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November 11, 2006
codecs++;
joining me this month are the windows build of xvid from koepi.org and a patched ffmpeg build that transcodes to flv.
completely replacing divx with this build of xvid (as recommended by djgrenola) has finally liberated me from the long-standing vdub randomly closing problem. i don't know why it didn't occur to me to try xvid earlier, actually--i guess i was convinced i would lose something in the process of moving over, but that has not happened as far as i can tell. indeed, sda users have been watching xvid-encoded mq and lq avi for a while now without reporting any problems, so i have to consider this codec replacement a resounding success.
the new flv creation process recommended by mike hearn is still under evaluation, but i am encouraged by its fruits thus far. the only major sticking point for me has been that it demands that the input video be upside-down (flipped vertically), and so i must create a distinct .avs file for flv encoding now (as opposed to just using the mq mp4's), but this is really quite minor compared to never again getting shot down by one of the macromedia flash video encoder's myriad avs input bugs or having to set the video and audio bitrate every time i reboot the machine or wondering how much better quality/smaller of a file i could make had i multipass encoding--and i could go on.
the divx codec and the macromedia flash video encoder were dragging me down without a doubt, and i am grateful to the community for their continued support of my work.
Posted by njahnke at 1:20 PM | Comments (2)
November 4, 2006
destiny
i like how i don't have to question anymore whether or not i'm really dedicated to sda--obviously, if i weren't dedicated, i wouldn't still be here.
of course, that's a positivist view. if i decided tomorrow that sda was not for me anymore, then suddenly i wouldn't look so dedicated, after all. but i like to force myself into the probably more realistic viewpoint that every second i spend working on sda means i'm that much more "into it".
things have been exciting around here lately. i'm sure y'all have noticed grenola and mike doing updates, and indeed, they are together doing the entire update process now, leaving radix to watch over his creation like a proud father and to occasionally yell, "no, no, you're doing it all wrong!" mike responds to runners, no matter how annoying, with super speed, and grenola has made short work of automating much of the remaining parts of the sda updating process. it's safe to say sda is operating better than never, ever before.
on the home front, i am very pleased with my new dvd recorder, an lg dr1f9h (say that five times fast!). media compatibility is far better than with my old panny, and as an added bonus, the lg writes dvd+rw without the need for a finalization step. that means that i went from using isobuster to raw read the vobs off of every dvd i recorded (because all the media i bought was incompatible with the panny) to not even needing to finalize the disc to take the vobs directly off of it in v5. and on top of all of that, the title corruption bug that precipitated "katamari hell" is nonexistent. good deal for only $200.
the lg has tons of other crazy features i'll probably never use (like dv in and hdmi out), but i think it's a good sign that i'm getting all these earmarks of a high-end dvd recorder at only $200 while over at walmart cheap (but still perfectly good) dvd recorders are down below $100. it's never been clearer to me that my prediction of dvd recorders meeting and then beating vcr prices will happen by this coming summer. that's significant, of course, because i plan to phase out my free vhs capture service at that time. the reason is because i must help the quality of the videos on the site in any way i can, and if that means coercing people into buying dvd recorders, then so be it. at $40 a pop they'll be less expensive than a single next generation game.
i'd like to take this opportunity to thank tom batchelor for his continued monetary support of sda. clearly he's not the only generous one around here, but he is obviously the one with the most money, and i appreciate his confidence in me and my operation. when other people believe in you, you often find a way to make things happen regardless of whether you share their confidence.
i will keep it coming.
Posted by njahnke at 12:00 AM | Comments (1)