Announcing the first free software Blu-ray encoder

[Dark Shikari]

The x264 demo Blu-ray is now available as we announce official Blu-ray encoding support!

Read the full article.

[bob0r]

Yeah baby!

[shon3i]

Now officially Congratulations

Btw we have free Authoring app's with menus and chapters: multiAVCHD.

[kieranrk]

Originally Posted by shon3i

Now officially Congratulations

Btw we have free Authoring app's with menus and chapters: multiAVCHD.

Did you check it with Sony Verifier?

[shon3i]

Originally Posted by kieranrk

Did you check it with Sony Verifier?

Yes it passes, with few warnings, about missing AACS files and other unnecessary things.

[Blue_MiSfit]

Congratulations to everyone who worked on this project. Truly fantastic work!

[CruNcher]

Yep a big step for Free consumer Blu-Ray creation

[sebazvideo]

It's great, but the URL in the article has the source files, where do we get the compiled x264.exe for both 32 and 64 bit (if it exists yet), and can we replace the x264.exe in the Megui tools directory? Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but I'm a video geek and I don't know anything about commits, diffs and trees, except for the ones growing in my garden.

I already burned the BD5 from the image and I'll play it in a few minutes.

[Gser]

I think I just pissed my pants a little.

[Dark Shikari]

Originally Posted by sebazvideo

It's great, but the URL in the article has the source files, where do we get the compiled x264.exe for both 32 and 64 bit (if it exists yet), and can we replace the x264.exe in the Megui tools directory? Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but I'm a video geek and I don't know anything about commits, diffs and trees, except for the ones growing in my garden.

I already burned the BD5 from the image and I'll play it in a few minutes.

x264 has supported Blu-ray authoring for a few weeks now, this is just the official announcement

[nurbs]

Originally Posted by sebazvideo

where do we get the compiled x264.exe for both 32 and 64 bit (if it exists yet)

x264.nl or the patched builds thread on this forum.

Originally Posted by sebazvideo

can we replace the x264.exe in the Megui tools directory

Sure.

[sebazvideo]

OK, I found them at http://x264.nl/

The author writes, in that announcement, about some parameters that are required by the blu-ray spec and gives an example for 24p footage:

x264 --crf 16 --preset veryslow --tune film --weightp 0 --bframes 3 --nal-hrd vbr --vbv-maxrate 40000 --vbv-bufsize 30000 --level 4.1 --keyint 24 --b-pyramid strict --slices 4 --aud --colorprim "bt709" --transfer "bt709" --colormatrix "bt709" --sar 1:1 <input> -o <output>

While I will be encoding some 24p footage, my main use will be for 29.97 interlaced footage, and mostly at a constant bitrate of 20 Mbps, since that's the highest that at least my blu-ray player will play when I burn a bd structure to DVD media. Since BD-Rs are still a little expensive, I have a lot of footage shot by myself that I normally put on BD9s at that bitrate. If someone can guide me, which are the parameters that are absolutely obligatory to make my encode blu-ray compliant? All I encoded so far plays in my player (Sony BDP-S300) but I don't want to risk getting a newer player at some point and not being able to play my personal footage.

Also, are there are parameters that have to be different when encoding 23.98 fps as opposed to 24 fps? I have a Panasonic AVCHD camera that shoots 23.98 native and I don't want to screw up anything, considering the amount of time it takes to encode to h.264.

[Dark Shikari]

Originally Posted by sebazvideo

OK, I found them at http://x264.nl/

The author writes, in that announcement, about some parameters that are required by the blu-ray spec and gives an example for 24p footage:

x264 --crf 16 --preset veryslow --tune film --weightp 0 --bframes 3 --nal-hrd vbr --vbv-maxrate 40000 --vbv-bufsize 30000 --level 4.1 --keyint 24 --b-pyramid strict --slices 4 --aud --colorprim "bt709" --transfer "bt709" --colormatrix "bt709" --sar 1:1 <input> -o <output>

While I will be encoding some 24p footage, my main use will be for 29.97 interlaced footage, and mostly at a constant bitrate of 20 Mbps, since that's the highest that at least my blu-ray player will play when I burn a bd structure to DVD media. Since BD-Rs are still a little expensive, I have a lot of footage shot by myself that I normally put on BD9s at that bitrate. If someone can guide me, which are the parameters that are absolutely obligatory to make my encode blu-ray compliant? All I encoded so far plays in my player (Sony BDP-S300) but I don't want to risk getting a newer player at some point and not being able to play my personal footage.

Also, are there are parameters that have to be different when encoding 23.98 fps as opposed to 24 fps? I have a Panasonic AVCHD camera that shoots 23.98 native and I don't want to screw up anything, considering the amount of time it takes to encode to h.264.

24 and 23.976 FPS are both allowed on Blu-ray, nothing different about them.

The primary thing you have to do is use lower VBV settings to work on DVDs (BD9s). I think 15000/15000 are the appropriate numbers.

[SomeJoe]

Originally Posted by Dark Shikari

24 and 23.976 FPS are both allowed on Blu-ray, nothing different about them.

DS is right, Blu-Ray supports both.

However, there are a couple things you should know:

1. To make your interlaced encode, you will need to add --tff or --bff to your x264 encode line to tell x264 to encode the content interlaced, and to tell it what the field order is. Most AVCHD cameras shoot interlaced footage as top field first, so you would use --tff.

2. Though Blu-Ray supports 23.976 (actually 24/1.001) and 24.000, virtually all Hollywood Blu-Ray discs are 23.976. This is so that the downconverted output from a Blu-Ray player (on the composite or S-video outputs) is compatible with standard definition NTSC TVs. Blu-Rays that are 24.000 will not be able to be downconverted to SD by the typical Blu-Ray players available in the US.

3. There are some HDTVs sold in the US that have problems with 24.000 input. These TVs assume that the input is actually 23.976 always, even if it's actually 24.000. These TVs will show a display glitch about every (1/(24 - (24/1.001))) = 42 seconds when playing back 24.000 material. Yes, technically this is a bug in the TV, because ATSC specs specifically allow 24.000 fps, but nevertheless, these TVs do exist.


For reasons #2 and #3 above, I recommend that Blu-Rays (or BD content on DVD media, aka BD5/BD9) be authored at 23.976, not 24.000. Since your material is natively 23.976 as shot by your camera, this is not a problem. For content that is natively 24.000, I recommend applying a 0.1% slowdown to 23.976 for the video and audio prior to encoding.

Please note that I am speaking here assuming you're making a disc for NTSC/USA use. If you're making a disc for use in a PAL-based country, you can either author at 23.976 which will playback on HDTVs fine, or speedup the content by 4% to 25.000 to make a disc where it's downconverted SD output is compatible with standard definition PAL TVs.

By the way, we're getting OT here, so if you want to continue this discussion of authoring your camera-shot material, I recommend you start a new thread.

[sebazvideo]

OK, I replaced the x264.exe and x264_64.exe in the tools directory in Megui, and after creating an AVS script and loading it, when I try to encode it stops and this is the log:

[Error] Log
-[Information] Versions
--[NoImage] MeGUI Version : 0.3.4.0
--[NoImage] OS : Windows Seven Premium Edition x64 (6.1.0.7600)
--[NoImage] Latest .Net Framework installed : 3.5 SP1 (3.5.30729.4926)
--[NoImage] Avisynth Version : 2.5.8.5
-[Error] Log for job1 (video, 3 Minutes Canopus HQ Max.avs -> 3 Minutes Canopus HQ Max.264)
--[Information] [4/25/2010 5:37:31 PM] Started handling job
--[Information] [4/25/2010 5:37:31 PM] Preprocessing
--[NoImage] Job commandline: "C:\Program Files (x86)\megui\tools\x264\x264.exe" --bitrate 20000 --thread-input --deblock -6:-6 --keyint 18 --min-keyint 3 --interlaced --slices 4 --vbv-bufsize 20000 --vbv-maxrate 20000 --aud --nal-hrd --sar 1:1 --aud --output "E:\George encoding tests April 2010\3 Minutes Canopus HQ Max.264" "E:\George encoding tests April 2010\3 Minutes Canopus HQ Max.avs"
--[Information] [4/25/2010 5:37:31 PM] Encoding started
--[Error] An error occurred: x264 [error]: invalid argument: nal-hrd = --sar
--[NoImage] Standard output stream
--[NoImage] Standard error stream
--[Information] [4/25/2010 5:37:31 PM] Job completed

I don't understand, isn't nal-hrd one of those parameters that are obligatory for blu-ray? I also don't understand why in the error log it shows as invalid "nal-hrd = --sar", when the way it's in the command line that Megui sends to x264 it's "--nal-hrd --sar 1:1 "

Can anyone give me a clue?

[SomeJoe]

Originally Posted by sebazvideo

OK, I replaced the x264.exe and x264_64.exe in the tools directory in Megui, and after creating an AVS script and loading it, when I try to encode it stops and this is the log:

I don't understand, isn't nal-hrd one of those parameters that are obligatory for blu-ray? I also don't understand why in the error log it shows as invalid "nal-hrd = --sar", when the way it's in the command line that Megui sends to x264 it's "--nal-hrd --sar 1:1 "

The new x264 requires a parameter along with the --nal-hrd entry, wither "vbr" or "cbr". The proper one for Blu-Ray is --nal-hrd vbr. MeGUI is not aware that the new parameter is required, so x264 is giving you an error.

Edit: Follow the directions below ... you can put the --nal-hrd vbr as a custom parameter in MeGUI.

[nurbs]

Deactivate NAL-HRD in the codec configuration and add --nal-hrd vbr as a custom command line switch.

While you can use any version of x264 with megui you are bound to run into problems if the commands an old megui version uses aren't the same a new x264 revision expects.

[mp3dom]

Nal-hdr is mandatory for BD compliance. The error you have comes because now for the nal-hrd you need to specify either vbr or cbr nal. So in your command line you need to put "--nal-hrd vbr" (without quotes).
Edit: Ops nurbs already comes first...

[nurbs]

The news is getting pretty widespread.

I learned something new reading slashdot today: Apparently people using BD-Rebuilder are only imagining their backups work, because blu-ray players never play discs without AACS.

[sebazvideo]

Thanks to all that replied about the nal-hdr, I had already figured it out when I read the example command line, but I appreciate it regardless.

That Sony Verifier program, is it free or does it cost money? I googled it and I couldn't find anything about it, other than I think it comes with BluPrint, but I don't know if it's available separately.