Application: MediaCoder
Category: Music & Video
Description: MediaCoder is a free universal batch media transcoder, which nicely integrates most popular audio/video codecs and tools into an all-in-one solution. MediaCoder allows you to convert, transcode, and decode dozens of the most popular audio and video formats.
Download MediaCoder Portable 0.6.1.4166 Development Test 1 [17.3MB download / 23.2MB installed]
(MD5: 92f9b1a02cb65838464687224f61fa2a)
Release Notes:
Development Test 1 (2008-08-08):
- Updated to version 0.6.1.4166
- Updated PortableApps.com Installer version to 0.10.1
- Added "Vista" 256 pixel icon as per latest PAF Spec Outline
Development Test 1 (2008-07-15):
- Updated to version 0.6.1.4135
- Updated PortableApps.com Installer to version 0.9.9.5
Development Test 1 (2008-06-09):
- Updated to version 0.6.1.4115
Remind Me
Is this the one where you need to be connected to the internet to use it?
Tim
"The wheels of John grind Slowly, But they grind Exceedingly Small" ;-)
No
I don't think you do. It only went the to MediaCoder homepage on startup, but that option is disabled in the portable version by default.
It's kinda sad when my desktop is messier than my room.
Updated
Alright, I decided to stop being lazy and updated MediaCoder to the latest version. Well, technically 0.6.1.4135 isn't out as a full package, but as an update package, so I decided to get ahead of the game early and just use the update package.
Lemme know if anyone has issues with it. Thanks.
"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in."
-Bradley's Bromide
:(
I wanted to try this out but it says you need Firefox installed to use it. I removed Firefox from my drive after unsatisfactory performance of 3 and have been using K-Meleon Portable instead.
?
You don't need Firefox to use MediaCoder. I have no idea where you might have got that from?
"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in."
-Bradley's Bromide
To change any of the settings
To change any of the settings it says you need Firefox installed. I went to Options>Browser Setup and pointed it to the K-MeleonPortable.exe and it worked. Probably because they're both Mozilla based.
Updated.
I just updated MediaCoder Portable to version 0.6.1.4166 (don't you just hate their version system?). Take a look above for more information.
"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in."
-Bradley's Bromide
Encoding to MP4+ACC
Getting an error incorrect parameters for Nero Encoder.
Nero Encoder is used for the lc-acc for some reason with this version the settings I've been using with previous versions of Mediacoder do not work
Odd.
I've never had such an error. My only suggestion (ATM) would be to delete the MediaCoderPortable folder and reinstall.
"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in."
-Bradley's Bromide
Error Resolved
Apparently this is the earlier version of 4166. There's an update on the mediacoder site which resolves this issue. I downloaded it, extracted it using Universal Extractor, and copied the files over the top of the others, most are in app/mediacoder and one is in data/settings.
Error
When launching MediaCoder, I get a popup with the following error - Unable to access registry for system font information. Once I acknowledge that, the MediaCoder window comes up.
This is on an XP system where I don't have admin rights.
Yeah.
It's a known bug. I'm not sure if it's a MediaCoder Portable thing, but if you just hit okay everything will work fine. I've found that with admin rights you won't get the error, so I'm pretty sure it's a problem with MediaCoder looking for the registry, but it can't as a limited user.
"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in."
-Bradley's Bromide
LUA bug. If I run it on Vista
LUA bug. Strangely enough, if I run it on Vista with XP compatibility set, I don't get the error.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.0.3) Gecko/2008092417 Firefox/3.0.3
Wow!
MediaCoder is awesome! I've been looking for a good video transcoder forever to copy my DVD movies to my iPod, and MediaCoder is the best one I've seen. The interface is easy to use and transcoding is fast... even better that it's free (in both senses)--and portable!
Vista
MediaCoder (regular version) has problems with Vista and Fx 3. I would recommend holding off on a final release until this has been resolved. Also, MediaCoder is at 4190 (released today in fact), so you may want to update.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.0.3) Gecko/2008092417 Firefox/3.0.3
Infringes on various Copyrights
MediaCoder includes a lot of codecs for which the author does not have any rights to distribute them.
The most notable infringements are:
- Distribution of Nero Digital HE-AAC Encoder, Copyright Nero AG
- Distribution of Sony ATRAC3 Codec for RealAudio, Copyright RealNetworks, Inc.
- Distribution of MP3Pro Input Plugin, Copyright Coding Technologies GmbH
The author of MediaCoder is aware of the infringements, but refuses to remove the problematic codecs. This was discussed with the author on HydrogenAudio.org earlier this year in this forum thread.
I think that distributing MediaCoder with these codecs could make PortableApps.com liable for copyright infringement. It would be better to remove the codecs from the PortableApps.com version - if not discontinue to distribute MediaCoder entirely.
Different
That thread is about "MediaCoder Audio Edition" which is an unofficial/unapproved package of MediaCoder+all those non-free codecs. MediaCoder itself is open source and doesn't include those closed-source codecs to my knowledge.
Live with purpose.
Yes.
You are exactly right John. There are no non-OSS codecs included in MediaCoder (Portable). When you try to use these codecs, it offers you a site from which you can download these codecs. So, there is no illegal distribution.
"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in."
-Bradley's Bromide
Not quite.
That's true for the Fraunhofer MP3 and AMR codecs.
However, Nero AAC, ATRAC3, RealVideo etc. are included in the distribution. Just downloaded and installed MediaCoder Portable 0.6.1.4166 Test 1 to check that and the codecs are definitely included.
The DLL and EXE files are in app\MediaCoder\codecs. For example neroAacEnc.exe, atrc3260.dll (ATRAC3), drv43260.dll (RealVideo 9).
Interesting.
I'll look into that, but I'm positive this distribution is legal. I also hope to post a new version later today.
Edit:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Sony ATRAC codec included is not illegally distributed, and can be distributed freely. Also, the RealVideo codec used in this package is from the Helix open source RealNetworks project. It is not the actual proprietary codec. I will look into this a little more, but my guess is that MediaCoder either got permission from the companies who made the codecs or have found open source alternatives.
"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in."
-Bradley's Bromide
Confirmed
I've confirmed that the Nero-copyrighted encoders are included with MediaCoder. Is there any public discussion with the author about this we can refer to on this? The previously linked discussion was for a special unofficial package of MediaCoder Audio Edition, not MediaCoder. We should ensure the actual MediaCoder author is aware and, if he is and is ignoring this, we should make SourceForge aware as this is a violation of their terms of service.
Live with purpose.
MediaCoder Audio Edition
MediaCoder Audio Edition is not an unofficial edition.
There are multiple official editions of MediaCoder: Full Edition, Audio Edition and several Special Editions (trimmed for various portable players). All of them are released officially by the MediaCoder project on mediacoder.sourceforge.net.
The user that promoted MediaCoder Audio Edition on Hydrogenaudio.org, optimus, is the MediaCoder project lead Stanley Huang. That is clear from his earlier comments there.
So the MediaCoder project lead is fully aware of these problems. I think it's also clear from his comments in the before mentioned thread, that he did not accquire any licenses from the affected companies.
Unfortunately, after being confronted with copyright violation issues on the Hydrogenaudio forums, he never showed any activity there again.
Well, I was going to release
Well, I was going to release a new version of MediaCoder tonight, but I suppose that with the evidence we have here, I will suspend the project until further notice, due to the copyright violations.
After looking at the licenses for the aforementioned codecs, it appears they cannot be even distributed freely, so it would also be illegal to have a separate download of sorts.
If anyone has any better ideas for the continuation of this project (or better apps), please let me know.
"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in."
-Bradley's Bromide
...
If the app itself is open-source, why couldn't we just remove the offending codecs and distribute the portable version without them? That seems the most appropriate course of action.
MediaCoder itself is great and I'd hate to give it up. I haven't found a better video transcoder yet.
Not from Helix project.
The codecs included in the MediaCoder distribution are not the ones from the Helix project. Instead they are taken one-to-one from the closed source RealPlayer.
Also, the codec DLLs included in HelixProducer all include the hint "Source code for this program is available under the RealNetworks Public Source License." in the version information. The RealPlayer DLLs do not contain this hint, as they are proprietary non open source codecs.
It's also worth mentioning that there is no ATRAC codec in the open source Helix projects - in fact there is no open source ATRAC codec anywhere. Sony charges patent licensing fees on a per copy basis for distribution of ATRAC codecs. That's why there is no open source converter for these files.
Hey There
Good to see ya. :)
It's kinda sad when my desktop is messier than my room.
Thanks
Hope this coming along okay still
Live To Learn. Learn To Live.
From what I remember from the
From what I remember from the past, some components of MediaCoder use the Gecko engine from Firefox.
Yeah, it does require
Yeah, it does require Firefox. You can just point it at the App\firefox directory of FFP, though, or even just copy a clean installation of FF (preferably FF2, FF3 and MediaCoder don't get along under Vista for some reason) into App\MediaCoder\firefox.
I will agree that depending on components of a Web browser for a program like this is being lazy, though. Even by programmer standards.
This is stupid
Why are you so afraid of making a portable version of the new program? This program was made in '05. Its 08. If nero, realnetworks, or coding technology's wants to copyright their stuff, then they need to get off their lazy butt and do something about this.
Why not either a) remove the copyrighted codecs, or b) have someone upload it to megaupload or some site like that,then just link it. This way, pa can say its linking to the site, not hosting it. If you think this isn't going to work, i can show you proof of several torrent sites that have been able to evade the authorities by saying they LINK content, not host it.
Why are you so afraid of
Why are you so afraid of making a portable version of the new program? This program was made in '05. Its 08. If nero, realnetworks, or coding technology's wants to copyright their stuff, then they need to get off their lazy butt and do something about this.
They may eventually do something. Its a respect thing.
Why not either a) remove the copyrighted codecs, or b) have someone upload it to megaupload or some site like that,then just link it. This way, pa can say its linking to the site, not hosting it. If you think this isn't going to work, i can show you proof of several torrent sites that have been able to evade the authorities by saying they LINK content, not host it.
Removing the copyright codecs has been discussed. That's what may happen. It is not portable by defualt, which is why we made a launcher for it. We do not tend to follow the lead the of torrent sites. Alot of us like, nay, love OpenSource and its freedoms.
Also, in a way, we would be hosting the content. Or sourceforge would, and source forge would make trouble for us.
Good gracious! There goes a kangaroo. I must have a practice with me boomerang- Now then, slowly back
If you throw that thing at me, I'll jump right on your head.
Innit marvellous? Got a land full of kangaroos and I had to pick that one.