[olug] OLUG Digest, Vol 70, Issue 26

G. Joseph Rosas guillermo.rosas at gmail.com
Fri Dec 26 17:43:10 UTC 2008 

Hello -
Mostly a reader, seldom a contributer (my bad). Video conversion caught my
eye this morning, though.

@T.J. et al. - I use Myth for my Media Center solution. I found it rather
finicky with some MP4 files, though. I archived most of my DVD collection to
my Mythbox to save wear and tear on the discs. I use Ripitforme in
Windows, but regardless of how one choses to get the VOBs from the DVD, I
found Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/)  <http://handbrake.fr/>works rather
well at creating video that plays well with Myth. Although I haven't
explored all conversion options/combinations, I am currently using the
'Film' preset outputting an AVI file using the FFmpeg MPEG-4 video codec and
MP3 for audio. I tried MP4 once with Handbrake, but it did not play well
with my Myth setup. I have not had the 'time' (read, patience) to try MP4
again with the FFmpeg video codec and/or MP3.

Handbrake is multiplatform, multithreaded, and gratis.

Not sure if this info helps, given that you plan to use your video on a PS3,
but I thought I'd chime in.

~Secular Greetings~

-GJR


On Fri, Dec 26, 2008 at 11:00 AM, <olug-request at olug.org> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. Video Conversion Help (T. J. Brumfield)
>   2. Re: Video Conversion Help (Jordan Fox)
>   3. Re: Video Conversion Help (Joe Gulizia)
>   4. Re: Video Conversion Help (home slice)
>   5. Varying port access from an internal XP box (Eric P)
>   6. Re: Varying port access from an internal XP box (Eric P)
>   7. Re: Varying port access from an internal XP box (Eric P)
>   8. Re: Varying port access from an internal XP box (Steven Susbauer)
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "T. J. Brumfield" <enderandrew at gmail.com>
> To: "Omaha Linux User Group" <olug at olug.org>
> Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:02:15 -0600
> Subject: [olug] Video Conversion Help
> I believe I was asking along these lines before, but I'm not sure I
> asked specifically about software programs.  Either way I am going to
> rip my entire DVD collection (about 400 discs) and I would prefer that
> my PS3 can play the video files I spit out.  I can eventually build a
> Linux home theater PC, but the PS3 picks up shared video files just
> fine for me at the moment.  The PS3 seems fickle about what it plays.
> It supposedly supports a bunch of codecs, but it won't play one XVID
> file, and then it plays another.  That is an issue I'm going to take
> up with a Sony PS3 forum, or tech support.  However, I'm looking for
> an app (can be Windows or Linux as I dual-boot) to help me rip the
> DVDs and convert the files.
>
> I'm not opposed to a bash script and doing it via the command line.
>
> I'm assuming mpeg-4/mp4 files with h.264 encoding is the way to go,
> but frankly I'm not set on a container or codec.  If it looks pretty
> good, I can get a movie around or under 1 gig in size (that is what
> I'm hoping for at least) and it will play, I'll be happy.
>
> Suggestions for apps and methods?
>
> -- T. J. Brumfield
> "In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
> people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
> --Douglas Adams
> "Nihilism makes me smile."
> --Christopher Quick
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Jordan Fox" <vmifox at gmail.com>
> To: "Omaha Linux User Group" <olug at olug.org>
> Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:00:04 -0600
> Subject: Re: [olug] Video Conversion Help
> recently I just converted some files from mpeg2 to h.264.  I went the
> really
> easy way and used VLC.  That's probably not the best solution for what you
> want, but it is really easy, and it works.  There is another program called
> winFF - it's available for both windows and linux.  It's a front end for
> ffmpeg.  I can't remember the specific reason I didn't use it, because it
> looked pretty easy, but something wasn't working right for me.  Check out
> the MPlayer webpage, as there are a few mencoder front-ends that would make
> it easy.  If, as you say, you don't mind writing some scripts, then your
> probably diligent enough to use mencoder or ffmpeg from the command line or
> write a script for it.  I didn't want to take the time to learn all the
> different flags and other encoding specific info.  I know the basics, but I
> just wanted to convert a few files quickly without trying to figure
> something out.
>
> H.264 works really well, there is an x.264 free codec for linux.  I don't
> really know much about it though.  Other than some of the proprietary
> stuff,
> I really like the h.264.  I can't tell the difference in visual quality on
> the videos I converted from mpeg2 to h.264 and the files went from being
> 1.1
> GB to ~225 MB.  Pretty good in my book, but I'm not a huge audio/video
> purist, so I don't know how good the quality really is.
>
> I can't help you with the ps3 stuff as I don't have one.  Although, I
> thought about getting one, so I could have my own personal linux
> supercomputer.  But, I don't really like sony for the same reasons I don't
> like apple or ms - they try to lock you into their proprietary stuff all
> the
> time.  (But they lose money on every console, so I could stick it to the
> man
> by buying one - at least that's what I tell myself when I think about
> buying
> one)
>
> I hope all this rambling helps.
>
> http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/projects.html
>
> http://winff.org/html/
>
> Merry Christmas,
> Jordan
>
> On Thu, Dec 25, 2008 at 1:02 PM, T. J. Brumfield <enderandrew at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > I believe I was asking along these lines before, but I'm not sure I
> > asked specifically about software programs.  Either way I am going to
> > rip my entire DVD collection (about 400 discs) and I would prefer that
> > my PS3 can play the video files I spit out.  I can eventually build a
> > Linux home theater PC, but the PS3 picks up shared video files just
> > fine for me at the moment.  The PS3 seems fickle about what it plays.
> > It supposedly supports a bunch of codecs, but it won't play one XVID
> > file, and then it plays another.  That is an issue I'm going to take
> > up with a Sony PS3 forum, or tech support.  However, I'm looking for
> > an app (can be Windows or Linux as I dual-boot) to help me rip the
> > DVDs and convert the files.
> >
> > I'm not opposed to a bash script and doing it via the command line.
> >
> > I'm assuming mpeg-4/mp4 files with h.264 encoding is the way to go,
> > but frankly I'm not set on a container or codec.  If it looks pretty
> > good, I can get a movie around or under 1 gig in size (that is what
> > I'm hoping for at least) and it will play, I'll be happy.
> >
> > Suggestions for apps and methods?
> >
> > -- T. J. Brumfield
> > "In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
> > people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
> > --Douglas Adams
> > "Nihilism makes me smile."
> > --Christopher Quick
> > _______________________________________________
> > OLUG mailing list
> > OLUG at olug.org
> > https://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
> petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace
> of
> God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds
> in
> Christ Jesus."  Phil 4:6-7
>
> "The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance
> between your knees and the floor."  Anonymous
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Joe Gulizia <jrguliz at yahoo.com>
> To: Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>
> Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:25:34 -0800 (PST)
> Subject: Re: [olug] Video Conversion Help
> I use ffmpeg to convert YouTube videos to mp3 audio files for personal
> media players.  I found a YouTube video on using ffmpeg.  I have also used
> Avidemux to convert videos as well as Kino.  VLC just never transcodes right
> for me.  Avidemux does have an easyto use converter TO DVD...not sure about
> going the other way however.
>
> Joe
>
>
> --- On Thu, 12/25/08, Jordan Fox <vmifox at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > From: Jordan Fox <vmifox at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [olug] Video Conversion Help
> > To: "Omaha Linux User Group" <olug at olug.org>
> > Date: Thursday, December 25, 2008, 2:00 PM
> > recently I just converted some files from mpeg2 to h.264.  I
> > went the really
> > easy way and used VLC.  That's probably not the best
> > solution for what you
> > want, but it is really easy, and it works.  There is
> > another program called
> > winFF - it's available for both windows and linux.
> > It's a front end for
> > ffmpeg.  I can't remember the specific reason I
> > didn't use it, because it
> > looked pretty easy, but something wasn't working right
> > for me.  Check out
> > the MPlayer webpage, as there are a few mencoder front-ends
> > that would make
> > it easy.  If, as you say, you don't mind writing some
> > scripts, then your
> > probably diligent enough to use mencoder or ffmpeg from the
> > command line or
> > write a script for it.  I didn't want to take the time
> > to learn all the
> > different flags and other encoding specific info.  I know
> > the basics, but I
> > just wanted to convert a few files quickly without trying
> > to figure
> > something out.
> >
> > H.264 works really well, there is an x.264 free codec for
> > linux.  I don't
> > really know much about it though.  Other than some of the
> > proprietary stuff,
> > I really like the h.264.  I can't tell the difference
> > in visual quality on
> > the videos I converted from mpeg2 to h.264 and the files
> > went from being 1.1
> > GB to ~225 MB.  Pretty good in my book, but I'm not a
> > huge audio/video
> > purist, so I don't know how good the quality really is.
> >
> > I can't help you with the ps3 stuff as I don't have
> > one.  Although, I
> > thought about getting one, so I could have my own personal
> > linux
> > supercomputer.  But, I don't really like sony for the
> > same reasons I don't
> > like apple or ms - they try to lock you into their
> > proprietary stuff all the
> > time.  (But they lose money on every console, so I could
> > stick it to the man
> > by buying one - at least that's what I tell myself when
> > I think about buying
> > one)
> >
> > I hope all this rambling helps.
> >
> > http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/projects.html
> >
> > http://winff.org/html/
> >
> > Merry Christmas,
> > Jordan
> >
> > On Thu, Dec 25, 2008 at 1:02 PM, T. J. Brumfield
> > <enderandrew at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> > > I believe I was asking along these lines before, but
> > I'm not sure I
> > > asked specifically about software programs.  Either
> > way I am going to
> > > rip my entire DVD collection (about 400 discs) and I
> > would prefer that
> > > my PS3 can play the video files I spit out.  I can
> > eventually build a
> > > Linux home theater PC, but the PS3 picks up shared
> > video files just
> > > fine for me at the moment.  The PS3 seems fickle about
> > what it plays.
> > > It supposedly supports a bunch of codecs, but it
> > won't play one XVID
> > > file, and then it plays another.  That is an issue
> > I'm going to take
> > > up with a Sony PS3 forum, or tech support.  However,
> > I'm looking for
> > > an app (can be Windows or Linux as I dual-boot) to
> > help me rip the
> > > DVDs and convert the files.
> > >
> > > I'm not opposed to a bash script and doing it via
> > the command line.
> > >
> > > I'm assuming mpeg-4/mp4 files with h.264 encoding
> > is the way to go,
> > > but frankly I'm not set on a container or codec.
> > If it looks pretty
> > > good, I can get a movie around or under 1 gig in size
> > (that is what
> > > I'm hoping for at least) and it will play,
> > I'll be happy.
> > >
> > > Suggestions for apps and methods?
> > >
> > > -- T. J. Brumfield
> > > "In the beginning the Universe was created. This
> > has made a lot of
> > > people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad
> > move."
> > > --Douglas Adams
> > > "Nihilism makes me smile."
> > > --Christopher Quick
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > OLUG mailing list
> > > OLUG at olug.org
> > > https://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
> > by prayer and
> > petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
> > And the peace of
> > God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your
> > hearts and minds in
> > Christ Jesus."  Phil 4:6-7
> >
> > "The shortest distance between a problem and a
> > solution is the distance
> > between your knees and the floor."  Anonymous
> > _______________________________________________
> > OLUG mailing list
> > OLUG at olug.org
> > https://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "home slice" <homeslice at packetfury.com>
> To: jrguliz at yahoo.com, "Omaha Linux User Group" <olug at olug.org>
> Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 16:02:12 -0600
> Subject: Re: [olug] Video Conversion Help
> ffmpeg is the cats meow IMO.
> To the first time user it may be somewhat complicated looking to use via
> command line, but, if you read up on ffmpeg, it will make sense.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 25, 2008 at 3:25 PM, Joe Gulizia <jrguliz at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > I use ffmpeg to convert YouTube videos to mp3 audio files for personal
> > media players.  I found a YouTube video on using ffmpeg.  I have also
> used
> > Avidemux to convert videos as well as Kino.  VLC just never transcodes
> right
> > for me.  Avidemux does have an easyto use converter TO DVD...not sure
> about
> > going the other way however.
> >
> > Joe
> >
> >
> > --- On Thu, 12/25/08, Jordan Fox <vmifox at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > From: Jordan Fox <vmifox at gmail.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [olug] Video Conversion Help
> > > To: "Omaha Linux User Group" <olug at olug.org>
> > > Date: Thursday, December 25, 2008, 2:00 PM
> > > recently I just converted some files from mpeg2 to h.264.  I
> > > went the really
> > > easy way and used VLC.  That's probably not the best
> > > solution for what you
> > > want, but it is really easy, and it works.  There is
> > > another program called
> > > winFF - it's available for both windows and linux.
> > > It's a front end for
> > > ffmpeg.  I can't remember the specific reason I
> > > didn't use it, because it
> > > looked pretty easy, but something wasn't working right
> > > for me.  Check out
> > > the MPlayer webpage, as there are a few mencoder front-ends
> > > that would make
> > > it easy.  If, as you say, you don't mind writing some
> > > scripts, then your
> > > probably diligent enough to use mencoder or ffmpeg from the
> > > command line or
> > > write a script for it.  I didn't want to take the time
> > > to learn all the
> > > different flags and other encoding specific info.  I know
> > > the basics, but I
> > > just wanted to convert a few files quickly without trying
> > > to figure
> > > something out.
> > >
> > > H.264 works really well, there is an x.264 free codec for
> > > linux.  I don't
> > > really know much about it though.  Other than some of the
> > > proprietary stuff,
> > > I really like the h.264.  I can't tell the difference
> > > in visual quality on
> > > the videos I converted from mpeg2 to h.264 and the files
> > > went from being 1.1
> > > GB to ~225 MB.  Pretty good in my book, but I'm not a
> > > huge audio/video
> > > purist, so I don't know how good the quality really is.
> > >
> > > I can't help you with the ps3 stuff as I don't have
> > > one.  Although, I
> > > thought about getting one, so I could have my own personal
> > > linux
> > > supercomputer.  But, I don't really like sony for the
> > > same reasons I don't
> > > like apple or ms - they try to lock you into their
> > > proprietary stuff all the
> > > time.  (But they lose money on every console, so I could
> > > stick it to the man
> > > by buying one - at least that's what I tell myself when
> > > I think about buying
> > > one)
> > >
> > > I hope all this rambling helps.
> > >
> > > http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/projects.html
> > >
> > > http://winff.org/html/
> > >
> > > Merry Christmas,
> > > Jordan
> > >
> > > On Thu, Dec 25, 2008 at 1:02 PM, T. J. Brumfield
> > > <enderandrew at gmail.com>wrote:
> > >
> > > > I believe I was asking along these lines before, but
> > > I'm not sure I
> > > > asked specifically about software programs.  Either
> > > way I am going to
> > > > rip my entire DVD collection (about 400 discs) and I
> > > would prefer that
> > > > my PS3 can play the video files I spit out.  I can
> > > eventually build a
> > > > Linux home theater PC, but the PS3 picks up shared
> > > video files just
> > > > fine for me at the moment.  The PS3 seems fickle about
> > > what it plays.
> > > > It supposedly supports a bunch of codecs, but it
> > > won't play one XVID
> > > > file, and then it plays another.  That is an issue
> > > I'm going to take
> > > > up with a Sony PS3 forum, or tech support.  However,
> > > I'm looking for
> > > > an app (can be Windows or Linux as I dual-boot) to
> > > help me rip the
> > > > DVDs and convert the files.
> > > >
> > > > I'm not opposed to a bash script and doing it via
> > > the command line.
> > > >
> > > > I'm assuming mpeg-4/mp4 files with h.264 encoding
> > > is the way to go,
> > > > but frankly I'm not set on a container or codec.
> > > If it looks pretty
> > > > good, I can get a movie around or under 1 gig in size
> > > (that is what
> > > > I'm hoping for at least) and it will play,
> > > I'll be happy.
> > > >
> > > > Suggestions for apps and methods?
> > > >
> > > > -- T. J. Brumfield
> > > > "In the beginning the Universe was created. This
> > > has made a lot of
> > > > people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad
> > > move."
> > > > --Douglas Adams
> > > > "Nihilism makes me smile."
> > > > --Christopher Quick
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > OLUG mailing list
> > > > OLUG at olug.org
> > > > https://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
> > > by prayer and
> > > petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
> > > And the peace of
> > > God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your
> > > hearts and minds in
> > > Christ Jesus."  Phil 4:6-7
> > >
> > > "The shortest distance between a problem and a
> > > solution is the distance
> > > between your knees and the floor."  Anonymous
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > OLUG mailing list
> > > OLUG at olug.org
> > > https://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > OLUG mailing list
> > OLUG at olug.org
> > https://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> >
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Eric P <eric.maillist at gmail.com>
> To: Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>
> Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 21:18:57 -0600
> Subject: [olug] Varying port access from an internal XP box
> Hi,
>
> I flipped on Firestarter (Linux GUI firewall) and noticed the XP box on my
> network is trying to access some service on
> my Linux box (the one w/Firestarter) about four times every minute.   With
> Firestarter it's being blocked now, but the
> troubling thing is the port changes w/each request, and they're high
> non-standard ports in the 33,000-61,000 range.
>
> Any ideas or should I begin suspecting a virus on the XP box?
>
> Thanks,
> Eric P.
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Eric P <eric.maillist at gmail.com>
> To: Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>
> Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 21:23:57 -0600
> Subject: Re: [olug] Varying port access from an internal XP box
> Eric P wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I flipped on Firestarter (Linux GUI firewall) and noticed the XP box on
> my network is trying to access some service on
> > my Linux box (the one w/Firestarter) about four times every minute.
> With Firestarter it's being blocked now, but the
> > troubling thing is the port changes w/each request, and they're high
> non-standard ports in the 33,000-61,000 range.
> >
> > Any ideas or should I begin suspecting a virus on the XP box?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Eric P.
> >
>
> I should add that the only service I knowingly use between the machines is
> Samba for accessing the XP files from the
> Linux box.
>
> Thanks,
> Eric P.
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Eric P <eric.maillist at gmail.com>
> To: Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>
> Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 22:50:58 -0600
> Subject: Re: [olug] Varying port access from an internal XP box
> Eric P wrote:
> > Eric P wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> I flipped on Firestarter (Linux GUI firewall) and noticed the XP box on
> my network is trying to access some service on
> >> my Linux box (the one w/Firestarter) about four times every minute.
> With Firestarter it's being blocked now, but the
> >> troubling thing is the port changes w/each request, and they're high
> non-standard ports in the 33,000-61,000 range.
> >>
> >> Any ideas or should I begin suspecting a virus on the XP box?
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> Eric P.
> >>
> >
> > I should add that the only service I knowingly use between the machines
> is Samba for accessing the XP files from the
> > Linux box.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Eric P.
> >
>
> Ok, my last email lead me to a possible answer.
>
> It seemed that FuseSmb was trying to verify a connection it had with a
> pre-established mount point on the XP box.  Since
> it could no longer access the XP file share (due to turning on Firestarter
> which was now blocking it), FuseSmb tried to
> periodically access the XP file share but Firestarter wouldn't allow a
> response back.  So my guess is FuseSmb kept
> telling the response to try different ports on each intermittent check
> since it never heard anything back.
>
> At least that's my best guess.
>
> Eric P.
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Steven Susbauer <stupendoussteve at hotmail.com>
> To: Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>
> Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2008 04:36:10 -0600
> Subject: Re: [olug] Varying port access from an internal XP box
> Eric P wrote:
> > Eric P wrote:
> >> Eric P wrote:
> >>> Hi,
> >>>
> >>> I flipped on Firestarter (Linux GUI firewall) and noticed the XP box on
> my network is trying to access some service on
> >>> my Linux box (the one w/Firestarter) about four times every minute.
> With Firestarter it's being blocked now, but the
> >>> troubling thing is the port changes w/each request, and they're high
> non-standard ports in the 33,000-61,000 range.
> >>>
> >>> Any ideas or should I begin suspecting a virus on the XP box?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> Eric P.
> >>>
> >> I should add that the only service I knowingly use between the machines
> is Samba for accessing the XP files from the
> >> Linux box.
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> Eric P.
> >>
> >
> > Ok, my last email lead me to a possible answer.
> >
> > It seemed that FuseSmb was trying to verify a connection it had with a
> pre-established mount point on the XP box.  Since
> > it could no longer access the XP file share (due to turning on
> Firestarter which was now blocking it), FuseSmb tried to
> > periodically access the XP file share but Firestarter wouldn't allow a
> response back.  So my guess is FuseSmb kept
> > telling the response to try different ports on each intermittent check
> since it never heard anything back.
> >
> > At least that's my best guess.
> >
> > Eric P.
> If you're concerned about it, I suggest looking at the traffic with
> wireshark, which will probably be able to tell you pretty quickly what
> kind of traffic it is.
>
>
>
>
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