[MEncoder-users] mencoder bug: Trancoding stops without reason and gives no error message

[Carl Eugen Hoyos]

Peer Janssen <peer <at> pjk.de> writes:

> Am 28.05.2014 22:28, schrieb Carl Eugen Hoyos:
> >
> >> time mencoder -nosound -ovc lavc -lavcopts
> >> vcodec=mpeg4:aspect=16/9:vbitrate=8000000
> >> -vf scale=1920:1080 -o timelapse.avi
> >> -mf type=jpeg:fps=24 mf:// <at> stills.txt
> > FFmpeg now supports a similar input format, see
> > https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-formats.html#concat-1
>
> Well, I gave it a try. Many sites suggest something 
> like this:
> 
> ffmpeg -r 6 -i "%04d.jpg" -an -vcodec copy out.avi

But that is not what the link I gave above suggests;-((

(And it is also another option than the one you used 
for MEncoder, I wanted to show you an equivalent 
option.)

> Just a note of warning: do not think you can bypass 
> ffmpeg's printf syntax and just use *.jpg or 
> something for more complex patterns. It will 
> actually overwrite each and every one of your image 
> files with the first one! I tried it myself. 
> – Christian

This has been fixed in FFmpeg last year.

> $ ffmpeg -pattern_type glob
> ffmpeg version 0.8.10-6:0.8.10-0ubuntu0.13.10.1

This is not FFmpeg but an intentionally broken version 
with several hundred bugs not present in FFmpeg, some 
of them security relevant. Please understand that we 
cannot support it - neither here nor on ffmpeg.org
See http://blog.pkh.me/p/13-the-ffmpeg-libav-situation.html 
for more information.
(One of the mentioned bugs is that what you have would 
overwrite your image files.)

> But I'll try the other solution first (upgrading ubuntu)

This cannot help;-(

All this has of course nothing to do with the communities 
of MPlayer and FFmpeg, but of other people.
(They are thieves and liars imo, but I understand that 
this has little relevance for you.)

Concerning using MEncoder, please understand that while 
Reimar (and to some degree I) will continue to fix 
issues in MEncoder but unless you have particular needs 
(like softtelecine for dvd output or a binary decoder 
for an unusual game format) you are much better off 
with FFmpeg. If you don't want to compile (which works 
out-of-the-box and by default produces binaries that 
you don't have to install but work from the build 
directory) you will find static binaries on the 
FFmpeg homepage.

Carl Eugen