DV to FLV

[onemanclapping]

hi,

I'm rendering a video at Sony Vegas 9.0b but it can't render videos to FLV format. Therefore, I'll render it to avi(DV) and later convert it to FLV.

Does anyone have any suggestions about programs/encoders that are both free and windows-compatible? It doesn't have to be *from* DV to flv. I can render the video at vegas in a different format.

cheers,

omc

[scharfis_brain]

I use avisynth and a Batchfile with two calls of ffmpeg for two passes.

[Dark Shikari]

If you're looking to encode video for Flash, you can just use MeGUI or the x264 encoding app of your choice. Just output to MP4 with AAC audio.

[roozhou]

Vegas's debug mode?

[onemanclapping]

I use avisynth and a Batchfile with two calls of ffmpeg for two passes.

but how do I choose the output as "flv"? I've used avisynth but with virtualdub (avi output) and meGUI (MP4/MKV).

[onemanclapping]

If you're looking to encode video for Flash, you can just use MeGUI or the x264 encoding app of your choice. Just output to MP4 with AAC audio.

but that way I'll get an MP4 file, not an FLV... and what I really need is an FLV file

[onemanclapping]

Vegas's debug mode?

say what?

[smok3]

what kind of flv file?

(this can be alot of different things, you can for example remux mp4(AVC+AAC) to flv with ffmpeg irc)

p.s. for the sorenson or vp6 version of 'flv's do some searching on this board.

[roozhou]

say what?

Debugmode FrameServer.
You don't need temporary DV files.

[Leeloo Minaï]

To create VP6 FLV videos, i know at least 3 freeware/opensource solutions, each has plus and minus :

- full GUI solution : virtualdub + VP6 VFW codec + mp3 lame codec + flvmdi
You will have to convert audio to mp3 and flvmdi program is needed to add metadata to flv, otherwise you will get trouble with progress bar.
IMPORTANT thing : don't forget to flip your videos (Virtualdub has a fliter for this) or your FLV will be upside down :p


- 1st command line solution : avs2avi + avs2wav + avisynth + ffmpeg + VP6 VFW codec + flvmdi
P.S. : avs2wav can be removed and replaced by ffmpeg easily to directly convert audio stream to MP3, i will update my post later.

First, create configuration files for avs2avi :
rem ## 1 pass ##
avs2avi "temp.avs" "avifile.avi" -p 0 -s 1pass.conf -e

rem ## 2 passes ##
avs2avi "temp.avs" "avifile.avi" -P 2 -p 0 -s 2passes.conf -e

Then convert your video with avs2avi (through an avisynth script), extract and convert audio with ffmpeg, then use ffmpeg to output an FLV file, at last apply flvmdi for metadata.

Avisynth script (may need to be tweaked) :
AviSource("myfile.avi")
FlipVertical()

Batch main process (1 pass) :
set abitrate=64kb

avs2avi temp.avs temp.avi -l 1pass.conf
avs2wav temp.avs temp.wav
ffmpeg -i temp.wav -ab %abitrate% temp.mp3
ffmpeg -i temp.avi -acodec copy -vcodec copy -f mp3 -i "temp.mp3" temp.flv
flvmdi temp.flv final.flv /k /p

Batch main process (2 passes) :
set abitrate=64kb

avs2avi _temp_.avs _temp_.avi -P 2 -l 2passes.conf
avs2wav temp.avs temp.wav
ffmpeg -i temp.wav -ab %abitrate% temp.mp3
ffmpeg -i temp.avi -acodec copy -vcodec copy -f mp3 -i "temp.mp3" temp.flv
flvmdi temp.flv final.flv /k /p


- 2nd command line solution : mencoder + vfw2menc + VP6 VFW codec + flvmdi
Convert your video with mencoder (both video and audio streams) and output an FLV file
Apply flvmdi for metadata
You will need to create configuration files for mencoder before process converting

Batch command to create config files :
rem ## 1 pass encode ##
vfw2menc -f VP62 -d vp6vfw.dll -s 1pass_only.mcf

rem ## 2 passes encode ##
vfw2menc -f VP62 -d vp6vfw.dll -s pass1.mcf
vfw2menc -f VP62 -d vp6vfw.dll -s pass2.mcf

Batch main process (1 pass) :
set videofile=myfile.dv
set abitrate=64kb
set vbitrate=500kb

mencoder %videofile% -vf flip -oac lavc -lavcopts acodec=libmp3lame:abitrate=%abitrate% -ovc vfw -xvfwopts codec=vp6vfw.dll:compdata=%vbitrate%_pass.mcf -of lavf -lavfopts format=flv -o temp.flv
flvmdi temp.flv final.flv /k /p

Batch main process (2 passes) :
set videofile=myfile.dv
set abitrate=64kb
set vbitrate=500kb

mencoder %videofile% -vf flip -oac copy -ovc vfw -xvfwopts codec=vp6vfw.dll:compdata=%vbitrate%_pass1.mcf -of lavf -lavfopts format=flv -o temp.avi
mencoder %videofile% -vf flip -oac lavc -lavcopts acodec=libmp3lame:abitrate=%abitrate% -ovc vfw -xvfwopts codec=vp6vfw.dll:compdata=%vbitrate%_pass2.mcf -of lavf -lavfopts format=flv -o temp.flv
flvmdi temp.flv final.flv /k /p



(It is late, I hope i didn't miss anything...)

[Dark Shikari]

but that way I'll get an MP4 file, not an FLV... and what I really need is an FLV fileWhy?

Adobe themselves recommends MP4 for flash videos and has declared FLV to be deprecated.

You can mux to FLV if you want with ffmpeg, but it isn't recommended.

[benwaggoner]

Why?

Adobe themselves recommends MP4 for flash videos and has declared FLV to be deprecated.

You can mux to FLV if you want with ffmpeg, but it isn't recommended.
There's still a lot of folks making FLV. For all the "Flash has 98% penetration" claims Flash 10 penetraion is well below that. FLV works in Flash 8+, and so has a longer tail, particularly in the enterprise.

It is also asserted, although I haven't seen any actual numbers to back this up, that the low-complexity VP6-E version is easier to decode on older machines than H.264, even baseline profile. That said, I'm not sure if theyr'e comparing at equal bitrate or equal quality; I'd think a good Baseline encode would be quite a bit more efficient, saving some CPU in lower bandwidth at the same quality.

That said, I certainly look forward to the Flash ecosystem largely using H.264; it'll make their eventual migration to Silverlight that much easier :).

[Dark Shikari]

There's still a lot of folks making FLV. For all the "Flash has 98% penetration" claims Flash 10 penetraion is well below that. FLV works in Flash 8+, and so has a longer tail, particularly in the enterprise.Perhaps you meant that Flash 9 has well below 98% penetration (true, but over 90%), and that FLV has worked since Flash 6?
It is also asserted, although I haven't seen any actual numbers to back this up, that the low-complexity VP6-E version is easier to decode on older machines than H.264, even baseline profile. That said, I'm not sure if theyr'e comparing at equal bitrate or equal quality; I'd think a good Baseline encode would be quite a bit more efficient, saving some CPU in lower bandwidth at the same quality.Have you ever used the FLV/VP6 decoders in Flash? They're horrifically inefficient. ;)