portable avisynth?

[smok3]

is there a way to do a portable avisynth package? (like i want everything on an usb key and no (or minimum) system changes should be made.)

[Terka]

great idea !

[Mug Funky]

i second this idea.

[Pookie]

What about the registry entry that points to the default plugin location ? I wonder if Avisynth will complain if that entry doesn't exist...
Sounds like we'll know pretty soon. Best of luck.

[smok3]

i guess it should go like:
1. temporarily unistall original avisynth (if there) and notice the user what version was there maybe
2. 'install' the mobile version - and use user determined default plugin folder
3. on reboot (or some other event) check if the mobile device (well not a device, but the location itself) is still present.
3b. if yes - do nothing
3c. in no - uninstall mobile version & install/register old one if there was one before.
... but iam no coder so this is probably naive?

[Pookie]

There's a handful of tools which may be of use:

DependencyWalker http://www.dependencywalker.com/
Regmon by sysinternals.com http://www.snapfiles.com/download/dlregmon.html
Filemon by sysinternals.com
WhatChanged.exe http://www.portablefreeware.com/download.php?id=634
Regshot http://regshot.blog.googlepages.com/regshot.html

[squid_80]

What about the registry entry that points to the default plugin location ? I wonder if Avisynth will complain if that entry doesn't exist...
It doesn't complain, it just doesn't auto-load anything.

[Guest]

What is the point of all this?

[IanB]

At a guess, to access Avisynth on a locked SOE environment PC that won't let you install anything. :sly:

The show stopper with doing this will be adding the registry keys for the AVI layer intercept. This part of the registry is usually read only on such crippled environments.

I beleive these would be the required keysHKCR "CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}" "" "AviSynth"
HKCR "CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}\InProcServer32" "" "AviSynth.dll"
HKCR "CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}\InProcServer32" "ThreadingModel" "Apartment"
HKCR "Media Type\Extensions\.avs" "" ""
HKCR "Media Type\Extensions\.avs" "Source Filter" "{D3588AB0-0781-11CE-B03A-0020AF0BA770}"
HKCR "avifile\Extensions\AVS" "" "{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}"In the 2nd line use the full path to the usb stick drive avisynth.dll

[Guest]

At a guess, to access Avisynth on a locked SOE environment PC that won't let you install anything. :sly: And you just happen to have all the other video/audio/encoding stuff you need already installed!?

[ilovejedd]

If you're using command line only utilities, then no need to install. You can just run them from a portable mass storage device. Besides, there are some programs that do not require installation, VirtualDub being one. Although there is the matter of vfw codecs. Most systems should have an mpeg2 decoder and there's DGIndex so manipulating mpeg2 files and already decrypted vob files should be easy enough. XviD, x264 will, quite possibly, pose a problem.

[Pookie]

X264.exe and Mencoder.exe can take care of that. The difficult to solve one is in Ian B's post. No biggie if you had registry write access - you could add it for the session, then auto remove it when you pull the thumb drive.

I have no idea how WINE works, but perhaps the installation routine of Avisynth on that platform might provide some insight?

[smok3]

IanB: tnx will try. (the practical problem will be an yv12 splitter, if the system doesnt have one installed i imagine...?). Well, in any case i guess the admin access will be needed.

edit: this *.reg is not working:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}]
@="AviSynth"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}\InProcServer32]
@="T:\utility\avisynth\avisynth.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Media Type\Extensions\.avs]
@=""
"Source Filter"="{D3588AB0-0781-11CE-B03A-0020AF0BA770}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AVIFile\Extensions\AVS]
@="{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}"

any ideas what iam missing? edit: see my next post, where i answer myself:

[smok3]

mkay, i think i got everything working now, if my portable root avisynth directory is for example:
t:\utility\avisynth\
then the full *.reg script would be (you can skip the plugin dir, but no less):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}]
@="AviSynth"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}\InProcServer32]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Media Type\Extensions\.avs]
@=""
"Source Filter"="{D3588AB0-0781-11CE-B03A-0020AF0BA770}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AVIFile\Extensions\AVS]
@="{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avs_auto_file]
@="AviSynth Autoload Script"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avs_auto_file\DefaultIcon]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll,0"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avsfile]
@="AviSynth Script"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avsfile\DefaultIcon]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll,0"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avisynth]
"plugindir2_5"="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\plugins"

also there must be devil.dll in the same dir as avisynth.dll (and maybe even msvcp60.dll).

to 'unistall' use the same script with lil - simbols, like:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}]
@="AviSynth"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}\InProcServer32]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Media Type\Extensions\.avs]
@=""
"Source Filter"="{D3588AB0-0781-11CE-B03A-0020AF0BA770}"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AVIFile\Extensions\AVS]
@="{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avs_auto_file]
@="AviSynth Autoload Script"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avs_auto_file\DefaultIcon]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll,0"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avsfile]
@="AviSynth Script"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avsfile\DefaultIcon]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll,0"

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avisynth]
"plugindir2_5"="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\plugins"

the avisynth i used is 2.5.7, rc3, md5:
76bb8e202d1bb66710779b9ce2292d64 *AviSynth_311206.exe

edit: warning, this reg files will kill any allready installed avisynth version, so you will have to reinstall.

edit2: your portable dir should look like in this illustration:
T:\utility\avisynth\plugins\
T:\utility\avisynth\Docs\
T:\utility\avisynth\Examples\
T:\utility\avisynth\avisynthOFF.reg
T:\utility\avisynth\avisynthON.reg
T:\utility\avisynth\avisynth.dll
T:\utility\avisynth\devil.dll
T:\utility\avisynth\msvcp60.dll

[chipzoller]

Has anyone confirmed this is a working avisynth environment in vivo?

[smok3]

for me it is working fine on 3 different win32, xp systems (but i did not try any other win flavor..)

p.s. slight problem was only with HC encoder, which requires to find the dll files on system32 for some reason (prog dir is not working either...)

[chipzoller]

@smok3
Have you considered making an install package for this? This, in my opinion, would be a very attractive package for anyone looking to create a portable avisynth.

[smok3]

chipzoller, not tested enough, also my avisynth knowhow is way to low to even suggest that this is the good way to do things, anyway i think the portability of incoming versions is up to the real devs.

[vlada]

Hi,

I tried this unfortunately I cannot write to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\. Is there any workaround for this?

[dimzon]

Actually some software (like BeHappy/MeGUI) use avithink via special wrapper so you doesn't need to register it as COM component. To avoid dll hell you can hexedit avisynth.dll and change the name of registry keys (and use direct LoadPlugin instead). In this way is possible to create software wich can redistribute with it's own Avisynth/plugin versions and doesn't mess already installed versions...

[sh0dan]

AviSynth doesn't require registry keys as such - it just won't autoload plugins.

[IanB]

The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Avisynth\PluginDir2_5 key is what defines where to autoload plugins, it is not needed apart from this. So you have to manually load all your plugins with out it.

Adding keys to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ is what lets applications load .AVS files thru the AviFile interface as used with .AVI files. This is the main show stopper.

To just use Avisynth via the C or C++ API's like MeGui and HC do you just need to make Avisynth.dll available to the application, (putting it in the directory with the applications .EXE is sufficient).

[smok3]

i did a full 'portable' distro some time ago btw, if somebody wants to play around;
http://somestuff.org/downloads/portable_avisynth/portable_avisynth.7z
(based on 2.5.7 irc)

use at your own risk.

[IanB]

Okay this appears similar to doing an install to T:\utility\avisynth\. Differences are 3 .DLL's are put in this directory and not put in the windows system directory and registry updating is not automatic, there are 2 .REG files provided to load the relevant values. These still require write access to the appropriate parts of the registry. So crippled SOE environments are still screwed.

AvisynthON.regWindows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}]
@="AviSynth"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}\InProcServer32]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Media Type\Extensions\.avs]
@=""
"Source Filter"="{D3588AB0-0781-11CE-B03A-0020AF0BA770}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AVIFile\Extensions\AVS]
@="{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avs_auto_file]
@="AviSynth Autoload Script"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avs_auto_file\DefaultIcon]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll,0"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avsfile]
@="AviSynth Script"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avsfile\DefaultIcon]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll,0"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avisynth]
"plugindir2_5"="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\plugins"


AvisynthOFF.regWindows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}]
@="AviSynth"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}\InProcServer32]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Media Type\Extensions\.avs]
@=""
"Source Filter"="{D3588AB0-0781-11CE-B03A-0020AF0BA770}"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AVIFile\Extensions\AVS]
@="{E6D6B700-124D-11D4-86F3-DB80AFD98778}"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avs_auto_file]
@="AviSynth Autoload Script"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avs_auto_file\DefaultIcon]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll,0"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avsfile]
@="AviSynth Script"

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\avsfile\DefaultIcon]
@="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\AviSynth.dll,0"

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avisynth]
"plugindir2_5"="T:\\utility\\avisynth\\plugins"

I could add these 2 scripts to the distribution and make an installer mode to drop the system .DLL's in the install directory for manual usage/copying.

But would this really be of benefit?

Thorts please....

[chipzoller]

Yes, please, IanB. I'd like to be able to test out avisynth filters on various machine setups without having to 'officially' install avisynth and all the filters. For me, my flash drive is my swiss army knife of video-related tools and having avisynth be one of them would essential.

[dimzon]

AviSynth doesn't require registry keys as such - it just won't autoload plugins.
Yes, but changing this key via hexeding local copy of avisynth.dll allow us to disable autoloading of all pluging from globally installed avisynth. It may be usefull to avoid any plugin version conflicts for applications like MeGUI.

[IanB]

...hexediting local copy of avisynth.2 easier choices :-

1. rename the plugin directory out of the way.

2. rename/delete the registry key/contents.

[koolcracker]

Could this be used to work AviSynth properly on a linux machine?

[halsboss]

Adding keys to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ is what lets applications load .AVS files thru the AviFile interface as used with .AVI files. This is the main show stopper.

Did I miss any suggestions/thoughts on resolving that one ? I suppose it means Vdub won't open an .AVS ?

... there is the matter of vfw codecs ... Most systems should have an mpeg2 decoder and there's DGIndex so manipulating mpeg2 files and already decrypted vob files should be easy enough. XviD, x264 will, quite possibly, pose a problem.
I assume this means "as input/decoder codecs" since command-line encoders like HC, FFMPEG and X264 don't appear to need them. Were there any suggestions to address that too - apart from DGindex and DGAVCIndex which I guess avoid the need for mpeg2 and mpeg4 codecs ? (does DGAVCIndex decode xvid ? :) )

[squid_80]

Did I miss any suggestions/thoughts on resolving that one ? I suppose it means Vdub won't open an .AVS ?

Possibly someone could write an input plugin for virtualdub that would use avisynth.dll directly to open avisynth scripts, rather than through the AVIFile interface.

[halsboss]

I would if I had the knowledge to do it :) Should I guess that the same issue arises with input to HC, ffmpeg, x264 ?

[squid_80]

HC is ok because it already uses avisynth directly. Only issue is that it seems to expect avisynth.dll to be in windows\system32 directory (see a few posts above).
X264 does use AVIFile but could easily be fixed. Or use avs2yuv to open the script and pipe data to x264.
Ffmpeg I don't know about.

[halsboss]

HC's good ... great !
avs2yuv to open the script and pipe data to x264. Well well... does anyone know if ffmpeg can accept piped input and how to do it ?

Pity about vdub and its dependency on encoder codecs and inability to open .avs in the context of this thread. Don't take that the wrong way, it's also its strength.

If I understand what was written, at least we know
(1) already-installed decoder codecs can be used fine in opening a video file in the .avs
(2) DGindex and DGAVCIndex can also help mitigate against unavailable codecs, and open mpeg2 and mpeg4 inside our .avs
(3) HC doesn't need special treatment, feed it an .avs and all's well
(4) with programs that "accept piping" then avs2yuv can be used to run .avs scripts and pipe the output to our desired program

That's also some way toward a combination of portable avisynth and the tools that use it to produce video files.

Cheers

[Wilbert]

Well well... does anyone know if ffmpeg can accept piped input and how to do it ?
Yes, but it's not necessary. See:

http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/FAQ_frameserving

[vlada]

halsboss
I think you are confusing codecs and DirectShow filters. MPEG-2 codec simply can't exist, because it is not exceptable for VfW. VfW codecs are used in video editors (VirtualDub, Avisynth, Vegas) to (de)compress AVI files. For other formats you can't use codecs instead you have to use DirectShow filters.

Back on topic...

I would be interested to make following things work without Avisynth installed:
1) x264.exe with AVS input. From what I understood, should be possible to workaround using avs2yuv.
2) xvid_encraw.exe - probably same as x264.
3) HC - should work, but probably needs an update to allow avisynth.dll placed somewhere else then in c:\windows\system32 directory
4) SoundOut plugin - I have no idea how to make it work

Input of different file formats to Avisynth shouldn't be a problem thanks to ffmpegsource, DGMPGDec and DGAVCDec.

[smok3]

seems like http://akuvian.org/src/avisynth/avs2yuv/ could indeed be a problem solver, my list of wanted apps would be:
virtualdub, HCenc (should be fine), x264, avs2avi.

[halsboss]

halsboss
I think you are confusing codecs and DirectShow filters. MPEG-2 codec simply can't exist, because it is not exceptable for VfW. VfW codecs are used in video editors (VirtualDub, Avisynth, Vegas) to (de)compress AVI files. For other formats you can't use codecs instead you have to use DirectShow filters.


Oh, OK. ffdshow "VFW codec configuration" contains a heap of items... AVI (de)compress only is noted for vfw, with "DirectShow Filters" for the rest including ffdshow's "Video decoder configuration" then, and sometimes in an addition a splitter like haali's is also required ? :thanks:

[vlada]

Well VfW and DirectShow are two parallel framewroks both created by Microsoft. VfW uses codecs and only supports AVI container.

DirectShow is used mainly for decompression (although encoders exist too). Basically all players use DirectShow to play video. To play any video, you need at least 6 filters (not codecs as many people think). The filters include a splitter (like Haali's), a video decoder (ffdshow) and an audio decoder (ffdshow). Some filters (like AVI or MPEG PS splitters) are distributed together with Windows, others can be downloaded separately. The 3 filters I didn't mention yet are also included usually with Windows. It is a source filter, video renderer and audio renderer. If you install DivX or XviD codec, it will also install a DirectShow decoder. That's why many people think they need codecs to play a video.

You can try switching on a and off support for different formats (or 4CCs) in ffdshow (VfW and Video Decoder) and use AviSource and DirectShowSource in Avisynth. You will find out, that if you disable certain format/codec in VfW ad there will be no other codec then ffdshow for it, you won't be able to open the video in VirtualDub or in Avisynth with AviSource. But you will still be able to open it with DirectShowSource or play the video in WMP until you also disable it in ffdshow video decoder.

I hope the explanation is clear, unfortunately my English isn't good enough. Also sorry for being off-topic again.

[Leak]

That's why many people think they need codecs to play a video.
Considering that the word "codec" is just an amalgamation of "(en-)coder" and "decoder" you need the "dec" part of a codec anyway for playback.

Also, any DirectShow filter that both comes with a DirectShow encoder and decoder filter by this definition *is* a codec - like ffdshow, for instance.

[halsboss]

Thankyou. I reckon this stuff is on-topic as it's what is needed to use portable avisynth... "no man is an island" applied to portable avisynth usage :) My $0.02c worth anyway.

Seems like portable avisynth use is "problematic" in terms of the type/nature of the input source file and codecs/filters which are pre-installed on a locked-down system and allow avisynth to open the source.

[vlada]

Leak
People tend to use the term "codec" for anything related to video compression and decompression. But I think it makes much more sense to call codec only the VfW ones, and call the rest DirectShow encoders and DirectShow decoders. They are usually different filters.

ffdshow can be used as a DirectShow encoder? I thought the encoder is only available through VfW.

halsboss
According to my experience you can't install (i.e. register) any VfW codec unless you're an administrator. But you can register DirectShow filters even as a user. Older versions of ffdshow worked with "user" account without any problems. In newer versions I think ffdshow writes it's settings to restricted parts of registries.

Anyway on all computers you can use ffmpegsource, which will open most of video files except of TS (Transport Streams). To open TS files you can use either DGMPGDec (MPEG-2) or DGAVCDec (MPEG-4). None of these programs/source filters need an installation. So opening/decoding almost any video on a crippled environment is not a problem.

[Leak]

Leak
ffdshow can be used as a DirectShow encoder? I thought the encoder is only available through VfW.
Yes, it can. Just look under "Video Compressors" in GraphEdit. :)

[vlada]

Hi,

I moved a little further. Now I'm able to do letterbox (cropping) detection without Avisynth installed. Sound conversion using SoundOut plugin works too. But I can't make video compression work.

I tried this commandline:
exe\avs2yuv.exe -raw "temp\video.avs" - | exe\xvid_encraw.exe -i - -type 2 -avi "video_out.avi" -max_bframes 2 -qpel -pass1 -qtype 1 -nopacked -progress 2 -stats

with this result:
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/3023/avs2yuvre8.th.png (http://img505.imageshack.us/my.php?image=avs2yuvre8.png)

Then I tried a Mencoder example from AVS2YUV site:
exe\avs2yuv.exe -raw "temp\video.avs" - | exe\mencoder - -o "hfyu.avi" -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=ffvhuff:vstrict=-1:pred=2:context=1
This is the result:
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/2091/avs2yuv2qd6.th.png (http://img505.imageshack.us/my.php?image=avs2yuv2qd6.png)

I tried AVS2YUV with and without the -raw function. The results are identical. What am I doing wrong? I do belie this is supposed to work...

[squid_80]

What does "Program se nevejde do pameti" mean in english?

[smok3]

has anyone tryed to do a 'thinstalled' version of avisynth + apps + vfw codecs, ect? is there even a chance that something like that may actually work? (not to include thinkering about that one would need a commercial app for this to work)

[kumi]

Thinstalled Avisynth works just fine, in my experience. I've never tried packaging codecs (VFW or otherwise), but I don't see why they wouldn't work.

[vlada]

What does "Program se nevejde do pameti" mean in english?

Sorry, I forgot to translate it. It means something like "The program won't fit in memory". Doesn't make to much sense...

smok3
Sorry, I don't understand exactly what you mean.

[smok3]

kumi: do you mean: it does work fine with specific codecs found on ones machine or..? (or for example how does a system 'installed' app like x264 and thinstalled avisynth work out?)

vlada: http://www.thinstall.com/ (it is about virtualization)

[kumi]

smok3: I'm not sure I understand. If you decide to bundle codecs into a Thinstall package, then those (and only those) will be virtualized. For example, if I bundle together Media Player Classic (MPC) and ffdshow into a Thinstall package, and I run this MPC on a system without ffdshow installed, the program will use the virtualized ffdshow. In fact, it will do so even if ffdshow is already installed on the system. Does that answer your question?

[squid_80]

Sorry, I forgot to translate it. It means something like "The program won't fit in memory". Doesn't make to much sense...

As far as I can tell you've got 2 different errors there... xvid_encraw just doesn't want to run, which is odd. Is xvidcore.dll and aviwriter.dll in the same directory as xvid_encraw.exe?
Mencoder looks like it's trying to read the format (container) of the data being piped from avs2yuv, is there a switch to tell it that the data is raw YV12 (or I420)?