| New Linux distro targets serious multimedia projects |
Nov. 30, 2006
 Until now, there hasn't been a really good Linux distribution for digital content creation. Debian-based 64 Studio, which has just achieved its 1.0 release, is described by some as "the best distribution ever created for multimedia workstations, such as digital audio recording and video editing."
64 Studio 1.0, aka "Olympic," as its name indicates, is built to run on x86_64 hardware, that is to say AMD's 64-bit CPUs and Intel's EM64T chips. According to 64 Studio project director Daniel James and lead developer Free Ekanayaka, "the distribution is based on the pure 64 port of Debian GNU/Linux, testing branch, but with a specialized package selection and many other customizations. The 64 Studio project also produces a 32-bit edition for legacy PC hardware."
64 Studio screenshot
(Click to enlarge)
This new Linux has been tested on dual-processor Opteron, dual-core Athlon 64, and single-core Turion test hardware, and is already in daily use by many of the project's testers. There's also a 32-bit version that's been tested on a variety of older PC hardware, including a Via C3 and a dual Pentium Pro, but the project suggests using a faster processor and at least 512MB RAM to take full advantage of the distribution's features.
The distribution is currently available as a CD iso image. This image will install Debian with X.org, the Gnome 2.14 desktop, and Linux kernel 2.6.17 with real-time preemption patches. A real-time SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) kernel for AMD64 dual-core and multi-processor machines is available on the 64-bit CD, along with a selection of creative applications. These apps cover audio and music, video, 2D and 3D graphics, publishing for the Web or print, and the Internet and office, according to the project.
While the distribution contains many multimedia-oriented programs, such as the Inkscape vector graphic application and the GIMP graphic program, it's strongest at creating and managing audio content.
For audio, 64 Studio includes Ardour, an audio recording, editing, and multi-track mixing application. The distribution also includes the Hydrogen drum machine; JAMin, a tool for producing audio masters from a mixed down multitrack source; and Qjackctl, a GUI-management tool for JACK, an audio server designed expressively for moving audio streams from one application to another. To deal with the difficult matter of the popular, but proprietary, MP3 format, 64 Studio uses the Fluendo GStreamer MP3 plug-in.
While James, in a recent article, admits that ProTools, a proprietary audio mixing program from Avid/Degidesign, is the dominant mixing application and there is no open-source support for importing and exporting to it, he believes that growing support for AAF, (Advanced Authoring Format) will enable 64 Studio audio engineers to work with the rest of the industry.
If that makes 64 Studio sound more like a distribution for professionals than for dilettantes, that's exactly right. This is a seriously powerful distribution for serious media creators. For those users, however, 64 Studio is a must-have Linux distro.
You can now download 64 Studio from one of several ftp and http sites. It is not available at this time from any BitTorrent sites.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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