asf conversion with ffmpeg

[CGuy]

I have an asf file that I desperately want (need?) to make into a vcd. I searched both the Mac Video and ffmpegX forums and used what little there was there to try to convert it with ffmpegX. Yes, mplayer will play the file. Oh, the audio is ffwmav2, so I realize there may be problems there - worst case I will use Audio Hijack.

The output of info in ffmpegX is:
VIDEO: [1VMW] 320x240 24bpp audiocodec: framecopy (format=161 chans=2 rate=32000 bits=16 bps=4000 sample=768)

So, I have tried a couple of configurations of ffmpegX, and 2 strange things happen. First (and maybe not important), ffmpegX reports that the video is 1000.000 fps. Secondly, when conversion starts I get a flood of duplicate frame(s) messages. I will append a (BRIEF) cut from the output. So far, one conversion attempt went beyond failing in the first 5 seconds - that one got hung at 98%

Anyone have any ideas what I can do with this file (ffmpeg or not - and of course besides trash it)? Thanks

-- BEGIN MENCODER OUTPUT --

Encoding started on Wed Feb 25 19:10:16 EST 2004
Using GNU internationalization
Original domain: messages
Original dirname: /sw/share/locale
Current domain: mplayer
Current dirname: /usr/local/share/locale
MEncoder dev-CVS-030226-15:00-3.1 (C) 2000-2003 Arpad Gereoffy (see DOCS)
AltiVec found
Reading /usr/local/etc/mplayer/codecs.conf: Using built-in default codecs.conf
File not found: 'frameno.avi'
success: format: 0 data: 0x0 - 0x5601272
ASF file format detected.
============ ASF Stream group == START ===
object size = 38
stream count=[0x2][2]
stream id=[0x1][1]
max bitrate=[0x86ff][34559]
stream id=[0x2][2]
max bitrate=[0x30df1][200177]
============ ASF Stream group == END ===
VIDEO: [1VMW] 320x240 24bpp
[V] filefmt:6 fourcc:0x31564D57 size:320x240 fps:1000.00 ftime:=0.0010
===============================================
Opening audio decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg/libavcodec audio decoders
AUDIO: 32000 Hz, 2 ch, 16 bit (0x20), ratio: 4000->128000 (32.0 kbit)
Selected audio codec: [ffwmav2] afm:ffmpeg (DivX audio v2 (ffmpeg))
===============================================
Opening video filter: [expand=-1:-1:-1:-1:1]
Expand: -1 x -1, -1 ; -1 (-1=autodetect) osd: 1
Opening video filter: [scale=320:240]
===============================================
Opening video decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg's libavcodec codec family
Selected video codec: [ffwmv1] vfm:ffmpeg (FFmpeg M$ WMV1/WMV7)
===============================================
MP3 audio selected
Building audio filter chain for 32000Hz/2ch/16bit -> 32000Hz/2ch/16bit...
Writing AVI header...
VDec: vo config request - 320 x 240 (preferred csp: Planar YV12)
VDec: using Planar YV12 as output csp (no 0)
Movie-Aspect is undefined - no prescaling applied.
SwScaler: using unscaled Planar YV12 -> Planar YV12 special converter
videocodec: libavcodec (320x240 fourcc=33766964 [3vid])
Skipping frame!
New_Face failed. Maybe the font path is wrong.
Please supply the text font file (~/.mplayer/subfont.ttf).
subtitle font: load_sub_face failed.
62 duplicate frame(s)!
45 duplicate frame(s)!
47 duplicate frame(s)!
46 duplicate frame(s)!
45 duplicate frame(s)!
47 duplicate frame(s)!
61 duplicate frame(s)!
46 duplicate frame(s)!
47 duplicate frame(s)!
45 duplicate frame(s)!
47 duplicate frame(s)!
45 duplicate frame(s)!
47 duplicate frame(s)!
46 duplicate frame(s)!
46 duplicate frame(s)!
46 duplicate frame(s)!

[patlabombe]

I got the same kind of asf and got good result with the software D-Vision 2. It create an AVI file (mpeg 4) that can then be encode to vcd using ffmpeg. It means 2 encodes so there is probably some quality loss. Hope it will help.

[CGuy]

Thanks, I am trying that now. With the forewarning that it will take 2 encodes (and with the original being spotty as is) I tried to tweak the conversion to be best as possible.

[CGuy]

Well, that didn't work.

After a LONG conversion process using D-Vision, I ended up with an AVI file that when I try to view it in QuickTime I get the error:

"Couldn't open the file because the movie contains an incorrect duration"

When I drop it on ffmpegX, the info on the movie is:

VIDEO: [DIVX] 320x240 24bpp 1000.00 fps 99.8 kbps (12.2 kbyte/s)
audiocodec: framecopy (format=55 chans=2 rate=32000 bits=0 bps=16000 sample=1)

As you can see it still reports 1000 fps! It plays in VLC and mplayer (better in mplayer, as it causes VLC to grab 99% of system resources to play).

I am not how to proceed from this point. If I just choose the Quick Preset VCD, ffmpegX defaults Framerate to NTSC Film, and then quickly fails with:

**ERROR: [yuvscaler] Could'nt read YUV4MPEG header!
**ERROR: [mpeg2enc] Could not read YUV4MPEG2 header: system error (failed read/write)!

Which I guess makes sense since QuickTime can't play it. If I change to decode with mplayer should this work? And what do I do about the framerate?

Thanks!

[major]

ffmpegX reports that the video is 1000.000 fps. Secondly, when conversion starts I get a flood of duplicate frame(s) messages. I

Have you manually set the encoding framerate to NTSC, or have you left it to 1000 fps?

[patlabombe]

In my case, I set D-Vision frame per second option to 15. Try the most common frame rate (10, 15, 30 ....).

[CGuy]

I am going to try going back to D-Vision. When I changed to mencoder for the VCD it worked (kind of). I ended up with a weirdly out of sync video/audio. There were times that the video just seemed to speed up, and the audio was anywhere from 1/2 to 30 seconds behind the video. The out-of-syncness didn't just increase, it varied through out.

Good suggestion on the common frame rates - I will give that a shot. (If I didn't really need this video - I would trash it)