[MPlayer-users] Re: Which TV card ?

[Erik Slagter]

> Well I finished earlier as expected, but mencoder meant that it does not know
> '-vf' and aborted.

Then you're using a 0.90 version. You'd better get a 0.99 cvs version.
In the meantime replace -vf with -vop.

> I must try to understand all these options first, so I'll
> play around with them by myself to see how I can optimize.

See the manual page. If you use mjpeg (like in my example) there isn't
that much you can tune.

With mpeg4 (how I hate the divx*** word) you can tune about 100
settings, but very few of them actually matter significantly.

> I also have found meanwhile a command line which basically works (making
> DivX), but I have no sound. It reads as follows, also everything
> as one line...
> mencoder -tv on:driver=v4l:width=768:height=576 -ovc lavc -lavcopts \
> vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=900 -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:br=64 -vop \
> pp=lb,crop=720:544:24:16 -o output.avi

This should work, but in many cases you need to specify "forceaudio" =
1.

> Maybe this is of importance: The Hauppauge has a bridge cable to LineIn of the
> Soundcard. Can this be the reason?

In that case you should also setup your mixer accordingly. If your
soundcard supports this (ie soundblaster) you should setup a route from
the input to the recording output. Otherwise assure that your soundcard
is set up for recording from line in, that the input gain is nonzero and
the input level is nonzero.

> Another thing is: The above script _records_ (not good, but for first steps
> it is ok), on an Celeron 1700 it also reaches nearely permanent 25fps, but:
> How do I stop it correctly? Hitting ^C stops, but this is surely not the
> right way, because mencoder cannot finish its work, I guess.

^C terminates mencoder cleanly. Mencoder traps the signal, cleans up and
exits. You may also specify the recording time using -endpos.

BTW encoding 720x544 with a bitrate of 900 kbps is prone to bad quality.
I think you should use at least 1500 kbps.