Overview

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

Compiling

read MPlayer's compilation instructions, it contains info about how to install libdvdread for DVD support, etc.
download the newest DivX4linux libs from avifile.sourceforge.net, and have them PROPERLY installed. This is needed for DivX4 (1/2 pass) encoding. And since this is mandatory (now), MEncoder is Linux-only.
download and compile libmp3lame (from lame 3.89beta or lame CVS).
WARNING : DO NOT COMPILE LAME WITH GCC 2.96 ! It won't work properly !
This is needed for CBR/VBR MP3 audio encoding ability. Note that a single lame binary isn't sufficient. BTW: the less optimization you use for lame, the better the quality will be. You can test quality by running make test after lame's compiling process is over. The resulting number should be less than 30. Don't panic if it's 400 or so, you shouldn't heard any audible quality decrease. Oh, and if your compiler doesn't even run make test ... Well, delete that GCC 2.96.
use ./configure with optional parameters as usual (use --enable-tv to include V4L tuner grabbing code), and type : make mencoder , then make install.

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

MEncoder features :

encoding from the wide range of fileformats and decoders of MPlayer
encoding from V4L compatible TV tuners
encoding/multiplexing to interleaved AVI files with proper index
1 or 2 pass DivX4 video
VBR MP3 audio
PCM audio
stream copying (only from AVI/ASF now, and CBR audio only)
input A/V synchronizing (PTS-based, can be disabled with -mc 0 option)
FPS correction with -ofps option (useful when encoding 29.97fps VOB to 24fps AVI)

Planned features :

using audio from separate file (AC3, MP3, OGG)
VBR audio stream copy
even wider variety of available en/decoding formats/codecs (creating VOB files with DivX4/Indeo5/VIVO streams :)

Encoding 2-pass DivX4

The name comes from the fact that this method encodes the file twice. The first encoding (dubbed pass) creates some temporary files with a size of few megabytes (do not delete them yet). In the second pass, the output file is created, using the bitrate data from the temporary file. 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.

This example shows how to encode a DVD to a 2-pass DivX4 AVI. Just two commands are needed :
mencoder -dvd 2 -ovc divx4 -oac mp3lame -divx4opts br=1100 -o movie.avi -pass 1 mencoder -dvd 2 -ovc divx4 -oac mp3lame -divx4opts br=1100 -o movie.avi -pass 2

Syntax

mencoder [options] <input file> [options] ...



Available options

NOTE : for all available options, read the manpage !



    
  
    -o filename
    
  
    specify output filename
  


    
  
    -x width in pixels
    
  
    rescale output video to given pixels width
  


    
  
    -y height in pixels
    
  
    rescale output video to given pixels height
  


    
  
    -sws 0-2
    
  
    type of scaling method

      0 - fast bilinear

      1 - bilinear

      2 - bicubic (best quality)

  


    
  
    -ovc codecname
    
  
    Encode  with  the given codec (codec names are from codecs.conf). Examples:

      help - get list of available codecs

      copy - no encoding, just copy the stream (only from AVI/ASF now)

      divx4 - encode to DivX4

  


    
  
    -oac codecname
    
  
    Encode  with  the given codec (codec names are from codecs.conf). Examples:

      help - get list of available codecs

      copy - no encoding, just copy the stream (only from AVI/ASF now)

      pcm - encode to uncompressed PCM

      mp3lame - encode to MP3 (using Lame)

  


    
  
    -divx4opts
    
  
    If encoding to DivX4, you can specify its parameters here, like:

      -divx4opts br=1800:deinterlace:key=250

    Common options: (for full list, check the manpage!)

      help - get help

      br=XXX - specify bitrate in kbit <4-16000> or bit <16001-24000000>

      q=XXXX - quality (1-fastest, 5-best - default 5)

  


    
  
    -lameopts
    
  
    If encoding to MP3 with libmp3lame, you can specify its parameters here, like:

      -lameopts q=3

      -lameopts br=192:cbr

    Common options: (for full list, check the manpage!)

      help - get help

      cbr - select CBR MP3 (default is VBR)

      br=XXX - specify bitrate in kbit <0-1024> (this is for CBR only!)

      q=XXXX - quality (0-highest, 9-fastest - default 0) (this is for VBR only!)

  



Examples

Using MEncoder is the easiest thing on Earth. See the following :

Encoding from DVD, title 2 :

      mencoder -dvd 2 -o title2.avi

Encoding from HTTP :

      mencoder http://mplayer.hq/example.avi  -o  example.avi

Encoding from a pipe :

      rar p test-SVCD.rar | mencoder -divx4opts br=800 -ofps 24 -pass 1 -- -

Encoding multiple *.vob files :

      cat *.vob | mencoder <options> -

Encoding from tuner (for tuner options see the TV input section !) :

      mencoder -tv on:driver=v4l:width=640:height=480 <options> -

For all available options, check the MEncoder man page !

	-o filename		specify output filename
	-x width in pixels		rescale output video to given pixels width
	-y height in pixels		rescale output video to given pixels height
	-sws 0-2		type of scaling method 0 - fast bilinear 1 - bilinear 2 - bicubic (best quality)
	-ovc codecname		Encode with the given codec (codec names are from codecs.conf). Examples: help - get list of available codecs copy - no encoding, just copy the stream (only from AVI/ASF now) divx4 - encode to DivX4
	-oac codecname		Encode with the given codec (codec names are from codecs.conf). Examples: help - get list of available codecs copy - no encoding, just copy the stream (only from AVI/ASF now) pcm - encode to uncompressed PCM mp3lame - encode to MP3 (using Lame)
	-divx4opts		If encoding to DivX4, you can specify its parameters here, like: `-divx4opts br=1800:deinterlace:key=250` Common options: (for full list, check the manpage!) help - get help br=XXX - specify bitrate in kbit <4-16000> or bit <16001-24000000> q=XXXX - quality (1-fastest, 5-best - default 5)
	-lameopts		If encoding to MP3 with libmp3lame, you can specify its parameters here, like: `-lameopts q=3` `-lameopts br=192:cbr` Common options: (for full list, check the manpage!) help - get help cbr - select CBR MP3 (default is VBR) br=XXX - specify bitrate in kbit <0-1024> (this is for CBR only!) q=XXXX - quality (0-highest, 9-fastest - default 0) (this is for VBR only!)