Half a Page of Scribbled Linux

• DVD Authoring from Linux Gazette.
• How to burn a DVD-Video
• YoLinux tutorial

The output from Kino isn’t suitable for burning a DVD. It’s one giant mpeg file (in this case dvd.mpeg). In order to create the directory structure DVD’s use, you need dvdauthor. This program uses an XML file as input. The simplest is a DVD with one chapter on it that just plays when you put it in a DVD player. Here is dvd.xml:

<dvdauthor>

    <vmgm />

    <titleset>

        <titles>

            <pgc>

                <vob file="dvd.mpeg" />

            </pgc>

        </titles>

    </titleset>

</dvdauthor>

Then you run dvdauthor: dvdauthor -o dvd_dir -x dvd.xml which creates a directory called dvd_dir. Then you need to run mkisofs -dvd-video -udf -o dvd.iso dvd_dir/ to create the file that will be used to burn the DVD.

The Plextor DVD burner is an IDE unit, so SCSI emulation must be set up for it. For me, that meant adding the following lines to /etc/modules.conf:

# 27dec2003:  SCSI emulation for Plextor PX-708A DVD burner on /dev/hdc

options ide-cd ignore=hdc            # tell the ide-cd module to ignore hdc so scsi can have it

alias scd1 sr_mod                    # load sr_mod upon access of scd1 (scd0 is CD burner)

pre-install sg     modprobe ide-scsi # load ide-scsi before sg

pre-install sr_mod modprobe ide-scsi # load ide-scsi before sr_mod

pre-install ide-scsi modprobe ide-cd # load ide-cd   before ide-scsi

Burning a DVD threw me for a loop. The Plextor burner supports DVD+RW and DVD-RW. I bought +RW disks when I ordered it. Initially I wanted to use RW disks for testing, so if I messed them up, I wouldn’t create a coaster. Once I made a good disk, I’d use the DVD+R disks, as these are more likely to play in a standard DVD player. The problem is, dvdrecord doesn’t work with plus media, only dash media, so I got this funny error:

Last chance to quit, starting real write in 0 seconds. Operation starts.

trackno=0

dvdrecord: Input/output error. reserve track: scsi sendcmd: no error

CDB:  53 00 00 00 00 00 05 2C 30 00

status: 0x2 (CHECK CONDITION)

Sense Bytes: 70 00 05 00 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 00 20 00 00 00

Sense Key: 0x5 Illegal Request, Segment 0

Sense Code: 0x20 Qual 0x00 (invalid command operation code) Fru 0x0

Sense flags: Blk 0 (not valid)

cmd finished after 0.000s timeout 200s

dvdrecord: Cannot open new session.

Using the tools from DVD+RW/+R/-R[W] for Linux fixed that problem. There’s a nice tutorial at the bottom of that page that explained everything. I used these commands:

dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/dvdrw

dvd+rw-format /dev/dvdrw

growisofs -Z /dev/dvdrw=dvd.iso 

then ogle /dev/dvdrw to play the new disc.

One thing that still needs to be fixed is that the raw1394 module doesn’t get loaded automatically when Kino is started, so for now I have to check first with /sbin/lsmod | grep 1394 and modprobe raw1394 if it’s not there.

To create the insert for the DVD case, I used cdlabelgen. This makes labels for CD jewel cases and a newer version will make inserts for the larger DVD cases if you use those instead. To make a label, grab a still from the video first. In Kino, use the Export tab on the right and select the Stills tab. Select Current as the export range (or by default, you’ll get one picture per frame). Enter in something like dvd-cover.png as the file name and select Export. Convert the image to encapsulated postscript with convert dvd-cover.png dvd-cover.eps. Convert is part of ImageMagick. Then enter cdlabelgen -e dvd-cover.eps -S 0.0 -m -o dvd-label.ps. Then lp dvd-label.ps to print.

One thing you’ll definitely need is lots of disk space. That’s where QTParted comes in. It is the Linux equivalent of Partition Magic. It lets you create and resize partions non-destructively.

As a rule of thumb, you’ll need 5GB per 15 minutes of video if you keep all the artifacts. In my case, the first video was a little more than 14 minutes long. The 16 AVI capture files totaled 2.9G. The converted DVD format file created by Kino was 663 MB. From this the DVD directory structure and control files were created (also 663MB) and an ISO file of the same size with the DVD file system was created and used to burn the disk. All these and miscellaneous other files took 4.8GB. You can get by with less if you delete the files from the prior step as you complete the next one.

To transfer video from the camcorder into the computer USB 2.0 or Firewire are OK, but USB 1.x is too slow. I set up my Firewire card using the instructions from Linux1394.

Note the current kernel for Red Hat 9 is 2.4.20-27.9, so no patches need to be applied. The stock kernel also has all the required modules, so no kernel configuration was necessary.

Once dvgrab was working, Kino worked also. In Kino, select the Capture tab on the right, enter a file name and path you want to give the video (it’ll split the video into multiple files named, e.g., capture001.avi, capture002.avi and so on) and select the Capture button.

Once video is captured, choose the Export tab on the right, and the MPEG tab on top (you’ll have to scroll the tabs to the right). Change file format to DVD and enter a file name to export to. Select Export and w-a-i-t. On my machine, it takes about an hour per 15 minutes of video.

Nothing fancy here. I just hooked up the camcorder to the line-out RCA jacks on my VCR and recorded the home movies I had on VHS tapes. Although the tapes are still perfectly fine for playing, I wanted to

digitize them for long-term storage. VHS will break down eventually and although archiving tape to tape will avoid that problem, there is some signal loss each time the tape is copied. The wonderful world of

bits and bytes allows copies to be made with no signal degradation.

• Red Hat Linux 9
• qtparted 0.4.0
• libraw1394

(recommends gscanbus)


• Kino 0.6.5 and dvgrab 1.4 for video capture

(requires libdv, libavc1394, recommends quicktime4linux which needs nasm)


• dvdauthor 0.6.8
• dvd+rw-tools 5.16.4.8.5
• cdlabelgen
• ImageMagick
• Ogle DVD player 0.9.2

(requires libdvdcss and libdvdread)

This is the list of relevant hardware. The video and audio cards are at least as old and cheap as anything you’ll find, so you don’t need high-powered stuff there.

Computer:

• AMD Athlon 1.2G processor
• Plextor PX-708A DVD+-RW drive
• StarTech Firewire controller card (VIA Technologies ohci1394)
• Western digital WD2000JB 200GB IDE hard disk

Camcorder:

• Sony DCR-TRV18 mini-DV

This is a log of how I made DVDs of my home movies. Some were shot directly with my mini-DV camcorder and others were transfered from VHS tape.

Keep in mind this isn’t a scientific explanation of how to do this. This is how I did it, warts and all. I’m not an expert at this (yet). Your mileage may vary. And if you notice anything that I’ve got wrong, please email me at <dagdvd at emailias dot com> and I’ll fix it.