Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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
  • Friday, May 1, 2009

    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'.

    Thursday, April 30, 2009

    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

    Monday, March 16, 2009

    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.

    Sunday, March 8, 2009

    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.