comparison DOCS/xml/en/faq.xml @ 15981:c20bd4b50521

Remove rencently added FAQ entry because we now have a much better and detailed doc elsewhere.

15980:85fd2ee1c094

Newer versions of <application>MEncoder</application> can directly
generate MPEG-2 files that can be used as a base to create a VCD or SVCD and
are likely to be playable out of the box on all platforms (for example,
to share a video from a digital camcorder with your computer-illiterate
friends).
<screen>
mencoder -of mpeg -oac toolame -toolameopts br=224 -srate 44100 \
-af-adv force=1 -ovc lavc -mpegopts format=xsvcd -vf harddup -ofps 25 \
-lavcopts vcodec=mpeg2video:mbd=2:keyint=25:vrc_buf_size=917:vrc_minrate=600:vbitrate=2500:vrc_maxrate=2500 \
<replaceable>in.avi</replaceable> -o <replaceable>xsvcd.mpg</replaceable>
</screen>
This will convert the input file <replaceable>in.avi</replaceable> into
the output file <replaceable>xsvcd.mpg</replaceable>, converting the
audio with <systemitem class="library">toolame</systemitem> at 224kbps
and the video with <systemitem class="library">libavcodec</systemitem>
at 2500kbps, making sure the bitrate never goes below 600 and never
exceeds 2500kbps, in order to respect the (S)VCD norm and ensure an
smooth playback.
</para><para>
Please note that in order to make the GOP structure SVCD compliant the
<option>keyint</option> option should be 15 for PAL and 18 for NTSC,
although very often files with much longer GOPs play correctly (25 should
never lead to any problem).
Also, even though leaving out <option>-ofps</option> should work in most
cases (as your source is likely to have the appropriate framerate
already), PAL requires <option>-ofps</option> 25 and NTSC requires
<option>-ofps</option> 30000/1001.
What's more, PAL SVCDs only support 480x576 and 352x288 resolutions,
whereas NTSC only supports 480x480 and 352x240.
If the source video has a different resolution, then you must rescale
with the <option>scale</option> video filter, which will make your filter
chain look like for example <option>-vf scale=480:480,harddup</option> for
an NTSC SVCD or <option>-vf scale=352:288,harddup</option> for a PAL SVCD.
</para><para>
As far as the audio is concerned, SVCD only supports MPEG-1 layer II audio,
therefore you have to use one of
<systemitem class="library">toolame</systemitem>,
<systemitem class="library">twolame</systemitem>, or as a last resort
<systemitem class="library">libavcodec</systemitem>'s MPEG-1 layer II
encoder (as its quality is far from being as good as the former two
libraries).
Both <systemitem class="library">toolame</systemitem> and
<systemitem class="library">twolame</systemitem> follow the same syntax,
so you depending on which one you managed to install, the example only
requires a small change. If you do need to use
<systemitem class="library">libavcodec</systemitem>'s MPEG-1 layer II
encoder, replace
<screen>
-oac toolame -toolameopts br=224
</screen>
if you use toolame or
<screen>
-oac twolame -twolameopts br=224
</screen>
if you use twolame by:
<screen>
-oac lavc -lavcopts acodec=mp2:abitrate=224
</screen>
</para><para>
The resulting <replaceable>xsvcd.mpg</replaceable> is an extended
SVCD (that is why it is called xsvcd), mainly because it does not contain
scan offsets. If you need to generate an SVCD image out of it, you
should pass it to
<ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/software/vcdimager/vcdimager.html">vcdimager</ulink>.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>

15981:c20bd4b50521

Newer versions of <application>MEncoder</application> can directly
generate MPEG-2 files that can be used as a base to create a VCD or SVCD and
are likely to be playable out of the box on all platforms (for example,
to share a video from a digital camcorder with your computer-illiterate
friends).
Please read
<link linkend="menc-feat-vcd-dvd">Using MEncoder to create VCD/SVCD/DVD-compliant files</link>
for more details.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>