[MPlayer-users] using mencoder for the Archos Multimedia Jukebox

[Corey Hickey]

John Lavin wrote:
> [Automatic answer: RTFM (read DOCS, FAQ), also read DOCS/bugreports.html]
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Hello All,
> 
> I'm trying to use mencoder to convert my various media formats over to a
> readable format for my Archos jukebox.  I think I'm close, but the thing
> is still not displaying the video.  I'm testing with one of my matrix
> preview quicktimes and running with the following command (among
> others):
> 
> mencoder matrix4.mov -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:preset=128 -ovc lavc
> -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=800 -vop scale=352x288 in.avi -o out.avi
> 
> I think that what's stopping it from playing is that it may be still
> compressed and archos may not handle this. I couldn't find much detail
> in the list archive and the recommendations given don't work for the
> archos.  Here's the exact text from the manual that I'm trying to put
> into the mencoder command:
> 
> "The jukebox multimedia can play back MPEG4 Simple Profile video files
> in AVI format.  Maximum resolution is CIF (352 x 288 pixels) @ 30
> frames/sec.  Larger resolution files or non-standard MPEG4 files will
> not be played.  The sound track, if any, must be in MP3 format."
> 
> I have no idea what their supposed standard means to archos.
> 
> I'm using the codecs provided by mencoder.  I've experimented with:
> mpeg4
> msmpeg4
> mpeg1video
> 
> They do ship some canned videos on the device and here are a few
> snippets from mplayer's output when playing one:
> 
> VIDEO:  [DX50]  352x160  24bpp  25.00 fps  1132.9 kbps (138.3 kbyte/s)
> ...
> Opening video decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg's libavcodec codec family
> Selected video codec: [ffodivx] vfm:ffmpeg (FFmpeg MPEG-4)
> 
> I'm running Version: 0.90rc5-2.95.4 on Debian sarge.
> 
> Any thoughts? I've never had to encode before buying this device so
> maybe I'm missing something obvious.
> 
> Regards,
> -john

Just a few shots in the dark, but might be helpful:

I would try to make a clip as close to that sample file as possible and
try to get something that plays, then work backwards to find what
particular attribute the Archos doesn't like.

Use -ovc divx4 and -ofps 25 and see if that works. If you don't have the
DivX5 libraries, try using lavc and setting the fourcc with -ffourcc
DX50. You can also try -lavcopts vstrict=1 and see what happens.

Good luck,
Corey