x264.exe or ffmpeg.exe on a VPS ?

yari · 29th July 2008, 23:18

what are the minimum requirements to run either one ?

is there a preference over the two x264.exe or ffmpeg.exe to encode videos ?

im more or less looking to see if i can produce efficient, and higher quality videos....i have seen Dark Shikari's site, and blown away by x264....

how can i reduce size video takes up and still improve the quality ? i would prefer to use ffmpeg...since its already installed and being used on my website...

thank you.

Sharktooth · 30th July 2008, 02:37

x264 windows builds are usually more up to date than FFMPEG builds.
so, looking at the x264 development pace and its recent improvements, i would always use x264.

Dark Shikari · 30th July 2008, 02:50

x264 alone doesn't do what you need--you need an audio encoder and muxer.

ffmpeg does all of it together, but if you want to have the muxing Flash-ready, you need to use qt-faststart or mp4box in addition. Also note that ffmpeg's option system is an absolute nightmare--it completely mangles the x264 options and defaults and requires a 7-line commandline to get decent results.

roozhou · 30th July 2008, 16:31

ffmpeg's buggy muxers will sometimes give you bad files. Hope someone will fix them.

yari · 30th July 2008, 21:46

i would like to use ffmpeg in that case....it seems just x264.exe is not enough.

i've taken a look at
http://rob.opendot.cl/index.php/usef...ncoding-guide/

however, the first setting

Code:

ffmpeg -i INPUT -an -pass 1 -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me epzs -subq 1 -trellis 0 -refs 1 -bf 16 -b_strategy 1 -coder 1 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 OUTPUT.mp4

works very well. however the second one

Code:

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -pass 2 -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti8x8+parti4x4+partp8x8+partp4x4+partb8x8 -flags2 +brdo+dct8x8+wpred+bpyramid+mixed_refs -me umh -subq 7 -trellis 1 -refs 6 -bf 16 -directpred 3 -b_strategy 1 -bidir_refine 1 -coder 1 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 OUTPUT.mp4

throws weird errors and will not work....

are there more optimal settings out there? robert swain's blog is the only one i found that has an optimal setting laid out.

thank you.

29th July 2008, 23:18	#1 \| Link
yari Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 13	x264.exe or ffmpeg.exe on a VPS ? what are the minimum requirements to run either one ? is there a preference over the two x264.exe or ffmpeg.exe to encode videos ? im more or less looking to see if i can produce efficient, and higher quality videos....i have seen Dark Shikari's site, and blown away by x264.... how can i reduce size video takes up and still improve the quality ? i would prefer to use ffmpeg...since its already installed and being used on my website... thank you.

30th July 2008, 02:37	#2 \| Link
Sharktooth Mr. Sandman Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Haddonfield, IL Posts: 11,768	x264 windows builds are usually more up to date than FFMPEG builds. so, looking at the x264 development pace and its recent improvements, i would always use x264. __________________ MPEG-4 ASP Custom Matrices: EQM V1(old), EQM AutoGK Sharpmatrix (aka EQM V2), EQM V3HR (updated 01/10/2004), EQM V3LR, EQM V3ULR (updated 04/02/2005), EQM V3UHR (updated 17/12/2004) and EQM V3EHR (updated 05/10/2004) Info about my ASP matrices. MPEG-4 AVC Custom Matrices: EQM AVC-HR Info about my AVC matrices My x264 builds. Mooo!!!

30th July 2008, 02:50	#3 \| Link
Dark Shikari x264 developer Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 8,666	x264 alone doesn't do what you need--you need an audio encoder and muxer. ffmpeg does all of it together, but if you want to have the muxing Flash-ready, you need to use qt-faststart or mp4box in addition. Also note that ffmpeg's option system is an absolute nightmare--it completely mangles the x264 options and defaults and requires a 7-line commandline to get decent results. __________________ Follow x264 development progress \| akupenguin quotes \| x264 git status ffmpeg and x264-related consulting/coding contracts \| Doom10

30th July 2008, 16:31	#4 \| Link
roozhou Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1,181	ffmpeg's buggy muxers will sometimes give you bad files. Hope someone will fix them.