AVStoDVD Support Thread

[ricardo.santos]

Hi MRC

Unfortunally i didnt have the time to do the testing but i set up the motion thumbnails starting position on the "overall" menu as the following picture shows:
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/3664/avs2dvdmf6.jpg

[MrC]

Hi MRC

Unfortunally i didnt have the time to do the testing but i set up the motion thumbnails starting position on the "overall" menu as the following picture shows:
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/3664/avs2dvdmf6.jpg

Ok, got it. That setting (Thumb Frame Position) is not intended for motion menu but only for static menu. Motion menu starts, by default, always from frame 0. You can modify default starting/end frames following my previous post's steps.

I know, I should improve GUI clarity and help file...

;)

Bye

[MysticE]

In Settings I've set the max bitrate to 8000. It doesn't seem to take with HCenc (it does when encoding short music vids with Quenc which I set there at 6000). When HCenc fires up it still reads max bitrate 9000.

[MrC]

In Settings I've set the max bitrate to 8000. It doesn't seem to take with HCenc (it does when encoding short music vids with Quenc which I set there at 6000). When HCenc fires up it still reads max bitrate 9000.

From 2.1.1 revision History:

- Changed 'Default Video Max BitRate' in 'Video Maximum Avg BitRate'. Higher value reduced to 8500 kbps to avoid bitrate spikes.
- Changed Video Max BitRate (peak) setpoint: now it is not customizable (9000 kbps)

'Video Maximum Avg BitRate' is used only to auto-select video encoder.

;)

Bye

[SAROV]

MrC

When in the program there will be Russian Language?
It is planned to make?

[MrC]

MrC

When in the program there will be Russian Language?
It is planned to make?

Well, there is already...

RU - Russian

:)

Bye

[SAROV]

MrC
I meant Russian in the menu.
Russian letters are not displayed.

[MrC]

Ok, got the problem-

Unfortunately, Visual Basic standard TextBox does not support special chars. I have to move to RichTextBox which means add a new OCX to the project.

Do not blame me if I will put RichTextBox support in the ToDo list with low priority.

;)

Bye

[SAROV]

MrC

Ok!
I will wait the new version. Thanks!

[Achil_les]

Very nice app with a very good quality video output.

Is it possible that there is a problem with multiple audio streams.
Because I tried converting a mkv video with 2 aac audio streams but in my final DVD there is only one i can find?

Thanks

[MrC]

Very nice app with a very good quality video output.

:thanks:

Is it possible that there is a problem with multiple audio streams.

Unfortunately AVStoDVD does not handle multiple input audio. It reads and converts only first audio stream.

It could be a good improvement to put in my (looooong) ToDo list.

;)

Bye

[rendez2k]

Talking of ToDo lists.... how are the updates coming along?

[MrC]

My plan is to release a Alpha at the end of this week.

I spent really a lot of time in making Clip Preview section more stable: activemovie library (quartz.dll) hanlding in VB is really a mess.

Stay tuned.

;)

Bye

[rendez2k]

Good work :-)

[Achil_les]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Great app!

[wg]

We really appreciate all the effort you put into this project MrC, great work.

Cheers!!!

[gizzin]

Ya, The best quality all in one converter out there. He even takes the time to listen to users requests. Great work indeed.

[MrC]

Well, so many kind users deserve a new Alpha.

AVStoDVD 2.1.2 Alpha build 081112 is out (https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=197340&package_id=269494).

Change log:

- Added 'FFMpegSource.dll': an AviSynth plug-in to open files using ffmpeg and nothing else (thanks to Myrsloik (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=127037))
- Added 'GetSystemEnv.dll': an AviSynth plug-in to retrieve information from the system (thanks to stickboy (http://www.avisynth.org/stickboy))
- Added AviSynth function 'A2DSource.avsi': all-in-one AviSynth script input source functions manager
- Added AviSynth function 'ATrim.avsi': function to trim based on Audio times (thanks to IanB (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1065329))
- Added support to DVD Menu background audio
- Added support to DVD Menu background video
- Added DTS audio streams retaining
- Improved DVD Menu labels format (multi-line, outline, shadow)
- Improved Clip Preview section stability
- Updated video and audio format input list (divx, mjpg, ts, m2ts, hdmov, aac, flac)
- MediaInfo updated to 0.7.7.8

Please take a careful look at A2DSource function, menu video and audio background and Clip Preview (un)stability.

As usual, report back any issue. I did not have much time to test this Alpha...

;)

Bye

[gizzin]

DTS retention seems to work fine, however I haven't played the corresponding dvd in my player.

[rendez2k]

I've not had chance to test any of the new features, but I do have another couple of questions:

Can the average bitrate be set? It appears to be grayed out on the video settings? What I'm essentially trying to do is encode a bunch of videos that are sized according to bitrate rather than disc size.

[MrC]

Can the average bitrate be set? It appears to be grayed out on the video settings? What I'm essentially trying to do is encode a bunch of videos that are sized according to bitrate rather than disc size.

Bitrate textbox is disabled because avg bitrate cannot be set, but it is calculated by AVStoDVD. I think it is better to define first the DVD layout (number of titles, DVD size, etc.) and then add titles to project.

BTW, if you want to fix the bitrate, you can calculate output size manually and then insert it in 'DVD Size'/'Custom'. Roughly:

OutputSize [MB] = (VideoBitRate + AudioBitRate) x 1000 / 8 / 1024 / 1024 x Time

Example: you want to encode a 1 hr (3600 s) clip and with 6000 kbps video and 192 kbps audio. Then your OuputSize will be:

(6000 + 192) x 1000 / 8 / 1024 / 1024 x 3600 = 2657 MB

Now:

1. Load AVStoDVD
2. Add your file
3. Select 'DVD Size'/'Custom'
4. Insert "2657" MB
5. Check bitrate in 'Edit Title'/'General'

You could see little differences because AVStoDVD takes care of extra space for authoring stuff.

;)

Bye

[OAKside]

Thanks MrC. Have went from AVStoDVD, to FAVC, to The FilmMachine, and now primarily back to AVStoDVD.
Cleanest of them all, everything works smoothly. Working preview and SSA subtitles (mod AVS script) are icing.

With Aften it'll be close to perfect. Checking out the alpha, appreciate the constant updates.

[MrC]

Hi OAKside and thanks for your kind appreciations.

I have visited your site and noticed you are a good visual artist. What about to contribute to AVStoDVD with some graphical stuff? It could be: new icons set, menu backgrounds or maybe, for upcoming multipage menus, some nice navigation buttons (page forward, page backward, move to end page, move to first page, play all, etc.).

Everything would be very very appreciated and, of course, your name and your website will be put in the acknowledge section.

Let me know

;)

Bye

[MysticE]

Well I hope I can still 'lock in' a 6000 kbps bitrate with the new version. I can only do this with QuEnc now.

From MediaInfo:

Video
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, Matrix : Standard
Duration : 3mn 39s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 5662 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 6000 Kbps

Trying the same with Hcenc (which I would prefer) I get this.

Video
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, Matrix : Standard
Duration : 9mn 0s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 5668 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 9000 Kbps

This hampers me when I go to do my final compilation in Womble MPEG Video Wizard as it sees '9000 Kbps' and doesn't allow me to add as many of the music vids I've prepared, without it wanting to re-encode the whole batch. Hopefully, at least QuEnc will still work like it has.

[rendez2k]

Bitrate textbox is disabled because avg bitrate cannot be set, but it is calculated by AVStoDVD. I think it is better to define first the DVD layout (number of titles, DVD size, etc.) and then add titles to project.

BTW, if you want to fix the bitrate, you can calculate output size manually and then insert it in 'DVD Size'/'Custom'. Roughly:

OutputSize [MB] = (VideoBitRate + AudioBitRate) x 1000 / 8 / 1024 / 1024 x Time

Example: you want to encode a 1 hr (3600 s) clip and with 6000 kbps video and 192 kbps audio. Then your OuputSize will be:

(6000 + 192) x 1000 / 8 / 1024 / 1024 x 3600 = 2657 MB

Now:

1. Load AVStoDVD
2. Add your file
3. Select 'DVD Size'/'Custom'
4. Insert "2657" MB
5. Check bitrate in 'Edit Title'/'General'

You could see little differences because AVStoDVD takes care of extra space for authoring stuff.

;)

Bye

Thanks Mr C - I'm away for a week now but I'll do a full test when I get back. I'm guessing you have no plans to add a custom bitrate feature? It would be handy when I want to use AVStoDVD to encode and author in a 3rd party program such as DVD Lab (using the output to elementary streams feature)

[MrC]

@MysticE

I have not understood well what is your concern: if Womble MPEG Video Wizard does not accept your mpeg2 files because it looks at nominal (aka max) bitrate and not at average bitrate, then the problem is within Womble MPEG Video Wizard... ;)

@rendez2k

I will wait for your test and for a complete report (as usual). Thanks.
About using AVStoDVD as mpeg2 encoder tool and then using a third part sw for authoring, may I suggest a "strategy"?

1. Define how long (time) will be your DVD. i.e. 120 min
2. Define how big (size) will be your DVD. i.e. 4435 MB
3. Define how many titles will be stored in your DVD. i.e. 10x12 min
4. If you have at hand all titles, load them all into AVStoDVD setting wanted DVD Size. Select 'Output/Elementary MPEG2 Stream" and press Start.
5. If you don't have at hand all titles, and you want to encode one by one, then divide DVD size per your titles and put that number in 'DVD Size/Custom Size'. i.e. 443 MB per title. Of course option 4 is better.

The message is: forget bitrate and focus on filling DVD size. Leave AVStoDVD do the weird job to calculate the best bitrate for you.

;)

Bye

[gizzin]

Speaking of aften, What kind of implementation would that require? MrC :)

I also agree with Mr.C, you just let the program figure out what the best bitrate is to fill up the dvd. He's giving you the way how you do it manual, which isn't that complicated. It wouldn't make much sense to add that as a feature, as it would just confuse the less advanced user. 95% of users probably want to fill the dvd anyways...

[MrC]

Speaking of aften, What kind of implementation would that require? MrC :)

Very simple indeed. If you look at 2.1.2 Alpha source code, you will find its implementation draft in the audio encoding section (modStart.bas file).

Just to do some testing by myself to finalize it.

;)

Bye

[MysticE]

Speaking of aften, What kind of implementation would that require? MrC :)

I also agree with Mr.C, you just let the program figure out what the best bitrate is to fill up the dvd. He's giving you the way how you do it manual, which isn't that complicated. It wouldn't make much sense to add that as a feature, as it would just confuse the less advanced user. 95% of users probably want to fill the dvd anyways...
Really? There are many tools out there for "the less advanced user". Nero Vision, DVD Flick, ConvertXtoDVD to name just a few. Why limit a program's functions that offers encoder choices, Script modification etc? Your comment that you want it noob friendly (that being able to quickly lock in the bitrate is somehow "unfriendly") makes no sense to me.

[gizzin]

MysticE, I was referring to rendez2k. MysticE, so what your problem is you what to set a max bitrate for your encodes, by locking bitrate for all profiles? Ya I found this a little confusing at first. Unless you lock it in it will automatically choose with video profile to encode, and thats determined by the bitrate. If you want change the maximum bitrate do it in the audio/video tab where it has minimum and maximun avg bitrate. I'd never use anything but 2pass encode with HC. You can also choose what video profile, it the edit title, when you right click a specific title <-- thats what i normally do. I think this is what your asking right? I personally think mrc should get rid of the video profiles, and just have the choice what encoder you use. But he creates the video profiles with quality vs time, and he does it very well in my opinion. I guess that idea goes back to the ease of use thing. When you lock in a profile, your just using that specific profile for all bitrates...not the bitrates its showing. Also why is everyone using other authoring packages. the menu creation and muxman pretty good? no?

[ummus]

Sir, as per your suggestion, my system is formatted as NTFS. AVI files converted into DVD files fully 100%. But, at the time of burning that files in DVD, the Nero shows "DVD Video files reallocation failed. The resulting DVD Video might be unplayable. Do you want to continue?" Why Sir?

[MrC]

Sir, as per your suggestion, my system is formatted as NTFS. AVI files converted into DVD files fully 100%. But, at the time of burning that files in DVD, the Nero shows "DVD Video files reallocation failed. The resulting DVD Video might be unplayable. Do you want to continue?" Why Sir?

Hi ummus. I have really few info to give you an answer. Maybe you can send me by email AVStoDVD project log file, or write here more detail on your project settings.

BTW, have you tried ImgBurn as burning sw? Does it complain about DVD video files? If not, and if the burned DVD is OK, I would be pretty sure that AVStoDVD is doing fine its work.

:)

Bye

[manolito]

@ummus
"DVD Video files reallocation failed. The resulting DVD Video might be unplayable. Do you want to continue?"
This has always been one of the Nero messages you can safely ignore. :rolleyes:
And as MrC said, IMGBurn is a much better burning software than Nero.

Cheers
manolito

[MrC]

Really? There are many tools out there for "the less advanced user". Nero Vision, DVD Flick, ConvertXtoDVD to name just a few. Why limit a program's functions that offers encoder choices, Script modification etc?

Ah, MysticE, you really know how to challenge me! You :devil: !

OK, I will add bitrate customization, but only title by title.

:p

Bye

[rendez2k]

Ah, MysticE, you really know how to challenge me! You :devil: !

OK, I will add bitrate customization, but only title by title.

:p

Bye

If bitrate customization is hidden away in the video settings, I can't really see it confusing new users as most won't even look in there! If features for the advanced users can be added then why not? I'm sure we all want AVStoDVD to be the best!

And thanks yet again Mr C for considering adding it!

[gizzin]

I'm confused here, MysticE said he use to able to lock the bitrate, but now he can't? and so mr.c said he would add bitrate customization, but from what I read, He already did that somehow? I assumed he meant the avg bitrate...

[MrC]

I mean direct bitrate customization, in Title Edit window:

http://avstodvd.googlepages.com/AutoVideoBitRate.PNG

Does it accomplish your feat request, rendez2k & MysticE?

;)

Bye

[rendez2k]

I mean direct bitrate customization, in Title Edit window:

http://avstodvd.googlepages.com/AutoVideoBitRate.PNG

Does it accomplish your feat request, rendez2k & MysticE?

;)

Bye

That does it for me! Can't wait for the update!!

[MysticE]

I'm confused here, MysticE said he use to able to lock the bitrate, but now he can't? and so mr.c said he would add bitrate customization, but from what I read, He already did that somehow? I assumed he meant the avg bitrate...
The earlier versions were quite a bit different. Back then I'd choose my encoder (HCenc) and max bitrate, output to mpg and run with it. I use it to convert various music videos of all types, PAL, NTSC VOB's (FS and WS), and various AVIs that I would then convert to 16:9 NTSC. It was a very quick process as most things were pretty much available from the main screen. These I would compile into DVDs with Nero Vision and later Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD which worked better as I could normalize the volume and standardize the audio to almost anything I wanted. Neither app would re-encode. The ability to tweak the script, preview the results and the addition of pulldown made it easier to use and more versatile than the older version of Mainconcept Enc that I was using, while maintaining the same or better quality.

The program has changed into quite a different animal now. I have to wait for the authoring process and then rename the resulting VOB (*****.mpg) and delete the rest, no big deal. I can lock QuEnc into 6000 kbps, but for some reason the nominal bitrate created by HCenc at 6000kbps does not agree with Womble anymore. I've finally found a rhythm to set/adjust/tick/untick/tab here/tab there the various things I need to do.... it took awhile (:o). I'll just trust Mr. C's judgement that at 6000kbps QuEnc is fine and run with it.

I think it's time to pony up with a Donation as this version does do what I need (works great for the occasional long running time Xvid movies I sometimes do) although I will be trying the new one.

[MrC]

@rendez2k

Be patient. Just some days of my onw testing.

@MysticE

I agree with you that AVStoDVD until release 1.2.3 was quicker when dealing with just one file. You can understand that flexibility and more features are (almost always) against speed.

Why do you need to have a muxed MPG file? Because Womble does not accept elementary mpeg2 streams? BTW, I suggest you not to rename VOB to MPG, because VOB files contains also some authoring info. If you really need a single MPG file, I would use ImagoMPEG-Muxer to mux m2v+ac3 files output by AVStoDVD.

And maybe, someday, you will see single MPG file output coming back...

;)

Bye

[manolito]

Some ideas for future releases of AVDtoDVD:

I just finished testing most of the free one-click DVD conversion software, and AVStoDVD (v. 2.1.2 alpha) was among my favorites. Still I would like to see some improvements :D.
(Please remember that I have never used the software before, so my findings kind of come from an outsider's perspective.)

1. The predefined automatic profiles take a while to get used to, but they are certainly helpful for beginners. But the high bitrate profile using QuEnc CBR should be modified. In this profile the Trellis option is always active. NOT GOOD!! In QuEnc the Trellis option mostly makes no sense at all, and the rare cases where it might acually help quality are those low bitrate encodes of complicated, hard to encode sources. Many people (including me) even think that Trellis is broken in libavcodec. To a lesser degree I also question the usefulness of the HQ option at average bit rates above 6000 kbps.

2. Luckily the automatic modes can be switched off individually for each file. For HC there is an advanced mode, but not for QuEnc. I would really like to be able to use the QuEnc VBR modes with 1 or 2 passes here and there.

3. I read that using Aften for AC3 audio conversions is already in the pipeline, so this is probably redundant.

4. The menue creating stuff using BatchMux is very nice. The only thing I miss is the option to not use thumbnails at all. Just setting width and height to 0 does not work. Maybe add a "Disable" option to the properties for thumbnails and the "Play All" button?


Alright, that's my wish list. Would make an already excellent program even better....

Cheers
manolito

[MrC]

Manolito, thanks for your review and suggestions. To answer I will use same numbering.

1. In QuEnc 0.75 Alpha, trellis quant is disabled and trellis checkbox is used to activate multithread encoding. It is written also in AVStoDVD help section... ;)

2. I have forced QuEnc only for CBR encoding because I believe that HCenc is vastly superior as VBR encoder. What would be the improvement to have VBR encoding in QuEnc? From your experience, is there any movie situation in which QuEnc VBR would be preferred than HCenc VBR?

3. Will do

4. Do you mean having menues with labels only? Like FAVC menues? If I remember correctly, somebody else asked me the same feature sometimes ago... so, I will put in ToDo list ;)

BTW, many many thanks for your suggestions. I hope you will keep on looking at AVStoDVD and help its development.

:)

Bye

[rendez2k]

4. Do you mean having menues with labels only? Like FAVC menues? If I remember correctly, somebody else asked me the same feature sometimes ago... so, I will put in ToDo list ;)


It was me and yes please :D

[manolito]

Thanks MrC for looking into my suggestions!

1. In QuEnc 0.75 Alpha, trellis quant is disabled and trellis checkbox is used to activate multithread encoding. It is written also in AVStoDVD help section...
You got me !!!:stupid: Usually I am the one always preaching "Read the f... manual"

2. I have forced QuEnc only for CBR encoding because I believe that HCenc is vastly superior as VBR encoder. What would be the improvement to have VBR encoding in QuEnc? From your experience, is there any movie situation in which QuEnc VBR would be preferred than HCenc VBR?
Oh yes! SPEEEEEED is the difference. I have always been a big fan of QuEnc's one-pass VBR mode. Used with the right matrix the quality is quite impressive. I do agree that HC does mostly deliver better quality than QuEnc, but on my old 1.1 GHz Pentium 3 the cost is about 6x higher encoding time.

BTW I discovered that it is possible to use custom quant matrices in QuEnc under AVStoDVD. Just run QuEnc before AVS2DVD, specify a matrix and close QuEnc. The matrix setting is retained and QuEnc actually uses this matrix under AVStoDVD. Nice!

4. Do you mean having menues with labels only? Like FAVC menues? If I remember correctly, somebody else asked me the same feature sometimes ago... so, I will put in ToDo list
Yes, exactly. But with the ability to move around the labels and modify fonts and colours (I did not find a way to do this in FAVC)

And another thing I forgot to mention in my previous post:
I tried to find a way to translate the user interface into German, but VB is not very friendly in this respect (a resource editor cannot be used here). Would you consider moving the string resources to a text file which can be easily translated?


Cheers
manolito

[wg]

DeVeDe(http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=142973) may be easy to use for a novice, but it has a known bug which produces significantly undersized encodings, this is the same for both the Linux & Windows versions(I have found even setting 5-10% oversize produces an output of between 1.8-2.3GB when used with a 7oomb quality XviD file from my own backup collection) It also only offers 1 pass encoding. As for DVD Flick I gave up on that about a year back, I found it incredibly buggy, & if you check the forum it still appears to be. Software selection is very subjective but AVStoDVD uses some of the best tools available, and is imho the leader in this particular field.

Keep it up MrC

[sharkatec]

Hello all and offcourse MrC,

i'm new here and found this thread and program just a few days ago. First of all,great work and effort MrC and all the others. i don't know if it will work what i'm trying to do but i'm trying as we speak. I have a blue-ray backup on my hdd. I've made a new single m2ts file with 1 videostream,1 audiostream and 1 subtitle. Now i've loaded it into AVStoDVD to see if it's managable to get a DL DVD out of a blue-ray backup with ac3 and a subtitle. Maybe has someone else tried it but from what ive been reading it's more about avi's. Forgive me if i didnt read it through all the many postings.

Maybe u can shine your light on this matter what i'm trying to do MrC.
Keep up the good work.

[rendez2k]

Hello all and offcourse MrC,

i'm new here and found this thread and program just a few days ago. First of all,great work and effort MrC and all the others. i don't know if it will work what i'm trying to do but i'm trying as we speak. I have a blue-ray backup on my hdd. I've made a new single m2ts file with 1 videostream,1 audiostream and 1 subtitle. Now i've loaded it into AVStoDVD to see if it's managable to get a DL DVD out of a blue-ray backup with ac3 and a subtitle. Maybe has someone else tried it but from what ive been reading it's more about avi's. Forgive me if i didnt read it through all the many postings.

Maybe u can shine your light on this matter what i'm trying to do MrC.
Keep up the good work.

I'd say this is the wrong tool for the job - try RipBot264 (I assume you aren't trying to convert a BR to DVD format, rather back up a DL DVD in BR format?). This really is for avi -> DVD. It won't handle BR.

[sharkatec]

I'd say this is the wrong tool for the job - try RipBot264 (I assume you aren't trying to convert a BR to DVD format, rather back up a DL DVD in BR format?). This really is for avi -> DVD. It won't handle BR.

no,i'm trying to make from a blue-ray backup a DVD,i've stripped the backup,so ive now a m2ts with just 1 videostream,1 audiostream and 1 subtitle. As of now,AVStoDVD is handling it and i don't know the outcome yet because it is still busy encoding,but AVStoDVD recognised the m2ts (mpeg2)file,it also recognised the ac3 audio and the ripped srt file.

The outcome is still not sure yet

[MrC]

Oh yes! SPEEEEEED is the difference. I have always been a big fan of QuEnc's one-pass VBR mode. Used with the right matrix the quality is quite impressive. I do agree that HC does mostly deliver better quality than QuEnc, but on my old 1.1 GHz Pentium 3 the cost is about 6x higher encoding time.

What about adding an option to be able to pause process, prompt the user (a simple form with a textbox) to edit cli parameters (QuEnc, HCenc, maybe BatchMux) and then resume process? That should satisfy most advanced users needs.
And think seriously to upgrade your system: multicore cpus really do improve video encoding time.

I tried to find a way to translate the user interface into German, but VB is not very friendly in this respect (a resource editor cannot be used here). Would you consider moving the string resources to a text file which can be easily translated?

Wow! Are you really willing to translate AVStoDVD?!? Great! I agree that VB is really unfriendly and my code is horrible, but the idea to have text files as languages resources is very intriguing. Absolutely to do, even if the wish list is so loooong...

;)

Bye

[MrC]

no,i'm trying to make from a blue-ray backup a DVD,i've stripped the backup,so ive now a m2ts with just 1 videostream,1 audiostream and 1 subtitle. As of now,AVStoDVD is handling it and i don't know the outcome yet because it is still busy encoding,but AVStoDVD recognised the m2ts (mpeg2)file,it also recognised the ac3 audio and the ripped srt file.

The outcome is still not sure yet

Keep us informed about the outcome. If you can, copy&paste here the log file or send it to me by email.

;)

Bye