Re: [BLUG] Uptime wars

Mark Krenz wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 02, 2009 at 03:42:11PM GMT, Steven Black [blacks@indiana.edu] said the following:
>> blacks@bell:~$ uptime
>> 10:33am up 1088 days 12:52, 7 users, load average: 0.22, 0.34, 0.31
>
> Wow, that's only a week away from 3 years. I guess you win. There are
> some people online who report uptimes of 4-6 years though.
>

I never have a UPS that lasts that long. Once had a FreeBSD 2.2.7 box
that we used for monitoring the other servers and network. The box had
just a few days over a year of uptime when it had to move due to some
electrical work being done. We put it on the dolly and unplugged the
UPS from the wall, but half way across the room the UPS died, and so did
our uptime. The really ironic part is that this machine was built out
of scrap parts that we had laying around, but was more stable than the
"server quality" hardware we had.

I hate UPSes.

Thank you,
Scott Blaydes
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Re: [BLUG] still photos in a video project

And now of the minimal solution at the command line. Install ffmpeg <http://ffmpeg.org/> if it is not installed.
In the directory where imageXXX.jpeg  are located:
ffmpeg -i image%03d.jpeg  out.mpeg

On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 11:00 AM, Mark Krenz <mark@slugbug.org> wrote:

 It may seem like overkill for what I think you are trying to do, but
you can use Blender to do video editing, including adding pictures frame
by frame. To do what I think you want, which is to show a still picture
for a few seconds, you can create multiple copies of the image and then
include them into the video sequence editor(VSE) in Blender. You might also
lower the frames per second.  As an example, here is a video I just made
using Blender and a bunch of still images.  They are from the webcam
which you can see at http://webcam.suso.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSo94da_Y2I

 All I did was take all the still images, go into the VSE and press
Add -> Images and then use the right mouse button to select all the
images I want to include in a set. When you say select images, it will
then show you a bar in the VSE that you can place over a certain frame
range.  When you are ready to "render" your video, just go over to the
Scene menu (press F10), select "Do Sequence", choose "Avi Jpeg" for the
output format under the format box and then click on ANIM.

 Blender may seem a bit hard at first and its more geared towards 3d
modeling and animation. But I think it works well as a video editor once
you learn the basics.

 I found this thread on blenderartists.org that is someone trying to do
the same thing, you might check it out for more hints and a tutorial:

http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=145312

There are probably other tutorials on how to do this in Blender.  You
could even put your images on planes in 3d space and have them float
towards the camera.  I tried that with a video on a cube once.  Make
sure you set the object as a light source though so it glows.

Mark

On Tue, Mar 03, 2009 at 01:07:51PM GMT, Matthew Patenaude [mnglfiddle@gmail.com] said the following:

> Hey guys!
>
> I made a DVD a while back on a friend's mac, using iMovie. It was easy to
> use, and I took a whole stock of photos and stuck them together, mostly
> using Ken Burn effects to give it a video like feel. I would like to do this
> in Linux (not only because I can't afford to buy a Mac). I have figured out
> Kino and used it with some video footage from my DV Camera. Works great, but
> lacks some of the features I would like. For example, can't use still
> photos, or at least I can't figure out how to get them into the program.
>
> Neither can PiTiVi, or Open Movie editor...
>
> Anybody know if Cinerella does what I am looking for? I also want multiple
> sound track options at least (which I notice several of the already
> mentioned will do, most notably, Cineralla). Cineralla looks like a good
> program; I just installed it. It does look like a steep learning curve, and
> looks very capable, but I don't see anything that suggests it can
> incorporate stills and do Ken Burns. Anyone know for sure?
>
> Maybe there is another way to do what I am looking for, and just haven't
> noticed or come across it yet...
>
> Thanks,
> Matthew

> _______________________________________________
> BLUG mailing list
> BLUG@linuxfan.com
> http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug


--
Mark Krenz
Bloomington Linux Users Group
http://www.bloomingtonlinux.org/
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Re: [BLUG] Re: BLUG Digest, Vol 13, Issue 1

2009/3/3 David Ernst <david.ernst@davidernst.net>:
> On Tue, Mar 03, 2009 at 10:27:45AM -0500, Steven Black wrote:
>>My wife mostly likes Linux. Though when I set up her system I was still
>>using GNOME, and I think she'll like it better when she moves to KDE and
>>she won't be accidentally moving her taskbars around the screen all the
>>time. (The only reason I didn't do this already is due to the radical
>>changes happening in the KDE world. I figured I'd migrate her when it
>>has settled out.)
>>
>>Here's a fun fact: There's no way to lock the taskbars in GNOME.
>>(At least none in the GUI.) This means it is always subject to
>>click-and-drag moving them around the screen. I don't know why my wife
>>has the problem but she has quite a problem.
>
> Wow!  Exactly the same story with my wife!  Except that it's when
> she's using our shared computer (read: livingroom terminal), so my
> task bars get all mangled.  The computer in question is about to be
> retired, or I'd probably insist that we use separate logins if for
> this reason alone.  But, yeah, she really has a problem, doesn't know
> what she's doing that makes it happen, etc.  But it sure messes things
> up for me...

I've noticed the same thing when friends use my computer to check
their e-mail or something. Seems like a bug / feature request should
be filed...

--
Jonathan

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Re: [BLUG] Re: BLUG Digest, Vol 13, Issue 1

On Tue, Mar 03, 2009 at 10:27:45AM -0500, Steven Black wrote:
>My wife mostly likes Linux. Though when I set up her system I was still
>using GNOME, and I think she'll like it better when she moves to KDE and
>she won't be accidentally moving her taskbars around the screen all the
>time. (The only reason I didn't do this already is due to the radical
>changes happening in the KDE world. I figured I'd migrate her when it
>has settled out.)
>
>Here's a fun fact: There's no way to lock the taskbars in GNOME.
>(At least none in the GUI.) This means it is always subject to
>click-and-drag moving them around the screen. I don't know why my wife
>has the problem but she has quite a problem.

Wow! Exactly the same story with my wife! Except that it's when
she's using our shared computer (read: livingroom terminal), so my
task bars get all mangled. The computer in question is about to be
retired, or I'd probably insist that we use separate logins if for
this reason alone. But, yeah, she really has a problem, doesn't know
what she's doing that makes it happen, etc. But it sure messes things
up for me...

David
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Re: [BLUG] still photos in a video project

It may seem like overkill for what I think you are trying to do, but
you can use Blender to do video editing, including adding pictures frame
by frame. To do what I think you want, which is to show a still picture
for a few seconds, you can create multiple copies of the image and then
include them into the video sequence editor(VSE) in Blender. You might also
lower the frames per second. As an example, here is a video I just made
using Blender and a bunch of still images. They are from the webcam
which you can see at http://webcam.suso.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSo94da_Y2I

All I did was take all the still images, go into the VSE and press
Add -> Images and then use the right mouse button to select all the
images I want to include in a set. When you say select images, it will
then show you a bar in the VSE that you can place over a certain frame
range. When you are ready to "render" your video, just go over to the
Scene menu (press F10), select "Do Sequence", choose "Avi Jpeg" for the
output format under the format box and then click on ANIM.

Blender may seem a bit hard at first and its more geared towards 3d
modeling and animation. But I think it works well as a video editor once
you learn the basics.

I found this thread on blenderartists.org that is someone trying to do
the same thing, you might check it out for more hints and a tutorial:

http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=145312

There are probably other tutorials on how to do this in Blender. You
could even put your images on planes in 3d space and have them float
towards the camera. I tried that with a video on a cube once. Make
sure you set the object as a light source though so it glows.

Mark

On Tue, Mar 03, 2009 at 01:07:51PM GMT, Matthew Patenaude [mnglfiddle@gmail.com] said the following:
> Hey guys!
>
> I made a DVD a while back on a friend's mac, using iMovie. It was easy to
> use, and I took a whole stock of photos and stuck them together, mostly
> using Ken Burn effects to give it a video like feel. I would like to do this
> in Linux (not only because I can't afford to buy a Mac). I have figured out
> Kino and used it with some video footage from my DV Camera. Works great, but
> lacks some of the features I would like. For example, can't use still
> photos, or at least I can't figure out how to get them into the program.
>
> Neither can PiTiVi, or Open Movie editor...
>
> Anybody know if Cinerella does what I am looking for? I also want multiple
> sound track options at least (which I notice several of the already
> mentioned will do, most notably, Cineralla). Cineralla looks like a good
> program; I just installed it. It does look like a steep learning curve, and
> looks very capable, but I don't see anything that suggests it can
> incorporate stills and do Ken Burns. Anyone know for sure?
>
> Maybe there is another way to do what I am looking for, and just haven't
> noticed or come across it yet...
>
> Thanks,
> Matthew

> _______________________________________________
> BLUG mailing list
> BLUG@linuxfan.com
> http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug

--
Mark Krenz
Bloomington Linux Users Group
http://www.bloomingtonlinux.org/
_______________________________________________
BLUG mailing list
BLUG@linuxfan.com
http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug

Re: [BLUG] Re: BLUG Digest, Vol 13, Issue 1

On Tue, Mar 03, 2009 at 02:18:00AM +0000, Mark Krenz wrote:
> That's great! Can you talk to my dad. ;-) Ironically, he never
> trusts me when it comes to computers. Probably some of you have the
> same problem, but still have to do "tech support".

I tend to be rather brutal about it.

Of course, my wife and I are each from a larger family. (We each have
four siblings.) This means that just for "immediate family" issues there
is quite a slew of people.

I go so far as, "By 'help', do you mean install Linux or help you with a
Linux question? I can't help with Windows, however I'd be happy to solve
your problem by installing Linux for you." I get very few requests for
help at this point.

I did get a neice using Kubuntu. I installed Ubuntu at the time, and
sort of pointed her at the package manager. She's turned in to quite
the fan. She's independantly installed Linux on two subsequent laptops,
and has advocated that some of her friends use it. (I'm not sure how
successful she's been at getting them to migrate. Since they're kids,
even when they want to try it, they need to get approval from their
parents if they want to install it permanently. -- Hopefully Wubi has
helped there, though.)

My wife mostly likes Linux. Though when I set up her system I was still
using GNOME, and I think she'll like it better when she moves to KDE and
she won't be accidentally moving her taskbars around the screen all the
time. (The only reason I didn't do this already is due to the radical
changes happening in the KDE world. I figured I'd migrate her when it
has settled out.)

Here's a fun fact: There's no way to lock the taskbars in GNOME.
(At least none in the GUI.) This means it is always subject to
click-and-drag moving them around the screen. I don't know why my wife
has the problem but she has quite a problem.

My father may not use Linux, but at least he's using Mac OS X. Since
he's the person who bought me my first Linux book+distro, and he never
asks for help (though he is known to throw paying work my way) I don't
feel obligated to lecture him about it. ;)

Cheers,

--
Steven Black <blacks@indiana.edu> / KeyID: 8596FA8E
Fingerprint: 108C 089C EFA4 832C BF07 78C2 DE71 5433 8596 FA8E

[BLUG] still photos in a video project

Hey guys!

I made a DVD a while back on a friend's mac, using iMovie. It was easy to use, and I took a whole stock of photos and stuck them together, mostly using Ken Burn effects to give it a video like feel. I would like to do this in Linux (not only because I can't afford to buy a Mac). I have figured out Kino and used it with some video footage from my DV Camera. Works great, but lacks some of the features I would like. For example, can't use still photos, or at least I can't figure out how to get them into the program.

Neither can PiTiVi, or Open Movie editor...

Anybody know if Cinerella does what I am looking for? I also want multiple sound track options at least (which I notice several of the already mentioned will do, most notably, Cineralla). Cineralla looks like a good program; I just installed it. It does look like a steep learning curve, and looks very capable, but I don't see anything that suggests it can incorporate stills and do Ken Burns. Anyone know for sure?

Maybe there is another way to do what I am looking for, and just haven't noticed or come across it yet...

Thanks,
Matthew