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-====== Multimedia Workflow on GNU Linux ======
-Whilst you wait for the dependencies to compile and install, you may as well read about workflows on open source.
-Slackermedia is a blank canvas. There is not //one// "right" way to create and use your Slackermedia system. While Slackermedia does divide packages into broad sets, there is no pre-set that says "install this if you want to make music" or
-"install this if you want to make videos" and so on. The quandry that a new user faces is knowing what major applications to install to meet their artistic needs.
-In other words, this chapter contains a bunch of advice, which, as the cliché goes, is the one free thing in this world that no one really wants. You don't really want to read this chapter; you want to get on with using Slackermedia. However, unless you've got experience as a production co-ordinator, this chapter will probably do you some good. Think of it as the green vegetables of Slackermedia and give it a read not because it's all that good, but because it's good for you.
-==== What is a Workflow? ====
-Different disciplines have different methods of creating content, and different people work in unique ways. However, there are common elements from any production to another, and the basic methodology of getting a production from idea to finished product is called the "workflow".
-The term "workflow" refers to the entire process of production, not just what happens in the computer system being used on the project. However, since so
-much of modern production happens on a computer, the computer workflow is a often a determining factor in how the rest of the production will happen. It is important, therefore, to understand certain unique aspects of the Free Software
-workflow.
-=== Monolithic vs Modular ===
-Much of the GNU workflow is defined by its inherent modularity. This is very different than the popular tendency to consolidate broad functionality into one "one-stop shop" application. They are two different philosophies that are not really exclusive of one another; it makes sense to keep different tasks confined to specialized applications because this divides work among many applications and makes troubleshooting much easier, but it also makes sense to have an application designed to a specific goal to also include capabilities to complete all the steps required to achieve that goal.
-For instance, why include video ingestion and conversion components in a non-linear video editing application when it would make more sense to offer specific importing applications for each different kind of video that an editor might need to import?
-On the other hand, including basic video effects in a non-linear editor makes sense, because basic effects are common, and they can require frequent adjustment, and their inclusion saves the need for a round-trip out to another application.
-Same goes for photographic applications; if a photographer works in realistic photos, then watercolour emulation and fancy effects are just so much bloat.
-As you can see, there are many times when the modular approach makes more sense than the monolithic. There is an immediate convenience sometimes with the monolithic; depending on how well-structured your workflow is, you may find yourself confounded when you suddenly have to find a new application to do a task that you'd never had to do before. While in a monolithic application, the solution to that may be found in a sub-menu of the sub-menu of a menu, in the modular approach you may be faced with no hint or indication of where to turn.
-However, these are mere growing pains that are eliminated once you've found the solution; they tend to happen only once: the first time you are faced with the issue that requires a new solution. And in the mean time, you have no need to deal with bloated software with more menus and features than you can ever hope to either understand or use.
-===== Finding a New Workflow =====
-It's important that you approach your workflow carefully and deliberately when setting up your multimedia studio. Simply throwing together a collection of applications that are tagged as "multimedia" or "graphics" or "audio" is not
-the correct solution in GNU Linux any more than it is on blackbox vendor software. The artists knows best what they need from a computer, so the
-artist should determine what should be on the computer in order to get the work done.
-If you have never served as a producer (or in software terms, "project manager") before, then this concept may be new to you, so we will review it
-here.
-  -List all of the major tasks you are expecting to do on the computer system. Use general, broad terms here, such as "edit video", "retouch photos", "motion graphics", "clean up audio", and so on.
-  -Do a second pass of this list for the specific steps involved in each major task you wrote down for the first step. For example, a video editor might list: log footage, review all footage with video player with variable speed control and spreadsheet for notes, organize, organize by scene number and take number, edit, sync sound and color correction tools, print to full quality, re-edit, rinse and repeat. A separate list might expand this to include motion graphics: acquire specs fom director, create assets, animate, basic render for approval,beauty render for delivery, integration into final edit. A third list might detail the audio needs, a fourth the visual effects, and so on.
-  -Do a third pass of your list(s) and assign known software applications to each task, at least prospectively.
-  -Do some research to learn what application will address each list item.
-  -Make sure that everything you need to do can effectively be achieved with what is available to you. Be prepared for many different applications to surface in the Free Software world; due to the modular nature of its design, it's only natural that there will be a software application just capture video from a deck, or a separate application from your graphic design application just to change color space and compression settings, and so on.
-  -Take the time to //learn// the new software. Switching to a new OS (Linux or otherwise) in mid-production or when there are deadlines on the horizon is a **bad idea**. You are changing the tools and the operating system underneath those tools; you need time to spend in the new applications in order to learn them.
-  -foobaz Look for ways to automate your workflow. If there are repetitive tasks that
-    you may have had to do one-by-one in your old non-Free workflow, you should
-    look at these tasks in a new light. Quite possibly there will be scripts
-    that you can write (or find someone to help you write) that can be run on
-    your Free Software system to automatically perform adjustments or
-    processing without any intervention from you.
-. With the help of Slackermedia, build your Slackware GNU Linux system
-    according to the requirements you have specified in your list.
-. Gather raw material. This is a step that is easy to overlook in Free
-    Software because it is not often addressed, but the fact that many of the
-    vendors providing the non-Free applications package gigabytes of extra
-    content for you to use in your work means that whenever the artist needs
-    something random like a cursive font or a paint brush shaped like an oak
-    leaf or a bear paw print, or a music loop of South American drums, or a
-    high-res sand-texture, and so on, the artist has it available to them
-    within a few clicks.
-    Note
-    Free Software lacks the luxury of having gigabytes of licensed content to
-    ship along with their software. Again, this is a double-edged sword that
-    has the benefits of cutting download size by orders of magnitude, and also
-    fights the pre-fabricated feel of art produced on Free Software as opposed
-    to the off-the-shelf solutions, but means that when you do need some extra
-    raw materials, you must go out and find the content yourself.
-    Sites like flickr.com , freesound.org , and openclipart.org are veritable
-    bastions of free culture, offering Creative Commons content for easy
-    download.
-    To further address this need, the Slackermedia project itself gathered
-    supporters from around the globe to do an initial crawl of the Internet to
-    find free raw materials for artistic endeavor (such as fonts, clip art,
-    sound banks, and so on). The content can be found as a torrent file on the
-    Slackermedia.info website.
-Sample Workflows
-Only you know your specific needs, but sometimes it helps to get an idea of how
-other people work. Here are some sample workflows to get you going in the right
-direction:
-Video Editing
-Log footage
-    Use Dolphin and Mplayer to review and use Dolphin to organize and name your
-    footage; this gives you the advantage of having filenames that match their
-    content, regardless of what video editing application the clips are being
-    used in.
-Editing
-    Use Kdenlive for its robust editing features, transitions, effects, colour
-    correction, and even basic compositing (chroma keying, etc).
-Titling
-    For quality titles, use Blender for its ability to integrate 3d space into
-    motion graphics and titling and overlays. Its learning curve might make it
-    impractical for quick and basic titling.
-    The animation program Synfig Studio will also do titles and effects,
-    although a learning curve applies here as well.
-    If your titling needs are basic, use GIMP, Inkscape, or even Libre Office
-    to create high-quality .png or .tif files and import them as images into
-    Kdenlive.
-Audio Correction
-    For minor corrections (lips smacking, pop removal, plosive softening, etc),
-    open a sound file in Audacity and correct the problems. Your changes will
-    update automatically in Kdenlive.
-Soundtrack, Soundmix
-    After you obtain picture lock, start the sound mix on either Ardour or
-    Qtractor. To do this, export each individual track from Kdenlive and import
-    them into the DAW of your choice. When the mix is finished, export a final
-    mix and re-import that into Kdenlive for final output.
-Visual Effects
-    Export scenes as image sequences and import them into Blender for some of
-    the industry's most powerful compositing, particle emulation, 3d modeling,
-    and other visual effects.
-Final Render
-    Kdenlive offers uncompressed output in the form of huffYUV/PCM, as well as
-    compressed output to all major formats (xvid, mp4, ogg theora, webm, h.264
-    via x264, and more). For customized compression schemes, use ffmpeg
-    directly.
-    Always export an uncompressed final version of your work first. View it for
-    quality assurance. Upon approval, label it Goldmaster and then generate
-    compressed versions as needed.
-Audio Production
-DAW
-    Use Ardour or Qtractor or Rosegarden as the main hub of the audio
-    production.
-    Note
-    If you're doing basic audio editing, then Audacity may be all you really
-    need.
-Waveform Editing
-    Use Audacity, which specializes in waveform editing, for cleaning audio,
-    removing clicks and pops and plosives, and so on. If you edit the original
-    file then the changes you make in Audacity will update automatically in
-    your DAW.
-Effects
-    Effect packages include the Steve Harris LADSPA collection, the Calf suite,
-    and Jamin. The Steve Harris set act as plugins to your DAW, while Calf can
-    be used as plugins or as an external application, and Jamin is external
-    only.
-Synths
-    Any DSSI software synth can be used as a plugin for your DAW, and synths
-    like amSynth and QSynth are external synths that can be routed into your
-    DAW. There are many soft synths available.
-Drum Machines
-    The premier dedicated drum machine on Linux is Hydrogen, which can be used
-    as an external application routed into your DAW.
-Samplers
-    Linux Sampler is the primary sampling engine for Linux and can be routed
-    into your DAW.
-Mastering
-    Once your sound has been mixed to near-perfection, plug Jamin into your
-    master output channel. With Jamin's powerful compressor, you can adjust
-    final output levels. With its customizable EQ, you can ensure optimal sound
-    for different types of speakers.
-    Once you're finished mastering, export your work as final, uncompressed
-    gold masters.
-Graphic Design and Print
-Layout
-    Use Scribus as the central hub for bringing together the different elements
-    in a layout. Scribus is a powerful layout program, good for books,
-    pamphlets, posters of any size, banners, single pages, album art, and
-    anything else going out to CMYK printers. It is resolution-independent, can
-    track and embed fonts and color swatches, produce reader and printer
-    spreads, and much more.
-Graphics
-    Use GIMP to create or adjust rasterized (bitmap) images. It's not, in spite
-    of the cliché, a Photoshop clone; it has a language and structure all its
-    own, but once it's learned it is a powerful imaging environment.
-Illustration
-    Use Inkscape for vector-based graphics such as logos, illustration,
-    sketches, or even page layout or over-all design, quick mock-ups, and much
-    more. It can also embed or link to rasterized images, perform masks, and a
-    number of advanced imaging functions that will tempt you to make it the
-    center of your graphic production.
-    Krita is also vector-based but focuses more on materials emulation, making
-    is a powerful tool for trained illustrators.
-    MyPaint lies somewhere between Inkscape and Krita, with a dynamic brush set
-    that interacts nicely with tablets.
-    Finally, the Gimp Paint Studio set of mods for GIMP will provide material
-    emulation for GIMP, but as rasterized images only.
-Conversion
-    For colorspace or format conversion, or batch processes that you repeat
-    frequently in your workflow, the command line application Image Magick (or
-    its variation Graphics Magick) is priceless. It can be complex but the
-    website and the internet at large offer enough recipes and examples to make
-    most common tasks trivial to learn.
-Font Management
-    Font Matrix activates, deactivates, sorts, and previews your system's
-    fonts.
-Photography
-Digital Darkroom
-    Professional photographers may use Digikam as a photograph manager and
-    digital darkroom with the usual powerful set of features associated with
-    most KDE applications. The Kipi plugin set adds to its features. And yes,
-    it does RAW, too.
-    For HDR photography, there is Luminance HDR (formerly qtpfsgui), which
-    creates an HDR file from a set of images of the same subject taken at
-    different exposures. Supports basic editing of images plus tonemapping.
-Everything Else
-    See the Graphic Design list for tools relating to image re-touching,
-    design, and presentation.
-Web Design
-Coding
-    Use GNU Emacs or vim as your text editor; both are popular coding
-    environments and each have a variety of modes that will do everything from
-    syntax highlighting to auto-completion and even rudimentary code
-    validation.
-    Kate is a more traditional text editor, with a visual list of open
-    documents, syntax highlighting, organization of code blocks, and more.
-Previewing
-    Between Firefox, Rekonq, and Chromium, there is little to be desired when
-    test-driving website designs. Rekonq has a user-agent switcher built-in and
-    the other two have user-agent plugins available.
-    Install the Firebug addon for Firefox to analyze how browsers are rendering
-    your code and to catch problems in your code's structure.
-Graphics
-    See the Graphic Design list for tools when creating graphics for sites.
-FTP
-    Konsole is a one-stop shop for everything you need to push your changes to
-    the web server. With ssh and rsync, pushing your latest code can be done in
-    a single command.
-    ncftp is a traditional FTP client, featuring bookmarks for locations,
-    usernames, and passwords. If you do not have ssh access to the server, this
-    is the next best thing.
-    If you prefer a GUI solution, try FileZilla, a simple and convenient FTP
-    application. Or just use Dolphin, which seamlessly integrates with remote
-    servers as easily as it does your own computer!
-Version Control
-    Git, the version control system used for little projects like the Linux
-    kernel, the KDE desktop, this book, and much more, can manage all of the
-    changes you make to your codebase, and restore from old versions as needed.
-    A powerful tool that is simply not even on the radar of any proprietary web
-    coding solution.
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