[FFmpeg-user] x264 preset (speed) question

[Moritz Barsnick]

On Mon, Nov 21, 2016 at 22:36:34 +0100, Toerless Eckert wrote:
> > As in: Why are Bosch and Mercedes two different companies?
> 
> As in: My mercedes dealer wouldn't ask me to call up bosch to get
> the bosch Auto part in my Mercedes

Okay, enough of the analogies. ffmpeg (and libav*) gives you access to
certain capabilities to transcode videos. It will allow you to use
internal functionality and external libraries for a bunch of features,
but won't try to explain to you why something external works in a
certain way. (You will often find people recommending one setting over
another, one codec over another. That's basically supplemental.)

ffmpeg won't even try to explain *that* or *why* you can't put codec XY
into container ZZ. When you try to do that, it will try to hint you to
the issue. It's still just a tool; video can be such a complex field
that, in the end, the user needs to understand stuff.

But I agree it's not totally transparent to the user, what is
"provided" by ffmpeg, and what is "accomodated", especially since
ffmpeg makes a lot of effort to not make much of a difference.

BTW, I appreciate observations regarding external libs such as x264 - I
think they're useful for other users as well. You just have to be aware
that some things are not influenced directly by ffmpeg.

Moritz