1GCDMASTER(1) General Commands Manual GCDMASTER(1)
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6 gcdmaster - Graphical front end to cdrdao for composing audio CDs
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9 gcdmaster [toc-file]
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12 gcdmaster allows the creation of toc-files for cdrdao and can control
13 the recording process. Its main application is the composition of audio
14 CDs from one or more audio files. It supports PQ-channel editing, entry
15 of meta data like ISRC codes/CD-TEXT and non destructive cut of the
16 audio data.
17 If a toc-file is specified it will be read and the referenced audio
19 data will be displayed. It is also possible to specify a ".cue" file.
20 The GUI periodically polls all configured CD-ROM and CD-recorder
22 devices (see section DEVICE CONFIGURE DIALOG) to retrieve their status
23 (ready, busy, no disk). This is done by sending a TEST UNIT READY com‐
24 mand to the devices. Following problems may arise:
25 o Some devices (e.g. the Philips CDD2600) block the SCSI bus when
27 a TEST UNIT READY is issued while it logs in a new medium. This
28 will cause a buffer under run for all currently recording
29 devices that are connected to the same bus.
30 o The GUI cannot detect if a device is used by another program. It
32 will continue to poll the device which may disturb the operation
33 of the other program.
34 The GUI supports recording of the same or different projects on multi‐
36 ple devices in parallel. However, there are some caveats and your sys‐
37 tem must meat some prerequisites:
38 o Under Linux a kernel version >= 2.2.6 should be used. The
40 generic SCSI device of older kernels does not support parallel
41 access to multiple devices.
42 o The bandwidths of the disks that contain the source data and the
44 involved busses must be big enough to serve all recorder
45 devices.
46 o Some recorder devices may block the SCSI bus when the disk is
48 ejected by the software after the burning process (e.g. the
49 Plextor PX-R412). For this reason a warning message will be
50 displayed if the "Eject" button is checked in the "Record" dia‐
51 log. Manually ejecting a disk seems not to be a problem.
52 o ATAPI devices supported by the 'generic-mmc' driver will block
54 the IDE bus while writing the lead-in and lead-out. Thus paral‐
55 lel writing with such devices connected to the same IDE channel
56 will not work. There is a way to avoid this blocking with some
57 ATAPI devices but it is not implemented, yet.
58
61 The main idea of this GUI is to maintain a continuous stream of audio
62 data that can be composed of several audio files. It is possible to use
63 only portions of audio files in the audio stream which is the basic
64 idea for the non destructive cut capability.
65 For example, if you cut out some samples in the middle of an audio file
67 the result will be a portion that starts at the beginning of the audio
68 file and ends at the beginning of the cut region and a second portion
69 that starts at the end of the cut region and reaches until the end of
70 the audio file. Of course, all of this is hidden by the GUI and you
71 will just see the result.
72 Track and index marks are placed relatively to the continuous audio
74 stream. It is not necessary to have a separate audio file for each
75 track. Track/index marks can be set, moved and deleted without influ‐
76 encing the audio data stream.
77 Sample Marker
80 A sample marker serves as an insertion position for audio data. It is
81 equivalent to the cursor of a text editor. All functions that insert
82 audio data require a defined marker. At most one sample marker may be
83 active at any time.
84 Sample Selection
87 A sample selection specifies a continuous range of audio samples. At
88 most one sample selection may be active at any time.
89 Track Mark
92 A track mark specifies a point in the audio stream where the track num‐
93 ber or the index number changes. Track marks are written as a pair of
94 two numbers like 5.1 for track 5, index 1. Track numbers may be in the
95 range 1..99, the valid range for index numbers is 0..99. Index 0 repre‐
96 sents the pre-gap of a track where the track relative time counts back‐
97 wards down to zero. Index 1 marks the real start of the track. This
98 position is stored in the central toc of the CD and is used by CD play‐
99 ers to directly jump to a track. All index numbers > 2 may be used to
100 subdivide a track but have no further effect. Some CD players may jump
101 to such index marks.
102 Track marks may be selected to show data about a track or to perform
104 operations on the complete track. At most one track mark may be
105 selected at any time.
106 Times
109 The time is usually displayed as m:s:f.x where m represents minutes, s
110 represents seconds (0..59), f represents frames (0..74, 1/75 second)
111 and x stands for samples (0..587, 1/44100 second).
112
115 The main window consists of a menu bar, a sample display, a
116 marker/selection line, a button line and a status line.
117 The title of the main window shows the current toc-file name. A "(*)"
119 behind the name indicates that changes have not been saved.
120 Menu Bar
123 The functions that are accessible via the menu bar are described in
124 section MENU FUNCTIONS.
125 Sample Display
128 The sample display provides a visual representation of the audio stream
129 and the placed track/index markers.
130 The samples are displayed as two separate graphs for the left and right
132 channel where the x-axis represents the time and the y-axis denotes the
133 amplitude (linearly scaled). If a pixel represents more than 1 sample
134 the maximum and minimum amplitude of all samples that fall within this
135 pixel is displayed. It is possible to zoom in and out and change the
136 displayed portion with the scroll bar.
137 The track/index markers are shown on top of the two graphs. Track marks
139 with index 1 are represented by filled track symbol. All other track
140 marks use a hollow track symbol. The track/index number pair is dis‐
141 played on the right side of a track symbol.
142 Track marks can be selected or moved by clicking or dragging with the
144 mouse pointer located over a track symbol. The track/index number pairs
145 are not sensitive.
146 Marker/Selection Line
149 This line shows the actual cursor and active marker position and the
150 active sample selection.
151 The cursor field is read-only and shows the time value of the actual
153 mouse pointer position within the audio stream if it is located inside
154 the sample display. During playback the cursor field shows the time
155 value of currently audible sound.
156 The marker field shows the time value of the active marker. A time
158 value may be entered and hitting the return key sets the new marker
159 position if the time value is valid.
160 The sample selection fields show the active selected sample range. Time
162 values may be entered and hitting the return key in one of these fields
163 sets the new sample selection if the time values are valid.
164 Button Line
167 The zoom/select radio buttons specify the behavior when dragging with
168 the mouse in the sample display. If "zoom" is active the sample display
169 will zoom to selected sample range. If "select" is active the active
170 sample selection will be set to the selected sample range.
171 The play button will playback the currently active sample selection via
173 the sound card. If no sample selection is active the currently dis‐
174 played sample range will be used. While playing the current project is
175 set to read-only state and all operations that would modify the project
176 are disabled.
177 Status Line
180 The status line shows more information about the last executed action
181 or an error message if an action could not be executed.
182
185 File->New
186 Starts a new project. If the current work is not saved a confirmation
187 box will be opened.
188 File->Open
191 Opens a file selector box to select a toc-file or a .cue file that
192 should be read. If the current work is not saved a confirmation box
193 will pop up.
194 File->Save
197 Saves current work as a toc-file with the current file name.
198 File->Save As
201 Opens a file sector box to select a toc-file to which the current work
202 is saved.
203 File->Quit
206 Quits gcdmaster. If the current work is not saved a confirmation box
207 will pop up.
208 View->Zoom To Selection
211 Zooms the sample display to the currently active sample selection. If
212 no sample selection is active nothing will happen.
213 View->Zoom out
216 Doubles the range of displayed samples.
217 View->Fullview
220 Shows all samples of the audio stream in the sample display.
221 Edit->Cut
224 Removes the active selected sample range from the audio stream. The
225 audio file on the disk will not be touched by this operation. The sam‐
226 ple marker will be set so that a following "Paste" operation will
227 revert the effect of this operation.
228 If no sample selection is active nothing will happen.
230 Edit->Paste
233 Pastes the samples that were previously removed with "Cut" at the cur‐
234 rent sample marker position. The sample selection is set to the pasted
235 samples so that a following "Cut" operation will revert the effect of
236 this operation.
237 If no sample marker is set nothing will happen.
239 Edit->Add Track Mark
242 Adds a track mark with index 1 at the active sample marker position.
243 The position will be rounded to the next frame boundary. If the previ‐
244 ous or the new track would be shorter than 4 seconds no track mask is
245 created.
246 If no sample marker is active nothing will happen.
248 Edit->Add Index Mark
251 Adds a track mark with index > 1 at the active sample marker position.
252 The position will be rounded to the next frame boundary. Index marks
253 cannot be created in the pre-gap area of a track.
254 If no sample marker is active nothing will happen.
256 Edit->Add Pre-Gap
259 Adds a track mark with index 0 (pre-gap) at the active sample marker
260 position. Index 0 can only be added right before a track mark with
261 index 1. If the length of the previous track would be shorter than 4
262 seconds after inserting the pre-gap this operation is not performed.
263 If no sample marker is active nothing will happen.
265 Edit->Remove Track Mark
268 Removes selected track mark with any index. If a track mark with index
269 1 is removed all track marks of this track will be removed.
270 If no track marker is selected nothing will happen.
272 Tools->Disk Info
275 Opens the non modal "Disk Info" dialog box. See section DISK INFO DIA‐
276 LOG for more details.
277 Tools->Track Info
280 Opens the non modal "Track Info" dialog box. See section TRACK INFO
281 DIALOG for more details.
282 Tools->Append Track
285 Opens a non modal file selector dialog box to select an audio file that
286 will be completely appended to the audio stream. A track mark with
287 index 1 is added at the beginning of the appended audio data.
288 The non modal file selector box is shared for "Tools->Append Track",
290 "Tools->Append File" and "Tools->Insert File".
291 Tools->Append File
294 Opens a non modal file selector dialog box to select an audio file that
295 will be completely appended to the audio stream.
296 The non modal file selector box is shared for "Tools->Append Track",
298 "Tools->Append File" and "Tools->Insert File".
299 Tools->Insert File
302 Opens a non modal file selector dialog box to select an audio file that
303 will be completely inserted in the audio stream at the active marker
304 position. If no sample marker is active nothing will happen.
305 The non modal file selector box is shared for "Tools->Append Track",
307 "Tools->Append File" and "Tools->Insert File".
308 Tools->Append Silence
311 Opens a non modal dialog box that can be used to append silence to the
312 audio stream.
313 The non model dialog box is shared for "Tools->Append Silence" and
315 "Tools->Insert Silence".
316 Tools->Insert Silence
319 Opens a non modal dialog box that can be used to insert silence in the
320 audio stream at the active marker position. If no sample marker is
321 active nothing will happen.
322 The non model dialog box is shared for "Tools->Append Silence" and
324 "Tools->Insert Silence".
325 Settings->Devices
328 Opens the non modal "Configure Devices" dialog box. See section DEVICE
329 CONFIGURE DIALOG for more details.
330 Actions->Record
333 Opens the non modal "Record" dialog box. See section RECORD DIALOG for
334 more details.
335
338 This non modal dialog shows summary information about the whole project
339 and allows editing of meta data that is valid for the complete disk.
340 The "Apply" button must be used to make changes permanent. If the sum‐
342 mary information changes before the "Apply" button was hit, e.g. by
343 adding a new track, all changes will be lost.
344 The "Cancel" button withdraws all changes and closes the dialog box.
346 Summary Frame
349 Shows the total number of tracks, i.e. number of track marks with index
350 1, and the total length of the audio stream.
351 Sub-Channel Frame
354 Allows entry and editing of data that is written to the sub-channels of
355 a disk. The scope of this data covers the whole disk.
356 The "Toc Type" option menu can be used to select the type of the table
358 of contents that will be written to the disk. Currently, for projects
359 that are solely created with this GUI only the type "CD-DA" or "CD-ROM-
360 XA" makes sense. If you read a toc-file that contains data track speci‐
361 fications another type may be displayed.
362 The "UPC/EAN" edit field sets the catalog number of the disk. Exactly
364 13 digits must be entered to set the catalog number. To clear the cata‐
365 log number the edit field must be completely cleared.
366 CD-TEXT Frame
369 CD-TEXT data can be specified for up to 8 different languages. Each
370 language is reference by a language number 0..7. The first language
371 should have language number 0. Language numbers should be used continu‐
372 ously.
373 The actual language for a language number is specified with the "Lan‐
375 guage" option menu: The option "Unknown" is shown for an unknown lan‐
376 guage code (e.g. if the toc-file was edited manually). It is not possi‐
377 ble to select this option. Option "Undefined" means that no language
378 was assigned for this language number. It is possible to enter CD-TEXT
379 data and the entered data will be saved to the toc-file but it will not
380 be recorded to a CD-R/CD-RW. The remaining options select the desired
381 language. Each language can be assigned only to one language number.
382 The remaining CD-TEXT fields contain ASCII data. It is not necessary to
384 use them all but at least "Title" and "Performer" should be filled.
385
388 This non modal dialog shows information about a selected track and
389 allows editing of track specific meta data. If no track mark is
390 selected all fields will be cleared and set insensitive.
391 The "Apply" button must be used to make changes permanent. If the track
393 information changes, e.g. by adding a index mark, or another track mark
394 is selected before the "Apply" button was hit all changes will be lost.
395 The "Cancel" button withdraws all changes and closes the dialog box.
397 Summary Frame
400 Shows the length of the pre-gap (0 if no pre-gap is defined), the abso‐
401 lute start and end time, the track length excluding the pre-gap length
402 and the number of index marks > 1.
403 Sub-Channel Frame
406 Allows editing of all data that is written to the Q sub-channels of the
407 track:
408 Copy: Digital copy permitted when selected.
411 Pre Emphasis:
414 Audio data of track has pre emphasis when selected.
415 Two/Four Channel Audio:
418 Select "Four Channel Audio" if the audio data encodes more than
419 two channels. Of course, only two real channels will be recorded
420 on a CD-R/CD-RW in any case.
421 ISRC: Allows to edit the ISRC code of the track. The first fields
424 holds the country code; it will only accept capital letters. The
425 second field holds the owner code, capital letters and digits
426 are allowed. The remaining fields holds the year and a serial
427 number and will only accept digits. All fields must be filled to
428 set the ISRC code and all fields must be cleared to remove it.
429 CD-TEXT Frame
432 Allows to enter and edit the CD-TEXT data of each language number for
433 this track. All fields are optional but at least "Title" and "Per‐
434 former" should be filled.
435
438 This non modal dialog shows the settings of all attached SCSI or ATAPI
439 devices that identify themselves as CD-ROM or WORM device.
440 All device settings that differ from the default settings will be per‐
442 manently stored in the $HOME/.gnome/GnomeCDMaster configuration file.
443 The "Apply" button must be used to make all changes permanent. The
445 "Reset" button reverts all changes since the last apply or the dialog
446 box was opened. The "Cancel" button withdraws all changes and closes
447 the dialog box.
448 Devices Frame
451 The browser shows the SCSI address (bus,id,lun) and the vendor/model
452 string of all available devices. If devices are not automatically
453 detected it is possible to add devices manually to the browser (see
454 "Add Device" Frame).
455 The "Status" column shows the actual device status:
457 Ready: Device has a disk loaded and is ready for an action.
460 Busy: Device is active with an unspecified action.
462 Recording:
464 Device is recording.
465 No disk:
467 Device has no disk loaded.
468 Not available:
470 Device cannot be accessed.
471 The "Rescan" button can be used to start the automatic drive detection
473 process. All changes will be lost and the newly detected devices take
474 immediate effect without hitting "Apply".
475 The "Delete" button removes the selected device. The change takes imme‐
477 diate effect and all other changes will be lost.
478 Device Settings Frame
481 This frame allows to edit the settings of the currently selected
482 device.
483 Device Type:
486 This option menu defines the device type which is used to con‐
487 trol which actions can be performed with this device: CD-ROM:
488 read only device, CD-R: CD-R recorder device, CD-RW: CD-RW/CD-R
489 recorder device.
490 Driver:
493 Option menu to select the driver that is used to access the
494 device. If the device is known by the internal device database
495 the correct driver is selected automatically. Otherwise "Unde‐
496 fined" will be shown and a suitable driver must be selected
497 before any action can be performed with this device.
498 Driver Options:
501 Enter special driver options here. The available options are
502 described in the README (the documentation will be moved to this
503 place soon). If the device is known by the internal device data‐
504 base the correct option flags are selected automatically.
505 Device Node:
508 This field is only required for operating systems that cannot
509 access a SCSI device by the bus,id,lun triple. In this case the
510 device node that must be used to access the device should be
511 entered here.
512 Add Device Frame
515 This frame can be used to manually add a device. The bus,id,lun triple
516 of the device and the vendor/product string must be specified before
517 the "Add" button has an effect. It is not possible to overwrite an
518 existing device with the same bus,id,lun triple. Use the "Delete" but‐
519 ton of the "Devices" frame first in this case.
520
523 This non modal dialog can be used to record the actual project on a CD-
524 R/CD-RW. It is possible to record the actual project on multiple
525 recorders simultaneously.
526 The "Start" button will start recording processes on all devices that
528 are selected in the "Available Recorder Devices" browser. For this pur‐
529 pose the cdrdao executable will be called and should be available in
530 your PATH. For each selected device a non modal progress dialog will
531 be opened.
532 After the recording is started on all selected devices it is possible
534 to load another toc-file or continue editing the existing project. It
535 is also safely possible to quit the GUI. The recording will continue in
536 background but you will have no feedback about the progress.
537 The "Cancel" button will close the dialog box.
539 Available Recorder Devices Frame
542 The browser shows all devices with device type CD-R or CD-RW. Only
543 devices with "Ready" status are selectable.
544 Record Options Frame
547 Simulate/Write:
548 Selects between simulated or real writing process.
549 Close Disk:
552 If selected disk will not be appendable. Otherwise the recorded
553 session is kept open.
554 Note: The drivers 'generic-mmc-raw',
556 'sony-cdu920' and 'yamaha-cdr10x' cannot keep the recorded ses‐
557 sion open.
558 Eject: If selected the disk will be ejected after a successful writing
561 process.
562 Warning: This may cause buffer under runs with certain device
564 combinations if multiple devices are recording.
565 Recording Speed:
568 May be used to set an upper limit for the used recording speed.
569 If a recorder device does not support the speed the next lower
570 possible speed is used.
571 Reload:
574 If selected the disk will be automatically reloaded if it
575 appears to be not empty or not appendable. This is required
576 after a simulation run for some devices (e.g. the Philips
577 CDD2x00 recorder familiy).
578 Warning: This may cause buffer under runs with certain device
580 combinations if multiple devices are recording.
581
584 cdrdao:
585 executed for recording
586 $HOME/.gnome/GnomeCDMaster:
588 stores settings permanently
589
592 Andreas Mueller mueller@daneb.ping.de
593
595 cdrdao(1), cdda2wav(1), cdparanoia(1)
596 Oct 10, 1999 GCDMASTER(1)