dvd_rip.sh script updated

I completed a fair amount of updates and small refactoring to my dvd_rip.sh bash script program for ripping/backing up DVDs. Yes, its still written in bash (for now!), but runs pretty fast and has lots of error checking. Some updates from this release include:

Updated with a $mountpoint variable (works better with ubuntu systems that auto mount disks under /media/cdrom{0}.

Required packages checking function is more robust and lets you know which packages you are missing (if any) instead of just exiting.

Added version string (long time coming)

Improved help output

$PATH variable now includes /usr/local/bin in case required binaries live here

General code cleanup (removed 18 lines of code!)

Please feel free to download and give it a try. I have a couple other imrpovements coming soon when I get a chance to work on them. They should include:

Option to rip dvd as raw iso

Option to rip dvd as avi or mpg

Direct link for download is here: http://www.box.net/shared/un3x08ato4

New Forum Video Teaser - "Forever"

Forum Snowboards just put out a teaser for their new video entitled "Forever" and it looks great.

Some of my favorite riders are featured, including: Pat Moore, John Jackson, Eddie Wall and of course, the one and only Peter Line. My favorite Forum video has always been "The Resistance", but after this teaser, I may have a new favorite. Time will tell when its released later this year, estimated Fall 09'.

Synchronized Backflips @ Queens Bath, Kauai

Just got back from Kauai, HI. Brian and I having some fun at Queens Bath in Princeville. Are we ready for olympic tryouts yet? =P

Encode video files for ipod-touch/iphone and T-Mobile G1/Andriod [Linux Hacks]

I posted an article back in February on how to re-encode movies for ipod and other pmp devices in linux, based on my mini_encoder.py script. I have a few more updates now to add to the script for your enjoyment. Release notes as follows:

-Now uses optparse python module for command line argument process handling
-New option for iphone/ipod-touch in addition to ipod-video and default modes
-Uses ffmpeg for processing ipod/iphone videos (H.264 and AAC codecs encoded to mp4 format)
-General code cleanup and slight re-factoring
-More verbose help options

The main takeaway from this version is that mini_encoder.py is now capable of resizing mpg or avi video files for your ipod-video, iphone/ipod-touch or even your T-Mobile G1/Android, in addition to any other pmp player that is capable of handling avi or mpg video streams.

The default resolution is 320x240, but for the iphone/ipod-touch and G1, it bumps it up to 480x320 to fit nicely on the screen and utilize the larger screen size. See the help option for more info

$ ./mini-encoder.py --help
./mini-encoder.py - Encodes and resizes video files (avi or mpg) to fit
 small screen resolution pmp devices. Resolution and codec formulas:

 default - 320x240 (preserves original codecs from source video file)
 ipod    - 320x240 (re-encodes to mp4 using H.264 and AAC codecs)
 iphone  - 480x320 (re-encodes to mp4 using H.264 and AAC codecs)

 Supply a path to the movie file you wish to encode (required):
./mini-encoder.py [options] --movie /path/to/file.avi
 Options:
   --version       Print the version number of this program
   -m, --movie     Path to video file you wish to encode 
   -p, --ipod      Encodes to mp4 format for use with ipod-video
   -i, --iphone    Encodes to mp4 format for use with iphone/ipod-touch

Usage: mini-encoder.py [options]

Options:
 --version             show program's version number and exit
 -h, --help            show this help message and exit
 -m INMOVIE, --movie=INMOVIE
                       Input video file to encode
 -p, --ipod            Encode to ipod-video format
 -i, --iphone          Encode to iphone/ipod-touch format

Example for encoding for iphone/ipod-touch:
./mini_encoder.py --iphone --movie /path/to/movie.avi

Requirements for running this program are:
1. A recent version of python
2. transcode package
3. ffmpeg package

Please feel free to download it and let me know what you think.

Woodward Skate/Snow Park at Copper Mountain

Man, I really need to go here. They have a huge foam pit for snowboarding and a bunch of cool trampolines/pits/pipes/rails and anything else you can think of to skate or snowboard on. I think I need to pack up and head out there now. I may never come back.

Convert wav to mp3 for a directory [Linux Hacks]

There are some really nice Linux tools out there to do wav to mp3 conversion (lame, bladeenc etc). Here is a small shell script to run on a given directory that will convert all .wav files to .mp3:

wav2mp3.sh

Output:

$ ./wav2mp3.sh /home/nmaxwell/foo/
/usr/bin/bladeenc
Performing mp3 conversion on: /home/nmaxwell/foo/
Old filename: /home/nmaxwell/foo/song.wav
New filename: /home/nmaxwell/foo/song.mp3

BladeEnc 0.94.2    (c) Tord Jansson            Homepage: http://bladeenc.mp3.no
===============================================================================
BladeEnc is free software, distributed under the Lesser General Public License.
See the file COPYING, BladeEnc's homepage or www.fsf.org for more details.

Files to encode: 1

Encoding:  /home/nmaxwell/foo/song.wav
Input:     44.1 kHz, 16 bit, stereo.
Output:    128 kBit, stereo.

Completed. Encoding time: 00:00:07 (21.71X)                                  

All operations completed. Total encoding time: 00:00:07

The script will run this conversion on any files it sees in the directory with the .wav extension.