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That's interesting. We do have some very recent versions of x264 installed (Core 67 - 68, depending on environment), but it looks like Mencoder might be using a

That's interesting. We do have some very recent versions of x264 installed (Core 67 - 68, depending on environment), but it looks like Mencoder might be using a different library. I'll have to check. Thanks!

DarkShikari 17y ago
Yup, that's a classic issue; you can end up accidentally using ancient libraries without even realizing it. Also, 67-68 isn't particularly recent; the latest "stable" would probably be r1318 aka fe83a906ee aka Core 78. You can try trunk as well, but we're having some miscompilation issues with the latest improvements, so I wouldn't trust it for production use yet. Another note is to check your settings; a lot of people have all sorts of weird encoding commandlines (you included, given the contents of the string I pasted above) from the days when x264's setting system was baroque and confusing. Now the defaults are good and there's some nice automatic presets that let you easily pick a tradeoff of time vs. quality (see x264 --help), so you don't have to mess with weird options.
- nopal 17y ago
  Do you have a link to a good "getting started" article written for a desktop user? (someone looking to encode nice looking videos, not build an encoding infrastructure) This seems like an issue with a great deal of nuance, and I'd find such a resource invaluable.
  - DarkShikari 17y ago
    For a normal desktop user, you should try one of the many encoding GUIs available. I'd recommend Staxrip, Ripbot264, or Handbrake; all are relatively simple GUIs built around x264. For Handbrake, make sure you get the latest snapshot (the last release, 0.9.3, is very outdated). On Linux or Mac, there are fewer options, but Handbrake is still one of them. If you prefer a commandline interface, see http://rob.opendot.cl/index.php/useful-stuff/ffmpeg-x264-encoding-guide/ http://rob.opendot.cl/index.php/useful-stuff/ffmpeg-x264-enc... . Handbrake has a great support channel on Freenode (#handbrake) as well.
    - nopal 17y ago
      Thanks. This is an area that I don't keep up with, and it's great to have a recommendation from someone in the know.
    - catch23 17y ago
      cool, I use handbrake for my dvds as well, good to know their stuff keeps updated with the latest encoding tech.

DarkShikari 17y ago

Yup, that's a classic issue; you can end up accidentally using ancient libraries without even realizing it. Also, 67-68 isn't particularly recent; the latest "stable" would probably be r1318 aka fe83a906ee aka Core 78. You can try trunk as well, but we're having some miscompilation issues with the latest improvements, so I wouldn't trust it for production use yet. Another note is to check your settings; a lot of people have all sorts of weird encoding commandlines (you included, given the contents of the string I pasted above) from the days when x264's setting system was baroque and confusing. Now the defaults are good and there's some nice automatic presets that let you easily pick a tradeoff of time vs. quality (see x264 --help), so you don't have to mess with weird options.

nopal 17y ago
Do you have a link to a good "getting started" article written for a desktop user? (someone looking to encode nice looking videos, not build an encoding infrastructure) This seems like an issue with a great deal of nuance, and I'd find such a resource invaluable.
- DarkShikari 17y ago
  For a normal desktop user, you should try one of the many encoding GUIs available. I'd recommend Staxrip, Ripbot264, or Handbrake; all are relatively simple GUIs built around x264. For Handbrake, make sure you get the latest snapshot (the last release, 0.9.3, is very outdated). On Linux or Mac, there are fewer options, but Handbrake is still one of them. If you prefer a commandline interface, see http://rob.opendot.cl/index.php/useful-stuff/ffmpeg-x264-encoding-guide/ http://rob.opendot.cl/index.php/useful-stuff/ffmpeg-x264-enc... . Handbrake has a great support channel on Freenode (#handbrake) as well.
  - nopal 17y ago
    Thanks. This is an area that I don't keep up with, and it's great to have a recommendation from someone in the know.
  - catch23 17y ago
    cool, I use handbrake for my dvds as well, good to know their stuff keeps updated with the latest encoding tech.