Episode: 1711
Title: HPR1711: Problems with video software in Linux
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr1711/hpr1711.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-18 08:07:16

---

This is HPR episode 1,711 entitled Problems with Video Software in Linux.
It is hosted by first time hosts with 110 and is about 14 minutes long.
The summary is, a person new to Linux is introduced to video software that was unimpressive.
This episode of HPR is brought to you by an honesthost.com.
Get 15% discount on all shared hosting with the offer code HPR15.
That's HPR15.
Better web hosting that's honest and fair at an honesthost.com.
When it comes to recording the video in the world of Linux, we haven't been able to
find exactly the best program to use.
So here we are using GUVC video that is GUVC video.
And this program that we got via the Ubuntu software center is awesome.
Right now we are able to do this video, we are obviously in black and white.
So it makes it kind of interesting to be able to go ahead and do this.
Just think, an open source program that is able to make this thing rock.
So now we are just going to continue doing it.
We are going to use this in our videos a lot of times when we are working.
By the way, the operating system we are running is called Ubuntu and that's 12.04 which
is the latest version that was released April 26th this year.
We are currently running this program on an i3 and the computer is a gateway with an
i3 processor, we are running a terabyte of hard drive space and there are four gigs
of RAM installed by default in the machine.
So pretty nice configuration I should say.
So therefore we should really have some good results when it comes to doing different things.
I plan on also installing this particular program on my laptop and I am curious to see
how that works out.
I will be doing my videos on there and posting it on my blog and we will be doing plenty
of videos with it and just check it out.
And this is being recorded at 12.80 by 720 which according to one review that we saw, this
isn't really supposed to work out very well but it is.
And I think maybe the reason that it is is because I disabled the autofocus.
I was playing with the autofocus a little bit early with this program when I installed it
and I found it to be extremely clunky.
So I disabled it.
I set the focus once since there are just two of us here and we are not doing a whole
lot of movement.
I figured that was probably the best thing to do when I did that, everything seemed to
look a whole lot better.
We are also recording in a frame rate of 24 frames per second.
I am not using the full 30 so that is probably helping too but I don't think it looks too
bad.
We looked at a clip of this already.
It looked pretty good.
So I agree with that assessment.
I am also thinking, I almost forgot what I was saying, I am going to see like really
my thought process is just kind of, we have had like a really long night guys.
We have installed every program under the sun and it just hasn't worked.
We programs kind of is an every program.
Well but it is.
I am sure there are others.
These are the ones that we have come to learn about.
We were just talking, what were you start where you started off at?
No no, it is fine.
We tried three different programs in the Ubuntu software center, the only three that we
could find actually and all three of them, boy did they have their issues at one point
or another.
In fact, cheese has been the most issue written of all of them because we managed to load
it the first time.
It never recorded properly and now I can't even get it to show up and I have uninstalled
that program approximately four times by now.
Ouch!
And I can't even get it to run anymore.
It is like it is sitting there in the Unity window just staring at me but I can't use
it.
It is like it is fake.
The other one which now escapes me, I will see the other one hold on.
It was webcam studio, I will even tell you.
It was actually thinking of more G Merlin.
Oh!
The G Merlin was the one.
G Merlin was the one that I grabbed at the very beginning.
I actually grabbed it last night before we started this and that turned out to be a train
rack.
I mean, it was just so glitchy.
Oh!
Boom!
Yeah, it just didn't, that didn't fly at all and I have tried repeatedly since then even
lowering the bit rates down to like 360, the results are just as putrid as they were when
I started.
So, I mean, this has been a really rough ride and I mean we were, we both kind of arrived
at that point.
Imagine if you can where neither one of us was speaking much.
So that kind of doesn't ever come out heated.
But we were both like being driven and saying, like in the heat of the night, yeah, it's
full.
But look, the thing about it, thank you.
So, my brother just made, we may reference to earlier, I remember it was a particular
blog where she was Nixie Pixel.
She was doing a review of this particular program, GUVC Video.
It's available in Ubuntu Software Center.
But the thing about it was that video is over a year old.
So since then things have improved, a lot has changed, so that would be why we could
use 720 here, and that's what I'm looking at as being a reason as to why it didn't work
then.
I mean, this was then and now.
And she made some rather hefty blanket statements about not being able to get up to 1080p,
which frankly with my experience here, even though it's only been brief, that actually
really does kind of seem to still be the case.
But the rest of it, the clearly they've managed to improve upon.
So much, much credit to the writers of the software for being able to improve.
Very good.
So far I'm liking this program.
Me too.
What do you think about the options that are available?
It doesn't have a tremendous amount of bells and whistles.
I mean, I'm looking at the video filters.
There aren't many there.
It's not going to do like the sparkly things that will wow and amuse your friends.
You can get a video editor for that.
You can do it in what they call post production, just do it later.
But you've got video filters.
You've got mirror and invert and negative and mono, which is black and white.
And you've got pieces, which looks really weird and particles, pieces and particles.
Yeah, that's how it is.
Because right now we're in black and white.
Bing, Bing, Bing.
But pieces and particles you will never use because they look absolutely ridiculous.
But negative, you might use negative, it's kind of fun.
It's pieces, pieces, pieces of me.
That could be a song.
Negative, actually, what happens is my brother ends up looking like me and I end up looking
like him.
Oh, that's an epic fail, which would be bad.
Keep your skin.
Yeah, I would look better in the glasses, though.
And invert, you might use just for fun and mirror you might use, but I mean, the video
filters in mirror right now, you know what I'm saying, but the video filters you're probably
not going to use.
I mean, we're just doing this to be cute, but it probably wouldn't, in fact, I think,
let's see.
Yeah, see, that's obviously, that's what we really look like in living color.
That's scary.
I'm probably wider than you thought I was.
Oh, he is.
Um, all of a sudden I became a smack him so he has him color.
You know what?
I'll be interesting.
But we're, yeah, you're not, other than just to get cute with it, you're not going to
use these video filters.
It isn't going to happen.
It's also important to note about to be serious again.
Look out.
It's also important to note that the video codec I'm using is for NPG 2 formats.
It's NPG 2 format, which is about as good as you can do.
I'm not using the compression format, the other compression format that it's using by
default, I'm using something else, and it'll, it's going to pop out as an API format,
which is perfect for YouTube and things like that that you want to get a decent resolution
out of.
So it looks pretty good.
I mean, I'm pretty impressed with the whole thing, actually.
I'm pretty happy with it as well, actually.
My first time really delving into a program with this sort of head cheese, I'm installing
my laptop for quite some time, I just didn't really have to play around with it.
Lots of cheese.
He's real good with cheese, cheesy stuff.
Okay, so any more thoughts?
And I come, please understand too, that I come from, and this is going to sound like,
this is going to sound utterly profane, but I'm used to dealing with Mac.
Oh my god.
I know that I have to hurt, and I'm sorry, it's, it's, it's all good, but I come from
using Mac.
I don't have a curse like that.
And well, but in Mac, it's, it's incredibly easy, because in Mac, all you're doing is loading
up something called iMovie, which they give you with the operating system, and it looks
absolutely ridiculous right away.
It looks really good out of the box.
I can get, you know, with that, I can get 720 with no problem.
I could probably even get 1080, but I haven't tried it.
But it looks really good right out of the box, and it was far less trouble.
And with iMovie, after I've recorded, I can also edit with the G-EVAC fan, but we'll
know, but I'm just speaking from a utilitarian standpoint, you tell it's, you tell it, that's
a lot of syllables for you, isn't it?
But, but in the, in iMovie, after you've shot it, you can also edit it right in the same
program, and the G-EVAC view will not allow editing, and they're, they're, I've already
downloaded from here, well, no, it's all right, though, because I've already downloaded
the OpenShot video editor, which looks, which looks exactly like iMovie, so you would shoot
it in G-EVAC view, and then edit it in OpenShot, you'd probably end up getting the same
results anyway.
So, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's perfectly doable with, with free software.
It absolutely is, and we're discovering that now for the first time, so I kind of wondered,
you know, what would happen?
So it's, it's going pretty well, I think now finally, now that we've gotten over the
hurdle of finding something that works, you know?
Very good.
Well, this ends pretty much our review of G-EVAC video, thank you for watching, you guys
have a great day, peace.
You've been listening to HECCA Public Radio at HECCA Public Radio dot org.
We are a community podcast network that releases shows every weekday, Monday through Friday.
Today's show, like all our shows, was contributed by an HBR listener like yourself.
If you ever thought of recording a podcast, then click on our contributing to find out
how easy it really is.
HECCA Public Radio was founded by the Digital Dog Pound and the Infonomicon Computer Club,
and it's part of the binary revolution at binrev.com.
If you have comments on today's show, please email the host directly, leave a comment on
the website or record a follow-up episode yourself.
Unless otherwise stated, today's show is released on the creative comments, attribution,
share a like, 3.0 license.