PowerPoint 2010 hard space; how to insert hard space in PowerPoint 2010;

PowerPoint is a little bit weird. On one hand there is no hard space (ctrl + space, ctrl + alt + space  do not work). On the other hand, however, inserting hard space from num pad works. PowerPoint NOT ONLY inserts this character but INTERPRETS it right – so keeps word after it together with the word before hard space.

To insert hard space:

alt + 0160

(keep alt pressed and press on numpad ‘0’,’1’,’6’,’0’ and release alt).

Using sharpening filter with mencoder (h264 codec). Easy tutorial

To use this method you’ll need mencoder.exe which is part of the mplayer distribution. Download it here.
There is the “-vf” switch that stands for “video filter”. The unsharp filter is used both for blurring and sharpening. Negative values are blurr, positive sharpening. Remember to put the –vf switch in the beginning of the command.

the parameter is:
-vf unsharp=7:7:2.5:7:7:2.5
for both luma & chroma sharpening.

Values stand for:
luma_msize_x:luma_msize_y:luma_amount:chroma_msize_x:chroma_msize_y:chroma_amount

EXAMPLE:
mencoder INPUT_FILE -vf unsharp=7:7:2.5:7:7:2.5 -ofps 30000/1001 -ovc x264 -x264encopts subq=1:frameref=1:pass=1:threads=2 -nosound –o OUTPUT_FILE.x264.avi

HELP:
Negative values for the amount will blur the input video, while positive values will sharpen. All parameters are optional and default to the equivalent of the string '5:5:1.0:0:0:0.0'.
`luma_msize_x'
Set the luma matrix horizontal size. It can be an integer between 3 and 13, default value is 5.
`luma_msize_y'
Set the luma matrix vertical size. It can be an integer between 3 and 13, default value is 5.
`luma_amount'
Set the luma effect strength. It can be a float number between -2.0 and 5.0, default value is 1.0.
`chroma_msize_x'
Set the chroma matrix horizontal size. It can be an integer between 3 and 13, default value is 0.
`chroma_msize_y'
Set the chroma matrix vertical size. It can be an integer between 3 and 13, default value is 0.
`luma_amount'
Set the chroma effect strength. It can be a float number between -2.0 and 5.0, default value is 0.0.

# Strong luma sharpen effect parameters
unsharp=7:7:2.5

# Strong blur of both luma and chroma parameters
unsharp=7:7:-2:7:7:-2

Encoding wmv in h264 using mencoder; convert vmw to h264 using mencoder for free; Windows

To use this method you’ll need mencoder.exe which is part of the mplayer distribution. Download it here.

The bat file with the command can be downloaded here.

USAGE:  mencode_from_wmv.bat input_file.wmv

This will produce avi. If you want to have mkv format use mmg.exe from mkvtoolnix (here).

This batch works in 2 passes:

1 pass:

mencoder input_file.wmv -ofps 30000/1001 -ovc x264 -x264encopts subq=1:frameref=1:pass=1:threads=2 -nosound -o input_file.wmv.x264.avi

-ofps is necessary due to wrong recognition of framerate in wmv

2 pass:

mencoder input_file.wmv -ofps 30000/1001 -ovc x264 -x264encopts subq=6:partitions=all:8x8dct:me=umh:frameref=5:bframes=3:weight_b:bitrate=3500:pass=2:threads=2 -oac mp3lame -lameopts vbr=3:br=192 -o input_file.wmv.x264.avi