Animation Tool ........................................................................................................... 134
Broken Ubuntu Packages in Jaunty ...................................................................................................... 135
Getting Started with Tweening ............................................................................................................. 137
Creating the Animation ......................................................................................................................... 139
Layers and Colors ................................................................................................................................. 142
Rendering and Exporting ...................................................................................................................... 145
Other Useful Programs .............................................................................................................................. 146
■ Chapter 6: 3D Modeling .................................................................................................. 147
The Three Ages of Blender ........................................................................................................................ 147
Starting Blender ........................................................................................................................................ 148
Changing Views ......................................................................................................................................... 150
Changing the Selection ............................................................................................................................. 151
Moving, Rotating, and Scaling objects ...................................................................................................... 153
Free Object Manipulation .......................................................................................................................... 155
Panning and Zooming ................................................................................................................................ 156
Creating Mesh Objects .............................................................................................................................. 157
Saving Your Work ...................................................................................................................................... 159
Adding Color and Texture to an Object ...................................................................................................... 160
Using Edit Mode......................................................................................................................................... 163
Copying and Grouping Objects .................................................................................................................. 164
Putting Text on the Model ......................................................................................................................... 170
Adding a Plane and a World ...................................................................................................................... 172
Using Lighting Effects ................................................................................................................................ 173
Final Render and Output ............................................................................................................................ 173
Further Reading ......................................................................................................................................... 174
Other Useful Programs .............................................................................................................................. 174
■ Chapter 7: Publishing ..................................................................................................... 177
The DTP Revolution ................................................................................................................................... 177
Free Software Alternatives ........................................................................................................................ 178
Working with Scribus ................................................................................................................................ 179
The Concept of Frames ......................................................................................................................... 181
Working with Properties ....................................................................................................................... 182
Importing Text and Images ................................................................................................................... 191
Frame Shapes and Colors ..................................................................................................................... 195
Managing Fonts .................................................................................................................................... 197
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Spot and Process Colors ....................................................................................................................... 198
Managing Document Layout ................................................................................................................. 201
Linking and Unlinking Frames .............................................................................................................. 203
Generating PDFs ................................................................................................................................... 204
Output and the Litho Process ............................................................................................................... 208
Further Reading ......................................................................................................................................... 208
Other Useful Programs .............................................................................................................................. 209
■ Chapter 8: Making Music ............................................................................................... 211
The Beat Goes On ...................................................................................................................................... 211
A Question of Control ................................................................................................................................. 212
Mixxxing It Up ............................................................................................................................................ 213
Running Mixxx for the First Time .......................................................................................................... 214
Troubleshooting Mixxx .......................................................................................................................... 214
Hit the Top, My Selector ....................................................................................................................... 218
Beat Matching ...................................................................................................................................... 220
Making a Custom Skin .......................................................................................................................... 220
Beats from Scratch .................................................................................................................................... 221
Laying Down the Groove ....................................................................................................................... 224
Chaining the Song Together ................................................................................................................. 226
Selecting the Right Sounds .................................................................................................................. 227
Exporting from Hydrogen ...................................................................................................................... 231
Sequencing with MIDI ............................................................................................................................... 231
MIDI on GNU/Linux ................................................................................................................................ 233
Getting Seq24 and AlsaModularSynth .................................................................................................. 234
Running AlsaModularSynth .................................................................................................................. 237
Beginning the Sequence ....................................................................................................................... 239
The Seq24 Song Editor ......................................................................................................................... 242
The Seq24 Configuration File................................................................................................................ 243
Triggering Hydrogen Drums with Seq24 .............................................................................................. 245
Further Reading ......................................................................................................................................... 246
Other Useful Programs .............................................................................................................................. 246
■ Chapter 9: Recording Audio ........................................................................................... 247
From Disc to Tape to Disk ......................................................................................................................... 247
The Input Side ........................................................................................................................................... 248
Making a Podcast ...................................................................................................................................... 250
The First Recording .............................................................................................................................. 252
Splitting, Cutting, and Pasting ................................................................................................................... 256
Exporting the Podcast ........................................................................................................................... 259
Ardour: Rock Harder! ................................................................................................................................. 262
The Real-Time Linux Kernel .................................................................................................................. 263
Configuring JACK .................................................................................................................................. 263
Starting Ardour ..................................................................................................................................... 266
Recording Drums .................................................................................................................................. 269
No Drums or Microphones? .................................................................................................................. 272
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Hey Mr. Bassie ...................................................................................................................................... 274
Guitars and Keyboards.......................................................................................................................... 276
Editing in Ardour ................................................................................................................................... 278
Exporting the Session ........................................................................................................................... 281
Further Reading ......................................................................................................................................... 283
Other Useful Programs .............................................................................................................................. 283
■ Chapter 10: Mixing and Mastering ................................................................................. 285
Optimizing Your Sound .............................................................................................................................. 285
Digital Audio and the Full Scale ................................................................................................................. 285
Finding the Balance ................................................................................................................................... 289
The Pan Control ......................................................................................................................................... 291
Mixer Automation ...................................................................................................................................... 292
Compression, Limiting, and Equalization .................................................................................................. 292
Mastering Principles .................................................................................................................................. 295
Hope You Like JAMin Too .......................................................................................................................... 297
The Equalizer ........................................................................................................................................ 299
Heavy Dub Pressure ............................................................................................................................. 300
Reaching the Limit ................................................................................................................................ 301
Making a Scene .................................................................................................................................... 302
Testing Your Results ............................................................................................................................. 304
Audio CD Production .................................................................................................................................. 305
The CD Still Rules ................................................................................................................................. 306
Burn, Baby, Burn ................................................................................................................................... 306
Making It Pretty .................................................................................................................................... 310
Ardour Integration ................................................................................................................................. 315
Other Useful Programs .............................................................................................................................. 315
Further Reading ......................................................................................................................................... 316
■ Chapter 11: Video Editing ............................................................................................... 317
Converting Video with Avidemux ............................................................................................................... 317
Importing from DVD .............................................................................................................................. 320
Format and Codec Choice ......................................................................................................................... 321
Cropping and Resizing .......................................................................................................................... 322
Cutting to Fit ......................................................................................................................................... 326
Getting Video from a Camera Tape ............................................................................................................ 328
Command-Line DV Capture ....................................................................................................................... 331
Open Movie Editor ..................................................................................................................................... 331
Making the Interface Fit........................................................................................................................ 332
Adding Opening Titles ........................................................................................................................... 333
Working with Video Clips ...................................................................................................................... 335
Importing Audio .................................................................................................................................... 339
Exporting the Finished Movie ............................................................................................................... 339
Compiling Open Movie Editor from Source ........................................................................................... 341
Further Reading ......................................................................................................................................... 342
Other Useful Programs .............................................................................................................................. 342
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