[FFmpeg-user] desperate repost: command-line help for a newbie

[Hap Houlihan]

Hello all,

I have a problem that needs solving ASAP, and although I hope to gain some
competency with FFMPEG relatively soon, I'm hoping one (or more) of you can
get me further than the first few hours of trudging through the
documentation has gotten me...

I'm trying to catch an RTP audio stream, transcode it to Icecast/Ogg
Vorbis, and then send it out to a streaming service. Right now I'm using
VLC (through the GUI), but if there's any failure or interruption in any
part of the process, it doesn't crash or warn me, it just stops working,
and my downstream listeners are usually the ones to alert me that the
stream is broken. I've heard that FFMPEG is better at keeping the stream
alive, but I won't have the time to experiment with the daunting (to me,
anyway) command-line structure for some time, and it will mean interrupting
our station's stream while I monkey with it, sooo... LI'L HELP?

To break it down more precisely:

STEP 1: I'd like to *catch* the RTP stream coming from a Barix Instreamer
(an audio relay device with its own IP) that contantly sends the signal to
a computer on the same LAN. The Barix works flawlessly, so catching the
stream is just a matter of "listening" to *rtp//:0.0.0.0:PORTNUM.*

STEP 2: Then I need to *transcode* the signal to OGG Vorbis in an IceCast
"wrapper" (I know I'm prolly using the wrong word there, please forgive).

Byt the way, If there's a switch or setting that allows me to give up some
latency for a "smoother" (less-subject-to-jitter or other packet-disorder
artefacts) stream, I'm all for it...

STEP 3: Finally, I need to *send *the transcoded Ice/Ogg stream to our
streaming service (Streamguys.com) using the following parameters:

address - SERVERX.streamguys.com <http://serverx.streamguys.com/>

port - 1234

mount point - live

login:password - source:AbCdEfG

encapsulation: Ogg

bitrate: 64 kb/s

sampling rate: 44100 Hz


That's all the info I provide to VLC, so I assume that's all the info I'd
need to jam into the FFMPEG command line.

Finally, if there's a switch or function (or a way to loop the command
without overloading resources or interrupting the stream) that allows
FFMPEG  to
"check its own work" or to alert me to any problems, all the better.

Now: who can help me compose the command line? I'll take any help y'all can
offer!

Many, many thanks in advance,
Hap

-- 
Hap Houlihan, General Manager
*Lexington Community Radio*
WLXU-LP 93.9 FM
WLXL-LP 95.7 FM
Cell: 859-533-8443