guys, discover this GREAT video editor "AVIEDIT" work well in windows XP and generate compatible AVI with VFM, even first one for 286

For my 286 25mhz, i can have fullscreen smoth video at 288x192 12fps 11khz PCM sound and 200k data rate using msvideo 1. The trick is to select interleave every frame

Upload here!

Here is the ffmpeg command i use for create AVI that can work with aviedit, need virtualdub in same directory

1ffmpeg -i in.mkv -vf "subtitles=in.mkv,scale=272:176,fps=12,eq=brightness=-0.05:contrast=1.05,palettegen" palette.png
2
3ffmpeg -i in.mkv -i palette.png -filter_complex "subtitles=in.mkv,scale=272:176,fps=12,eq=brightness=-0.1:contrast=1.1[vid];[vid][1:v]paletteuse=dither=bayer" -pix_fmt pal8 -c:v rawvideo -af "aformat=sample_fmts=s16,aresample=11025:dither_method=shibata" -ac 1 -c:a pcm_u8 out.avi
4
5virtualdub /s rawavi.vdscript /p out.avi raw.avi /r /x

Attach the virtualdub project

Is more or less automatic, i can convert a MKV with subtittles to 286 without much interaction, most are automatic. I already made a lot of content to play in my 286. Is amazing, one of my childhood dreams

Thank you very much! ^^

theelf wrote on 2026-02-23, 17:07:

Here is the ffmpeg command i use for create AVI that can work with aviedit, need virtualdub in same directory […]
Show full quote

Here is the ffmpeg command i use for create AVI that can work with aviedit, need virtualdub in same directory

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1ffmpeg -i in.mkv -vf "subtitles=in.mkv,scale=272:176,fps=12,eq=brightness=-0.05:contrast=1.05,palettegen" palette.png
2
3ffmpeg -i in.mkv -i palette.png -filter_complex "subtitles=in.mkv,scale=272:176,fps=12,eq=brightness=-0.1:contrast=1.1[vid];[vid][1:v]paletteuse=dither=bayer" -pix_fmt pal8 -c:v rawvideo -af "aformat=sample_fmts=s16,aresample=11025:dither_method=shibata" -ac 1 -c:a pcm_u8 out.avi
4
5virtualdub /s rawavi.vdscript /p out.avi raw.avi /r /x

Attach the virtualdub project

The attachment rawavi.zip is no longer available

Is more or less automatic, i can convert a MKV with subtittles to 286 without much interaction, most are automatic. I already made a lot of content to play in my 286. Is amazing, one of my childhood dreams

Thanks for the guide! I've been planning to tinker with Video for Windows on 286/386 PCs and modern video format conversion for a while now, but I never took the time to figure out how to do it.

I noticed that Aviedit doesn't accept uncompressed AVI files processed by Ffmpeg directly, but only after you run the AVI file through VirtualDub. Is there a way to configure Ffmpeg so that VDub could be skipped entirely?

I've added two more variables to the video filter for the Ffmpeg - "saturation" for additional color correction and "bayer_scale", which eliminates crosshatch effect entirely if set to 5, default is 2 if unspecified (range 0-5).

Example AVI: Compressor - MS Video 1, quality 75%, key frame every 2s (30 frames), interleave every sec (15 frames), data rate not specified (automatic).

Batch file for it:

1ffmpeg -i RML720p.mp4 -i RMLpalette.png -filter_complex "crop=iw-200:ih-0,scale=160:120,fps=15,eq=brightness=0.0:saturation=1.0:contrast=1.1[vid];[vid][1:v]paletteuse=dither=bayer:bayer_scale=5" -c:v rawvideo -pix_fmt pal8 -c:a pcm_u8 -ar 22050 -ac 1 RML120b0.0s1c1.1b5.avi

Works fine in full screen mode, but video lags behind by about 25% if played in a window, need to select frame skipping in video player's configuration to fix this.

Tested on a 286 12.5MHz 0WS, 1MB RAM, ET4000 1MB, Win3.1 640x480 256color.

SSTV2 wrote on 2026-05-19, 20:36:

Thanks for the guide! I've been planning to tinker with Video for Windows on 286/386 PCs and modern video format conversion for […]
Show full quote

theelf wrote on 2026-02-23, 17:07:

Here is the ffmpeg command i use for create AVI that can work with aviedit, need virtualdub in same directory […]
Show full quote

Here is the ffmpeg command i use for create AVI that can work with aviedit, need virtualdub in same directory

Copy code to clipboard

1ffmpeg -i in.mkv -vf "subtitles=in.mkv,scale=272:176,fps=12,eq=brightness=-0.05:contrast=1.05,palettegen" palette.png
2
3ffmpeg -i in.mkv -i palette.png -filter_complex "subtitles=in.mkv,scale=272:176,fps=12,eq=brightness=-0.1:contrast=1.1[vid];[vid][1:v]paletteuse=dither=bayer" -pix_fmt pal8 -c:v rawvideo -af "aformat=sample_fmts=s16,aresample=11025:dither_method=shibata" -ac 1 -c:a pcm_u8 out.avi
4
5virtualdub /s rawavi.vdscript /p out.avi raw.avi /r /x

Attach the virtualdub project

The attachment rawavi.zip is no longer available

Is more or less automatic, i can convert a MKV with subtittles to 286 without much interaction, most are automatic. I already made a lot of content to play in my 286. Is amazing, one of my childhood dreams

Thanks for the guide! I've been planning to tinker with Video for Windows on 286/386 PCs and modern video format conversion for a while now, but I never took the time to figure out how to do it.

I noticed that Aviedit doesn't accept uncompressed AVI files processed by Ffmpeg directly, but only after you run the AVI file through VirtualDub. Is there a way to configure Ffmpeg so that VDub could be skipped entirely?

I've added two more variables to the video filter for the Ffmpeg - "saturation" for additional color correction and "bayer_scale", which eliminates crosshatch effect entirely if set to 5, default is 2 if unspecified (range 0-5).

Example AVI: Compressor - MS Video 1, quality 75%, key frame every 2s (30 frames), interleave every sec (15 frames), data rate not specified (automatic).

Batch file for it:

Copy code to clipboard

1ffmpeg -i RML720p.mp4 -i RMLpalette.png -filter_complex "crop=iw-200:ih-0,scale=160:120,fps=15,eq=brightness=0.0:saturation=1.0:contrast=1.1[vid];[vid][1:v]paletteuse=dither=bayer:bayer_scale=5" -c:v rawvideo -pix_fmt pal8 -c:a pcm_u8 -ar 22050 -ac 1 RML120b0.0s1c1.1b5.avi

Works fine in full screen mode, but video lags behind by about 25% if played in a window, need to select frame skipping in video player's configuration to fix this.

Tested on a 286 12.5MHz 0WS, 1MB RAM, ET4000 1MB, Win3.1 640x480 256color.

The attachment R2753015.zip is no longer available

Thanks for testing it and for the extra parameters! I will definitely try saturation and bayer_scale, the crosshatch reduction sounds interesting, anyways i like it jaja

About VirtualDub, unfortunately no, I never managed to find a way to generate an AVI with Ffmpeg that Aviedit accepts directly. I tried different combinations and formats, but in the end I always had to pass it through VirtualDub first. So as far as I know there is no way around it.

Actually I would love to find a replacement for Aviedit too. One problem I have with it is that it tends to hang with longer videos, somewhere around 24-25 minutes approximately. I know Adobe Premiere works fine, but it is a bit of a pain for this kind of quick conversion workflow.

About video playback in a window, I tested quite a few cards: ET4000, Trident 9000, Trident 8900D, WD, etc. The only one where the Windows drivers really seem to work properly in windowed playback is Cirrus Logic. Specifically I have a CL5424 1MB and it works perfectly in Windows 3.1.

Hello everyone, this is my first reply in VOGONS.

So I think a lot about my own video to working on Windows 3.11 running on DOSBox Emulator (like Bad Apple!!), but it didn't work. it show this.

I also using FFMpeg to convert my .mp4 video to .avi video. Please help me, I'm very appreciated.

video playback on a 286 is surely very challenging, but ms video1 feels like an unimpressive video compression format, why not install an isa mpeg decode card?

noshutdown wrote on 2026-06-24, 10:36:

video playback on a 286 is surely very challenging, but ms video1 feels like an unimpressive video compression format, why not install an isa mpeg decode card?

I think totally opposite, msvideo1 impress.me.a.lot, the 8bit quantization is very good, it can compress without much loss 8bit content and with interleave can play without skips in a 1x cdrom

mtp1309 wrote on 2026-06-23, 14:34:

Hello everyone, this is my first reply in VOGONS. […]
Show full quote

Hello everyone, this is my first reply in VOGONS.

So I think a lot about my own video to working on Windows 3.11 running on DOSBox Emulator (like Bad Apple!!), but it didn't work. it show this.

The attachment IMG_20260623_212718.jpg is no longer available

I also using FFMpeg to convert my .mp4 video to .avi video. Please help me, I'm very appreciated.

this is a thread for 286, in dosbox you will emulate a 386+

You can use msvideo1, rle or cinepak codecs for video, and adpcm for audio for better compression

for a 386+ in dosbox, when you can have 16bit display, dont use ffmpeg, is too slow, use virtualdub for conversion

In my examples i use ffmpeg because 8bit quantization

theelf wrote on 2026-06-24, 10:58:

this is a thread for 286, in dosbox you will emulate a 386+ […]
Show full quote

mtp1309 wrote on 2026-06-23, 14:34:

Hello everyone, this is my first reply in VOGONS. […]
Show full quote

Hello everyone, this is my first reply in VOGONS.

So I think a lot about my own video to working on Windows 3.11 running on DOSBox Emulator (like Bad Apple!!), but it didn't work. it show this.

The attachment IMG_20260623_212718.jpg is no longer available

I also using FFMpeg to convert my .mp4 video to .avi video. Please help me, I'm very appreciated.

this is a thread for 286, in dosbox you will emulate a 386+

You can use msvideo1, rle or cinepak codecs for video, and adpcm for audio for better compression

for a 386+ in dosbox, when you can have 16bit display, dont use ffmpeg, is too slow, use virtualdub for conversion

In my examples i use ffmpeg because 8bit quantization

I see... I'm using Magic DOSBox to emulate Windows 3.11 by myself. But can you give me the prompt of FFMpeg for this? so I can test it out.

mtp1309 wrote on 2026-06-25, 05:35:

theelf wrote on 2026-06-24, 10:58:

this is a thread for 286, in dosbox you will emulate a 386+ […]
Show full quote

mtp1309 wrote on 2026-06-23, 14:34:

Hello everyone, this is my first reply in VOGONS. […]
Show full quote

Hello everyone, this is my first reply in VOGONS.

So I think a lot about my own video to working on Windows 3.11 running on DOSBox Emulator (like Bad Apple!!), but it didn't work. it show this.

The attachment IMG_20260623_212718.jpg is no longer available

I also using FFMpeg to convert my .mp4 video to .avi video. Please help me, I'm very appreciated.

this is a thread for 286, in dosbox you will emulate a 386+

You can use msvideo1, rle or cinepak codecs for video, and adpcm for audio for better compression

for a 386+ in dosbox, when you can have 16bit display, dont use ffmpeg, is too slow, use virtualdub for conversion

In my examples i use ffmpeg because 8bit quantization

I see... I'm using Magic DOSBox to emulate Windows 3.11 by myself. But can you give me the prompt of FFMpeg for this? so I can test it out.

I dont have much interest in video playback on 386+ and less in dosbox, but i think maybe your best option will be xing mpeg or cinepack/indeo 3, but i think if the S3 driver support DCI, i recommend POWERVCD because dont have the limitations of xing mpeg about size, biterate etc

about cinepack for example for a mkv with subtitles something like this

ffmpeg -i "in.mkv" -vf "subtitles=in.mkv,scale=320:240:flags=lanczos,fps=12,format=yuv411p" -c:v cinepak -q:v 1 -ac 1 -ar 22050 -c:a adpcm_ima_wav -f avi out.avi

indeo better use virtualdub, i dont know if ffmpeg support this codec for compression

aaah 25 years ago...the time when i was experimenting with playing p*rn videos on windows 3.1 with my 386 dx40 and hercules monitor

theelf wrote on 2026-06-25, 10:28:

I dont have much interest in video playback on 386+ and less in dosbox, but i think maybe your best option will be xing mpeg or […]
Show full quote

mtp1309 wrote on 2026-06-25, 05:35:

theelf wrote on 2026-06-24, 10:58:

this is a thread for 286, in dosbox you will emulate a 386+ […]
Show full quote

this is a thread for 286, in dosbox you will emulate a 386+

You can use msvideo1, rle or cinepak codecs for video, and adpcm for audio for better compression

for a 386+ in dosbox, when you can have 16bit display, dont use ffmpeg, is too slow, use virtualdub for conversion

In my examples i use ffmpeg because 8bit quantization

I see... I'm using Magic DOSBox to emulate Windows 3.11 by myself. But can you give me the prompt of FFMpeg for this? so I can test it out.

I dont have much interest in video playback on 386+ and less in dosbox, but i think maybe your best option will be xing mpeg or cinepack/indeo 3, but i think if the S3 driver support DCI, i recommend POWERVCD because dont have the limitations of xing mpeg about size, biterate etc

about cinepack for example for a mkv with subtitles something like this

ffmpeg -i "in.mkv" -vf "subtitles=in.mkv,scale=320:240:flags=lanczos,fps=12,format=yuv411p" -c:v cinepak -q:v 1 -ac 1 -ar 22050 -c:a adpcm_ima_wav -f avi out.avi

indeo better use virtualdub, i dont know if ffmpeg support this codec for compression

Thanks for information, also how to extract video to avi (msvideo1 codec) on Virtualdub?