AVC Level selection broken in MeGUI?

[chaynik]

I tried searching around for this, but with no luck. Basically, I've noticed that selecting a different AVC level does not lead to anything (this can also be seen by clicking "show commandline" as it does not change at all.) I've tried various builds and it's the same throughout. At this point, I am copying and pasting the MeGUI generated commandline directly into x264 adding the "--level 1.3" as needed. However, I would like to be able to do it from MeGUI as doing it manually through the command prompt is very time consuming. Thanks in advance for any help!

[berrinam]

The AVC Levels in MeGUI work slightly differently from how you seem to understand them. In the codec config dialog, it checks whether your settings clash with the selected level, and if you have a video open, checks whether your video size clashes with the selected level. If they don't, then it allows you to set that level. If not, then it gives you a warning. Similar warnings are present in other parts of MeGUI, as well. So it still does something, although this may not appear to be the case.

Correct, MeGUI isn't adding the --level tag to the commandline, which is a known issue, mentioned on the MeGUI dev thread. It should sometime be resolved. However, you needn't copy and past the commandline for a temporary fix. Try, instead, looking at the custom commandline options down the bottom of the 'More' tab inside the x264 configuration.

Finally, welcome to this forum

[Sharktooth]

i confirm. levels are enforced by megui but the --level option is not passed to x264.
that means the encode will be "limited" to the level you select (featurewise) but the reported stream level will alwyas be 5.1 coz the --level option is not set in x264.

[charleski]

The AVC level is largely a method of defining the capabilities of different playback devices (in terms of internal buffer space and data rates). So the important thing when encoding is that your file doesn't consume more resources than that defined by your target level.

TBH, I don't know what significance the reported stream level signalled by x264 has, if any. We will only really know when manufacturers start producing h.264-compatible standalone players, though I suspect it won't play a major role.

[Sharktooth]

Signaling the level is as important as being compliant with it.
There could be compatibility issues...

[akupenguin]

\Why? I'm not saying it won't happen, but if a standalone refuses to even try playing a video just because the header says it's level 5.1, that's just plain stupid.

[Sharktooth]

I, for first, would check the signaled level and if it's too much for the product playback capabilities would advice the end user with a message but let him override it from the settings/configuration.

[Aladdin]

There are a couple of (portable) standalone players, of course. The iPod refuses to play a h.264 file without the level set to baseline 1.3 even if the file is complient otherwise. I had to add the command line switch in MeGUI manually to make the output files compatible.