I have a Canon HF200 video camera and it outputs HD video, but it’s in .MTS file format. This is a pain because there are no good free video converters or editors for .MTS files. But using Avidemux, an open-source video converter, I was able to edit and convert my video to .mp4 while keeping my sanity and my money.

If you know your way around avidemux, pay attention to black colored text.

If you need extra help along the way, or I have something pointless to say, it will be in gray.

1 – Open the File

The first thing you have to do is import your video into Avidemux by one of two methods:

1) file –> open –> your-video.MTS

2) drag and drop the video file into avidemux

A dialog will appear saying, “This looks like MPEG, Do you want to index it?”… say “yes”

Avidemux will then tell you that it has detected H.264, say “yes”  to it’s other mode.

2 – Set Encoding Options

For the Video encoder you should use MPEG-4 AVC

For Audio I recommend AAC (Faac) and a bitrate of 192, (I’ll tell you right now AC3 does NOT work with youtube).

Use mp4 for the encapsulation (not avi like in the above pic).

Configure –> General

Use CRF (Constant Rate Factor) around 16 – 20. A CRF of 16 produces a larger file size; the higher the number, the less the quality and file size.

Configure –> Motion

Use UHS (Uneven Hexagonal Search) and SR (Subpixel Refinement) of 9 for best results.

3 – Fix Frame Rate Issues

Here is where everyone has the problem of “Why is the video half speed!?”

Well, that’s because avidemux doesn’t like you, and that Avidemux decided to treat the predictive and reference frames differently.

The way I fixed this was to double the video frame rate:

Main menu –> Video –> Frame Rate

According to my TI-89, 29.97 * 2 = 59.94 (or I just did it in my head, but think the 89 is a powerful tool, especially if you’re an electrical engineer)

Well… now your video is the right speed… but why is the file so large?

Go to video filters, transform –> Resample fps (back to 29.97).

Yeah, I know, I went extra wide screen with my video, so I feel like a ninja when I watch it, big deal.

I used other filters as well to reduce the resolution and trim the unneeded parts of the video to save space.

4 – Save the Video

File –> Save –> Save Video

Make sure you use the .mp4 extension.

That’s all, enjoy your well-compressed .mp4 video!

…And you’re good to go! Feel free to run /etc/init.d/network restart if you feel like it.

In this short guide, you can learn how to create an easy yet professional-looking fixed-width website with free open-source software. Before you begin, ensure that you have the Gimp and Inkscape installed, in addition to some form of text or code editor (any variety will do).

This guide provides a basic guideline on creating a site simply and easily using few tools. Feel free to try different techniques, see how it works, and leave some feedback in the comments. Feel free to comment on how to improve this article!

Initial Design

First, open up Inkscape and begin visualizing what you want your design to look like. If you have not used Inkscape before, check out this simple Inkscape tutorial.

Things to keep in mind:

• Your design should include a header, menu bar, mid-image portion, and footer portion
• The menu bar portion can have image-mapped links, or you can overlay text links on a background image
• The middle image portion should be vertically tileable for a fixed-width variable-height site.
• The footer can include image-based text, or text can be overlayed on a background image

After you visualize your initial design in Inkscape, you should have something similar to the image below. In this tutorial, we will be creating a site with a header, an image-mapped menubar, a tiled text background, and a footer image.

Your initial Inkscape design should look something like this

Exporting the Design

After you have created your design in Inkscape, you must export it to a raster format so it can be parsed by web browsers. The resulting raster image also needs to be separated into different portions that we will reference in our CSS. The fastest and easiest way to accomplish this is by creating a “chopper” layer above the layer(s) your design is in. Go to [Layer --> Add Layer (select "Above Current")] and put in whatever name you wish.

In this layer, you will now begin creating squares to mask off various portions of your design. Start out by dragging a square across the header portion of your design. Zoom in and make sure that the edges of your mask are aligned with the edges of your design. After you create the first mask, copy the mask and paste it below. This time, center the block on your design and only adjust the height, not the width. Continue this process until you mask each portion of your site: header, menu bar, middle tile, and footer. I find it easiest to color-code these sections and make them semi-opaque, as shown below.

Your completed theme with different portions in different translucent colors should look something like this

Finished? Take a break and check out some of the notes below.

Notes:

• The footer in this design will have copyright info on the image itself, therefore search engines and visitors printing out your site will not have footer information. You can easily add a text-based footer to your design, but this won’t be covered in this tutorial (yet)
• Many other items, such as the menubar imagemap, can be substituted with a text-based menu with an image background behind it. This is usually a bit more flexible, and nicer to search engines.

Ready to move on? If you know some CSS, you can probably figure out this part yourself. You can create