[mythtv-users] OT: FFMPEG conversion

[Jonathan Larson]

> 
> I don't have notes for ffmpeg, but I do for mencoder:
> 
> mencoder original-movie.wmv -oac mp3lame -ovc xvid -xvidencopts
> pass=2:bitrate=500 -o new-version-of-movie.avi
> 
> Doug

Sorry Doug--xvid is a no-go considering the 'native playback' requirement, since XP/Vista don't have mpeg 4 codecs installed by default. Windows 7 will thankfully change this.

To answer the original post: Your options in linux for Windows native codecs are very limited: MPEG-1, or WMV-1/2, which correspond to WMV version 7/8 respectively.

If one of those codecs isn't acceptable (I wouldn't accept them due to quality/size issues), then my advice is to just re-encode the videos in mpeg4 as Doug recommends and keep a copy of VLC portable and the media with the videos.

Jon