ffmpegx Install issues

[Shadowbird]

I know this will sound pathetically n00bish on my part, but I am at a loss for what to do. I just upgraded to a new G4 with Panther installed on it. Now, I've been trying to Install ffmpegx for the past 2 days and the program will not run. No error messages, nothing, it just won't start. I've tried to install all three different versions (q, k, and h), with the same results. Even the Engines Installer program in the 0.0.9h install package doesn't run. I double-click and I double-click, but nothing happens, it won't even boot. I've tried changing my startup disk name, to the best of my knowledge, but still no luck.

I had ffmpegx installed perfectly on my old comp running Jaguar, and I used it all the time, so I really want to get this to work, but I have no idea what to do.

I'm hoping maybe someone here will know what I'm doing wrong. I'm sure that it's something simple, I just can't figure out what it is.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[daveL]

First of all, I wouldn't install k or h; they're pretty old builds now. I've run p with no problems on my Panther G5 PM. I haven't tries the latest q release. Since you tried to install those older builds before, I'd trash everything you have downloaded/installed and start fresh with either p or q. Don't forget you have to separately install the ffmpegX-specific versions of mplayer/mencoder, mpeg2enc, etc. and tell ffmpegX where you put them as part of the installation process.

 

[Windowlicker]

I'd trash everything you have downloaded/installed and start fresh with either p or q.

I've been having some problems after I updated to q.. I don't know if they're because of the particular release or not, but you might want to try installing p.

The problem is, I get jerky picture and the sound has annoying clicks all the time, making watching the movie a pain in the ass. I have to check out later if the p works better.

 

[Shadowbird]

Hm, no dice. It's like I'm missing some key component for even running the programs. I mean, I drag the FFmpegX program to my Applications folder, I double click on it, and nothing happens. The program doesn't even run. I don't get any screen telling me to install the components, the program doesn't appear it my Dock, it literally doesn't even startup, no matter how many times I click on it. And none of the builds run. Thus far I've tried h, k, p, and q, all with the same problem. I just don't get it. It's extremely frustrating.

 

[Makosuke]

The problem is, I get jerky picture and the sound has annoying clicks all the time, making watching the movie a pain in the ass. I have to check out later if the p works better.

Interesting, I just came here looking for a solution to the audio issue.

I'd been running a fairly old version (d I think) for a long time, and finally decided to install the latest (q). Downloaded the components, told it where they were, it said it did its thing, and everything seems to run perfectly.

...except the resulting .avi file has a lot of quiet pops or clicks in the soundtrack (MP3, CBR, 128K, Stereo). The video (XVID) is gorgeous, and the noises in the soundtrack are admittedly not severe, but it's pretty darned annoying.

The source is a VOB with a single stereo audio track, and even just playing the source file through ffmpegX has the noises, though my home DVD player or Apple DVD Player certainly sound fine.

Dvision will encode it without any funny noises, but for some reason it doesn't like the DVD and so refuses to process anything past the first track. I'm trying Open Shiiva now, but it's going to take hours before I find out if it works.

Anybody have any idea what's up here? I saw no mention of this on the ffmpegX forums. Is it a G5 thing?

 

[daveL]

Realize that the q release is built from ffmpeg CVS, i.e. it is not using an official ffmpeg release, it's using an intermediate development code branch, so there is every possibility that there are bugs. So, as above, I'd recommend sticking with the p release.

Except for some artifacts from a prior ffmpegX installation, I can't explain why you can't even start the app and install the other componenets (mplayer/mencoder, etc.).