[Rick Masters]

Please be sure to place the aspect of Linux being discussed in the SUBJECT LINE.
Discussions will work as follows: Post a question or comment on software or technique here and it will be directed to a blog forum under that topic. This will allow this blog to serve as a primary index. All are invited to post descriptions of useful software here.

[Rick Masters]

I use 4k Video Downloader. Available for all OS flavors. This is terrific software. Certified by Microsoft and Apple. Freeware for Linux.

"Our goal is to remove artificial restrictions and limitations 'enforced' by online services. Our apps allow you to download the content from YouTube and other video platforms, backup Instagram photos, convert video to mp3, and to create and share wonderful slideshows. Every app runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. We care about usability and security and our bottom line is your enjoyment of all the wonderful media that is out there."

Version 3.4.5 is available.
* 4K video downloading was enhanced
* 60 fps labels was added
* YouTube mix issue was fixed
* Subtitles issues were fixed

Freeware EULA
https://www.4kdownload.com/agreement/freeware
Download
https://www.4kdownload.com/download

[Rick Masters]

GIMP is somewhat equivalent to Adobe Photoshop. I have found that I can do almost everything I did with Photoshop with respectable results using GIMP. GIMP is open source freeware and works with Windows and Linux. Download here.
http://www.gimp.org/

[Merlin]

Yes GIMP absolutely rocks. Also Blender for 3D stuff is freakin AMAZING (bit of a learning curve tho). Kdenlive is pretty darn good video editor too. You can cause all sorts of trouble with that little trio.

[Rick Masters]

Cinelerra is the most complex and powerful and difficult video editing program in Linux. I first set it up in Centos 5.0, then later in Ubuntu. It is roughly equivalent to Adobe Premier or Final Cut Pro. It requires two or three computers to approach professional levels - the primary cpu, the manager and the video server. I am really attracted to the idea of making my next film with Cinelera. If you get serious with Cinelerra and need a video server, PM me.

http://cinelerra.org/

[Rick Masters]

Blender is a 3D video drawing program somewhat equivalent to Lightwave. It is open source freeware and multi-platform (Linux and Windows). It is unbelievable. Look at some of the demos on their website for an idea of its power. Incredible.

http://www.blender.org/

[Bob Kuczewski]

Blender? Did you guys say ... Blender?!?

Here's a Blender animation I made to demonstrate Bill Cummings' technique for flipping a hang glider that's upside down in water:
Topic Name: Hang Gliding Water Towing         Link: http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=960

Flip_001c.gif (1.1 MiB) Viewed 10968 times

Here's one of my early wings (before I added wires):

full_wing_and_control_bar_800.png (41.06 KiB) Viewed 10968 times

This is one of my 3 "pitch, roll, and yaw" axis animations (from one year ago yesterday):
Topic Name: Pitch, Roll, and Yaw Animations          Link: http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1461

pitch2xs.gif (2.78 MiB) Viewed 10968 times

This is 2 frame animation showing the different lever arms on a spool as tow line is removed:
Topic Name: Platform Launching (PL) Draft suggestions needed          Link: http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1563&start=21

spool_diameter_s.gif (94.49 KiB) Viewed 10968 times

And this is the result of some code I've written to build tree-like objects for importing into Blender:
Topic Name: Safe-Splat          Link: http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=912&p=8926

Rotating_Tree.gif (1.36 MiB) Viewed 10968 times

Here's my best kingposted glider so far:
Topic Name: Voting Test #1 - Hang Glider Images          Link: http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1259

kingposted_glider_grouped.png (65.97 KiB) Viewed 10967 times

In fact, I even wrote a Blender Addon to generate hang gliding wings. You can see some of the output images here in our "mock voting" topic:
      http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1259

I'm hoping we can use Blender (and other tools like Gimp) to make a really great on-line hang gliding training manual.

We've got a start in the US Hawks Training Manual topic here:
      http://ushawks.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=25

[Bob Kuczewski]

Rick,

Your "Linux for Hawks" Blog is such a great idea that I'd like to create a whole new sub-forum for it right beside the Training Manual Forum. That way you (and everyone else) can organize topics relating to technology in one place.

How does "Technology for Hawks" sound to you?

I would move your "Linux for Hawks" topic in there and we could start others like "Gimp for Hawks", "Blender for Hawks", etc.

Please let me know if that's OK with you.

Bob

[Rick Masters]

I think the title should be around Linux and this is why. Linux tends to attract independent thinkers and the number of Linux users here is way out of proportion. There is a philosophy centered around open source freeware that is attractive to this group and that is that these tools shouldn't be held for ransom. There is also a belief and hope that open source will advance faster as more people participate and these already excellent applications will become more and more powerful.

Also Wall Street and journalism co-opted the term "technology" to mean computer technology. That offended a lot of us who preferred the English language. Technology is the use of tools. That's too broad a subject, these days.

I like the rest. Liked the animations, too.

[Rick Masters]

http://issuu.com/gimpmagazine/docs/gimp ... final_r1/0