Automated Cutting and Transcoding Guide Using Mencoder

[-stattik-]

Anyone have a good profile for ipod mp4 for mencoder? I am at a loss.

Any help appreciated.

the specs from apple are:
MPEG-4 video: up to 2.5 mbps, 480 x 480, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile
with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file
formats

Thanks

I'm looking for this profile as well. I don't have an Ipod video but if you're willing to do some testing we may be able to hammer one out.

[wtg]

I've only tested the Athlon XP build. I'll try the Athlon64 build tonight.

As far as changes go, this is what I gleaned from CVS:

http://www1.mplayerhq.hu/cgi-bin/cvsweb....5&r2=1.276

There isn't anything in there that directly affects this script.

I was looking for a way to do exactly what the link accomplishes but couldn't find it. I'm going to have a poke around some more. Thanks for the help.

[tpgbpvr]

I'm looking for this profile as well. I don't have an Ipod video but if you're willing to do some testing we may be able to hammer one out.

I would love to help 'hammer' out the ipod profile. Shoot some ideas at me and I will test away. Will need some guidance.

From the fourms it looks like many have been looking for similar. I am able to dump the file and run it through videora but if mencoder can do it that eliminates the extra manual step.

Thanks.

[-stattik-]

I would love to help 'hammer' out the ipod profile. Shoot some ideas at me and I will test away. Will need some guidance.

From the fourms it looks like many have been looking for similar. I am able to dump the file and run it through videora but if mencoder can do it that eliminates the extra manual step.

Thanks.

What settings do you use in Videora for your preferred file output? I can use those as a starting point.

[tpgbpvr]

What settings do you use in Videora for your preferred file output? I can use those as a starting point.

stattik-
This is straight from my videora xml profile, don't know if it is the best but it works on my ipod. I know it works.

I believe videora uses ffmpeg

Mode = MPEG-4> CBR
Resolution = 320x240
Passes = 1
Bitrate = 384 kbps
Framerate = 29.92 fps
Audio Bitrate = 128 kbps
Channels = Stereo

As it looks in the profiles xml file
<profile name="ipod -d" mode="MPEG-4 &gt; CBR" vbitrate="384" qscale="0" minrate="0" maxrate="0" qmin="0" qmax="0" resolution="320x240" framerate="29.97" passes="1" aspect="1:1" abitrate="128" achannels="2" vol="256" samplerate="0" crop="false" croptop="0" cropbottom="0" cropleft="0" cropright="0" custflags="" avsfile="" gopsize="0" />

Thanks

[danlode]

Hi stattik,

I am a long-time lurker, but a first time poster on this forum. I took the liberty of reworking your script to include iPod video support. I am using FFmpeg rather than mencoder since SUB includes this. It seems to be working beautifully so far. I am getting high quality output with no syncing or seeking problems. I have tested 3 files on my iPod and all work fine.

Essentially, I added a user variable for the ffmpeg path:

Code:

Rem - This is the path to FFmpeg.  Do NOT include any spaces.
set ffmpeg_path=C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Third Party\FFmpeg\ffmpeg.exe

I added an iPod profile section where people can select the shows that they want encoded for iPod:

Code:

Rem #### IPOD Profile ### Add shows to convert to iPod format
if exist "%~dp1ipod*" goto ipod:

Finally, I added the transcoder parameters. The settings I used are based on a lot of web research that I did looking for optimal ffmpeg settings for converting NTSC shows to iPod files. People may want to change the resolution to 480X480 if they plan on outputting their iPod files from their iPod to their TV, otherwise, 320X240 is the native iPod resolution and this looks best on the small screen. Also, some may want to reduce the bitrate of the video and audio if they want to save some hard disk space on their ipods, but I personally like the higher quality. Here are the parameters that I use:

Code:

:ipod
Rem #### This will encode IPOD-compliant files  ####
"%ffmpeg_path%" -y -i %name% -f mp4 -vcodec xvid -pass 1 -b 2300 -qmin 2 -qmax 9 -ab 160 -s 320X240 -r 29.97 "%~dpn1.mp4"
goto post:

For ease of use, I've attached stattik's entire script, with my iPod conversion modifications. Stattik, if you would like to create a version that uses mencoder rather than ffmpeg for iPod conversion, some might prefer that, but ffmpeg works great for MP4 files and is relatively fast. I am not personally concerned with mencoder's commercial cutting capabilities because I have that occurring on the original mpeg file before your script is called (in PostProcessing.bat), using comclean and then the mencoder copy timeline fix (look under "retime" in the gbpvr wiki). I know this seems redundant, but I keep my recorded shows in mpeg format for watching on TV and then selectively encode some shows to iPod MP4s for my girlfriend to load onto her iPod. The comclean/mencoder fix combination are faster for cutting commercials than actually reencoding the mpeg file.

Thank you stattik for all of your work. I finally have my dream setup complete!!

Regards

[King Mob]

Can this be made to work with Showanalyzer, or does it already?

[-stattik-]

Can this be made to work with Showanalyzer, or does it already?

Sure. If you want the ability to use the edl cutlists's you need to use Showanalyzer 0.6.0 or later.

[-stattik-]

Hi stattik,

I am a long-time lurker, but a first time poster on this forum. I took the liberty of reworking your script to include iPod video support. I am using FFmpeg rather than mencoder since SUB includes this. It seems to be working beautifully so far. I am getting high quality output with no syncing or seeking problems. I have tested 3 files on my iPod and all work fine.

Thanks danlode. Mencoder doesn't seem to create files that the Ipod likes. I tried using MP4BOX and had limited sucess. I'll add your script to the next version. Since ffmpeg will be used for ipod videos, it makes sense that psp encoding should be added as well. I'll make it an option to either use mencoders cutlists or not for those who don't have retime installed or prefer less disk activity. I'll also add PBs's mpeg changes as well. If anyone has any tweaks/additions to their suggestions, please post them here.

[King Mob]

This plugin is amazing! I have it set to process only my archive directory, so now whenever I deem something worth keeping is autotranscoded. And I don't know if Sub changed something in GBPVR since I gave up trying to play xvid files on my MVP, or if this plugin is just transcoding them in a manner that is MVP friendly, but my first transcode played flawlessly! No audio lag, no black bars, nothing! With this my GBPVR setup is borderline perfect!

Question: How do I up the quality of the transcodes? I'm not that concerned with the larger file size, as it will still be a vast improvement over what the files are at now (5-6GB for every Pistons game, and I'm 35 games into the season!)