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-
- MPEG-1 Video Software Encoder
- (Version 1.1; August 9, 1993)
-
- Lawrence A. Rowe, Kevin Gong, Ketan Patel, and Dan Wallach
- Computer Science Division-EECS, Univ. of Calif. at Berkeley
-
- This directory contains the freely distributed Berkeley MPEG-1 Video
- Encoder. The encoder implements the standard described in the ISO/IEC
- International Standard 11172-2. The code has been compiled and tested
- on the following platforms:
-
- HP PA-RISC (HP/UX 8.X, X11R4) (i.e., HP 9000/7XX and 9000/3XX)
- Sun Sparc (SunOS 4.X, X11R5)
- DECstation 5000 and Alpha
-
- If you decide to port the code to a new architecture, please let
- us know so that we can incorporate the changes into our sources.
-
- This directory contains everything required to build the encoder
- and run it. We have included source code, makefiles, binaries
- for selected platforms, documentation, and test data. Installation
- instructions are given in the file named src/INSTALL. A man
- page is given in the file doc/mpeg_encode.1.
-
- The encoder will accept any input file format as long as you provide
- a script to convert the images to PPM or YUV format. Input file
- processing is described in the file doc/INPUT.FORMAT. Options to control
- input file processing and compression parameters are specified in
- a parameter file. Very little error processing is done when reading
- this file. We suggest you start with the sample parameter file
- examples/template.param and modify it. See also examples/default.param.
-
- We have also provided a Tcl/Tk script, named encode.tcl, that can
- be used to set parameters interactively (see the misc/ directory).
- The misc/ directory contains utility you might find useful including:
- programs to do PPM/YUV conversion and programs to convert Parallax
- XVideo JPEG files into PPM or YUV frames.
-
- The motion vector search window can be specified, including half-pixel
- block matching, in the parameter file. We have implemented several
- search algorithms for P-frames including: 1) exhaustive search,
- 2) subsampled search, and 3) logarithmic search. We have also implemented
- several alternatives for B-frame block matching including: 1) interpolate
- best forward and best backward block, 2) find backward block for best
- forward or vice-versa (called CROSS2), and 3) exhaustive cross product
- (i.e., go out for coffee and a donut!). The search algorithms are controlled
- by options in the parameters file. For tips on choosing the right search
- technique, see doc/TIPS.
-
- We have done some tuning to produce a reasonable encoder, but there are
- many more optimizations that we would like to incorporate. These
- extensions are listed in the file EXTENSIONS. If you succeed in
- implementing any of them, please let us know! We have established
- several mailing lists for messages about the Berkeley MPEG work:
-
- mpeg-list-dist@CS.Berkeley.EDU
- General information on the MPEG-1 decoder and encoder for
- everyone interested should be sent to this list.
-
- mpeg-list-request@CS.Berkeley.EDU
- Requests to join or leave the list should be sent to this
- address. The subject line should contain the single word
- ADD or DELETE.
-
- mpeg-bugs@CS.Berkeley.EDU
- Problems, questions, or patches should be sent to this address.
-
- Our future plans include porting the encoder to run on other
- platforms and completing a portable parallel version of the code
- that will run on a network of workstations. Vendors or other
- organizations interested in supporting this research or discussing
- other aspects of this project should contact Larry Rowe at
- Rowe@CS.Berkeley.EDU (+1 510-642-5117).
-
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
-
- We gratefully thank Hewlett-Packard and Fujitsu who provided financial
- support for this work. We also want to thank the following people for
- their help:
-
- Jef Poskanzer who developed the pbmplus package.
- ---------
- Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 by Jef Poskanzer.
-
- Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its
- documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided
- that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that
- copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
- documentation. This software is provided "as is" without express or
- implied warranty.
- ---------
-
- Eiichi Kowashi of Intel and Avideh Zakhor of U.C. Berkeley who
- provided valuable suggestions on motion vector searching.
-
- Chad Fogg of the University of Washington who has helped us
- understand many issues in MPEG coding and decoding.
-