newbie observations and an mpeg1 question

[jeglin]

I'm new to ffmpeg and I have these observations (0.0.9q), now two %#%@$%# days old

Actually, I had written a long critique of the whole Real-Libs issue, but another post cleared that up so I've excised that rant pending a new release. But I still have the following comment: After changing the folder name to facilitate the install, the install *appears* to work, as there are no more error messages evident. Unfortunately, I can't tell if it actually worked, because at every launch of ffmpeg, the checkbox reappears, indicating that Real-Libs was never installed. I'm not sure what to expect here -- the folder of "binaries" is almost all bundles, and a couple/few app files. Do we know whether the Real-Libs download is even compressed correctly by its owner?

My first usage note/question (here's where the newbie shows up): Converting a QT movie to mpeg1(ffmpeg) fails, even though ffmpeg seems to indicate success. I have a 30-sec QT test animation that I'm trying to convert to mpeg1. The animation is a screenshot movie, so it is large in pixel size (816x608). I naively am experimenting a conversion to mpeg1, and ffmpeg appears to happily accept this size. But the conversion takes only a moment and results in an empty file. I consulted the forum and found a related situation, and major answered about a codec not being available (I think) and to try the vcd preset. I tried this and it worked, but of course at greatly reduced pixel dimensions. My questions are: why would a missing/unavailable codec have anything to do with the final movie dimensions, and, if this size is not possible or somehow outside of the mpeg1 spec, can ffmpeg be modified to at least give a clue to the clueless? If nothing else, don't create an [empty] file and ring a bell as if things worked, when things clearly did not or could not work.

To expand, I could use some advice in what I'm trying to do. I'm taking screenshot movies to use as documentation on how to use a piece of software. As such, they are large in pixel dimension. I capture a 1024x768 screen at 80% using SnapzPro and the Animation codec. The result is a fine movie but with as many as I have to do, way too big to distribute by CD. I can get an acceptable result by cutting the frame rate and color depth and exporting as MPEG4; the result is mostly acceptable. But here's the kicker - I'm looking for a format that any user on Mac or Windows can view. We are not past the issues of having our Win customers without XP install Quicktime on their Win boxes, so I had hoped to export to a format that WMP could display. But I'm out of luck, aren't I? I thought maybe MPEG1 might work, but because of my above-mentioned issue with ffmpeg, I can't tell yet how MPEG1 will even look when maintaining the large window size.

[TugBoat]

Step 1 -
- Try the encode again, then punch the Show Info button (Blue) in the ffmpegX Progress app. Copy and paste the info from the Process Information window here. We need to know what ffmpeg is objecting to.
Wild guess #1, since it's a QT movie, open the 'Options Tab' and make sure 'Decode with QT' is checked and 'Letterbox' is unchecked.

[jeglin]

Step 1 -
- Try the encode again, then punch the Show Info button (Blue) in the ffmpegX Progress app. Copy and paste the info from the Process Information window here. We need to know what ffmpeg is objecting to.

Ah hah.

Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp, from '/_path_to_/test1.mov':
Fri Dec 17 16:37:00 EST 2004
Duration: 00:00:33.5, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 49858 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Video: qtrle, 819x614, 29.99 fps
Number of stream maps must match number of output streams

Don't know what that means yet, but at least it's an error message.

Wild guess #1, since it's a QT movie, open the 'Options Tab' and make sure 'Decode with QT' is checked and 'Letterbox' is unchecked.

Bingo. I now get an mpeg-1 file that will play, and it's suprisingly good compared to mpeg-4. My goal was to try to get something that will play in WMP, but wouldn'tja knowit, [based on some googling] WMP appears to play mpeg-1s that are only in multiples of 400x300. Back to the drawing board. Thanks TugBoat!