Free MPEG-2 Video Encoder

[khodam]

Hello

I want to capture video from a home camera using DirectShow filters and for a specific reason; I should save output as .mpg file. I searched a lot to find a good MPEG-2 Video Encoder (DirectShow Filter) but couldn't find appropriate filter. Can someone tell me a good one?

Thanks

[pandy]

Good... there is no good MPEG-2 directshow encoder but you can try ffdshow rev3572_20100913 - there MPEG-2 encoder there but don't expect miracles especially for AVI container.

[usually_quiet]

There are no good free MPEG-2 video encoders available for building filter graphs. If you are lucky, there may be a good paid one installed on your system by software that you already own that will work.

The closest thing I ever found to a good free one is an old version of ffdshow, ffdshow rev 3631 dated 20101115, but it isn't all that good. That information was courtesy of a post by poisondeathray on the subject, and if there was anything better available for free, he would probably be aware of it.

[El Heggunte]

I want to capture video from a home camera using DirectShow filters and for a specific reason; I should save output as .mpg file.

Would it be a big problem if you captured with a lossless codec, and encode to MPEG-2 later?

[khodam]

I used InterVideo MPEG-2 Video Encoder but it doesn't work on Windows 7.
I used Microsoft MPEG-2 Video Encoder but I couldn't change it's settings (MaxBitRate: It's always 12000Kbps)
I used ffdshow raw video encoder but when I stop video, video size is incorrect (a very big number like 453453:45:55 ! )

There is one reason why I prefer MPEG-2: if my application stops working or electricity cuts down, I want to be able to play recorded video. I can't play AVI files; if I kill my record application. Because some information stored in header.

I don't want to record raw videos, because of it's huge size.

Can you suggest me a video encoder that it's broken video will be played?

By the way, I can pay for MPEG-2 encoder if there is good one, since the company I working for will pay

Thank you for your replies

[enim]

I can pay for MPEG-2 encoder.

I will suggest you to go to the Grass Valley - A valley full of green grass.

[khodam]

I can pay for MPEG-2 encoder.

I will suggest you to go to the Grass Valley - A valley full of green grass.

I think it's hardware MPEG encoder. I need software: DirectShow MPEG-2 Filter
Thanks anyway

[gregalan]

You could give FFmpeg directshow a try: http://ffmpeg.org/trac/ffmpeg/wiki/DirectShow
FFmpeg has a pretty decent mpeg-2 encoder.

Download latest build here: http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/

[usually_quiet]

I used InterVideo MPEG-2 Video Encoder but it doesn't work on Windows 7.
I used Microsoft MPEG-2 Video Encoder but I couldn't change it's settings (MaxBitRate: It's always 12000Kbps)
I used ffdshow raw video encoder but when I stop video, video size is incorrect (a very big number like 453453:45:55 ! )

There is one reason why I prefer MPEG-2: if my application stops working or electricity cuts down, I want to be able to play recorded video. I can't play AVI files; if I kill my record application. Because some information stored in header.

I don't want to record raw videos, because of it's huge size.

Can you suggest me a video encoder that it's broken video will be played?

By the way, I can pay for MPEG-2 encoder if there is good one, since the company I working for will pay

Thank you for your replies

Main Concept's MPEG-2 encoders are high-quality, well-known and probably very expensive to license, but they do have an SDK available for Direct Show.
http://www.mainconcept.com/products/sdks/video/mpeg-12.html

Elecard isn't as famous or as expensive but they also have an SDK for Direct Show. I do not know how their encoder compares with Main Concept's, but it looks like you can try Elecard's SDK before buying. http://www.elecard.com/en/products/development/sdk/codec-.net-sdk.html

I cannot tell you if the output from either of these will be playable if a power failure occurs or your program crashes. You should think about getting an uninterruptible power supply if power outages and brownouts are frequent.

[El Heggunte]

usually_quiet, I really was going to suggest MainConcept and Elecard filters, but you were much faster than I, many thanks for that

I cannot tell you if the output from either of these will be playable if a power failure occurs or your program crashes.

MPG files don't have global headers, therefore his reasoning makes sense

You should think about getting an uninterruptible power supply if power outages and brownouts are frequent.

VERY-true, me too was too slow to perceive the most elegant solution in this case

[khodam]

Thank you usually_quiet
I contacted to Main Concept to receive price and maybe evaluation SDK.
I tried Elecard MPEG-2 Video Encoder and it seems to work well. It's 300 USD.
Do you know any video format which can be played if recording procedure doesn't stop correctly? I tested MPEG-2 videos. They can be played if you force close the application.
The machine which will run record application can lose power supply, since it's very special machine (It's not normal PC). So, I should think about power cut down.

Thank you El Heggunte. Your info about MPG files helped me