This article explains you what to have installed before attempting to encode videos yourself. First we need to define a few things:
Video codecs: these handle the playback and creation of the video on video files by using certain compression methods.
Audio codecs: these handle the playback and creation of the audio on video files by using certain compression methods.
By default most people already have a few MPEG4 codecs installed (DivX, XVID) next to a fairly large number of codecs that come with windows (for instance MPEG). I’m very CON misc formats, here is why:
Encoding in alternate formats (WMV [Microsoft], RMVB [Real], MKV [Matroska], OGG etc):
It is generally not recommended you deviate from the MPEG4 standard, but many people have been sharing alternate formats. Remember that the possibility of proper playback on a foreign machine becomes smaller and the number of programs and codecs installed is going to grow larger. In general, try to avoid these formats at all cost.
I do have conversion guides available from any of these alternate formats to AVI or MPG. Here’s what you should have installed on your machine to start encoding your own videos:
AVI-MPEG4 Encoding
LAME MP3 Encoder
AC3 Filter (import issues)
DivX
XVID
MPEG/ VCD / SVCD Encoding
TMPGEnc
MPEG2 DirectShow Filter
