[mythtv-users] shrinking hdtv video

[jack snodgrass]

I've come up with this script to re-encode my HDTV shows to something
smaller.  ( I took this from the pda script and some other scripts ) I have
this set up as a separate 'user job'.


WIDTH=720
HEIGHT=400
RATE=900

mencoder -srate 22050 -vop scale=$WIDTH:$HEIGHT -oac mp3lame -lameopts \
preset=15:mode=3 -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=$RATE -sws 2 \
-o $OFILE $VIDEODIR/$FILENAME 2> /dev/null 1> /dev/null

this takes a  8gig hdtv mpeg file and shrinks it to a 500meg file that I can
stream or download to my office pc. It takes about 1/2 of the show time
to re-encode. ( 1hr show, 30 minutes to re-encode )

The 900 vibit rate is a lot cleaner than 600 and 1200 just seems to add
to the size of the new file.

700x400 is a good size for a 16:9 show on my 18" monitor.

... now, I don't really know what the mencoder options I am using are.
is there something else I might want to look at?

Thanks - jack