[MEncoder-users] help with creating avi from jpegs

[Lee Birch]

Hi.

I'm trying to create a movie from a directory full of jpegs.  The jpegs are
640X480 and are output from a CAD package (30 frames per second).  They look
like animation, and have some large areas of solid color.

My audience uses Windows Media Player.  I would like a movie that they can
play without installing additional software/codecs, if possible.  (I will
entertain all options, though!)

First question:  What mencoder command line(s) would I use to create a movie
with the maximum possible quality?

Second question:  After question one, what should I add/tweak to start
shrinking the file size?

Third question:  Are there legal issues with creating msmpeg4v2 avi's?  I'm
a little confused about patents in this area.

After reading a bunch, I've been trying variations of the commands below,
but the quality just isn't very good:
==========
mencoder "mf://*.jpg -mf w=640:h=480:fps=30:type=jpg" -ovc lavc -lavcopts
vcodec=msmpeg4v2:vpass=1:turbo -o tmp.avi
mencoder "mf://*.jpg" -mf fps=30 -ovc lavc -lavcopts
vcodec=msmpeg4v2:vbitrate=2000:mbd=1:trell:vb_strategy=1:precmp=2:cmp=2:subcmp=2:preme=2:qns=2:vpass=2
-o final.avi
==========

Thank-you fvery much.

LB