Why would you choose this over the multitude of free GUI transcoding programs out there?

• Mencoder is super-fast
• Allows the process to be scripted
• Wide range of codecs
• Cross-platform compatible

Once you get the feel for it, you can append videos much quicker with Mencoder than a more “user friendly” GUI program. And, it works on Linux, Macintosh, and Windows machines, so you don’t have to learn 3 different programs if you work on multiple operating systems.

Here’s the basic format of a Mencoder append command:

mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o 'combined_clip.avi'
'clip1.avi' 'clip2.avi'

Simple as that. The breakdown is as follows:

• -oac
  Tell Mencoder what audio codec to use. For a complete list of options, check out the Mencoder documentation. In this case we have simply used “copy”, which will keep the current audio codec the same without transcoding (this option should only be used if the audio codecs are the same for all the clips).
• -ovc
  Tell Mencoder what video codec to use. Otherwise, same as above.
• -o
  Define the paths to input and output files. First list the output filename, then all the clips in the order which they will be appended.

Knowing this, it is easy enough to script the process. Say I have a whole directory of video files that I want to combine (ex: VID001.AVI, VID002.AVI, VID003.AVI, etc.). I could use the following ruby script to string them all together in their numbered order:

vlist = String.new()
vpath = "/path/to/my/video/directory/"
vdir = Dir.new(vpath)
vdir.each do |v|
  if v.include?(".AVI") == true
    vlist << "\'#{vpath}#{v}\' "
  end
end

cmd = "mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o \'combined_clip.avi\'
#{vlist}"
system cmd

Save the script as VAppend.rb and run it like so:

ruby VAppend.rb

(you must be in the same directory as the script in order to run it with the above command)

Final Notes
The command in the first code box is all one line, and the line in the second code box starting with "cmd =" is also all one line that continues onto a second for formatting purposes (in other words, #{vlist}" belongs at the end of the previous line).

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In 2007 our resident sound engineer and programmer Billy Dalessandro was #6 in the Time Out Chicago Magazine’s top 20 people to watch in 2007 (as an Electronic Music Producer for his label Siteholder.net). *Guess who was #16? A guy from Chi is all but why I am so very lucky to this day. The rest of the crew is equally amazing…it takes a village everywhere in life, especially when actively integrating emerging technology for a living

In terms of producers, directors, technical directors, 2D/3D animators, engineers and all on/off camera talent, Backstar has a very rich pool of talent both on-staff and on-demand. Mitchell Norinsky, founder and streaming evangelist, is personally available to consult with and assist in conceiving creative with you. We have a unique perspective, as many of our contractors are also our clients. While we also produce content and production services for non-webcast events, our REAL focus is on producing and supplying enhanced platforms for content destined for internet or disc use. We do high-level authoring on BD and DVD including games, but the true value these days is spent on web-based media. Questions? Ping us here > solutions@backstar.com

*In case you were curious on #16….it was our #44 President of The USA