HDTV (MPEG-2/AC3mux) to xxx for Dummies

[bell0q]

Hi all,

I'm pretty green to the world of transcoding and happened upon ffmpegX while researching mencoder options, etc. I've been using MPEG Streamclip to do my commerial editing, then transferring to a PC for fun things like VirtualDubMod, nandub, megui, and other GUI-based systems for transcoding to a variety of formats.

But what I've run into a lot of information but nothing really cohesive which truly walks someone through making an HD-based and HD-output transcoding from start to finish with high-quality video encoding, be it DivX, XviD, or h.264 (x264), WITH high-quality AC3 3/2+LFE audio. Oh, and the audio must be fully synchronized with the video all the way through.

I can't tell you how much time I've spent with transcoding all the way to the final step of muxing my video only to find that somehow, my audio is not matching. And, using those PC-based utilities, I can modify the audio offset, which works for audio in one spot, but it is then desynchronized in another area of the video. Usually it is near the end. It's as if the muxing A/V on every frame doesn't actually happen, which I really don' understand.

So, can anyone point me in the right direction for walking this Dummy through the steps? And how about a general "Transcoding Acronyms for Dummies" list, too? I think my understanding would go way up if I could wade through the acronyms.

Thanks all!
PS. It Sure seems like MKV is becoming a real popular (defacto) standard for HDTV caps. Any future for an MKV wrapper in ffmpegX?

[dizzie]

Welcome to the forum, bell0q. Can you tell us exactly what format you are beginning with? Is it simply DV (digital video) from a high-definition digital video camera? I wonder if the audio/ video is in sync after your editing with Streamclip is done. Can you play it back in Streamclip and see? I seem to remember hearing of some problems that Streamclip had with variable frame rates, which may or may not be a concern.

Of course, the latest versions of iMovie and iDVD are designed to enable you to import HD video, edit it, and then author it to a DVD. These options would give you more tech support options, which may be a better fit for you, perhaps.

I can identify with your struggles with acronyms. I find the Wikepedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki) invaluable! Here's a good page on video codecs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_codec

Again, welcome!

[Soopafresh]

Many reasons for A/V sync errors. If it was a single reason, there'd be a FAQ...