ffmpegX & OS X 10.4 PPC

Ok, ffmpegX is a fantastic tool.  But it's a bit of a pig to install.

The instructions are fairly clear and are here.  The ffmpeg dmg is easily done (it's here) 

The mencoder and mplayer binaries were odd.  You need this file.

I downloaded that zip file, but it wouldn't expand.  BOMArchiveHelper kept saying that it was not possible, with a non-descript (-1) error.  Double checking file sizes, I realised it wasn't complete.  Now, I normally use Camino, so tried Firefox - same problem.  Safari 4 seemed to download the whole 14.4mb - and it unzipped normally, with mencoder and mplayer binaries in the resulting directory.

The third mpeg2enc needed - be careful that the link on the download page is towards the Intel, not PPC.  As a result, you'll get the binary as text - i.e. gibberish - on the webpage instead of a prompt to download.  So, navigate 'upwards', and you'll end up here.  Down the page, you'll see some text and a link for osx.cvs.tar.gz - so go get that (it's here in fact).  That'll unzip/untar itself nicely to a directory called osx.cvs.

Now, I couldn't be bothered to copy ffmpegX to /Applications, so ran it from desktop. YMMV.

When it starts, it'll ask for locations of the three components, so browse for each with mencoder, mplayer both in same directory called ffmpegXbinaries20060307, and then mpeg2enc in the other directory called osx.cvs.  Type password and press install.  Sorted, choose file, choose options, and you're off...

The final problem comes when you start a job.  It'll pop up and ask for the location of Progress.app.  A quick google suggests you browse and choose the ffmpegX application itself.

And you're done.