PSP encodes using x264 and Megui; psp crashes

[Drillakilla]

A week ago i got a new pc from dell and in that time i havent dont any encodes, so i thought il get it set up today and start doing some conversions, i always start by using a short 7 sec avi clip to make sure that it works. But every encode i have done has crashed the psp with black screen or it says cannot play back file,

i am using exactly the same settings i used on my old pc, and all the same builds of the programs.

The mp4 video comes out fine i can play it back on pc, i then encode the sound in Besweet low complex. high quality at CBR 64kbps, SRC 48000.
I then mux using YAMB, and run it through atomchanger, get MAQxxxxx.mp4 and copy it to ANV folder on psp

Im using the pd psp profile from sharktooth

Heres the command line from me gui:

C:\Program Files\x264\x264.exe --pass 2 --bitrate 312 --stats ".stats" --bframes 1 --b-rdo --weightb --subme 6 --trellis 1 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,p4x4 --direct auto --progress --no-psnr --output "C:\Documents and Settings\Khusru Miah\My Documents\PSP Folder\Scripts\a.mp4" "C:\Documents and Settings\Khusru Miah\My Documents\PSP Folder\Scripts\a.avs"

I cant work out what the problem is, thanks in advance for anyhelp

[Drillakilla]

anyone?

[Sharktooth]

HINT: The title should be PSP encodes using a NEW PC; psp crashes...

[quake74]

Well, it is kinda strange... Are you SURE the programs didn't change? Maybe you installed a newer version? Do you convert fps? If so, do you use nicefps?

[Drillakilla]

the videos i have been testing on i havnt added any changes in frame rate because they are allready 23.976 fps.

heres my script:

AviSource("C:\Documents and Settings\Khusru Miah\My Documents\PSP Folder\test.avi",true)
Tweak(sat=1.2, bright=5)
Lanczos4Resize(368,208)
Sharpen(0.3)

[Drillakilla]

finally got some working encodes. i ended up using a bat file posted by Gimpi, thanks mate.

The encodes work now, but i just had a couple of questions for 2 pass conversions

Heres the bat file:

start /belownormal /b /w x264.exe --progress --bitrate 312 --ref 2 --mixed-refs --bframes 2 --subme 7 --b-rdo --weightb --trellis 2 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,p4x4 --no-psnr --output video.264 a.avs
start /belownormal /b /w MP4Box.exe -fps 23.98 -add video.264 sound.mp4
start /belownormal /b /w ATOMChanger.exe sound.mp4 MAQ10001.MP4 AtomAVC.ini

To do 2 pass encodes i tried adding this:
....x264.exe --progress --pass 2 --bitrate 312 etc

But it does not convert, do i have to add something else to this for two pass encodes?

my encodes are going at about 11 to 12 fps, is there anything i can do to speed things up?

[deets]

get a faster computer :)

also, you could find you have seeking issues with those bframes and ref frames.

http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=755401#post755401

my p4 3.2 gives me around 23fps for second/third pass, this is my "slow" megui profile.

C:\Program Files\x264\x264.exe --pass 3 --bitrate 250 --stats "2pass.log" --level 1.3 --bframes 1 --b-rdo --bime --weightb --subme 6 --trellis 1 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,p4x4 --me umh --progress --no-psnr --output "" ""

also, i had a problem (and someone else did as well) where using 2 threads would cause the video to crash the PSP even though it played just fine on the PC! if you wanted to rule it out, go to tools-settings in megui and untick "automatically set number of threads" then make sure only one thread is selected...

probably not the cause, but its something to rule out

[nm]

To do 2 pass encodes i tried adding this:
....x264.exe --progress --pass 2 --bitrate 312 etc

But it does not convert, do i have to add something else to this for two pass encodes?
You need to run the first pass with "--pass 1" so that x264 generates the stats file for the second pass.

[Drillakilla]

My computer is quite recent from dell, and my old computer use to do encodes way faster and its like 4 years old, specs from new computer:

Your System Game Requirements

Operating System (Get Updates) Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)

System Memory 1023.1

Processor Speed 3391.7


DirectX Version 9.0c

Display Device RADEON X800 XT

Display Memory 256.0

[nm]

My computer is quite recent from dell, and my old computer use to do encodes way faster and its like 4 years old, specs from new computer:
Encodes with x264 or some other codec? Comparing apples and oranges won't take you anywhere.

[deets]

you should be glad you get those frame rates, on other settings you could go as low as 1fps :P

also, make sure you have the latest version from http://x264.nl/

take out all the stuff from the avs you dont need as this also slows things down

[Drillakilla]

Encodes with x264 or some other codec? Comparing apples and oranges won't take you anywhere.

sorry mate i dont think iv been clear in what iv said, on my old computer i did several x264 encodes using me gui, and got loads of good quality videos for my psp, encode times use to be a lot faster, but on this new computer which is a lot higher specd than my old one x264 encodes seem to be a lot slower.

@ deets, thanks for the help you gave before when i first got started off with this x264, unfortunaly since i got this new computer i havent been able to get a playable video from me gui, iv had to use the bat file to get working videos. i will chec k to see if i have the latest x264

[nm]

Then you (or MeGUI) just used lighter encoding settings previously. You'll gain speed (probably about 100%) by not using --b-rdo, --trellis 2. --mixed-refs and by using --subme 6 instead of --subme 7. The quality will be a bit lower, but you might not even notice the difference.

[Drillakilla]

thanx mate i will test it without those

[deets]

if your having the psp crash the video using megui please just try changing the settings to one thread and untick "automatically set number of threads" in tools-settings.

i had this weird bug and one other user had the same. there is no reason why it should crash using sharktooths psp profile, or my profile.

try my profiles and see what speeds you get, slow gives me around 22fps per non turbo pass

[Drillakilla]

i just checked me gui, and i have 1 thread already selected, and there is no check box next to it, i can only go up and down 9adding or taking away threads)?

one question though, im not too sure what the difference between ref. frames and b frames are.?
the only reason i changed to 1 ref and 1 b frame is because i had the seek/ jump to problem, i just wanted to know what they are?

[Drillakilla]

im just trying to get the 2 pass encode run though the .bat file, the first pass runs fine but the second doesnt start.

can sumone check my bat and tell me what i am missing please, thanks
:

start /belownormal /b /w x264.exe --progress --pass 1 --bitrate 312 --ref 1 --mixed-refs --bframes 1 --subme 6 --b-rdo --weightb --trellis 2 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,p4x4 --direct auto --no-psnr --output stats.stats prog.avs

start /belownormal /b /w x264.exe --progress --pass 2 --bitrate 312 --stats "stats.stats" --ref 1 --mixed-refs --bframes 1 --subme 6 --b-rdo --weightb --trellis 2 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,p4x4 --direct auto --no-psnr --output video.264 prog.avs

[foxyshadis]

Try adding 2>&1 >pass2.txt to the end of the command line. That'll write its output to a file, so you can see the error message.

nm, I just noticed your apparent confusion about stats files. For the first pass, use --output nul, and for the second, keep prog.avs instead of stats.stats. (x264 generates a stats file name by itself if you don't feed it one.) And are you sure you want to go to raw video, instead of mp4 or mkv?

[nm]

You are handling the stats file incorrectly. This should work better:
start /belownormal /b /w x264.exe --progress --pass 1 --bitrate 312 --ref 1 --mixed-refs --bframes 1 --subme 6 --b-rdo --weightb --trellis 2 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,p4x4 --direct auto --no-psnr --stats stats.log --output video.264 prog.avs

start /belownormal /b /w x264.exe --progress --pass 2 --bitrate 312 --ref 1 --mixed-refs --bframes 1 --subme 6 --b-rdo --weightb --trellis 2 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,p4x4 --direct auto --no-psnr --stats stats.log --output video.264 prog.avs

--stats is optional, and if it's not specified, x264_2pass.log will be used as a file name.

[foxyshadis]

Better still for 1st pass ("turbo"):

start /belownormal /b /w x264.exe --progress --pass 1 --bitrate 312 --ref 1 --mixed-refs --bframes 1 --subme 6 --weightb --analyse none --direct auto --no-psnr --output nul prog.avs

Also why are you using trellis 2 in second pass, but only --me dia? That's a bizarre prioritization. Try --me umh for nicely improved quality.

[Drillakilla]

thanks mate, that worked perfect, and now for some proper tests

[nm]

nm, I just noticed your apparent confusion about stats files. For the first pass, use --output nul, and for the second, keep prog.avs instead of stats.stats. (x264 generates a stats file name by itself if you don't feed it one.) And are you sure you want to go to raw video, instead of mp4 or mkv?
This was addressed to Drillakilla, right?

[foxyshadis]

Sorry, I forgot you were posting in this thread, I was using it as an abbreviation for 'never mind'. :p

[deets]

i just checked me gui, and i have 1 thread already selected, and there is no check box next to it, i can only go up and down 9adding or taking away threads)?

one question though, im not too sure what the difference between ref. frames and b frames are.?
the only reason i changed to 1 ref and 1 b frame is because i had the seek/ jump to problem, i just wanted to know what they are?


its under the tools - settings options, set threads automatically.

not the bit in x264, its the megui settings

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/deets75/meguisettings.jpg

it will override whatever you put in x264.

because there is no good reason why megui should cause bad encodes, it just sends the info to the same encoder as your batch file. but the threads thing has caused problems for me and another user, so it is a real issue in some cases.

[Drillakilla]

ìv not tied the me gui threads options yet. but i ran an encode of a full movie using this bat:

start /belownormal /b /w x264.exe --progress --pass 1 --bitrate 337 --ref 1 --mixed-refs --bframes 1 --subme 6 --b-rdo --weightb --trellis 2 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,p4x4 --direct auto --no-psnr --stats stats.log --output video.264 mhn.avs

start /belownormal /b /w x264.exe --progress --pass 2 --bitrate 337 --ref 1 --mixed-refs --bframes 1 --subme 6 --b-rdo --weightb --trellis 2 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,p4x4 --direct auto --no-psnr --stats stats.log --output video.264 mhn.avs

The quality was excellent, well happy with it. Now when i exit the movie and go back into it, the movie continues fine. ( i think because of 1 ref and 1 b frame).

The problem im having is when i fast forward and try to resume, it WONT, and continues fast forwarding, i exit the movie and go back into it and it says cannot play movie.

Does anyone know why this is and how to solve this problem?
I read on another post that u have to have 1 ref and 1 b frame, 2 ref no b, or 3 ref and no b, to solve this, but that is what i had , 1 ref and 1 b frame

[deets]

try it, but delete --ref 1 --mixed-refs

[Drillakilla]

@deets, unchecking the thread option made it work just fine. Thanks pal, iv become so use to using the bat file, and now this happens.
now for the seek issue?

so far iv tried 1 ref and 1 b frame-- seek problem
2 ref no b frame-- seek problem
2 ref 3 b frame -- no seek problem, but resume problem
no ref and 1 b frame-- still seek problem

even on sharktooths psp profile, i have the resume video problem. other wise i would use that, i go out of the video and cant go back in.
Im going to try 3 ref and no b frame as thats the last one to try from this list:

on 2.6 psp,use only these settings for ref and bframe:
1ref + 1bframe
2ref without bframe
3ref without bframe

[deets]

if you can now use megui, its best to use an existing profile like the one from sharktooth or the ones on my link, they have been tested and work just fine.

[Drillakilla]

im going to try sharkttoths profile on a longer video, the one i have been testing is only 6 minutes. But i had the resume problem using sharktooths profiles before. After that il trty your slow profile mate

does the option no fast p skip have anything to do with this problem, as it is unchecked?

[Drillakilla]

just tried sharkttoths build and your slow build. i didnt change any of the settings just loaded the profile, changed bitrate to 330, and hit que and encoded.

i had same problems, i can seek, and play, and then go out and come back in again. but if i seek twice or randomly , i cannot stopt it, the only way to stop is by going out, and then i try opening it again and it says cannot play file.

do you think its my video and script? the video im converting is NTSC 29.97 fps 3:2 pulldwon, i run it through DG index, forced film it and save d2v file (23.976 fps)

Heres my script:

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\MPEG2Dec3.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Documents and Settings\Khusru Miah\My Documents\PSP Folder\Me Gui\dgindex\dgdecode.dll")
mpeg2source("C:\Documents and Settings\Khusru Miah\My Documents\DVDProcessing\dvd input\3\vid1.d2v")

crop(0,76,-0,-76)
Tweak(sat=1.5, bright=3)
Lanczos4Resize(400,192)
Sharpen(0.3)