I really need help: major playback problems with encoded files

[Xanthro]

Well, I wasn't able to find a thread dealing with the same problem I have encountered... and frankly, I think I may have posted a plea for help in the past, but I'm really at my wit's end. Here's the deal:

I've been using (well, trying anyway) ffmpegx to re-encode video files. No matter what I do, they work perfectly when played through either QT or mplayer on my computer. The problem comes when I burn the files as data discs and attempt to play them in my Philips DVP 642 Divx player (hooked up to a TV... obviously).

I will try to discribe what happens. The video file jumps in 3 second intervals, and gives a breaf image, and a blast of audio. The images are messed up however, showing only half of the image (if I'm lucky), and filled with wonderful pixelated digital static. I've tried encoding files in NTSC and NTSC film framerates, but I haven't really tried

Video files encoded through FFmpegX are the only files giving my 642 problems. I refuse to believe that it isn't possible to output a usable video file for the divx player.

I figure that this is either a codec or a frame rate problem (or a combination there of).
I'm going to be setting up a batch of encoding and mix and match xvid, divx3 (ff and men) and mpeg4 (ff and men) codex along with NTSC, NTSC film and Unspecified frame rates to try and figure this out... but I'm afraid I'm going to find the same problem with them all... (call me pessimistic...)

Please, anyone... help me out

(FYI: I'm in North America, so I'm simply assuming that PAL is out of the question).

[rumplestiltskin]

While I use ffmpegX and find it well-suited to most of my needs, I sometimes use MPEG Streamclip for certain transcodings. You might give that a try and see if there is any difference in the results. If so, compare the details of the different files. Hope this helps.

[tomlee59]

If you're starting from DVD source material, then I would try D-Vision3 for transcoding into DivX/XviD. It just works (for me, at least).

[Xanthro]

I tried mpeg streamclip, but I kept getting a 'cannot convert audio' error message (which is odd since i was asking it to convert from mp3 to mp3. Any thoughts?

[tomlee59]

AFAIK, Mpeg Streamclip does not transcode into MP3 without third-party plug-ins. If indeed my memory is correct, that's part of your problem. Either get the necessary codec or...

The app I mentioned earlier, D-Vision, DOES convert into MP3 directly w/o the need for any add-ons. So, again, IF you are starting from DVD material, then you should give D-Vision a try. Like Streamclip, it is freeware.

[Xanthro]

I'VE FOUND IT!!!1

Alright, after doing the conversion crosses I mentioned above, I've discovered the root of my problem. Here are the results (codec, frame rate)

mpeg4 mencoder, NTSC Film = no
mpeg4 ffmpeg, NTSC Film = no
mpeg4 mencoder, NTSC = no
mpeg4 ffmpeg, NTSC = no
mpeg4 mencoder, Unspecific = no
mpeg4 ffmpeg, unspecific = no

xvid mencoder, NTSC Film = yes
xvid ffmpeg, NTSC Film = yes
xvid mencoder, NTSC = yes
xvid ffmpeg, NTSC = yes
xvid mencoder, Unspecific = yes
xvid ffmpeg, Unspecific = yes

divx3 mencoder, NTSC Film = no
divx3 ffmpeg, NTSC Film = yes
divx3 mencoder, NTSC = no
divx3 ffmpeg, NTSC = yes
divx3 mencoder, Unspecific = no
divx3 ffmpeg, Unspecific = yes

So, the problem rested entirely in the codecs used rather than the frame rate.

So there you have it. If the intended end product of your conversions is to create a data disc to be played in a Philips DVP 642, I suggest Xvid, and not using a mencoder codec

Please, any and all who read this post, repost this in other relavent forums. This was a real problem tripping me up for some time. And I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one out there
Happy Encoding