GCDMASTER(1X)GCDMASTER(1X)NAME
gcdmaster - Graphical front end to cdrdao for composing
audio CDs
SYNOPSIS
gcdmaster [toc-file]
DESCRIPTION
gcdmaster allows the creation of toc-files for cdrdao and
can control the recording process. Its main application is
the composition of audio CDs from one or more audio files.
It supports PQ-channel editing, entry of meta data like
ISRC codes/CD-TEXT and non destructive cut of the audio
data.
If a toc-file is specified it will be read and the refer
enced audio data will be displayed. It is also possible
to specify a ".cue" file.
The GUI periodically polls all configured CD-ROM and CD-
recorder devices (see section DEVICE CONFIGURE DIALOG) to
retrieve their status (ready, busy, no disk). This is done
by sending a TEST UNIT READY command to the devices. Fol
lowing problems may arise:
o Some devices (e.g. the Philips CDD2600) block the
SCSI bus when a TEST UNIT READY is issued while it
logs in a new medium. This will cause a buffer
under run for all currently recording devices that
are connected to the same bus.
o The GUI cannot detect if a device is used by
another program. It will continue to poll the
device which may disturb the operation of the other
program.
The GUI supports recording of the same or different pro
jects on multiple devices in parallel. However, there are
some caveats and your system must meat some prerequisites:
o Under Linux a kernel version >= 2.2.6 should be
used. The generic SCSI device of older kernels does
not support parallel access to multiple devices.
o The bandwidths of the disks that contain the source
data and the involved busses must be big enough to
serve all recorder devices.
o Some recorder devices may block the SCSI bus when
the disk is ejected by the software after the burn
ing process (e.g. the Plextor PX-R412). For this
reason a warning message will be displayed if the
"Eject" button is checked in the "Record" dialog.
Manually ejecting a disk seems not to be a problem.
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o ATAPI devices supported by the 'generic-mmc' driver
will block the IDE bus while writing the lead-in
and lead-out. Thus parallel writing with such
devices connected to the same IDE channel will not
work. There is a way to avoid this blocking with
some ATAPI devices but it is not implemented, yet.
CONCEPTS
The main idea of this GUI is to maintain a continuous
stream of audio data that can be composed of several audio
files. It is possible to use only portions of audio files
in the audio stream which is the basic idea for the non
destructive cut capability.
For example, if you cut out some samples in the middle of
an audio file the result will be a portion that starts at
the beginning of the audio file and ends at the beginning
of the cut region and a second portion that starts at the
end of the cut region and reaches until the end of the
audio file. Of course, all of this is hidden by the GUI
and you will just see the result.
Track and index marks are placed relatively to the contin
uous audio stream. It is not necessary to have a separate
audio file for each track. Track/index marks can be set,
moved and deleted without influencing the audio data
stream.
Sample Marker
A sample marker serves as an insertion position for audio
data. It is equivalent to the cursor of a text editor. All
functions that insert audio data require a defined marker.
At most one sample marker may be active at any time.
Sample Selection
A sample selection specifies a continuous range of audio
samples. At most one sample selection may be active at any
time.
Track Mark
A track mark specifies a point in the audio stream where
the track number or the index number changes. Track marks
are written as a pair of two numbers like 5.1 for track 5,
index 1. Track numbers may be in the range 1..99, the
valid range for index numbers is 0..99. Index 0 represents
the pre-gap of a track where the track relative time
counts backwards down to zero. Index 1 marks the real
start of the track. This position is stored in the central
toc of the CD and is used by CD players to directly jump
to a track. All index numbers > 2 may be used to subdivide
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a track but have no further effect. Some CD players may
jump to such index marks.
Track marks may be selected to show data about a track or
to perform operations on the complete track. At most one
track mark may be selected at any time.
Times
The time is usually displayed as m:s:f.x where m repre
sents minutes, s represents seconds (0..59), f represents
frames (0..74, 1/75 second) and x stands for samples
(0..587, 1/44100 second).
MAIN WINDOW
The main window consists of a menu bar, a sample display,
a marker/selection line, a button line and a status line.
The title of the main window shows the current toc-file
name. A "(*)" behind the name indicates that changes have
not been saved.
Menu Bar
The functions that are accessible via the menu bar are
described in section MENU FUNCTIONS.
Sample Display
The sample display provides a visual representation of the
audio stream and the placed track/index markers.
The samples are displayed as two separate graphs for the
left and right channel where the x-axis represents the
time and the y-axis denotes the amplitude (linearly
scaled). If a pixel represents more than 1 sample the max
imum and minimum amplitude of all samples that fall within
this pixel is displayed. It is possible to zoom in and out
and change the displayed portion with the scroll bar.
The track/index markers are shown on top of the two
graphs. Track marks with index 1 are represented by filled
track symbol. All other track marks use a hollow track
symbol. The track/index number pair is displayed on the
right side of a track symbol.
Track marks can be selected or moved by clicking or drag
ging with the mouse pointer located over a track symbol.
The track/index number pairs are not sensitive.
Marker/Selection Line
This line shows the actual cursor and active marker
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position and the active sample selection.
The cursor field is read-only and shows the time value of
the actual mouse pointer position within the audio stream
if it is located inside the sample display. During play
back the cursor field shows the time value of currently
audible sound.
The marker field shows the time value of the active
marker. A time value may be entered and hitting the return
key sets the new marker position if the time value is
valid.
The sample selection fields show the active selected sam
ple range. Time values may be entered and hitting the
return key in one of these fields sets the new sample
selection if the time values are valid.
Button Line
The zoom/select radio buttons specify the behavior when
dragging with the mouse in the sample display. If "zoom"
is active the sample display will zoom to selected sample
range. If "select" is active the active sample selection
will be set to the selected sample range.
The play button will playback the currently active sample
selection via the sound card. If no sample selection is
active the currently displayed sample range will be used.
While playing the current project is set to read-only
state and all operations that would modify the project are
disabled.
Status Line
The status line shows more information about the last exe
cuted action or an error message if an action could not be
executed.
MENU FUNCTIONS
File->New
Starts a new project. If the current work is not saved a
confirmation box will be opened.
File->Open
Opens a file selector box to select a toc-file or a .cue
file that should be read. If the current work is not saved
a confirmation box will pop up.
File->Save
Saves current work as a toc-file with the current file
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name.
File->Save As
Opens a file sector box to select a toc-file to which the
current work is saved.
File->Quit
Quits gcdmaster. If the current work is not saved a con
firmation box will pop up.
View->Zoom To Selection
Zooms the sample display to the currently active sample
selection. If no sample selection is active nothing will
happen.
View->Zoom out
Doubles the range of displayed samples.
View->Fullview
Shows all samples of the audio stream in the sample dis
play.
Edit->Cut
Removes the active selected sample range from the audio
stream. The audio file on the disk will not be touched by
this operation. The sample marker will be set so that a
following "Paste" operation will revert the effect of this
operation.
If no sample selection is active nothing will happen.
Edit->Paste
Pastes the samples that were previously removed with "Cut"
at the current sample marker position. The sample selec
tion is set to the pasted samples so that a following
"Cut" operation will revert the effect of this operation.
If no sample marker is set nothing will happen.
Edit->Add Track Mark
Adds a track mark with index 1 at the active sample marker
position. The position will be rounded to the next frame
boundary. If the previous or the new track would be
shorter than 4 seconds no track mask is created.
If no sample marker is active nothing will happen.
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Edit->Add Index Mark
Adds a track mark with index > 1 at the active sample
marker position. The position will be rounded to the next
frame boundary. Index marks cannot be created in the pre-
gap area of a track.
If no sample marker is active nothing will happen.
Edit->Add Pre-Gap
Adds a track mark with index 0 (pre-gap) at the active
sample marker position. Index 0 can only be added right
before a track mark with index 1. If the length of the
previous track would be shorter than 4 seconds after
inserting the pre-gap this operation is not performed.
If no sample marker is active nothing will happen.
Edit->Remove Track Mark
Removes selected track mark with any index. If a track
mark with index 1 is removed all track marks of this track
will be removed.
If no track marker is selected nothing will happen.
Tools->Disk Info
Opens the non modal "Disk Info" dialog box. See section
DISK INFO DIALOG for more details.
Tools->Track Info
Opens the non modal "Track Info" dialog box. See section
TRACK INFO DIALOG for more details.
Tools->Append Track
Opens a non modal file selector dialog box to select an
audio file that will be completely appended to the audio
stream. A track mark with index 1 is added at the begin
ning of the appended audio data.
The non modal file selector box is shared for
"Tools->Append Track", "Tools->Append File" and
"Tools->Insert File".
Tools->Append File
Opens a non modal file selector dialog box to select an
audio file that will be completely appended to the audio
stream.
The non modal file selector box is shared for
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"Tools->Append Track", "Tools->Append File" and
"Tools->Insert File".
Tools->Insert File
Opens a non modal file selector dialog box to select an
audio file that will be completely inserted in the audio
stream at the active marker position. If no sample marker
is active nothing will happen.
The non modal file selector box is shared for
"Tools->Append Track", "Tools->Append File" and
"Tools->Insert File".
Tools->Append Silence
Opens a non modal dialog box that can be used to append
silence to the audio stream.
The non model dialog box is shared for "Tools->Append
Silence" and "Tools->Insert Silence".
Tools->Insert Silence
Opens a non modal dialog box that can be used to insert
silence in the audio stream at the active marker position.
If no sample marker is active nothing will happen.
The non model dialog box is shared for "Tools->Append
Silence" and "Tools->Insert Silence".
Settings->Devices
Opens the non modal "Configure Devices" dialog box. See
section DEVICE CONFIGURE DIALOG for more details.
Actions->Record
Opens the non modal "Record" dialog box. See section
RECORD DIALOG for more details.
DISK INFO DIALOG (Tools->Disk Info)
This non modal dialog shows summary information about the
whole project and allows editing of meta data that is
valid for the complete disk.
The "Apply" button must be used to make changes permanent.
If the summary information changes before the "Apply" but
ton was hit, e.g. by adding a new track, all changes will
be lost.
The "Cancel" button withdraws all changes and closes the
dialog box.
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Summary Frame
Shows the total number of tracks, i.e. number of track
marks with index 1, and the total length of the audio
stream.
Sub-Channel Frame
Allows entry and editing of data that is written to the
sub-channels of a disk. The scope of this data covers the
whole disk.
The "Toc Type" option menu can be used to select the type
of the table of contents that will be written to the disk.
Currently, for projects that are solely created with this
GUI only the type "CD-DA" or "CD-ROM-XA" makes sense. If
you read a toc-file that contains data track specifica
tions another type may be displayed.
The "UPC/EAN" edit field sets the catalog number of the
disk. Exactly 13 digits must be entered to set the catalog
number. To clear the catalog number the edit field must be
completely cleared.
CD-TEXT Frame
CD-TEXT data can be specified for up to 8 different lan
guages. Each language is reference by a language number
0..7. The first language should have language number 0.
Language numbers should be used continuously.
The actual language for a language number is specified
with the "Language" option menu: The option "Unknown" is
shown for an unknown language code (e.g. if the toc-file
was edited manually). It is not possible to select this
option. Option "Undefined" means that no language was
assigned for this language number. It is possible to enter
CD-TEXT data and the entered data will be saved to the
toc-file but it will not be recorded to a CD-R/CD-RW. The
remaining options select the desired language. Each lan
guage can be assigned only to one language number.
The remaining CD-TEXT fields contain ASCII data. It is not
necessary to use them all but at least "Title" and "Per
former" should be filled.
TRACK INFO DIALOG (Tools->Track Info)
This non modal dialog shows information about a selected
track and allows editing of track specific meta data. If
no track mark is selected all fields will be cleared and
set insensitive.
The "Apply" button must be used to make changes permanent.
If the track information changes, e.g. by adding a index
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mark, or another track mark is selected before the "Apply"
button was hit all changes will be lost.
The "Cancel" button withdraws all changes and closes the
dialog box.
Summary Frame
Shows the length of the pre-gap (0 if no pre-gap is
defined), the absolute start and end time, the track
length excluding the pre-gap length and the number of
index marks > 1.
Sub-Channel Frame
Allows editing of all data that is written to the Q sub-
channels of the track:
Copy: Digital copy permitted when selected.
Pre Emphasis:
Audio data of track has pre emphasis when selected.
Two/Four Channel Audio:
Select "Four Channel Audio" if the audio data
encodes more than two channels. Of course, only two
real channels will be recorded on a CD-R/CD-RW in
any case.
ISRC: Allows to edit the ISRC code of the track. The
first fields holds the country code; it will only
accept capital letters. The second field holds the
owner code, capital letters and digits are allowed.
The remaining fields holds the year and a serial
number and will only accept digits. All fields must
be filled to set the ISRC code and all fields must
be cleared to remove it.
CD-TEXT Frame
Allows to enter and edit the CD-TEXT data of each language
number for this track. All fields are optional but at
least "Title" and "Performer" should be filled.
DEVICE CONFIGURE DIALOG (Settings->Devices)
This non modal dialog shows the settings of all attached
SCSI or ATAPI devices that identify themselves as CD-ROM
or WORM device.
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All device settings that differ from the default settings
will be permanently stored in the $HOME/.gnome/GnomeCDMas_
ter configuration file.
The "Apply" button must be used to make all changes perma
nent. The "Reset" button reverts all changes since the
last apply or the dialog box was opened. The "Cancel" but
ton withdraws all changes and closes the dialog box.
Devices Frame
The browser shows the SCSI address (bus,id,lun) and the
vendor/model string of all available devices. If devices
are not automatically detected it is possible to add
devices manually to the browser (see "Add Device" Frame).
The "Status" column shows the actual device status:
Ready: Device has a disk loaded and is ready for an
action.
Busy: Device is active with an unspecified action.
Recording:
Device is recording.
No disk:
Device has no disk loaded.
Not available:
Device cannot be accessed.
The "Rescan" button can be used to start the automatic
drive detection process. All changes will be lost and the
newly detected devices take immediate effect without hit
ting "Apply".
The "Delete" button removes the selected device. The
change takes immediate effect and all other changes will
be lost.
Device Settings Frame
This frame allows to edit the settings of the currently
selected device.
Device Type:
This option menu defines the device type which is
used to control which actions can be performed with
this device: CD-ROM: read only device, CD-R: CD-R
recorder device, CD-RW: CD-RW/CD-R recorder device.
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Driver:
Option menu to select the driver that is used to
access the device. If the device is known by the
internal device database the correct driver is
selected automatically. Otherwise "Undefined" will
be shown and a suitable driver must be selected
before any action can be performed with this
device.
Driver Options:
Enter special driver options here. The available
options are described in the README (the documenta
tion will be moved to this place soon). If the
device is known by the internal device database the
correct option flags are selected automatically.
Device Node:
This field is only required for operating systems
that cannot access a SCSI device by the bus,id,lun
triple. In this case the device node that must be
used to access the device should be entered here.
Add Device Frame
This frame can be used to manually add a device. The
bus,id,lun triple of the device and the vendor/product
string must be specified before the "Add" button has an
effect. It is not possible to overwrite an existing device
with the same bus,id,lun triple. Use the "Delete" button
of the "Devices" frame first in this case.
RECORD DIALOG (Actions->Record)
This non modal dialog can be used to record the actual
project on a CD-R/CD-RW. It is possible to record the
actual project on multiple recorders simultaneously.
The "Start" button will start recording processes on all
devices that are selected in the "Available Recorder
Devices" browser. For this purpose the cdrdao executable
will be called and should be available in your PATH. For
each selected device a non modal progress dialog will be
opened.
After the recording is started on all selected devices it
is possible to load another toc-file or continue editing
the existing project. It is also safely possible to quit
the GUI. The recording will continue in background but you
will have no feedback about the progress.
The "Cancel" button will close the dialog box.
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Available Recorder Devices Frame
The browser shows all devices with device type CD-R or CD-
RW. Only devices with "Ready" status are selectable.
Record Options Frame
Simulate/Write:
Selects between simulated or real writing process.
Close Disk:
If selected disk will not be appendable. Otherwise
the recorded session is kept open.
Note: The drivers 'generic-mmc-raw',
Eject: If selected the disk will be ejected after a suc
cessful writing process.
Warning: This may cause buffer under runs with cer
tain device combinations if multiple devices are
recording.
Recording Speed:
May be used to set an upper limit for the used
recording speed. If a recorder device does not sup
port the speed the next lower possible speed is
used.
Reload:
If selected the disk will be automatically reloaded
if it appears to be not empty or not appendable.
This is required after a simulation run for some
devices (e.g. the Philips CDD2x00 recorder
familiy).
Warning: This may cause buffer under runs with cer
tain device combinations if multiple devices are
recording.
FILES
cdrdao:
executed for recording
$HOME/.gnome/GnomeCDMaster:
stores settings permanently
AUTHOR
Andreas Mueller mueller@daneb.ping.de
Oct 10, 1999 12
GCDMASTER(1X)GCDMASTER(1X)SEE ALSOcdrdao(1), cdda2wav(1), cdparanoia(1)
Oct 10, 1999 13
