ffmpegX problems...installation/file conversion

[nacho_hat]

I'm attempting to use ffmpegX to convert a large (~8GB) movie file with uncompressed audio down to a smaller (~2GB) file. Every time I start ffmpegX, the install dialog pops up requesting that I point it at the files for mplayer/mencoder, despite the fact that I have done this repeatedly. When I actually try to transcode the movie file, the output I get is a ~200MB file that's totally unplayable, and for all I know, contains the output of /dev/random.

I like the way this software looks, but the functionality leaves a HELL of a lot to be desired. Is there something I can do to get this software to: A) stop asking me to point it at the same .zip file over and over for "installation" purposes, and B) actually work?

[Case]

I'm attempting to use ffmpegX to convert a large (~8GB) movie file with uncompressed audio down to a smaller (~2GB) file.

I suppose your source movie is DVD; but what is your target format?

Every time I start ffmpegX, the install dialog pops up requesting that I point it at the files for mplayer/mencoder, despite the fact that I have done this repeatedly.

...meaning the installation of the binaries didn't go well.

When I actually try to transcode the movie file, the output I get is a ~200MB file that's totally unplayable, and for all I know, contains the output of /dev/random.

Possibly it failed because of the binaries not being correctly installed (it depends...) What is the filename extension of this output file? What does ffmpegX say in the Summary tab, if you drop the output file back on the main window? It should try to read its characteristics, which could be helpful diagnostics.

Is there something I can do to get this software to: A) stop asking me to point it at the same .zip file over and over for "installation" purposes

It asks you to point to binaries extracted from the zip archive, not the zip file itself.

[nacho_hat]

Ahah, I did not know it was looking for the extracted contents of the .zip file.

The source file is actually just that, a file, a very large, only lightly compressed AVI. I am trying to compress it down to a more reasonable amount of diskspace.

I will retry the transcode after I have installed the items from the zip file and post the results

[nacho_hat]

Well, now it seems to be working somewhat, but there is a new problem. I can get it to transcode, but it now only does about 10% of the job and then stops, claiming that the transcode was successful.

How do I make it go through the entire file?

[nacho_hat]

Bump.

Nobody knows that answer to this? Maybe it's just time to delete ffmpegX and go looking for another solution.