Transcoding isssue debian 7 stable

[7qoAewbn]

I install madsonic (latest version as of this post) using the standalone.

I create a:

Code: Select all

~/../subsonic/transcode

I upload and extract this (I have tried the Debian 7 included version but it is not related to the issue I have):

FFmpeg Static Builds by Burek

Code: Select all

ffmpeg.static.64bit.2013-06-14.tar.gz

Flac to Mp3

This transcoder command does not work:

Code: Select all

Audioffmpeg -i %s -ab 256k -ar 44100 -ac 2 -v 0 -f mp3 -

It must be changed to this:

Code: Select all

ffmpeg -i %s -ab 256k -ar 44100 -ac 2 -v 0 -f mp3 -

what does the Audioffmpeg do? IT works ok if i just use ffmpeg. But the installer comes with this by default so this requires a manual edit.

[GJ51]

Over the years we've found that some releases of ffmpeg work well with certain files better than some of the newer releases. In particular, there are some earlier versions of ffmpeg that handle flac and ogg transcoding better than some of the later versions. Likewise there have been releases that seem to get video transcoding better than later versions for some file formats. Some avi files can be problematic.

So what has been done to try and get consistent transcoding without running into errors is to rename the identified versions of ffmpeg that seem to work better with given file formats. For example, Audioffmpeg is just an earlier version of ffmpeg that was renamed so as to identify it as a version that handles flac and ogg transcodings better than later releases.

If you are not having any issues with your library and prefer to just use the latest ffmpeg.exe for all your transcoding needs, that should be fine. Testing ffmpeg versions and transcoding settings is very time consuming and can get confusing pretty quickly. I do all that sort of testing on a testbed server so as to not mess up my primary Madsonic server. Also keep in mind that when you engage in this sort of thing you're also likely to run into problems that are often unrelated to ffmpeg that can be related to other variables such as java versions, Tomcat variations if your using Tomcat, 32 bit vs. 64 bit OS. It takes a lot of methodical testing to isolate the causes of a given issue and correct it without messing up something else.

Best advice for the average user: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

HTH

[7qoAewbn]

It did not occur to me that this was a filename thing. Made me laugh at myself a bit.

Where is this Audioffmpeg file you refer to. I need to use the standalone version of Madsonic, so without thinking in terms of file names, I was not understanding this Audioffmpeg thing, as I did not see an "Audioffmpeg" file.

What you said makes sense, except I did not see a reference to these ffmpeg versions on this site either? Are they archived somewhere for downloading?

The issue was really about using ffmpeg without having to modify the transcoding settings, and since renaming the file basically does this my initial issue is dealt with. I would still like so test these particular versions you mention though.

[GJ51]

In my case I started doing this before I started using Madsonic, so I just plugged in the files that I had saved. I believe that the only way I've seen the 4 versions come distributed with Madsonic is with the Windows Setup.exe version on a new install.

I've wondered where they are for download myself a few times, but it was never an issue that held me back with my sites as I already had my own named versions that I had been using. Lately I've been running into some problems with transcoding wtv files that I haven't been able to figure out yet and would like to see the recommended transcode library that Marty is using to see if he's using a better combination.

In your case you can either just eliminate the Audio/Video in front of ffmpeg in the transcode strings or just copy ffmpeg twice and rename.

If your not having any transcoding problems either approach will work fine. I'd suggest the copy and rename variation in case you later run into a situation where you actually need to use different ffmpeg versions. I can give you links to my copies, but they are for 64 bit Windows and may not work for everyone. Just send me a PM if you want them, but I wouldn't worry about it if you're not having any issues.

I use the Audioffmpeg that I have for transcoding the output to ogg format to my Android phone to save bandwidth when I'm on my crappy Sprint connection over 3g. That's the only reason I have that file. The newer ffmpeg releases have been pretty good with video lately so I haven't been using my Videoffmpeg much lately.