Multimedia

EXIF Data Privacy Warning

When you crop an image, maybe to exclude parts of the photo you want to keep private, make sure the embedded EXIF thumbnail image is updated/replaced when the image is saved.

Unfortunately, the failure to replace the thumbnail may allow the viewing of the original thumbnail image, uncropped, using readily available tools. For example, Android OS phones using Gmail may automatically display the preview of the uncropped original EXIF thumbnail.

This is a privacy/security issue, as the EXIF data may also contain GPS location info.

Broadcasting, Live Streaming

OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) Studio

  • Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming.
  • High performance real time video/audio capturing and mixing, with unlimited scenes you can switch between seamlessly via custom transitions.
  • Studio Mode lets you preview your scenes and sources before pushing them live.

OBS Plug-ins, Expansion Tools, etc.

Streamlabs OBS Live Streaming Software

  • Streamlabs OBS is free, open source, and easy way to get started streaming.
  • The app is built on top of OBS with additional features: facemasks, built-in widgets & chat, game specific encoders and thousands of free overlays and themes.

Polypop

  • Polypop is a live-streaming design and broadcast software powered by a 3D game engine.
  • Polypop’s goal is to help streamers monetize their content by creating dynamic, live-broadcast experiences that keep their viewers engaged.

Restream.io

  • Restream.io allows you to stream live to 30+ social platforms at once, using only one output/upload.
  • Restream.io does the streaming to multiple platforms. This demands less of your PC, and your Internet upload bandwidth.

StreamYard

  • Stream to multiple destination platforms using a Web browser.

Media Players

Perfect Media Server (PMS) – This site documents the many aspects of building a media server using Free and Open Source Software wherever possible.

VLC Media player

  • VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player supporting most audio and video formats (H.264, Ogg, DivX, XvidD, MKV, TS, MPEG-2, mp3, MPEG-4, aac, …) from files, physical media (DVDs, VCD, Audio-CD), TV capture cards and many network streaming protocols.
  • It can also convert media files, transcode and act as a streaming server over unicast or multicast and IPv4 or IPv6.

JetAudio Media player

  • Audio/Video playback. Supports All Major File Formats, including RealAudio.

Video and Audio Editors

DaVinci Resolve

  • Tools for editing, visual effects, motion graphics, color correction and audio post production, all in a single application.
  • Free version available.

Kdenlive (KDE Non-Linear Video Editor)

  • Kdenlive (KDE Non-Linear Video Editor) is a free and open-source video editing software based on the MLT Framework, KDE and Qt.

Audacity

  • Audacity is a free audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to:
    • Record live audio.
    • Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
    • Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files.
    • Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together.
    • Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
    • More…
  • How to Create a Clean Version of a Song

Audio / MP3 Editors

Mp3tag

  • A tool to edit metadata (ID3, Vorbis Comments and APE) of common audio formats. It can rename files based on the tag information, replace characters or words from tags and filenames, import/export tag information, create playlists and more.

mp3DirectCut

  • Non-destructive / lossless merging of multiple mp3’s into one file, so audio quality is not degraded.
  • You can directly cut, copy, paste or change the volume with no need to decompress your files for audio editing. This saves encoding time and preserves the original quality, because nothing will be re-encoded.

Mp3splt Project

  • A utility to split mp3 and ogg files by selecting a begin and end time position, without decoding.
  • By not decoding, editing, then re-encoding an MP3, you won’t degrade the audio quality.

AllToAVI

  • A tool to convert, especially ogm and mkv, files to avi, with subtitle and audio track selection, video resizing, bitrate selection and codec selection.

Medieval Cue Splitter

  • CUE Splitter is a freeware tool that split a single big audio track, mostly an album or a compilation, into the relative individual audio tracks, using information contained in the associated “CUE” file. (MP3, APE, FLAC, OGG, WAV, WMA, etc.) See: Split CD Images To Individual Tracks

Utilities

Spek – Acoustic Spectrum Analyser

  • Helps to analyse your audio files by showing their spectrogram.
  • Too often low quality audio files are upscaled to a higher bit-rate to make it seem like it’s higher quality.
  • A spectrum analyser will let you see if the file is in-fact a high quality audio file.
  • How to Check the Real Bitrate of Audio Files

GSpot Codec Information Appliance

  • Establishes what codecs (audio and video) are required to play a media file.
  • Determines whether these codecs are installed on your system.
  • Isolates problems associated with these codecs.
  • Isolates problems associated with media files
  • Shows framerate, duration, aspect ratio, bitrates, “hidden” info, and more.

DVD Flick

  • DVD Flick can take a number of video files (avi, wmv, etc) stored on your computer and turn them into a DVD that will play back on your DVD player, Media Center or Home Cinema Set. You can add additional custom audio tracks, subtitles, as well as a menu for easier navigation.

BonkEnc Project

  • A CD ripper, audio encoder and converter for various formats. It can produce MP3, MP4/M4A, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Bonk and FLAC files. Can convert FLAC to MP3. Free, Open source.

FormatFactory

  • A multifunctional media converter. Converts all popular video, audio, and picture formats to other formats. e.g. flac to MP3, mkv to avi, flac to mp3, etc.

Diagrams, Charts

Lucidchart

  • Lucidchart provides an intuitive and collaborative diagramming solution for your entire organization.
  • Nothing to install: Say goodbye to the hassles of desktop software. No more outdated versions, lost files, and resource drains. Lucidchart is always online.
  • Drag and drop: Drag-and-drop functionality simplifies the entire experience. For example, line drawing is as easy as dragging from the edge of an object. Let go and a new shape instantly pops up.
  • Alternative to Visio

Dia Diagram Editor

  • Dia is a program to draw structured diagrams.
  • Alternative to Visio

yEd Graph Editor

  • yEd is a powerful desktop application that can be used to quickly and effectively generate high-quality diagrams.
  • Create diagrams manually, or import your external data for analysis.
  • Automatic layout algorithms arrange even large data sets with just the press of a button.
  • yEd is freely available and runs on all major platforms: Windows, Unix/Linux, and Mac OS X.

Keyboard Shortcuts & Tips

Adobe Premiere Pro