Most Widely Support Format

[ejoech]

I need to convert DV to a widely supported format to be burned to a CD. I'll be recording videos of kids playing baseball to be sent to college coaches. I tried using VCD with a .asx auto run but was not happy with the quality. Most of the coaches will just be popping it in their computer. They will most likely not have xViD or DiVx and I don't want to bother with them trying to install the codec. I was thinking WM9, but I tried encoding the video and all I get is psychadelic and funky colors.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[unmei]

why not author a SVCD or miniDVD then ? withou strange autorun things, just the plain thing, like any DVD player can play it..
This is for maximum compatibility, other than that you won't get around XviD, DivX, RV9/10 or the like - but if you stick to standard (safe) profiles like not enabling anything fancy even the MPEG-4 codecs XviD and DivX will play on almost anything called computer that has a operating system dating to this millenium without the need to install codecs explicitly.

[Latexxx]

For maximum compatibility: mpeg-1 video + layer 2 audio. Any computer plays it and I really mean any.

Another option is to author a vcd but playing a vcd using a pc can be somewhat tricky.
Svcd and minidvd have very limited compatibility; minidvds don't tend to play in most stand alones and svcds aren't easily playable in computers.

[ejoech]

Not really concerned with getting it to play in a set top. Just need it to play on a computer..playing on a DVD player is a bonus.

Will mpeg-1 video maintain my quality? Right now the clip is at 8 minutes long and around 1.6 gigs. As long as it fits on a CD it's fine.

[ejoech]

any more thoughts?

[Neo Neko]

Reeeeeeeeal easy solution. And you can use Xvid to boot! Use videolan (http://www.videolan.org). Get the windows version sans installer. IE the ZIP version. Extract the ZIP into your CD-R image directory tree. Then set your autorun.inf to run vlc.exe followed by your video. Bam no install and you can play back almost any format you desire. The only downside is that you will have to sacrifice some CD-R space. But since we are not talking about movie backups I don't see that as a huge issue.

[ejoech]

Wow. That sounds awesome. I'm definitely going to check it out. I'd like to use an autorun menu which I already have set up..will that screw with the vlc.exe? I can't download videolan on this computer, I'm going to have to wait til after the holidays. Does it just run quietly in the background?

Thanks a lot, great post.

[Doobie]

Get a cheap DVD burner and turn the videos into DVDs if you're going to pass out videos. Everyone has a DVD player.

Video on CD will be of lower quality and be more potentially difficult for someone to play.

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by ejoech
Wow. That sounds awesome. I'm definitely going to check it out. I'd like to use an autorun menu which I already have set up..will that screw with the vlc.exe? I can't download videolan on this computer, I'm going to have to wait til after the holidays. Does it just run quietly in the background?

Thanks a lot, great post.

You just have to point your menu to launch "vlc.exe yourvideo.avi". It does not run in the gbackground per se. But it launches quite quick and requires nothing to be installed. Totally self contained. It is a great piece of software for every day use as well. Works on any OS you want it on. Simple and sweet.

[grumpyoldfart]

You may want to try this program:

http://www.botproductions.com/mediacd/

MediaCD 3.5 is a complete solution for creating customized, autorun-enabled media discs for archival or distriubtion. It is aimed at digital media enthusiasts and video production professionals, but can be used by anyone for a variety of purposes:

* Create a customized collection of music videos and songs by your favorite artist.
* Distribute discs of promotional or informational videos about your business and its products.
* Quickly produce discs containing educational or training videos.
* Create albums of videos and pictures of your family.

MediaCD 3.5 consists of the following programs:

* MediaCD Menu: The starting point for accessing MediaCD 3.5 features: running MediaCD Viewer, creating new CD configurations, opening existing and sample configurations, and more.
* MediaCD Viewer: The program that lists and plays the media files for your CD configuration.
* MediaCD Creator: An editor for customizing the appearance and behavior of MediaCD Viewer and for writing your own CDs.


What is MediaCD Viewer?

MediaCD Viewer is a powerful, lightweight program that runs automatically when you insert a CD created with MediaCD into a computer running Windows. It is designed for easy viewing of the media files on the CD.

[Neo Neko]

That is an alright program. It just does not do anything he needs. In order for it to play the videos the codecs need to be installed on all systems it will be used on no? Since it uses directshow if I am not mistaken.

[grumpyoldfart]

wrong! If you dont have the proper program for viewing the file it will allow you to download it. It even will let you do audio files as well and it plays using windows media player. It will list all your files in a certain directory or all at once and you can tell it to autorun and play all the files one right after the other or just certain ones...you can also use your own backgroud image like in his case he can make one using the school logo.

This is an all in one program.

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by grumpyoldfart
wrong! If you dont have the proper program for viewing the file it will allow you to download it. It even will let you do audio files as well and it plays using windows media player. It will list all your files in a certain directory or all at once and you can tell it to autorun and play all the files one right after the other or just certain ones...you can also use your own backgroud image like in his case he can make one using the school logo.

This is an all in one program.

So you are saying it will download Xvid, Divx, etc automatically? You must be hosting these yourself then as the authors I am quite sure do not support this. You are aware that this is most likely a violation of their licenses.

On the other hand if you are reffering to windows media players ability to download the codecs for microsoft formats or outdated formats it is largely useless to anyone but microsoft. They don't provide basic or even propper codecs to play back the majority of modern media in the wild today. Microsoft does not even support basic MPEG4 playback of any type. Which is really crazy. Heck they did not even start supplying DVD filters untill recently IIRC and they are not downloadable via the interface. Videolan is a bit bigger. But it does a whole lot more. And is much more portable to boot. Using it you could create a CD that could basically play itself under any OS on any hardware and all without installing anything.

Nothing against your program. It is just about choice. Choice that WMP and MS based solutions don't provide.

[gircobain]

If I'm not mistaken, Media Player Classic is able to load directshow filters on the fly as well

[Neo Neko]

I could be mistaken but that is IIRC the nature of directshow. It loads everything "on the fly". As long as it is installed. Media Player Classic allows you more control over the construction of the filter chain. But I am not aware of it allowing to load uninstalled filters etc. I would be interested on any documentation otherwise though. That would be interesting.

But in general any directshow based program will only be able to play back microsoft formats or formats encoded with outdated codecs etc so as not to compete with Microsfts codecs. That is all Microsoft supports via their auto install feature.

What we really need is for someone to write some sort of interconnected P2P filter auto installer filter for directshow. Then we would not have to rely on MS and their anti competitive ways. ;) It would truly then just be a matter of run and play. :D

[gircobain]

Usage: mplayerc.exe "pathname" [switches]

"pathname" The main file or directory to be loaded. (wildcards allowed)
/dub "dubname" Load an additional audio file.
/sub "subname" Load an additional subtitle file.
/filter "filtername" Load DirectShow filters from a dynamic link library. (wildcards allowed)
/dvd Run in dvd mode, "pathname" means the dvd folder (optional).
/cd Load all the tracks of an audio cd or (s)vcd, "pathname" means the drive path (optional).
/open Open the file, don't automatically start playing.
/play Start playing the file as soon the player is launched.
/close Close the player after playback (only works when used with /play).
/shutdown Shutdown the operating system after playback
/fullscreen Start in full-screen mode.
/minimized Start in minimized mode.
/new Use a new instance of the player.
/add Add "pathname" to playlist, can be combined with /open and /play.
/regvid Register video formats
/regaud Register audio formats
/unregvid Unregister video formats
/unregaud Unregister audio formats
/start ms Start playing at "ms" (= milliseconds)
/help /h /? Show help about command line switches. (this message box)

[Neo Neko]

Well since you are just giving it a filter name and not the DLL name to load it from it looks like it is just a CLI interface to the filter loading system. Which means that the DLL should have to be registered and loaded with the system before it will be recognized. So it does not look like an external directshow filter loader. But then again perhaps that is an idea to contact gabest over. :p

[stephanV]

This

Originally posted by Neo Neko
What we really need is for someone to write some sort of interconnected P2P filter auto installer filter for directshow. Then we would not have to rely on MS and their anti competitive ways. ;) It would truly then just be a matter of run and play. :D

is probably not possible because of this


So you are saying it will download Xvid, Divx, etc automatically? You must be hosting these yourself then as the authors I am quite sure do not support this. You are aware that this is most likely a violation of their licenses.

With XviD's or Matroska's filters there probably isnt a real problem. With e.g. DivX and Nero's filters i am very doubtful.

Most compatible format = MPEG1

[gircobain]

Originally posted by Neo Neko
Well since you are just giving it a filter name and not the DLL name to load it from it looks like it is just a CLI interface to the filter loading system. Which means that the DLL should have to be registered and loaded with the system before it will be recognized. So it does not look like an external directshow filter loader. But then again perhaps that is an idea to contact gabest over. :p Have you tried it?
I'm not a directshow guru at all, but as far as I'm concerned, registering a filter serves only the purpose of enabling directshow to detect and load the filter automagically
I recall making standalone movie cds using mpc and /filter before
Also it is possible to do the same with bsplayer, though a bit more complicated (you need a filter.dat file with proper registry key entries)
And yes, I have tried it on systems with no filters installed and it used to work

Though I have to agree that MPEG-1 is the safest way :rolleyes:

[grumpyoldfart]

I only made a suggestion and didnt mean to start a big argument. Yes Videolan is probably the better way to go for him.

I guess from now on I'll just keep my mouth shut......

[celtic_druid]

Well everything that I have ever read about it suggests that MPC can load external fileters. mplayer would be another option.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Given that the clip is only 8 minutes long, I think I would use Mpeg1 as well.

But I would use a higher bit-rate and vertical resulution than VCD. And maybe even a "square pixel" frame size. I assume your source is 4:3, so 640x480 would be perfect!


Cheers

[Latexxx]

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Given that the clip is only 8 minutes long, I think I would use Mpeg1 as well.

But I would use a higher bit-rate and vertical resulution than VCD. And maybe even a "square pixel" frame size. I assume your source is 4:3, so 640x480 would be perfect!
And don't forget to deinterlace if the source is DV.

[neo75903]

Here is a guide how to create a bootable disc that runs movie. Similar a putting a dvd in your dvd player, put this in any pc and it boots into linux which then plays the movie. No install.
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/08/26/bootable_movies.html

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by stephanV
This



is probably not possible because of this



With XviD's or Matroska's filters there probably isnt a real problem. With e.g. DivX and Nero's filters i am very doubtful.

Most compatible format = MPEG1

Well you don't need Divx or Nero filters installed to play most Divx or Nero content. Same for Xvid. FFDShow can do most of that on it's own. It would just be nice if someone created a similar setup to what Microsoft did but actually use it to it's full potential.

[stephanV]

true... but i dont know of any opensource/free mp4 splitters yet for example. for codecs like rv9 and vp6 the story becomes even more complicated.

[Neo Neko]

For directshow perhaps not cuurently. That does not mean they don't exist. Seems as if Mplayer and VLC can both split it fine. ;) And since FFDShow has expanded to cover most of the codecs supported who's to say that we will not see an FFDShow format filter sometime when it becomes convineint or needed.