The "Custom Encoder" selection in V3mail is for using external command line programs to compress, encode, and/or encrypt your voice messages. Examples of command line programs are the Fraunhofer MP3 command line demo program, MP3 Blade encoder & the Vorbis OGG encoder. This feature is enabled in V3mail 2.0 PRO.

Setup

Installing the command line program
The command line program must be copied to the directory that the V3mail executable <v3mail.exe> is installed in (i.e. c:\program files\v3mail\ ).

figure 1. Custom Encoder window

Open the Custom Encoder window
From Options -> Program Settings, in the "Voice & Video Encoders" box, Click the Configure button next to the Custom Encoder selection.

Enter the command line
The command line you enter in the edit box next to the "custom 1" selection is only slightly different from what you type at the prompt.  Enter in the entire command line including switches as you would at the prompt.  The only difference is that you'll need to apply the following rules.
1.  The command line program must be listed first & needs to have the <.exe> extension added on.
2.  The input file that you would normally specify in the command line you should replace with the input file marker "#i"
3.  The output file that you would normally specify in the command line you should replace with the output file marker "#u"
4.  You need to include the extension marker "#x=" followed by the extension of the output file (e.g. " #x=mp3 ")
For example, let's look at the Fraunhofer MP3 Encoder Demo:

At the DOS prompt, to convert "input.wav" into "output.mp3" you would type :
mp3encdemo31 -q -br 20000 -if input.wav -of output.mp3

For the custom encoder string you would type:
mp3encdemo31.exe -q -br 20000 -if #i  -of #u   #x=mp3  

Note the changes.  The input file is replaced by "#i" and the output file is replace by "#u".   The "#x=" string is added to tell the program what type of extension to tack on the end.  Also, the executable has the <.exe> extension added.  The rest of the command line, including the switches remain intact.  The switches "-q" and "-br 20000" were put in to illustrate that regular switch expression can be put in and are left unaltered.

How to Use

Necessary command line arguments

#i     - input file marker, mandatory, this string tells the program where the input file belongs on the command line
#u     - output file marker, mandatory, this string tells the program where the output file belongs on the command line
#x=   - extension file marker, mandatory, this string tells the program what the output files extension is and is usually followed by a character string representing the extension (e.g.  #x=MP3 ,  #x=Ogg ,   #x=WAV , etc).

Error Messages
1.  "The command line program name is missing or invalid"
The program name isn't in the command line or is missing the .exe extension

2.  "The command line program is not an .exe program"
The program name is missing the .exe extension

3.  "The command line program could not be found in the V3mail directory"
The program name specified in the command line is not in the same directory as the main program <v3mail.exe>

4.  "The command line string is missing the  #i  input file marker"
The input file marker "#i" is not present in the command line.  This is needed so that V3mail knows where to put the input filename on the command line sent to the encoder program.

5.  "The command line string is missing the  #u output file marker"
The output file marker "#u" is not present in the command line.  This is needed so that V3mail knows where to put the output filename on the command line sent to the encoder program.

6.  "The command line string is missing the  #x= file extension marker"
The extension marker "#x=" is not present in the command line.  This is needed so that V3mail knows what extension to put on the output file.

F.A.Q. / Troubleshooting

Q: Does it matter where I put the #i, #u, or #x= markers in the command line string?
A: This depends on the program.   Some encoder programs require that the input files be listed first in the command line.

Q: What is the input wave format?
A: The input is a 44,100 Hz, 16 bit, mono PCM wav file.  

Software Compatibility

Almost all command line programs will work.   Please visit the website for an updated list of programs and sample command lines that will work.  The following is a short list

Example command lines
Fraunhofer MP3 Encoder Demo:      mp3encdemo31.exe -q -br 20000 -if #i  -of #u  #x=mp3
Vorbis (Beta):                                 oggenc.exe   #i -o #u #x=ogg
Blade Encoder:                               bladeenc.exe -q -br 32 -rawmono  #i  #u  #x=mp3