BatchMux plugin - MuxMan authoring with DVD2SVCD

[Sir Didymus]

Here it is the link to release 1.8 of the BatchMux plugin:

http://www.mediafire.com/?z7gj3lxlxg1

1. What is BatchMux.zip ?
As the thread title say, it is a plugin to enable the usage of MuxMan inside DVD2SVCD.

2. BatchMux.zip contain a readme.txt file, describing with some details the steps to perform in order to install and use the plugin. The procedure is quite simple (setup DVD2SVCD to author with DvdAuthor, then point the three components Mplex, SpuMux and DvdAuthor to their hacked counterparts Mplex_hack, SpuMux_hack, DvdAuth_hack, included in the zip).

3. Enjoy DVD2SVCD with the authoring quality of Muxman !!!

- Thanks to Nick for its very very nice testing avi
- Thanks to manolito for the suggestions, the support, and the testing files.
- Thanks to the author(s) of DVD2SVCD for giving to the community this big, nice and and very complete backup suite!
- And finally a big thank you to Mpucoder: everybody all around here should be grateful to him for its enlightening contributions, discussions and great authoring program.

Edit 18-12-2007, Released version 1.8
- Unified the logic of the process for the different XXX2DVD modes
- Improved the code of acquisition for some parameters (movie length, framerate, pulldown flag) in order to be more robust in the scenarious of killing & resume of the XXX2DVD sessions.
- CAVEAT: quoting an appropriate warning, suggested by manolito, "If you really cannot resist to kill DVD2SVCD in the middle of a conversion and then resume with different settings, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN !"

Edit 17-09-2007, Released version 1.7
Changelog (all related to Mplex_hack.exe component):
- Celltimes.txt file is now used back as a single chapter point format
- FPS entries are now used to detect the correct framerate, instead of the TV system alone...
- In framerate conversions now NTSC sources have always 30 frames per second...
- Changed: one frame less reported by GetMovieFrames from ecl files...

Edit 27-08-2007, Released version 1.6
Changelog:
1. Refinements (of the Mplex_hack.exe component). Reworked the handling of chapter points in order to provide higher precision, especially in case of NTSC + pulldown sources.
2. BugFix (of the Mplex_hack.exe component). Under some circumstances audio delay parameters handling was NOK. The issue is now solved.
3. Trying to use a different file upload service - Mediafire... They claim no time limitation for uploaded files... Let's see...

Edit 20-06-2007. Released version 1.5
Changelog:
1. Bugfix (of the Mplex_hack.exe component). The proper support for sources needing pulldown was nok. Solved. Thanks to Fishman0919 for the bug report, the excellent testing and the very appreciated support... Many thanks to manolito and to Nick who gave significant assistance and contributions on the same (not trivial) issue.
2. Bugfix + improvement (of the Mplex_hack.exe component). Audio delay parameters, when present in the mplex command line, were completely unsupported, breaking the plugin. These are now supported and passed to the authoring stage. Again many thanks to manolito for raising the issue up.
3. Version alignement (of the BatchMux.exe component). Release 1.0 of BatchMux.exe is now adopted. Due to the lack of support for the older releases, it is recommended to adopt this newer version of the authoring wrapper...

Edit 23-04-2007. Released version 1.4
Changelog:
1. Bugfix (of the SpuMux_hack.exe component). The support for srt subs was nok. Solved. Thanks to bionic for the bug report...
2. Improvement (of the Mplex_hack.exe component). It should be now able to directly support encodings based on CCE. Now chapters file should be properly created in case of CCE+fixed chapters. Very little testing performed, but it should work... Many thanks to manolito for the contribution...
3. Version alignement (of the BatchMux.exe component). Release 0.8 of BatchMux.exe is now adopted. It should have no impact for DVD2SVCD users...

Edit 03-10-2006. Released version 1.3
Changelog:
1. Bugfix (of the BatchMux.exe component). One change introduced in release 1.2 lead to the incorrect production of the muxman script, happening when no chapters are present in the title. The situation is quite rare, but still easily possible, in the DVD2SVCD usage.
2. Another bug is related to the wrong parsing of the -vidmode argument, never used in DVD2SVCD.
3. Slight functional improvements in the usage of the DvdProducer argument.
All of the above points are related to release 1.2, so, whoever downloaded and used release 1.2 is invited to update the plugin to version 1.3. People who is happy with release 1.1 may avoid to upgrade, since version 1.1 is still valid and effective. Sorry for the trouble.

Edit 24-09-2006. Released version 1.2
Changelog:
1. Just changed (quite heavily) the BatchMux.exe component. Other components unchanged. Since all of the implemented modifications do not - hopefully - have any impact on the plugin functionnalities for DVD2SVCD, people who is happy with release 1.1 is not specifically asked to upgrade to 1.2...

[manolito]

Thanks so much, SD!
Will start testing right away...

Cheers
manolito

[manolito]

Just did 3 short test conversions using DVD2DVD and AVI2DVD modes, and everything worked like a charm. In DVD2DVD mode I used 2 audio tracks and 3 sub streams without problems. In AVI2DVD mode I converted a captured AVI, first transcoding the audio from wav to mp2, then using Nick's AC3Enc plugin to convert audio to 2channel AC3. In both cases there also were no problems at all. Even the "chapter bug" with AC3ENC when using fixed chapters was magically gone!

Well, those were just some quick tests, and my folder structure for DVD2SVCD is simple (one work folder plus a separate folder for subs), but as far as I am concerned, BatchMux will be ready for a stable release very soon!

Thanks again to SD, this plugin really keeps DVD2SVCD at the top.

Cheers
manolito

[Sir Didymus]

Originally Posted by manolito

...Even the "chapter bug" with AC3ENC when using fixed chapters was magically gone!

Hi manolito!

The reason is that now Mplex_hack generates a new chapter file for authoring (CellTimes.txt) starting from the chapters extracted from the DVD [if DVD chapters are used] or using just the Chapter length information available in the DVD.INI file [if fixed chapters are used]. In both cases the source information seems valid and unaffected by the "chapter bug".

The code used for the chapter generation is:

if (MovieFrames>MIN_FR_LAST_CHAP)
{
   for (ChapPoint=ChaptersLength*VideoFps;
      ChapPoint<MovieFrames-MIN_FR_LAST_CHAP;
      ChapPoint+=(ChaptersLength*VideoFps))
   {
      fprintf(out,"%I64d\n", ChapPoint);
   }
}

As a consequence, now the audio track is not involved any more in the calculation, and, in case of fixed chapters, the BatchMux plugin prevents the generation of a last chapter too short. Actually the parameter MIN_FR_LAST_CHAP is set to 10 seconds...

Cheers,
SD

[manolito]

Thanks for the explanation!

More test results:
I did a PVA2DVD encode over night, everything works perfectly.

Since I never use external subs, I don't know what else to test. I am completely happy with the plugin as it is now!

Thanks again,

Cheers
manolito

[Sir Didymus]

I am very happy too about what I hear so far...
Thanks to you for testing!

[ChickenMan]

Thanks Sir Didymus for a great plugin. I tried it last night in Batch mode on a few AVI's, with D2SRoba, Nicks AC3 batch file and your Muxman files and all worked perfectly together. Thank you.

One small problem however, I set the DVDAuthor's output folder to a different folder (normally on another HD) than set for the Default output folder. But the final VIDEO_TS folder is generated in the Default Output folder (where all the other DVD2SVCD files are generated) and not the folder I set. Can this be fixed?

As a minor request, is it possible to get the "Data Preparer" text as entered into DVD2SVCD imbeded into the output rather than the default text of "MPUCoder" produced by MuxMan ?

Keep up the good work, this has made DVD2SVCD the ultimate in AVI to DVD conversions.

[Sir Didymus]

Originally Posted by ChickenMan

...I tried it last night in Batch mode on a few AVI's, with D2SRoba, Nicks AC3 batch file and your Muxman files and all worked perfectly together...

Gulp...
I have to admit...
Never ever thought before to test BatchMux in Batch mode...
Lol... Nice to hear everything is almost ok...

One small problem however, I set the DVDAuthor's output folder to a different folder (normally on another HD) than set for the Default output folder. But the final VIDEO_TS folder is generated in the Default Output folder (where all the other DVD2SVCD files are generated) and not the folder I set. Can this be fixed?

This is a little "bug" in my brain, not in the plugin...
Hopefully it will be not difficult to fix...

Well, seriously, I take the opportunity of your question to spend few words about BatchMux.exe...

This is the "engine" of the plugin, which is basically a "wrapper" of MuxMan. BatchMux.exe is the single component of the plugin which is usable (and very useful, IMHO...) also outside DVD2SVCD - as a standalone command line application - enabling the usage of MuxMan with a rich set of command line arguments.

It is sufficient to launch it without arguments to get an help screen showing all of the supported options... This component is already fully parametric, needing no changes to implement what needs to be fixed.

The problem you discovered is a little design fault, depending ... hem ... on the limited analysis I did of the DVD2SVCD GUI...

Could you tell (or show) me what is exactely, in the GUI of DVD2SVCD, the panel and the editbox where you set the VIDEO_TS folder ?

As a minor request, is it possible to get the "Data Preparer" text as entered into DVD2SVCD imbeded into the output rather than the default text of "MPUCoder" produced by MuxMan ?

Mhhh. I don't know...
Basically, if it is possible to change the "MPUCoder" label through mxp scripting, the answer is yes...
But I am not sure on the matter...
I will check...

Keep up the good work, this has made DVD2SVCD the ultimate in AVI to DVD conversions.

Hei, thanks, ChickenMan.
DVD2SVCD is really a great suite...
and MuxMan is really a great authoring application...

Cheers,
SD

[manolito]

Originally Posted by Sir Didymus

This is a little "bug" in my brain, not in the plugin...
Hopefully it will be not difficult to fix...

Actually this should be very easy to fix. The "Authoring" folder can be found in DVD2SVCD.INI under "I-Author Folder". No problem for MPlex_Hack.exe to find this folder and create the VIDEO_TS folder there.
The reason for this little issue probably is that you cannot specify a folder for authoring under the "Misc" tab. This is because Mplex / DVDAuthor were added later to DVD2SVCD. Before this only Scenarist was supported, and there was no need to have separate folders for muxing and authoring.

Cheers
manolito

[Sir Didymus]

Originally Posted by manolito

Actually this should be very easy to fix. The "Authoring" folder can be found in DVD2SVCD.INI under "I-Author Folder".

Ok! I see...

The reason for this little issue probably is that you cannot specify a folder for authoring under the "Misc" tab. This is because Mplex / DVDAuthor were added later to DVD2SVCD. Before this only Scenarist was supported, and there was no need to have separate folders for muxing and authoring.

Ok! I understand...
This is exactely the reason for the issue: in xxx2DVD modes, the I-Author button is not enabled; that made me assuming that all of the I-Author entries in the DVD2SVCD.INI file were unrelated to DVD Author, so I completely missed the authoring folder...

Originally Posted by ChickenMan

You enter it in the DVD Image window with DVD Author selected as per...

Ok!
I will fix the authoring folder issue with the next release of BatchMux - Hem... as soon as possible... in the early days of next week, most probably...

As a minor request, is it possible to get the "Data Preparer" text as entered into DVD2SVCD imbeded into the output rather than the default text of "MPUCoder" produced by MuxMan ?

Ok. Got it... It is the Preparer-ID field (32 bytes) in the video_ts.ifo...
It requires a little postprocessing step to be performed by the dvdauth_hack component...
It should also be available in the next release...

Originally Posted by ADLANCAS

Is BatchMux (as a standalone command line application) able to create .mpg instead a .vob file ?

No. BatchMux.exe, as a standalone command line application, does not work as a muxer (i.e. it is completely different from ImagoMuxer or Mplex). It simply allows the usage of MuxMan with command line arguments. In other words it just launch MuxMan. The benefit (and the rationale for its existance) is that it does not require to write in advance a more or less complex script in order to use MuxMan: it takes the arguments, it create automatically a dedicated mxp script, and it launch MuxMan. That's all.

Cheers,
SD

[manolito]

Originally Posted by Sir Didymus

Ok!
I will fix the authoring folder issue with the next release of BatchMux - Hem... as soon as possible... in the early days of next week, most probably...

Hi SD,
take your time, and I think you do not have to release the next version as Beta any more. I have been using your plugin exclusively since it came out, with 10 conversions at least, in AVI2DVD and DVD2DVD modes, and there simply is nothing to report. It just works perfectly!

Thanks and Cheers
manolito

[ChickenMan]

Originally Posted by Sir Didymus

Could you tell (or show) me what is exactely, in the GUI of DVD2SVCD, the panel and the editbox where you set the VIDEO_TS folder ?

You enter it in the DVD Image window with DVD Author selected as per

[manolito]

@ChickenMan
Until Sir Didymus releases a new version, there is an easy workaround for your problem. Batchmux creates the VIDEO_TS folder within the "Muxed" folder, not in the work folder. So you can just specify the desired output folder under the "Multiplexer" tab in DVD2SVCD. The "Mplex_Muxed_File00.mpg" which is also created in this folder is just a short dummy file.

Cheers
manolito

[ADLANCAS]

Is BatchMux (as a standalone command line application) able to create .mpg instead a .vob file ?

[ChickenMan]

Just tried the new ver 1.1, works exactly as expected for me many thanks SD.

[bionic]

You guys are doing an excellent job evolving d2s like this, much much appreciated

Unfortunately i do seem to have a problem with the batchmux plugin(latest version), i cant get subs to work when doing avi2dvd(havent tried any other modes)
D2s always errors out in the spumux stage, with a SpuMux failed for unknown reasons error.

I suspect it has something to do with the muxing stage as Mplex_hack produces a nonfunctional 12kb muxed file and a 0kb muxed subbed file, but thats a very uneducated guess. It does produce a 12kb file when doing no subs too though but the authoring still finishes proper.

Ive gone through the logs but id rather leave the interpretation to you experts.
Please take a look.

http://fileho.com/download/3b57f3397560/logs.rar.html

[Nick]

Seems to be a very odd AVI you're converting...
According to the logs, it's only a couple of minutes long (5055 frames) and audio conversion took less than a second

Try playing back the extracted and encoded audio files.

Is this as it expected? If not I suspect a corrupt AVI. The VDubMod trick in the AVI-problems sticky may help reconstruct it.

[bionic]

Thx for replying

Should have mentioned..Its just a clip i use to test, its an xvid with 2ch ac3 audio 3.30 mins long.

Have tried many different avi sources with both ac3 or mp3 audio. The moment subs are involved the batchmux plugin fails.
To sum up.
default dvdauthor and muxers with subs =ok
imago with subs =ok
imago+your excellent ac3 plugin and subs =ok
Batchmux =ok
Ac3plugin+batchmux =ok

batchmux with subs=error
Ac3plugin+batchmux with subs=error

[Sir Didymus]

Hi Bionic!

I will get a look asap to the logs. I have to say that the subs support, at the time of the development of the plugin was one of the most complex (and estensively tested) features implemented. I will report back to you as soon as I get a look to the logs...

Cheers,
SD

EDIT: OK. Just got through the log files... It seems that the first subpicture in your srt file has been converted, then the plugin broke down. Your info about the "strange" filesizes of some of the generated files are related to the normal behaviour of the plugin. It should generate a single bmp file for each of the png in the source directory, and then it should generate a sst file to import within muxman. In order to understand what it's going on it should be very helpful if you can post or send to sir_didimus (at) libero.it the original srt, in order to replicate the bug...

EDIT2: OK. I got through the segment of code, in spumux_hack, producing the error reported after the reading of the first picture in the srt file. I suspect that your source srt has been manually edited, breaking the srt format. According to the description here:

http://www.matroska.org/technical/sp...itles/srt.html

the srt assets should be composed by (a list of):
1. A number indicating the which subtitle it is in the sequence.
2. The time that the subtitle should appear on the screen, and then disappear.
3. The subtitle itself.
4. A blank line indicating the start of a new subtitle.

In the implementation supported by spumux_hack, each one of the items above should be present and it should be contained in a single line of the srt file...

[bionic]

Thx for looking into it.
I have sendt you the subs.