wex screencast, webcam, audio recorder

Audio editors, music players, video players, burning software, etc.
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wiak
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wex screencast, webcam, audio recorder

#1 Post by wiak »

Fix for BionicPup64 available from Mike Walsh at post:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 34#1032934

For notes on BionicPup fix, see my post:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 28#1032928


You can find the various weX downloads at the foot of its original thread here:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 785#918785

NEWS: Mike Walsh has kindly created an All-In-One dotpet for weX, which includes fredx181's portable app version of ffmpeg, as well as scrox, and weav, and fredx181's gifenc-sel (for creating animated gifs either from within weX or run separately). Mike says it will run on most Pups from old 5.x series and up to latest. More details and download link available here:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 080#998080
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Info on main weX standalone component follows (which does NOT rely on portable ffmpeg but can use distributions ffmpeg instead):

weX screencast, webcam, audio recorder

New version released. Downloads for different distributions (dotpets are for 32 or 64bit Pups) below.

Aside from gtkdialog and ffmpeg (and bash), 'no' additional dependencies are required for audio-only recording or manually entered 'Fixed Area' webcam recording or screencasts (scrox required for automatic fullscreen or mouse-selectable webcam-size or screencasts) - basically, it is best to install scrox too (which requires giblib). See notes below about ffmpeg requirements for best results.

Because of new installation defaults it is advised old config directory is manually removed before installation of this new weX version (i.e. delete $HOME/.wex before installing. NOTE WELL!!! The very first time you try to run weX thereafter it will appear to not work. Just run it again - on that first run attempt it is just automatically creating its config directory $HOME/.wex
Also NOTE WELL: If you have an older ffmpeg that causes wex to fail with unrecognized option thread_queue_size then you should download the video and audio plugins from the following link, remove their dummy tar extensions, and place them in your $HOME/.wex/plugins folder: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 081#922081 No problem then for audio recording, but for webcam or screencast recording, you might also need giblib and imlib2 (scrox needs these), also described in that link (newer Pups may already have these). To be honest... older ffmpeg are hopeless and need to buffer for ages before capturing anything. Without thread_queue_size and -filter_complex asyncts capability built into your ffmpeg I doubt you will get decent webcam captures (too much buffering required in that case for libx264 - so do yourself a favour and upgrade your ffmpeg in such cases...). Ubuntu xenial ffmpeg works great with no such issues.



Changes from previous version: Only minor (mainly fixed the tooltip documentation help text for those using pulseaudio rather than straight alsa) but also made the config file non-hidden and now uses aac, x264, with mp4 video container by default (tho I personally usually use mkv) for video/screencast recording and, by default, webcam is now NOT selected. gifenc-yad is now one of the external utility buttons by default (note that the button will only be visible if you actually also install fredx181's gifenc-yad; see download link below).

Licence is now MIT (aka liberal GPL-compatible X11 license).

Note that, weX automatically 'remembers' your selections when you choose other than the defaults anyway.

weX can be used for:

1. audio-only recording (as replacement for Precord), or

2. webcam (with or without audio) recording (as superior replacement for pAVrecord), or

3. screencast (with or without audio) recording (as superior replacement for pAVrecord and quality similar or matching SimpleScreenRecorder but without needing any Qt libs and allowing embedded optional webcam).

4. One button press to create scaled animated gif from weX recorded video/screencast assuming fredx181's gifenc-yad program is also installed.


Capturing an area of your screen (needs scrox program installed):

weX also allows a capture area to be defined using the mouse, or a single application window to be captured; for that additional functionality weX requires 'scrox' to be installed (a fork of MIT licensed scrot, which has all of scrot's functionality and options but with addition of ability to report back mouse cursor coordinates, which is what weX uses scrox for). You can find scrox in old wex thread, in link below:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 272#918785

If using weX with scrox (which is highly recommended) make sure to choose appropriate 32 or 64 bit version of scrox. weX dotpets, however, work on either 32bit or 64bit systems.

I also recommend you install a copy of fredx181's gifenc-yad script from below link so you can almost one-click create animated gifs from your weX recorded videos or screencasts:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 724#948724

Note that once you have created an animated gif in weX using gifenc-yad you can view the gif by simply changing the extension to .gif in the "File to record or process" editbox, and then press mpv assigned utility button (you can also re-assign that to mplayer if you wish).

Note that, aside from the look and feel of the GUI, pretty much all ffmpeg commandline details are user-changeable without altering main wex script. Such alterations are implemented via a simple plug-in facility incorporated into weX. weX can also call up external commands/utilities via buttons incorporated in its GUI - which utilities are available is also user-configurable.

Not been tested much on Pups. Kindly test and let me know if you find any issues.

wiak

version 0.8.18 downloads:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 248#918785
Last edited by wiak on Thu 25 Jul 2019, 20:58, edited 7 times in total.

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Mike Walsh
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#2 Post by Mike Walsh »

Hi, wiak.

Just thought I'd let you know how I'm getting on with WeX throughout the kennels.

So far tested (and fully working) in Slackos 560/570, Racy 5.5, and as of now, Lucid 5.2.8.7. This is using the re-packed all-in-one I put together from weav & scrox, and Fred's re-build of WeX with the newer ffmpeg.

Only issue I've noticed so far is the VU meter doesn't appear in Racy.....but that's a very minor niggle, and not that important.

EDIT:- Now also working nicely in Precise 571, ETP's 'Chromepup' (as I call it) - based on 571, and pemasu's Upup Raring

All in all, I am very impressed. Cheers!


Mike. :wink:
Last edited by Mike Walsh on Thu 05 Jul 2018, 11:14, edited 1 time in total.

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fredx181
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#3 Post by fredx181 »

Updated wex-portable AppImage (32-bit), now including latest weX version 0.8.18 from wiak. (same special build of ffmpeg as earlier is included in the AppImage)
Extract wex-portable_0.8.18.tar.gz and run (just click on) wex-portable.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/gyr ... ar.gz?dl=1
See more info here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 202#923202

EDIT: Sorry, removed dropbox link, need to change some first in the wex script (relative paths, I forgot, back later )
EDIT2: Fixed now, changed some absolute paths to relative in weX script, required to work for portable image, re-uploaded, link above.

Fred

wiak
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#4 Post by wiak »

fredx181 wrote:Updated wex-portable AppImage (32-bit), now including latest weX version 0.8.18 from wiak. (same special build of ffmpeg as earlier is included in the AppImage)
Extract wex-portable_0.8.18.tar.gz and run (just click on) wex-portable.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/gyr ... ar.gz?dl=1
See more info here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 202#923202

Fred
Hi Fred,

Thanks for that. Just wondered if you still provide separate version of that ffmpeg you compiled that maybe Mike Walsh could also also supply as dotpet so would be usable as ffmpeg system wide (with weX, scrox, weav, gifenc-sel or gifenc-yadin separate second dotpet)?

I remember you posted about the extra efficiency of that kind of alternative long time back.

Wiak

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fredx181
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#5 Post by fredx181 »

wiak wrote:Just wondered if you still provide separate version of that ffmpeg you compiled that maybe Mike Walsh could also also supply as dotpet so would be usable as ffmpeg system wide (with weX, scrox, weav, gifenc-sel or gifenc-yadin separate second dotpet)?
Yes, same static build of ffmpeg that I shared earlier:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByBgCD ... sp=sharing
I remember you posted about the extra efficiency of that kind of alternative long time back.


Indeed more efficient to install separate, then that ffmpeg can be used also system-wide, (however wex-portable is easy, only have to store it somewhere and click it).

Fred

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Mike Walsh
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#6 Post by Mike Walsh »

@ Fred/William:-

I take it this 'upgraded' AppImage could simply be swapped for the 0.8.17 AppImage, and everything would still work, yes?

Having now got the 'all-in-one' .pet I put together installed in at least seven Pups ( :lol: ), I don't really want to have to uninstall/re-install every single one with a new version..!

I'll probably re-pack with the new AppImage, then make the 'all-in-one' available here, or on one of the other threads (if that's OK with you two?) Where would be the best place for it?

----------------------------------------------------

I'll also see about packaging the ffmpeg build as a .pet.....although if that's done, should any advice be given to remove previous versions first (or would simply over-writing work)? I know the ffmpeg libs all need to be present and correct (as a 'matched' set) for everything to function properly, but I'm rather out of my depth with the 'mechanics' of much of this AV stuff.....I've got a feeling that simply over-writing would then interfere with existing ffmpeg stuff required by other programs that have probably been built to work with the older libs.

Is that an accurate assumption? Oh, BTW, Fred; what build is this? I can't simply label the .pet 'New ffmpeg...' :lol: And what about location; /usr/bin, since it's a compiled binary?


Mike. :wink:

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#7 Post by fredx181 »

Hi Mike,
I take it this 'upgraded' AppImage could simply be swapped for the 0.8.17 AppImage, and everything would still work, yes?
Yes, from what I tested, but could do no harm if you test also first, before swapping with the older version.
The only change is that wiak's newest weX is included, the rest is the same (ffmpeg and btw, also scrox is included)
I'll also see about packaging the ffmpeg build as a .pet.....although if that's done, should any advice be given to remove previous versions first (or would simply over-writing work)? I know the ffmpeg libs all need to be present and correct (as a 'matched' set) for everything to function properly, but I'm rather out of my depth with the 'mechanics' of much of this AV stuff.....I've got a feeling that simply over-writing would then interfere with existing ffmpeg stuff required by other programs that have probably been built to work with the older libs.


Here's already a pet for it (binary in /usr/bin, it's version 3.1.2, btw) (link at bottom of post works)
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 436#923436
This is a static build, so not dependent on any libs AFAIK, I think overwriting older one will be OK.

Fred

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#8 Post by Mike Walsh »

(19/07/18:- 'All-in-one' re-uploaded. Now includes a third .desktop entry, to allow starting of Fred's 'gifenc-sel' GIF-creator directly from Menu->Graphic.)

Don't forget to install xterm from your Pup's PPM.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi again, Fred/everybody.

As promised, here's an 'all-in-one' (AIO) .pet for WeX. It includes the newest version of Wex-portable (0.8.18 - scrox now 'built-in'), weav, and the addition of GifenC-sel (for creating short .gifs with a single click).

Don't forget to check first to make sure your system has the following libs installed (most Pups seem to have them by default):-

libgiblib.so.1
libImlib2.so.1
(that's a capital 'i' before the m, not an 'L'.)

Once installed, follow Fred's instructions for enabling one of the utility 'buttons' in the main config window to start GifenC-sel:-

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 724#948724

-------------------------------------------------------------------

You'll find there are 2 Menu entries in Menu->Multimedia; Wex screencaster, and Weav post-processor.

The all-in-one .pet package is available from here:-

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rdHEof ... sp=sharing

.....and you should find this will work in pretty much all 32-bit Pups from early 5-series onwards. I, personally, have it working from Racy5.5 & Lucid 5.2.8.7 all the way up to peebee's current Upup Bionic.

Enjoy.

EDIT:- Apparently libglib and libImlib2 are also now 'built-in', so the step about checking you have them can be skipped. (Thanks to Fred for the info - see below.)


Mike. :wink:
Last edited by Mike Walsh on Thu 19 Jul 2018, 13:57, edited 6 times in total.

wiak
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#9 Post by wiak »

Mike Walsh wrote:Hi again, Fred/everybody.

As promised, here's an 'all-in-one' (AIO) .pet for WeX. It includes the newest version of Wex-portable (0.8.18 - scrox now 'built-in'), weav, and the addition of GifenC-sel (for creating short .gifs with a single click).
Hi Mike,

Link to your weX-portable dotpet post is added to first post of thread.

wiak

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fredx181
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#10 Post by fredx181 »

Thanks Mike,
As promised, here's an 'all-in-one' (AIO) .pet for WeX. It includes the newest version of Wex-portable (0.8.18 - scrox now 'built-in'), weav, and the addition of GifenC-sel (for creating short .gifs with a single click).

Don't forget to check first to make sure your system has the following libs installed (most Pups seem to have them by default):-

libgiblib.so.1
libImlib2.so.1 (that's a capital 'i' before the m, not an 'L'.)
For info: the libgiblib and libImlib2 libs are already present in the AppImage, so not needed to install (see pic)
When you run an AppImage, you can look in /tmp/.mount_xxxxx (mountpoint) to see what's inside.

Fred
Attachments
2018-07-06-174422_475x211_scrot.png
Wex-portable Contents of <AppImage>/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/
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#11 Post by Mike Walsh »

Hi, Fred.
fredx181 wrote:For info: the libgiblib and libImlib2 libs are already present in the AppImage, so not needed to install (see pic)
When you run an AppImage, you can look in /tmp/.mount_xxxxx (mountpoint) to see what's inside.
Ah! Excellent...

Just as an aside, did you know that the versions of those two libs have hardly changed in years? Libglib has been 1.0.6 all the way back to Racy/Lucid.....and apart from your version here, libImlib2 has been 1.4.2 for pretty well all Pups from Lucid through to Xenial; it's only the Bionics that seem to have finally begun updating them.....

I thought initially your updated wex-portable didn't have scrox.....despite what you said. It wasn't until I looked closer that I realised you'd left the 'default' settings on something else at the very moment you'd created the AppImage. I'd deleted /root/.wex, y'see, and allowed it to re-create the directory.

I'd had it on .mkvs, area selection, and audio/X11/webcam. You'd left it on .mp4s, fullscreen and audio/X11 only. So there's me wondering why I couldn't select an area....and why the webcam feed wasn't showing! :lol:

I have discovered what might be a wee 'bug'. If you close WeX with the provided 'Exit' icon, everything's fine & dandy. But if you close WeX with the window 'X', it appears to lose the settings you've selected, and reverts to the 'default' ones at the time of install.

Not intentional, I don't for a moment suppose..... :o


Mike. :wink:

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#12 Post by fredx181 »

Mike Walsh wrote:I'd had it on .mkvs, area selection, and audio/X11/webcam. You'd left it on .mp4s, fullscreen and audio/X11 only. So there's me wondering why I couldn't select an area....and why the webcam feed wasn't showing! Laughing
Not sure, but I think that's one of the changes wiak has made for v0.8.18 , that the webcam checkbox is not checked by default (and defaults to mp4 and full-screen ?), maybe wiak can confirm ?
Well...Not very important, I guess, just mentioning.

Fred

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#13 Post by Mike Walsh »

fredx181 wrote:
Mike Walsh wrote:I'd had it on .mkvs, area selection, and audio/X11/webcam. You'd left it on .mp4s, fullscreen and audio/X11 only. So there's me wondering why I couldn't select an area....and why the webcam feed wasn't showing! Laughing
Not sure, but I think that's one of the changes wiak has made for v0.8.18 , that the webcam checkbox is not checked by default (and defaults to mp4 and full-screen ?), maybe wiak can confirm ?
Well...Not very important, I guess, just mentioning.

Fred
Ahhh.... I see. My mistake, mi amigo. Not your fault, then. I know.....

(*drops voice to a conspiratorial whisper*)

Let's blame William..!! Image (Hee-hee!)

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#14 Post by wiak »

fredx181 wrote: Not sure, but I think that's one of the changes wiak has made for v0.8.18 , that the webcam checkbox is not checked by default (and defaults to mp4 and full-screen ?), maybe wiak can confirm ?
Yep, William to 'blame', but I made these changes on purpose. Reason being that if with webcam checked, weX would bomb out for those using machine that doesn't have a webcam, so I made no webcam the default.

I put mp4 since some (probably Hamoudoudou...) seemed to prefer that (claiming that some of video players didn't work with mkv). Personally I use mkv. Let's not say I don't listen to user feedback - Hamoudoudou gave feedback back then and I responded accordingly...

wiak

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#15 Post by Mike Walsh »

No worries, William. Thanks for the explanation.

I must confess to using mkv more & more myself. It just seems more.....stable? (Is that even the right word here?) I used to use mp4 myself (reasoning that the standard had been around for ages, and must, therefore be 'sorted').....but in recent years quite a few new standards have appeared, some of which just seem to be far more versatile.

We have to move with the times.


Mike. :wink:

hamoudoudou

wex installed via synaptic tonight virtualbox

#16 Post by hamoudoudou »

wex installed via synaptic tonight virtualbox. unfortunately not enough memory to screencast. I will try again.
wiak, IMO, it would be better to create an app for screencast, another for webcam, another for audio.. Just an opinion..
about extensions MP4 is so common. MKV no opinion, my videos are only with smartphone.
dotpets : you mean pets ? What is differents between dotpups and dotpets ? that is OK.
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Click on tools switch off wex
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hamoudoudou

settings for best results

#17 Post by hamoudoudou »

when mcewanw and pelo feed back testes and tries settings for best results
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If that could help
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musher0
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Re: wex screencast, webcam, audio recorder

#18 Post by musher0 »

wiak wrote:NEWS: Mike Walsh has kindly created an All-In-One dotpet for weX, which
includes fredx181's portable app version of ffmpeg, as well as scrox, and weav, and
fredx181's gifenc-sel (for creating animated gifs either from within weX or run
separately). Mike says it will run on most Pups from old 5.x series and up to latest.(...)
HHEELLPP!!

Will anyone be as kind as to tell me what your weX is and does in plain English?

IBM has a "Watson Explorer", "wex" for short, at https://www.ibm.com/products/watson-explorer,
but it's obvious you people are NOT talking about a kind of "Christopher Columbus"
for data,

If it is a replacement for mplayer or mpv, why not say so off the bat?

Does it have a real web site? NOT A GITHUB PAGE, please. A real web site.

Does anyone have real screen captures to share, of weX in operation? Please, NOT
criticism or explanation screen captures, such as hamoudoudou's above; screen caps
of weX while it is doing what it is supposed to do.

Thank you for minding about us negligible little insects who know nothing.

BFN.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
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Mike Walsh
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#19 Post by Mike Walsh »

Hi, musher0.

In plain English (as requested) WeX takes screenshots, makes screen captures, and can then process the screen capture videos you've created in various ways, or turn them into a GIF file.

It's like a combination of PupSnap, SimpleScreenRecorder and Fredx181's GIF creator, 'gifenc-sel', which uses a simple YAD GUI 'front-end' for built-in ffmpeg functions. But a lot easier on resources, believe me. It makes use of Will's fork of scrot, scrox.....and it includes a fairly up-to-date compilation of ffmpeg, which Fred's put together.

For the combination of functions it provides, it's very lightweight, in the best traditions of Puppy.....especially since it doesn't require the Qt stuff that SimpleScreenRecorder needs. Oh, it also has the ability to embed a small webcam 'feed' into the corner of your videos...

-------------------------------------

Will McEwan's included comprehensive instructions as to how you use it. (You can't really give screen captures of a screen-capture app in operation; it could be of absolutely anything. (Think about it...?))

Nowt mysterious about it! D/l it, take a look, try it out. Let us know what you think of it, please.


Mike. :wink:

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#20 Post by musher0 »

Many thanks for your kind information, Mike_Walsh.

I will try it when I have a minute. BFN.
musher0
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