Translations by Nick Ellery

ubuntu-doc@lists.ubuntu.com (Ubuntu Documentation Project)

mdke@ubuntu.com (Matthew East)

Music, Videos and Photos

2006-09-07

All about playing music and video files, CDs, DVDs as well as importing, managing and editing your photos and pictures.

Music, video and photos

Credits and License

This document is maintained by the Ubuntu documentation team (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam). For a list of contributors, see the <ulink url="../../../common/C/contributors.xml">contributors page</ulink>

This document is made available under the Creative Commons ShareAlike 2.5 License (CC-BY-SA).

You are free to modify, extend, and improve the Ubuntu documentation source code under the terms of this license. All derivative works must be released under this license.

This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AS DESCRIBED IN THE DISCLAIMER.

A copy of the license is available here: <ulink url="/usr/share/ubuntu-docs/common/C/ccbysa.xml">Creative Commons ShareAlike License</ulink>.

2004, 2005, 2006

Ubuntu Documentation Project

Canonical Ltd. and members of the <placeholder-1/>

The Ubuntu Documentation Project

This section describes how to import, organize and use music, video and photos with Ubuntu.

Music and audio

Whether you want to play, rip, edit or organize your music, Ubuntu has the tools you need.

Play and organize music

To play and organize your music, Ubuntu comes with <application>Rhythmbox Music Player</application>. To start <application>Rhythmbox</application>, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Applications</guimenu><guimenuitem>Sound &amp; Video</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Rhythmbox Music Player</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.

When you first use <application>Rhythmbox</application>, it will scan your home folder for any supported music files you have and will make them available to be played automatically.

<application>Rhythmbox</application> supports many useful features, some of which are turned off by default. For example, it can show the album cover of the song currently being played, or share music with others.

To access these optional features, press <menuchoice><guimenuitem>Edit</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Plugins...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> and select the features which you would like to use by ticking them.

See the <ulink type="help" url="ghelp:rhythmbox">Rhythmbox manual</ulink> for more information.

Playing audio CDs

When you insert an audio CD, the <application>Sound Juicer</application> CD player and ripper opens automatically. If you are connected to the Internet, <application>Sound Juicer</application> will display the CD artist, album and track names.

To play the CD, click the <guibutton>Play</guibutton> button or press <keycombo><keycap>Ctrl</keycap><keycap>P</keycap></keycombo>. To play a particular track, double-click on the track or select the track and click <guibutton>Play</guibutton>.

As an alternative to <application>Sound Juicer</application>, the <application>Rhythmbox Music Player</application> is also able to play CDs. Simply insert a CD, ignore or close <application>Sound Juicer</application>, start <application>Rhythmbox</application> and double-click the audio CD item in the <guilabel>Devices</guilabel> list.

Ripping audio CDs

If you would like to keep a copy of an audio CD on your computer without needing to insert the CD to listen to it, it is possible to <emphasis>rip</emphasis> or <emphasis>extract</emphasis> the music onto your computer.

<application>Sound Juicer CD Extractor</application> is able to rip CDs. To start <application>Sound Juicer</application> manually, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Applications</guimenu><guimenuitem>Sound &amp; Video</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Audio CD Extractor</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. Alternatively, it should start automatically when you insert a CD.

Follow the instructions in the Sound Juicer manual on <ulink type="help" url="ghelp:sound-juicer#extracting">how to rip audio CDs</ulink>.

Other audio-related tasks

Ubuntu provides a wide range of tools for all of your audio playing, editing and recording needs.

Change the track details of music

If you have music files which have incorrect or incomplete information about the artist or album which they are from, install <application>Cowbell Music Organizer</application>. Cowbell allows you to edit track details, and can automatically correct track information for many CDs.

Use a different music player

Many alternative music players are available apart from the default Rhythmbox Music Player. These include Amarok, Banshee Music Player, Beep Media Player, Exaile! and Muine Music Player. Each player has its own strengths and weaknesses, and which one you use will probably depend on personal preference.

Listen to Podcasts

Podcasts are a way of listening to music and radio shows broadcast on the Internet. Thousands of different shows are available, such as <ulink url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/waystolisten/podcasts/">BBC Radio</ulink>, <ulink url="http://www.lugradio.org/">LugRadio</ulink> and <ulink url="http://www.thenakedscientists.com">The Naked Scientists</ulink>. The Rhythmbox Music Player is able to play podcasts. See the <ulink type="help" url="ghelp:rhythmbox#podcast">Rhythmbox manual</ulink> for more information.

Record sounds and music

If you have appropriate audio hardware (such as a microphone), you can record sounds onto your computer. Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Applications</guimenu><guimenuitem>Sound &amp; Video</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Sound Recorder</guimenuitem></menuchoice> to start the Sound Recorder. Alternatively, press <keycombo><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>F2</keycap></keycombo>, type <quote>gnome-sound-recorder</quote> and press <guibutton>Run</guibutton>. See the <ulink type="help" url="ghelp:gnome-sound-recorder#grecord-usage">Sound Recorder manual</ulink> for further instructions.

Edit sounds and music

To edit audio, install <ulink url="http://www.jokosher.org/">Jokosher</ulink> or <ulink url="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</ulink>. Jokosher is able to record audio as well as edit it, and Audacity provides many powerful sound-editing features.

Install a full suite of multimedia editing applications

If you would like to turn your computer into a multimedia production suite, why not consider installing <ulink url="http://ubuntustudio.org/">Ubuntu Studio</ulink>? It provides a large selection of applications for creating audio, video and graphics.

Listen to online audio streams

You can listen to <emphasis>streaming audio</emphasis> from the Internet. This can be thought of as an online radio service, as it is usually broadcast live.

<application>Rhythmbox</application> is able to play most streaming audio, such as online radio shows. However, some services require a special player to be used.