Extensions (ffmpeg, mencoder, mpeg2enc) what do they mean

[loveformetal1]

I was wondering what these mean I'm offering to convert files for people on another site and I was listing the different formats I can do when I realized after all the formats
(ie; Mpeg 4 [.mov] (ffmpeg)
There would be a set of parantheses with text in it (ffmpeg, mencoder) etc
what does this mean ? how are they different? If I convert files for people using these will they have problems playing them back without downloading something?

Thanks a ton, I just want to help my fellow boardies on the other forum I go to asap!

[exekutive]

That's a big question loveformetal.

MPEG1,2,3,4 etc. are compression algorithms. They allow us to take, for example, 10MB of raw unprocessed digital video and reduce it down to 1MB with undetectable quality loss. Many algorithms such as divx, xvid and others are small variations on MPEG (named after the Motion Picture Expert Group)

ffmpeg, mencoder and mpeg2enc are just names of software that is able to play back and compress MPEG based files.

These MPEG files are put in "wrappers" which allow them to be played by various programs. Macs tradionally use MOV wrappers while Windows has used AVI and WMV. That is why you will see those 3 or 4 letter extensions at the end of filenames, to help the computer know which program to use.

[loveformetal1]

ffmpeg, mencoder and mpeg2enc are just names of software that is able to play back and compress MPEG based files.

These MPEG files are put in "wrappers" which allow them to be played by various programs. Macs tradionally use MOV wrappers while Windows has used AVI and WMV. That is why you will see those 3 or 4 letter extensions at the end of filenames, to help the computer know which program to use.
That is the question I was trying to get answered thx very much, I was having minor langauge issues here, thank you.

[rumplestiltskin]

ffmpeg, mencoder are encoder "engines" that are run through ffmpegX. The "destination" formats (MP4, H264, AVI, MOV, etc.) utilize these "engines". Some of the destination formats can be reached through both although one or the other are usually better for some particular purpose.

It's not which "engine" you choose that determines whether your people will be able to play the resulting file (assuming you don't configure something really bizarre); rather, it's whether they have the proper codec (decoder, actually, as codec implies encoding as well as decoding) installed on their machines.

If you encode for iPod (either 320x or 640x), any Mac user will have no problem as long as their QuickTime installation is reasonably up to date. PC users would also need QuickTime (or, perhaps, the "QuickTime Alternative").

Others may wish to chime in with recommendations as what I've written is certainly not the complete description.

[exekutive]

I think I may have confused loveformetal.

Just to clarify:
ffmpeg, mencoder and mpeg2enc are methods to convert your files.
They are not programs for playing your files.

The method you should choose depends on what you're trying to do.
The programs you need to play your files depends on what you create.

Vague answer for a vague question. Enjoy.