COVER STORY

30 01/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HCS to 57007
Create, store, convert and
organize all your music and
movie files. You don't have
to wade through piles of junk
anymore—just sit back and
enjoy multimedia nirvana.
BY TEAM CHIP

M
ultimedia today is about a lot
more than the beeps and clicks
PCs used to make a decade or
so ago. Media files today account for the
majority of used space on most computers,
and it isn't uncommon to see people buying
new hard drives solely to accommodate all
their movies and music.
Hard drives, CDs, DVDs and all kinds
of removable storage devices need to
be managed when free space runs out.
With multiple PCs and laptops in a family,
it's easy to waste space with needless
duplicates.e And we all have some of these
files on our portable players and cellphones,
although there never seems to be enough
room for all of them!
Luckily today, hard drives are as cheap
as Rs 6,200 for a terabyte, but there's
still a lot of room for improvement
when it comes to smart organization
and storage of these files. To deal with
the avalanche of files, CHIP has put
together this guide that covers every step
from the creation to the organization
and playback of digital multimedia.

POWER
MULTIMEDIA PACK
INCLUDING: iTunes, WinAmp, VLC Media Player,
AutoGK, DVD Decrypter, TagScanner, Corel
WinDVD Movie Factory, FLAC, MP3Gain 1.2.5,
CinemaForge 3.1, Free Video Zilla 1.1.2, Kigo
Video Converter Free 1.0, Free Video Cut And
Split 2.6.0.3, Free Audio Editor 2008 5.3.1,
MiniDVDSoft Free DVD Burner 3.0.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 01/2009 31

 COVER STORY
All the tech you need to know
Codecs
Behind most audio and video files are
any of a number of codecs—pieces of
software that allow computers to turn
huge uncompressed files into more
portable, convenient formats, as well as
interpret those formats and decompress
the media when it needs to be played.
Dozens of formats and variants exist,
many of them used only by certain
publishers or only for certain purposes.
It isn’t always easy to decide which
codec is best for your purposes, and it
isn’t always possible to ensure a file will
play on a portable device or someone
else’s computer.
Codecs are generally categorized as
lossy or lossless: those which trade file
size for quality and those which retain all
the quality of the original source. It is the
goal of every codec to strike a balance
between size and quality, so users
should choose which approach they
prefer based on their individual needs.
You can’t always tell what codec a file
uses just by checking its extension. AVI
and MPG are really only the extensions
of container files, which hold video
encoded with a certain codec along with
other information such as subtitles, tag
metadata (such as the title, language,
director, year of release, etc) and even
DRM security. Here’s a quick rundown of
some of the terms you’ll run across, and
what each really means:
MP3: The most common audio format
today, MP3 is widely supported and
contains no copy protection mechanism.
Quality and size can be controlled by
32 01/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
varying the bit rate,
but it is still lossy
and unsuitable for
audiophiles. Licensing
and security issues
have led to the
emergence of WMV
(Windows Media
Video), a similarly
capable format.
MPEG: The Moving
Picture Experts
Group, part of
the International
Organization for
Standardization (ISO)
is behind many of the VC-1: This alternative to MPEG-4,
most common audio and video codecs. developed mainly by Microsoft, can be
MPEG-1 is found on Video CDs and offers found on many Blu-Ray discs and is the
slightly better quality than VHS. MPEG-2 codec behind WMV9 (Windows Media
is found on DVDs (using VOB container Video) files and video on the Xbox 360.
files), digital TV transmission systems
and computer files a multitude of DRM
extensions. MPEG-4 is used on Blu-Ray The term Digital Rights Management
and HD-DVD discs as well as newer makes it sound like users are being
digital TV signals. assured of a lot of cool features and
MP4/M4A: MP4 is a format designed functions when they buy any new
around one of the MPEG-4 standards, content or hardware. But the reality in
while M4A is the extension sometimes many cases is that DRM only restricts
used for such files which contain only the ways in which you can use the media
audio. MP4 files can contain subtitles you’ve already paid for. High-quality
as well as multiple audio and video digital file formats and high-speed
streams. The term “MP4” is also thrown Internet connections have led to a
around to identify portable devices huge amount of file sharing and piracy
which can also handle video (to connote of music, movies, games, books and
functionality greater than just MP3 software. The corporations that produce
playback), although this usage doesn’t them have put various mechanisms
guarantee any format or standard into place to protect their copyrights;
compatibility. however DRM is much more involved
H.264: Also known than just preventing users from making
as AVC (Advanced copies of files.
Video Coding), this is There are various forms of DRM that
a recent standard that are designed to prevent users from
allows for high quality copying legitimately purchased media
files at lower bitrates onto multiple computers or portable
than even MPEG-4. It’s players. Some companies prefer to
one of the standards let you copy your files only to certain
Blu-Ray discs might pre-approved devices, or to allow only
use, and is also used to a certain number of copies to be made.
deliver video through Unfortunately, there is no one standard
Flash using FLV files. for DRM, meaning that users are often
QuickTime, x264 and locked into convoluted schemes by
Nero Digital are codecs multiple content providers. DRM has
that use this standard. caused countless headaches to people
who pay for legitimate copies of their
music and movies:
 Songs purchased from Apple’s iTunes
Music Store can’t be copied to portable
players that aren’t iPods.
 Sony sold audio CDs that
surreptitiously installed the equivalent
of a Trojan on users’ computers,
compromising their security.
 Yahoo and MSN music have both
decided to shut down, and once their
authentication servers are offline, users
won’t be able to authenticate and play
any music they’ve paid for.
 Some digital TV broadcasts can be
flagged so that video recording devices
are disabled, preventing users from
watching shows at a convenient time.
 Even a decade ago, DVDs shipped
with CSS (Content Scrambling System),
a short-lived attempt to prevent illegal
ripping, which actually only prevented
the discs from working on Linux and
other legitimate playback environments.
Fortunately or unfortunately, most
of these methods can be cracked quite
easily. Software to make perfect copies
of DVDs has been widely available for
years, and some “protected” audio CDs
can be ripped by simply holding down
the [Shift] key while inserting them into
a PC, i.e. preventing the autorun function.
And anyone can burn iTunes or Yahoo
music onto regular audio CDs and then
re-rip them, or route their soundcard’s
output back to its line in jack and record
the incoming stream as a new file.
Pirates and anti-DRM software
vendors in many countries are being
prosecuted anyway under DRM laws
such as the US Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, or are being scared into
abandoning their illegal activities. But it’s
ordinary, non-technically-inclined users
who are suffering the
most, by paying for
content in formats that
they simply can’t use
wherever and whenever
they need to.
Hardware for
video playback
You may ask why
anyone should shell
out thousands of
rupees for a discrete
graphics card and
soundcard when their motherboard has
them onboard? The technologies used
in manufacturing motherboards have
progressed at such a speedy pace that
today onboard sound and graphics chips
are tinier than your thumb nail. However
the performance of these chips is only
the bare minimum that you require for
basic everyday tasks: listening to music,
watching movies, and some light gaming.
Discrete components are needed
for greater performance for gamers,
audiophiles and cinema devotees.
Graphics cards are usually seen as
gaming hardware. But today a GPU is far
more versatile and can do much more
than only processing the pixels on a
screen. The current generation of GPUs
by ATI (Radeon 4000 series) and Nvidia
(GeForce 8000 series and above) can
decode high-definition content and also
accelerate certain video encoding and
imaging applications. Imagine the power
of the hundreds of stream processors
in a GPU compared to the number
of cores in a dual-core or quad-core
CPU. With DirectX 11 in the future, even
the visual effects in Windows will be
completely GPU-accelerated thereby
freeing resources
for other tasks.
You don’t need a
high-end graphics
card to enjoy these
features—even a
GeForce 9400 GT
or Radeon HD 4350
which cost less than
Rs 5,000 each are
quite capable. If
you’re planning to
buy a motherboard
with integrated
graphics look out
for newer, more powerful onboard
GPUs such as the Nvidia GeForce 8200
or higher as these support HD video
decoding and GPU-based acceleration,
and offer more value for money than
Intel onboard GPUs.
Sounds good!
The case is the same for sound cards.
Current mainstream and entry-level
motherboards offer multi-channel sound,
but they are designed for only average
sound quality. Audiophiles and music
lovers should either buy a good discrete
sound card or a motherboard that
bundles one. Motherboards from Asus’
Republic of Gamers series and from
MSI’s Diamond series bundle discrete
(low profile) sound cards. These cards
use a riser slot on the motherboard
and offer digital output via optical and
coaxial ports. If you aren't buying a new
motherboard, you can add a quality
sound card such as Asus’ Xonar and
Creative’s Audigy and X-Fi series. And
if you want pristine sound from your
laptop, use an external USB device such
as the Xonar U1 or the Creative X-mod.
When using discrete sound with digital
output—regardless of it being internal
or external—the motherboard’s onboard
sound doesn’t matter.
Sound travels in the form of digital
data from the card to the amplifier’s
decoder where it is converted into
analog singals and is distributed to the
speakers, so a digital input provides
better sound quality than an analog
one. Another option is digital speakers
which have built-in decoders, such as
the Logitech Z-5500 set. Finally, it’s
worth mentioning that your speakers
and sound card are equally important. A
great sound card will sound awful with
awful speakers, and vice versa.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 01/2009 33
 COVER STORY

Ripping and encoding music

Ripping and encoding music from
CDs allows people to fill up their MP3
collections, but taking the trouble to
specify file names, sizes, formats and
sound quality was never very easy. This
workshop shows you how, with a little
attention to the encoding process, you
can create great-sounding MP3 files
which still occupy as very little space.
We used Exact Audio Copy or EAC,
a ripping program known for its faithful
reproduction of music and immense
flexibility with options. Apart from the
ripping program, we used the LAME MP3
encoder to handle the compression. Let’s
begin with configuring EAC.
Step 6: Normalizing and
creating audio CDs
The ‘normalize’ option decreases the
jarring in an audio track and brings down
peak levels to make the track more
soothing. EAC also lets you create audio
CDs with custom gaps between tracks.
About bitrates
The three main types of bitrate are
constant (CBR), variable (VBR) and
average (ABR). CBR maintains a
1 2
constant sound quality, and is not as
optimal as VBR, which adjusts the
bitrate according to the requirements of
each part of a track. ABR restricts the
size of the output file, so the bitrate is
calculated to that target. LAME, however
offers only the former two options.
Ripping is permanent, so to increase the
quality or decrease the file size, you'll
need the original CD. Re-encoding an
existing MP3 file to a different bitrate
will result in lower quality.

Step 1: Initial configuration

While installing, you have two options
for sound quality: lossless (FLAC and
WMA) or lossy/compressed (MP3 and
WMA). FLAC is best for archiving CDs in
their original sound quality for future CD
writing.

Step 2: Encoder path and

filename Configuration
EAC needs an external MP3 encoder. 3 4
LAME is a good option, so download
it from the Web and enter the path on
your PC during installation. Next is the
Filename Configuration option, where
you can choose the way your ripped files
are named.

Step 3: Compact Disc

Database (CDDB)
You can import the CD’s information
from the Web instead of typing it
manually. Go to 'Database | Get CD
Information From | Remote freedb'. This
5 6
fills in the track titles, artist, etc which
you can use to name and tag the files.

Step 4: File naming scheme

Click 'EAC | EAC options'. The ‘Filename’
tab lets you customize the way your
tracks are named. You can include the
title, number, artist, etc, and even choose
their sequence in the names.

Step 5: Bitrate settings

Now you must decide the sound quality
and file size—the most important step.

34 01/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Digital DVD copies
DVD media don't last forever, so there Step 4: DVD Decrypter video quality settings at their defaults.
are plenty of legitimate reasons for Now, you can see a simple listing of the These will be determined according
wanting to make a backup digital copy. audio and subtitle tracks you ripped. to the target file size you chose. Once
However, anti-piracy activists claim Select the one you want. Lower down, this is done, just let the job run. A lot of
that ripping DVDs encourages illegal file choose the desired output size. The background programs will run, but it's
sharing. Anti-piracy measures make it options are conveniently sorted with part of the process. This again could
difficult to create digital copies, and now different media in mind. take a while—several hours on older PCs.
software that does circumvent these
measures are even considered illegal Step 5: Advanced options Step 6: Only for experts!
in some countries! While there is still Foreign-language movies will require Press [Ctrl]+[F9] to see a list of hidden
a huge amount of legal grey area, this subtitles, for which the options reside options. You can tweak these once you are
tutorial focuses on the technical rather here. You can leave the audio and more comfortable with video encoding.
than moral aspects of making a DVD
copy. However, owning these copies 1 2
could be a liability in the future.
Ripping a DVD is a two-step process.
The first program needed is DVD
Decrypter, which dumps the contents of
a DVD to your hard drive. In the process,
it allows you to strip out unnecessary
data such as a director's commentary,
multiple-language subtitles, multiple
sound tracks, etc. DVD Decrypter also
helpfully removes most types of copy
protection and region encoding.
For step two, multiple options exist.
We use AutoGK, a simple, point-and-
click program that will get our job done 3 4
with minimal fuss. For those who are
comfortable with calculating bitrates
and file sizes, more information can be
found at dedicated websites such as
www.doom9.org.

Step 1: DVD Decrypter

Launch DVD Decrypter and insert your
DVD. Switch to IFO mode through the
Mode menu, and select the Stream
Processing tab which will allow you to
select the video and audio tracks.

5 6
Step 2: Ripping the disc
Specify an output folder and hit the
giant Rip button on the lower left side.
The process could take a while.

Step 3: Using AutoGK

The upper-most part of the AutoGK
window is where you select the input
file (which you just created) and specify
a name for the output. You might see
a dialog asking you to choose a PGC.
Select the longest one—the others are
trailers, warning messages, etc.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 01/2009 35

 COVER STORY
Tagging and renaming music
Imagine a world where things and people
have no names. It would be impossible
to find or identify anyone instantly. Just
like we relate an individual’s name to
attributes they have, ID3 tags allow us
to identify and organize songs based on
embedded information such as the artist
name, track name, album name, genre,
year of release, comment, and so on.
These are the details that show up on
screen during playback.
ID3 tags are also important for
organizing music. An MP3 player can
only find for songs by artist name, album
name or genre if they are tagged. You
can even embed the cover art of an
album and the lyrics of a song into tags.
Some players allow browsing through
music using album art instead of plain
text—namely the swanky CoverFlow
mode in iPods and iTunes.
The songs' filenames are equally
important for managing music. You must
have seen filenames full of unnecessary
garbled text. Fix upon one syntax such
36 01/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
as 'Artist - Title' or 'Artist - Album - Title’,
and stick to it. Finally, uniformity always
makes browsing easier on the eyes.
Tagging and renaming each and
every file of a huge music collection may
seem intimidating if you haven’t used
any specialized software for managing
the process. There are numerous
applications which can batch-process
tags and filenames, some of which are
Tag and Rename, TagScanner, Dr Tag
Plus, and so on. You can also automate
the process of acquiring tags from file
names and vice-versa, and perform
mass-tagging operations. Let’s take a
quick look at some of the features of
TagScanner, one of the most powerful
free tagging and renaming tools.
Step 1: Initial configuration
Specify the path to your music collection
and set the ID3 tag version as 2 from
the drop down list in the top right
corner. You can tag your music using
the Tag Editor (mass tagging tool) and
1 2
3 4
Tag Processor (processes tags from
filenames).
Step 2: Text transformation
Double-click in the Text transformations
section in the top right corner and
configure the parameters. You can even
specify the letter case for filenames and
text replacements. For instance you can
replace “cant” by “Can’t” automatically.
Step 3: Processing tags
Switch to the Tag Processor, select the
files you want to tag, and configure the
fields in the Settings pane to the right.
Specify the sequence in which various
elements of the filename occur and hit
the Generate button when you’re done.
Step 4: Renaming files
After tagging the files, switch to the
Music Renamer and use the list of
placeholders to specify the filename
syntax. After previewing the results, click
Rename to name files from their tags.