Newbie - how to encode to x264?

[unfortunateson]

I would like to encode my decrypted dvd VOBs to x264, without noticable quality loss, using the original AC3 audio. I am not sure how to go about this. I have Nero 6 which supposedly has the encoding support (although how is this quality vs. other x264 encoders?)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Sharktooth]

"vs. other h.264 encoders"...
x264 is a h.264 open source encoder.
the nero encoder is a bit "dated" however its quality is still good.
one way to convert your DVD to h.264 with x264 is using one of the x264 GUIs you can find in the MPEG-4 encoding GUIs forum or, since you seems to have nero, you can covert it to NeroDigital (still h.264) using Nero Recode.

[unfortunateson]

ok so i downloaded megui, and it only takes avisynth scripts as inputs. how do I set one up? Must I use an external program to generate the script?

[stax76]

There is a guide which is a sticky: http://forum.doom9.org/forumdisplay.php?f=78

[unfortunateson]

didnt see that one - thanks for the info.

[stax76]

Maybe you'll find more useful stuff there. :)

[unfortunateson]

I'm not at home (so I cant delve into the encoding yet) but is there a way to perserve the menu structure and chapters? I believe that I had read somewhere that this is possible using the Mastroska container. Also, how can I preserve the AC3 audio without recoding to a different format?

[Sharktooth]

menues can be preserved with both mkv and mp4 but there is almost no support for "common" players for playback. also you should manually do it.
ac3 can be preserved without any problem, just use the mkv container.

[unfortunateson]

menues can be preserved with both mkv and mp4 but there is almost no support for "common" players for playback. also you should manually do it.

could you elaborate on this a bit? Do you mean there is no menu support implemented for MP4 or MKV in MPC or VLC? How would I "manually" preserve the menus?

[Sharktooth]

IIRC VLC supports mkv menues but since it's in early stages, it's not properly identical to the menues on the DVDs.
With "manually" i mean you have to re-build the menues with other softwares and the actual GUIs do not support them.

[foxyshadis]

Preserve AC3 by demuxing it with dgindex, the docs can tell you how, then just remux when done. I don't think it's possible to put it into mp4 though.

For menus: MP4 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=66583), MKV (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=103617)

MKV menu support half-works in VLC and stalled otherwise, but MP4 is getting some traction.

[edit: haha, shark really got the jump on me]

[unfortunateson]

thanks for all the help! I have a couple more questions:

Is the menu support for MKV and MP4 standardized, and the software just needs to be programmed to support them?

I run an AMD X2, will the x264 encoder utilize both cores?

If I have an 8GB DVD movie, how much better will x264 compress without noticable video degradation?

[Sharktooth]

thanks for all the help! I have a couple more questions:

Is the menu support for MKV and MP4 standardized, and the software just needs to be programmed to support them?

I run an AMD X2, will the x264 encoder utilize both cores?

If I have an 8GB DVD movie, how much better will x264 compress without noticable video degradation?
yep it's standardized and the software must support them.
x264 will use both cores. ensure you set the threads to 2.
the compression depends on the source, however x264 compresses much better than divx or xvid at LOW bitrates and reach "transparency" at lower bitrates as well. when it comes to high bitrates there isnt so much difference.

[unfortunateson]

:thanks:

Another Question - my DVDs are interlaced, so they will need to be deinterlaced to be encoded to the format, I believe. Does deinterlacing mean converting to progressive?

Will the framerate change from 29.97 to 23fps? I have one dvd that seems to run at 60fps (or maybe its just 29.97fps progressive) and when I encoded it to Xvid some months ago, the framerate was noticeably less smooth.

[Kostarum Rex Persia]

I run an AMD X2, will the x264 encoder utilize both cores?

If I have an 8GB DVD movie, how much better will x264 compress without noticable video degradation?

Hmm, that's very depends on settings you will use. But, x264(and all H.264 codecs) is very very efficiant on low and medium bitrates.

Your 8 GB DVD movie can, without problems(with same or even better quality then DVD source), be compressed on ONE DVD, or even on just half DVD( around 2.25 GB), without loss in quality.

You should use 3 B-Frames, 3 to 5 Reference frames, RDO for B-Frames also. Bitrates you can use various between 2000 and 4000 kbps, High profile, of course.

[Revgen]

:thanks:

Another Question - my DVDs are interlaced, so they will need to be deinterlaced to be encoded to the format, I believe. Does deinterlacing mean converting to progressive?

Will the framerate change from 29.97 to 23fps? I have one dvd that seems to run at 60fps (or maybe its just 29.97fps progressive) and when I encoded it to Xvid some months ago, the framerate was noticeably less smooth.

It depends on what kind of material you have. If you video is film ( Star Wars, Godfather) you would need to IVTC it. Usually IVTC info is already included in the DVD stream. You would have to use DGIndex for that. If DGIndex doesn't work, than you should use an avisynth filter like Decomb or TIVTC. DGIndex and Avisynth are both included with MeGUI.

If the material is live footage (Sports, News, Game Shows) it will have to be either bob deinterlaced to 59.94p (good for sports) or deinterlaced to 29.97p. I'd personally recommend an avisynth filter like LeakKerneldeint or TDeint.

If you want any other info about DGindex, Avisynth, or MeGUI make sure to ask in those appropriate forums.

[berrinam]

If you are unfamiliar with the various forms of interlacing and other source types, I recommend you try using MeGUI's inbuilt Source Type Detection. It's in the AviSynth creator in MeGUI, and can be run by pressing the 'Analyse' button after loading your source. It should be able to recommend the best filter for your source.