multi_encoder plugin (http://lives.reimeika.ca)

multi_encoder is a LiVES plugin which calls the following
auxiliary encoders:

dirac_encoder.py       DIRAC/---/DRC
gif_encoder.py         GIF/---/GIF
mkv_encoder.py         DIVX 4:5,XVID/VORBIS/MKV
mng_encoder.py         MNG/---/MNG
mpeg_encoder.py        MPEG-1/MP2/MPG
ogm_encoder.py         DIVX 4:5,XVID,H.264/VORBIS/OGM
avi_encoder.py         XVID,SNOW,H.264/MP3/AVI
theora_encoder.py      THEORA/VORBIS/OGG

The multi_encoder usually ships with LiVES and is located in
the $LIVES/share/lives/plugins/encoders directory. At least
one of the auxiliary encoders must be present in your $PATH
for the multi_encoder to work, and Python 2.3 or greater installed.
Furthermore, each encoder has its own set of dependencies. At
minimum you will need:

   http://www.imagemagick.org/
   http://www.mplayerhq.hu/

To fully use multi_encoder you will also need:

dirac_encoder.py  -- http://dirac.sourceforge.net/
mkv_encoder.py    -- http://www.vorbis.com/
                     http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net/index.php
                     http://www.xvid.org/
                     http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/
                     http://www.videolan.org/x264.html
ogm_encoder.py    -- as mkv_encoder.py but with
                     http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/ogmtools/
mpeg_encoder.py   -- http://mjpeg.sourceforge.net/
theora_encoder.py -- http://www.theora.org/
                     (make sure "encoder_example" is in your PATH,
                     it is not installed automatically after compiling).
                     For playback see:
                     http://amv.reimeika.ca/tov.html
avi_encoder.py    -- http://www.xvid.org/
                     http://www.videolan.org/x264.html
                     http://lame.sourceforge.net/

Depending on your needs I recommend the following:

   For "play anywhere" convenience   : mpeg_encoder.py using MPEG-1
   For creating "Debian free" videos : theora_encoder.py
   For absolute best quality/size    : mkv_encoder.py using h.264

You can check whether the required dependency is installed
by running:

   xxx_encoder.py -C

where "xxx" represents any one of the encoders. Note that
this test is not very thorough, and will check OK if the main
dependency is present (say, mencoder) even if the appropriate
libs are missing (e.g. xvidcore). If the above fails because
Python is not found change the first line of the encoder scripts

#!/usr/bin/env python

to point to the correct executable.

All encoders can be called from LiVES via the multi_encoder
plugin. However, they can also be called directly on a LiVES
.lv1 file. This can be useful to take advantage of many extra
features they offer. To see their full usage type:

   xxx_encoder.py -h

As a quick example, copy a LiVES file (say, test.lv1) into an
empty directory and run:

   mpeg_encoder.py -o test.mpg -L test.lv1

to see the encoder at work. For more verbose output use the "-v"
flag.

Main Author:
multi_encoder and all auxiliary encoders are
copyright (C) 2004-2006 Marco De la Cruz (marco@reimeika.ca)
and are released under the GPL license. See
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html for details.

Contributors:
(j@v2v.cc)
Gabriel Finch a.k.a Salsaman (salsaman@xs4all.nl)

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See my vids at http://amv.reimeika.ca !