[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]
List: amarok-devel
Subject: Re: Would you like to mentor a GSoC student to work on chapter reading support in TagLib? (originall
From: Luká¹ Lalinský <lalinsky () gmail ! com>
Date: 2013-05-06 4:26:15
Message-ID: CAGUtLj8DZ5fjTC_X+f6bZJaGqz286huMi9dBjxJTp02Z79+Ahg () mail ! gmail ! com
[Download RAW message or body]
I'm planning to do some traveling this summer, so I'll be probably
quite often not available at all for a couple of days in a row. I can
help with TagLib problems/questions, but I will probably not have
enough time to be a regular mentor.
Lukas
On Sat, May 4, 2013 at 6:00 PM, Matěj Laitl <matej@laitl.cz> wrote:
> Hi TagLib developers,
> Google Summer of Code student proposal deadline was yesterday and we're quite
> happy that we've got a fair number of good proposals in Amarok. On the other
> hand we unfortunately don't have enough mentoring manpower to mentor all the
> good proposals (doesn't necessary mean this one).
>
> One of the proposals is "Implementing CUE sheet and chapter support in Amarok"
> by Abhinandan Ramprasath, which may (despite the title) touch more TagLib than
> Amarok.
>
> Perhaps one of you (Lukáši?) would be able to help us (and TagLib) by
> mentoring this proposal? Some reasons supporting it:
> * most solid bits of the proposal are IMO the ones touching actual metadata
> parsing, parts about Amarok integration are more brief. Student's past
> involvement touched also the metadata reading bits.
> * chapter reading from MP4 (QuickTime and Nero subformats), Ogg files and
> embedded CUE sheet reading from FLAC (and perhaps wavpack) files would be of
> good benefit to whole TagLib community, not just Amarok.
> * Amarok integration points in the proposal could be replaced by implementing
> cue or chapter reading from more file formats (already mentioned above) as
> already outlined in the proposal, should be student agree on this.
>
> Formally, applications for Amarok are under KDE and given TagLib's strong ties
> with KDE, this shouldn't be a problem. OTOH mentoring is quite a commitment
> with reports that it takes ~1 hour a working day during the coding period
> (June 17 - September 29). [3][4]
>
> What do you think? We'd be glad to receive any indication from you by this
> Monday (as it is the date we have to coordinate GSoC proposals within KDE)
>
> Regards,
> Matěj Laitl of Amarok
>
> -----------
> Original idea at [1], discussion with student about the proposal at [2], copy
> of the proposal follows.
>
> [1]
> http://community.kde.org/GSoC/2013/Ideas#Project:_Unified_CUE_File_and_Audiobook_Chapter_Support_in_Amarok
> [2] https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/amarok-devel/2013-April/012031.html and
> https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/amarok-devel/2013-May/012078.html
> [3] https://code.google.com/p/google-summer-of-code/wiki/AdviceforMentors
> [4] http://en.flossmanuals.net/gsocmentoring/
>
> On 3. 5. 2013 Abhinandan Ramprasath <abhiin1947@gmail.com> wrote:
> > This is the proposal I'm submitting for GSoC. Thanks to Matej for the
> > reviews.
> >
> > *Short Description:*
> >
> > Amarok currently has very limited CUE sheet support
> > and no support for chapters. My project aims at detecting chapter markers
> > of various formats by implementing them in TagLib and using it to Amarok's
> > advantage. Also, Integrating CUE sheets with Amarok so that they work
> > seamlessly.
> >
> > Basic Details:
> >
> > Name: Abhinandan Ramaprasath
> > Email Address: abhiin1947@gmail.com
> > Freenode IRC Nick: abhiin1947
> > IM Service and Username: Gtalk - abhiin1947
> > Location (City, Country and/or Time Zone): Chennai, India, UTC+05:30
> > Github: https://github.com/abhiin1947/
> > Proposal Title: Implementing CUE sheet and chapter support in Amarok
> >
> > Motivation for project:
> >
> > Audiobooks are usually quite lengthy and go on for hours. It is not always
> > possible for people to finish listening to audiobooks in one go. Chapter
> > support is an important feature in modern audio players. Trying to find the
> > part of the audiobook that the user wants is an arduous task. Since Amarok
> > already provides a bookmark to the location where the user left off,
> > addition of chapter markers would make navigating an audiobook as easy as
> > flipping through a book.
> >
> > Chapter markers otherwise have been a demanded feature ( with over 40+
> > wishes ). It would be very useful in enhanced podcasts
> > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast#Enhanced_podcasts> to be able
> > to jump to various chapters/parts with just a click of a button.
> >
> > CUE sheeted music, on the other hand, is very popular, and not providing
> > proper support ruins the music experience. It has also been a requested
> > feature for quite a long time (1) ( 700+ votes ). Many bugs have been
> > reported (2) about Amarok's lack of support for CUE sheeted music.
> > Implementation of CUE sheet support has been delayed over releases (from
> > 2.6 to 2.8) and I would like to complete it this Google Summer of Code.
> >
> > Goals:
> >
> > The goals of my project would be to
> > 1) Implement QuickTime chapter support in TagLib.
> > 2) MP3 chapter support in Amarok.
> > 3) Implement OGG chapter support in TagLib.
> > 4) Display these chapters in Amarok.
> > 5) Integrate CUE sheet support with collection manager and Amarok for a
> > seamless music experience.
> > 6) Implement support for NeroChapter type in TagLib
> > 7) Solve bugs related to my project along the way (3).
> >
> > Implementation Details:
> >
> > The project involves making changes in both TagLib and Amarok repositories.
> > I would like to divide the project into 5 parts.
> >
> > *1. QtChapter support in MP4/M4A/M4B files*
> >
> > The first part is implementing the QtChapter (Qt = QuickTime in this
> > proposal) support in MP4/M4A/M4B files. As per the Apple
> > docs<https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/QuickTime/qtff/Q
> > TFFChap2/qtff2.html>, the Qt (QuickTime) chapter support can be achieved by
> > reading the "trak" atom which contains the "chap" data. This trak atom
> > contains the text track which contains the chapter information. The
> > indicated text track should contain a "stbl" atom ( basically a table )
> > which would contain offsets to the location in the file that contain
> > chapter title in the file. Reading data at these offsets give information
> > about chapter titles. The time at which each chapter marker occurs can be
> > easily calculated using the "bitrate" of the audiofile. These would be the
> > changes that I would make in TagLib to support QtChapters (QuickTime).
> >
> > This should also solve part of the bug
> > <https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=144849>. This merge will provide
> > support for the Apple Enhanced Podcast ( M4A ) as well.
> >
> > The changes in Amarok include, displaying the chapter markers to the user
> > in the form of bookmarks or Multi-Tracks.I plan on reading the chapter
> > information in Amarok the same way I implemented it in the bug
> > fix<https://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/109256/>attempt. For actually
> > showing them on Amarok I'll use the BookmarkGroupPtr
> > to create a new bookmark group and add chapter pointers to it in the form
> > of URLs. I would like to also store the chapter information in the database
> > as well.
> >
> > *2. Show MP3 chapter markers in Amarok*
> >
> > Thanks to a recent pull request
> > <https://github.com/taglib/taglib/pull/173>by krejclu6, MP3 chapter
> > support has been implemented in TagLib. This small
> > part of the project is to use this framework to show MP3 chapter markers in
> > Amarok. The implementation of this in Amarok will be same as mentioned
> > before.
> >
> > *3. Implement OGG chapter support*
> >
> > OGG chapter support is something TagLib still lacks. According to XIPH's
> > docs <http://wiki.xiph.org/Chapter_Extension>, chapter support in OGG is
> > very straightforward. The chapter data is found in the comments of the file
> > along with the metadata.
> >
> > *4. **Implement CUE Sheet support*
> >
> > The fourth part of the project would be to implement complete CUE sheet
> > support.
> >
> > *What is CUE sheet?*
> >
> > CUE sheet contains information related to the album, the main filename and
> > the time offsets at which each track occurs.
> >
> > *What needs to be done?*
> >
> > I propose to make this change in the KUrl. Parts of the Url would have data
> > about the Base File, Time-Offset and Duration of the track (after a "?" or
> > "#" at the end, if not possible a new protocol?). Then these URL's would be
> > interpreted in the UmsCollection or SqlCollection classes as separate Track
> > files. This would also enable storing the details of each song in the
> > database, hence there is no need to access the CUE file every time.
> >
> > Amarok already has a basic CUE sheet support, it can read CUE sheets added
> > manually through the browser or from a CDROM. I would like to integrate
> > this better with the CollectionScanner ( the way it is supposed to work,
> > highlighted in the bug
> > <https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=187587>report's comments ). The
> > scanner will automatically recognize these CUE
> > files and record them as separate tracks in the database as mentioned
> > above. Any changed metadata in the file would be stored in the KUrl.
> >
> > *5. Support for NeroChapter type in MP4*
> >
> > The last part of the project would be to implement support for the
> > NeroChapter type in MP4. Since, this is not so popular, I would like to
> > keep this the last part of the project. This involves more changes in
> > TagLib than Amarok. The chapter track information is found under the "udta"
> > atom. This part of the project would aim at automatically detecting the
> > type of chapter present in the given file, decoding the chapter data and
> > providing it neatly.
> >
> > Tentative Timeline:
> >
> > June
> > < GSoC begins >
> >
> > week 4: Community Bonding Period - Ask for improvement suggestions and get
> > to know the Amarok community.
> >
> > July-
> >
> > week 1: Create Abstract Classes in TagLib for MP4 chapter support ( This
> > will be useful for the last part of the project as well ). Implementing
> > QtChapter (QuickTime) Support.
> >
> > week 2: Finish implementing QtChapter (QuickTime) Support in TagLib.
> > Implement OGG chapter support.
> >
> > week 3: Modify the database and store the chapter data in it.
> >
> > week 4: Tweak UI in Amarok to display the chapter markers (MP3, MP4,
> > OGG). Start Implementation of CUE sheet support.
> >
> > < Mid-term - Complete chapter support in Amarok>
> >
> > August-
> >
> > *week 1*: Integrate CUE sheet reading with the scanner and automatically
> > detect that these are separate track files and add them to the collection.
> >
> > *weeks 2 and 3*: Implement changes in KUrl. Make modifications in
> > SqlCollection and other methods and classes that use url(TrackPtr ,
> > playback and other controllers).
> >
> > *week 4*: Make modifications in UmsCollection to support CUE sheets as well.
> >
> > September-
> >
> > *week 1*: Implement modules that allow the user to change the metadata of
> > CUE-sheeted tracks. I do not plan on making these changes in the CUE sheet
> > instead store them locally/in the url so that Amarok can display them
> >
> > *week 2*: Finish CUE sheet support in Amarok.
> >
> > *week 3*: Implement NeroChapter support in TagLib.
> >
> > < pencils down >
> >
> > *week 4*: Testing and resolving any bugs.
> >
> > Do you have other obligations from late May to early August (school, work,
> > vacation, etc.)?
> >
> > No. I can work upto 50 hours a week, 6-8 hours in the weekdays, and in the
> > weekends too, if required, or if I am possessed with the compulsive urge to
> > get something done ;) College starts early August, but it's early in the
> > semester, and the course work would be extremely light.
> >
> > About Me:
> >
> > I am an Information Technology undergrad at SSN College of Engineering. I
> > am comfortable writing code in C/C++/Python. I was introduced to Amarok
> > when my friend suggested it after looking at my android app
> > Lyricize
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.festalize.LyricMatch>.
> > It totally drew me in. I'd love to make any contribution that makes
> > music more enjoyable. I am also an enthusiastic web and android developer,
> > and a great fan of FOSS. On a Foreign Exchange trade related project I
> > recently worked on, I built a scraper
> > <https://github.com/makkarlabs/stockscrape>, which I open sourced, that
> > scrapes data from the National Stock Exchange website, and publishes it as
> > a JSON API. I've also contributed to the Haiku OS.
> >
> > Introduced to C and C++ at the age of 8, I continued to work on programming
> > challenges, web and mobile related projects during school and college to
> > sharpen my skills. I have learnt to code in languages such as java, php,
> > ruby, node(javascript), etc. In the hackathon conducted by KRDS in 2012, I
> > created a location guessing Facebook game which won the second
> > prize<http://lighthouseinsights.in/a-chat-with-the-krds-india-facecode-hacka
> > thon-winners.html>. I also was selected as one of the winners of Firefox OS
> > hackathon conducted by Mozilla for creating a collaborative browser across
> > platforms called BrowseWithMe using nodejs (
> > server <https://bitbucket.org/abhiin1947/bb_monkey/src>,
> > client <https://github.com/makkarlabs/bbmonkey> ). I created a
> > gesturecontrolled web app
> > Fliptube <https://github.com/makkarlabs/fliptube>, a YouTube client where
> > mobile users could flip through videos with ease, for the Yahoo! Open hack
> > 2012 and it was selected as top 10 hacks of the night (out of 180+ hacks).
> >
> > Am I comfortable working independently under a mentor or supervisor?
> >
> > Yes. I have been an intern for the ULaw Software Foundation based in Canada
> > and time zones aren't really a problem at all.
> >
> > After GSoC:
> >
> > After GSoC I plan on continuing to fix bugs and code more features for
> > Amarok and Taglib. I intend to learn about more multimedia related file
> > formats and improving support in those areas.
> >
> > One area I intentionally did not mention is the implementation of matroska
> > chapter support. I plan on implementing this after GSoC as I feel it would
> > be too much for 3 months. It is similar to the chapter markers in OGG
> > Vorbis.
> > Another requested feature is the support for embedded CUE files. I have
> > explained these more clearly in the "Additional Information" section. This
> > is one feature that requires a lot more time so, I plan to work on this
> > after GSoC.
> >
> > My experience with Amarok:
> >
> > I started out my Amarok journey by trying to solve bug 240409 (which turns
> > out to be a big part of my proposal ). It was initially marked as a junior
> > job. I tried to implement chapter detection using library mp4v2 ( patch:
> > https://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/109079/ ) which was eventually rejected.
> > After research and learning, I implemented support for chapter detection in
> > Amarok by using mp4atom.h from taglib explicitly ( patch:
> > https://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/109256/ ). It was rejected because it was
> > a technical preview. I have been busy with exams since, and have not been
> > able to finish it.
> >
> > Two other recent bug fixes that are not accepted yet -
> > https://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/110243/ ,
> > https://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/110150/
> >
> > Additional Information:
> >
> > Embedded CUE sheets are CUEs that are stored within the audio files. There
> > are 2 formats in which they occur, FLAC and WAVPACK. The FLAC embedded CUE
> > sheet has its own tags whereas the WAVPACK uses the apev2 tag. The task
> > would be to implement CUE detection in TagLib and then use them to
> > implement it in Amarok.
> >
> > External Links:
> >
> > (1) - https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=187587 reported 2009
> >
> > (2) - https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=187587 ,
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=286089 ,
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=294136 ,
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=270003 ,
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=279234 ,
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=230272
> >
> > (3) - https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=240409 ,
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=187587 ,
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=286089 ,
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=270003 ,
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=294136 ,
> > https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=144849
> >
> > (4) - *https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=144849*
> _______________________________________________
> taglib-devel mailing list
> taglib-devel@kde.org
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/taglib-devel
_______________________________________________
Amarok-devel mailing list
Amarok-devel@kde.org
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/amarok-devel
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]
Configure |
About |
News |
Add a list |
Sponsored by KoreLogic