ffmpeg vs mencoder - how they are related

[coordz]

I've been using ffmpeg and mencoder for a while now swapping between them fairly randomly. I've now decided that it may be a good idea to just stick with one of them (I think mencoder) so I may have a chance of remembering more of the command line options ;) This got me wondering about how these two pieces of software relate.

My thinkings:

1) ffmpeg forms part of libavcodec
2) mencoder includes libavcodec so can do everything ffmpeg can do (?)
3) but ffmpeg also seems a program in it's own right
4) mencoder seems to cope with formats (e.g. mp3) that ffmpeg does not handle
5) ffmpeg seems to be a project *under* mplayer and therefore mencoder

I'm slightly confused at how these different bits of software fit together. Hopefully someone out there can clear this up for me.....

[I posted in this forum as MPEG2 video is usually the format being messed around with]

TIA

[clsid]

libavcodec/libavformat are part of the FFmpeg project.

MPlayer/mencoder use code from the FFmpeg project. But they also use other code.

[DarkZell666]

4) mencoder seems to cope with formats (e.g. mp3) that ffmpeg does not handle
ffmpeg has never failed on me as far as mp3 is concerned, what command line did you use ? with what version of ffmpeg ?

For a reminder, you need to use "-acodec libmp3lame", and set the bitrate in bits/second :
- Either directly (ex: -ab 128000).
- ... or with a k at the end (ex: -ab 128k).

Would you mind clarifying what you meant ? This is terribly confusing :confused:

[45tripp]

1.libavcodec is ffmpeg
2.pretty much
3.it certainly is
4.no. you'd have to really search for instances, mostly involving native vs libavformat demuxer. example .mov
5.no

no reason not to use both really.
big differences:
1.mencoder can't process audio only, ffmpeg can.
2.mencoder has a myriad of filters available. ffmpeg has bubkiss, waiting on avfilter...
3.mencoder incorporates external libs more intuitively, gives complete contol over them.
with ffmpeg working with x264, xvid, can require some extra work, or can plainly suck.


tripp

[coordz]

Would you mind clarifying what you meant ? This is terribly confusing :confused:
I just meant that ffmpeg seems to need extra fiddling (like including LAME) to deal with some formats. mencoder *seems* to have everything on tap (so to speak).