Choosing an OS for a 2nd system

[Docomo]

Hi all

Im building a second system, currently I have a p4 2.4C thats working well but I do alot of encoding of my old videos and that kind of stuff and I find that it can be a bit touchy if I am trying to do several conversions at once so I am building a 2nd system.
i haven:t quite decided on the proc and MB but I will probably just go with an intel 2.4A and an 865 MB, as it will suit my needs and my 2nd system will not be doing much of anything besides fiile crunching.

anyways, I am interested in finding out how the various flavors of linux handle vido manipulation. mainly going from wmv to AVI or is that simply out of the question?

Is there an OS that will handle video file conversion faster than others? I have quite a few Videos to move onto my computer,

thanks,

!!!!

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: Docomo
mainly going from wmv to AVI or is that simply out of the question?

That's a bad idea. Converting data from one lossy format to another usually results in poor results. (You can do it, but if you can start with an AVI-wrapped codec, or leave it as WMV, that would be better).

 

[mikecel79]

I don't really think it's makes a huge difference which OS you use. It depends more on the encoders and the codecs you are using. You can do it on Linux just as easily as you can on Windows. However Linux is free, where as Windows will cost you money.

 

[Nothinman]

That's a bad idea. Converting data from one lossy format to another usually results in poor results. (You can do it, but if you can start with an AVI-wrapped codec, or leave it as WMV, that would be better).

Very true, but some encoders like ffmpeg have a switch for 'same quality' that keeps the newly encoded stream as close as possible to the original. I've only use it once or twice but it worked really well.

You can do it on Linux just as easily as you can on Windows.

Depends on your definition of easy. Everytime I try to play videos on Windows I end up digging around for codecs to install and dealing with crappy players and half-working share-ware. On Linux with mplayer, mencoder, transcode, ffmpeg, etc I have everything I need codec-wise and it's all 100% free.

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

That's a bad idea. Converting data from one lossy format to another usually results in poor results. (You can do it, but if you can start with an AVI-wrapped codec, or leave it as WMV, that would be better).

Very true, but some encoders like ffmpeg have a switch for 'same quality' that keeps the newly encoded stream as close as possible to the original. I've only use it once or twice but it worked really well.

Did it end up having to use a higher bitrate than it would have starting from an uncompressed (or nearly uncompressed) stream to acheive the same quality?

 

[Nothinman]

Did it end up having to use a higher bitrate than it would have starting from an uncompressed (or nearly uncompressed) stream to acheive the same quality?

No idea, I didn't have the uncompressed file to do a comparison and I don't have the transcoded file anymore.