ffmpegX other guides and links

[Wizeman]

ffmpegx

User Manual

v0.1c





Introduction

This is a User Manual for the ffmpegx gui, a graphical user interface through which you can access powerful (and remarkably cost-efficient) UNIX tools for video/audio conversion. You no longer need to understand all that much of the underlying processes to make good DivX/VCD/SVCD (to name but a few) in a reasonable amount of time.

Download the latest version of ffmpegx from major4, and follow the installation instructions. Once all the binaries and the main program is installed, you?re ready to go.

If you come across an expression you?re not familiar with, try looking it up in Appendix C (Glossary) before panicking or spamming us with questions. Chances are you?ll find it there. (And if not, then spam away. I?ll make sure to include it in the next revision.)

Enjoy.

/Wizeman a.k.a. El Rocho of the Movie Madhouse
Comments welcome at oldelrocho@hotmail.com

Thanks a million to major4 for the GUI and a whole bunch of proofreading.

P.S.
This is *NOT* finished. I?ve just been swamped with msgs and e-mails from people who want it online first, even though there is much left to be done. Much like the program, this is a work in progress... and you?re invited to help





Part One: The Interface

Chapter One: Video

When you start ffmpegx, hopefully you?ve already prepared your source material. This could be a VOB from the DVD of your cousins wedding, a QuickTime movie or pretty much anything at all that moves or makes a sound. Click ?Open...? and navigate to that source file. Then click ?Save as...? and name your project. Be sure to have enough space on the target drive, especially if you?ve checked ?Keep elementary streams? (see Chapter Five).

The first thing you need to do, is select what codec you will be using, or rather: what format you want your film to end up in. Are you making a DivX, VCD or SVCD? (If you?re not sure, there is a Format guide in Part three, Chapter eleven). The easiest way by far, is choosing one of the templates under Quick Presets (bottom right drop-down menu).
Whichever way you choose to do it, chances are you?ll benefit from knowing what all the fields do, just in case you decide you want a little more creative control over the finished article.

Next to the Video Codec, is the Encode video check-box. Uncheck it if you?re only interested in the sound of your source file. (Not implemented for MPEG-2.)

Bottom left is the Bitrate calculator. Here?s where you figure out what the maximum bitrate is, in proportion to the length of your source and how many CDs you want it to end up on. Start by entering the number of minutes your film is, in the ? min keep in? box. Below that, choose the number of CDs you want it on. Then click on the LEFT Calculate button, to see how high you can go. Clicking the RIGHT Calculate button will show you the maximum quality bitrate-button, good for comparison. (If you feel uncertain whether or not a particular bitrate is going to offer good enough quality, just encode a short segment of your source file with the bitrate and check the quality before doing the whole thing.)

NOTE: Make sure you?ve entered the codec you will be using. If you change codecs after performing the bitrate calculation, your project is not going to turn out the way you wanted it to.

NOTE FOR SVCD/XSVCD USERS: ffmpegx forces a 2500 bitrate when you have chosen a Quick Preset to SVCD - regardless of what you enter in these Video fields. To override that, you must go to the VCD/SVCD window (see Chapter Four) and change the VCD/SVCD profile from ?SVCD? to ?XSVCD? (for example), and make corresponding changes in the Tools window (see chapter Five) under ?Mux as?. For more detailed information, see Chapter Eight (DVD to SVCD) and Chapter Nine (DVD to non-standard formats).

The right portion of the window is for the Video parameters. Here?s where you can see what format your project will end up in. The Autosize pull-down menu has a wide variety of common settings, and you are also free to enter your own values. (Better be sure of what you?re doing though.) Framerate is also important, and from what I understand you?d do well to stay with the source setting to avoid sync issues (i.e. if your source file is PAL, go PAL etc).

The crop boxes allow you to exclude an area of the input image to conserve active bits. For instance, if your source is a full screen (4:3) image that shows a widescreen picture (16:9), you have black bars on the top and bottom. Doesn?t make much sense having all that space converted to part of the film, does it? Not only does it take time (and precious bits), you?re also likely to get a flickering effect in the finished film file. Enter the number of pixels you wish ffmpegx to ignore in the T(op), B(ottom), L(eft) and R(ight) boxes (T and B being the more common of the two). Again, if you?re not quite sure you?ve entered the correct values, do a short test run before you do the entire thing. (Not implemented for ?VCD MPEG-1? or MPEG-2.)



Chapter Two: Audio

In the Audio section, you get to choose what codec or format you want the sound in, and what audio bitrate suits your needs. This is pretty straight-forward stuff really, and chances are if you ever need to change the presets, you know what you?re doing and don?t need me telling you :P The formats to choose from are .MP3 (usually DivX), .MP2 (usually VCD/SVCD) and .AC3 (usually DVD). If you decide to alter the presets (for instance, compromising audio bitrate when making a XSVCD as to save some room for video), please do yourself the favour of consulting the format comparison charts at www.vcdhelp.com - there you can see exactly what audio formats/settings are applicable for different types of film files, and which aren?t. Note that MP2 is forced regardless of your input for VCD/SVCD to comply with the standard.

The Encode audio button is to be unchecked only if you are not going to be using any audio for your project, or if you wish to encode and/or mux the audio with your video at some later stage. (Not implemented for VCD/SVCD.)

In the right portion of the window, you get to choose between (theoretically) multiple audio tracks. If your source is a VOB that contains more than one soundtrack and you only want one of those to appear in the finished film, you?d better know what number it has Enter it under Track. If the conversion doesn?t start alright and it appears that ffmpegx can find neither audio nor video, the streams may have been inverted. Click Inverted mapping and try again.

The Add audio button lets you have ffmpegx import audio for your project from a separate file - very useful if the audio is stored somewhere else than in the original source file, and you want the audio and video muxed together and authored in one go. Saves you the trouble of muxing manually later on.



Chapter Three: MPEG-1/4

In this window, you get to customize many aspects of your encoding to the MPEG 1 and/or MPEG 4 format(s). In the left field are the Encoding options.
The ?High Quality? check-box enables (surprise, surprise) the High quality mode. This means you substitute a little extra encoding time for a better picture. You could uncheck this for comparison purposes or to save time for test encodes / less important material.
?Use B-frames? controls whether or not the B-frames of the MPEG-4 stream is used.
?4 motion vectors? also applies to MPEG-4. More information about the particulars of this relatively new format can be found on the Apple website.
?Deinterlace? concerns both MPEG-1 and MPEG-4, and is a chapter of its own.
Short version: If you know your source video is interlaced, check this box. If you are unsure, do a short test with and without, compare and decide. But please note that just because the video might appear cut-up and jerky on your computer monitor, does NOT mean it will appear so on the TV. A TV is constructed to handle interlaced video properly, whereas the computer monitor isn?t. That?s why you need to ask yourself how your finished video is going to be watched, If it will be mainly watched on TV, I suggest you burn a short segment on a CD-RW disc and try it out in your DVD-player before deciding.
?Use only I-frames? allows you to base your encode on only the l-frames of a source file (large file size).
?Two-pass encoding? increases the quality of your finished film by first analyzing the source file (first pass) to determine which parts need more bits than others, and then encoding it with respect to that (second pass). Takes longer, looks better.
To the right, are the remaining MPEG-1/4 options.
First, there is the Motion estimation. What kind of motion is there in your source video? That combined with the number of frames a GOP is (Group Of Pictures) determines how the encoder treats your material. GOP is the distance between two I-frames (frames encoded fully like a JPEG picture, while other frames are encoded as their difference to an
I-frame. MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 need lower GOP value than MPEG-4, but if you stick with the Presets you don?t have anything to worry about.
(I?ve never changed this value, and all my encodes have turned out fine.)
Below that, there is the Adaptive Quantizer. In order to keep a constant bitrate, allow a variable quality-loss in this range. Set qmin = qmax to obtain a constant quality, variable bit stream. And if you want to keep the same quality as source (VBR), check the box below.



Chapter Four: VCD/SVCD

To the left, we find the mpeg2enc encoding options. Check those that apply to you.
?Encode high frequencies? is a tool that increase the quality of low bitrate encoding from high bitrate sources. (Hmm, never tried this myself - sounds great. Wonder if it effects encoding time / file size... must try it out soon, hehe)
?Set 3:2 pulldown? let?s you encode film (30fps) as NTSC (23.976fps), and
?Undo 3:2? reverts pulled-down NTSC sources to original frame rate.
?No SVCD scan? is used to deactivate SVCD scan offsets (if they are causing problems).
?Bicubic scaling? (checked by default) enables a high-quality scaling algorithm. The encode goes faster with this box un-checked, but the quality will suffer.
The ?B&W? box gives you a Black&White output file. Good if you encode a black & white source to avoid color noise which otherwise is always present.
Check ?Deinterlace? if your source is shot with, for instance, a DV-camera or if you know your raw material is interlaced and you?d rather the finished article isn?t. (For instance, is your DV footage going to be viewed mainly on computer screens? Check this box. Monitors don?t display interlaced video very well, whereas TV screens on the other hand were made for it.)
?Denoise? is a filter setting that attempts to clean up your source. Might be useful if you?re converting a worn old VHS cassette, for example.
?VOB Letterbox? instructs the encoder to convert anamorphic widescreen footage (16:9) for all-purpose 4:3 viewing by generating black bars above and below. Applies to VOB files only. For instance, a .MOV source is always letterboxed by force.
?Altivec? accelerates VOB->SVCD encoding (G4 only).
The pull-down menu ?Thread? helps you decide how much power the encoder is allowed to take; ?Normal?, ?Background? or - lucky you! - ?Dual CPU?.

The right portion of the VCD/SVCD screen holds the VCD/SVCD options. The first thing to decide, is what Profile you want the output file to have. Remember - this is an important setting, that can OVERRIDE THOSE YOU SPECIFY IN THE VIDEO SECTION.
?Standard SVCD? means your output file will have a variable bit rate not exceeding 2500 kbps, and a .mp2-audio track at 44.1khz (224bps).
?XSVCD? takes your bitrate settings (both audio and video) into consideration, which means the output file will be pretty much in your control. Note that if you want to make a XSVCD, you must also choose this under the Tools tab (in the pull-down menu ?Mux as?), or your fine XSVCD file will be padded into a 2500kbps file after all, but with lesser quality. Also keep in mind that XSVCD is not really a standard format like SVCD is, which means that it isn?t absolutely certain that stand-alone players can play XSVCDs just because they support SVCD.
?Generic MPEG-2? sidesteps these issues, by not tagging the output file for any particular future use. Very convenient if you haven?t decided what kind of format you?ll be putting your film file in.
?Standard VCD? forces the traditional VCD settings, MPEG-1 bitrate averaging 1150kbps and an audio track of 224kbps (44.1khz). Again, this overrides any settings you might have done in the Video and/or Audio sections.
?XVCD? gives you leeway concerning video/audio bitrate settings when making your VCDs. Note that XVCD is not a standard format.
?Generic MPEG-1? gives you an output file that is a standard MPG-file.
The Interlace pull-down menu allows you to set the Interlacemode for the finished article, be it ?No interlaced?, ?Frame? (first) or ?Field? (first).
In the ?VBV size? box, you can enter your decode video buffer size. VBV is a mathematical model of the player which is used by the encoder to avoid buffer overflows during playback (intended for hardware playback). For SVCD and VCD buffer size is defined by the standard (and set by presets).
The ?Sync? box should be approached with respect. This is where you offset video and audio streams against each other. In a perfect world, every single conversion you make will have audio and video in perfect sync. In reality however, we often have to tweak our settings a bit (although I must say I haven?t had to do this even once with ffmpegx yet, knock wood). A positive value delays the video byx number of milliseconds, a negative value delays the audio.
The Quantizer lets you specify an acceptable level of quality loss within the limits of the specified bitrate. (Lower values mean better quality.)
You can also check the box for Constant bitrate if you want a video stream that doesn?t fluctuate. Traditionally, it is believed that a good Variable Bit Rate encode is superior, as the encoder can save bits during ?simple? passages, and use them when encoding more difficult ones. This is a very general statement, and you should always trust your own eyes. (When this box is checked, the value in QMin above is ignored.)


Chapter Five: Tools

This window can be used without launching the encoder ? it has many useful post-processing tools that you might want to take a closer look at. Beginning at the left, we have the MPEG-1/2 post-processing area. This is where you decide how the finished (converted) file(s) will be authored; as VCD (.bin/.cue) or SVCD (XA .img). You decide how many chunks or pieces you want the output file to be split into (remember to make sure it corresponds to the number of CDs you specified in the Video window). If you have enough space on your HD, I recommend checking ?Keep elementary streams?. This makes sure that your .m2v, .mpa and all other temporary files are kept even after the job is done ? a great way of making sure you don?t have to start over from scratch if something goes wrong.
?Echo command line? lets you see the entire CLI-command that ffmpegx sends to the Terminal window. Very useful for troubleshooting or just if you?re curious to see how it all comes togehter.
The right portion of the window are the MPEG Tools.Here?s where you can manually combine video and audio tracks, mux/demux and send the finished article to the left side for post-processing.
Note that you can now Mux as not only the formats we?ve already covered, but also DVD.
Also note that you should *not* hit Encode if you are just using the MPEG-tools and post-processing, but rather ?Go!?





Part Two: Specific Tutorials



Chapter Six: DVD to DivX
[This space left intentionally blank. I have never made a DivX. If you have, please mail me the details to oldelrocho@hotmail.com so I can update this document as soon as possible. Thank you.]



Chapter Seven: DVD to VCD
[This space left intentionally blank. I have never made a DivX. If you have, please mail me the details to oldelrocho@hotmail.com so I can update this document as soon as possible. Thank you.]



Chapter Eight: DVD to Standard SVCD (40 mins per CD)
Preparations: I recommend you use OSex under OS X or DVDExtractor under OS 9 to get one big VOB file covering the entire film. It might also be a good idea to make a VOB of a short chapter that you can use for test purposes. Make sure you have at least as many GBs free on your target drive as the number of CDs you want the film to end up on. (Twice that if you want to Keep elementary streams).
NOTE: The specification for SVCD states 35-60 mins per CD. This is achieved by modifying the bitrate. In order for you to do that using ffmpegx, you need to do what the program calls XSVCD (next tutorial). Using the SVCD template will limit you to approxiamtely 40 mins of film per CD.
1) Choose the VOB in the ?Open...? dialog
2) Choose a name and location for the film using the ?Save As...? dialog
3) Under Quick Presets, choose the first or second one depending on whether you are working with PAL (Europe) or NTSC (US). Consult the source if you?re uncertain, it is rarely a good idea to convert from PAL to NTSC or vice versa.
4) In the VCD/SVCD window, uncheck VOB letterbox if your source is already 4:3.
5) Hit Encode, and wait...
6) Burn the .img files as Multitrack XA in Toast. Alternatively, use VCDToolsX to convert the mpgs to bins, and burn them as Disc Image.



Chapter Nine: DVD to XSVCD (35-100 mins per CD)
The advantage of XSVCD over SVCD is that you have a greater control over the finished article where bitrate/number of CDs is concerned.
Preparations: I recommend you use OSex under OS X or DVDExtractor under OS 9 to get one big VOB file covering the entire film. It might also be a good idea to make a VOB of a short chapter that you can use for test purposes. Make sure you have at least as many GBs free on your target drive as the number of CDs you want the film to end up on. (Twice that if you want to Keep elementary streams).
1) Choose the VOB in the ?Open...? dialog
2) Choose a name and location for the film using the ?Save As...? dialog
3) Under Quick Presets, choose the first or second one depending on whether you are working with PAL (Europe) or NTSC (US). Consult the source if you?re uncertain, it is rarely a good idea to convert from PAL to NTSC or vice versa.
4) Enter the source length in minutes in the ?min keep? box. Hit the LEFT Calculate button.
5) In the VCD/SVCD window, check ?Encode high frequencies?.
6) In the VCD/SVCD window, uncheck VOB letterbox if your source is already 4:3.
7) In the VCD/SVCD window, choose ?XSVCD? in the Profile pull-down menu.
8) In the Tools window, choose Mux as XSVCD.
9) Make sure the number of chunks in the Tools ?Split in? pull-down is the same as the Video windows ?Keep in x cd?s?
10) Hit Encode and wait...
11) Burn the .img files as Multitrack XA in Toast. Alternatively, use VCDToolsX to convert the mpgs to bins, and burn them as Disc Image.


Chapter Ten: DivX to VCD/SVCD/X(S)VCD
[This space left intentionally blank. I have never used DivX as a source. If you have, please mail me the details to oldelrocho@hotmail.com so I can update this document as soon as possible. Thank you.]

Appendix A: Troubleshooting
/audio out of sync issues, file too large, problems w installation etc/

Appendix B: Format guide
For detailed explanation of the various formats, consult
www.vcdhelp.com/vcd
www.vcdhelp.com/svcd
www.vcdhelp.com/dvd
At the bottom of those pages is a very instructive comparison chart that includes formats such as DivX, ASF, CVD etc, with detailed information on the different standards you need to consider.

Appendix C: F.A.Q.

Appendix D: Glossary
/example of glossary detail level/
VOB - Video OBject, the format in which audio and video streams are stored on DVD video discs. Also a popular format to rip to, using for instance OSex and choosing ?Program file? as output. A VOB may continue several video streams (angles), several audio streams and several subtitle streams. To verify the integrity of a VOB-file, you can play it using VLC which is downloadable (for free) from www.videolan.org


Wizeman?s To-Do-List
1) Add DV
2) Receive and incorporate tutorials on VCD and DivX creation
3) More Troubleshooting & F.A.Q.
4) More screenshots?
5) Fancy HTML and hosting

[Doc Boese]

I'm glad to be the first who can shake your virtuell hand with a big grin on his face and is saying (with a tear in his eyes): "Thank you, thank you soooo much .... "

[gatesisthedevil]

Wiseman I am somewhat of a html expert and have the means to host this Manual I will start working on the frame work now and post to my site when complete if you have screen shots to add let me know as well

you can get in touch with me at kevin@gatesisthedevil.com

[labouas]

THANKS A LOT for the manual wiseman

[toisanji]

I think in right here would be a good place for users to add modificaitons or corrections to the manual ehre, that way people can benefit right away from changes and such. For example, there is no chapter 11, formats section, for deciding to use DivX or VCD, but in the beginning of the manual, is tsasy skip to chapter 11. Very good manual thoguh and I hope to see nice improvements to it.

[PatGmac]

Any chance of making this post/manual a sticky post so anyone wondering in will see it?

[Lolsmurf]

Hello Wizeman,

Thanks for this outstanding manual.
Things will go better now in the future with this.
Hope my movies will come out better now.

Many, Many Thanks....

[major]

Thanks to Wizeman and I also add the URL to macmercy tutorials (in german, you can translate them with altavista). If someone is interested to contribute to tutorials or guides please write stuff and submit in this thread (which I'm making a sticky post upon request).

http://mac.mercy.bei.t-online.de

[Wizeman]

Hi all,

Glad you like the first draft. Working on an update now, thanks for all the feedback. If you have processes that work well using ffmpegx to make DivX and VCDs, please mail me at oldelrocho@hotmail.com so I can include it.

/Wizeman a.k.a. El Rocho of the Movie Madhouse

[major]

Forwarding

I made an illustrated guide for making SVCDs. Hope it helps everyone out who is still having problems. Here's the link:

http://users3.ev1.net/~jacobsag/vcd/svcd_guide.html

[major]

Forwarding

http://www.macuarium.com/actual/guias/2003/02/04_ffmpegX.shtml

Guia del ffmpegX en español.

[major]

Forwarding

Hello,

I know a good tutorial about this at:
http://www.carpo.org/dossiers/pack.html

Unfortunately (or fortunately) it is in french. So it is only a help for you if you understand french.

hope it helps you and, if it does not, I hope it will help somebody else.

Best regards,

Guido.

[killfire]

skankmonky:

tomas-macfreak has just what you want(i think) download his tutorial from his page at
http://thomas-macfreak.homeip.net/
in the downloads section.
it envolves downloading about five tools (ffmpegx, mplayer, dvd2mpeg...)
but it has great pictures and description. also there is a thread hanging around by him talking about the tutorial.
killfire