How to convert RealVideo (RMVB / RealPlayer) files to AVI, MPEG, or MP4 on the Mac
RealPlayer (RMVB) video files are highly compressed, but they require that you install the RealPlayer software to play them.
Converting RealPlayer (RMVB) files to AVI, MPEG, MP4, etc. is a simple process on the Mac: all you need is ffmpegX (mentioned in a previous post on embedding subtitles in video files), mpeg2enc, mencoder, mplayer, and the Real Codec.
If you already have ffmpegX installed, you can skip ahead to the "Installing the Real Codec" section below.
Installing ffmpegX
Download ffmpegX from here, mpeg2enc from here, and mencoder & mplayer from here.
Install fmpegX by mounting (double-clicking) the downloaded DMG file, then dragging the ffmpegX application into your Applications folder. When you launch ffmpegX you'll be prompted for the location of mpeg2enc, mencoder, and mplayer that you downloaded previously. If prompted for your administrative password, enter it, then quit ffmpegX once it finishes launching.
Installing the Real Codec
Download the "Mac OS X x86 20060611" Binary Codec Package from this page on the mplayer homepage, extract the contents of the ZIP file, and run the installer package. When the installation has finished, open a Terminal window and go to the "/usr/local/lib directory":
cd /usr/local/lib
... then copy the contents of the codecs folder to "/Library/Application Support/ffmpegx/reallib", closing the Terminal window afterwards:
sudo cp -r codecs /Library/Application\ Support/
ffmpegx/reallib
Converting RMVB to a different video format
Launch ffmpegX, then drag and drop your RealPlayer (RMVB) file into the "From" field in the left half of the application window. Choose your desired output format in the "To" field in the right half of the window, then click the "Encode" button.
Unfortunately ffmpegX doesn't support queuing multiple files before clicking the "Encode" button, but the encoding process runs as a separate application so you can simply drag and drop multiple RealPlayer (RMVB) files into the ffmpegX window and click the "Encode" button to queue them in the encoding application.
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