June 2005 - MEncoder-users - lists.mplayerhq.hu

Can you slow down mencoder?
by Jonathan Lundberg 20 Aug '05

20 Aug '05

Hello all, My situation is that I need to encode the same content from a video grab card to two different bitrates at the same time. The files need to be ready for use at roughly the same time (ie, the end of the show!). Unlike Windows Media Encoder, or Helix Producer, it's not possible with mencoder to grab to two different output rates at the same time (or am I wrong???). What I have to do is grab from the tv capture card to filename.avi, and while it's still grabbing from the tv card, run mencoder against filename.avi to also produce an identical file at a lower bitrate. My problem is that the second mencoder runs faster than real time, catches up with the end of the file, and then exits while the primary encode is still running. Is it possible to slow down mencoder so that it also runs in realtime, so that if I start it running 10 seconds after the initial grab, it'll run second by second against the file being grabbed, instead of 'as fast as computerly possible'? Or is there some other way to feed the content of filename.avi into mencoder in real time for encoding? Cheers, Jonathan ****************************************************************************** The information in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution, or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Please note that emails to, from and within RTÉ may be subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1997 and may be liable to disclosure. ******************************************************************************

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ERROR: SCR: warning; what does that mean?
by Brian Keener 07 Aug '05

07 Aug '05

I'm re-encoding a huffyuv-encoded file to mpeg2, dvd-compatible video stream. My command line is: mencoder tv.avi -of mpeg -oac lavc -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg2video:vbitrate=8000:keyint=25 -vf hqdn3d,pullup,pp=md,scale=720:480 -noskip -o tvout.mpg I'm pretty happy with the quality, but I'm still getting lots of errors like ERROR: SCR: 874360377, APTS: 844830475, DELTA=-0.320 secs ERROR: SCR: 874469454, APTS: 849649125, DELTA=-0.269 secs ERROR: SCR: 874578531, APTS: 856877100, DELTA=-0.192 secs ERROR: SCR: 874687608, APTS: 864105075, DELTA=-0.115 secs ERROR: SCR: 874796685, APTS: 871333050, DELTA=-0.038 secs Also, mencoder seems to try to maintain re-encoding performance of ~30fps, when I'd expect the re-encoding to run substantially slower, especially with the scaling/noise reduction/etc. I'm not talking about the fps of the outputted file, I'm talking about the number of frames processed by mencoder per second. Any information? Brian K

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Mencoder finishes early on DVD to Divx encoding
by Pete Davis 20 Jul '05

20 Jul '05

I'm running mencoder 1.0pre6-3.4.2 The DVD drive in my linux box doesn't work, so I decrypted and copied the VOBs from a windows box. I have the following script that I run. I pass in a chapter # and it creates the .avi file for me. #!/bin/bash if [ $# != 1 ]; then echo "Please provide a chapter" exit 1 fi mencoder -dvd-device ./ dvd://$1 -ovc frameno -o frameno.avi -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:br=128 mencoder -dvd-device ./ dvd://$1 -oac copy -o /dev/null -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=900:vhq:vpass=1:vqmin=1:vqmax=31 -vop scale=512:288 - mencoder -dvd-device ./ dvd://$1 -oac copy -o movie.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=900:vhq:vpass=2:vqmin=1:vqmax=31 -vop scale=512:288 - The problem is that more often than not, it will stop part way through, any of the 3 passes and just wrap up as if everything was fine. For example, it'll be at say 20% and then just stop. If I clean out the temp files and output files and run it again, it may go further, it may not go as far. Sometimes it will do a complete encoding (maybe 1 out of 4 or 5 attempts). Very infrequently, I'll get some kind of error, but most of the time, there's just no error. I have a similar script that I use for re-encoding existing AVI files (I play my stuff through a D-Link DSM 320 and it's picky about some videos, so I re-encode them in a compatible format). That script is as follows: #!/bin/bash if [ $# != 1 ]; then echo "Please provide a filename" exit 1 fi mencoder $1 -ovc frameno -o frameno.avi -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:br=128 mencoder $1 -nosound -oac copy -o /dev/null -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbi trate=900:vhq:vpass=1:vqmin=1:vqmax=31 mencoder $1 -nosound -oac copy -o newfile.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:v bitrate=900:vhq:vpass=2:vqmin=1:vqmax=31 The second script runs about 90% of the time all the way through, but sometimes (infrequently) has the same problem as the first. As you can see, they're very similar. The only real difference is the input. Anyone know what could be causing the problem? Should I just upgrade to 1.0pre7? Or is the problem somewhere else? As some additional information, the second script I will often run in 2 separate sessions simultaneously (same login, but different sessions) on two different files in two different directories. I find that if I run the second script and the first script at the same time, the first script is more likely to fail, so I don't know if maybe having two instances of it running at the same time could be a problem. But that may just be coincidental. Thanks for any help. Pete

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mencoder does not record sound using -ovc x264
by Chang Min Jeon 03 Jul '05

03 Jul '05

Successful job following line. Mencoder -tv driver=v4l:width=352:height=288:chanlist=us-bcast:channel=25:norm=ntsc:adevice=/dev/dsp:audiorate=32000:forceaudio tv:// -o tv.avi -ovc lavc -oac lavc -endpos 5 tv.avi file plays very well. But I set parameter to -ovc x264 . it can't record sound.

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Niewbe question about using w32codecs and mencoder
by Yuri Shchedov 30 Jun '05

30 Jun '05

Hello guys, I'm very new in video and mencoder. Can I use codecs from w32codecs in mencoder ? How to install correctly w32codecs to be able to encode video using these codecs ? I installed w32codecs on debian (Marillat package) but it seems to me mencoder cannot read them. I tried "mencoder -vc help" command, but it doesn't show anything. mencoder -ovc help shows only standard codecs (there are no third-part codecs installed with w32codecs) "mplayer -vc help" shows me lots of misc codecs. Sorry for the begginer's question. Regards, Yuri

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dvgrab format
by luis jure 30 Jun '05

30 Jun '05

hello list i'm using dvgrab to capture video from a dv camera, that i intend to convert to dvd later. but first i'd like to ask which file format should i choose to save the output of the capture. with the --format option you can choose between dv2, dv2 and raw. which is the most convenient format, considering that i intend to encode it into dvd-compliant mpeg2? best, lj

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Problem using dvvideo codec
by Romain Maurer 29 Jun '05

29 Jun '05

Hi ! I've tried to encode a raw file using the libavcodec's "dvvideo" codec. However, the generated file is not using the "dvsd" fourcc, but a "dvvi" one, which is unreferenced, thus making the video unreadable, even with mplayer. I've edited the video file and replaced the two "dvvi" strings located in the header with "dvsd", thus making the video playable in mpc. Here are the logs : Encoding : --------------------------------------------------------------------------- D:\Test\mplayer>mencoder original.avi -o test.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=dvvideo MEncoder dev-CVS-050626-17:02-3.4.2 (C) 2000-2005 MPlayer Team CPU: Intel (Family: 8, Stepping: 1) Detected cache-line size is 64 bytes CPUflags: Type: 8 MMX: 1 MMX2: 1 3DNow: 0 3DNow2: 0 SSE: 0 SSE2: 0 Compiled with runtime CPU detection - WARNING - this is not optimal! To get best performance, recompile MPlayer with --disable-runtime-cpudetection. File not found: 'frameno.avi' Failed to open frameno.avi success: format: 0 data: 0x0 - 0x77d7e00 AVI file format detected. AVI_NI: No audio stream found -> no sound. AVI: No audio stream found -> no sound. VIDEO: [] 720x576 24bpp 24.000 fps 238878.7 kbps (29160.0 kbyte/s) [V] filefmt:3 fourcc:0x0 size:720x576 fps:24.00 ftime:=0.0417 Opening video filter: [expand osd=1] Expand: -1 x -1, -1 ; -1 (-1=autodetect) osd: 1 ========================================================================== Opening video decoder: [raw] RAW Uncompressed Video VDec: vo config request - 720 x 576 (preferred csp: BGR 24-bit) Could not find matching colorspace - retrying with -vf scale... Opening video filter: [scale] The selected video_out device is incompatible with this codec. VDecoder init failed :( Opening video decoder: [raw] RAW Uncompressed Video VDec: vo config request - 720 x 576 (preferred csp: BGR 24-bit) Could not find matching colorspace - retrying with -vf scale... Opening video filter: [scale] The selected video_out device is incompatible with this codec. VDecoder init failed :( Opening video decoder: [raw] RAW Uncompressed Video VDec: vo config request - 720 x 576 (preferred csp: BGR 24-bit) Could not find matching colorspace - retrying with -vf scale... Opening video filter: [scale] The selected video_out device is incompatible with this codec. VDecoder init failed :( Opening video decoder: [raw] RAW Uncompressed Video VDec: vo config request - 720 x 576 (preferred csp: BGR 24-bit) Could not find matching colorspace - retrying with -vf scale... Opening video filter: [scale] The selected video_out device is incompatible with this codec. VDecoder init failed :( Opening video decoder: [raw] RAW Uncompressed Video VDec: vo config request - 720 x 576 (preferred csp: BGR 24-bit) Could not find matching colorspace - retrying with -vf scale... Opening video filter: [scale] The selected video_out device is incompatible with this codec. VDecoder init failed :( Opening video decoder: [raw] RAW Uncompressed Video VDec: vo config request - 720 x 576 (preferred csp: BGR 24-bit) Could not find matching colorspace - retrying with -vf scale... Opening video filter: [scale] VDec: using BGR 24-bit as output csp (no 0) Opening video filter: [flip] Movie-Aspect is undefined - no prescaling applied. SwScaler: using unscaled BGR 24-bit -> Planar YV12 special converter videocodec: libavcodec (720x576 fourcc=69767664 [dvvi]) Selected video codec: [rawbgr24flip] vfm:raw (RAW BGR24) ========================================================================== Writing AVI header... ODML: Aspect information not (yet?) available or unspecified, not writing vprp header. New_Face failed. Maybe the font path is wrong. Please supply the text font file (~/.mplayer/subfont.ttf). subtitle font: load_sub_face failed. ODML: Aspect information not (yet?) available or unspecified, not writing vprp header. Pos: 4.2s 101f (99%) 38fps Trem: 0min 14mb A-V:0.000 [27648:0] Flushing video frames Writing AVI index... Fixing AVI header... ODML: Aspect information not (yet?) available or unspecified, not writing vprp header. Video stream: 27648.000 kbit/s (3456000 bps) size: 14544000 bytes 4.208 secs 101 frames Decoding : ------------------------------------------------------------------------- MPlayer dev-CVS-050626-17:02-3.4.2 (C) 2000-2005 MPlayer Team CPU: Intel (Family: 8, Stepping: 1) Detected cache-line size is 64 bytes CPUflags: MMX: 1 MMX2: 1 3DNow: 0 3DNow2: 0 SSE: 0 SSE2: 0 Compiled with runtime CPU detection - WARNING - this is not optimal! To get best performance, recompile MPlayer with --disable-runtime-cpudetection c:/windows/fonts/arial.ttf doesn't look like a font description, ignoring. Cannot load font: c:/windows/fonts/arial.ttf Playing test.avi. AVI file format detected. AVI_NI: No audio stream found -> no sound. AVI: No audio stream found -> no sound. VIDEO: [dvvi] 720x576 24bpp 24.000 fps 27648.0 kbps (3375.0 kbyte/s) Clip info: Software: MEncoder dev-CVS-050626-17:02-3.4.2 ========================================================================== Cannot find codec matching selected -vo and video format 0x69767664. Read DOCS/HTML/en/codecs.html! ========================================================================== Exiting... (End of file) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The question is : Why doesn't the dvvideo codec uses a "dvsd" fourcc when encoding, even when it is specify in the codecs.conf ? If "dvvi" is the correct behaviour, how can i force it to "dvsd" ? Thx in advance, Romain

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Encoding a specific frame range
by Philippe Combes 28 Jun '05

28 Jun '05

Hi all, I would like to encode a movie splitted into two DVDs into one big AVI. I found a way, combining tccat (from transcode) to mencoder ability of encoding from stdin (which transcode cannot do, as far as I know) This works great for video as well as for audio. The problem comes when I want to select a frame range for encoding : -ss and -endpos options only take times as arguments. And, although I use exact times for my frames (according to the input frame rate of 25fps), I have never been able to get the exact frame range I want. And this is important for I need to finally concatenate these ranges, encoded with slightly different options. transcode offers the ability to encode an exact frame range, but not to encode two DVDs at the same time, and not to encode from stdin, as I said. Is there a way to force mencoder to accurately start encoding from one frame and stop at another ? Thanks in advance, Philippe.

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Trimming video
by Pete Davis 26 Jun '05

26 Jun '05

Does mencoder provide any way to cut out sections of video? In particular, I just got a Hauppauge WinTV PVR 150 and after a few hours struggling to get the audio working, I was able to do some captures from my TiVo and came up with an encoding script that does a very nice job. Now I just need to be able to trim out the commercials. I played around with VirtualDub (in Windows) which makes it very easy to edit the video. Unfortunately it won't work directly with the mpg file. I need to encode to an AVI first (or else let VirtualDub do the encoding itself which I don't want it to do). It supports stream copying, but it doesn't seem to support creating key frames. Thus, I end up with cuts where I don't want them or really nasty video at the cuts I see MPlayer has the Edit Decision List, but it looks like MEncoder doesn't have an equivalent, or if it does, I missed it. At the very least, if there's a way for me to specify where to create key frames, that would at least let me do clean edits with VirtualDub. Is there another app I should be using? I hate to use more tools than I need. I want to stick with mencoder for the actual encoding because it does such a nice job and I'm getting more comfortable with it. Thanks.

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real-time encoding of DVB-S @ 900 MHz
by Moritz Beller 26 Jun '05

26 Jun '05

Hello there, I can pipe MPEG-2 streams from my Budget DVB-S card directly via cat /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0 > stream.ts to a file stream.ts, which can then simultaneously be watched with mplayer, the cat process occupying only few system resources. I could equally well play the stream directly with mplayer at 70% CPU usage, using the dvb://-syntax. That's all really well, but when it comes to recording video, it's got an extreme disadvantage: The raw format produces much too large files. So I clearly need to do some encoding, even scaling the video's size down would be ok, if only I could get the file smaller. I tried all different kinds of video codes (such as MPEG-4 at a bit rate of 40!), but couldn't figure out one sole which resulted in a CPU usage minor than 99%. I perform the decoding task on a Pentium III 900 MHz, so I should at least be able to real-time encode with medium-quality settings, shouldn't I? (With Mythtv I can even both watch and record, so there *must* be a way to achieve encoding with mencoder as well) What settings can you recommend? Thanks a lot indeed, Moritz -- (o_ web http://www.4momo.de //\ mail momo at 4momo dot de V_/_ gpg http://gpg.notlong.com

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