K3b
Encyclopedia
K3b is a CD
and DVD
authoring
application by KDE
for Unix-like
computer operating system
s. It provides a graphical user interface
to perform most CD/DVD burning tasks like creating an Audio CD from a set of audio files or copying a CD/DVD, as well as more advanced tasks such as burning eMoviX CD/DVDs. It can also perform direct disc-to-disc copies. The program has many default settings which can be customized by more experienced users. The actual disc recording in K3b is done by the command line utilities cdrecord or cdrkit
, cdrdao
, and growisofs. As of version 1.0, K3b features a built-in DVD ripper
.
As is the case with most KDE applications, K3b is written in the C++
programming language
and uses the Qt GUI toolkit. Released under the GNU General Public License
, K3b is free software
.
A first alpha of a KDE Platform 4
version of K3b was released on 22 April 2009, the second on 27 May 2009 and a third on 14 October 2009.
K3b is a software project that was started in 1998, and is one of the mainstays of the KDE desktop.
K3b can also burn data CDs that support Linux/Unix based OS, Windows, DOS, Very Large Files (UDF)
, Linux/Unix + Windows, Rock Ridge
, and Joliet
file systems.
K3b's full list of features (the below list could be still incomplete):
- Creating mixed-mode CDs:
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
authoring
Optical disc authoring
Optical disc authoring, including DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring , is the process of assembling source material—video, audio or other data—into the proper logical volume format to then be recorded onto an optical disc .-Process:To burn an optical disc, one usually first creates an...
application by KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
for Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
computer operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s. It provides a graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
to perform most CD/DVD burning tasks like creating an Audio CD from a set of audio files or copying a CD/DVD, as well as more advanced tasks such as burning eMoviX CD/DVDs. It can also perform direct disc-to-disc copies. The program has many default settings which can be customized by more experienced users. The actual disc recording in K3b is done by the command line utilities cdrecord or cdrkit
Cdrkit
cdrkit is a collection of computer programs for CD and DVD authoring that work on Unix-like systems.cdrkit is released under the GNU General Public License version 2.ArchLinux, Fedora, Gentoo Linux, Mandriva Linux, openSUSE and Ubuntu all include cdrkit....
, cdrdao
Cdrdao
cdrdao is open source software for authoring and ripping of CD-ROMs. The software is released under the GPL. Cdrdao records audio or data CD-Rs in Disk-At-Once mode based on a textual description of the CD contents...
, and growisofs. As of version 1.0, K3b features a built-in DVD ripper
Ripping
Ripping is the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media. The word is used to refer to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data is damaged after extraction....
.
As is the case with most KDE applications, K3b is written in the C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
and uses the Qt GUI toolkit. Released under the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
, K3b is free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
.
A first alpha of a KDE Platform 4
KDE Platform
KDE Platform is a set of frameworks by KDE that serve as technological foundation for all KDE applications. Ever since KDE’s brand repositioning the Platform is released as separate product in sync with KDE’s Plasma Workspaces as part of the KDE Software Compilation 4...
version of K3b was released on 22 April 2009, the second on 27 May 2009 and a third on 14 October 2009.
K3b is a software project that was started in 1998, and is one of the mainstays of the KDE desktop.
Features
Some of K3b's main features include:- Data CD/DVD burning
- Audio CD burning
- CD Text support
- Bluray/DVD-RDVD-RDVD-R is a DVD recordable format. A DVD-R typically has a storage capacity of 4.71 GB. Pioneer has also developed an 8.5 GB dual layer version, DVD-R DL, which appeared on the market in 2005....
/DVD+RDVD+RDVD+R is part of optical disc recording technologies. It is a format for optical disc data storage that utilizes digital recording. It is similar to, but incompatible with, the older DVD-R standard...
/DVD-RWDVD-RWA DVD-RW disc is a rewritable optical disc with equal storage capacity to a DVD-R, typically 4.7 GB. The format was developed by Pioneer in November 1999 and has been approved by the DVD Forum. The smaller Mini DVD-RW holds 1.46 GB, with a diameter of 8 cm.The primary advantage of DVD-RW over...
/DVD+RWDVD+RWDVD+RW is a physical format for rewritable DVDs and can hold up to 4.7 GB. DVD+RW was created by the DVD+RW Alliance, an industry consortium of drive and disc manufacturers...
support - CD-RCD-RA CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
/CD-RWCD-RWA CD-RW is a rewritable optical disc. It was introduced in 1997, and was known as "CD-Writable" during development. It was preceded by the CD-MO, which was never commercially released....
support - Mixed Mode CDMixed Mode CDA Mixed Mode CD is a Compact Disc in which two different data types are combined. Typically the first track is a data track while the rest are audio tracks...
(Audio and Data on one disk) - Multisession CD
- Video CDVideo CDBefore the advent of DVD and Blu-ray, the Video CD became the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm optical discs. The format is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc...
/Video DVD authoring - eMovix CD/eMovix DVD
- Disk-to-disk CD and DVD copying
- Erasing CD-RW/DVD-RW/DVD+RW
- ISO imageISO imageAn ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
support - Ripping Audio CDs, Video CDs, Video DVDs
K3b can also burn data CDs that support Linux/Unix based OS, Windows, DOS, Very Large Files (UDF)
Universal Disk Format
Universal Disk Format is an implementation of the specification known as ISO/IEC 13346 and ECMA-167 and is an open vendor-neutral file system for computer data storage for a broad range of media. In practice, it has been most widely used for DVDs and newer optical disc formats, supplanting ISO 9660...
, Linux/Unix + Windows, Rock Ridge
Rock Ridge
The Rock Ridge Interchange Protocol is an extension to the ISO 9660 volume format, commonly used on CDROM and DVD media, which adds POSIX file system semantics...
, and Joliet
Joliet (file system)
Joliet is the name of an extension to the ISO 9660 file system. It has been specified and endorsed by Microsoft and has been supported by all versions of its Windows OS since Windows 95 and Windows NT...
file systems.
K3b's full list of features (the below list could be still incomplete):
- Creating data cds:
- - Add files and folders to your data cd project via drag'n'drop.
- - Remove files from your project, move files within your project.
- - Create empty direcories within your project.
- - Write data cds on-the-fly directly without an image file or with image file. It's also possible to just create the image file and write it to cd later.
- - RockridgeRock RidgeThe Rock Ridge Interchange Protocol is an extension to the ISO 9660 volume format, commonly used on CDROM and DVD media, which adds POSIX file system semantics...
and Joliet file system support. - - Rename files in your project.
- - Let K3b rename all the mp3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
/oggOggOgg is a free, open container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format state that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The Ogg container format can multiplex...
files you add to your project to a common format like "artist - title.mp3". - - For advanced users: support for nearly all the mkisofs options.
- - Verifying the burned data.
- - Support for multible El-ToritoEl Torito (CD-ROM standard)The El Torito Bootable CD Specification is an extension to the ISO 9660 CD-ROM specification. It is designed to allow a computer to boot from a CD-ROM...
boot images. - - Multisession support
- Creating audio cds:
- - Pluggable audio decoding. Plugins for WAVWAVWaveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...
, MP3, FLACFLACFLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost...
, and Ogg Vorbis are included. - - CD-TEXTCD-TextCD-Text is an extension of the Red Book Compact Disc specifications standard for audio CDs. It allows for storage of additional information on a standards-compliant audio CD...
support. Will automagically be filled in from tags in audio files. - - Write audio cds on-the-fly without decoding audio files to wav before.
- - Normalize volume levels before writing.
- - Cut audio tracks at the beginning and the end.
- Creating Video CDs:
- - VCD 1.1, 2.0, SVCD
- - CD-i support (Version 4)
- Creating mixed-mode CDs:
- - CD-Extra (CD-Plus, Enhanced Audio CD) support.
- - All data and audio project features.
- Creating eMovix CDs
- CD Copy
- - Copy single and multi session data CDs
- - Copy Audio CDs
- - Copy Enhanced Audio CDs (CD-Extra)
- - Copy CD-Text
- - Add CD-Text from cddb
- - CD Cloning mode for perfect single session CD copies
- DVD burning:
- - Support for DVD-R(W) and DVD+R(W)
- - Creating data DVD projects
- - Creating eMovix DVDs
- - Formatting DVD-RWs and DVD+RWs
- CD Ripping:
- - CDDB support via http, cddbp and local cddb directory.
- - Sophisticated pattern system to automatically organize the ripped tracks in directories and name them according to album, title, artist, and track number.
- - CD-TEXT reading. May be used instead of CDDB info.
- - K3b stores CDDB info of the ripped tracks which will automatically be used as CD-TEXT when adding the ripped files to an audio project.
- - Plugin system to allow encoding to virtually every audio format. Plugins to encode to Ogg Vorbis, Mp3, FLAC, and all formats supported by SoX included.
- DVD Ripping and DivX/XviD encoding
- Save/load projects.
- Blanking of CDR-Ws.
- Retrieving Table of contents and cdr information.
- Writing existing iso images to CD or DVD with optional verification of the written data.
- Writing cue/bin files created for CDRWIN
- DVD copy (no video transcoding yet)
- Enhanced CD device handling:
- - Detection of max. writing and reading speed.
- - Detection of Burnfree and Justlink support.
- - Good media detection and optional automatic CD-RW and DVD-RW blanking
- KParts-Plugin ready.
See also
- List of optical disc authoring software
- BraseroBrasero (software)Brasero is a free disc-burning program for Unix-like systems, which serves as a graphical front-end to cdrtools, growisofs, and libburn.Brasero is the default CD/DVD application in the GNOME desktop....
, a GTK+GTK+GTK+ is a cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU LGPL, allowing both free and proprietary software to use it. It is one of the most popular toolkits for the X Window System, along with Qt.The name GTK+ originates from GTK;...
optical disc authoring program.