Newbie

[nicco]

Hello!
I'm a very newbie in "new container formats", I red the faq about OGM-MP4-MKV and I have some questions:
- What should I use?
- I want to create a multy-audio video file, and I have to distribute it, I can do it with AVI format which is the most known video format still today,so what is the advantage of using one of these new format? What about compatibility and accessibility from other unexperted user?
Thanks a lot...:)

[jimmy basushi]

windows media or real video are your most basic codecs/containers for anyone to run. if you use wmv, windows itself will download all it needs. if you use real video, just tell them to goto real's website and get realplayer.

for ease of use, id use one of those. *i believe* real is better at lower bitrates then wmv.

[bond]

Originally posted by nicco
I'm a very newbie in "new container formats", I red the faq about OGM-MP4-MKV and I have some questions:
- What should I use?first of all, of course there is no overall best container format, each one of them has its advantages and disadvantages

i for myself prefer the .mp4 container, as its the official container format of the mpeg-4 container, with the mpeg-4 a/v formats (like xvid, aac (but also divx5 and mp3)) it supports some of the best available a/v formats, it doesnt require hacks to store mpeg-4 content or mp3, like its the case with .avi, in contrary to avi mp4 files are also standardised and ensure interoperability
aso... ;)

- I want to create a multy-audio video file, and I have to distribute it, I can do it with AVI format which is the most known video format still today,so what is the advantage of using one of these new format? What about compatibility and accessibility from other unexperted user?Originally posted by jimmy basushi
windows media or real video are your most basic codecs/containers for anyone to run. if you use wmv, windows itself will download all it needs. if you use real video, just tell them to goto real's website and get realplayer.i have to add here that apples quicktime is able to play .mp4 by default too (yeah m$ and real is not everything ;) )

for .ogm files you have to tell people to install this (http://tobias.everwicked.com/) AND a decoder for the a/v content (if you use vorbis for audio, you only need an additonal video decoder, like divx5 or ffdshow)
for matroska/.mkv files people need to install this (http://packs.matroska.org) (includes everything needed)
for .mp4 files people have to install quicktime OR this (http://www.3ivx.com/download/windows.html) (i prefer 3ivx)

[jimmy basushi]

bond: personally i use either mp4 (i just wish i knew how to segment the files to 700 meg) or mkv depends on what im doing.. i was just considering the one step methods like using wmv because nobody has to download and install anything by hand and real because its player is just as simple.

i was just thinking from the typical new user eyes, microsoft is good and they like big flashy "trustworthy" companies, so real. i think thats the reason most porn is in wmv or mpeg2 i believe.

[nicco]

I think MP4 is a very interesting format, but I think it lacks of a friendly GUI-editing tool (something like Vdub) which allows to mux one or more audio/video streams and overall to create interactive menus. In fact If I only have to mux 1video-2audio I can do it easily with AVI-Divx, which everybody knows, but if I want to create a menu I would like to use MP4. I'm not able to make this GUI, I'm only a "user", but maybe somebody...
Bye;)

[starwarsandrisk]

i like mkv..... hmm.... i'm not sure why.... it just seems so..... new and fresh... and i like it.... it takes my rv10 video, my vorbis audio, and my vobsub subtitles so well and everthing is easy for others to use... so... thats my vote...

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by jimmy basushi
i was just considering the one step methods like using wmv because nobody has to download and install anything by hand

Not entirely true. Ok not true at all. Installing by hand would be unpacking the file with an archiver and registering/copying the file with regsvr32 at the comand line. It's hard to find codecs that must be installed in this manner. So downloading codecs that need to be installed by hand are harder to find than they are to install. As for downloading you have to do that with even windows media. Downloading and running codec install packs is hardly above a computer beginnier.

Originally posted by jimmy basushi
and real because its player is just as simple.

Simple in what way? Trying to find it? :p Trying to keep all the stuff you don't need/want from getting installed? :D you know what I mean.

Originally posted by jimmy basushi
i was just thinking from the typical new user eyes, microsoft is good and they like big flashy "trustworthy" companies, so real.

Man! New user eyes are naieve and scarry! :p

Originally posted by jimmy basushi
i think thats the reason most porn is in wmv or mpeg2 i believe.

Porn makes the Internet go round. :sly:

Neither solution is bad. And they are all in one. But those arguments are given waaaaaaaaaay to much credence. Who could not double click the matroska install pack. And once installed what would they have trouble decoding? ffdshow alone decodes basically everything audio and video wise. Well not real media but that is to be expected.

There are pros and cons to all the formats. There is no best one. What to you want your format to do. And lets start from there.

[jimmy basushi]

i see your point neo neko, i was just stating it from an less experienced computer user then you and most guys here on doom9 im still learning as i go.

ive noticed here these days newspapers, tv shows, etc are all telling us not to download anything that moves and certainly not any programs you dont trust the look of. in a new users eyes (and my "newbie eyes" i still have) whats more likely to be dangerous to your computer? the vanilla looking ffdshow and matroska pack or the flashy realplayer, apple quicktime player and that sort ?

[bond]

Originally posted by jimmy basushi
whats more likely to be dangerous to your computer? the vanilla looking ffdshow and matroska pack or the flashy realplayer, apple quicktime player and that sort ?of course realplayer, wmp9 aso...
who knows what spyware, drm stuff aso... gets installed with them... :D

yeah thats when watching things through my newbie eyes ;)