-------------------------------------------------------------
5 step guide for cluster batch encoding with transcode 0.6.x:
-------------------------------------------------------------

Note: this feature is only available for transcode-0.6.0pre2 and higher!

pre-processing:
===============

(1) we first rip the desired DVD title into a work directory, containing
    only the VOB chunks for transcode's directory mode. This
    directory should be accessable for all nodes via NFS.

    example:
    ========

    tccat -i /dev/dvd -T 1,-1 | split -b 1024m - dvd_title/part-

(2) next we need to create a navigation file to access all the
    VOB chunks with frame accurate navigation.

    example:
    ========

    tccat -i dvd_title/ | tcdemux -W >nav_file

distributed encoding:
=====================

(3) we need to decide, how many chunks we want to create for
    distributed encoding. This number should not be too high, in case 
    you prefer 2-pass encoding. Otherwise, it may depend on the nodes
    in out cluster. Assume we want 8 chunks with approx.
    25k frames. 

    For each chunk, switch to a node and invoke transcode with your 
    favorite options. In addition, use the new -W option:

    example:
    ========

    transcode -i dvd_title/ -W X,8,nav_file -o part-X.avi (.....)

    and repeat this for X=0,1,2,...,7.
    Note, this will transcode the video only. Audio is done for the
    entire stream in the last step with X=8. Repeat this step in case of 
    2-pass encoding. However, in this case we need to specify different 
    filenames for multi-pass encoding logfile with option -R.

post-processing:
================

(4) merge the resulting files

    example:
    ========

    avimerge -o tmp_movie.avi -i dvd_title/part-*

(5) finally, the audio has to be encoded separately and multiplexed in one
    step

    example:
    ========
    
    transcode -p dvd_title/ -W 8,8,nav_file -i tmp_movie.avi -P 1 
	      -x avi,vob -y raw -o movie.avi -u 50 
  
    This command will pass-through the video, extract the audio track
    and multiplex both into movie.avi. Increasing the number of buffer 
    for audio processing only will boost the performance.
    To tell transcode to process all chunks, the first parameter to -W is
    identical to the number of chunks.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Why not use -c 0-25000, ... with 0.5.x?
A: Well, the problem is seeking to large frame numbers requires decoding
   all previous frames, which takes way too long. 

Q: Why not transcoding the audio with step (3)?
A: This may lead to AV out of sync on chunk boundaries, since a 
   MP3 frame requires a certain amount of PCM data and the encoder runs 
   on different nodes. If you need it, use PCM, this will work fine.

Q: Will it work for NTSC?
A: Not tested very well. It may or may not work.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------