Converting MPEG 1/2 into MPEG4 Video

[Duddyroar]

This is driving me insane now.

I've downloaded all manner of different programs and none of them seem to do what I want, which is this:

I have files in MPEG 1/2. My phone only plays videos in MPEG4 (MP4) format. I want to convert the original files into MPEG4.

Anyone know of a free program that does this? I've tried Virtualdub but it doesn't seem to output to MPEG4, only avi.

[Fei Fong Wong]

Firstly *.mp4 is just a container, same as *.avi is. What your problem is going to be is to address what codec your phone will support. After all there are many MPEG-4 codecs available including, XviD, DivX, RealVideo etc. I suspect however you're needing MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Codec or h.264)

What is MPEG-4?

MPEG-4 (ISO 14496) is a broad Open Standard developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), a working group of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) which also did the well known MPEG-1 (MP3, VCD) and MPEG-2 (DVD, SVCD) Standards, standardizing all sorts of audio/video compression formats and much more
By its nature the MPEG-4 Standard doesnt aim at standardizing one potential product (eg something comparable to DVD) but covers a broad range of Sub-Standards, which Product Providers can choose from to follow, according to what they need for their product

The MPEG-4 Standard, as mentioned, is divided into many different sub-standards, where for us users on Doom9 the following parts might be of major interest:
- ISO 14496-1 (Systems), Animation/Interactivity (like DVD Menus)
- ISO 14496-2 (Video), e.g. Advanced Simple Profile (ASP), as followed by XviD, DivX5, 3ivx...
- ISO 14496-3 (Audio), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC)
- ISO 14496-10 (Video), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), also known as H.264
- ISO 14496-14 (Container), MP4 container format (uses the .mp4 extension)
- ISO 14496-17 (Subtitles), MPEG-4 Timed Text subtitle format

Much more information can be found here along with a list of encoders and decoders. There are samples on that page too which you could try on your phone first.

[Duddyroar]

Cor! thanks!