[MEncoder-users] RE?? Re: RE?? Re: converting and subtitle questions !

[Erik Slagter]

Alex Samad wrote:

> I was under the understanding that using mencoder to produce an avi and
> then using MP4Box to extract the video + audio and then remuxing would
> be the same as ffmpeg ? (I have used mencoder for a while and am getting
> used to using it) but what you seem to be saying its that it would be
> better to encode with ffmpeg directly.

If I were in a situation where I could choose between mplayer/avi+mp4box 
and ffmpeg (i.e. no filtering and no subtitles), I'd definitely choose 
for ffmpeg. FFmpeg has most codecs and formats native, and keeping all 
frames within one application imho gives less chance to a/v desync; it 
can maintain the original timestamps with the frames. FFmpeg also has 
some options to force a/v sync where it doesn't come naturally ;-) (i.e. 
the timestamps are wrong).

Using avi as intermediate file will probably work, but is prone to 
problems (especially if the input is an mpeg stream with b frames) as 
avi has a very different way of representing "timestamps" than the 
various types of mpeg streams.