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<HTML>
<BODY BGCOLOR=white>

<FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4>2.4.  Encoding with MEncoder</A></B></P>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4.1>2.4.1.  Overview</B></P>

<P><B>MEncoder</B> (<B>MPlayer</B>'s Movie Encoder) is a simple movie encoder,
designed to encode MPlayer-playable movies
(<B>AVI/DVD/VCD/VOB/MPG/MOV/VIV/FLI/RM/NUV/NET</B>) to other MPlayer-playable formats (see
below). Currently it's in beta stage, and encodes only to <B>DivX4</B> (1 or 2
passes) video, <B>PCM</B>/<B>MP3</B>/<B>VBRMP3</B> audio. Also has stream
copying abilities. In the future, there will be cropping, resizing filters, and
other interesting stuff.</P>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4.2>2.4.2.  Compiling</B></P>

<P>
  <UL>
    <LI><B>OPTIONAL</B> - read <B>MPlayer</B>'s compilation instructions, it contains info about
      how to install <I>libdvdread</I> for <B>DVD</B> support, etc.</LI>
    <LI><B>OPTIONAL</B> - download the newest <B>DivX4linux</B> libs
      from <A HREF="http://avifile.sourceforge.net/download.htm">avifile.sourceforge.net</A>,
      and have them PROPERLY installed. You need them if you want DivX4
      (1/2 pass) encoding.</LI>
    <LI><B>OPTIONAL</B> - for libavcodec support, install libavcodec as
      described in the <A HREF="codecs.html#2.2.1.2">libavcodec section</A>.</LI>
    <LI><B>OPTIONAL</B> - download and compile <B>libmp3lame</B> (from lame 3.89beta or lame CVS).<BR>
      <B>WARNING : DO NOT COMPILE LAME WITH <U>GCC 2.96</U> ! It won't
      work properly !</B><BR>
      This
      is needed for CBR/VBR MP3 audio encoding ability. Note that a single
      <CODE>lame</CODE> binary isn't sufficient. BTW: the less optimization
      you use for lame, the better the quality will be. You can test
      quality by running <CODE>make test</CODE> after lame's compiling process
      is over. The resulting number should be less than <B>30</B>. Don't
      panic if it's <B>400</B> or so, you shouldn't heard any audible
      quality decrease. Oh, and if your compiler doesn't even run <CODE>make test</CODE> ...
      Well, delete that <B>GCC 2.96</B>.</LI>
  </UL>
</P>

<P>You are ready. As you probably know, other encoding tools need the
<I>avifile</I> library installed. <B>MEncoder</B> doesn't need it at all.</P>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4.3>2.4.3.  MEncoder features</B></P>

<P>
  <UL>
    <LI>encoding from the wide range of fileformats and decoders of <B>MPlayer</B></LI>
    <LI>encoding to all the codecs of ffmpeg's
      <A HREF=codecs.html#2.2.1.2>libavcodec</A></LI>
    <LI>video encoding from <B>V4L compatible TV tuners</B></LI>
    <LI>encoding/multiplexing to interleaved AVI files with proper index</LI>
    <LI>1 or 2 pass <B>DivX4</B> video</LI>
    <LI><B>VBR</B> MP3 audio - <B>IMPORTANT NOTE</B> : VBR MP3 audio doesn't
      always play nicely on windows players! If you intend to encode AVIs
      mainly for windows, encode with CBR!</LI>
    <LI>PCM audio</LI>
    <LI>stream copying (CBR audio only)</LI>
    <LI>input A/V synchronizing (PTS-based, can be disabled with -mc 0 option)</LI>
    <LI>FPS correction with <CODE>-ofps</CODE> option (useful when encoding
    29.97fps VOB to 24fps AVI)</LI>
    <LI>movie rescaling</LI>
  </UL>
</P>

<P><B><I>Planned features</I></B> :
  <UL>
    <LI>using audio from separate file (AC3, MP3, OGG)</LI>
    <LI>VBR audio stream copy</LI>
    <LI>even wider variety of available en/decoding formats/codecs
    (creating VOB files with DivX4/Indeo5/VIVO streams :)</LI>
    <LI>audio encoding from v4l</LI>
  </UL>
</P>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4.3.1>2.4.3.1.  Encoding 2-pass DivX4</B></P>

<P>The name comes from the fact that this method encodes the file <I>twice</I>.
The first encoding (dubbed <I>pass</I>) creates some temporary files (*.log) with a
size of few megabytes, do not delete them yet (you can delete the AVI). In the second pass, the
2-pass output file is created, using the bitrate data from the temporary files. The resulting
file will have much better image quality. If this is the first time you heard
about this, you should consult some guides available on the Net.</P>

<P>This example shows how to encode a DVD to a 2-pass DivX4 AVI. Just two
commands are needed :<BR>
<CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mencoder -dvd 2 -ovc divx4 -oac mp3lame -divx4opts br=1100
-o movie.avi -pass 1<BR>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mencoder -dvd 2 -ovc divx4 -oac mp3lame -divx4opts br=1100 -o movie.avi -pass 2</CODE></P>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4.3.2>2.4.3.2.  Rescaling movies</B></P>

<P>Often the need to resize movie images' size emerges. Its reasons can be many,
  examples are decreasing output file size, encoding SVCDs to DivX. Ripped DVDs
  are mostly rescaled, for example a 4:3 DVD should be 640x480, especially
  when you want it to fit to 1 CD, and have good quality at the same time.
  SVCDs have 480x480 size, and their header contains the aspect ratio the
  player should use (Ex.: 480x480 + 4:3 = 640x480). However when encoding to
  AVI (DivX) files, you have be aware that AVI headers don't store this
  value. Thus, the only solution is rescaling.</P>

<P><B>MEncoder</B> can scale input images if they come in YV12 format (for example:
  ffdivx, odivx drivers, or mpeg1/2). The output size is specified with the
  <CODE>-x</CODE>, and <CODE>-y</CODE> options.  Furthermore, there are 3
  rescaling filters in <B>MEncoder</B>, <I>0
  : fast bilinear</I>, <I>1 : bilinear</I>, <I>2 : bicubic</I> (best quality). 
  They can be specified with the <CODE>-sws</CODE> option. If not specified,
  <B>MEncoder</B> will use 0 : fast bilinear.</P>

<P>Rescaling is very simple :<BR>
<CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mencoder sample-svcd.mpg -divx4opts br=1300 -x 640 -y 480 -sws 2 -o output.avi</CODE></P>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4.3.3>2.4.3.3.  Stream copying</B></P>

<P><B>MEncoder</B> can handle input streams in two ways : <B>encode</B> or
  <B>copy</B> them. This section is about <B>copying</B>.</P>

<P>
<UL>
  <LI><B>Video stream</B> (option <CODE>-ovc copy</CODE>) : nice stuff can be done :)<BR>
  Like, putting (not converting!) FLI or VIVO or MPEG1 video into an AVI file !
  Of course only <B>MPlayer</B> can play such files :) And it probably has no
  real life value at all. Rationally : video stream copying can be useful for
  example when only the audio stream has to be encoded (like, uncompressed PCM
  to MP3).</LI>

  <LI><B>Audio stream</B> (option <CODE>-oac copy</CODE>) : straightforward.</LI>
</UL>
</P>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4.3.4>2.4.3.4.  Fixing AVIs with broken index</B></P>

<P>Easiest thing. We simply copy the video and audio streams, and
<B>MEncoder</B> generates the index. Of course this cannot fix possible bugs in
the video and/or audio streams.</P>

<P>Command : <CODE>mencoder input.avi -ovc copy -oac copy -o output.avi</CODE></P>


<P><B><A NAME=2.4.3.5>2.4.3.5.  Encoding with the <I>libavcodec</I> codec family</B></P>

<P><A HREF="codecs.html#2.2.1.2">libavcodec</A> provides simple encoding to a
lot of interesting video and audio formats (currently its audio codecs are
unsupported). You can encode to the following codecs :</P>

<P>
<UL>
  <LI>mjpeg - Motion JPEG</LI>
  <LI>h263 - H263</LI>
  <LI>h263p - H263 Plus</LI>
  <LI>mpeg4 - DivX4</LI>
  <LI>msmpeg4 - the old DivX</LI>
  <LI>rv10 - an old RealVideo codec</LI>
  <LI>mpeg1video - MPEG1 video :)</LI>
</UL>
</P>

<P>The first column contains the codec names that should be passed after the
  <CODE>vcodec</CODE> config, like : <CODE>-lavcopts vcodec=msmpeg4</CODE></P>

<P>An example, with MJPEG compression :<BR>
  <CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mencoder -dvd 2 -o title2.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mjpeg -ffourcc mjpg</CODE></P>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4.4>2.4.4.  Syntax</B></P>

<P>&nbsp;&nbsp;<CODE>mencoder [options] [input file] [options] ...</P>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4.5>2.4.5.  Available options</B></P>

<P>NOTE : for all available options, <B>read the manpage !</B></P>

<TABLE BORDER=1>
<TR>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    <I>-o</I> filename</TD>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    specify output filename
  </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    <I>-x</I> width in pixels</TD>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    rescale output video to given pixels width
  </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    <I>-y</I> height in pixels</TD>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    rescale output video to given pixels height
  </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    <I>-sws</I> 0-2</TD>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    type of scaling method<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;0 - fast bilinear<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;1 - bilinear<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;2 - bicubic (best quality)<BR>
  </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    <I>-ovc</I> codecname</TD>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    Encode  with  the given codec (codec names are from codecs.conf). Examples:<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>help</B> - get list of available codecs<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>copy</B> - no encoding, just copy the stream (only from AVI/ASF now)<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>divx4</B> - encode to DivX4<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>lavc</B> - encode with a codec from libavcodec<BR>
  </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    <I>-oac</I> codecname</TD>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    Encode  with  the given codec (codec names are from codecs.conf). Examples:<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>help</B> - get list of available codecs<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>copy</B> - no encoding, just copy the stream (only from AVI/ASF now)<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>pcm</B> - encode to uncompressed PCM<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>mp3lame</B> - encode to MP3 (using Lame)<BR>
  </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    <I>-divx4opts</I></TD>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    If encoding to DivX4, you can specify its parameters here, like:<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<CODE>-divx4opts br=1800:deinterlace:key=250</CODE><BR>
    Common options: <B>(for full list, check the manpage!)</B><BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>help</B> - get help<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>br</B>=XXX - specify bitrate in kbit &lt;4-16000&gt; or bit &lt;16001-24000000&gt;<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>q</B>=XXXX - quality (1-fastest, 5-best - default 5)<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>key</B>=XXXX - keyframe interval<BR>
  </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    <I>-lavcopts</I></TD>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    If encoding with libavcodec, you can specify its parameters here, like:<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<CODE>-lavcopts vcodec=msmpeg4:vbitrate=1800:vhq:keyint=250</CODE><BR>
    Common options: <B>(for full list, check the manpage!)</B><BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>help</B> - get help<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>vcodec</B>=XXX - select videocodec (for the full list, see the libavcodec section above)<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>vbitrate</B>=XXX - specify bitrate in kbit &lt;4-16000&gt; or bit &lt;16001-24000000&gt;<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>vhq</B> - high quality<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>keyint</B>=XXX - keyframe interval<BR>
  </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    <I>-lameopts</I></TD>
  <TD><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
    If encoding to MP3 with libmp3lame, you can specify its parameters here, like:<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<CODE>-lameopts q=3</CODE><BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<CODE>-lameopts br=192:cbr</CODE><BR>
    Common options: <B>(for full list, check the manpage!)</B><BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>help</B> - get help<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>cbr</B> - select <B>CBR</B> MP3 (default is <B>VBR</B>)<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>br</B>=XXX - specify bitrate in kbit &lt;0-1024&gt; (this is for <B>CBR</B> only!)<BR>
    &nbsp;&nbsp;<B>q</B>=XXXX - quality (0-highest, 9-fastest - default 0) (this is for <B>VBR</B> only!)<BR>
  </TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>

<P><B><A NAME=2.4.6>2.4.6.  Examples</B></P>

<P>Using <B>MEncoder</B> is the easiest thing on Earth. See the following :</P>

<P>Encoding from DVD, title 2 :<BR>
  <CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mencoder -dvd 2 -o title2.avi</CODE></P>

<P>The same, but with libavcodec family, MJPEG compression :<BR>
  <CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mencoder -dvd 2 -o title2.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mjpeg -ffourcc mjpg</CODE></P>

<P>Encoding from DVD, title 2, with rescaling :<BR>
  <CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mencoder -dvd 2 -x 640 -y 480 -sws 2 -o title2.avi</CODE></P>

<P>Encoding from HTTP :<BR>
  <CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mencoder http://mplayer.hq/example.avi  -o  example.avi</CODE></P>

<P>Encoding from a pipe :<BR>
  <CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;rar p test-SVCD.rar | mencoder -divx4opts br=800 -ofps 24 -pass 1 -- -</CODE></P>

<P>Encoding multiple *.vob files :<BR>
  <CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;cat *.vob | mencoder &lt;options&gt; -</CODE></P>

<P>Encoding from tuner (for tuner options <A HREF="documentation.html#2.5">see the TV input section !</A>) :<BR>
  <CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mencoder -tv on:driver=v4l:width=640:height=480 &lt;options&gt;</CODE></P>

<P>For all available options, <B><I>check the MEncoder man page !</I></B>
<P>
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