In this article we are going to see a powerful multimedia converter for Ubuntu. This is Curlew, which, as I have already indicated, is a program for multimedia conversion that performs its functionality using ffmpeg on videos and audio files.
This is not a new application as it has been around for a while. It is an open source and easy to use program. It supports many formats and is written on GTK3. As a programming language, Python For their develpment.
Curlew is a graphical interface for some of the most popular free software tools for multimedia work such as ffmpeg / avconv and mencoder.
Recently the project has come back to life to support the latest version of Ubuntu and its derivatives. It can be installed on other distributions using the same font. Development stopped because ffmpeg and libav were removed from Ubuntu repositories for a while. In that span of time, no update was received from the developer. But now that everything has been established, we have ffmpeg available in Ubuntu repositories and the developer has recently given a push to the new version of this app. It works with all current versions of Ubuntu and its derivatives like Linux Mint.
The graphical user interface has been redesigned and introduced new features. With them it is noticeably improved with respect to previous versions of this same program.
In its latest version, it is worth highlighting among the possibilities offered to the user in addition to conversion, the option to add subtitles. The conversion of part of the files, the filling of the image (the famous black bands) and the possibility of renaming files.
Curlew Features
Some of the most obvious features of Curlew is its ease of use with a simple user interface. It will give us the possibility to hide the advanced options with the ability to show them.
Curlew in addition to being a free multimedia converter for Ubuntu, has a little size in your installation package. It also has few library dependencies that you have to satisfy. You can see the list of dependencies in the following link.
The list of output formats is very extensive, and it gives us the ability to save projects with hundreds of types of format. These include common formats such as MP4 but with variations. For example, MP4 HD, MP4 SD, MP4 full screen or widescreen. In addition to these formats (AVI, XDIV, 3GP ...), it includes device specific formats. For example, Nokia N810, Android, LG Chocolate, PS3 or Iphone among others.
As I've said before, convert to over 100 different formats. At the same time it will show information about the file (duration, time remaining, estimated size, progress value). It will also allow us to skip or remove files during the conversion process. To be sure of what we are going to do, it gives us the possibility of using the preview of the file before the conversion.
It will give us the ability to convert a specified part of the file. We can also combine subtitles with the video file. And many other possibilities and options that you can discover for yourself using this powerful multimedia converter.
Install Curlew on Ubuntu
This application is available for Ubuntu 17.04 Zesty / 16.10 Yakkety / 16.04 Xenial / 14.04 Trusty / Linux Mint 18/17 / other Ubuntu derivatives. To install Curlew in Ubuntu / Linux Mint we will only have to open the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and copy the following commands into it:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/apps && sudo apt update && sudo apt install curlew
If you prefer not to use the console, you can get the .deb package for installation in the following link.
Uninstall Curlew
If you did not like this program, you can uninstall it as usual in a simple way. We just have to open a terminal and write in it:
sudo apt remove curlew
Now that we got rid of the program, we are going to get rid of the repository by typing the following command in the console:
sudo add-apt-repository -r ppa:noobslab/apps