Converting RM using ffmpegX

[cmc2008]

Hi -
I'm trying to use ffmpegX to convert a .rm file to any format I can use on QuickTime. I'm able to open other file formats, but ffmpegX seems to freeze if I attempt to open a .rm file (I've moved reallib over to the /Library/Application Support/ffmpegX folder as instructed).
Does anyone have any suggestions? My eventual goal is to be able to view videos at faster speeds, which seems easy to do in QuickTime, but I can't find a way to do it with RealPlayer (I have a Mac).

Thanks!
-c

[jpschuck]

Hi -
I'm trying to use ffmpegX to convert a .rm file to any format I can use on QuickTime. I'm able to open other file formats, but ffmpegX seems to freeze if I attempt to open a .rm file (I've moved reallib over to the /Library/Application Support/ffmpegX folder as instructed).
Does anyone have any suggestions? My eventual goal is to be able to view videos at faster speeds, which seems easy to do in QuickTime, but I can't find a way to do it with RealPlayer (I have a Mac).
-c

If you downloaded the reallib from the ffmpegX website, it's probably still the PPC version which is not MacIntel compatible.

There is an Intel version available at the Mplayer official website. Look for the "Binary codec package" section and choose "Mac OS X x86".
1/ Once the download is completed, double-click the package in order to install it ; this will install the required codecs and enable RealMedia playback in Mplayer for OSX, but not for ffmpegX
2/ Under the Finder choose "Go to... > Go to folder..." , type /usr/local/lib and hit return ; this will open a hidden folder
3/ Copy the "codecs" folder (the "codecs" folder is a renamed version of "reallib") inside "/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX" and rename this copy "reallib" (don't forget to remove your previous version of reallib)
4/ Now ffmpegX should be able to deal with RealMedia files

[Anicsi]

Hello! I had the same problem than cmc2008. I used the wrong version for the powermac... But now I installed everything the way you described, but it still doesn't work
I described my situation already in this topic here, only that I have now the correct version of reallib. I think i must have done everything right, I really have no idea what to do.

Well, ffmpegX shows me "failed" when I try to convert it, and I can still only hear the audio of the video, without a picture.

Hope you are able to help me. Maybe it's the file itself?!

Encoding started on Tue Jun 10 16:14:53 CEST 2008
MEncoder dev-CVS-060307-04:23-4.0.1 (C) 2000-2006 MPlayer Team
Mac OSX static build for ffmpegX
FIXME:Hardenabling SSE and SSE2 without detection
CPU: Intel (Family: 6, Stepping: 6)
CPUflags: Type: 6 MMX: 1 MMX2: 1 3DNow: 0 3DNow2: 0 SSE: 1 SSE2: 1
Compiled for x86 CPU with extensions: MMX MMX2 SSE SSE2
success: format: 0 data: 0x0 - 0x5d0ab72
REAL file format detected.
Stream description: Audio Stream
Stream mimetype: audio/x-pn-realaudio
Stream description: Video Stream
Stream mimetype: video/x-pn-realvideo
Stream mimetype: logical-fileinfo
VIDEO: [RV40] 640x480 24bpp 23.000 fps 0.0 kbps ( 0.0 kbyte/s)
Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/reallib/drvc.so, 1): image not found
size:640x480 fps:23.00 ftime:=0.0435
================================================== ========================
Opening audio decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg/libavcodec audio decoders
AUDIO: 44100 Hz, 2 ch, s16le, 64.1 kbit/4.54% (ratio: 8010->176400)
Selected audio codec: [ffcook] afm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg COOK audio decoder)
================================================== ========================
Opening video filter: [expand osd=1]
Expand: -1 x -1, -1 ; -1, osd: 1, aspect: 0.000000, round: 1
Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/reallib/drv4.so.6.0, 1): image not found
Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/reallib/drvc.bundle/Contents/MacOS/drvc, 1): image not found
Cannot find codec matching selected -vo and video format 0x30345652.
er: [scale w=640 h=272]
================================================== ========================
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
VDecoder init failed
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
VDecoder init failed
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
VDecoder init failed
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
VDecoder init failed
Read DOCS/HTML/en/codecs.html!
================================================== ========================
Exiting...

[jpschuck]

Something probably went wrong during your installation. You can still hear the audio because this audio format is supported (=built-in) in ffpmeg without the additional reallib (that's the line "Selected audio codec: [ffcook] afm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg COOK audio decoder").

Let's check if everything is at the right place. Open a terminal window and paste this :

ls /Library/Application\ Support/ffmpegX/reallib/

Hit return, then tell us (copy/paste) what is printed.

[Anicsi]

Alright, here it is:

Last login: Tue Jun 10 22:54:53 on ttyp1
Welcome to Darwin!
p54995791:~ Anna$ ls /Library/Application\ Support/ffmpegX/reallib/
codecs
p54995791:~ Anna$

It's not much though, so I guess something went wrong Thank you one more time!
Concerning the other topic with the wmv-files: Well, suppose that's bad luck, isn't it?

edit------

Oh I see it only now... "codecs" is the right folder, isn't it?

[jpschuck]

Yep, that's it ! The contents of the "codecs" folder should be placed directly inside the "reallib" folder (i.e. the "codecs" folder is the "reallib" folder).

[Anicsi]

Here we go again then!
So, I've replaced the reallib folder by the codecs folder (after renaming it)
Result is, that I am now able to watch the video, BUT the converter still does not work correctly.

Here's a screenshot to look at because now ffmpegX doesn't show "failed" anymore, but "finished" although the outcoming file has O kb (I think it was the same with my wmv videos...)

[jpschuck]

Your file has a .rmvb.txt extension. That is not a valid Realmedia file extension and it probably causes some trouble to ffmpegX.

In the Finder, use the "Get information" command on your video file, make sure that the "hide file extension" box is unchecked (in your case, it is probably checked as the file as a text file icon instead of a RealMedia icon), and rename the file to "KaSt-1.rm".

[Anicsi]

It works!! Thank you very, very much! Really, you helped me a lot!

[zamechek]

If you downloaded the reallib from the ffmpegX website, it's probably still the PPC version which is not MacIntel compatible.

There is an Intel version available at the Mplayer official website. Look for the "Binary codec package" section and choose "Mac OS X x86".
1/ Once the download is completed, double-click the package in order to install it ; this will install the required codecs and enable RealMedia playback in Mplayer for OSX, but not for ffmpegX
2/ Under the Finder choose "Go to... > Go to folder..." , type /usr/local/lib and hit return ; this will open a hidden folder
3/ Copy the "codecs" folder (the "codecs" folder is a renamed version of "reallib") inside "/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX" and rename this copy "reallib" (don't forget to remove your previous version of reallib)
4/ Now ffmpegX should be able to deal with RealMedia files

I have completed the steps detailed above, but have not been able to successfully encode any audio. The finished video has no audio track at all.

The audio codec is listed as a 'ffcook' which I am unfamiliar with. Any thoughts?

[jpschuck]

If you downloaded the reallib from the ffmpegX website, it's probably still the PPC version which is not MacIntel compatible.

There is an Intel version available at the Mplayer official website. Look for the "Binary codec package" section and choose "Mac OS X x86".
1/ Once the download is completed, double-click the package in order to install it ; this will install the required codecs and enable RealMedia playback in Mplayer for OSX, but not for ffmpegX
2/ Under the Finder choose "Go to... > Go to folder..." , type /usr/local/lib and hit return ; this will open a hidden folder
3/ Copy the "codecs" folder (the "codecs" folder is a renamed version of "reallib") inside "/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX" and rename this copy "reallib" (don't forget to remove your previous version of reallib)
4/ Now ffmpegX should be able to deal with RealMedia files

I have completed the steps detailed above, but have not been able to successfully encode any audio. The finished video has no audio track at all.

The audio codec is listed as a 'ffcook' which I am unfamiliar with. Any thoughts?

I PMed you a partial answer. ffcook is just regular RealAudio sound. Recent versions of ffmpegX have a number of problems with MP4 multiplexing (or at least that's what I've experienced), this may be the cause of your missing audio track.

[tsnus]

I've followed the instructions (very helpful) and I can now successfully view Real Video files, but when I encode my 34MB Real Video file, the progress result is immediate and I get a 0KB file for the conversion. The Hide Extension box is unchecked and I believe I have a legit .rm file. Any suggestions?

[mufngruf]

I also have followed all the directions about codecs and such... converted some rms and rmvb but get zero kb files or a single screenshot.
But I just noticed that one of these posters has a screenshot that actually recognises Real media..that is, a file dropped onto the source format box reads "real" whereas, when I drop my files on this box it reads "Avi"
any ideas?

[jpschuck]

ffmpegX should definitely display "REAL" in the format box, not "avi".

[cykso]

Hi,

I have followed those procedures you mentions like
1) install the reallib in the library/application support/ffmpegX
2) rename the file extension from "rmvb" to "rm"
but I still end up a 0k result file.

Do you have any idea?


Below is the error message I got and a screen shot



Thanks in advance,

Last login: Wed Jul 23 17:34:32 on ttys000
/Applications/ffmpegX.app//Contents/Resources/pbpaste | sh
christopher-sos-imac:~ christopherso$ /Applications/ffmpegX.app//Contents/Resources/pbpaste | sh
Encoding started on Wed 23 Jul 2008 17:34:32 EDT
x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2
mp4 [info]: initial delay 0 (scale 25000)
movtoy4m
Copyright 2002-2006 Johan Lindström
All rights reserved..
ERROR: Could not open movie: /Users/christopherso/Desktop/Miscellaneous/14.rm
x264 [info]: final ratefactor: 50.17

Encoding audio..
usage: movtoway -o output.wav movie.mov

christopher-sos-imac:~ christopherso$

[jpschuck]

You can't use x264 or ffmpeg to convert RealMedia files. Only mencoder based presets will work with them. You can see which encoding engine is used in the target "video" box under the "summary" tab. If you need to use a special profile (iPod, iPhone...), you should first convert RM to MP4 using an mencoder preset, then convert this MP4 to the needed preset.

[riftcat]

I PMed you a partial answer. ffcook is just regular RealAudio sound. Recent versions of ffmpegX have a number of problems with MP4 multiplexing (or at least that's what I've experienced), this may be the cause of your missing audio track.

Having the identical problem here, a RealAudio file where the ffmpegX Summary tells me the Audio Source is "ffcook, 44100Hz, 44kbps."

I was finally able to get the program to convert files like this, thanks to this thread and the extraordinary help of jpschuck! However, even after finally achieving success in converting the video, the resultant file still lacks audio. I'm guessing whatever information was contained in this PM may also prove helpful to me... unless that basically amounted to "Sorry Charlie." In any case, is there a way to get the audio to be included in the file?

Really would love a solution here if it's at all possible... I have a fairly large library of .rm files with this audio type that I would love to be able to port over to my various Apple devices. Thanks much in advance.

[mkofler]

riftcat:
The problem may be with your Quicktime player, rather than the conversion process itself. I had the same problem (no audio) when viewing the converted AVI video through Quicktime, but the sound played find when I opened the video using DivX Player.

I used ffmpegX again and converted the AVI to MP4 mpeg, and the resulting video file played perfectly (audio and video) using Quicktime.

An alternative solution would be to add DivX codecs for Quicktime. I recommend Perian (http://www.perian.org/), which adds support for a bunch of codecs, including DivX. After I installed Perian, the audio played perfectly in the original AVI file created by ffmpegX.

Cheers!

[svictor07]

Hello! I had the same problem than cmc2008. I used the wrong version for the powermac... But now I installed everything the way you described, but it still doesn't work :|
I described my situation already in this topic here, only that I have now the correct version of reallib. I think i must have done everything right, I really have no idea what to do.

Well, ffmpegX shows me "failed" when I try to convert it, and I can still only hear the audio of the video, without a picture.

Hope you are able to help me. Maybe it's the file itself?!

Encoding started on Tue Jun 10 16:14:53 CEST 2008
MEncoder dev-CVS-060307-04:23-4.0.1 (C) 2000-2006 MPlayer Team
Mac OSX static build for ffmpegX
FIXME:Hardenabling SSE and SSE2 without detection
CPU: Intel (Family: 6, Stepping: 6)
CPUflags: Type: 6 MMX: 1 MMX2: 1 3DNow: 0 3DNow2: 0 SSE: 1 SSE2: 1
Compiled for x86 CPU with extensions: MMX MMX2 SSE SSE2
success: format: 0 data: 0x0 - 0x5d0ab72
REAL file format detected.
Stream description: Audio Stream
Stream mimetype: audio/x-pn-realaudio
Stream description: Video Stream
Stream mimetype: video/x-pn-realvideo
Stream mimetype: logical-fileinfo
VIDEO: [RV40] 640x480 24bpp 23.000 fps 0.0 kbps ( 0.0 kbyte/s)
Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/reallib/drvc.so, 1): image not found
size:640x480 fps:23.00 ftime:=0.0435
================================================== ========================
Opening audio decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg/libavcodec audio decoders
AUDIO: 44100 Hz, 2 ch, s16le, 64.1 kbit/4.54% (ratio: 8010->176400)
Selected audio codec: [ffcook] afm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg COOK audio decoder)
================================================== ========================
Opening video filter: [expand osd=1]
Expand: -1 x -1, -1 ; -1, osd: 1, aspect: 0.000000, round: 1
Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/reallib/drv4.so.6.0, 1): image not found
Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/reallib/drvc.bundle/Contents/MacOS/drvc, 1): image not found
Cannot find codec matching selected -vo and video format 0x30345652.
er: [scale w=640 h=272]
================================================== ========================
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
VDecoder init failed :(
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
VDecoder init failed :(
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
VDecoder init failed :(
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
VDecoder init failed :(
Read DOCS/HTML/en/codecs.html!
================================================== ========================
Exiting...

First thing I encountered was it takes forever before I can click on "encode" after the movie has been drop in the "From" when trying to convert from .rmvb to .avi, I also tried the entension in .rm
I followed the step above and was able to see the video when I press play which shows that I have the right "reallip" folder but whenever try to convert it took forever that I had to "x" it the information is as follow:

"Encoding started on Mon May 25 11:20:30 CDT 2009
MEncoder dev-CVS-060307-04:23-4.0.1 (C) 2000-2006 MPlayer Team
FIXME:Hardenabling SSE and SSE2 without detection
Mac OSX static build for ffmpegX
CPU: Intel (Family: 6, Stepping: 6)
CPUflags: Type: 6 MMX: 1 MMX2: 1 3DNow: 0 3DNow2: 0 SSE: 1 SSE2: 1
Compiled for x86 CPU with extensions: MMX MMX2 SSE SSE2
FAAD: compressed input bitrate missing, assuming 128kbit/s!
success: format: 0 data: 0x0 - 0x5d083fe7
REAL file format detected.
Stream description: Audio Stream
Stream mimetype: audio/x-pn-realaudio
Stream description: Video Stream
Stream mimetype: video/x-pn-realvideo
Stream mimetype: logical-fileinfo
VIDEO: [RV40] 1280x720 24bpp 23.000 fps 0.0 kbps ( 0.0 kbyte/s)
[V] filefmt:11 fourcc:0x30345652 size:1280x720 fps:23.00 ftime:=0.0435
================================================== ========================
Opening audio decoder: [faad] AAC (MPEG2/4 Advanced Audio Coding)
AUDIO: 44100 Hz, 2 ch, s16le, 128.0 kbit/9.07% (ratio: 16000->176400)
Selected audio codec: [faad] afm: faad (FAAD AAC (MPEG-2/MPEG-4 Audio) decoder)
================================================== ========================
Opening video filter: [expand osd=1]
Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/reallib/drvc.so, 1): no suitable image found. Did find:
/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/reallib/drvc.so: unknown file type, first eight bytes: 0x7F 0x45 0x4C 0x46 0x01 0x01 0x01 0x00
Expand: -1 x -1, -1 ; -1, osd: 1, aspect: 0.000000, round: 1
Opening video filter: [scale w=720 h=400]
================================================== ========================
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
VDecoder init failed :(
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
VDecoder init failed :(
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Read the RealVideo section of the DOCS!
Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX/reallib/drv4.so.6.0, 1): image not found
it failed :(
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Selected video codec: [rv40mac] vfm: realvid (Mac OS X RealPlayer 9 RV40 decoder)
================================================== ========================
Forcing output fourcc to 58564944 [DIVX]
MP3 audio selected
VDec: vo config request - 1280 x 720 (preferred colorspace: Planar I420)
VDec: using Planar I420 as output csp (no 0)
Movie-Aspect is 1.78:1 - prescaling to correct movie aspect.
SwScaler: FAST_BILINEAR scaler, from Planar YV12 to Planar YV12 using MMX2
videocodec: libavcodec (720x400 fourcc=58564944 [DIVX])
Writing header...
ODML: Aspect information not (yet?) available or unspecified, not writing vprp header.
Writing header...
ODML: Aspect information not (yet?) available or unspecified, not writing vprp header.
1 duplicate frame(s)!
1 duplicate frame(s)!
1 duplicate frame(s)!
1 duplicate frame(s)!
1 duplicate frame(s)!
1 duplicate frame(s)!
1 duplicate frame(s)!
1 duplicate frame(s)!
1 duplicate frame(s)!
1 duplicate frame(s)!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
Skipping frame!
CBR audio: 16000 bytes/sec, 384 bytes/block
Flushing video frames
Writing index...
Writing header...
ODML: Aspect information not (yet?) available or unspecified, not writing vprp header.
Video stream: 1598.884 kbit/s (199860 B/s) size: 5213751 bytes 26.087 secs 613 frames
Audio stream: 128.000 kbit/s (16000 B/s) size: 424704 bytes 26.544 secs"


any help will be appreciated thanks.

[mkofler]

If you are having a problem of ffmpegx freezing when you try to open a RealPlayer file, make sure that the reallib files are in:
/library/application support/ffmpegX
and not /[username]/library/application support/ffmpegX

In Finder, you need to click on Macintosh Hard Drive, then Library, then Application Support .... to get to the right place to copy those files. If you go to the Library folder that you see when you open Finder, you'll end up in the wrong place.

In other words, the files need to go in the system-wide Library rather than the user-specific library.

That problem had me going nuts for hours.

Also, see jpschuck's comment above ... only certain presets can be used to convert real media files. You may need to convert it to a supported format first, and then convert that file to the format you ultimately want.

One more thing that I read elsewhere that helped me convert videos. On the Audio tab, there's a button labeled "Invert Mapping". Try checking that box if a video fails to convert. It's used when the original file has it's audio data encoded before the video data.

Hopefully one day ffmpegx will be smarter and be able to (1) figure that out itself, and (2) use the file characteristics it detects to determine the correct output specifications, and to conduct any intermediate steps automatically.

Hope that helps.

[svictor07]

Thanks mkofler, I figured it out, thanks for taking your time and responding to my post really appreciate it.

[mkofler]

svictor07, Please post your solution for others who have the same problem. Thanks!

[svictor07]

What I basically did was copied the wright "reallib" folder for mac intel and everything was fine after that.

[aprasmac]

I'm having the same problem. I'm sure i install the correct reallib and put it on the correct folder. It's still freezing whenever i drag a rm file (it's an audio file, not video). I have no idea what target format should i pick first (before draging the file). Please help.

Thanks,

Apras

[Case]

I'm having the same problem. I'm sure i install the correct reallib and put it on the correct folder.

Then you should be able to find an .rm file that ffmpegX actually can convert. You should try to prove that the program can work with Real media at all before trying more exotic files (like your problem file).

It's still freezing whenever i drag a rm file (it's an audio file, not video).

Does ffmpegX freeze? Or does mplayer freeze? Does the freezing happen right after opening the source file, or after starting the encode?
Have you tried renaming to .ra, as audio-only Real files often are?

I have no idea what target format should i pick first (before draging the file).

Not relevant. The correct order is to first open a file, then set a preset in the target format.

[aprasmac]

I'm having the same problem. I'm sure i install the correct reallib and put it on the correct folder.

Then you should be able to find an .rm file that ffmpegX actually can convert. You should try to prove that the program can work with Real media at all before trying more exotic files (like your problem file).

It's still freezing whenever i drag a rm file (it's an audio file, not video).

Does ffmpegX freeze? Or does mplayer freeze? Does the freezing happen right after opening the source file, or after starting the encode?
Have you tried renaming to .ra, as audio-only Real files often are?

How to prove that the program can work with Real media? It freezed as soon as i drag the file. Renaming the file to .ra fixes this problem. However, when i clicked Encode button, the process was just a few secs and the result file is 0KB size. What else should i check? I'm sure the ra file is fine.

Thank you for the respond.

Apras

[Case]

It is probably easiest to capture the audio using a program that will write to file any sound that your Mac generates, like WireTap Pro and others can do. Then just play the file in RealPlayer and record.

How to prove that the program can work with Real media?

Find some other .rm file (with video) that ffmpegX can play, using the [Play]-button in the upper right.

It freezed as soon as i drag the file. Renaming the file to .ra fixes this problem.

Does ffmpegX tell you some characteristics of the .ra file in the Summary? Does it understand the file? What does it say under Source Format, in the From, Video and Audio fields?

However, when i clicked Encode button, the process was just a few secs and the result file is 0KB size.

Three things to try:
1/ The Audio file to mp3 preset. This is a preset that uses the ffmpeg engine, thus will not utilize reallib, but it has built-in a limited set of Real Audio codecs that it can decode.
2/ The Movie audio to mp3 preset. It is actually meant for media files that have video, too. Like the previous preset, this uses the ffmpeg engine.
3/ To utilize reallib, mplayer has to be used for decoding. This means selecting a mencoder preset, like "XviD mencoder". This will generate an AVI file with mp3 audio. De-select "Encode video" in the Video tab to avoid errors on missing video in the source file. Next, extract the audio stream from the AVI with a tool like D-Vision.

It won't take much time if it doesn't work, making the testing of these three options fast!

[aprasmac]

[quote="Case"]It is probably easiest to capture the audio using a program that will write to file any sound that your Mac generates, like WireTap Pro and others can do. Then just play the file in RealPlayer and record.

Does ffmpegX tell you some characteristics of the .ra file in the Summary? Does it understand the file? What does it say under Source Format, in the From, Video and Audio fields?

Yes it does understand the file.

From: rm
Video: No Video
Audio: sipr, 16000 Hz, mono, 16 kb/s

And i can play the file.

Three things to try:
1/ The Audio file to mp3 preset. This is a preset that uses the ffmpeg engine, thus will not utilize reallib, but it has built-in a limited set of Real Audio codecs that it can decode.

Doesn't work. Fast process, no error, but zero-size file

2/ The Movie audio to mp3 preset. It is actually meant for media files that have video, too. Like the previous preset, this uses the ffmpeg engine.

Doesn't work. Fast process, no error, but zero-size file

3/ To utilize reallib, mplayer has to be used for decoding. This means selecting a mencoder preset, like "XviD mencoder". This will generate an AVI file with mp3 audio. De-select "Encode video" in the Video tab to avoid errors on missing video in the source file. Next, extract the audio stream from the AVI with a tool like D-Vision.

Doesn't work. Fast process, no error, no avi file created

Thank you again for the respond

[Case]

Audio: sipr, 16000 Hz, mono, 16 kb/s

Real Audio Sipro is an audio codec specifically designed for compressing human speach. Not very common. Sometimes found in audiobook files and old .rm clips.
Supported by reallib (in the sipr.bundle file). But I don't think mencoder can encode audio-only files, as it is a movie encoder. I couldn't find anything online on how to avoid video encoding with the command line, and just encode to mp3.

Wiretapping seems your best bet.

[jpschuck]

Indeed, ffmpegX is not able to convert RealAudio files, or to export audio only on RealMedia files. Aprasmac, you should either use a program like Wiretap, or do an audio dump of your .rm file using mplayer through the Terminal.