[sumo] Sumo Video Technical Question

[Clay Holden]

On 3/8/07 6:34 AM, "Ngozi Robinson" <ngozirobinson at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Hi All,
> 
> I'm getting ramped up to post the videos for the upcoming Basho and had a
> technical question maybe someone in the group could help me with.
> 
> Does anyone know of a software for OSX that will allow me to convert video
> files to RealPlayer format?  The codex I was using doesn't jive with my
> machine and I thought it would be nicer for people not to have to load the
> large large QuickTime files.

Long (semi-)technical reply here, please delete if uninterested...

*Please* avoid converting to RealPlayer format. Even the free version of
their player is filled with spyware, and even on OSX. You have to read over
the install log when you are finished installing it and disable or delete a
bunch of junk.

First of all, what format are you going to be capturing the video files in?
That will make a difference in your options.

Depending on the answer, I would recommend either D-Vision 3 or ffmpegX for
converting to .mp4 or .avi or even h264 files. Any of these will be smaller
than QuickTime files, and you can produce end results considerably better
into the bargain.

ffmpegX has a learning curve, but is incredibly powerful. D-Vision 3 is very
easy to use, is dependable, has a number of options you can tweak, and
produces high-quality end-results.

Forty-Two is probably easier to use, but the results are not as
configurable. MPEG2 Works has many options, but is not freeware or
shareware, and may not suit your purposes anyway, though it is a very good
tool when called for.

ffmpegX can convert *from* RealVideo to more reasonable formats, but I don't
believe it works the other way around.

Anyway, basically please don't convert to RealPlayer files, even if you find
a way to do so. The quality is horrible, and the corporation is evil.

If you need more info on any of the above, feel free to write me off-list,
as I am willing to offer some help, but am reasonably certain that nobody
on-list would want to read it ;-)

In terms of locating the OSX tools mentioned above, Google is your friend.

Sorry if this doesn't answer the question you asked in the first place...

Best regards,

Clay