Video transcoding question

[kirisutogomen]

Does anyone out there have any experience with mencode or some sort of similar video transcoder? See, I have these RealVideo files that I want to convert to some other format, because (a) Real sucks, and (b) I don't think an hour of video should take 500MB. I don't much care what format the files end up (although all else equal I'd probably prefer Ogg Theora purely for ideological reasons).

Anyway, my sketchy research uninformed by any semblance of expertise and unsullied by any possibly relevant knowledge or experience leads me to the highly tentative supposition that mencode is what I want, but I'm damned if I can figure out how to use the goofy thing. Apparently I've been using GUIs as crutches for so long that my ability to do things with command lines has atrophied to a withered stump.

Comments

[billmarrs.livejournal.com]

This comment is not going to be that helpful, but here goes...

I share your disdain for Real and have recently been annoyed by certain sources who use it as their only media type (one being The White House). I did a search for a converter for Windows a couple weeks ago, found one that didn't work. So, I tried another and it installed a non-Real player as part of its setup. So, at that point, I was able to watch the video I had. So, I did, then I deleted it and lost interest in converting it. But, it seemed possible that this Windows converter (a GUI!) could do the conversion. I'm not at the computer where I did this right now, so I can't tell you what it was. But, I could later, perhaps.

[kirisutogomen.livejournal.com]

That would be cool, if it works. It seems that the main selling point of Real is that their files are especially difficult to convert to other formats. In order to maintain this competitive advantage, every time people figure out how to convert their files, Real changes the format.

certain sources who use it as their only media type (one being The White House).

I knew there was a reason I didn't like those guys -- I was just never able to put my finger on it before.

[billmarrs.livejournal.com]

Well, I tracked it down.. http://www.magicvideo.net/

But, it's crippleware, so I really have no idea if it would work and I doubt it's worth paying for.

The non-Real Real-player was this: Real Alternative, which seemed to work fairly well (and lacks all the annoying crap that the real Real player throws at you). *shrug*