Kantan Anime (New Batch Encoder GUI)

[Eretria-chan]

For lack of a better name, I just named it Kantan Anime. It's the new batch encoder that I'm working on, an idea inspired from Sirber's RealAnime. Very nice GUI that.
Kantan Anime is supposed to be an easy-to-use GUI that takes input audio/video and compresses it with modern techology H264 (using x264) and AAC.
The program is still in early stages, but it works. Now, I want some input on it. Should things be changed? Rearranged? Suggestions? Bugs?
Currently, input is anything which mkvmerge supports (which is quite a list) and output is mkv.

You can download it here (www.eluni.net/cgi-bin/download_count/download.cgi?download=Kantan_Anime.7z) (Microsoft Windows(R) XP(TM) version)
Vista version coming soon!

It requires Visual C++ 2005 runtime if you don't have it already.
Download it here if you don't have it. (http://www.eluni.net/downloads/vcredist_x86/vcredist_x86.exe)

Let me know how it works :D

Here are the current ideas for Kantan Anime:
- Remove all files from the list (DONE)
- Add files and directories (Maybe broken due to new implemtations™)
- Support for files with no audio/video tracks
- Support for files with multiple audio/video/subtitles streams (In the works™)
- Saving chapters, subtitles, etc (that is, if any chapters/subtitles/things exist in the original, it shall also be in the newly encoded file)
- Sorting encoding list (by name, by status)
- Deleting specific files from the list (error, done, waiting, skipped, etc)
- New status: skipped file
- Tutorial
- Guides for easy features
- Support for avisynth
- Support for filtering
- Network encoding: Use multiple computers to encode your list via network

These are all ideas, though. Cannot promise everything will be there or how long it will take.

[clone83]

can u plz add avs support and maybe a feature request... you could have it that u can add 2 audio files seperate but it still encodes all the files together and muxes them into one mkv output...?

[berrinam]

I don't mean to be disparaging, but I don't see the point of all these me-too projects.... there are now just so many encoding GUIs here, and I don't see what they add. In my opinion it would be much faster to contribute to an existing project, because they are much further advanced than a new project can be.

Of course, it's your choice if you want to spend your time on this project, but want I'm interested in knowing is what this program does that, say, RealAnime doesn't.

[Eretria-chan]

can u plz add avs support and maybe a feature request... you could have it that u can add 2 audio files seperate but it still encodes all the files together and muxes them into one mkv output...?
Avs support will come, in time.
About 2 audio files... Maybe. I'll see what I can do about that.
But not yet. There is much to do yet.

@berrinam:
I only see RealAnime out there. And it's in delphi. I don't do delphi. Plus we all know that Sirber *might* just not continue it forever. And he won't share the source.
And megui... well, megui is bloated and crap IMO.
This might be, besides an own interesting project (with neat features Sirber probably don't want to implememt), probably the successor of RealAnime one day.

[berrinam]

It would be nice to refrain from criticising megui. Adding IMO doesn't make it ok, IMO.

I believe that RealAnime is GPL, so he has to release his source code if you request it. Anyway, what I see out there is:
MeGUI
StaxRip
RealAnime
MkvMagic
Xvid4PSP
WinMenc
Avidemux
and now yours

[Eretria-chan]

It would be nice to refrain from criticising megui. Adding IMO doesn't make it ok, IMO.
In my opniion megui is not a good software. I tried it before. Hard to use and not satisfying results.

I believe that RealAnime is GPL, so he has to release his source code if you request it. Anyway, what I see out there is:
MeGUI
StaxRip
RealAnime
MkvMagic
Xvid4PSP
WinMenc
Avidemux
and now yours
Have you not read? The original RA5 dev thread was closed over a petty discussion about aquiring the RA5 source. It will remain closed, it seems.

[berrinam]

Have you not read? The original RA5 dev thread was closed over a petty discussion about aquiring the RA5 source. It will remain closed, it seems.Ok, I see. I wasn't aware of that.

[check]

Obviously if everyone worked together in harmony towards a common goal to create the ultimate GUI frontend that finally kills off GK everything would be roses.
On the other hand, you're saying that there are no open source projects that match your own goal, and thus you cannot add to an existing project. So make this OSS :)

[Eretria-chan]

RA is my favorite GUI and so it shall forbee. Therefore, I will make an own GUI from scratch to fill in the holes in the now closed source, RA5. And if Sirber stops working on the project, then I will continue with this one. That's the idea anyway.

[Sirber]

I believe that RealAnime is GPL, so he has to release his source code if you request it.RealAnime 4 and bellow are GPL and source avalible. RealAnime 5 is closed source for the time being, might be GPL on 5.0 final release.

also, xAnime is a RealAnime-like GUI made in C#. If you don't like delphi, I'm sure daverc could use a hand on his project.

[Eretria-chan]

You know as well as I do that I don't like C#. Besides, things (like my GUI) that I use in C++, I don't have for C# because it isn't NATIVE. And there is A LOT I don't know how to do in C#.
...And I don't like that language either. It's turning into another Visual Basic. Go figure.

[Sirber]

Where are the settings?

[Eretria-chan]

What settings? :confused:

[Sirber]

codec settings for exmeple, bitrate and stuff.
all I get is a file list, add, start and stop.

[Eretria-chan]

Yeah, it's pretty alpha yet. I borrowed your settings from RA5.
But the idea is to add profiles - like your GUI. Because it's so darn easy to use.

[Sirber]

I don't like your idea of cloning RA.

[Eretria-chan]

The idea is to make a GUI which is easy to use a-la RealAnime (Read: like RealAnime). I borrowed your settings for x264 since I don't know how to make my own (don't know the command lines).
The rest of the program will be my own implemtation and design. Again, profiles are incredibly easy to use.
It is not a clone; it does indeed use the same idea (an easy to use GUI) that even beginners can use without trouble.

[Doom9]

And megui... well, megui is bloated and crap IMO.Having written a considerable portion of megui, I can't help but take offense. Congratulations, you've just made my shitlist and considering I run this board, you are now skating on very thin ice.

@berrinam: let's just continue making megui better, all those me too projects will eventually die. There were a lot of me-too websites that tried to emulate mine back in the day, too.. look where we are now.

[Sirber]

my me-too will never die!!! ;)
I think RA was here before megui, so megui is a me-too too ;)

[Eretria-chan]

Well, forgive ME if *I* think so. It is *MY* personal opinion. I don't run about screaming your software is bad. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and from the looks of it, many people find MeGUI useful. But *I* don't.
And if someone takes offense from a personal opinion, then that one should probably learn that other people may think differently. No offense.

[Sirber]

And if someone takes offense from a personal opinionThose usualy ask a mod to close the thread ;)

[Eretria-chan]

That is nonsense. What should a thread be closed for such a silly thing? If someone is polluting a thread, then that one must stop. Why oh why, close the thread?

[Sirber]

was talking about me silly ;)
remember old RA dev thread? :D

[Eretria-chan]

Yes, yes, I do. But I still feel it was unnecessary. And I'm not one to close a thread over mood swings, either.

[ChronoCross]

From what I see this is a poorly written pre-alpha. It's not even really useable and the fact that it's going to basically be a realanime clone doesn't make it any better.

Eretria-chan:
I read the RealAnime 5 thread that was thankfully closed. You are a whiney complaining poster who does nothing but complain when something doesn't work exactly how YOU want it. The fact that MeGUI is too complex for you to understand and get working properly shows really bad on yourself and any attempts for you to make software that people actually want to use will probably fail.

[unskinnyboy]

I, for one, am thankful that there are many options to choose from, as long as each serve at least a different class of audience - ultra n00b, n00b, intermediate user, advanced user etc, and as long as there is something unique which one software offers over the other (ease of use, access to advanced settings, rapid & frequent modifications to the GUI to match the codec settings etc). While on one hand I think the harsh censure of MeGUI was unwarranted and to which I don't agree, let us not discourage someone trying to contribute to the AV community too.

Too many GUIs spoil the broth? Maybe, maybe not. Let's wait and see. Time will tell. Peace & good luck.

[Sharktooth]

my me-too will never die!!! ;)
I think RA was here before megui, so megui is a me-too too ;)
I dont think doom9 was referring to you. RA is very different from megui and uses a completely different approach.
I fail to see how the 2 GUIs can be even compared coz they're completely different.

[Eretria-chan]

From what I see this is a poorly written pre-alpha. It's not even really useable and the fact that it's going to basically be a realanime clone doesn't make it any better.
Maybe you are right his is a pre-alpha, but perhaps I wanted to see what people thought of the encoding process? The software is slowly maturing in my dev gui.

Eretria-chan:
I read the RealAnime 5 thread that was thankfully closed. You are a whiney complaining poster who does nothing but complain when something doesn't work exactly how YOU want it.
No, you are just another one who cannot see behind the scenes.

The fact that MeGUI is too complex for you to understand and get working properly shows really bad on yourself and any attempts for you to make software that people actually want to use will probably fail.
Let's face it: MeGUI is *advanced*. I don't want advanced software because I don't know enough to make use of it. RealAnime on the other hand is basically... drag & drop files. Click start. Leave and don't look back. What could be easier? THAT is how I want it.
But also remember that I am willing to look beyond areas where Sirber will not look with RealAnime. And since this is written in C++, I can contribute as much as I want, unlike Delphi.

[Sirber]

And since this is written in C++, I can contribute as much as I want, unlike Delphi.Since most people use VB6 and C#, it's likely that you will be alone on that project.

[Eretria-chan]

Since most people use C++, maybe I'll be alone on the project. But it's alright. I am not expecting any help. I can manage fine by my own.
OK, no really, a lot is written in C++ and I doubt that will change.

[Sirber]

OK, no really, a lot is written in C++ and I doubt that will change.A lot of C++ apps out there true, but I'm talking about users of d9. Most of them are not devs and all they know/try is VB and .NET ;)

[Eretria-chan]

Poor sods. They don't know what they're missing :sly:
But maybe some wannabe like Lain, who knows little or nothing at all about programming/c++, will join just because they think the idea is glorious! :p

[berrinam]

I support One Unified Encoding manager, because it simply saves so much code. Consider what MeGUI has that no other tool really does: complete auto deinterlacing, and mux path finding. Both of these tools are quite advanced, and will be useful for a GUI designed for any level of user. Most people who write new GUIs simply don't have the time to write such features, so their GUI lacks that. I think what MeGUI really has to offer is its advanced features, much more than the GUI itself.

This is why I proposed a sort of backend manager which would have all of these advanced features. Not many people seemed particularly interested, though, and I didn't have much time to implement it, so I left it for then. However, I believe this is the proper solution to all this duplication of code.

Until then, however, it costs practically nothing to simply add another RA-like tool to MeGUI. It would really take much less work than creating an entirely new tool, and it would immediately get all of the things MeGUI has to offer, including wide support of codecs.

[Eretria-chan]

If you can convince them to add a dll (writen in C++ of course), then I could do it. Maybe. But it would still be hard work.

[berrinam]

Who is them? Who are you replying to?

[Eretria-chan]

The authors or MeGUI and/or contributors.
Although I think I am on thin ice with Doom9, one of the authors of MeGUI I think? I don't think it will be featurable. I don't think it will work at all, anyway, though.

[LAIN]

Poor sods. They don't know what they're missing :sly:
But maybe some wannabe like Lain, who knows little or nothing at all about programming/c++, will join just because they think the idea is glorious! :p

i dont like the idea of beeing a "wannabe". and i dont F*****G care about the so called glory.

First i wont joint a project unlest it is useful (like realanime) and I know the basic of programming. I dont know nothing about C++ and i defenitly wont learn it (I'm not a programmer and i dont intend to become one).

I just hope that you will stop telling some false idea about people that work on project. I've learned delphi with realanime and it's a good experience, i just dont have the same motivation as Sirber in it and wont put the same amount of time as him. If you can concider you as a god of programming c++ and YOU NEVER went by the process of "learning" a programming language, i'm astonished, please tell me what do you eat in the morning to be a god.

[Edit]

Btw, how does it feel to take some code that was made by a "wannabe", code from realanime?

[Edit 2]

and i wont come here to pollute your thread

[berrinam]

Well, I am one of the authors. I don't know how easily C# code could communicate with C++, though, and for it to integrate nicely, you would need to be able to access and extend the C# classes. Primarily, though, I don't understand the concern over the choice of language. C# is a simple enough language to easily learn, and the powerful IDE and syntactical similarity with C++ should mean that the language issue should not be a concern for you. However, I think the advantages of C# (all the extra runtime-ivity and also the fact that it has easy+nice GUIs, strong in-built libraries, catches more bugs) outweigh the only real advantage you would have of writing it in C++: speed, which isn't such a big concern given that it is only an encoding manager, and not an encoder itself.

[Eretria-chan]

i dont like the idea of beeing a "wannabe". and i dont F*****G care about the so called glory.

First i wont joint a project unlest it is useful (like realanime) and I know the basic of programming. I dont know nothing about C++ and i defenitly wont learn it (I'm not a programmer and i dont intend to become one).

I just hope that you will stop telling some false idea about people that work on project. I've learned delphi with realanime and it's a good experience, i just dont have the same motivation as Sirber in it and wont put the same amount of time as him. If you can concider you as a god of programming c++ and YOU NEVER went by the process of "learning" a programming language, i'm astonished, please tell me what do you eat in the morning to be a god.
Sigh...
Sorry to hear you were offended. My words were not meant to offend. Sorry, sorry...
It was a joke. It means that some people *might* join a project because they feel like it's worth it. Like you, with RealAnime. And I consider it a great thing done if you don't know much about programming or a language, yet learn and contribute. Which you have done.
Again, truly sorry if I offended you.

@berrinam:
I don't like C#. I don't care if it's better than C++. C# is like Visual Basic. You trade power for easiness. And I don't like that.

[berrinam]

Well, I can't force you to program in a language you don't like, but it is IMHO irrational to avoid it given these advantages (and the fact that MeGUI is written in C#) just because of a moral reason. I'll repeat it: in an encoding manager, power is not important, because it doesn't do the gruntwork. The other point is that writing code is full of tradeoffs, and not liking the language is IMHO a bad reason to avoid the potential it offers.

I don't know enough .NET to know how easily one can integrate C++ with C#, but if that stops you contributing to MeGUI, I am sorry to hear it. Perhaps more knowledgeable of .NET can shed some light.

[LAIN]

Sigh...
Sorry to hear you were offended. My words were not meant to offend. Sorry, sorry...


Ok, sorry for acting like this, but the way that you tell it was very confusing and it's even worse when you wake up and you read this kind of stuff!!!

[Eretria-chan]

Why do I use C++? Is it the speed? No. It's the power is brings. This is what makes me love the language. I don't like C#. It's too overly simplistic. And it's turning into another VB.
I like control - and control is what you loose when using C#. Everything is done behind the scenes - just like VB.

Ok, sorry for acting like this, but the way that you tell it was very confusing and it's even worse when you wake up and you read this kind of stuff!!!
I understand. Again, truly sorry.

[Eretria-chan]

Updating to alpha 2. New error checking is in place as well as a overhaul of most of the code.
It will now store all encoded files in C:\Output with the original name, but with a mkv extension. So it is possible to do batch-encoding now. I hope.
Let's see what we can do about compability now...

[ChronoCross]

Let's face it: MeGUI is *advanced*. I don't want advanced software because I don't know enough to make use of it. RealAnime on the other hand is basically... drag & drop files. Click start. Leave and don't look back. What could be easier? THAT is how I want it.
But also remember that I am willing to look beyond areas where Sirber will not look with RealAnime. And since this is written in C++, I can contribute as much as I want, unlike Delphi.


for someone who likes functionality of C++ you don't seem to be able to handle anything other than drag and drop.

As for me not seeing behind the scenes.....I just know what I've seen from your first alpha.....which is basically a bat file maker....cause that's all it does. Really detrimental to the encoding community. You should have considered waiting until you had more than 1 feature to release anything. It would be like releasing windows vista with only the boot screen.

[Eretria-chan]

I wanted to know the opinion on the GUI, actually. There is yet a lot to be done. This wasn't much about features, but style.

[Sirber]

This wasn't much about features, but style.If by style you mean empty and dull... ;)

[Eretria-chan]

That's the kinda input I was looking for :p Okay, seriously, I messed something up. It isn't showing the picture properly (but noone bothered to complain about anything).
I want to add compability, but I can't get the cursed avs2wav.exe to WORK, damn you!

[Eretria-chan]

Alright, alpha 3 is ready. Compability is vastly improved. Anything that is supported by mkvmerge is supposed, basically. Audio encoding is improved as well, now it won't fail on some types of audio. Fixed the GUI, now the picture shows properly.
Good riddance. Now I need a break.
Some things are still not working, of course, but it will come in time.

[Sirber]

so betas are tomorrow, rcs in 2 days and final in 3 days? ;)
or you are aiming for alpha 60?

[Eretria-chan]

Dunno. Got a lot of time on my hands and I've simply written the basic parts.
Of course, that will be all there is unless there are lots of feature requests. And that doesn't seem too likely now.