2. Playing Movies
Prev  Chapter 4. Audio, Movie and Video Applications  Next

2. Playing Movies

2.1. Introduction

Most popular video codecs are proprietary, which means that implementing them in a free software application requires reverse-engineering techniques. This may limit the availability of such codecs in a free operating system such as Mandriva Linux.

However, codecs for many of those popular video formats do have their free software equivalents, and are included with Mandriva Linux, allowing you to play many video file types, except maybe one or two. You may also need to download a decrypting library to play the so called commercial DVDs.

[Warning] Warning

The information included here is meant to help Mandriva Linux users who know that, in their country, using these codecs and plugins is legal. Mandriva does not encourage law violation and you should verify the law(s) which apply in your case before you download and use these codecs and plugins.

2.2. KMPlayer

 Choose Multimedia+Video → KMPlayer from the main menu to launch KMplayer.

Figure 4.5. KMplayer's Interface

KMplayer's Interface

Tool Bar. The tool bar has buttons to open media, control playback (Play, Pause, Stop buttons), switch to or from full-screen display, and others.

Player Controls. The set of the usual VCR controls: Eject, Previous, Play (keyboard shortcut: R), Next, Stop (keyboard shortcut: S) and Pause (keyboard shortcut: P).

Display Area. Where the movie being played is shown. Press the F key to switch between full-screen and windowed modes.

Status. Located at the bottom of KMplayer's window, it shows information about the player status and the movie being played.

Procedure 4.1. How to Play a Video File

  1. Choose Source → Open to display a standard open file dialog.

  2. Go to the folder containing the movie you want to play and select it.

  3. Click Open. The movie starts playing immediately.

Procedure 4.2. How to Play a DVD

  1. Insert the DVD title on the drive.

  2. Choose Source → DVD → Open DVD.

  3. The disc is read and starts playing immediately.

[Note] Note

DVD titles usually have a menu where you can select options such as the language and subtitles for the movie: browse through the menus with the mouse and select options by clicking on them.

Prev  Up  Next
1. Audio Applications  Home  3. CD and DVD Burning