The problem seems to be with all input formats. Also, the problem is limited to the asf/wmv wrapper (asf-enc.c), not the codec itself - WMV2 conversions to the .avi container work flawlessly. "-vcodec copy" into a .asf/wmv wrapper will then demonstrate the problem on playback.
Hm.. I'm not sure about this? I tried using AVI as the output format and it behaves the same way.
Here's a sample of the same clip converted with the same settings into different containers: http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/fall126.avi http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/fall126.wmv The .wmv file has multiple pauses when played back with Windows Media Player 10 on Windows XP and the Flip4Mac Components on Mac OS X. The .avi file chugs along error-free with the same players. Here's the command used (this run includes your duration patch): ./ffmpeg -i /Users/tylerl/Movies/hiVTS_01_1.VOB -vcodec wmv2 -b 500 - s 320x240 -t 40 -g 300 -an ~/Desktop/fall126.avi ./ffmpeg -i /Users/tylerl/Movies/hiVTS_01_1.VOB -vcodec wmv2 -b 500 - s 320x240 -t 40 -g 300 -an ~/Desktop/fall126.wmv -Tyler Loch Techspansion LLC http://www.techspansion.com