Use kino to assemble the video. It may be as simple as loading all of the raw video files. If you don't have to remove any commercials or edit the content, all you need to do to complete this step is to save the project file as an eli file. In my example, I captured a Yoga show from cable. The steps are are based this scenario. Load all of the video files for the capture project. I've found two methods for doing this easily are:
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To import a directory full of files into Kino, you need only start it from the commandline with 'kino /path/to/*.avi'. It will order them in the storyboard in alphabetical order.
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If Kino is already running, you can open the directory in a file browser such as Nautilus or Konqueror, select the files you want to import, and drag them into the main display of Kino (any pane except for the storyboard). It will order them in the storyboard in alphabetical order. You can also drag and drop one file at a time if you like.
Look at the sample in Fig 2 to see the fully loaded project (all the icons in the storyboard pane on the left.)
Now we want to edit out the commercials. You can drag the time marker across the full time bar and kino will show you the frame at the current time marker. When you get close to the point you want to make the edit, you can press the play button to see the video/audio. Press the Pause button (Play toggles pause too). Then use the frame forward or frame reverse buttons to find the exact spot that you want to trim to. Use the "split before scene" function. Repeat this to find the end of the commercials. Select the scene you just split by either dragging the time marker into the middle of the scene or by selecting it using the storyboard icons on the left. This can be difficult to verify that you are deleting the desired scene if your split points are a black screen. Personally, I use the drag time marker method. Use the "cut" function to delete the scene between the two split points. Repeat this for all scenes you want to remove. You could, if you wanted, also insert effects such as fades, wipes, blanks using the Kino FX tab if you like. It's too much work for my needs, but you may find it very useful and aesthetically pleasing. Save the project file with the File->Save function. Give it a name with the extension .smil. Then save the project file with File->SaveAsELI to save it with the extension .eli. Look at the sample Fig 3 for how I do it.
I save both project files in the same directory as the raw video files. The .smil file is used only if you ever need to reopen it in kino. The .eli file is the more important of the two because the next step requires a control file in eli format to work properly. In my example, I saved it as /pvr/yoga_01/yoga_12.eli. Look at Fig 4 to see the finished project.
Note that the time markers which showed the spaces between the files are now varying lengths. This is because the time marker shows only the edited chunks. Before exiting Kino, let's make a background for our DVD menu. The easiest way to do this is to find a frame that you like. Click the Export tab, then Stills tab. The picture will go away, but you can be confident that is the frame that you are working with. Change the "Frames of" setting from "All" to "Current" so that it will only save the one frame in a JPEG format. Look at the sample in Fig 5 to see how I save this JPEG.
Even though I specified yoga_background.jpg as the filename, it actually saved it as yoga_background_00000496.jpg apparently including the frame number in the filename. It is ok, it doesn't hurt anything.
Approximate time: 10-15 minutes
