DeathTheSheep United: x264 Guide and VfW Builds

[DeathTheSheep]

DeathTheSheep United: The ultimate x264 VFW spot has been born.

Download new VfW builds here or here (Bugmaster)! Special thanks to Komisar!

New x264 VfW builds, comprehensive x264 settings guide [server currently down], small community forum.

[Caroliano]

Don't ever use me-range higher than 32... it will only low the PNSR and increase the encoding time. ( http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=96636 )

And the B-frame reduction for anime is intersting... I think it can work, but don't tested yet. In that case I can use B-frames as references?

[berrinam]

Originally Posted by DeathTheSheep

the "Video Quality (PSNR)":"filesize" ratio will increase.

I'm a bit surprised by this. Are you saying that you compared two files with different filesizes and different PSNRs? AFAIK, PSNR doesn't scale linearly with filesize.

Anyway, except for that, thank you for all your work and your guide.

[DeathTheSheep]

Originally Posted by Caroliano

Don't ever use me-range higher than 32... it will only low the PNSR and increase the encoding time.

Ah, thanks for that. You're right about it increasing the encoding time. As for the filesize, though, it will actually decrease with -esa (where it was mentioned), but PSNR values may be sacrificed in some cases. Due to the apparent variability of these results, I'll have this upper bound removed.

Originally Posted by berrinam

I'm a bit surprised by this. Are you saying that you compared two files with different filesizes and different PSNRs? AFAIK, PSNR doesn't scale linearly with filesize.

Actually, I just meant that you will achieve better PSNR for your file size (presumably, the same filesize proffers heightened PSNR with the higher-quality approach-- and vise versa).
I'll clarify that in my guide. Thanks!

[Sirber]

Good! I will try the SMEQ at 6 and bframe reduction 50%!

i use 1 b-frame, 3 ref. frames and +512 to-512 range in nero digital avc max. def. and i get great quality!i see the average bitrate in info. in recode 2 and i use 20% of that bitrate in 2-pass encoding!

[DeathTheSheep]

Good news. What type of source material do you typically use? Animation, "real" movies, etc?

You mentioned how you got 20% of "that bitrate" when encoding in Nero. What exactly do you mean by this? ex: Have you achieved 20% better compression with Nero Recode than with x264 using the above method? Or did you simply use 20% of the average bitrate Nero reported to you?

My regards,
DTS

[DeathTheSheep]

The Guide is really long now...In fact, it can't get much longer at all due to the post size limit... *gulps in anxiety*

ADDED:

<> Deblocking Guide

<> Bitrate Variability Section

<> Streaming sections

NEED:

<> Cosmetics Work

<> More space for the rest of the guide (there's a 16000-char. limit here)!

[CiNcH]

//<>\\ When they become available for use, take advantage of custom H.264 quantization matrices. These nifty little numerical spreadsheets control how and where different frames are quantized. Typically, these matrices are not in widespread circulation and are still being tweaked to provide the best quality possible. The x264 codec currently (rev. 285) does not support this feature.

It actually does. Guess that it is just not part of the VfW interface.

CLI:

--cqm <string>          Preset quant matrices ["flat"]
                            - jvt, flat
--cqmfile <string>      Read quant matrices from a JM-compatible file
                            Overrides any other --cqm* options.
--cqm4 <list>           Set all 4x4 quant matrices
                            Takes a comma-separated list of 16 integers.
--cqm8 <list>           Set all 8x8 quant matrices
                            Takes a comma-separated list of 64 integers.
--cqm4i, --cqm4p, --cqm8i, --cqm8p
                        Set both luma and chroma quant matrices
--cqm4iy, --cqm4ic, --cqm4py, --cqm4pc
                        Set individual quant matrices

Problem is that ffdshow still doesn't support CQM. Have to use Nero Digital AVC Decoder instead.


Interesting information on motion search engine/motion search algorithms in x264: Motion Search Method

[Sirber]

We could make that sticky

Originally Posted by DeathTheSheep

Good news. What type of source material do you typically use? Animation, "real" movies, etc?

You mentioned how you got 20% of "that bitrate" when encoding in Nero. What exactly do you mean by this? ex: Have you achieved 20% better compression with Nero Recode than with x264 using the above method? Or did you simply use 20% of the average bitrate Nero reported to you?

My regards,
DTS

My sources are widescreen DVD movies, and yes, i use 20% of the bitrate recode reports, with range as +-512.5,3 ref. frames, 1 b-frames, psycho off, color optimization on, and using -1 deblocking!

check out these screenshots:
DVD Screen : http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4...dickdvd1vg.jpg
Nero Max-Def AVC Screen:http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/56/riddickmp46wg.jpg

[DeathTheSheep]

Cool.

The thing that frazzles me is that the people who use Nero often confuse the "range:32" of x264 and the "range:512" of Recode2. I think some "range" clarification is in order for us poor folks (motion vector range : motion estimation range).

neo_anderson:
Slightly OT... But btw, in the screenshots, the guy looks more pleasant and clean-shaven in the AVC encode...He looks more menacing/dirty in the DVD frame with all his stubble. Gotta love that MPEG-4 smoothing!

Originally Posted by CiNcH

It actually does [already support CQM]. Guess that it is just not part of the VfW interface.
...
Problem is that ffdshow still doesn't support CQM. Have to use Nero Digital AVC Decoder instead.

Indeed. This is precisely the reason I left it out of my guide. I changed the wording a bit, though.

Interesting information on motion search engine/motion search algorithms in x264: Motion Search Method

Yes, my guide is fully compliant with that thread. I just wrote up the best methods in my guide to illimate the need for users to poke about.

Is there any way to increase the post size limit? (From 16000 characters to, say... 25000?)

umm..., i used chronicles of riddick r1 director's cut dvd, so it's the best quality available for this movie!

[DeathTheSheep]

I know-- The source DVD looks very good in your screenshot . I meant that the AVC encode smooths out his whiskers and makes him look less feirce.

But maybe only I think that....

hey, thank god u're online, please can u tell me some other way for finding out bitrate to be used,along with -1 deblocking, and 5 ref. frames? also, should i use more than 1 b-frames?

[DeathTheSheep]

To find out what bitrate to use, start out by asking yourself what the maximum should be. For instance, if I wanted to encode The Matrix 3, I'd probably set aside 2 CDs to acheive the maximum quality. Then use a bitrate calculator (like the one in xvid).

But, if you wanted a more exact bitrate based on quality, try to take a sample of the source (make it a fairly large) and encode it with your desired QP. With the resulting file, perform this calculation:

{ (# of MB in file x 1024) / (# of seconds in file) } x 8 = (Average Bitrate)

This will give you an average bitrate for the quality you desired.

An example: I take out 10 minutes of a cool scene in the middle and encode it with a quantizer of 22, 26, and 28. I find that the file with the quantizer of 26 fits my liking, so I apply my formula to it. With the resulting bitrate, I encode the entire movie in 2-Pass mode with the "High Speed, High Quality" mode above.

Of course, if you knew your target size (ex: you wanted to fit your content fit to two CDs), use the following formula:

( {(target MB x 1024) / (# of seconds in video)} x 8 ) - (audio bitrate) = (bitrate needed)

Cheers.

thks DTS Dude, pls tell me what are ur thoughts or recommendations on Psycho-Visual Enhancements in Nero Digital AVC!

[_E_]

MeGUI comes with a bitrate calculator You don't need to do any calcuations. It detects the type & size of audio used and it generates the average bitrate/target filesize based on the inputted framerate, total frames number, b frames mode on/off and desired container. So far it's giving accurate results.

[DeathTheSheep]

Psychovisual Enhancements? Okay, I added the section. The guide is shaping up, right?

Well, I'll really have to do something about that accursed 16000 character limit in this forum... I had to tone down the guide already, and it's already full to the max! LOL

[CiNcH]

Here's my interpretation of Psychovisual Modeling / Psychovisual Heuristics:

Psychovisual modeling algorithms exploit the peculiarities of the Human Visual System (HVS). This knowledge allows the encoder to more efficiently allocate video data, helping it to increase perceptual quality. This area is full of possibilities which are continuously being explored and developed.

On FrameLevel data is reduced for a video sequence at full frame rate in a way that the HVS does not notice.

On MacroblockLevel distortions are masked in dark/bright (luminance masking) or highly textured areas of the picture (in other words bit spend is reduced) where the HVS does not notice it, details in flat areas, where the human eye is most sensitive, are enhanced.

Although psychovisual heuristics appear to improve quality the PSNR score drops, so the PSNR metric does not have a good correlation with subjective perception of video quality.


Psy-Vis in latest Ateme AVC Encoder Beta (I am not a tester so I am not aware of its effects)

There are 4 psychovisual levels, which are independant from the other settings.

* psy 0 -> no psychovisual heuristics
* psy 1 -> psychovisual heuristics on a frame level
* psy 2 -> psychovisual heuristics on a macroblock level
* psy 3 -> enhanced psychovisual heuristics on a macroblock level. Some people prefer it over psy 2, others don't.