Free Software for Creative People: Building Digital Media with Blender, GIMP, Scribus, Audacity, and More

Open source software, also known as free software, now offers a creative platform with world-class programs. Just ask the people who have completed high-quality projects or developed popular web 2.0 sites using open source desktop applications. This phenomenon is no longer underground or restricted to techies—there have been more than 61 million downloads of the Audacity audio editor and more than 60 million downloads of the GIMP for Windows photographic tool from SourceForge.net alone.

Crafting Digital Media is your foundation course in photographic manipulation, illustration, animation, 3D modelling, publishing, recording audio and making music, DJ’ing, mixing and mastering audio CDs, video editing and web content delivery. Every technique described in the book can be achieved on GNU/Linux, but many of the applications covered run on Windows and Mac OS X as well. New to GNU/Linux and a little daunted? Don’t worry—there’s a step-by-step tutorial on Ubuntu for either temporary use or permanent installation.

If you are a creative type who wants to get started with open source software or an existing GNU/Linux user looking to explore this category of programs, this is the book for you! Realize your own personal projects and creative ambitions with the tools this book will place at your fingertips.

What you’ll learn

• Install and configure Ubuntu GNU/Linux for creative applications.
• Get productive with Ardour, Audacity, Avidemux, Blender, FontForge, the GIMP, Hydrogen, Inkscape, Mixxx, Scribus, Synfig and other tools.
• Chain these applications together and make them serve your creative vision.
• Find and install the applications cross-platform, if you want to reach out beyond GNU/Linux.
• Share your creative works with the world using Drupal Web 2.0 technology and Icecast media streaming.
• Locate and engage with software and project hosting communities, to connect with other creators.

And you’ll find out why being a part of the open source community means so much more than just saving money.

Who is this book for?

This is a book for anyone using Linux who wants to be creative employing the tools Linux has to offer them. It is for Linux artists who want to make their tools serve their creative goals, while not having to worry about the money to pay for those tools. It is a book for anyone who wants to be a part of the creative community in Linux.