MPEGStreamClip  SmallDVD 

Monday, January 04, 2010

A number of people (myself included) have run into a problem where SmallDVD 2.1 and 2.2 can no longer recognise video files saved from MPEGStreamClip. This appears to be caused by the new version of ffmpeg added to SmallDVD 2.1 not recognising files in this format. My initial research hasn't found anything obviously wrong, so it may be an ffmpeg bug.

In the short term, the workaround is to save from MPEGStreamClip using "Convert to TS with MP2 audio". But I will look into why it's not working with the standard format saved by MPEGStreamClip.
Alternatively, you could revert to SmallDVD 2.0.

I use the combination of MPEGStreamClip + SmallDVD a lot, so am highly motivated to fix this!

eyetv  ffmpeg  handbrake  MPEGStreamClip  mplayer/mencoder  vlc 

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

A quick summary of apps I find essential for editing and converting video.

• EyeTV – for recording DVB broadcasts. OK this one isn’t free, but I’m not aware of any equivalent free app.


• MPEGStreamClip – for editing, and a bit of conversion. It’s editor is much more accurate than EyeTV’s. (Windows version also available)


• VLC – can play a wider range of video formats than anything other app I’ve found. It can also do conversion, and act as a streaming server… all of which requires a much more detailed post sometime. (Windows & Linux versions also available).


• Handbrake – for ripping DVDs and converting to MP4 or DivX. (Windows version also available)


• ffmpeg – general purpose video converter, covered in many of the examples on this site. Also ffmpegX, a Mac GUI for it, although I’ve never really got on very well with that – not sure why, just personal taste probably.


• mplayer – another “play anything” player, and MPlayer OSX. This is one of the few tools which can play the horrible RealMedia format, and can capture Real streams from the web. The other thing I use it for is ripping individual titles from DVDs (more on that another time).