Ubuntu: Up and Running

Chapter 14. Pictures, Sound, and Video

When it comes to multimedia, Ubuntu is definitely no slacker. In fact, the Ubuntu Studio edition is absolutely brimming with programs for handling all types of multimedia. But you don’t need to install Ubuntu Studio to be able to retouch and print photographs, edit home movies, or play your MP3s, because the standard Ubuntu edition comes with programs for these tasks, either preinstalled or available for download and installation with a few mouse clicks.

Even better, because Ubuntu is extremely efficient and can run quickly using a lot less processor power and system memory than other operating systems, you should find that manipulating media using Ubuntu is quicker and easier than ever.

Whether you just want to listen to your MP3s or watch videos, or you need to create or edit your own media, this chapter introduces a range of professional and fully featured programs that are as good as, or better than, those you’ll find on other platforms. What’s more, they won’t cost you a cent to install and use.

Movie Player

The Movie Player program is supplied with Ubuntu as the default application for playing movies and audio files. You can open it from the Applications → Sound & Video menu, or by default, it will be called up when you double-click a movie or audio file. Figure 14-1 shows the program displaying the file water-and-wind.ogv, one of the samples in the folder /usr/share/example-content (which you may also have copied to your desktop ...