[MEncoder-users] Ripping dvd to mp4

[Erik Slagter]

James Hastings-Trew wrote:

>> Mencoder can only output reliably to avi (not even separate raw video 
>> and audio stream, simultaniously...) while mp4box (gpac) cannot handle 
>> h264 in avi, so...

> Nonsense. I use mencoder to encode to mp4 containers all the time, and 
> without AV synch issues. I just don't use b-frames.

That's the whole point. For any (output-)format other than avi and mpeg 
(program stream/transport stream?) mencoder uses lavf, which in itself 
handles b-frames well, but mencoder in combination with lavf doesn't.

So, output to mp4 with b-frames, no way.

B-frames are there for a reason... There is no industry conspiracy that 
makes you believe you cannot live without b-frames even though they only 
cost you money. Anyway, b-frames are a requirement for me and thus I 
cannot use mencoder to output mp4, that's all there is to it.

The a/v sync issues start to come when you need to output to raw video 
and raw audio (because you cannot use the mp4 muxer etc.)

> Having said that, I am coming around to the idea that h.264 is not the 
> be-all and end-all of video encoding that some people think it is. I've 
> been using mpeg4 for HD encodes (720p) because the artifacts are not as 
> annoying as those from h.264. To my eyes, mpeg4 seems "truer" to the 
> original source. I use h264 for those applications and devices that 
> require it (ipod/iphone).

h264 has a few interesting practical points compared to mpeg4-2 imho:

- almost always encapsulated in mp4, which has clean support for 
b-frames (and b-frames as references!), so far less prone for 
incompatibility issues in this area;
- altogether far less stories on incompatibility due to certain vendors 
implementing their own "extensions" upon a subset of a _standard_ and 
then branding it as their own ("DivX");
- "mpeg4-2 is a failed experiment" (quoting Måns Rulgård here, quoting 
the broadcasting industry)
- I expect less and less new hardware devices supporting mpeg4-2.

and a few more, gut-feeling like things I won't bother you with.