ffmpeg with AMR (nb & wb), lame, FAAC and FAAd codec.

Below is how I have installed and used ffmpeg to convert avi and wmv files to 3gp format so that I can store and play them in my mobile phone. I have a very rough guide, but hope that will help you in understanding more about the procedure by doing your own research. Consider the below scribble as a pointer to get things started. Now that being said, lets get started..

Download the source for amr_nb (nb stands for narrow band; amr is for the 3gp support). If you can find the sources for both you can use both of them. I was not able to find the source for amr_wb and at last I had to beg in irc://irc.freenode.net (#ffmpeg) to get the source from a fellow who had it uploaded in some file sharing site for me.

For mp3 support, get the lame codec from sourceforge

Download faac, faad2 from sourceforge.net and get them installed.

get the amr and lame codecs compiled and installed.

Get the source for ffmpeg from the svn or search for the tarball.

svn://svn.mplayerhq.hu/ffmpeg/trunk

Get things going with the configure, make & make install.

./configure --enable-libmp3lame  --enable-libvorbis --enable-libamr-nb --enable-libamr-wb --enable-gpl --enable-libfaac --enable-libfaad --enable-shared

voila.. you are ready to convert video files for your mobile ~smile~

Below is the way I use ffmpeg to convert. Figuring out the options for ffmpeg is your job (hint: man ffmpeg)

./ffmpeg -i /home/old_desktops/sabarish.old/laptop_backup/Azureus\ Downloads/Kylie\ Minogue\ -\ Spinning\ Around\ \(xvid\ K-rip\).avi -f 3gp -vcodec mpeg4 -acodec faac -ar 8000 -ac 1 -ab 12.2k -y Kylie.3gp

I have used options, -acodec libamr_wb also but had some issues with the sound in the video, so rolled back using faac audio codecs. You can experiment around and use the best to get things done.

vtap.com or regionalized India.vtap.com !

What would you do when you want to see the new Rs. 1 Lakh car  which was presented to us, Indians by TATA Motors ? What if you want to see the video of the car to find the look and feel of it ?

My choice would be to search in vtap.com. This ultimate video search engine gives me the power to find out informational videos, entertainment videos, news videos, sports, user videos (which are hugely crappy or pathetic, but a few gems), music videos etcetera. The most powerful feature of vtap engine is its search capability, where it does an incremental search and you can see results of the typed in query without you clicking on the "Go" button. The search is so good that, I don't have to type in the whole characters of my (current) favourite singer "alizee" to find her videos. All it takes is type up to "aliz" and I can see the results already showing the pretty singer smiling at me.

vtap.com also provides your mobile (iphone, windows mobiles (source available here), large number of web enabled phones and itouch) with this search facility where you can use either a downloadable client or by going to vtap for mobile (http://m.vtap.com). Alas, one feature missing in vtap for mobile is the incremental search, so you have to go "clicky clicky" each time you want to see the results. Over the gprs in India this will really test your patience, talking about rigorous testing. Though at office or home, with those wifi enabled mobile, its a virtue.

Latest news is that vTap is bundled with Motorola mobile phones starting from their latest model MOTO Z10 onwards. I bought a Motorokr E6 recently and now I feel I should have waited a little while more so that I can buy MOTO Z10 with vTap bundled.

If you have a mobile which is supported by vtap and have a data plan activated, do try out vTap. Even with a PC you can use vTap to do more precise search than any other video search feature provides.