Encoding to x264 using ffmpeg

[Rashkae]

Marcelo Magno T. Sales wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> When I was running Karmic, I would encode a video to x264 running ffmpeg 
> as follows:
> ffmpeg -i inputfile.ext -vcodec libx264 -acodec libfaac -sameq -s 
> 854x480 -aspect 1.78 outputfile.mp4
> 
> It used to work great. However, when I use this very same command line 
> in lucid, I get this error message:
> 
> [libx264 @ 0xc28200]broken ffmpeg default settings detected
> [libx264 @ 0xc28200]use an encoding preset (vpre)
> Error while opening codec for output stream #0.0 - maybe incorrect 
> parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height
> 
> I found some preset files in /usr/share/ffmpeg. If I use one of them 
> with the -vpre switch, ffmpeg runs without complaining, but with none of 
> these preset files I get results comparable with what I was used to in 
> Karmic. For example, if I run ffmpeg with -vpre default, I get a very 
> tiny file with horrible quality. If I use -vpre lossless_slower, I get a 
> file with good quality, but with a size 7 to 10 times the original (in 
> Karmic, I would get a file smaller than the original). And so on.
> I've read some ffmpeg encoding tutorials, but so far I'm still unable to 
> generate video files with acceptable quality and sizes.
> 
> Any suggestions?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Marcelo
> 

Get handbrake.. unless you're *really* married to the idea of wrestling 
with ffmpeg directly.