can only encode to xvid?!

[tagscuderia]

all i'm after is to rip a dvd and then encode to a .mov in 2000kbps. but, currently it's ONLY the Xvid (mencoder) setting that has ever worked within ffmpegX. it's okay but...tad rough.
my problem is that no matter the input and output, Xvid is the only one to work. what happens with the other settings is that it starts encoding, then completes in a second creating a file that ceases to open...
my latest attempt was a mactheripper extract with the input file being a single vob generated by d-vision 3. tried presets and manual settings and nothing.
programs such as d-vision and handbrake work but, they don't give the options i'm looking for.
i'm running an imacG5, 1gig ram and, well, i'm bafled. all codecs, binaries installed.
any help will be more than appreciated!
tag

[Case]

my problem is that no matter the input and output, Xvid is the only one to work. what happens with the other settings is that it starts encoding, then completes in a second creating a file that ceases to open...

Are you saying, all the other 27 video presets failed for you? Amazing.
Open the Process Information Log () of a failed conversion. Copy that to a text file and attach to a post here, so we can have a look. It should hold clues to why a conversion failed. That should help avoid the errors on a next conversion.

[tagscuderia]

ta for the reply, i started clearing all of the files due them stacking up ever so slightly after what turned into a random melee of encoding tactics so, i'll run another, hey, it only takes a second (the only positive) and post it tomorrow.
this is probably the one and only time i wish that it's a truly obvious and crass oversight on my behalf...here's hoping!
tag

[tagscuderia]

okay, ripped my favorite dvd using mactheripper and have opened it in ffmpegX as a video_ts 'folder.' i've started it off using the mencoder h.264 preset, mainly because this one makes two files, one called movie.264, the other movie.mp4.log but, whislt it takes its time, never actually creates a video file?!
it's currently about 10 mins in, fans have kicked in but we're on 0%, yay...

well now i'm gutted, the damn things fixed itself and has worked without a hitch, that, is just a tad irritating, means i won't even find out what was wrong, for 2 years?!
thanks for replying, i am disgraced...