[MPlayer-users] Creating and playing MPEG stll images

[Giacomo Comes]

On Mon, Feb 06, 2006 at 01:35:17PM -0500, John Brown wrote:
> >From: Giacomo Comes <comes at naic.edu>
> 
> >> >From: Philip Walden <pwaldenlinux at pacbell.net>
> >>
> >> >I found that mpeg1 is not valid unless it is 24 or 30 fps. You need to 
> >set
> >> >-ofps to something. So maybe mpeg2 has the same problem?
> >>
> >> Thanks for your reply.
> >>
> >> C:\DVD>mencoder mf://menu.jpg -mf type=jpeg:fps=30000/1001 -ovc lavc
> >> -lavcopts v
> >> 
> >codec=mpeg2video:vbitrate=2000:vrc_maxrate=2500:vrc_buf_size=917:keyint=1:aspect
> >> =4/3 -of mpeg -mpegopts format=xsvcd -ofps 30000/1001 -aspect 4/3 -o
> >> menu.mpg
> >>
> >> This did not improve the situation either...
> 
> >> Anyway, I found this in the MPlayer Docs, in the Frequently Asked 
> >Questions
> >> (Chapter 4)
> >> >
> >> >MPlayer does not support DVD menus due to serious architectural
> >> >limitations that prevent proper > handling of still images and 
> >interactive
> >> >content...
> >>
> >> So it seems that MPlayer cannot play MPEG still images. If I increase 
> >the
> >> number of frames by copying menu jpg to menu2.jpg, menu3.jpg (don't know 
> >if
> >> there is an easier way), I can view it in Mlayer, but I suppose that it 
> >is
> >> not an MPEG still mage anymore.
> >
> >I can confirm that mplayer can not play an mpeg with a single image. If
> >the mpeg has n frames you will see the first n-2, the last two are not 
> >showed...
> 
> OK. What about creating still images with MEncoder? When MS Media Player 
> plays my MPEG still images, it appears to loop them, but when it plays the 
> demo still image (I do not know how it was created) the current position 
> never changes. Do I need to worry about this difference in behaviour? After 
> all, the MPEG still that I created using mjpegtools also appears to loop 
> indefinitely, but it worked when I burned the SVCD. Can you say whether 
> MEncoder can create legal MPEG still images for use as SVCD menus?

I have never tryed to use still images created with mencoder for VCD menu.
What I can say is that mpeg2enc uses different argument (-f n) for
VCD mpegs and VCD still images. It may really be possible to do them
with mencoder but I don't remember to have seen somewhere the description
of what kind of parameter to pass to mencoder for VCD still images.

Giacomo