V i d e o E n c o d i n g G u i d e
by: okaygo
This guides purpose is to help those who want to make high quality movies from the MKR/ST files they have. This is more of an advanced guide but will be really easy for people to pick up and follow.
I am going to try my best to lay all this out for you in a way that is simple yet effective, however due to the extreme nature of video encoding; It is likely that you are going to have to trust me blind.
First things are first, what is video encoding? Well the way I see it is this, video encoding is the art of taking an image/sound source and turning it into an respectable AVI. It is the method of making a 1 gigabyte file, into less than 50 megabytes while retaining decent quality.
We are going to start by equipping you with the ultimate encoders tools,Windows Movie Creator... just kidding!
You are going to want to download the following:Let me briefly go over what these files are for, so you know what you are getting into.
Goto: Utilities -> Record -> Start Playback
Select your movie file, and it should start playing back. If it doesn't try the following:
Press Alt + F10, and type in an AVI name. The game should pause for a moment, then bring up a menu with Compression Options.
LOOK CAREFULLY! Your options should be the same!
At this point the movie will start encoding the initial capture, chances are it is going to run slow, and take a while.
If your video file is at a size which you are happy with, then do not bother with the next steps, just take your movie and run.
The next step in this process will be Mencoder, so what you are going to want to do is goto your folder with mencoder.exe and make a new text document.
Open this document, and type in the following:
This is called a second pass, and basically I'm giving you my options and settings which I found to work well, we can discuss optimizations further, but basically if your a newbie, I need some trust here.
Once you paste that in, and put in the correct names, save it as a '.bat' file extension, then run it. A window should pop-up, and if it's working correctly, you will know... basically if it doesn't finish in less than 3 seconds (unless you have a 1 second clip), it is working.
If you are happy with your video size, and don't want to remove any video from it, you are done.
I will try to add more on VirtualDub, and third pass encoding as I have time, any feedback on the current guide would be helpful.
- okaygo
EDIT: Updated a few things; guide is more complete.
by: okaygo
This guides purpose is to help those who want to make high quality movies from the MKR/ST files they have. This is more of an advanced guide but will be really easy for people to pick up and follow.
I am going to try my best to lay all this out for you in a way that is simple yet effective, however due to the extreme nature of video encoding; It is likely that you are going to have to trust me blind.
First things are first, what is video encoding? Well the way I see it is this, video encoding is the art of taking an image/sound source and turning it into an respectable AVI. It is the method of making a 1 gigabyte file, into less than 50 megabytes while retaining decent quality.
We are going to start by equipping you with the ultimate encoders tools,
You are going to want to download the following:Let me briefly go over what these files are for, so you know what you are getting into.
Codec Pack with Windows Media Player Classic
MPlayer/Mencoder
This package contains almost every free Codec for video and audio known. Codecs are algorithms used to compress a movie file, but they are also needed to decompress them. You don't need to worry about them much, because once installed any good video player will automatically detect and use the codec that the movie was encoded in.
Windows Media Player Classic is an optional program, and personally I think it is great, but I wouldn't recommend you selecting the 'associate with my file types and the internet' boxes, I have had some problem with watching videos on the net after this.
MAKE SURE YOU DO THE FULL PACKAGE! IT IS THE ONE WITH THE CODEC THAT WE USE IN IT!
Windows Media Player Classic is an optional program, and personally I think it is great, but I wouldn't recommend you selecting the 'associate with my file types and the internet' boxes, I have had some problem with watching videos on the net after this.
MAKE SURE YOU DO THE FULL PACKAGE! IT IS THE ONE WITH THE CODEC THAT WE USE IN IT!
MPlayer and Mencoder are both powerful at what they do. MPlayer plays movies much like any other player, except that it is console driven. We will not be using MPlayer in this guide, however since it comes with Mencoder, I figured I would tell you what it is.
Mencoder is a very powerful tool for video encoding, it is also very advanced, has TON's of options, and is console driven. Do not worry, I will share my knowledge with you that has been passed down from the people at TASVideos. My steps will be basic, offering the lowest form of optimization available, I assume most people will be posting these videos on YouTube or just wanting to have them at a reasonable size. Even with my basic steps, you will see a huge reduction in file size, and virtually no reduction in quality. (ex: 700mb -> 35mb)
Mencoder is a very powerful tool for video encoding, it is also very advanced, has TON's of options, and is console driven. Do not worry, I will share my knowledge with you that has been passed down from the people at TASVideos. My steps will be basic, offering the lowest form of optimization available, I assume most people will be posting these videos on YouTube or just wanting to have them at a reasonable size. Even with my basic steps, you will see a huge reduction in file size, and virtually no reduction in quality. (ex: 700mb -> 35mb)
VirtualDub
VirtualDub is a basic AVI editor that allows people to do minor editing to a movie. It can also do video/sound compression. I use VirtualDub for cutting out pointless video, compressing sound, or making a PNG into a logo. After that, I usually don't touch it. To me it's like the band-aid of video encoding. Apply when needed...
Right then, we have everything installed and got a nice explanation of what everything is lets start our initial video capture. First, load up Mupen64K, and start Smash Brothers. You might want to use the best looking video plugin for the capture even if it doesn't run fast for you. Also you might want to do your capturing in a screen size of 640x480 with anti-aliasing turned high. I use Jabo 3D8 for my Smash Captures.
Goto: Utilities -> Record -> Start Playback
Select your movie file, and it should start playing back. If it doesn't try the following:
- Make sure it is the right movie file.
- Make sure you have Raw Data turned off for ALL controllers in your input settings.
Press Alt + F10, and type in an AVI name. The game should pause for a moment, then bring up a menu with Compression Options.
LOOK CAREFULLY! Your options should be the same!
At this point the movie will start encoding the initial capture, chances are it is going to run slow, and take a while.
It is best if you leave your computer alone at this point and make sure nothing somehow gets on the screen. It will most likely end up showing up in the video which isn't good.
Once the video is done playing back, or you want to stop capturing press CTRL + F10. If done right the game will start going at full speed again. Congrats, you just did the first and most important step.
If your video file is at a size which you are happy with, then do not bother with the next steps, just take your movie and run.
The next step in this process will be Mencoder, so what you are going to want to do is goto your folder with mencoder.exe and make a new text document.
Open this document, and type in the following:
Code:
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2][COLOR=#000000][COLOR=White]mencoder -priority highest -aspect 4:3 -vf decimate=25:0:0:1 -oac copy -mc 0 -ovc x264 -x264encopts bitrate=1200:pass=1:frameref=15:qp_min=10:qp_max=51:qcomp=1:qp_step=30:ratetol=100:me_range=48:subq=7:mixed_refs:trellis=2 -o[/COLOR] [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]NEWMOVIENAME.AVI YOURMOVIENAME.AVI
pauseOnce you paste that in, and put in the correct names, save it as a '.bat' file extension, then run it. A window should pop-up, and if it's working correctly, you will know... basically if it doesn't finish in less than 3 seconds (unless you have a 1 second clip), it is working.
If you are happy with your video size, and don't want to remove any video from it, you are done.
I will try to add more on VirtualDub, and third pass encoding as I have time, any feedback on the current guide would be helpful.
- okaygo
EDIT: Updated a few things; guide is more complete.
