AVStoDVD Support Thread [Archive] - Page 3

Pawpcorn

8th May 2012, 03:41

Thank you for a WONDERFUL DVD Authoring tool! I use it daily, to build DVDs for my Thai English students; a new movie, every week!

Question: is there SOME way to preset the "Sub-Picture Color Lookup Table" ??

Right now, after creating a DVD image with AVStoDVD (using a idx/sub subtitle file), Colors 1 and 3 are set to RED and BLUE, resulting in unreadable subtitles:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h349/Pawpcorn/colored%20sub-idx%20subtitles/vlcsnap-2012-05-07-23h05m28s75.jpg

I know now, that I can go back, after the fact, with PgcEdit, and set the red (Character) to be a near-white, and set the blue (outline) to be black, but it would be so nice to not have to fix the output files, and have to make the .iso file afterwards....

Here's the log file from a short test I ran, to create the problem video subtitles: Thanks again for this KILLER AP!!!
<5/7/2012 10:59:03 PM>
START PROCESS
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:03 PM>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: PAL
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 194/4450 MB (4%)
DVD Output Setup: ISO UDF Image
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: C:\Users\Gerald\Videos
Delete Temp Process Files: Yes
Delete Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Show Progress Status window

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline64Resize
PAL SpeedUp: 0
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 1400
Video BitRate Level 1: 6500
Video Profile Level 2: 4500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 128
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): TH - Thai
DVD Subs Font: Arial 26pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: E: TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C SB07
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Save Log file: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 0
Adjust ffdshow mixer: 1
Save General Settings: 0
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:03 PM>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: V:\_Thai Subtiles\Morning Glory\test.avi
Info: XviD - 3295 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 1.778 - 23.976 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 3:07 minutes - 4500 frames
Audio 1: V:\_Thai Subtiles\Morning Glory\test.avi
Info: MPEG-1 Audio layer 3 - 128 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 3:07 minutes (0 ms delay) - Internal
Subs 1: V:\_Thai Subtiles\Morning Glory\original thai subs\Sub_Morning Glory_exp.idx
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.54]
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:03 PM>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD2.50Alpha\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

Video = A2DVideoSource("V:\_Thai Subtiles\Morning Glory\test.avi", CacheFolder="C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp", FrameRate=23.976, VFR=false)
Audio = A2DAudioSource("V:\_Thai Subtiles\Morning Glory\test.avi", CacheFolder="C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12
#Using DGPulldown/HCenc to upsize FPS

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:03 PM>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Encoding Profile: QuEnc CBR 1-pass
Target Video FileSize: 190.5 MB
QuEnc Parameters: -i "C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_26_test_1.avs" -o "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test.m2v" -b 8500 -1 -hq -novbr -scene -trell -aspectratio 16:9 -nointerlaced -mpeg2mux noaudio -dc 10 -priority 5 -auto -close
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:52 PM>
END VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
A2DVideoSource: AVISource
Created File: C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test.m2v (190.1 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 8925 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 1.778 - 23.976 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 3:07 minutes - 4496 frames
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:52 PM>
START PULLDOWN OPERATIONS
DGPulldown Parameters: "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test.m2v" -srcfps 23.976 -destfps 25 -inplace -tff
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:55 PM>
END PULLDOWN OPERATIONS
DGPulldown executed on File: C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test.m2v (190.1 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 8925 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 1.778 - 24 fps (CFR) - Progressive (2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:3 Pulldown) - 3:07 minutes - 4504 frames
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:55 PM>
START AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Wavi+Aften Parameters: "C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_26_test_1.avs" - | "C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD2.50Alpha\Aften\aften.exe" -b 128 -pad 0 -dynrng 5 -bwfilter 0 - "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test_1.ac3"
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:58 PM>
END AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
A2DAudioSource: DirectShowSource
Created File: C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test_1.ac3 (2.9 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 128 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 16 bit - 3:07 minutes (0 ms delay)
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:58 PM>
START SUBS ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
VSConv Parameters: -f sup -i "V:\_Thai Subtiles\Morning Glory\original thai subs\Sub_Morning Glory_exp.idx" -o "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test_1" -id 0
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:59 PM>
END SUBS ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test_1.sup (3.24 MB)
<>

<5/7/2012 10:59:59 PM>
START DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
BatchMux Parameters: -arglist "C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_26_BatchMux.ini"
BatchMux ini file:
-d "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_26_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_26_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD2.50Alpha\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_26_Palette.txt"
-v "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test.m2v"
-vidmode LB
-a1 "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test_1.ac3"
-a1lang en
-s1 "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26_test_1.sup"
-s1lang en
-s1ext 1

<>

<5/7/2012 11:00:02 PM>
CHECK DVD SIZE
DVD Folder (actual) Size: 196.4 MB
vs Estimated Size: 194 MB -> 1.2% oversize
vs Assets Size: 196.2 MB -> OK
<>

<5/7/2012 11:00:02 PM>
END DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
Created Folder: C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26 (196.4 MB)
<>

<5/7/2012 11:00:02 PM>
START ISO IMAGE BUILDING OPERATIONS
ImgBurn (ISO) Parameters: /mode isobuild /buildmode imagefile /src "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26\VIDEO_TS" /dest "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26.iso" /volumelabel "DVD" /overwrite yes /noimagedetails /start /close
<>

<5/7/2012 11:00:33 PM>
END ISO IMAGE BUILDING OPERATIONS
Created File: C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_26.iso (197 MB)
<>

<5/7/2012 11:00:33 PM>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.5.0 Alpha build 120506
<>

MrC

8th May 2012, 13:51

@Pawpcorn

the subtitles color setup in Muxman (free edition) has been always quite tricky. See here (http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/335583-Muxman-changes-color-of-SUP?p=2085422&viewfull=1) for more info about.

Because of that AVStoDVD tries to overwrite the original subtitles color settings, using the _palette.txt file (stored in temporary files folder). The foreground color is defined in 'Preferences'/'AuthoringBurning' page.

;)

Bye

Pawpcorn

8th May 2012, 17:54

Thank you, Mr.C, for your speedy reply!

I'm researching what you gave me...
I DO see the nice "_palette.txt" file, with the proper contents of:
Color 0=0, 0, 255
Color 1=255, 0, 0
Color 2=0, 0, 0
Color 3=255, 255, 255
Color 4=0, 255, 0
Color 5=255, 0, 255
Color 6=255, 255, 0
Color 7=0, 125, 125
Color 8=125, 125, 125
Color 9=225, 225, 225
Color 10=125, 0, 0
Color 11=0, 125, 0
Color 12=0, 0, 125
Color 13=222, 0, 255
Color 14=222, 125, 0
Color 15=125, 0, 125

and the batch file for MuxMan is as follows... {just in case you spot anything :) }
-d "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_28\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_28_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_28_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD2.50Alpha\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_28_Palette.txt"
-v "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_28_test.m2v"
-vidmode LB
-a1 "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_28_test_1.ac3"
-a1lang en
-s1 "C:\Users\Gerald\Videos\DVD_28_test_1.sup"
-s1lang en
-s1ext 1
And yet... looking at the resultant Sub-Picture Color Lookup Table, Using PgcEdit (see link at Photo Bucket)
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h349/Pawpcorn/PGCEditor.png
You can see color 0 is set to Blue, and color 1 is set to Red, thus red characters with a blue outline.

I haven't started researching your link about MuxMan yet... but I wanted to thank you, and give you this additional feedback, in case it is helpful to you, if you have the opportunity to look into this problem.

I'd be happy to send you (not sure how!) the short test video and the idx/sub sub files used for this latest test.

Thanks again,
Pawpcorn :D
P.S. The "foreground color is defined in 'Preferences'/'AuthoringBurning' page" that you mentioned, appears to be used for .srt subtitles, and is not in play, when using .idx/.sub VOB subtitles.

MrC

8th May 2012, 19:52

@Pawpcorn

have a look to the link I have posted. It contains useful hints to learn when dealing with idx to sup conversion (using SubtitlesCreator) and authoring with Muxman.

If you want you can send me (avstodvd@gmail.com) the idx/sub files so that we can both run same tests.

;)

Bye

Sjakko

9th May 2012, 20:21

Is it possible that the Output size estimation isn't working properly? It's quite far off. A piece of the log:

CHECK DVD SIZE
DVD Folder (actual) Size: 4443,8 MB
vs Estimated Size: 4848 MB -> 8,3% undersize
vs Assets Size: 4292 MB -> OK

Input files are all DVD compliant and are put on without encoding (Direct Stream Copy for both video and audio).

Tooltip says: DVD Menu/Titles/Extra size: 0/4566/282 MB.

Tried it with v2.4.2 and with v2.5.0Alpha, both have the same problem.

Log attached.

MrC

10th May 2012, 20:13

You are right. Estimation routine can be improved, mainly with DVD compliant inputs. Next alpha will have some fixes.

;)

Bye

Sjakko

10th May 2012, 21:01

Thanks a lot! Thanks for the 160kbps audio support too.

techreactor

16th May 2012, 08:40

@Techreactor...hi, I'm a bit of a newbie at this, so how do I pick up my encoded Video and the extracted DTS Audio and mux it using either muxman or any Authoring tool?

Select Output as Elementary MPEG2 stream and deselect "delete AVS2DVD temporary files" once finished you can pick up the Video/Audio from there and mux using IFOedit.

Pawpcorn

17th May 2012, 10:51

Dear Mr. C;

Sorry for the delay in followup!!! I've been very busy in my "day job" (hahaha Teaching Thai Students in "Summer Session")

AHH!!! I figured out the problem with the red and blue VOB subtitles!!

The color values in the AVStoDVD "_palette.txt" (MuxMan batch -palette settings file) actually produce the Red characters with Blue outline!

However, if you change (the contents of the file to) the following values... the result is White characters with a black outline:
Color 0=0, 0, 0
Color 1=240, 240, 240
Color 2=0, 0, 0
Color 3=255, 255, 255
Color 4=1, 254, 0
Color 5=255, 0, 254
Color 6=255, 255, 0
Color 7=1, 124, 124
Color 8=125, 125, 125
Color 9=225, 225, 225
Color 10=123, 0, 1
Color 11=0, 124, 0
Color 12=1, 0, 123
Color 13=222, 1, 253
Color 14=221, 125, 0
Color 15=125, 0, 124

Note: (besides the format of TAB -TAB prior to data) that I chose 240, instead of 255 for the white characters, on the advice of another member here... as perhaps slightly more pleasing to the eye than 100% white.
=============================================
If you're interested in how I arrived at this solution, this was the deductive process:

I read the link you provided regarding MuxMan. Very Interesting! Thanks!

I looked in the MuxMan folder in the AVStoDVD folder group, at the documentation file: BatchMux Usage.txt

Within the documentation was the description of usage for the -palette file, as follows:
===========================================
// -palette palette_file, optional; PgcEdit compatible ascii file containing
// 16 colour entries (index, red, green, blue) adopted for redefining the
// default color palette used by MuxMan
============================================
Which, upon seeing the reference to PgcEdit, made me think...

I had previously used PgcEdit to fix an earlier DVD's VOB subtitles (to change Red and Blue to White and Black), made with AVStoDVD... so...

I opened that corrected DVD into PgcEdit, and went into the PgcEditor... confirming that the colors were White Character, and Black Outline.

Then I "Export"ed the correct Sub-Picture Color Lookup Table, in ASCII format. The resultant file was called "vts01_ttn01.txt"

Then I tried "Import"ing the "DVD_39_Palette.txt" file, which AVStoDVD had created, in earlier tests. To my surprise, the color palette switched to Red Characters and Blue Outline!
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h349/Pawpcorn/AVStoDVDPalatteresults.jpg

Then I imported the "vts01_ttn01.txt" palette file I'd just created, above. The color palette switched back to the proper colors:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h349/Pawpcorn/CorrectSub-pictureColorLookupTable.jpg

I went back and forth a few times to confirm and double-check! (because, frankly, your numbers HAD looked good to me too!! hahahaha)

So... Anyway, clear results.

Then, as a workaround, for the time being, when I am processing a DVD with AVStoDVD, I set the "Edit Encoder Command Parameters at Runtime" as checked, and when the MuxMan batch parameters appear, I substitute in the "vts01_ttn01.txt" file, in place of the "DVD_nn_Palette.txt" file in the "-palette "C:\Users\Gerald\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_nn_Palette.txt" portion of the MuxMan batch file, and tell it to proceed, with perfect results.

As you suggested, I emailed you the two files mentioned above, to possibly assist you in your further development.
(Check your junk mail, if you don't see it... I included a hyperlink to this message, which might make it look like junk mail)

And THANK YOU again, for your wonderful creation!!!! I use it EVERY day(!!!!) in creating learning DVD movies (English soundtrack, Thai and English subtitles) to help my Thai students learn English rather effortlessly.

Without your creation, this wouldn't be possible!!! Kudos!!! :thanks:
Take care,
Pawpcorn
==========================================

Thank you, Mr.C, for your speedy reply!

I'm researching what you gave me...
I DO see the nice "_palette.txt" file, with the proper contents of:

and the batch file for MuxMan is as follows... {just in case you spot anything :) }

And yet... looking at the resultant Sub-Picture Color Lookup Table, Using PgcEdit (see link at Photo Bucket)
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h349/Pawpcorn/PGCEditor.png
You can see color 0 is set to Blue, and color 1 is set to Red, thus red characters with a blue outline.

I haven't started researching your link about MuxMan yet... but I wanted to thank you, and give you this additional feedback, in case it is helpful to you, if you have the opportunity to look into this problem.

I'd be happy to send you (not sure how!) the short test video and the idx/sub sub files used for this latest test.

Thanks again,
Pawpcorn :D
P.S. The "foreground color is defined in 'Preferences'/'AuthoringBurning' page" that you mentioned, appears to be used for .srt subtitles, and is not in play, when using .idx/.sub VOB subtitles.

MrC

17th May 2012, 15:31

Hi Pawpcorn,

probably you have not read so carefully the links I've posted before ;-)

The issue with subtitles taken from DVD (idx/sub) is not so easy to solve. Those idx/sub subtitles come with their own palette map (colors and index) and this palette map can vary from DVD to DVD (hence from idx/sub to idx/sub). That's why sometimes you will get a final DVD with black/white subtitles (original idx/sub are compliant with the palette.txt generated by AVStoDVD) and sometimes you will get blue/red (or purple/green, or whatelse) subtitles.

That's why it is usually recommended to open the "subs messed up" DVD with PgcEdit and correct only the wrong colors (foreground and outline). But they can be in every position in the PgcEdit colors lookup table. Unfortunately there's no general rule for idx/sub palette maps, or at least none that I have already discovered. Obviously I am open to suggestions how to improve this aspect.

The standard palette.txt used by AVStoDVD is designed for srt to sup conversion using SubtitleCreator. And for idx/sub subtitles taken from DVD created by AVStoDVD (starting from srt). But not for idx/sub taken from unpredictable sources, including commercial DVDs.

I hope to have better clarified the issue.

;)

Bye

Pawpcorn

17th May 2012, 18:19

Hi, MrC! Thanks for writing back!

You wrote: "But they [wrong subtitle colors] can be in every position in the PgcEdit colors lookup table." OMG!

So you are saying that when loading various future DVD project results into PgcEdit, and looking at the Sub-Picture Color Lookup Table, that Color 0 won't always refer to the outline, and Color 1 won't always refer to the character color, as has been the case, so far, in my projects?

And thus... the palette file I created may or may not work, in the future? (it HAS worked reliably on a couple projects, so far... but I've only tried it twice so far :))

When I load the standard AVStoDVD palette file into PgcEdit... I see
Color 0 is 100% saturated BLUE, and
Color 1 is 100% saturated RED,
Color 2 is 0% lum Black, and
Color 3 is 100% lum WHITE.

I would surmise then, that since you said the AVStoDVD palette design is based upon "srt to sup conversion using SubtitleCreator", and since ONLY blocks 2 and 3 are black and white blocks, that in your test DVD projects, color 3 is assigned as the character color, and color 2 is assigned as the outline?

In my projects so far, Color 0 has been outline, and Color 1 has been character color; but I know you pointed out that it's your understanding that this is not always the assignment, eh?

By the way, I want to mention that in addition to the idx/sub subtitles, I ALSO always include a second subtitle, an .srt subtitle, into every project... and these always come out white with black outline, no problem.

One additional possible point of interest, may be that I am not ripping the VOB idx/sub Subtitles off of DVDs, but rather using external idx/sub files that were extracted from BlueRay DVDs that I then run through the BDSup2Sub401.jar VOB subtitles program, to convert them to PAL DVD size, and also to move the subtitle positioning into a uniform consistent position... So... if the BDSup2Sub401.jar program alters the idx/sub color information in some ways... I may be introducing some degree of consistency into the data contents of the .idx/sub subtitles of my DVD projects, through this filtering process...

Maybe in my projects, Color 0 will always be for outline, and Color 1 will always be for character color...?!

Gads, confusing stuff, to be sure...

Thanks for your patience,
Pawpcorn

Maybe I'll be lucky... and my little vts01_ttn01.txt palette batch file will work every time, hahhaha....

Thanks again, Mr.C
Pawpcorn :rolleyes:

Hi Pawpcorn,

probably you have not read so carefully the links I've posted before ;-)

The issue with subtitles taken from DVD (idx/sub) is not so easy to solve. Those idx/sub subtitles come with their own palette map (colors and index) and this palette map can vary from DVD to DVD (hence from idx/sub to idx/sub). That's why sometimes you will get a final DVD with black/white subtitles (original idx/sub are compliant with the palette.txt generated by AVStoDVD) and sometimes you will get blue/red (or purple/green, or whatelse) subtitles.

That's why it is usually recommended to open the "subs messed up" DVD with PgcEdit and correct only the wrong colors (foreground and outline). But they can be in every position in the PgcEdit colors lookup table. Unfortunately there's no general rule for idx/sub palette maps, or at least none that I have already discovered. Obviously I am open to suggestions how to improve this aspect.

The standard palette.txt used by AVStoDVD . And for idx/sub subtitles taken from DVD created by AVStoDVD (starting from srt). But not for idx/sub taken from unpredictable sources, including commercial DVDs.

I hope to have better clarified the issue.

;)

Bye

MrC

17th May 2012, 19:39

You wrote: "But they [wrong subtitle colors] can be in every position in the PgcEdit colors lookup table." OMG!

So you are saying that when loading various future DVD project results into PgcEdit, and looking at the Sub-Picture Color Lookup Table, that Color 0 won't always refer to the outline, and Color 1 won't always refer to the character color, as has been the case, so far, in my projects?

Exactly. PgcEdit will be your friend in that cases.

And thus... the palette file I created may or may not work, in the future? (it HAS worked reliably on a couple projects, so far... but I've only tried it twice so far :))

Let's say that if your idx/sub files are coming from "consistent" sources, your custom palette.txt file will work for them.

When I load the standard AVStoDVD palette file into PgcEdit... I see
Color 0 is 100% saturated BLUE, and
Color 1 is 100% saturated RED,
Color 2 is 0% lum Black, and
Color 3 is 100% lum WHITE.

I would surmise then, that since you said the AVStoDVD palette design is based upon "srt to sup conversion using SubtitleCreator", and since ONLY blocks 2 and 3 are black and white blocks, that in your test DVD projects, color 3 is assigned as the character color, and color 2 is assigned as the outline?

That is the color map configuration that SubtitleCreator gives to the output sup file.

Willing to make a quick test?

1. Create a (smallest as possible) DVD (#1) with srt subtitles using AVStoDVD
2. Extract the m2v, ac3, idx/sub files
3. Add this assets to AVStoDVD to create the same DVD (#2)
4. Use standatd AVStoDVD palette. DVD #2 subtitles will have same colors as DVD #1
5. Use your custom palette.txt. What colors do you get in DVD #2?

;)

Bye

Pawpcorn

18th May 2012, 05:58

Ok, I get your point and I understand the purpose of your test idea...

Since your test design focused only on subtitles sourced as .srt files...

I thought of an alternative test, to test color assignments of BOTH .srt subtitles and sourced VOB (idx.sub) subtitles, by doing the following:

I took a completed DVD (created by AVSDVD) that contained TWO subtitles:
Subtitle 1 had been sourced as .srt
Subtitle 2 had been sourced as .idx/sub
I edited this DVD, using PgcEdit
I assigned: (for the purpose of later identification during viewing)
Color 0 orange
Color 1 dark green
Color 2 purple
Color 3 cyan

Then I viewed the resultant DVD.

What I saw was...

The subtitles that had been sourced as .srt were cyan character, purple outline, thus:
.srt sourced subtitles are using
Color 3 for the character color assignment
Color 2 for the outline color assignment
(Which is what I had theorized in an earlier message)
(and thus my custom file would have worked fine, since I never touched colors 2 and 3; they remained black and white, as in your -palette batch file)

The subtitles that had been sourced as .idx/sub were dark green character, orange outline, thus:
.idx/sub sourced subtitles are using:
Color 1 for the character color assignment
Color 0 for the outline color assignment

As somewhat of an afterthought... if AVStoDVD could be changed to process idx/sub subtitles to be consistent to .srt subtitles (using just colors 2 & 3)... then the default -palette table would work for both source-types of subtitles, and... issue retired (perhaps)

Thanks for your info, and ideas for the test! :thanks:
Take care,
Pawpcorn

Exactly. PgcEdit will be your friend in that cases.

Let's say that if your idx/sub files are coming from "consistent" sources, your custom palette.txt file will work for them.

That is the color map configuration that SubtitleCreator gives to the output sup file.

Willing to make a quick test?

1. Create a (smallest as possible) DVD (#1) with srt subtitles using AVStoDVD
2. Extract the m2v, ac3, idx/sub files
3. Add this assets to AVStoDVD to create the same DVD (#2)
4. Use standatd AVStoDVD palette. DVD #2 subtitles will have same colors as DVD #1
5. Use your custom palette.txt. What colors do you get in DVD #2?

;)

Bye

MrC

18th May 2012, 10:18

As somewhat of an afterthought... if AVStoDVD could be changed to process idx/sub subtitles to be consistent to .srt subtitles (using just colors 2 & 3)... then the default -palette table would work for both source-types of subtitles, and... issue retired (perhaps)

It would work for some idx/sub but not for all. I cannot predict what is the idx/sub colors map (type and sequence).

In other words, the process to ajust colors for idx/sub can be implemented only if there is any method to parse the idx/sub colors map. I did not find that method yet.

;)

Bye

Pawpcorn

18th May 2012, 10:47

It would work for some idx/sub but not for all. I cannot predict what is the idx/sub colors map (type and sequence).

In other words, the process to ajust colors for idx/sub can be implemented only if there is any method to parse the idx/sub colors map. I did not find that method yet.

;)

Bye

Gotcha there... I understand.

Is there any place in the AVStoDVD folder or file structure where I could place a replacement -palette file?

Or alter the color 0 and color 1 -palette data that you use to build the -palette batch file?

Then I wouldn't have to use the "Edit Encoder Command Parameters at runtime" option every time, to manually replace the -palette batch file every time I process a DVD.

(not a biggie)

Thanks,
Bye

MrC

18th May 2012, 14:49

Pawpcorn

18th May 2012, 15:26

The _palette.txt file is created at runtime in the Temporary File Folder ('Preferences'/'Path'). Color 3 is customized according to the subtitles color set up in 'Preferences'/'Authoring'.

'Edit Encoder Command Parameters at runtime' option is the best solution so far.

;)

Bye
OK, thanks for your time and effort in working with me on this... It's been illuminating, to say the least.

Take care Mr. C...
Pawpcorn ;)

Pawpcorn

22nd May 2012, 10:00

Dear Mr.C,

Remember how you pointed out to me in an earlier message how various VOB subtitles could have different color block assignments... and that there was no set pattern to that?

Well, I had that very thing happen, in this last project.
Subtitle #1 (processed .srt) used COLOR 2 for OUTLINE, COLOR 3 for CHARACTER (as always).. BUT...
Subtitle #2 (VOB sub/idx) used COLOR 0 for OUTLINE, COLOR 2 for CHARACTER !!!

Thus the black OUTLINE of the .srt subtitles created a black CHARACTER on the VOB subtitles! :confused:

Natch, PgcEdit couldn't fix this problem, since it was an issue of cross-assignment of the same color block, for different purposes.

I submitted a query here in the doom9 subtitle forum, and got back the advice of downloading and trying SubtitleCreator to reassign the VOB color block assignments.

I was skeptical that SC would actually DO that, thinking that it probably just would set colors, same as PgcEdit... but to my pleasant surprise, it actually worked!!!

After some experimentation, trial and error, I figured out how to make it work, and decided I could just use the same settings for the VOB subtitles as you use for the .srt subtitles; so I assigned Color Block 2 as Outline, and Color Block 3 as Character.

Now... NO NEED for changing anything within AVStoDVD; neither setting the 'Edit Encoder Command Parameters at runtime' option, nor adding a substitute color palette file! Everything running in default mode, which is nice.

Just in case you (or other users) may wish to try this...
The steps for changing the color block assignment in SubtitleCreator are as follows:
1) load the VOB subtitle file
2) click on the top subtitle, to select it.
3) on the right hand side menu, click the down arrow to change "Edit This" to "Edit All"
4) Under "Set Colors" Select Background to 00, Text to 03, Outline to 02, and Anti-Alias to 00. This matches the color assignment of AVStoDVD.
5) Click the "Set Subtitles Colors and Position" button.
6) Click on the first subtitle again.
7) On the keyboard, continue to press the down arrow key, which will select (and change) the next subtitle, changing the color assignment there, too.
8) Continue to press the down arrow key, until you've changed every single subtitle. If you just HOLD DOWN the arrow key, this works too, but sometimes it will skip a subtitle, so you must watch for that, and go back and select that subtitle too...
9) Disregard that the subtitles appear to be gray with gray outline; it just so happens that SubtitleCreator has those colors showing as Colors 02 and 03, but after processing with AVStoDVD, they will be Black and White, as set by the AVStoDVD Palette file.
10) Click File, Save VOBSub as... new filename.

Thanks again for your earlier help with this issue of mixed subtitles / sourced idx/sub subtitles, and, of course, thanks again for your terrific program! ;)

Take care,
Pawpcorn

John1999

10th June 2012, 05:29

To Mr. C.

Great forum here. I am a newbie and having problems with the program.

I have an MKV file when I burn dvd with AVStoDVD 2.4.2, picture is perfect, but no sound.

I normally play my files in Windows media player but I couldn't get sound to work. I did some reading on line and saw lots of people like vlc media player. I tried and sound works. Then I tried to make dvd.

From what I've been reading it may be a problem with audio in MKV file but I'm not sure how to fix it. Do I have to fix MKV before burning with AVStoDVD or will some settings in your program automatically correct the audio in the burning process?

MrC

11th June 2012, 14:58

@John1999

it sounds like you do not have the proper audio directshow codec installed. Have you tried with ffdshow?

Post here the AVStoDVD project log file.

;)

Bye

rippn

19th June 2012, 18:33

I'm having an issue where the program is aborting at the dvd authoring step, and it appears to have something to do with the menu creation. I've tried 2.4.2 and the latest beta 2.5.0. I've tried converting different xvids and still the same result. Uninstalled and reinstalled the program to reset setting and everything, any help on this would be appreciated.

This is the error from the log:

<6/19/2012 10:21:51 AM>
ERROR DURING OPERATIONS ('DVD Authoring operations' Section): 0 -
<>

<6/19/2012 10:21:51 AM>
PROCESS ABORTED.
<>

Update: Went back to 2.3.4 and had no issue, going to try 2.4.1 next.
Update 2: Yep all versions 2.4.0 and up do not finish the project while 2.3.4 has no problem, maybe the removal of QuEnc is the cause?

MrC

20th June 2012, 13:45

Could you please post the complete log file of an aborted project?

What do you mean by "removal of QuEnc"?

;)

Bye

rippn

20th June 2012, 18:21

Could you please post the complete log file of an aborted project?

What do you mean by "removal of QuEnc"?

;)

Bye

Already deleted them and finished my projects with 2.3.4, so I apologize I don't have a log to post. What I mean by the removal of QuEnc is during the authoring stage on 2.3.4 a QuEnc window appears, this window doesn't appear in the newer versions.

If a log will help, I will install a newer version and do another project. Let me know.

MrC

21st June 2012, 12:32

8ternity

21st June 2012, 20:53

Hi Mrc,

I say the update on my email from videohelp (translation ini files).

Did you had someone to translate in french the ini files?

Because if you doesnt had someone, i can translate it. It has a lot of translations to do.

But i had no times for the moment. Im in productions of two website and videos editing for an company. So im busy for around 1 month and a half. It you doesnt had someone in that time, i will can help you.

Let me know...

MrC

21st June 2012, 22:19

@8ternity

a French translation would be great! Thanks a lot. The localization ini files writing is still ongoing, forms are completed but messages still not. BTW if you may start to have a look, it would be really very appreciated, as for the graphical contribution you have already given. ;)

Since you have already disclosed... AVStoDVD release 2.5.0 Alpha 120621 is available to download (http://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.5.0%20Alpha%20120621/)

Change log from 2.4.2:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added Quick StartUp Tutorial to setup main AVStoDVD preferences
- Added possibility to customize GUI language. Support to create translation ini files is welcome!
- Added support to HCenc *ZONE command (to increase or lower bitrate for parts of the video)
- Added 160 kbps as supported bitrate for MP2 and AC3 audio encoding
- Added 160 kbps to DVD compliant audio bitrates list for MP2 and AC3
- Added 'Set encoding Priority' in 'Preferences'/'Misc'
- Added Preferences Paths integrity check at startup
- Added question messages (Yes/No) with automatic default reply at runtime
- Removed 'Display errors messages at runtime' option in 'Preferences'/'Misc'
- Replaced 'Keep DVD Compliant Video/Audio' with 'Video/Audio Direct Stream Copy' in 'Edit Title'
- FFmpeg updated to N-35509
- MediaInfo updated to 0.7.57

;)

Bye

8ternity

21st June 2012, 22:48

Did you setup the last recommendations i've give you last time in your to do list?

"Put in minimize all batch processes"?

8ternity

21st June 2012, 22:51

@8ternity

BTW if you may start to have a look, it would be really very appreciated, as for the graphical contribution you have already given. ;)

Yes i've take a look. It's not complicated of what i've seen from now. Im not perfect in French, but translate is the most job and we can't fix error or corrections latest on bugs or suggestions submited by other users.

I've translate an b2c auto parts store software and WinISO software in french in 2011-2012.

For now, i need to finished my current customers because it's the seasons and they need to get refresh as soon as possible for making sales.

Is that possible to add ourself on msn messenger? (in pm(exchange)).

8ternity

21st June 2012, 23:11

Sorry Mrc,

Also, did it possible to display the French language translation when i copy the French.lang file into the language folder, i had no preview of hit? Maybe i can preview current translation of parts translated.

Thanks.

MrC

22nd June 2012, 13:22

Did you setup the last recommendations i've give you last time in your to do list?

"Put in minimize all batch processes"?

Still in the ToDo list. Unfortunately I haven't found yet how to force some of the apps (like QuEnc) which does not accept other status than Normal window.

For now, i need to finished my current customers because it's the seasons and they need to get refresh as soon as possible for making sales.

Is that possible to add ourself on msn messenger? (in pm(exchange)).

Take your time, no hurry, translation for AVStoDVD must have a low priority. Use your very last free time!

I do not use msn or other messenger apps. No FB page. Just the old Gmail email account (avstodvd@gmail.com). I know, in the days of social networks, I am a sort of vampire...

Also, did it possible to display the French language translation when i copy the French.lang file into the language folder, i had no preview of hit? Maybe i can preview current translation of parts translated.

Just copy the new .lang.ini file into the folder and start AVStoDVD 2.5.0 alpha. The new language will appear in the top menu ('View'/'Select Language'). You can even translate just few elements, the not found elements will be replaced with the English equivalents.

;)

Bye

rippn

24th June 2012, 13:05

QuEnc is launched, before DVD authoring step, to create the motion DVD menu, if that option is selected. Otherwise QuEnc is not called. No differences between 2.3.4 and 2.4.x releases about that.

Probably with the newer releases (I don't know why, the log could help more), there are some issues when creating DVD menu thumbnails or background images (bmp), just before starting to create the motion DVD meu (m2v) with QuEnc.

Do you get same error using static DVD menu?

;)

Bye

I was definitely doing motion menu's, and did not attempt a static menu as that isn't what I wanted. Sorry been super busy, I will run through a motion menu on the latest release and post a log, and also attempt the same with a static menu and report back.

8ternity

26th June 2012, 21:54

8ternity

26th June 2012, 22:02

Hi Mrc,

I had issue with AVStoDVD 2.4.2 RC latest;

Error 383
'Text' property is read-only

Location:
Form: <frmEdit>
Sub:*<Load_Title>
Section: <audio>

More: Big Miracle my project.

P.S. [EDIT] i had test with another movies, does the same error.

For Now..... resolved!

- Uninstalled AVStoDVD;
- Re-Install (installer version) 2.5.0 Alpha.

Will add more titles in queue and submit if issues again.

8ternity

28th June 2012, 23:17

Hi Mrc,

I've got no error on 8 movies yesturday, but i had the error has my last post "error 383".

Did you had an idea what cause this error?

Movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

MrC

29th June 2012, 12:48

It was related to some mismatching values stored in Win Registry. It should have been solved in 2.5.0. If not, let me know

Thanks for the report

;)

Bye

Flux

5th July 2012, 15:35

From some reason AC3 5.1 audio doesn't want to go stereo, if I set channels mode to 2.0

It used to work fine with some earlier versions. I noticed this when sound quality was horrible because I set 192 kbps for stereo, but end result was still 5.1

There is some way to control hard encoded subtitles font? Those subtitles look really fat with default font when the player does the horizontal stretch for anamorphic video. I have to manually put textsub before resize from the avisynth script and they don't look fat anymore, but it adds some blur.

MrC

5th July 2012, 20:23

From some reason AC3 5.1 audio doesn't want to go stereo, if I set channels mode to 2.0

It used to work fine with some earlier versions. I noticed this when sound quality was horrible because I set 192 kbps for stereo, but end result was still 5.1

See Help/FAQ/Audio/Q4.1

There is some way to control hard encoded subtitles font? Those subtitles look really fat with default font when the player does the horizontal stretch for anamorphic video. I have to manually put textsub before resize from the avisynth script and they don't look fat anymore, but it adds some blur.

Not directly in AVStoDVD. But here (http://forum.doom9.org/archive/index.php/t-162880.html) there are some workarounds.

;)

Bye

Flux

6th July 2012, 19:06

MrC

6th July 2012, 20:18

I was probably too vague or missed something. Audio won't downmix from 5.1 to 2.0 when I manually set it that way in AVStoDVD. I checked the modified AC3 with DGIndex and it says 3/2 192 kbps, but I wanted stereo 192 kbps.

The FAQ hint is valid anyway, even if the channels scenarios are opposite.

What directshow AC3 filter do you use? If the answer is ffdshow, then AVStoDVD (should) take care of channels configuration, if the answer is something else (i.e. AC3Filter), you have to manually setup the filter mixer to 2.0 channels.

;)

Bye

Flux

7th July 2012, 09:14

Probably ffdshow because I don't have AC3Filter installed. MPCHC shows ffdshow audio processor and LAV audio decoder for DVD playback. When I play AC3 file, there is also MPC DTS/AC3/DD+ Source. I'm using mixer from ffdshow which has been set for 2/0/0 - stereo.

For now, I just downmix the AC3 audio with MeGUI and use that with AVStoDVD. That way I get stereo track for DVD.

MrC

7th July 2012, 17:51

1. If you use GraphEdit to render the input title, is ffdshow displayed as audio decoder?

2. Could you please post the project log file?

;)

Bye

Flux

9th July 2012, 14:22

Project log file as an attached file.

I don't have GraphEdit because it requires SDK installation and not familiar with it either. Maybe later.

With A2Dsource I get stereo downmix. Same with DirectShowSource. FFMpegSource seems to keep 5.1 even when set to 2.0 from AVStoDVD audio setup.

From some reason built-in PAL speedup doesn't work for me. It only changes frame rate, but audio is out of sync. I'm adding AssumeFPS(25,true).SSRC(48000) to the end of the script. A2Dsource and DirectShowSource also requires manual change for their frame rate setting from 25 to 23.976.

I'm using FFMpegSource because it seems to give smoothest videos. Sometimes A2D and DSS produce video stuttering.

yab_tater

10th July 2012, 00:29

I have added a music track to my menu background, but I cannot figure out how to make the track playback loop. Right now in my DVDs, the track plays once, reaches the end, and then dead silence. I am using a static background in my DVDs. Thanks for having a look. :)

MrC

10th July 2012, 22:36

@Flux

with A2DSource and DSS you get downmix because output audio channels configuration is driven by the direcshow filter mixer (i.e. ffdshow). FFMS instead needs a proper audio channels remixing using AviSynth. In the next release I will add this capability (thanks to Tebasuna downmix functions ;) ).

PAL SpeedUp works only if input video is detected as 23.976 fps. In your project the input source is VFR (variable frame rate). But you can force AVStoDVD to believe that source title has 23.976 fps. Just use 'Title'/'Edit Source Title Info'/'Video FrameRate' option. Remember to toggle on 'PAL SpeedUp' from 'Preferences'/'AviSynth' before adding the source title.

@yab_tater

if menu is Static, then audio will not loop. To have menu looping you have to make a Motion menu, with video and audio.

;)

Bye

8ternity

11th July 2012, 22:29

It was related to some mismatching values stored in Win Registry. It should have been solved in 2.5.0. If not, let me know

Thanks for the report

;)

Bye

I will download it again and tested again and let you know when possible.

thanks.

Pawpcorn

13th July 2012, 09:54

Hello, MrC!

I was wondering if there is any "user handle" for being able to set the "Target Video FileSize:" size parameter, that gets passed for each video, to Hcenc, by AVS2DVD prior to encoding?

Here's my situation, and the resulting problem, and my current work-around:

I'm building a series of DVD videos for my Thai English students, which include 5 videos on each DVD:
DVD Menu of "I, Robot", my latest project (http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7527/menuscreencapture.jpg)
1) Trailer
2) The Making Of ...
3) OST Original Soundtrack Music
4) Main Movie, with 2 subtitles available
5) Main Movie with burned in DUAL subtitles

Here's my problem: the OST really consists of a single jpg slide that's just a static CD album picture, non-changing throughout the hour-long music album.

Since it's just a static slide, (and the music is what's important) it really doesn't need more than about a 400 maximum bit rate, and 200 bit rate, to look fine.

I know I can set these 2 values by having the "Edit Encoder Command Parameters at Runtime" checked, and then modifying the HCenc Command INI file "MAXBITRATE" and "BITRATE" settings.

The results of the OST file are fine, because, as you know, it is possible by using these settings, to REDUCE the SIZE of the resultant m2v file below the initial file size parameter "Target Video FileSize:" that you pass to Hcenc.

The PROBLEM is (in the case of the MAIN Movies) that you can't use these same (HCenc Command INI file "MAXBITRATE" and "BITRATE") settings to EXPAND the size (or bit rates used) beyond what was passed as "Target Video FileSize:" to Hcenc.

Thus, you can shrink the file size, but you can't expand the file size, using the Hcenc ini menu. Apparently the "Target Video FileSize:" parameter sets a "hard ceiling" upon the encoding process within Hcenc, not allowing the resultant file size to expand beyond this setting, no matter WHAT larger numbers you pump into the "MAXBITRATE" and "BITRATE" settings.

Since AVS2DVD performs the initial file size estimates apparently based upon the DURATION of each video, the estimate for the OST "movie" file size is MUCH LARGER than required, and thus the AVS2DVD estimate for the file size of the MAIN movies is MUCH SMALLER than desired.

Thus I end up with a DVD with a GB or so of empty space, and lower-than-desired quality on the main movies.

My current work-around is:

1) I perform an encoding process using the defaults of AVS2DVD.

2) I save the satisfactory results of the "Trailer" and "The Making of..." m2v video file for the final muxman process, in the end.

3) I create, manually, using AVS2DVD (and Hcenc), the proper size OST Video m2v video file, (manually setting the Hcenc ini settings for the proper small file size), and .ac3 file, and save these .m2v and .ac3 files, for the final muxman process at the end.

4) I then look at the log file to see what the estimated file size was going to be for the OST video.Then I try to calculate what size a fake OST file would be needed to be to produce the desired results of getting the correct file sizes ("Target Video FileSize:") for the two main videos. This gets complicated by the fact that once I reduce the size of the OST video file (with the fake file) the AVS2DVD program also boosts the size of the TRAILER video and the "The Making Of" videos, larger too! {headache forming lol}

5) I create this fake OST video, then make a new AVS2DVD project again, setting up the DVD menu, and run AVS2DVD again, with the "Edit Encoder Command Parameters at Runtime" ticked. I close every Hcenc ini menu that comes up, accepting the defaults.

6) When the menu for MuxMan comes up, I stop... and go to where I stored the Trailer, OST, and "The Making Of..." files, (including the chapters.txt file for the OST, which I've customized with the actual start locations of each music piece) and RENAME the files to the same name as the current project. I SAVE all of the current project files off in temporary storage, then overwrite the current project files with the previously stored Trailer, OST and "Making" video, audio, and chapter files. Then I close the MuxMan menu screen, so the AVS2DVD process can complete.

7) Then I manually use ImageBurn to burn a DVD ISO image, to test the results: Fits on a single 4.7GB DVD? Not too much slack space on the DVD?

8) If unsatisfactory results, then I must resize the Fake OST video AGAIN, and refresh the OST video in the AVS2DVD project (so the NEW Fake OST file size will be used in the next attempt) then rebuild the DVD Menu again, which got destroyed by refreshing the OST video.

9) Go back to mid-step 5 and repeat.

Clearly... so many variables are involved that this ends up being somewhat a trial-and-error process, VERY time consuming (as each project attempt takes 3 hours minimum) and a number of attempts, while fine tuning the end result.

It would be SO great if I could just specify the desired "Target Video FileSize:" right off the bat, since I already KNOW what I want, at the beginning.

Since the behavior of Hcenc doesn't allow me (via the MaxBitRate and BitRate .ini file settings) to create a LARGER file size than specified in the AVS2DVD "Target Video FileSize:" parameter, I'm forced to jump through these many many hoops just in order to trick the AVS2DVD program to send a LARGER "Target Video FileSize:" parameter to the Hcenc program.

Any chance for a manual "handle" on "Target Video FileSize:"?

As always, thanks for your wonderful AVS2DVD program, with the splendid DVD Menu. I am very appreciative of this fine program of yours.

Respectfully,
Gerald

MrC

13th July 2012, 11:22

Pawpcorn

13th July 2012, 13:52

Hi there again Gerald,

I'm very happy to read you are still using AVStoDVD to create educational DVD for your students.

About the issue, have you tried simply changing manually the avg video bitrate:
- 'Edit Title'/'Video'
- toggle off 'Auto Video Setup' and 'Auto Bitrate'
- change default bitrate as you want

Doing that, you will get also legal output size decrease/increase and the cop "Target Video FileSize" will let you pass.

Let me know

;)

Bye
OMG :eek: I can't believe I NEVER NOTICED this series of menus before!!!! Oh man......!!!!!!

I'm so glad I wrote you! This last project almost "did me in'!!! :(

I looks exactly like what I needed to do all along, (almost like the menus were written for my exact problem and frustration!) and I am flabbergasted and speechless!!! Words fail me! {which is rare!} hahhaaha :D

I haven't tried the new menus yet, but I WILL, soon, in the next few days, and I'll get back to you with the results!

Thanks for the kind words and the advice on how to control this size/bitrate business!!!:cool:
:thanks:
Take care,
Gerald

8ternity

18th July 2012, 15:40

Hi Mrc,

I've start a little bit French Translation. I'm not to much developped but here snapshot of test with 2.5.0 beta rev.

http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr165/8ternity/2012-07-18_10h34_10-1.jpg

MrC

20th July 2012, 14:32

@8ternity

génial! Go ahead! Thanks a lot.

;)

Bye

MrC

20th July 2012, 14:34

New 2.5.0 alpha release is available (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.5.0%20Alpha%20120720/).

Cumulative change list from 2.4.2:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added Quick StartUp Tutorial to setup main AVStoDVD preferences
- Added possibility to customize GUI language. Support to create translation ini files is welcome!
- Added support to HCenc *ZONE command (to increase or lower bitrate for parts of the video)
- Added 160 kbps as supported bitrate for MP2 and AC3 audio encoding
- Added 160 kbps to DVD compliant audio bitrates list for MP2 and AC3
- Added 'Set encoding Priority' in 'Preferences'/'Misc'
- Added 'Encoding Window Style' in 'Preferences'/'Misc'
- Added Preferences Paths integrity check at startup
- Added question messages (Yes/No) with automatic default reply at runtime
- Added 'Seek Chapters' option in 'Title Edit'/'Chapters'
- Added AviSynth library 'Downmix.avsi' (thanks to tebasuna51)
- Removed 'Display errors messages at runtime' option in 'Preferences'/'Misc'
- Replaced 'Keep DVD Compliant Video/Audio' with 'Video/Audio Direct Stream Copy' in 'Title Edit'
- Improved FrameRate detection routine with MediaInfo
- Improved support to SubStation Alpha subtitles (ssa/ass)
- Improved 'Fix SRT' routine for authored subtitles
- Improved audio channels downmix routine
- MuxMan updated to 0.16.8
- FFmpeg updated to N-35509
- MediaInfo updated to 0.7.57

;)

Bye

Pawpcorn

20th July 2012, 17:12

OMG :eek: I can't believe I NEVER NOTICED this series of menus before!!!! Oh man......!!!!!!

I'm so glad I wrote you! This last project almost "did me in'!!! :(

I looks exactly like what I needed to do all along, (almost like the menus were written for my exact problem and frustration!) and I am flabbergasted and speechless!!! Words fail me! {which is rare!} hahhaaha :D

I haven't tried the new menus yet, but I WILL, soon, in the next few days, and I'll get back to you with the results!

Thanks for the kind words and the advice on how to control this size/bitrate business!!!:cool:
:thanks:
Take care,
Gerald
Hello again Mr.C !
Can you stand receiving some TOTALLY positive feedback, without a single complaint??? hahahaha... here goes ! This Week's DVD project, with SIX Menu Items! (http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/7527/menuscreencapture.jpg)

Using your "Edit Titles" series of menus I was able to fine-tune this project to be able to cram in about 5 hours of material, maintaining [in the two versions of Main Movie] a Bits/(Pixel*Frame) value of over 0.2 (considered the benchmark for very high quality) PLUS include a 45 minute OST Music CD (static video slide) with the movie music pieces, all set up with customized chapters for every music piece.

I DID have to repeat the entire process of building the DVD about a dozen times, primarily (but see my question below too) because I needed to push the envelope as to squeezing as many bytes as possible onto this DVD, since it contained SO MUCH DATA, and I am a stickler about maintaining high quality video.

I ended up manually setting every bit rate, setting 103% (of normal DVD size) estimated, to get just under 100% resultant size, after the VBR 2 pass compression schemes were run.

All in all... I'm VERY happy with the results; I think you gave us ALL the handles we could possibly require to customize every possible technical aspect of the DVD, and I really admire that design approach (with successful program performance) that you achieved.

As an aside, (and NOT a complaint(!) ) but a technical curiosity, I DO have a question about video compression when the source material is simply a single slide, ie, the OST video. ALL the other videos presented no problems and no surprises.

If you can fill in any of the missing (or faulty) logic, information, or tell me about techniques that may be available, I'd appreciate it.

Here goes: (for some reason, probably compression technique differences) I had to spec the bit rate of the OST slide to over twice the bit rate value I used with the original Xvid 2pass codec, or the resultant video image was too deteriorated.

Here's a screen capture of the OST slide (with 295 bit rate Xvid encoding; quality deemed satisfactory); the black borders are all part of the video image (ie the slide is not full screen) (http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/8183/ostscreencapture.jpg)

Here's a screen capture of the resultant DVD (using Henc 1 pass, 750 bit rate, .m2v file about twice size the original Xvid, quality... "OK", ie a little quality loss.) (http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/9857/ostondvdscreencapture.jpg)

I'm sure a static slide running for 45 minutes has it's own unique demands, but considering that there's not a single "scene change" with a static slide... needing a bit rate of about 700, with either encoder in AVS2DVD to maintain quality, when it worked with 300 as an Xvid AVI has me mystified.

I'm thinking that maybe I need to slow down just how often the static video image is "refreshed". Then, maybe, the bit rate could be lower?

But I have no idea if it's even possible to change the frequency with which the image is forcibly refreshed, or if this even has anything to do with my needing over twice the Xvid bit rate, when encoding a static slide video.

Any ideas on this?

I DID just get the idea that maybe I should have tried encoding the original Xvid OST video at a rather HIGH bit rate... start out with EXCELLENT video quality, and then see how low I can push the Henc Bit Rate, to end up with "satisfactory" results.

Incidently, I KNOW the two screen shots above are of poor quality, but in as it's just music, I really didn't care about quality, past being able to read the song titles.

Here's an example of the actual MOVIE on the DVD: DVD Screen Capture (http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/8910/dvdscreenshot.jpg)

Thanks again for your superior program!:thanks:
Gerald

Pawpcorn

20th July 2012, 17:31

Thanks for the new version! Already installed! :)

I posted a notice on the 1080ip web site I belong to, urging a donation, here: http://1080ip.com/forums/thread-7656-1-1.html

Sparktank

21st July 2012, 09:37

New 2.5.0 alpha release is available (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.5.0%20Alpha%20120720/).
- Added support to HCenc *ZONE command (to increase or lower bitrate for parts of the video)
- Added Preferences Paths integrity check at startup
- Added question messages (Yes/No) with automatic default reply at runtime
- Added AviSynth library 'Downmix.avsi' (thanks to tebasuna51)
- Replaced 'Keep DVD Compliant Video/Audio' with 'Video/Audio Direct Stream Copy' in 'Title Edit'
- FFmpeg updated to N-35509

:thanks: Looking forward to testing this out. Been so happy so far with the recent alpha's.

Out of curiosity, the FFmpeg you are updating, are they still the Sherpya sources?
There hasn't been a compiled update pushed out yet. But updates to the sources have been constant as of late.
I was curious about it the last time you pushed an Alpha release with an FFmpeg update.

Will report any hiccups :)

MrC

22nd July 2012, 20:55

@Pawpcorn

you really cannot demand too much from mpeg2 compression. Probably you can play with some HCenc adv settings, like Lumgain (for dark scenes/pictures) or matrixes, but below 1000 kbps avg mpeg2 has too much hard time.

Thanks for the kind words and for the 1080ip.com support. It is very appreciated!

@Sparktank

yes, I have always used Sherpya win builds. No big issues, good reliability. Probably not a lightning about new sources embedding, but, you know, ffmpeg usage in AVStoDVD is very limited (AC3 encoding, BMP output, video/audio demuxing).

;)

Bye

Pawpcorn

26th July 2012, 10:30

Hi, Mr.C! Any tips as to if it's possible, and, if so, the steps involved in adding some sound to the menu (motion, 27 seconds)?

Thanks!
Gerald;)

MrC

26th July 2012, 19:52

Any tips as to if it's possible, and, if so, the steps involved in adding some sound to the menu (motion, 27 seconds)?

From 'Menu Wizard', toggle on 'Enable Bacground Audio' form 'Template' tab. Then in 'Menu Editor', 'Edit Mode', select your audio file from 'Audio'.

;)

Bye

Pawpcorn

27th July 2012, 05:40

From 'Menu Wizard', toggle on 'Enable Bacground Audio' form 'Template' tab. Then in 'Menu Editor', 'Edit Mode', select your audio file from 'Audio'.

;)

Bye
Gotcha there; I now understand it needs to be a separate audio file, thanks for the pointer!

Another question, is there any way to beef up the sensitivity of the "Seek Chapters" function in "Title Edit", Chapters?
It only found 6 significant scene changes in "Little Miss Sunshine" movie... :(

Thanks again!
Gerald;)

MrC

27th July 2012, 15:19

Pawpcorn

27th July 2012, 19:29

The rationale to have a scene change in "Seek Chapters" is very simple: a black screen for more than 1 second.

But I'm open to suggestion how to improve it. Feasible suggestions, of course...

;)

Bye
I understand the rationale, and the method makes good sense.

My suggestion, then, would be to allow the user specify how many milliseconds of black qualified as a "Scene Change". Would that be feasible?

If I were able set a shorter duration to qualify as a scene change, in this last project, I'm sure I would have had much more than the 6 scene changes that were found, with the default >1 second threshold.

Thanks! :)
Gerald

fantasmanegro

27th July 2012, 23:58

hi!

if i do:

1) set HCEnc matrix to NOTCH
2) save as HCenc defaults
3) set Auto video Setup to "CHECKED"

does any body knows if AVStoDVD uses NOTCH MATRIX for ENCODING or it USES the "AUTO" one?...

Sparktank

28th July 2012, 00:07

as apposed to seconds, I would suggest frames, perhaps?
Although, sometimes blank screens are part of the artistic approach where dialog takes over.

Perhaps some sort of integrity of the degree of blank frames VS. a certain audio decibel level?

That might cause too many options. Maybe set it to only 3 varying levels of decibel levels to structure the seek algorithms?

This will require more research. I wonder if I can find any documents on how other programs currently determine the sensitivity of blank frames for a valid scene change...

MrC

29th July 2012, 20:19

@fantasmanegro

matrix will come back to default MPEG. By you can change the default matrix to NOTCH just in HCenc advanced option window.

@Pawpcorn, Sparktank

please continue to elaborate more effective strategies for chapters detection. Just remember that I have to operate within AviSynth and/or FFmpeg commands domains, thus the strategies must be supported by one of those apps.

;)

Bye

fantasmanegro

29th July 2012, 20:53

thank you very much!

8ternity

1st August 2012, 14:13

Hi Mrc, I had found an issue with the version 2.5.0 alpha 120621;

When delete a media into the source title; i've gor two errors, one after the other and AVStoDVD crashed.

im with a partial French translation; dont know if it's matter.

Errors is:
Error 5
Invalid procedure call or armunent.

and

Run-time error '5':
Invalid procedure call or argument

and application crashed.

Can you help me with that? I know it does that on all king of medias. It's when i want to delete a media sources from the list that it does that.

8ternity

Pawpcorn

3rd August 2012, 05:42

@Pawpcorn, Sparktank

please continue to elaborate more effective strategies for chapters detection. Just remember that I have to operate within AviSynth and/or FFmpeg commands domains, thus the strategies must be supported by one of those apps.

;)

Bye
OK; can you give me which commands you're currently employing to find 1 second of black video? Starting with that, I can try to study the commands / command structure available, and see if I can come up with something.
Thanks!

hlrsnd

4th August 2012, 13:55

8ternity

6th August 2012, 00:42

Hello,

I use this great program occasionally to burn DVDs of my own camera mjpeg videos which are edited together as Avisynth scripts. Unfortunately I have somehow broken it since I last used it in August 2011. It no longer recognizes .avs files; something about an error in line 76. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Avisynth, ffdshow, and AVStoDVD versions 2.4.1 and 2.4.2. Nothing worked. Edit: no problems recognizing the mjpeg avi files without the Avisynth scripts.

As a test I tried installing Avisynth, ffdshow, and AVStoDVD version 2.4.2 on an older PC which had none of these installed previously. AVStoDVD recognized the Avisynth scripts perfectly as it had in the past on the newer PC.

Any suggestions? Registry editing?

Had you updated any component for another software (AviSynth, ffdslow, etc.) ?

I suggest to download latest requirement softwares here:
ffdshow | http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow-tryout/files/SVN%20builds%20by%20clsid/generic%20builds/ffdshow_rev4475_20120712_clsid.exe/download

AviSynth 2.5.8 | http://sourceforge.net/projects/avisynth2/

Reboot after that, and retry.

Please, also post an log file of AVStoDVD; and the mediainfo of the source file that you were trying to convert.

MrC

6th August 2012, 20:24

@8ternity

I cannot replicate the issue. Do you get the error with the default English language too?

@Pawpcorn

I'm currently using the FFmpeg -r 1 command to generate still images at 1 fps

@hlrsnd

in addition to 8ternity suggestions, I would add to check the option to delete the AVStoDVD registry key when you do a complete unistall.

;)

Bye

manolito

7th August 2012, 01:38

Hi MrC,
it has been a while...:D

I normally do not use AVStoDVD, and it was pure coincidence that a few days ago I saw the latest Alpha build which supports language files. And I remembered that some time ago I did offer to do a German translation for AVStoDVD. Well, here it is:
///Link removed///

Some things (mostly tool tips) could not be translated because they are not included in the language file. The translation for the Menu Wizard shows up in the text menu, but not in the menu button text. And there is a false assignment in the Aften Advanced Options. The "Dynamic Range" text shows up twice while the "Lowpass" text does not show up at all.

And I have one suggestion: At the first start AVStoDVD displays a Quick Start Tutorial, and since no language has been selected at this time, the tutorial always shows up in English. It would be nice if the program did check the current country setting first and switch to the corresponding language before displaying the tutorial.

Unfortunately I get a similar program crash as 8ternity. Whenever I click on an entry in the sources window, I get the message: "Runtime error 9. Index out of valid range", and the program aborts. This only happens when I use my German language file, with the English or Italian language file everything is fine.

Another thing which does not work is indexing with DGIndex when I try to open an IFO file from a DVD. I just get the message that indexing failed without any further explanation. (This also happens with the stable version 2.42)

Last thing for today is a question about MKVToolNix versions. The stable installer versions of AVStoDVD come with an older version of MKVToolNix which obviously does work. Some time ago Mosu changed the behavior of MKVToolNix regarding the track IDs and track numbers of audio files, and this broke some older software which relies on MKVToolNix (StaxRip is one of them). Is the current Alpha of AVStoDVD compatible with the latest versions of MKVToolNix, or do we have to use an older version?

Alright, enough for tonite, time to go to bed...

Cheers
manolito

Sparktank

7th August 2012, 05:51

something about an error in line 76.

Sounds like a typo in the AVS script.

Can you post the script? (Particularly line 76)
:script:
Are these manually structured scripts for AviSnyth?
Sometimes it's as simple as forgetting a character or adding a different one.

MrC

7th August 2012, 21:13

@Manolito

Hi there ;) and thanks for your always appreciated and valid inputs. And many many thanks for the German localization file! That's a great support to AVStoDVD!

As you have already discovered, languages support is still a work in progress. Some tooltips and almost all messages have not been translated yet. Probably I will distribute the 2.5.0 final release with a preliminary languages support, to be extended in further releases.

Thanks about the main titles window issue and the DGIndex error reports. I will fix them ASAP (now I'm in vacation with my family, just few minutes to check the forum ;) ).

I didn't know about the MKVtoolnix tracks ID management change. Bad news indeed. Two MKVtoolnix versions to handle for a while...

The first Quick StartUp Tutorial language reading from the Win registry is surely feasible. I will add it to the ToDo list.

About the German localization, please have a look to labels fitting into textboxes and toolboxes. Since german words are sometimes extremely loooong, there is the possibility that there is not enough space.

Thanks again for the support

;)

Bye

manolito

7th August 2012, 21:37

About the German localization, please have a look to labels fitting into textboxes and toolboxes. Since german words are sometimes extremely loooong, there is the possibility that there is not enough space.

Oh yes, I do know that...:(
And since VB does not use the standard resource format a translator has no way to adjust the size of input boxes, message boxes and so on.

But I believe I did catch all problems (it took longer to modify text to fit into the boxes than the raw translation itself). Luckily it does not depend on the screen resolution, I tested it at 800x600, and everything did fit into the boxes.

It sure makes for some translated phrases which are not too elegant, but I think everything is understandable. And of course there is a lot of room for improvement...

I didn't know about the MKVtoolnix tracks ID management change. Bad news indeed. Two MKVtoolnix versions to handle for a while...
The problems started with version 5.20. MKVExtractGUI-2 and MKVCleaver had to be updated to work with newer versions of MKVToolNix. Have a look here...
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1547092#post1547092

Enjoy your vacation, hopefully with nice weather...:)

Cheers
manolito

hlrsnd

9th August 2012, 02:53

@@hlrsnd

in addition to 8ternity suggestions, I would add to check the option to delete the AVStoDVD registry key when you do a complete unistall.

;)

Bye
I was using the 2.4.1 NoInstall package and switched to 2.4.2 NoInstall which then couldn't understand .avs scripts. I tried installing and uninstalling several Installer packages which didn't work. Per your suggestion, I finally deleted all the AVStoDVD registry keys I could find then tried 2.4.2 NoInstall again. Success! Apparently running 2.4.2 NoInstall over the 2.4.1 NoInstall registry caused the problem. Thanks for the help!

8ternity

9th August 2012, 18:27

@8ternity

I cannot replicate the issue. Do you get the error with the default English language too?

True. Only does that in FRENCH language. In English it's okay.
Did you want the French.lang partial translation to reproduce?

thanks

MrC

9th August 2012, 18:52

@Manolito

thanks for the MkvToolNix issue link. I have just downloaded it and, yes, AVStoDVD needs to be updated to support the new indexing system. Hopefully it is not that difficult: ID(new) = ID(old) - 1

About German translation, have a look to the main window toolbar: the 2 last icons ('Jobs List' and 'Help') have been pushed out to the left ;)

I have catched the title section bug using the German languages. Just wait few days for the bugfix.

@hlrsnd

nice to hear that you have fixed. ;)

@8ternity

yes thanks, that would be better, to confirm the same bug as the German translation.

;)

Bye

manolito

9th August 2012, 23:50

About German translation, have a look to the main window toolbar: the 2 last icons ('Jobs List' and 'Help') have been pushed out to the left
Thanks for catching this, already fixed..
Redownload:
///Link removed///

Cheers
manolito

MrC

10th August 2012, 14:13

Thanks! Great job!

And here you are the hotfix (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_250_Alpha120809_exe_only.7z)

;)

Bye

manolito

10th August 2012, 19:21

YES !!!
The hotfix takes care of the crashes caused by the language file. The Aften Advanced Options malassignment is also fixed. Beautiful...:thanks:

So there is room for some other suggestions, thoughts and bug reports:

The Menu Wizard option still has a problem.
This is how it should be:
http://www.bilderload.com/bild/234798/menucorrectRW4M2.png (http://www.bilderload.com)
And this is not:
http://www.bilderload.com/bild/234799/menuwrong6MWAF.png (http://www.bilderload.com)

The behavior of the Quick Start Tutorial should be improved. After making the settings pressing OK should take over these settings to the main window (not working for the language selection) plus save these settings. But nothing is saved unless you do this manually through the settings dialog.

Under the Options menu the "Advanced Project Settings (F8)" entry has no effect at all. It can only be invoked by clicking the button.

And I have some more suggestions:

I reported earlier that indexing an IFO file from a DVD does not work. The reason is that AVStoDVD tries to save the index file in the source folder of the DVD. Indexing only works right now if the whole DVD structure is ripped to the HD first. I know that this is generally desirable, but I think it would be more elegant if the index file was stored in the AVStoDVD working (or Temp) folder. At least there should be an error message which explains why the indexing failed...

I found out the hard way that AVStoDVD needs at least AviSynth version 2.57 (the shortcuts for changefps like "pal_film" are not supported prior to v. 2.57). I was still using v. 2.56, a warning from AVStoDVD would have saved me some time.

And the last item on my wish list is updating HCenc to version 0.26 beta. Hank has not updated HC in more than a year, version 0.26 is stable as a rock, and it has a couple of improvements over 0.25. And under the advanced HC settings I would like to see the manono matrices included, they are really very good.

Ok, I hope my wish list isn't too long...:D
Looking forward to the stable version 2.50, and many thanks for this beautiful piece of software.

Cheers
manolito

stax76

19th August 2012, 19:04

Some time ago Mosu changed the behavior of MKVToolNix regarding the track IDs and track numbers of audio files, and this broke some older software which relies on MKVToolNix (StaxRip is one of them)

I confirm this and a change regarding chapters generated by MakeMKV as breaking change in mkvtoolnix, I don't have a schedule but it will be fixed.

MrC

22nd August 2012, 21:57

@manolito

thanks for the inputs. This new alpha (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.5.0%20Alpha%20120820/) should cover most of them.

;)

Bye

manolito

23rd August 2012, 13:35

Thanks very much for the new version...:thanks:

I thought you were enjoying your vacation, but instead you have been working very hard on my wish list. And yes, almost everything works like a charm.

I fixed some ugly things in the German language file, get it here:
***Link removed***

I also played a little with the DVD parsing tool, and most things already work. The two things I noticed are that for some DVDs the subtitle extraction failed (without much explanation) while for others it worked fine.

And for some DVDs which were authored with Mplex/DVDAuthor audio demuxing resulted in an error message followed by a program crash. Here is the error message:
http://www.bilderload.com/bild/238203/parsingQ8K1N.png
(Wrong file name or -number)
This did not happen with DVDs which were authored with MuxMan, and all commercial DVDs I tried also gave no errors. So I suppose it is DVDAuthor's fault.

Anyways, thanks again for your hard work, AVStoDVD deserves Beta status already IMO.

Cheers
manolito

//Edit//
One thing I forgot to ask:
I noticed that whenever my source is a DVD IFO, The Direct Stream Copy option for the video is greyed out. The video is certainly DVD compliant (converting the VTS to an MPEG file and feeding this file to AVStoDVD does let me use Direct Stream Copy).
Is this behavior intentional, or did I discover a bug?

MrC

23rd August 2012, 20:03

Hi Manolito,

vacations are already finished, always too short, my bad...

Thanks for the German update. Your support is highly welcome. ;)

About the DVD parsing tool, keep in mind that it is very experimental, mainly because it is based on an old VB6 parsing routine I have found some time ago. Nothing really sophisticated neither rock solid. For example many Disney DVDs, that have usually complex structures, are not correctly parsed. BTW, do you get the error with every dvdauthor output or only with some? Have you noticed any commonalities?

If the source is a DVD ifo, then indexing is required, so the "new" source file is the resulting d2v output from DGIndex. Re-encoding is mandatory (DGDecode.dll and MPEG2Source) and Direct Stream Copy is greyed out.

;)

Bye

manolito

24th August 2012, 00:18

BTW, do you get the error with every dvdauthor output or only with some? Have you noticed any commonalities?

Hi MrC,

just did a couple of tests to find out if I could see any reproduceable pattern when audio demuxing would fail. Right now it looks like it is not even DVDAuthor by itself, but it is DVDAuthor when used from within an older version of DVDStyler. :confused:

I use DVDStyler frequently as a one-stop authoring and burning tool, and all players I have access to never complained about the output. But the AVStoDVD parsing tool always chokes on these DVD structures.

Authoring the same source file manually with the same version of DVDAuthor results in a DVD structure which your parsing tool handles without any errors.

Which means that DVDStyler is to blame...So just forget about it :o

//Edit
Tested the current version of DVDStyler (which has other issues), and this took care of the problem...

Cheers
manolito

davidcw

25th August 2012, 02:36

Hi MrC,
When I set AVStoDVD for wav sound and set the output to elementary MPEG2 streams, the bitrate exceeds the DVD specs when the sound bitrate of 1.5mbits is added on.
See the attached image.

This only occurs with the latest versions including
2.5.0 Alpha build 120820.

Edit: Am using HC026 two pass encoder.

MrC

25th August 2012, 19:14

@manolito

thanks for the feedback on the DVD Styler issue. But, please, do not consider my experimental parsing tool as a bible... that's much far from.

@davidcw

does Muxman refuse to author the produced assets (m2v and wav)? Do you still have the project log file?

;)

Bye

manolito

25th August 2012, 19:39

@MrC

I am just playing a bit more with AVStoDVD and configuring it better for my needs (not using QuEnc any more, too many problems with Muxman at high bitrates. Also changed max bitrate from 9000 to 8500 in the registry). And I am very impressed how well all settings are adjusted automatically according to the source.

One small thing (call it nitpicking):
The AVS file mostly has the entry :
Video = Video.ConvertToYV12

It should be
Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()

because due to an AviSynth peculiarity these brackets will increase speed.

Cheers
manolito

davidcw

25th August 2012, 21:56

[QUOTE=MrC;

@davidcw

does Muxman refuse to author the produced assets (m2v and wav)? Do you still have the project log file?

;)

Bye[/QUOTE]

Yes muxman refuses to author the produced assets (I create the wav sound file separately with Audacity)

manolito

26th August 2012, 03:54

I had some oversize problems with the latest Alpha, here are the details:

Source is an XviD file, duration 1 hour 57 minutes.
Destination DVD-5, Audio 224 kbps AC3.

My reference is good old DVD2SVCD, it calculated a video bitrate of 4955 kbps, and the resulting file did fit perfectly on a DVD-5 (ImgBurn reported 99% fill rate).

With AVStoDVD the video bitrate varied depending on the output format:

For DVD structure, ISO image or Burn DVD the bitrate was 4927 kbps. This did work perfectly.

But when selecting Elementary Streams or Muxed MPEG2 files the video bitrate was 5037 kbps, and these files could not be burned to a DVD-5 blank, they were way too big.

What is wrong here? I think the video bitrate should be the same no matter which output format is selected.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

26th August 2012, 13:09

One small thing (call it nitpicking):
The AVS file mostly has the entry :
Video = Video.ConvertToYV12

It should be
Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()

because due to an AviSynth peculiarity these brackets will increase speed.

Ok, good hint. Thanks. ;)

Yes muxman refuses to author the produced assets (I create the wav sound file separately with Audacity)

I have noticed on the log file that AVStoDVD switched to FFMpegSource. Probably the DirectShowSource may help, just install flvsplitter.

If this does not help, what about switching back to HCenc 0.25 instead of HCenc 0.26beta?

I had some oversize problems with the latest Alpha, here are the details:

Source is an XviD file, duration 1 hour 57 minutes.
Destination DVD-5, Audio 224 kbps AC3.

My reference is good old DVD2SVCD, it calculated a video bitrate of 4955 kbps, and the resulting file did fit perfectly on a DVD-5 (ImgBurn reported 99% fill rate).

With AVStoDVD the video bitrate varied depending on the output format:

For DVD structure, ISO image or Burn DVD the bitrate was 4927 kbps. This did work perfectly.

But when selecting Elementary Streams or Muxed MPEG2 files the video bitrate was 5037 kbps, and these files could not be burned to a DVD-5 blank, they were way too big.

What is wrong here? I think the video bitrate should be the same no matter which output format is selected.

I have reserved some extra space for DVD structure, using following rationale:

If OutputSetup >= DVD_Folder Then
DVD_Size = Int(DVD_Size * (0.995 - 0.01 * DVD_Time / 3600))
End If

and that formula applies only if the Output Setup is 'DVD Folder' or higher.

Let's say if the elementary assets are then used to create a DVD structure, then same formula should be applied (but why not using directly 'DVD Folder' as output?).
If the elementary assets (or the muxed mpeg) are stored as they are, then the extra space should not be added. Otherwise the predicted output space will not match.

Does it make sense?

;)

Bye

manolito

26th August 2012, 15:51

Let's say if the elementary assets are then used to create a DVD structure, then same formula should be applied (but why not using directly 'DVD Folder' as output?).
If the elementary assets (or the muxed mpeg) are stored as they are, then the extra space should not be added. Otherwise the predicted output space will not match.

Does it make sense?

;)

Bye

Thanks for the explanation, but to be honest, it does not make much sense for me...:devil:

Even if I select Elementary Streams or Muxed MPEG file as the output format, my final format will still be a burned DVD (the name of the software is AVStoDVD after all). So IMO this formula to save some extra space should always be applied no matter which output format is selected. But it's no big deal now that I know how it works...:cool:

Cheers
manolito

manolito

26th August 2012, 17:58

I just looked at davidcw's log file, and I believe that his problem comes from his max bitrate of 9000 kbps. If you add 1536 kbps for PCM audio you will be far beyond DVD specs.

From a recent post by TheSkiller:
The highest bitrate for the video alone depends on the audio it will be muxed with. Maximum allowed combined bitrate of video+audio+subtitles is 9800 kbit/s.
So if you have a single 256 kbit/s audio stream for example, the theoretical maximum would be 9544 kbit/s for the video. But better don't use this value, as it's the very edge of what's allowed. I have done plenty 9200 kbit/s CBR encodes (audio 256 or less) and on many various players I have never had a problem. If I do VBR encodes I usually use a maximum of 9200 as well. Maybe 9300 or 9400 would work just as well but I'd rather leave a 200-300 kbit/s margin to the absolute max.

AVStoDVD has a default max bitrate of 9000 kbps which can only be modified in the registry. I believe that AVStoDVD should recalculate the max bitrate automatically according to the combined audio and subtitle bitrate. In the case of davidcw the max bitrate for HCEnc should be about 8000 kbps (including a little safety margin).

Cheers
manolito

MrC

27th August 2012, 09:52

AVStoDVD has a default max bitrate of 9000 kbps which can only be modified in the registry. I believe that AVStoDVD should recalculate the max bitrate automatically according to the combined audio and subtitle bitrate. In the case of davidcw the max bitrate for HCEnc should be about 8000 kbps (including a little safety margin).

Good point. I agree. Next release will have that fix for both WAV and DTS streams @1536 kbps.

And for the extra space, probably you are right, it would be more straightforward to manage all the output in the same way.

;)

Bye

manolito

27th August 2012, 22:35

Thanks a lot for considering my suggestions...

And for the extra space, probably you are right, it would be more straightforward to manage all the output in the same way.
Maybe with the exception when the user chooses "Custom Size". In this case the user might prefer to reach the specified size as much as possible and not care that much about creating a DVD.

Another suggestion:
When audio normalizing is selected, audio is normalized to 100%. I have read more than once that this is not a good idea when you are creating compressed audio files. Maybe the default should be "audio.normalize(0.98)" ?

And I found one more error in the language file, the latest version is here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/wegtjl

Cheers
manolito

MrC

28th August 2012, 19:52

Another suggestion:
When audio normalizing is selected, audio is normalized to 100%. I have read more than once that this is not a good idea when you are creating compressed audio files. Maybe the default should be "audio.normalize(0.98)" ?

Good suggestion. I can add a textbox in the Preferences to customize the normalization value (with 0.98 as default).

And I found one more error in the language file, the latest version is here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/wegtjl

Thanks for the update and for the strong support!

;)

Bye

manolito

31st August 2012, 19:57

It seems that many conversion programs cannot handle sources with mono audio. This is an old issue, it has nothing to do with AVStoDVD itself, but it would be nice to have some kind of an automatic workaround to avoid the situation that after the whole encode is finished you notice that the resulting DVD is not working due to a screwed-up audio stream.

I tested a couple of MP4 sources (AVC video, mono AAC audio). AVDtoDVD always prefers DirectShow over ffms2 as long as a DS source filter and a splitter are present. I have ffdshow and Haali installed, so AVStoDVD uses DirectShow for these files.

The resulting DVD contains audio at half speed. Sounds very interesting at times (especially when the source is an adult clip), but mostly this effect is not what you want...:rolleyes:

I experimented a little, and for me forcing ffms2 as the source filter always worked (using DS and forcing stereo output did not work).

Do you think that automatically using ffms2 whenever a mono audio source is detected would be a good idea? Or is there a better way?

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

31st August 2012, 22:00

manolito

31st August 2012, 23:53

Just out of curiosity, does it work with DirectShow if you add GetChannel(1,1) to the script it uses?

Thanks for the suggestion, this would have been very nice, but unfortunately no, it doesn't work. Audio still comes out at half speed. :mad:

And ffms2 also is not the universal solution. For a couple of test source files with mono aac audio I got an error message that no audio could be found. Bummer...:confused:

//Edit
It turned out that this error message could be ignored. It was an AviSynth error message triggered by Quenc. It said that no audio could be found and pointed to the AVS file line #3. Just clicking OK resulted in a perfect conversion.

Which means that for sources with mono audio ffms2 must be used instead of DirectShow.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

1st September 2012, 22:09

@manolito

I'm not sure to have understood what is the problem with 1 channel output. If the source has a 1.0 audio track, AVStoDVD just keep it as mono. Or at least, it is supposed to do that... ;)

Mono conversion log sample (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/DVD_0.log)

Do you have a log or, even better, a portion of the problematic source file?

;)

Bye

manolito

2nd September 2012, 01:09

Here is a test file with mono aac audio and two conversion logs. With DirectShowSource you get audio at half speed, with FFMPEGSource everything works fine.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/5wcdi1

Could it have something to do with the uncommon sample rate of 22.05 kHz? Unfortunately files like this are quite common on the internet.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

2nd September 2012, 18:09

Weird audio track:

AAC LC-SBR - 17 kbps - VBR - 1 ch - 22050 / 11025 Hz - 20 seconds (0 ms delay) - Internal

effectively DSS is not able to handle that. Speed distorsion comes out even removing ConvertToMono and SSRC(48000). Could be a ffdshow issue dealing with 1.0 AAC?

BTW 1.0 tracks are not all problematic, I have some samples (mp3 actually) that are correctly converted using DSS/ffdshow.

I will surely put a reference to this issue to the audio FAQ section.

;)

Bye

qyot27

2nd September 2012, 20:04

It would appear that only the libavcodec option in ffdshow has an issue. Just a wild guess, but I think it's that the file is using Parametric Stereo (HE-AAC v2), since ffdshow's libfaad2 option and CoreAAC (also based on faad2) both handle it correctly. ffdshow version is r4486. ffmpeg itself (git-f857465, built on August 4th 2012) does not exhibit the problem. So either ffdshow doesn't integrate libavcodec's AAC decoder quite right, or there's a fix for Parametric Stereo that exists in FFmpeg but not in libav, which seems to be what ffdshow switched to.

manolito

2nd September 2012, 21:49

Thanks so much qyot27, you got it exactly right...:)

After changing the ffdshow audio configuration and selecting libfaad2 for aac decoding AVStoDVD handles this audio stream correctly.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

22nd September 2012, 03:30

Stable version 2.50 has just been released, thanks a lot MrC... :D

I have already tested it a little bit, everything works just fine so far.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

23rd September 2012, 19:24

There is an issue with MediaInfo when the source is a DVD compliant MPEG2 file (one video track, one AC3 audio track). MediaInfo 07.59 reports a nonexistent second MPEG audio track with a bitrate of 0 kbps. (The latest version 07.60 also shows this issue)

This throws off AVStoDVDs size calculation quite a bit. Going back to version 07.58 fixed the issue.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

23rd September 2012, 20:34

Hi Manolito,

there's already 2.5.1 release, 2.5.0 had a bug in the Installer package. Mediainfo is still 0.7.59.

I cannot replicate your issue with mpg, this is a very simple mpg2 file I use for testing:

GENERAL INFO
PathName: D:\Movies\Test\Bad Day Mpeg2 720x576 1.333 AC3.mpg
FileName: Bad Day Mpeg2 720x576 1.333 AC3
FileExt: mpg
FileSize: 13,4 MB
Container Format: MPEG-PS
Video Tracks: 1
Audio Tracks: 1
Text Tracks: 0

VIDEO INFO
Time: 26 seconds
Compression: MPEG-2 Video
BitRate Mode:
Avg BitRate: 4000 kbps
Min BitRate:
Max BitRate:
Resolution: 720x576
Display AspectRatio: 1,333
Pixel AspectRatio: 1,067
Frame AspectRatio: 1,25
Standard: PAL
FrameRate Mode: CFR
FrameRate: 25 fps
Frame Count: 654
Scan Type: Progressive
Field Order:

AUDIO INFO (Track 0)
ID: 189 (0xBD)
Time: 26 seconds
Compression: AC3
BitRate Mode: CBR
Avg BitRate: 192 kbps
Channels: 2
SampleRate: 48000 Hz
Resolution: 16 bit
Language:
Delay: 0 ms

;)

Bye

manolito

23rd September 2012, 22:02

Looks like the Mediainfo problem only shows up for bigger files...:confused:

I stripped a short segment from the file which exhibited the issue, and now Mediainfo 07.59 reported everything correctly. Strange...

I imported both files (the original long version plus the stripped short version) into AVSoDVD, and this is what it looks like (notice the DVD size for the long version, it should be ~4400 MB):

http://www.bilderload.com/bild/248097/mediainfoCNTSD.png (http://www.bilderload.com)

Another question:
I noticed that you still use a very old version (version 2.12) of ffms2.dll. Is there a reason for it, or can I upgrade to the current version 2.17 ?

Cheers
manolito

MrC

23rd September 2012, 22:21

Got it. Have you already informed Zenitram about the 0.7.59-60 bug?

About FFMS2, AVStoDVD is still equipped with 2.12 release, I did not have the time to check the next releases compatibility. BTW the only flags used are 'track', 'cachefile' and 'seekmode' together with FFVideoSource and FFAudioSource. If nothing has changed about that, you can safely go with 2.17. Let me know.

;)

Bye

manolito

24th September 2012, 00:19

Got it. Have you already informed Zenitram about the 0.7.59-60 bug?
Yes I did.
About FFMS2, AVStoDVD is still equipped with 2.12 release, I did not have the time to check the next releases compatibility. BTW the only flags used are 'track', 'cachefile' and 'seekmode' together with FFVideoSource and FFAudioSource. If nothing has changed about that, you can safely go with 2.17. Let me know.

;)

Bye
Browsing through the ffms2 change log I did not find any changes related to track, cachefile or seekmode. So I went ahead and used ffms2.dll version 2.17 for one conversion, and everything worked as expected.

Of course this was not a very comprehensive test, but I will stick with v. 2.17 for now and let you know if I find any issues later...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

24th September 2012, 08:29

Of course this was not a very comprehensive test, but I will stick with v. 2.17 for now and let you know if I find any issues later...

Thanks, your support is always appreciated!

;)

Bye

Big Vern

26th September 2012, 11:05

MrC.
Been using your AVStoDVD tool for ages now, cannot fault it!

One burning question though? Are there any plans to make an "AVStoBLURAY", or similar, version? Would be nice to have a very-easy-to-use tool like yours, but with the ability to add a few HD titles, a simple menu to author on a blu-ray disc.

I have tried MultiAVCHD, but that is just too confusing, and the one I had managed to complete, did not work :(

I do not know how much work would be involved making a blu-ray version of AVStoDVD, as I am no coder, but I would gladly donate, as I suspect, would loads of others.

MrC

27th September 2012, 12:26

Are there any plans to make an "AVStoBLURAY", or similar, version? Would be nice to have a very-easy-to-use tool like yours, but with the ability to add a few HD titles, a simple menu to author on a blu-ray disc.

AVStoBD would be surely an intriguing project. Unfortunately it is not planned in the close future. Maybe one day...

Meanwhile I suggest you to get familiar with MultiAVCHD which is an outstanding project, even if it is no more developed.

;)

Bye

8ternity

2nd October 2012, 13:28

AVStoBD would be surely an intriguing project. Unfortunately it is not planned in the close future. Maybe one day...

Meanwhile I suggest you to get familiar with MultiAVCHD which is an outstanding project, even if it is no more developed.

;)

Bye

If you want something more easy, use Ripbot264; which i used from a while. Easy, stable, a perworfull tool.

manolito

2nd October 2012, 23:46

Would be nice to have a very-easy-to-use tool like yours, but with the ability to add a few HD titles, a simple menu to author on a blu-ray disc.

RipBot264 is a nice GUI for X264, but it will certainly not author BlueRay disks. It can output AVCHD, MP4 and MKV, and of course you can burn AVCHD to a BlueRay blank and most BD players will play it. But it still is no "real" BlueRay disk, and don't even think about a menu...

Right now MultiAVCHD is the only free solution to create BlueRay disks with a menu, and there is not much hope for competition.

Cheers
manolito

Yanta

11th October 2012, 03:52

MrC

11th October 2012, 12:48

Every time I try to convert an MKV with subtitles AVStoDVD responds with "Warning! Errors found during subititles track selection" and the subtitles are not added. Is it looking for external subtitles even though they are embedded in the source file? Is there a way to rectify?

Are you using the latest AVStoDVD release (2.5.1) with a recent MKVToolnix release (higher than 5.2.0)?

If yes, could you please upload the problematic mkv? I hope it is legal material... no support for unknown sources...

;)

Bye

Yanta

13th October 2012, 09:14

Are you using the latest AVStoDVD release (2.5.1) with a recent MKVToolnix release (higher than 5.2.0)?

If yes, could you please upload the problematic mkv? I hope it is legal material... no support for unknown sources...

;)

Bye

Yes. I'm using MKVToolnix 5.8.0

No, I am still using 2.4.2. I will install 2.5.1 and try again...

5 minutes later: Yes, that seems to have worked much better.

thank you

manolito

29th October 2012, 10:58

Originally Posted by MrC
Got it. Have you already informed Zenitram about the 0.7.59-60 bug?
Yes I did.

Just wanna let you know that the current version 7.61 of MediaInfo corrects this issue...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

29th October 2012, 13:16

Just wanna let you know that the current version 7.61 of MediaInfo corrects this issue...

Thanks for the feedback.

;)

Bye

Sjakko

6th November 2012, 14:52

Hi MrC,

I found that if you use text based titles and right align the labels, the selection bar in the menu doesn't completely cover the labels.

MrC

7th November 2012, 14:12

@Sjakko

could you please post some screenshots (Edit Mode, Preview Mode and DVD output) to better explain the issue?

;)

Bye

Sjakko

7th November 2012, 16:12

Hi MrC,

If I use italics on right-aligned titles the text does stick out a mm or 2 but that really isn't the core of the issue. I didn't really get the situation clear in my head. Let me try again:

I have 13 right-aligned text-based titles with varying width. The first title is quite wide (+/-520 pixels) and the rest is relatively narrow. In the down-left quadrant I have a background picture that I don't want covered by the selection bar. I have 2 choices:

- Either I get the same width for all titles and let the selection bar cover the background picture. This is the easiest but not nice. The selection bar sticks out a lot on the left (depending on the length of the title) and none on the right because of the right-alignment.
- Or for esthetic purposes I set the title width for each title separately to match the text width exactly. This way it won't cover the background image as I wanted and sticks out 0pixels on both sides. But this is quite laborious because I'd have to work out the width for each title and calculate the left position from the desired right position.

Ideally I'd love to have right-aligned text with a selection bar centered over the text with like 10 pixels sticking out on both ends of the title.

So I guess my request would be to have the option for the selection bar to match the title width (or rather an x number of pixels on both sides) and the option to set a right position.

EDIT: I noticed too that there's a difference in font size and positions between Preview and Edit Mode. If I make the title label square exactly fitting with the text, the preview and the resulting DVD actually show the selection label sticking out. JPEGs:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14050315/1.%20Edit.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14050315/2.%20Preview.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14050315/3.%20DVD.jpg

MrC

8th November 2012, 21:06

Ok, not it is more clear.

So far, since the Visual Basic 6 graphical capabilities are quite poor, the Edit Mode cannot be 100% wysiwyg. Thus there will be always some differences in text display between the Preview Mode and the Edit Mode.

I understand that the process to create a proper DVD menu can be tedious, a sort of try-and-error path, but we have to manage it with AVStoDVD.

;)

Bye

Sparktank

16th November 2012, 08:20

Suggestion:

Can we have a command option for "avisynth frameserving check on all titles (in currently loaded project)" ?
Would be handy for doing episodic videos or anything with more than one title.
Currently have to select each title (in currently loaded project) and check frameserve independently.

Also,
Can we have a GUI for a bitrate calculator?
Would be handy when I want to do sample testing.
For some bluray movies, I used avisynth/x264 lossless with some options to adjust visual presentation before converting to DVD.
I output sample videos to 10 minutes or less, so when I add video to AVStoDVD it gives me maximum bitrate for 10 minutes.
I have to manually input avg. bit rate. I currently use an online DVD bitrate calculator.
http://dvd-hq.info/bitrate_calculator.php

Thank you for your current progress :)

MrC

16th November 2012, 11:07

Can we have a command option for "avisynth frameserving check on all titles (in currently loaded project)" ?
Would be handy for doing episodic videos or anything with more than one title.
Currently have to select each title (in currently loaded project) and check frameserve independently.

Ok, good suggestion. In the ToDo list.

Can we have a GUI for a bitrate calculator?
Would be handy when I want to do sample testing.
For some bluray movies, I used avisynth/x264 lossless with some options to adjust visual presentation before converting to DVD.
I output sample videos to 10 minutes or less, so when I add video to AVStoDVD it gives me maximum bitrate for 10 minutes.
I have to manually input avg. bit rate.

Could you please elaborate better the requirements? I mean, what are the input fields? what is the output?

;)

Bye

Sparktank

16th November 2012, 11:50

Could you please elaborate better the requirements? I mean, what are the input fields? what is the output?

;)

Bye

I suppose the same fields as the website illustrates for calculating bitrates. It seems to offer a lot of options for different circumstances.
I haven't been able to find a program that offers that much for free.

MrC

16th November 2012, 13:41

I suppose the same fields as the website illustrates for calculating bitrates. It seems to offer a lot of options for different circumstances.
I haven't been able to find a program that offers that much for free.

... hence a link to that website would be perfect ...

I would not duplicate anything free that already works.

;)

Bye

Sparktank

17th November 2012, 06:02

... hence a link to that website would be perfect ...

I would not duplicate anything free that already works.

;)

Bye

http://dvd-hq.info/bitrate_calculator.php

The only thing he asks, if you use his code, is to link to his site.
If you quote text from this page in any forum posts, e-mails, etc., or if you use any of its code, please include a link to this page (http://dvd-hq.info/bitrate_calculator.php).

bekar

18th November 2012, 21:29

The only thing he asks, if you use his code, is to link to his site.

Sparktank

19th November 2012, 02:53

The only thing he asks, if you use his code, is to link to his site.

Said the echo...

Garrog

22nd November 2012, 15:29

Hi. Hope MrC or someone can help?

When I started installing A2D 2.5.1 I noticed it planned to install the Haali splitter even though I already have it.

The A2D Haali version is given as 1.10.348.15 whereas I have later version 1.11.288.0 already installed through the CCCP codec pack.

I'm holding off on the installation until I find out what to do now. If I deselect Haali 1.10 as part of the A2D installation will it be able to use the 1.11 version? The fact Haali isn't automatically deselected during A2D installation indicates that A2D for some reason does not recognise it which suggest it would not be able to call it up in use. Either the A2D installer cannot recognise later versions or I imagine there is some registration problem with the splitter which happened during CCCP installation?

Is this an issue which needs to be fixed via a new version of A2D before I can install? Or some other workaround?

I'm using XP btw (yeah, that's right, still rocking the XP!).

Thanks!

ps I also posted this query on the Soundforge forum yesterday but on closer inspection it looks like that forum's not really active whereas this one is: if I get a reply here I will paste in the answer there to close the loop!

MrC

23rd November 2012, 17:19

edwood

24th November 2012, 13:07

I just discovered AVStoDVD a couple of days ago. I have been using DVD Flick for several years. I really like AVStoDVD much better. I have been playing around with the program and find it very user friendly.

One thing that I miss that is a good feature in DVD Flick is the ability to easily select the thumbnail image that you wish to include with the video. In DVD Flick, it is a simple matter of viewing the .avi clip until you find the frame you want to use. This is done in the menu edit screen, and is done by selecting the time stamp frame window where you can step through on an hour by hour, minute by minute, and second by second basis until you locate what you are looking for.

As far as I can tell, in AVStoDVD you must use the Frame Start and Frame End to accomplish the same task. When I select the Edit Button on the Frame Start - Frame End line, I am taken to a different screen which looks very much like a media player. However, when I start the .avi file by pressing the run button, I have audio but no video. So I cannot find a way to select the thumbnail image that I want to use.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
Ed Wood

MrC

24th November 2012, 21:49

Hi there edwood,

it is a matter of directshow raw video codec configuration. See Help/FAQ/GUI/Q2.2 for more details and how to fix it.

;)

Bye

Garrog

25th November 2012, 16:50

Thanks for your advice, Mr.C.

Re. CCCP and their later Haali version, I believe CCCP is a popular and widely used codec pack. Also please note it is endorsed by Matroska (http://www.matroska.org/downloads/windows.html).

I think I will have to query this all with CCCP developers but I will come back if and when I have more info on the issue! Let me know if you have any further info/queries you would like me to pass on assuming I am able to make contact. Thanks for now.

JEEB

25th November 2012, 18:01

Hi there Garrog,

AVStoDVD installer package queries the following Windows registry entry to detect a previous Haali installation:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\HaaliMkx\Install_Dir

If Haali has been installed correctly, then that key will be present.
Only the Haali installer sets this as far as I know; You should be checking if the needed DShow filters are registered/still on file system if you want to actually check for filters and not for if the official installer was run or not :) Of course you could also just tell people to not come around if they haven't used the official installer.

That said, just checking that registry key AFAIK doesn't tell you if the specific filters in Haali's package are actually registered, so switching to checking if certain filters are found in the DirectShow system is a relatively good idea (people can uncheck various checkboxes in the Haali installer after all).

About using the release 1.11.288.0, I cannot guarantee its compliance. If you test it and get no issues, please report it back. Thanks!

Take note that last official Haali release is 1.11.96.14 (http://haali.su/mkv)

;)
You seem to have missed it on the CoreCodec site. Haali never got to updating his own site, so CoreCodec's download page was the only place you could get this version from, except for the 3.x CoreAVC releases. It is Haali's alright :P

If CoreCodec's support site is back up by now, you should be able to grab it from there.

Garrog

25th November 2012, 18:36

I should maybe apologise for asking a misleading question in the first place - I thought CCCP had "installed" Haali but I realise now it had only registered the specific filters. So apologies if I took the query in a misinformed direction.

I'm no developer, and you haven't had chance to reply to JEEB yet (who I believe is), but...assuming that AVStoDVD can call directly on the filters I assume that ideally the AVStoDVD installer would, as JEEB said, check for the filters which AVStoDVD may require in use and uncheck Haali installation if already present. Is that a possibility for future release, Mr.C? I'm surprised this issue hasn't come up before actually - maybe no-one realised there was a conflict!:D

MrC

25th November 2012, 21:09

Only the Haali installer sets this as far as I know; You should be checking if the needed DShow filters are registered/still on file system if you want to actually check for filters and not for if the official installer was run or not :) Of course you could also just tell people to not come around if they haven't used the official installer.

That said, just checking that registry key AFAIK doesn't tell you if the specific filters in Haali's package are actually registered, so switching to checking if certain filters are found in the DirectShow system is a relatively good idea (people can uncheck various checkboxes in the Haali installer after all).

Well, my purpose was eventually to check if HMS is installed in the system, not just registered. BTW, I agree with you, a better rationale would be to check the dshow registration, at least for HMS. There is always room to improve!

You seem to have missed it on the CoreCodec site. Haali never got to updating his own site, so CoreCodec's download page was the only place you could get this version from, except for the 3.x CoreAVC releases. It is Haali's alright :P

If CoreCodec's support site is back up by now, you should be able to grab it from there.

Thanks for the hint. From this thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1536908#post1536908), I see there is still some confusion about newer HMS releases and where to find them.

I will check out the 1.11.288.0 release to be included in the next AVStoDVD release. As said before, any feedback by you users is very appreciated.

I'm surprised this issue hasn't come up before actually - maybe no-one realised there was a conflict!

I guess:
- 100% newbies simply go ahead with installation
- 95% expert users have HMS installed properly since they usually do not like codecs packs
- 5% expert users just uncheck the Haali option, knowing that CCCP has registered Haali as dshow splitter but not fully installed it.

Anyway thanks for reporting this issue.

;)

Bye

Sparktank

26th November 2012, 04:49

FTR: I install K-Lite Codec Pack and customize everything during install and also use the Codec Tweak Tool (and Preferred Filter Tweaker if not on Win7 machine) to switch preferred filters/splitters and enable/disable anything.

Codec Tweak Tool > Configuration: DSFilters > if you see Haali, it's enabled. If it's missing, it's not registered/enabled/installed.
Codec Tweak Tool > Codec and Filter management: Preferred Splitters > Haali should show up in the options for some formats (AVI, MKV, MP4, etc).

KLCP installs Haali 1.11.288.0. I don't install Haali on its own anymore, I've been using the one that comes with KLCP and it's always been compatible with A2D, regardless of version (of Haali or A2D) for as long as I can remember.

Codec Tweak Tool can be downloaded separately, mirrored on VideoHelp.
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Codec-Tweak-Tool

CodecGuide has a list of mirrors where you can download it from as well...
http://www.codecguide.com/download_other.htm

For Windows 7/8 environments, make sure to also use...
http://www.codecguide.com/windows7_preferred_filter_tweaker.htm

edwood

26th November 2012, 05:00

Hi there edwood,

it is a matter of directshow raw video codec configuration. See Help/FAQ/GUI/Q2.2 for more details and how to fix it.

;)

Bye

MrC.,

When I went to the above link, and clicked on the "instructions" tab, all I got was a white screen. Evidently I have some files missing that are needed for the successful operation of AVStoDVD. I reinstalled AVStoDVD and am getting the same results as mentioned in my earlier post as well as this post.

Here is a description of my system.
Windows 7 Ultimate with sp1 running on a:
Panasonic Toughbook CF-51 Laptop
Intel Pentium M Processor running @ 1.73ghz
Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
2gb ram.
80gb hard disk drive
1 internal DVD-ROM & CD-R/RW combination Drive
1 external Asus DVD+R Dual Layer Drive.

I also have AVStoDVD installed on my Desktop Box which I built about 3 years ago. It has a Gigabyte MD, An Intel Dual Core processor running @ 2.5ghz, 4gb ram, 1 internal 1tb hdd, 1 internal 500gb hdd, 1 external 1tb hdd, 1 internal HP Lightscribe combo CD/DVD+RW burner and 1 external Plexus combo CD/DVD+RW burner.

This box also is running Win 7 Ultimate sp1. Everything works fine in AVStoDVD on this desktop box.

I have downloaded and reinstalled ffdshow from the SourceForge website onto the laptop without any success in getting the preview function to work.

I woud appreciate anything you suggest that I try.

Regards,
Ed:thanks:

edwood

26th November 2012, 05:11

MrC.

Here is an update. One thing that I did NOT do was reboot my computer after I had reinstalled everything. After a reboot, everything seems to be working as it should. Thanks for everyone's suggestions and help.

Ed Wood
:D

edwood

26th November 2012, 14:35

Hi all,

I spoke too soon! I tried the preview frame again and there was nothing but a white screen. The audio was working, but I could not check the lip sync without any video. We are now back to the detailed post of the problem.

Sorry for the inconvience of the post that everything is working as expected.

Regards,
Ed
:mad:

MrC

26th November 2012, 17:33

Wait, wait, what is the "instructions" tab?

Have you set up the ffdshow video decoder configuration to have the 'Raw Video' set to 'All Supported'?

;)

Bye

ThaDraGun

27th November 2012, 00:36

Not sure why but now I have a message box pop up when Im making a video. I havent changed any settings. It wont proceed unless I hit x. Makes it annoying when Im making a DVD with multiple videos.

AVStoDVD - Edit Command Parameter
HCenc Command INI File:
(when finished press X)

[alot of code]

How do I get rid of this?

manolito

27th November 2012, 01:34

How do I get rid of this?

By simply unchecking "Edit Encoder Command Parameters at runtime" in the "Advanced Project Settings".

Cheers
manolito

edwood

27th November 2012, 12:44

By "instructions" link, I am referring to the Help tab and the Q2.2 FAC on setting the ffdshow settings.

I was finally able to set the Raw Video setting to all supported by running ffdshow independently from my start button, then working my way through all of the options on ffdshow until I found the Raw Video setting (which was disabled, by the way). I now am able to view the movie clip.

My problem now lies with lip sink. The audio is approximately 2 1/2 - 3 seconds behind the video. I do not have the lip sync problem when I run the movie clip through Windows Classic Movie Player.

I wonder if the lip sync problem could be because I am retrieving the files from another computer on a wireless router? To check this out, I am copying the movie clip files directly to my limited space laptop hard drive. I will try to create a project using only the laptop and see if I get the lip sync problem then. I will let you know the outcome.

Have a great day!
Ed

ThaDraGun

28th November 2012, 02:16

By simply unchecking "Edit Encoder Command Parameters at runtime" in the "Advanced Project Settings".

Cheers
manolito

Thanks that worked. Must have clicked the box by mistake some how.

Another issue Ive had. Only happens once and a while...

I add some mkv, hit the Start button and 2-3hrs later its done. I burn the video and when I play it I notice that there are subtitles hardcoded when I dont want any subs. Now I usually check with VLC before I burn. Then Ive gotta use mkvmerge gui to remove the subtitle and remux. Then I can add the file and try again.

Im not selecting add sub either.
So I add an mkv, and it pops up a box asking if I want to include an imbedded subtitle. I dont select the box for the subtitle I just hit close. If I right click the title and choose subtitle to check, none are listed. The only way I can tell that there is a subtitle on there is to preview title. I dont do that too often because it used to freeze all the time for me.

Also, there are no subtitle files in the same folder as the mkv.

Any ideas whats going on here?

Sparktank

28th November 2012, 02:23

I add some mkv, hit the Start button and 2-3hrs later its done. I burn the video and when I play it I notice that there are subtitles hardcoded when I dont want any subs

Change the settings in DirectVobSub. Make sure you enable "hide subtitles".

You can use Codec Tweak Tool > DirectShow Filters and change the settings from there.

ThaDraGun

28th November 2012, 02:25

Change the settings in DirectVobSub. Make sure you enable "hide subtitles".

You can use Codec Tweak Tool > DirectShow Filters and change the settings from there.

Then when I DO want to have a subtitle show I just have to go back and unhide?

Sparktank

28th November 2012, 02:28

Then when I DO want to have a subtitle show I just have to go back and unhide?

That's one option.

You can extract the subtitles and convert them and let AVStoDVD load them. SRT format are the best, imo.
Converting to an IDX/SUB format tends to leave a lot of artifacts around the subtitles.

ThaDraGun

28th November 2012, 02:30

I just downloaded codec tweak 5.4.8 and dont see any option to hide subtitles

Sparktank

28th November 2012, 02:31

I just downloaded codec tweak 5.4.8 and dont see any option to hide subtitles

DirectShow Filters > DirectVobSub > Misc > Hide Subtitles

ThaDraGun

28th November 2012, 02:37

DirectShow Filters > DirectVobSub > Misc > Hide Subtitles

Finally found it, I dunno how I missed it. Was looking at the directshow under codec and filter managemnt.

thanks

Sparktank

9th December 2012, 23:15

Is there anyway to change settings to the subtitles default status?

Normal subtitles (not forced) seem to be enabled by default during playback.
I have to turn them off when the disc starts whether on my DVD/BD machine or media player on my PC.

edwood

10th December 2012, 12:45

I just burned my first dual layer dvd (8 - 48min .avi files) using AVS2DVD. I like the menu setup, and the way it is easier to customize them compared to DVDFlick which I have been using for several years.

However, AVS2DVD took a total of 22 hours and 17 minutes from start to finish to complete the project. Is this normal? or did I set things up wrong? That amount of time for a project is 4 times as long as it takes DVDFlick to complete a project of the sae type (8 - 48min .avi files).

I love AVS2DVD, but obviously, I cannot tie up my laptop for a full 24 hours to complete one project when I have over 400 episodes of Perry Mason and Ironside to compile to DVD.

Any suggestions on why it took so long to complete the project? Have a great week!

Thanks,
Ed Wood

MrC

10th December 2012, 13:31

@edwood

2 questions to begin:

1. What is your system? I mean: CPU, RAM, HD

2. Could you post the neverending project log file?

;)

Bye

edwood

10th December 2012, 13:50

MrC

10th December 2012, 17:49

I will search for the log file to post. Where is it located, and what is it titled?

Look in the Output Folder you selected in AVStoDVD. There is the DVD folder and a .log file. Copy and paste here the content of the .log file.

You raised the point that is probably my problem. The laptop has a cpu speed of 1.3mhz. There is 2mb ram installed, and the hdd size is 80mb of which it is probably 1/2 full. I have a 1tb external usb drive that I will see if the laptop will recognize and use. That should speed up the process considerably if AVS2DVD will support the external drive.

1.3 Ghz are really not that much. Mainly if the cpu is single core and the source title is HD and/or long.

BTW, let's see the project log file.

;)

Bye

edwood

11th December 2012, 15:53

MrC

Here are the log files from my last project that took 22+ hours to complete. There are 8 of them.

#1
[Input info]
Bitrate=192
Actual rate=192.000000
Sampling Frec=48000
TotalFrames=96616
Bytesperframe= 768.0000
Filesize=74201088
FrameDuration= 32.0000
Framespersecond= 31.2500
Duration=00:51:31.712
Channels mode=2/0: L+R
LFE=LFE: Not present
[Target info]
StartFrame=5
EndFrame=96615
NotFixedDelay= 0.0000
Duration=00:51:31.552
====== PROCESSING LOG ======================
Seeking....
Done.
Processing....
Number of written frames = 96611
Number of Errors= 0

#2
[Input info]
Bitrate=192
Actual rate=192.000000
Sampling Frec=48000
TotalFrames=96575
Bytesperframe= 768.0000
Filesize=74169600
FrameDuration= 32.0000
Framespersecond= 31.2500
Duration=00:51:30.400
Channels mode=2/0: L+R
LFE=LFE: Not present
[Target info]
StartFrame=5
EndFrame=96574
NotFixedDelay= 0.0000
Duration=00:51:30.240
====== PROCESSING LOG ======================
Seeking....
Done.
Processing....
Number of written frames = 96570
Number of Errors= 0

#3
[Input info]
Bitrate=192
Actual rate=192.000000
Sampling Frec=48000
TotalFrames=96490
Bytesperframe= 768.0000
Filesize=74104320
FrameDuration= 32.0000
Framespersecond= 31.2500
Duration=00:51:27.680
Channels mode=2/0: L+R
LFE=LFE: Not present
[Target info]
StartFrame=5
EndFrame=96489
NotFixedDelay= 0.0000
Duration=00:51:27.520
====== PROCESSING LOG ======================
Seeking....
Done.
Processing....
Number of written frames = 96485
Number of Errors= 0

#4
[Input info]
Bitrate=192
Actual rate=192.000000
Sampling Frec=48000
TotalFrames=96795
Bytesperframe= 768.0000
Filesize=74338560
FrameDuration= 32.0000
Framespersecond= 31.2500
Duration=00:51:37.440
Channels mode=2/0: L+R
LFE=LFE: Not present
[Target info]
StartFrame=5
EndFrame=96794
NotFixedDelay= 0.0000
Duration=00:51:37.280
====== PROCESSING LOG ======================
Seeking....
Done.
Processing....
Number of written frames = 96790
Number of Errors= 0

#5
[Input info]
Bitrate=192
Actual rate=192.000000
Sampling Frec=48000
TotalFrames=96632
Bytesperframe= 768.0000
Filesize=74213376
FrameDuration= 32.0000
Framespersecond= 31.2500
Duration=00:51:32.224
Channels mode=2/0: L+R
LFE=LFE: Not present
[Target info]
StartFrame=5
EndFrame=96631
NotFixedDelay= 0.0000
Duration=00:51:32.064
====== PROCESSING LOG ======================
Seeking....
Done.
Processing....
Number of written frames = 96627
Number of Errors= 0

#6
[Input info]
Bitrate=192
Actual rate=192.000000
Sampling Frec=48000
TotalFrames=96654
Bytesperframe= 768.0000
Filesize=74230272
FrameDuration= 32.0000
Framespersecond= 31.2500
Duration=00:51:32.928
Channels mode=2/0: L+R
LFE=LFE: Not present
[Target info]
StartFrame=5
EndFrame=96653
NotFixedDelay= 0.0000
Duration=00:51:32.768
====== PROCESSING LOG ======================
Seeking....
Done.
Processing....
Number of written frames = 96649
Number of Errors= 0

#7
[Input info]
Bitrate=192
Actual rate=192.000000
Sampling Frec=48000
TotalFrames=96932
Bytesperframe= 768.0000
Filesize=74443776
FrameDuration= 32.0000
Framespersecond= 31.2500
Duration=00:51:41.824
Channels mode=2/0: L+R
LFE=LFE: Not present
[Target info]
StartFrame=5
EndFrame=96931
NotFixedDelay= 0.0000
Duration=00:51:41.664
====== PROCESSING LOG ======================
Seeking....
Done.
Processing....
Number of written frames = 96927
Number of Errors= 0

#8
[Input info]
Bitrate=192
Actual rate=192.000000
Sampling Frec=48000
TotalFrames=96786
Bytesperframe= 768.0000
Filesize=74331648
FrameDuration= 32.0000
Framespersecond= 31.2500
Duration=00:51:37.152
Channels mode=2/0: L+R
LFE=LFE: Not present
[Target info]
StartFrame=5
EndFrame=96785
NotFixedDelay= 0.0000
Duration=00:51:36.992
====== PROCESSING LOG ======================
Seeking....
Done.
Processing....
Number of written frames = 96781
Number of Errors= 0

I have installed the 1gb external drive on my laptop and tried to access it through AVS2DVD. I was able to import the .avi files into AVS2DVD, and set the output folder to the external drive. I have not, as yet, tried to burn a DVD. I will try that next to see if there is any speedup in the project with a larger available drive to operate with.

Thanks for your help.

Ed Wood

MrC

11th December 2012, 17:25

These are not logs from AVStoDVD.

AVStoDVD .log file is just ONE file named with the DVD label you have inserted in the main AVStoDVD window and located in the Output Folder you have selected in the main AVStoDVD window.

For example, if you have labeled you DVD as "My DVD" and you have selected "D:\Movies" as output folder, then the log file will be:

D:\Movies\My DVD.log

;)

Bye

edwood

11th December 2012, 19:33

MrC.

I found 4 text files titled Ironside_D1_S1_0, Ironside_D1_S1_1, Ironside_D1_S1_2, Ironside_D1_S1_3. They were all document files, not log files.

I tried to post them on this forum board but each one by itself far exceeded the 16,000 characters allowed in posts.

If that is not the log file you refer to, I cannot find it on my computer. I am now in the process of burning a 2nd dvd and timing the burn, since I am writing to an external 1tb drive with 400gb free space. I will let you know what happens.

Regards,
Ed

Sparktank

11th December 2012, 20:55

Just saw the 2.6.0 Alpha (December 11, 2012) update on VideoHelp.com
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/AVStoDVD

Going to have fun testing with this and give any feedback in due time.
Looking forward to trying out the new features and new look.

:thanks:

MrC

11th December 2012, 21:06

@edwood

these 4 files are not created by AVStoDVD... are you sure you are looking at the right folder?

@Sparktank

mate, you are a lightning! Let me know your opinions.

;)

Bye

MrC

12th December 2012, 13:44

Release 2.6.0 Alpha 121205 is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.6.0%20Alpha%20121205/).

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added 'FFmpeg (Safe Mode)' to AC3 Audio Encoding profiles in 'Preferences'/'Audio'
- Added 'Adjust Frame Strategy' in 'Preferences'/'AviSynth'
- Added 'DeBlock' AviSynth deblocking filter (by Manao) in 'Title Edit'/'AviSynth'
- Added a time cap (2h) to AC3 audio encoding step (Wavi+Aften profile). Overrun leads to process kill and 'FFmpeg (Safe Mode)' start as backup.
- Added a framerate consistency check vs selected Video Standard to source titles during 'Add Title' routine
- Added audio ON/OFF control to 'Preview Clip' section
- Added ffdshow 1.2.4422.0 32bit to Installer package
- Added GraphStudio 0.3.2.0 beta to NoInstall and Installer packages
- Added 'Codecs' as new element in Main AVStoDVD Menu
- Added 'ffdshow Video Configuration' option from 'Codecs' (Main Menu)
- Added 'ffdshow Audio Configuration' option from 'Codecs' (Main Menu)
- Added 'Build Graph Filter' option from 'Codecs' (Main Menu)
- Moved 'AviSynth FrameServing Check' from 'Title' to 'Codecs' (Main Menu)
- Removed ImgBurn Installer from AVStoDVD Installer Package. There is still a link to ImgBurn webpage.
- Changed 'Adjust ffdshow Mixer Output at runtime' to 'Adjust ffdshow Settings at Runtime' (now including Raw Video and Raw Audio adjustments for Preview Clip section)
- Improved 'Quick StartUp Tutorial' section
- Improved 'Fix SRT' routine for authored subtitles
- Improved log activity (Audio Encoding section)
- Improved GUI graphics (progress bars color change)
- Re-organized AviSynth filters options disposition in 'Title Edit'/'AviSynth'
- FFmpeg updated to build git-8b6aeb1
- FFMpegSource updated to 2.17
- Haali Media Splitter updated to 1.11.96.14
- MKVToolNix updated to 5.8.0
- MediaInfo updated to 0.7.61

Happy testing.

;)

Bye

manolito

12th December 2012, 16:41

Thanks MrC for the new version, I like the improvements very much. I tested it with two small conversion jobs, no problems so far.

One small thing I noticed was when my source was a VOB file from a DVD (unencrypted) that GraphEdit could not build the graph. No big deal...

Thanks again
Cheers
manolito

edwood

12th December 2012, 19:03

MrC.

I am now in the process of burning a 2nd dvd and timing the burn, since I am writing to an external 1tb drive with 400gb free space. I will let you know what happens.

Regards,
Ed

The 2nd dvd burn aborted in the BatchMux process. Here is the log file for that process.

BatchMux version --> 1.3
Destination Folder --> F:\Ironside Burned DVD\DVD_0\VIDEO_TS
MuxMan Script File --> C:\Users\EDWOOD~1\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_0_MuxMan.mxp
MuxMan Log String --> -l "C:\Users\EDWOOD~1\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_0_MuxMan.log"
Folder of the MuxMan executable --> C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\MuxMan
Check presence of MuxMan.exe --> PASSED
Palette File --> C:\Users\EDWOOD~1\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_0_Palette.txt
Default Palette --> SUCCESSFULLY REDEFINED
Segment memory resources --> RELEASED
Local Stack memory --> RELEASED
File i/o structures --> DEALLOCATED

The DVD log file is to long to post.

I think the problem was caused by the external drive going to sleep and the process aborted before the drive came up. I have searched the properties of the external drive and I cannot find any way to prevent the drive from going into sleep mode.

Any suggestions?
Ed
:thanks:

MrC

13th December 2012, 13:44

@manolito

the VOB is indexed? If not, it should be resolved by directshow. Make sure that ffdshow is setup with libmpeg2 for mpeg1/2 decoding.

@edwood

please post the whole log file. You can attach the file.

;)

Bye

manolito

13th December 2012, 20:33

One small thing I noticed was when my source was a VOB file from a DVD (unencrypted) that GraphEdit could not build the graph. No big deal...

This is GraphStudio's fault...:p
Rendering a 1GB VOB from a DVD simply takes longer than 10 secs, and by default GraphStudio aborts rendering after 10 secs. There is an option in GraphStudio to turn this off, and with this option disabled the VOB is rendered correctly.

Unfortunately GraphStudio does not save this setting, and it also does not support startup parameters, so nothing can be done about it. But as I said, this is no big deal...

Cheers
manolito

Adub

14th December 2012, 05:20

@edwood

please post the whole log file. You can attach the file

Or feel free to use a service like pastebin (http://pastebin.com/), which will avoid the need for a moderator to approve the attachment.

edwood

14th December 2012, 16:37

MrC,

I did not know that you could attach a file to this forum board. I have not seen an attachment icon. When you suggested that I attach the file, I did a little exploring and discovered the attachment icon under the advanced button.

Here is the attachment from the project that aborted during the muxing procedure. It is labeled Logfile.txt

After the process aborted, I started the process again, and let it run throughout the night. At about 3am, I heard my laptop reboot. When I checked on it later that morning, I found that AVS2DVD had not burned a DVD. However, AVS2DVD got far enough into the process that it did create the file folders AUDIO_TS & VIDEO_TS, with the appropriate files in the VIDEO_TS folder. I then used CyberLink Power2Go to burn the DVD.

Here is the attachment from that project. It is labeled Logfile2.txt

I hope this helps you figure out what is going on. Again, I wonder if it is the fact that the external drive goes into "sleep" mode after a certain period of time.

Have a great weekend!
Ed

manolito

14th December 2012, 18:50

Again, I wonder if it is the fact that the external drive goes into "sleep" mode after a certain period of time.

This seems to be a common problem with external HDDs (I have got one of those, too). But there are workarounds:

http://nosleephd.codeplex.com/

http://xsleep.codeplex.com/

and if both of these do not work, try this as a last resort:

http://zababov.blogspot.de/2011/04/turn-off-hard-disk-power-saving.html

Cheers
manolito

Sparktank

14th December 2012, 22:17

manolito

14th December 2012, 22:27

However, AVS2DVD took a total of 22 hours and 17 minutes from start to finish to complete the project. Is this normal? or did I set things up wrong? That amount of time for a project is 4 times as long as it takes DVDFlick to complete a project of the sae type (8 - 48min .avi files).

I love AVS2DVD, but obviously, I cannot tie up my laptop for a full 24 hours to complete one project when I have over 400 episodes of Perry Mason and Ironside to compile to DVD.

Any suggestions on why it took so long to complete the project?

OK, here are some suggestions how you can get the maximum speed out of AVS2toDVD. I am fully aware that MrC will probably not endorse these suggestions since he always puts quality over speed...:D , but for people with slow computers it is probably worth a try.

The reason why DVDFlick is so much faster than AVStoDVD is that DVDFlick uses ffmpeg in 1-pass mode for the conversion. AVStoDVD normally uses HCenc, and most of the time it uses 2-pass VBR mode. Much better quality, but it might take up to 4 times longer, as you already discovered.

AVStoDVD comes with QuEnc (based on libavcodec like ffmpeg), but by default it is only used for very high bitrates (in CBR mode with the HQ flag enabled). But it is possible to use QuEnc for lower bitrates in 1-pass VBR mode without the HQ flag. This will probably result in an encoding speed and quality very similar to DVDFlick.

This is what you have to do:

In AVStoDVD under "Advanced Project Settings" you have to enable the option "Edit Encoder Command Parameters at Runtime". Load your source(s), then click "View/Edit Title Settings". Under "Video" uncheck the "Auto Video Setup" option. Now specify QuEnc as your encoder.

Start the conversion, the edit window for the QuEnc parameters will pop up. Now you have to replace "-hq" with "-nohq" and "-novbr" with "-vbr". For medium to lower bitrates you might want to use the qlb matrix instead of the mpeg standard matrix. You can specify this by adding the "-qlb" parameter to the command line.

Close the edit window, the conversion will start.

Make sure to carefully examine the resulting DVD to make sure that you are happy with the quality...:)

Cheers
manolito

manolito

14th December 2012, 22:32

Re: "sleep mode" for external HDD's...

I've configured the Power Options on my laptop to disable any sort of USB selective suspension.
With that disabled, I've been able to do all sorts of things with my externals for encoding/decoding, etc.

It seems like a lot of external HDDs completely ignore the Power Saving options of the operating system. The sleep mode settings reside inside the firmware of the external drive, and many companies like WD, Samsung or Maxtor do not provide any means for the user to change firmware settings.

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

14th December 2012, 23:06

MrC

I will search for the log file to post. Where is it located, and what is it titled?

You raised the point that is probably my problem. The laptop has a cpu speed of 1.3mhz. There is 2mb ram installed, and the hdd size is 80mb of which it is probably 1/2 full. I have a 1tb external usb drive that I will see if the laptop will recognize and use. That should speed up the process considerably if AVS2DVD will support the external drive.

Thanks,
Ed
Drive size means nothing in terms of speed. The RPM of the drive - or it being an SSD would (but with it being over USB, you're bottlenecking that; it needs to be hooked directly to the internal connectors for HDDs to really make use of that), but the amount of storage space doesn't. And any significant performance degradation you'd find from a lack of storage space won't come into play until the drive is 90% full or more.

Speaking from the perspective of ancient hardware (1GHz Pentium III-based Celeron Coppermine, 512MB PC133 SDRAM - but it came with 256MB; this thing was bought in 2001), your best bet is to convert the files to DVD compliant MPEG-2/AC3 well before you ever give them to AVStoDVD, and simply use the 'Keep compliant video/audio' options so that the only thing it does is construct the menus and other disc navigation structures.

Encoding the individual episodes first means you can break up the amount of dedicated time spent on the task, or if you have access to a much faster computer, you could always do the encoding on there and then transport the files back to the main computer for authoring (I do this for television episodes; I have access to an iMac with a Core i5 in it; takes about 5 minutes to convert a 24 minute long TV episode*).

*1280x720 H.264 source -> 720x480 MPEG-2 destination

edwood

15th December 2012, 13:10

your best bet is to convert the files to DVD compliant MPEG-2/AC3 well before you ever give them to AVStoDVD, and simply use the 'Keep compliant video/audio' options so that the only thing it does is construct the menus and other disc navigation structures.

Encoding the individual episodes first means you can break up the amount of dedicated time spent on the task, or if you have access to a much faster computer, you could always do the encoding on there and then transport the files back to the main computer for authoring.

Can you suggest a good freeware program that will convert the files from .avi format to MPEG-2/AC3 format? I will gladly try that, even though I have approximately 450 48 minute episodes to convert. If I can speed up the burning process it is worth a try.

As to using the main computer to do the job, the reason I am using my laptop is because of the heavy use of the desktop. My wife is a big facebook fan, and also loves to "surf the net." If the computer is busy encoding or burning a dvd, she will just minimize it to do her thing. As a result, I have many coasters because of the time sharing interruptions.

Thanks for your suggestions. Have a great weekend!
Ed

edwood

15th December 2012, 13:18

But it is possible to use QuEnc for lower bitrates in 1-pass VBR mode without the HQ flag. This will probably result in an encoding speed and quality very similar to DVDFlick.

Cheers
manolito

Since the Perry Mason episodes are all b&w (only 1 was done in color), this would probably be a good solution.

Thanks for the suggestion. Have a great weekend!
Ed

qyot27

15th December 2012, 16:51

Forewarning: This might be a lot to try and digest all at once, so don't rush.

You can use HCenc for MPEG-2, and ffmpeg for AC3. AVStoDVD uses both, but the programs can be used on their own (and minimizing an encoding program won't stop it unless the program's process is actually killed by clicking Close or exiting the program). The easiest way is to have it set up as a batch script, where you control the encoding programs through the command line, which will also exit the programs after everything is finished. You can then fetch the encodes when the computer is available again.

HCenc is controlled via an .ini file that contains the settings you want to use. You can experiment with the GUI that comes with the official HCenc 0.26 package (here (http://hank315.nl/)), which will write the .ini file for you. Once you have it set up in a way that is satisfactory (it may mean playing with the bitrate values so that you can make sure a certain number of episodes fit on a single disc), you can take that .ini file, and use it as input to the command-line version (you need to delete the INPUTFILE and OUTPUTFILE settings in the .ini file, and just specify where to find the right episodes when you call the CLI). Also worth noting that HCenc takes input in the form of AviSynth scripts. I'll give a better example below.

For instance, you might have the following .ini file (let's name it encode.ini):
*BITRATE 5000
*MAXBITRATE 5000
*1PASS
*PROFILE best
*ASPECT 4:3
*GOP 12 2
*DC_PREC 9
*PROGRESSIVE
*INTRAVLC 2
*CLOSEDGOPS
*LASTIFRAME
*MPEGLEVEL MP@ML
*MATRIX mpeg
*WAIT 0
The *PROFILE and *DC_PREC settings affect performance. If you delete the '*PROFILE' line, HCenc uses the 'normal' setting, or you can change 'best' to 'fast'. *DC_PREC can be lowered to 8. Lowering them speeds up encoding, at the expense of quality.

You would then have an AviSynth script like this, let's name it episode1.avs (the " are necessary, but change the script name and .avi filename as appropriate):
AVISource("episode1.avi").BilinearResize(720,480).ChangeFPS(29.97).SSRC(48000)
The BilinearResize, ChangeFPS, and SSRC filters are just to make sure that everything matches DVD specifications. If the files are already at the right specs, those filters aren't necessary. 29.97 is assumed for the FPS because these are television episodes from before the advent of HDTV (I'm also assuming NTSC specifications - which covers North America and Japan - rather than PAL).

Then you can use HCenc's command line version directly (make sure encode.ini is in the same folder as the AviSynth script(s), it'll make it easier):
hcenc_026 -i episode1.avs -o episode1.m2v -ini encode.ini
Chances are, you'll want to make sure Windows can see HCenc from whatever folder you happen to be in. To do this, download Path Editor (http://www.redfernplace.com/software-projects/patheditor/) and tell it to add the 'HCenc' and 'FFmpeg' folders that live inside AVStoDVD's installation folder, and then click 'Save to Registry'. From that point forward, you can open up a Command Prompt anywhere and use either program by just using the program's name. You'll also want to get mplex, which is in the MJPEGTools package (download here (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mjpeg/files/mjpegtools/2.0.1rc1/mjpegtools-2.0.1RC1-mingw-bin.tar.bz2/download)). Unpack it with WinRAR or 7zip, and put mplex.exe (from the bin folder) in the same folder as HCenc. Or just throw it into C:\Windows and forget about it.

Finally, batch scripts will tie all of this together so that you don't have to do each step manually. It's completely automatic, so after each task is done it moves onto the next. You open up notepad and use the same command that you would use on the command line if you were doing it manually, each one on a new line. You can even tell the batch script to generate the AviSynth scripts.
echo AVISource("episode1.avi").BilinearResize(720,480).ChangeFPS(29.97).SSRC(48000)>episode1.avs
ffmpeg -i episode1.avs -vn -acodec ac3 -ab 192k episode1.ac3
hcenc_026 -i episode1.avs -o episode1.m2v -ini encode.ini
mplex -f8 -V episode1.m2v episode1.ac3 -o ../episode1-final.mpg
You'd repeat those lines for any additional episodes, just changing the filenames so they point to the right episodes. If it's all episode#, then you'd just change the #. I also like to make mplex output the final .mpg file to a different folder so that they aren't mixed in with the rest of the files. That's what the ../ does - it makes the final file get output to the folder immediately above where the encoding happens. So if all the files are in C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\encready, it'll output the final .mpg files to My Documents.

Save the batch script - let's call it encode_now.bat - and then all you have to do is double-click on the batch script and it'll do everything automatically. It creates the AviSynth script for 'episode1.avi', encodes the audio to 192kbps AC3 using ffmpeg, then encodes the video as MPEG-2 using HCenc, and then joins the video and audio together into a single file with mplex. You then can give the -final.mpg files to AVStoDVD when you've got all of the episodes you want to go on a single disc ready. If AVStoDVD is set to 'Keep compliant video/audio', then it won't do any converting and the disc should be authored in about 30 minutes or so, and then burned in whatever time it normally takes for your burner to do that (typically 12-15 minutes at the most, assuming a write speed of 6x).

To make it easier to keep filenames straight, I use Ninotech Path Copy (http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/13986.html) to allow me to select multiple files, right-click, and select Copy Path->Copy Long Name. I can then paste the filenames directly into Notepad and build the batch script around them, instead of having to remember what the names are or worry about whether I typed them correctly.

manolito

15th December 2012, 17:59

manolito

15th December 2012, 20:22

@MrC

- Added 'DeBlock' AviSynth deblocking filter (by Manao) in 'Title Edit'/'AviSynth'

This is very nice, but it really should be changed for interlaced sources. DeBlock is only meant for progressive material, to use it for interlaced material some modifications must be made. Have a look here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1568545#post1568545

If Deblocking is added and AVStoDVD has determined that the source is interlaced, it should insert something like the following script:

# Deblock for interlaced sources

par = getparity()
SeparateFields()
PointResize(width,height)
Deblock(...parameters...)
AssumeFrameBased()
SeparateFields()
Merge(SelectEven(),SelectOdd())
par ? AssumeTFF() : AssumeBFF()
Weave()

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

15th December 2012, 21:21

@qyot27

You made a very nice tutorial here, but isn't it exactly the purpose of AVStoDVD to shield the user from all this trouble while still giving the same high quality output?

If all the episodes should be converted separately into muxed DVD-compliant MPEG2 files, no problem, AVStoDVD can output muxed MPEG2 files which can be authored and burned later.

Whatever, each to his own...:D

Cheers
manolito
True. I was mostly speaking from experience of not having used those modes in AVStoDVD (I've only ever used the default 'DVD Folder Structure' setup), so I was going off of what I do know rather than trying to assume something about what I don't.

edwood

16th December 2012, 14:38

Wow! Thanks for the great input & tutorial guys. It is getting just a little to involved and technical for me. Even though I have a FCC 1st Class license, I think that I will leave all of the "hands on" technical stuff to those who have the patience to do everything described in the tutorial. I'll just stick to the GUI programse that simplify matters for me.

I am still looking for a stand alone mpeg to avi converter program. I have found two that look promising: [spam]. Has anyone had any experiece with either of these, or do you suggest another stand alone converter?

Thanks,
Ed

manolito

16th December 2012, 16:15

I am still looking for a stand alone mpeg to avi converter program.

Don't pay any money for this kind of software. They are all based on ffmpeg which is free, and they wrap it into some cool looking GUI and probably install some toolbars or spyware.

The fastest software for this task I am aware of is WinFF. It is just a GUI for ffmpeg, and it comes with all kinds of templates (which can be modified if necessary). The templates PAL DVD fast or NTSC DVD fast are really "fast", at an acceptable quality IMO.

//Edit//
In your first post you mentioned that you have been using DVDFlick for a long time, but that you liked the menu capabilities of AVStoDVD better. Maybe you should test DVDStyler. It produces very nice menus with little effort, it uses libavcodec for the actual conversion (quite fast, acceptable quality), and it also does authoring and burning if needed.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

17th December 2012, 14:12

This is very nice, but it really should be changed for interlaced sources. DeBlock is only meant for progressive material, to use it for interlaced material some modifications must be made. Have a look here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1568545#post1568545

If Deblocking is added and AVStoDVD has determined that the source is interlaced, it should insert something like the following script:

# Deblock for interlaced sources

par = getparity()
SeparateFields()
PointResize(width,height)
Deblock(...parameters...)
AssumeFrameBased()
SeparateFields()
Merge(SelectEven(),SelectOdd())
par ? AssumeTFF() : AssumeBFF()
Weave()

Yep, you are right. Very nicely I need to revise the general order of AviSynth filters placement in the script.

Do you think that this post (http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/347222-AviSynth-Order-of-Operations?p=2170955&viewfull=1#post2170955) can be used as reference?

Thanks

;)

Bye

manolito

17th December 2012, 17:51

Do you think that this post can be used as reference?
Looks reasonable to me...

I found this somewhere on doom9:

deblock
deinterlace
crop
resize
degrain
sharpen

I found some different opinions if denoising and sharpening should better come before or after resizing, but it probably depends on the source, and if resizing means up- or downsizing.

It seems important that deblocking should be the very first thing right after loading the source.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

17th December 2012, 21:25

It seems important that deblocking should be the very first thing right after loading the source.

Wait, DeBlock should be applied only to progressive stream, shouldn't it?

PROGRESSIVE
- Source load
- Color Space conversion
- Deblock
- Denoise/Degrain
- Crop/AddBorders
- Resize
- Sharpen
- Framerate adjust
- Tweak colors

INTERLACED
- Source load
- Color Space conversion
- Deinterlace
- Deblock
- Denoise/Degrain
- Crop/AddBorders
- Resize
- Sharpen
- Re-Interlace
- Framerate adjust
- Tweak colors

:confused: ;)

Bye

manolito

17th December 2012, 23:37

According to TheSkiller Deblock should always come before deinterlacing:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1581080#post1581080

Of course you could look at these commands
SeparateFields().PointResize(width,height)
Deblock()
as a special kind of deinterlacing :devil:

But I think it would be a bad idea to use LeakKernelDeint() before DeBlock()

Cheers
manolito

MrC

18th December 2012, 21:20

Thus for INTERLACED sources:

- Source load
- Color Space conversion
- Separate fields
- Deblock
- Merge fields (weave)
- Deinterlace (LeakKernelBob)
- Denoise/Degrain
- Crop/AddBorders
- Resize
- Sharpen
- Re-Interlace
- Framerate adjust
- Tweak colors

Need to do some tests.

;)

Bye

manolito

18th December 2012, 22:32

This is how I do it in DVD2SVCD with good results (for interlaced sources)

- Source load
- Color Space conversion

##Deblock interlaced##
par=getparity()
SeparateFields().PointResize(width,height)
Deblock()
AssumeFrameBased()
SeparateFields()
Merge(SelectEven(),SelectOdd())
par ? AssumeTFF() : AssumeBFF()
Weave()

- Deinterlace (My preferred same-rate deinterlacer) (or skip this line to keep it interlaced)
- Denoise/Degrain
- Crop/AddBorders
- Sharpen
- Resize
- Framerate adjust
- Tweak colors

Cheers
manolito

MrC

19th December 2012, 10:54

To keep it interlaced, the deinterlace step (Bob) should be done anyway: Denoise/Crop/Sharpen/Resize should not be done on interlaced frames.

Then it can be re-interlaced again (SeparateFields().SelectEvery(4,0,3 or 4,1,2).Weave()).

;)

Bye

manolito

19th December 2012, 17:59

Of course you're right...:)

Since I am notoriously lazy, all my AviSynth scripts use Stickboy's tools. All I have to do is set a global variable "Interlaced" to true or false. My denoising and sharpening filter script looks like this:
Interlaced==true ? JDL_UnFoldFieldsVertical(flip=true) : NOP()
# cnr2()
# degrainmedian(mode=2)
undot()
# deen()
asharp(1,4)
# MSharpen(highq=false, strength=70)
# PSharpen()
# HighPassSharpen(1,1)
# LimitedSharpenFaster()
# LSFmod()
Interlaced==true ? JDL_FoldFieldsVertical(flip=true) : NOP()

And resizing is done with JDL_InterlacedResize...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

20th December 2012, 15:43

Deblock interlaced sources, here we are:

LoadPlugin("DGDecode.dll")

Function DeBlock_Int(clip IS, int "quant", int "aOffset", int "bOffset", bool "mmx", bool "isse")
{
par = GetParity(IS)
SeparateFields(IS)
PointResize(width(IS),height(IS))
Deblock(quant, aOffset, bOffset, mmx, isse)
AssumeFrameBased()
SeparateFields()
Merge(SelectEven(), SelectOdd())
par ? AssumeTFF() : AssumeBFF()
Weave()

Return Last
}

;)

Bye

22nd December 2012, 21:54

Nice to see this projects still going strong MrC, I used to use AVStoDVD a lot, but recently I haven't needed to create any discs, so I need some advice.
I have a concert MKV with 20 songs on it, the MKV contains a chapter file which AVStoDVD reads perfectly(They show in the auto-chapters set-up). I want to show each track on the menu & be able to click on it for direct access to that track. Would it be possible for AVStoDVD to read the chapter file & create links on the menu? then all the user would do was enter the song title details, would something like this be possible? Look forward to input from all on this forum. Thanks in advance & seasons greetings to all.

MrC

22nd December 2012, 23:26

Welcome back, wg, nice to hear from you again.

Unfortunately the "DVD menu from chapters" feature is still not available. See Help/FAQ/Authoring/Q6.2 for more info.

Anyway it is in the ToDo list.

;)

Bye

manolito

22nd December 2012, 23:50

Of course I cannot speak for MrC, but I don't think that there is much hope for this feature in the near future...

The menu is created with the help of BatchMux (by Sir Didymus) which passes its commands to MuxMan. It is not a trivial task to make this menu creation work, and I believe altering the current menu creation process is probably not very high on MrC's todo list.

But there are workarounds for your needs:

As I see it you have two different options. You can either split your MKV by chapters, so you will end up with 20 separate MKV files. If you load these files into AVStoDVD you will get menu entries for all the different files. The second option is to use AVStoDVD just for the conversion without any menus. Then use a different software (I recommend DVDStyler) to create the menu.

The first option uses MKVMergeGUI. Here is a short tutorial how to use it:
http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/311097-Easiest-way-to-split-M2TS-by-chapters?p=1985776&viewfull=1#post1985776

The second option works like this:
1. Convert your MKV with AVStoDVD, as your output format select Muxed MPEG2 File.

2. For DVDStyler you need the chapters in the DVDAuthor format. Extract the chapters from the MKV using MKVExtractGUI2. Make sure to specify the OGG chapter format. Then use ChapterGen to convert the OGG chapter file into the required DVDAuthor format.

3. Fire up DVDStyler, load your MPEG2 file, copy&paste the chapters, create your menu.

The second option requires a little more effort than the first one, but with DVDStyler you have much more freedom for the menu creation compared to AVStoDVD. It really depends on your preferences which method is best for you...

Cheers
manolito

//Edit//
Oops, MrC was faster than me answering your request...
But the workarounds are still valid.

Sparktank

23rd December 2012, 01:14

I would personally opt for the second work around using different software.
Some hardware players have slight pauses or freeze for a few seconds when switching between titles if you want them to play seemlessly from chapter to chapter.
But that's largely hardware-dependent. Newer machines shouldn't have that issue so much.

23rd December 2012, 15:17

Thanks for the welcome back MrC, & for the tutorial & advice manolito & Sparktank, still a very friendly & helpful forum.

Cheers!

manolito

11th January 2013, 10:21

Thanks very much MrC for the new version...:thanks:

The new Deblock_int function works very well.

And a happy New Year to you and your family...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

11th January 2013, 11:02

Thanks Manolito. I wish you a great 2013 too.

Just adding the change log from previous alpha:

- Added a consistency check to user defined Paths during preferences loading ('Preferences'/'Paths')
- Added Auto Crop routine in 'Title Edit'/'AviSynth'/'Crop'
- Added AviSynth library 'DeBlock_Int.avsi' (thanks to Didée and Manolito)
- Improved AviSynth Script generation routine (revision of functions calls sequence)
- NicAudio updated to 2.0.6

;)

Bye

Sparktank

13th January 2013, 04:26

I have a question about the ConvertToYV12() function.

Sometimes, I'll remux a Blu-Ray movie from disc and convert it down to a 480p (with Rec.709 -> Rec.601) resolution to feed to AVStoDVD.
Frameserving with FFMS2 and using VirtualDub to save as an AVI with Lagarith compression.
The "Color Depth" options in VD are both set to "4:2:0 planar YCbCr (YV12)" and I'll even throw in ConvertToYV12() in the AVS script before converting to a LAG.avi file.
Lagarith settings are: Mode=YV12, Prevent Upsampling When Decoding=Yes

Using DirectShowSource on the LAG.avi with Info() shows that it's already YV12.

But every time I load it into AVStoDVD, the autoscript will always show ConvertToYV12().
Is this normal? Or will it affect the colorimetry?
Am I doing something wrong?

I find this also happens with UtVideoCodec (YUV420 (ULY0) VCM x86) as well.

manolito

13th January 2013, 06:53

If the clip is already YV12, the AviSynth command ConvertToYV12() will not do anything. Luckily AviSynth is intelligent enough to detect the colorspace of the clip and just ignore commands which would convert the clip into the colorspace it already has.

Cheers
manolito

Mr. Monte

13th January 2013, 20:30

Mr.C,

I have a few questions. I'm using AvstoDVD in a VM on a Mac in VM Fusion. ImgBurn is able to recognize the internal SuperDrive, however AVStoDVD keeps giving me errors throughout th euse of the program (if I open up Menu Wizard..i get 2 or 3 errors). Any idea why ImgBurn can see th edrive, but AVStoDVD cannot? Is there a way to add a run without optical drive option in preferences?

Lastly, what determines what MPEG2 encoder the app will use when you select auto determine for encoder?

Thanks again

Sparktank

13th January 2013, 22:03

MrC

14th January 2013, 13:37

I'm using AvstoDVD in a VM on a Mac in VM Fusion. ImgBurn is able to recognize the internal SuperDrive, however AVStoDVD keeps giving me errors throughout th euse of the program (if I open up Menu Wizard..i get 2 or 3 errors).

What kind of errors do you get? Some screenshots may help.

Any idea why ImgBurn can see th edrive, but AVStoDVD cannot?

AVStoDVD is written in VB6, that has some quite old routines to detect burning drives. I'm not sure it is an issue that can be solved.

Is there a way to add a run without optical drive option in preferences?

You already can run AVStoDVD even if the burning drive is not detected.

Lastly, what determines what MPEG2 encoder the app will use when you select auto determine for encoder?

See Help/How to use it/Preferences/Video/Setup Video Profile

;)

Bye

MrC

6th February 2013, 10:49

Release 2.6.0 is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.6.0/).

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added 'FFmpeg (Safe Mode)' to AC3 Audio Encoding profiles in 'Preferences'/'Audio'
- Added 'Adjust Frame Strategy' in 'Preferences'/'AviSynth'
- Added a consistency check to user defined Paths during preferences loading ('Preferences'/'Paths')
- Added 'FFmpeg (Safe Mode)' option in 'Title Edit'/'Video'/'Video Encoding Profile'
- Added Auto Crop routine in 'Title Edit'/'AviSynth'/'Crop'
- Added AviSynth deblocking filter 'Deblock' (by Manao) in 'Title Edit'/'AviSynth'
- Added AviSynth library 'DeBlock_Int.avsi' (thanks to Didée and Manolito)
- Added a time cap (2h) to AC3 audio encoding step (Wavi+Aften profile). Overrun leads to process kill and 'FFmpeg (Safe Mode)' start as backup.
- Added a framerate consistency check vs selected Video Standard to source titles during 'Add Title' routine
- Added audio ON/OFF control to 'Preview Clip' section
- Added ffdshow 1.2.4422.0 32bit to Installer package
- Added GraphStudio 0.3.2.0 beta to NoInstall and Installer packages
- Added 'Codecs' as new element in Main AVStoDVD Menu
- Added 'ffdshow Video Configuration' option from 'Codecs' (Main Menu)
- Added 'ffdshow Audio Configuration' option from 'Codecs' (Main Menu)
- Added 'Build Graph Filter' option from 'Codecs' (Main Menu)
- Moved 'AviSynth FrameServing Check' from 'Title' to 'Codecs' (Main Menu)
- Removed ImgBurn Installer from AVStoDVD Installer Package. There is still a link to ImgBurn webpage.
- Changed 'Adjust ffdshow Mixer Output at runtime' to 'Adjust ffdshow Settings at Runtime' (now including Raw Video and Raw Audio adjustments for Preview Clip section)
- Changed maximun number of jobs for batch encoding from 10 to 30
- Improved AviSynth Script generation routine (revision of functions calls sequence)
- Improved 'Quick StartUp Tutorial' section
- Improved 'Fix SRT' routine for authored subtitles
- Improved log activity (Audio Encoding section)
- Improved GUI graphics (progress bars color change)
- Re-organized AviSynth filters options disposition in 'Title Edit'/'AviSynth'
- FFmpeg updated to build git-8b6aeb1
- FFMpegSource updated to 2.17
- NicAudio updated to 2.0.6
- Haali Media Splitter updated to 1.11.96.14
- MKVToolNix updated to 5.8.0
- MediaInfo updated to 0.7.61

;)

Bye

manolito

7th February 2013, 14:39

Thanks very much MrC for the new version...:thanks:

Just 2 small things:
For some reason the corrected German language file I sent you a while ago did not make it into the distribution. Here it is again:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/q4lgky

And I found another MediaInfo issue:
I tried to convert a 24min long FLV file. The main window reports the correct duration, but the Edit window thinks that the duration is more than 15 hours. As a consequence AVStoDVD picks a wrong bitrate and the wrong encoder.

http://i45.tinypic.com/rjqw0k.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/o7rg5h.jpg

This is the log:
<06.02.2013 20:48:43>
START PROCESS
<>

<06.02.2013 20:48:43>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: PAL
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: /4450 MB (0%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD-Ordner
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: I:
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Fortschrittsfenster anzeigen (Voreinstellung)

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Spline36Resize/Spline36Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 0
PAL SpeedUp: 1
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Level 1: 6500
Video Profile Level 2: 4500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 224
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 1
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 18pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: H: BENQ DVD DD DW1620 B7W9
DVD Burning Speed: 8x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 0
Save Log file: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 1
Adjust ffdshow at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0
<>

<06.02.2013 20:48:43>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: F:\Download\ballet.flv
Info: AVC - 434 kbps - 364x238 - DAR 1,529 - 24,962 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 23:56 minutes - 35866000 frames
Audio 1: F:\Download\ballet.flv
Info: AAC LC - 55 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 44100 Hz - 16 bit - 23:57 minutes (66 ms delay) - Internal
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.61]
<>

<06.02.2013 20:48:43>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

Video = A2DVideoSource("F:\Download\ballet.flv", CacheFolder="I:", FrameRate=24.962, VFR=false)
Audio = A2DAudioSource("F:\Download\ballet.flv", CacheFolder="I:")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.AddBorders(0,17,0,17)
Video = Video.Spline36Resize(720,576)
Video = Video.ConvertFPS("pal_video")

Audio = Audio.SSRC(48000)
Audio = Audio.Normalize()
Audio = Audio.DelayAudio(0.066)

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<06.02.2013 20:48:43>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Encoding Profile: HCenc VBR 2-pass
Target Video FileSize: 428206,9 MB
Encoding Parameters: -ini "I:\DVD_0_ballet.HCenc.ini"
HCenc ini file:
*INFILE I:\DVD_0_ballet_1.avs
*AVSRELOAD
*OUTFILE I:\DVD_0_ballet.m2v
*LOGFILE I:\DVD_0_ballet.HCenc.log
*MAXBITRATE 9000
*BITRATE 2500
*PROFILE BEST
*ASPECT 4:3
*PROGRESSIVE
*TFF
*BIAS 20
*DC_PREC 8
*MATRIX MPEG
*AQ 1
*LUMGAIN 1
*SMP
*PRIORITY IDLE
*WAIT 2
<>

<06.02.2013 20:49:03>
CHECK LOG FILE <I:\DVD_0.LOG> FOR MORE INFO.
<>

<06.02.2013 20:49:03>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.6.0
<>

Reverting back to MediaInfo version 0.7.58 completely fixed this issue.:D

Cheers
manolito

//Edit//
The reason the source file is located in my download folder is that it came from an adult site which explicitly allows to download their clips...

startreksuite

8th February 2013, 07:39

Hi Mr.C,
I have recently found your program and it is nicely laid out. I have used Convert X2DVD in the past, but wanted to give freeware a try. I was trying out the menu feature, and I often have a movie poster as a menu, with just a play button. I tried doing this with your program, but when I try and delete the Menu and Title one letter remains on each line no matter how many times I go back to this. Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?
Thanks in advance.

MrC

8th February 2013, 22:41

@manolito

thanks for sending me the German translation, probably I have noticed but not downloaded it...

About the MediaInfo misreading, that is the output from 0.7.61:

AVC - 434 kbps - 364x238 - DAR 1,529 - 24,962 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 23:56 minutes - 35866000 frames

the frames count is definitively 1000x. If 0.7.58 is ok, we should inform Zenitram. BTW I can add a consistency check between framerate, time and frames count.

@startreksuite

first of all, welcome there ;)

Instead of deleting all the texts, just put a space (" ") to trick AVStoDVD.

;)

Bye

Garrog

10th February 2013, 16:07

Hi MrC et al. Apologies if the answer to this should be staring me in the face, but does AVStoDVD allow me to edit (trim start/end length) before transcoding? I could edit the AVStoDVD output with VOBblanker but clearly if I can edit before conversion I would avoid unnecessary transcoding of junk I intend to just throw away! I've looked through the help files and on-line and keep seeing references to AviSynth - but that seems to be a stand-alone script tool and not being a programmer I would need a GUI, which brings me back to AVStoDVD... ?!? If anyone can clear up my confusion then thanks!

manolito

10th February 2013, 16:59

Well, the answer is not exactly staring you right in the face, but it is certainly there...:devil:

From the AVStoDVD help file (clip preview):
Set Trim Start (available only if Clip Preview Window is accessed from Edit Title Window)
Shortcut: CTRL+A
Set Trim End (available only if Clip Preview Window is accessed from Edit Title Window)
Shortcut: CTRL+Z

Load your clip, go to the "Edit Title -> AVISynth" window, uncheck "Auto AVISynth Script" and click the "Preview Title Output" button in the lower left corner. Select your start and end frames, close the preview, and voilà, the script now contains the corresponding trim command.

Cheers
manolito

Garrog

10th February 2013, 18:50

Ah...thanks manolito, shame it only has more basic settings (e.g. no speed setting) but useful as an initial tool!

However, I've noticed a problem - after setting the trim points, when I go back to the main window and preview the trim points seem to have shifted about 50 secs or so later in time! I tested on internal and external players just to confirm with same results.

Any idea if that's a known bug or some kind of tweak that's needed, or do people set trim points by factoring in the error?

Thanks!

MrC

11th February 2013, 20:49

However, I've noticed a problem - after setting the trim points, when I go back to the main window and preview the trim points seem to have shifted about 50 secs or so later in time! I tested on internal and external players just to confirm with same results.

It should not happen, of course. Could you elaborate better the steps, maybe with some screenshots? The source title properties may help too.

;)

Bye

Garrog

12th February 2013, 00:08

Thanks, sounds like it's not an expected issue - the program is on the other machine so can't do right now, but I will get some more info to hopefully find out what's going wrong! Chat soon.:thanks:

Garrog

12th February 2013, 13:22

Ok so I went back and tried it again with no problems. But then I remembered what I did the first time:

1. I set the trim points as Manolito described

2. I returned to the main page and hit the preview button

3. Now this is where it gets a bit foggy. I definitely remember not being happy with the trim points but I'll come back to that later.

4. Now this is looking like the interesting part: I re-opened "View/Edit Title Settings" and changed the trim points. Again I can't remember clearly on this occasion whether I cleared the settings by setting the "Auto AviSynth Script" check box or if I just went straight in working from with the previously modified script. (As you probably know/designed, opening the "Preview" in this case will show you the edit you previously made, i.e. the modified script, rather than the original source unmodified.) But see below for subsequent tests.

5. After changing the trim points I exited the editor and previewed as before. This is where I found the trim errors, and estimated the error by comparing with the original.

To keep things clear I will open up a second post to continue with subsequent test results...

Garrog

12th February 2013, 14:00

Subsequent Tests

Today as I said above, I loaded the original file into AVStoDVD, set the trim points, returned to the main screen and previewed with no error.

Looking back, I think yesterday I may have been confused and imagined that the errors had shown on both the first and second edits. I still can't be certain but the evidence today suggests there probably wasn't any errors the first time and I probably performed the re-edit solely because I just wasn't happy with my own edit points. Assuming that's the case then apologies for any confusion caused!

Ok, on to today's findings:

So today I remembered that I had re-edited, so I went back and tried that. I did this both with (A) and without (B) resetting the script, shutting down the program in between to clear any session settings.

In case A I found that the error appeared very similar to the results yesterday, i.e. approx 50 second shift.

In case B it appeared that only the first trim point had shifted.

I'm sure you will want to perform your own tests to verify, and I suspect that you will be able to generate your own data more easily and reliably (!) but please let me know if I can be any further help.

Thanks for your help, and can I say I do find it a great program! :) (AviSynth player speed setting and audio fades would be nice tho...*cough* ;) )

MrC

12th February 2013, 14:58

@Garrog

thanks for the kind words.... but to fully understand, I would have a better explanation of the steps required to replicate the issue. Do not put anything about what you have done yesterday or today, just put the minimal steps to replicate the issue.

I need the source title properties too. The screenshot of AVStoDVD main window with the loaded source title is ok.

;)

Bye

Garrog

12th February 2013, 16:05

Ok, apologies if that was a little long-winded, I just wanted to be clear about all the facts for clarity! Thanks for your help.

Minimal steps (now reduced through further testing!):

1. Load video into AVStoDVD (in this case XVid Mpeg-4: see attached)
2. Open Title Edit window (via button)
3. Go to AviSynth tab, deselect "Auto AviSynth script"
4. Select "Preview Title Output" (button)
5. Move cursor to trim start position by any means, set trim start (button)
6. "........................" end position ".............................." end (button)
7. Exit Preview window (into Title Edit window)
8. Select and deselect "Auto AviSynth Script" (resets script without trim)
9. Repeat steps 4 to 7.
10. Preview video either here or from main page, observing timing error.

Garrog

13th February 2013, 17:40

Ah, please note I'm still using v2.5.1 - I've just noticed you recently released 2.6.1, perhaps you could confirm whether this occurs in the new version? Thanks!

MrC

14th February 2013, 11:09

Hi Garrog,

thanks for the detailed sequence. Now I can replicate the issue and you are perfectly right, upon toggling off the 'Auto AviSynth Script', the Trim configuration is not completely reset, resulting in frames shifting.

I will fix that in the next release.

Good job!

;)

Bye

Garrog

14th February 2013, 13:18

Excellent, thanks Mr. C!

lovelykiss

5th March 2013, 22:30

Thanks for your help

MrC

8th March 2013, 17:12

You are welcome, whatever your request was....

;)

Bye

*ale*

6th April 2013, 12:01

Hi, I'm using AVStoDVD to convert a NTSC Blu Ray to PAL DVD.
I have a quick question : is it correct to use PAL speedup option (avisynth AssumeFPS) with that kind of source?

MrC

6th April 2013, 12:51

Hi, I'm using AVStoDVD to convert a NTSC Blu Ray to PAL DVD.
I have a quick question : is it correct to use PAL speedup option (avisynth AssumeFPS) with that kind of source?

If the source is NTSC-film (23.976 fps), yes, you can use that option.

;)

Bye

*ale*

6th April 2013, 13:16

Yes the source is progressive NTSC-film (23.976 fps); what I mean is whether it is preferable to use speedup or DGPulldown

thanks

manolito

6th April 2013, 16:02

Yes the source is progressive NTSC-film (23.976 fps); what I mean is whether it is preferable to use speedup or DGPulldown

This is mainly a matter of taste and personal preferences...:sly:

The DGPulldown method has the advantage that audio can be left alone. But you will get repeated frames which annoys a lot of people. In PAL land people are not used to this judder. And according to neuron2 NTSC to PAL conversion using pulldown flags is more noticeable to the viewer than NTSC pulldown, because the repeated fields are more evenly spread in NTSC pulldown.

The PAL speedup method is much more common, all professional authoring houses do it that way. The slightly faster video cannot be detected by most people, but audio can be a problem. Especially for music content many people can hear that the audio plays faster and at a higher pitch.

Lately you will often find sped up audio which has been pitch corrected so it will still play faster, but at the original pitch. But as a trade off you might get audible artifacts. Pitch correction is very complicated, there are different algorithms for vocals and polyphonic music, and you may still end up with audio glitches.

Just the other day I did such a conversion using PAL speedup. For the audio I used BeSweet and its soundtouch plugin which can speed up the audio without altering the pitch. It was a concert video, and the audio came out terribly. I tried it again, this time using Prosoniq Timefactory. It sounded much better, but there were still audible problems. So I ended up not preserving the original pitch which delivered a quality which was undistinguishable from the original.

AFAIK AVStoDVD speeds up the audio while not doing any pitch correction, so you will not have to deal with audio glitches. But it will only work for you if you can live with the slightly higher pitch. Check it out for yourself...:D

Cheers
manolito

MrC

11th April 2013, 20:27

@manolito

are you aware of any AviSynth filters designed to speed up the audio w/o altering the pitch? That could be a nice add-on to AVStoDVD, if the results are good enough.

;)

Bye

P.S. Many thanks for the German translation update.

manolito

11th April 2013, 22:38

@manolito

are you aware of any AviSynth filters designed to speed up the audio w/o altering the pitch? That could be a nice add-on to AVStoDVD, if the results are good enough.

Oh yes, the timestretch filter is able to do this.

TimeStretch(tempo = (100.0*25.0*1001.0)/24000.0)
This will change the tempo from Film speed to PAL speed without changing the pitch.

You also might want to consider to replace the ResampleAudio filter with the SSRC filter.

SSRC Shibata Sample Rate Converter is a resampler. Audio is always converted to float. This filter will result in better audio quality than ResampleAudio.
It uses SSRC by Naoki Shibata, which offers the best resample quality available.

Cheers
manolito

Sparktank

11th April 2013, 22:56

SoX can do the speedup/slowdown w/o altering the pitch.
I remember reading a few threads on it in the audio section.

Sparktank

11th April 2013, 23:05

You also might want to consider to replace the ResampleAudio filter with the SSRC filter.

I agree, SSRC (high precision) can produce very clean results without much sonic residue.

SRC Comparisons [96kHz to 44.1kHz] Last Updated: 12th March 2013 (http://src.infinitewave.ca/)

You can check between two different filters and see how they turn out.
Also view results for different tests: sweep, 1kHz tone, passband, transition, etc.

It lists freeware and commercial software too.

SoX seems to handle sample rate conversions quite nicely too, as it would seem.

IIRC, eac3to uses SSRC for its sample rate conversions, by default, --and if installed, it can use Voxengo r8brain (free version).

manolito

11th April 2013, 23:42

SoX can do the speedup/slowdown w/o altering the pitch.
I remember reading a few threads on it in the audio section.

Well, MrC explicitly asked for an AviSynth filter to do the pitch correction. If an external software for pitch correction can be used, there are quite a few free options. One of them is SoundStretch
http://www.surina.net/soundtouch/soundstretch.html

As I said earlier, pitch correction is a complicated task, and for music content it is prone to audible artifacts. I uploaded a small sample file which contains a very demanding audio track for pitch correction:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/oetp1k

The audio is 44.1 kHz, so for a compliant DVD the sample rate must be converted to 48 kHz, then the audio has to be sped up from 23,976 fps to 25 fps, and on top of this the pitch has to be corrected to the original pitch.

I tried a couple of pitch changing software, but I could not get a satisfactory result, I finally gave up on pitch correction for this clip...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

12th April 2013, 15:28

Oh yes, the timestretch filter is able to do this.

Yes, you are right, an internal filter, my laziness... Thanks!

You also might want to consider to replace the ResampleAudio filter with the SSRC filter.

That's not so straightforward: SSRC does not accept all samplerates as input, while ResampleAudio is more permissive.
For example, if the source file has 22050 Hz, after AssumeFPS("pal_film", sync_audio=true), the script will yield 22992 Hz, that is rejected by SSRC.

I know that I could add some more IF..THEN..ELSE statements to understand if SSRC can be used (http://forum.doom9.org/archive/index.php/t-68207.html), but my ToDo list is so long...

It could be interesting to explore if a double SSRC (the first before AssumeFPS, the second after) is better or worse than a single ResampleAudio (after).

;)

Bye

MrC

15th April 2013, 21:09

AVStoDVD 2.7.0 Alpha 130412 is available to download.

Main change is the full replacement of QuEnc with FFmpeg (input AviSynth script).

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added possibility to customize authored Subtitles position ('Preferences'/'Authoring')
- Added 'AVS Audio Source Filter' in 'Preferences'/'AviSynth'
- Renamed 'AVS Source Filter' to 'AVS Video Source Filter' in 'Preferences'/'AviSynth'
- Replaced 'QuEnc CBR 1-pass' Video Encoding Profile with 'FFmpeg CBR 1-pass'
- Replaced QuEnc with FFmpeg for AC3 and MP2 encoding (QuEnc has been actually removed from AVStoDVD package)
- Added 'Use FFmpeg HQ Options' in 'Title Edit'/'Video'
- Added possibility to resize Jobs List window
- Improved titles media properties info management
- Improved SRT subtitles parsing routine
- Improved ASS to SRT conversion routine
- Improved log activity (reference to Help/FAQs section)
- Removed 'Save Log file in Output Folder at runtime' option in 'Preferences'/'Misc' (now it always saved)

;)

Bye

manolito

16th April 2013, 13:47

Have you revoked 2.70 Alpha? SourceForge has two folders 130412 and 130416, but they are empty.

Also may I ask why you decided to get rid of QuEnc altogether? Do you believe that ffmpeg delivers higher quality encodes at high bitrates than QuEnc, or do you have other reasons?

Cheers
manolito

MrC

16th April 2013, 14:31

Yes, exactly, Alpha 130412 had a critical bug during start operations, fixed with Alpha 130416 (http://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.7.0%20Alpha%20130416/AVStoDVD_270Alpha130416_NoInstall.7z/download). I'm uploading it right now, that's why the folder is still empty.

About QuEnc drop, I was thinking about that from a while (see VideoHelp thread (http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/277852-AVStoDVD-Support-Thread?p=2228999&viewfull=1#post2228999)). There are some small but annoying bugs like:

- wrong multi channels audio mapping
- framerate distorsion from 24fps to 23.976fps when using DSS
- poor multi cores cpu support: HCenc VBR 2-pass is faster than QuEnc CBR 1-pass on a quad core.
- Pentium4 HT crashes (very vintage, I know)

I know that QuEnc is a wonderful piece of software, a milestone for mpeg2 CBR encoding, but it is no more updated since years, while FFmpeg is still under development and its current mpeg2 CBR encoding is, IMO, very close to QuEnc in quality.

BTW I would like to have your opinions on this topic. Release 2.7.0 is still in Alpha stage...

;)

Bye

manolito

16th April 2013, 18:04

while FFmpeg is still under development and its current mpeg2 CBR encoding is, IMO, very close to QuEnc in quality.

As long as you succeed in finding a build which is not broken in some way...:p

But seriously, you are probably right about the QuEnc flaws. What has always bugged me about ffmpeg is that it cannot use custom quant matrices. AFAIK it still uses a linear quant scale (as opposed to HC and CCE which use exponential scales), and so it is more sensitive to a suitable matrix. But at the high bitrates it is used by AVStoDVD it probably will not matter...

I just did some test conversions with the latest Alpha, and everything worked.

The German language file should be modified like this (original entry is too long):
320025 FFmpeg HQ-Modus:

And in the subtitle positioning window the note at the bottom deserves its own entry in the language file. The German translation could be:

Positions-Werte gelten für Standard (4:3) und Breitbild (16:9) Seitenverhältnis
Length should be about right...

Plus a reminder for an earlier feature request (probably at the bottom of your ToDo list):
Can you add a value selection for normalizing audio? Of course I can ediit the AviSynth script, but it would be much nicer if the value could be set in the global options.

And at last one (probably stupid) question:
PAL Speedup only works for 23.976 fps sources. Why doesn't it also work for 24 fps sources?

Thanks very much for the new version

Cheers
manolito

yab_tater

16th April 2013, 18:12

Regarding the Menu Editor, on my current project I find myself wishing for OpenType font support and the ability to pick the text outline color. Right now, to get the look of the menu title the way I want it (using an OpenType font with a white outline), I am having to do all this in Gimp and lay in the text as part of the title background image. Its not a huge deal, but it is a shame to have to have to use an outside image editor to do something so basic. Any chance of adding OpenType font support and the ability to pick the text outline color in a future release? I am sorry to ask, I know people are always asking for something. :)

MrC

16th April 2013, 21:17

@manolito

I'm doing some comparative encoding tests with high bitrates (8500 kbps) and QuEnc (CBR), FFmpeg (CBR) and HCenc (VBR) using default settings and std matrix, starting from a blu ray source. I will post the results ASAP, because they are suprising me a lot.

Thanks for the german translations! Your support is always appreciated. :)

The custom normalization is low priority, but easy to implement, I think that the next alpha will include that.

Why only 23.976 fps? Well, because I always considered the NTSC->PAL SpeedUp option as an "extra flavour", since I prefer to use pulldown. BTW many people are using that, I can probably expand the scope to 24 fps and/or adding PAL->NTSC SpeedDown (25 to 23.976 then 3:2 pulldown to 29.97).

@yab_tater

first of all welcome there and do not mind to ask: new features requests are the lifeblood for AVStoDVD.

About OpenType: the support should already be there, since VB6 supports them. For example I can see and select 'Bookman Old Style', which is OTF, according to Windows Fonts Panel.

About outline color: it is possible since it is supported by ASS spec. I will put in the ToDo list. Be aware thant it will be not visible in the Edit Mode but in the Preview Mode yes.

;)

Bye

yab_tater

16th April 2013, 22:50

Thanks for the reply. The font I am trying to use is amira-semibold.otf -- I think it is the .otf file type that is throwing off the Menu Editor. About Bookman Old Style, at least on my installation of Windows, this family of fonts is all .ttf file type.

Regarding putting outline color on the ToDo list -- coool!!! :D

@manolito

About OpenType: the support should already be there, since VB6 supports them. For example I can see and select 'Bookman Old Style', which is OTF, according to Windows Fonts Panel.

About outline color: it is possible since it is supported by ASS spec. I will put in the ToDo list. Be aware thant it will be not visible in the Edit Mode but in the Preview Mode yes.

;)

Bye

MrC

16th April 2013, 23:18

@yab_tater

it seems that there are MS OpenType (still with extension ttf) and Adobe OpenType (extension otf). 'Bookman Old Style' has ttf extension but it is named 'OpenType' by Win7. Have you tried to rename 'amira-semibold.otf' to 'amira-semibold.ttf'? Just curious.

;)

Bye

manolito

16th April 2013, 23:45

Why only 23.976 fps? Well, because I always considered the NTSC->PAL SpeedUp option as an "extra flavour", since I prefer to use pulldown. BTW many people are using that, I can probably expand the scope to 24 fps and/or adding PAL->NTSC SpeedDown (25 to 23.976 then 3:2 pulldown to 29.97).

To the best of my knowledge the pros always use PAL speedup for NTSC to PAL conversions. I have never encountered a commercial DVD which used pulldown for the conversion.

IMO PAL->NTSC SpeedDown (25 to 23.976 then 3:2 pulldown to 29.97) is not that important. It does not matter too much if the pulldown is from 25 to 29.97, or if it is from 23.976 to 29.97. The visible judder will be pretty much the same. And for an interlaced PAL source the method will not work anyways.

I am really curious for your test results using different encoders at 8500 kbps. So far I always thought that at such a high bitrate all available encoders would give out results of practically identical visual quality.

Cheers
manolito

yab_tater

17th April 2013, 17:31

I just tried changing the file type to .ttf and the Menu Editor still did not pick it up in its font menu. The file size of the font is only 23K, would you me to send it to you?

@yab_tater

it seems that there are MS OpenType (still with extension ttf) and Adobe OpenType (extension otf). 'Bookman Old Style' has ttf extension but it is named 'OpenType' by Win7. Have you tried to rename 'amira-semibold.otf' to 'amira-semibold.ttf'? Just curious.

MrC

18th April 2013, 12:51

I am really curious for your test results using different encoders at 8500 kbps. So far I always thought that at such a high bitrate all available encoders would give out results of practically identical visual quality.

The goal of the test is to understand if FFmpeg (CBR) is equal or better than QuEnc (CBR), having HCenc (VBR) as reference.

The first trial was done starting from a AVC 1100kpbs low-res (640x360) clip, using default AVStoDVD settings with QuEnc, FFmpeg and HCenc. Differences are minimal for static scenes. For hi-motion scenes it seems that QuEnc is adding more artifacts (blockiness) than FFmpeg, the latter not so far from HCenc. See frames intervals: 2175->2192 and 4254->4304.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/bi73ng

The zip file contains 3 mpg's, the DGIndex project files and an AviSynth script to interleave the 3 streams.
Play the avs file with VirtualDub to have an easy forth and back.

The second trial I have done was starting from a AVC 8000kpbs full-hd clip. In that scenario, differences are really minimal, for both static and motion scenes, between all the 3 encoders.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/podap4

I just tried changing the file type to .ttf and the Menu Editor still did not pick it up in its font menu. The file size of the font is only 23K, would you me to send it to you?

Yes, please, send me the otf file (avstodvd@gmail.com).

;)

Bye

manolito

19th April 2013, 14:04

Thanks for the tests, I was surprised how good the ffmpeg encodes look...

using default AVStoDVD settings with QuEnc, FFmpeg and HCenc

Does that mean that QuEnc was running in HQ mode while ffmpeg was not? This would be even more surprising...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

19th April 2013, 17:00

Yes, I am quite surprised too. To be honest, there are some scenes where FFmpeg gives a more blurred image than QuEnc, which probably has some sharpening internal filter.

QuEnc 0.75alpha CL parameters (HQ):
-b 8500 -1 -hq -novbr -scene -trell -aspectratio 16:9 -nointerlaced -mpeg2mux noaudio -dc 10

FFmpeg N-46936 (Nov 2012) CL parameters (no HQ):
-threads 2 -aspect 16:9 -c:v mpeg2video -b:v 8500k -minrate 8500k -maxrate 8500k -bufsize 2000k -dc 10

;)

Bye

yab_tater

19th April 2013, 18:58

File sent -- thanks! :)

Yes, please, send me the otf file (avstodvd@gmail.com).

;)

Bye

MrC

22nd April 2013, 14:57

@yab_tater

try this 2.7.0 Alpha hotfix (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_270Alpha130422_exe_only.7z). Just overwrite the original AVStoDVD.exe file. Let me know.

;)

Bye

dipendotsFTW

23rd April 2013, 06:50

2 questions:
1.) i've been using the lav filters from k lite codec pack and enabled CUDA use in them, and it has worked very well with h264 and avc video. very speedy and great looking results. however, i couldn't get any form of mpeg2 video to default use the lav filters for this purpose. it defaults to ffdshow for video, but lav for splitter and audio. anyway i can fix that?
2.) are there any plans to implement dgdecodenv into avstodvd? i would love to get cuda support for indexed video.

thanks

MrC

23rd April 2013, 09:11

1.) i've been using the lav filters from k lite codec pack and enabled CUDA use in them, and it has worked very well with h264 and avc video. very speedy and great looking results. however, i couldn't get any form of mpeg2 video to default use the lav filters for this purpose. it defaults to ffdshow for video, but lav for splitter and audio. anyway i can fix that?

If you use Win7, download Win7DSFilterTweaker (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Preferred-Filter-Tweaker) and select your preferred directshow splitters/decoders for video and audio.

2.) are there any plans to implement dgdecodenv into avstodvd? i would love to get cuda support for indexed video.

AFAIK DGDecNV is not free and AVStoDVD supports only free software.

;)

Bye

dipendotsFTW

23rd April 2013, 18:08

If you use Win7, download Win7DSFilterTweaker (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Preferred-Filter-Tweaker) and select your preferred directshow splitters/decoders for video and audio.

AFAIK DGDecNV is not free and AVStoDVD supports only free software.

;)

Bye

for some reason, even after the win7dsfiltertweaker, i still couldn't get my .d2v to be rendered by lav filters. only the audio and splitter are running, even tried disabling ffdshow, still no luck.

also is there any mod i could do so that i could use dgdecnv, i have a paid version.

MrC

23rd April 2013, 20:07

Wait, the d2v (DGIndex indexing files) does not need DirectShowSource filters (LAV or ffdshow), they are frameserved with DGDecode.dll plugin. Therefore I cannot understand what you are trying to do.

About DGDecNV usage, you can easily tweak the AviSynth script directly in AVStoDVD. Go to 'Edit Title'/'AviSynth' and toggle off 'Auto AviSynth Script'. Then you can edit the script to use whatever plugin/function you want.

;)

Bye

manolito

23rd April 2013, 21:25

Talking about editing the AviSynth script...

I often need to import an external script file into my main script. The external script is NOT a function, it cannot be called by a function name. Instead it just has to be imported into the main script and executed as if it was a part of the main script (no parameters have to be passed).

To make this work in AVStoDVD I first tried it like this:

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Import("MyAVSScript.avs")

This does not work, I get an error message. The next try does work:

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Last = Video
Import("MyAVSScript.avs")
Video = Last

Is this the way to do it, or can it be done in a more elegant way?

Cheers
manolito

yab_tater

28th April 2013, 18:04

Sorry for the delay in giving this a try -- this past week was very busy at work. Regarding the hotfix, yes it works perfectly. The .otf Amira font is now visible in the Menu Editor font menu and it functions just like any of my .ttf type fonts. Thanks!!! :)

@yab_tater

try this 2.7.0 Alpha hotfix (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_270Alpha130422_exe_only.7z). Just overwrite the original AVStoDVD.exe file. Let me know.

;)

Bye

MrC

29th April 2013, 20:53

@manolito

I think that your solution is already elegant. If you want an alternative, let's assume that your script contains a Sharpen and Tweak filters. Recall the variable 'Video' in your script:

Video = Video.Sharpen(0.5).Tweak(0,1.1,0,1)

Then you can just add the line:

Import("MyAVSScript.avs")

to the main AVStoDVD script in a convenient point of the 'Video' chain calls.

@yab_tater

thanks for the feedback

;)

Bye

MrC

19th May 2013, 16:45

AVStoDVD 2.7.0 Alpha 130518 is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.7.0%20Alpha%20130518/).

Change log (+ are from previous alpha):

- Some bugs fixed
- Added possibility to customize authored Subtitles position ('Preferences'/'Authoring')
- Added 'AVS Audio Source Filter' in 'Preferences'/'AviSynth'
- Renamed 'AVS Source Filter' to 'AVS Video Source Filter' in 'Preferences'/'AviSynth'
- Replaced 'QuEnc CBR 1-pass' Video Encoding Profile with 'FFmpeg CBR 1-pass'
- Replaced QuEnc with FFmpeg for AC3 and MP2 encoding (QuEnc has been actually removed from AVStoDVD package)
- Added 'Use FFmpeg HQ Options' in 'Title Edit'/'Video'
- Added possibility to resize Jobs List window
+ Added Jobs List save and load routines
+ Added support of OpenType fonts for labels in 'DVD Menu Editor'
+ Added possibility to customize Normalization peak level in 'Preferences'/'Audio'
+ Added *DBPATH command to HCenc ini file
- Improved titles media properties info management
- Improved SRT subtitles parsing routine
- Improved ASS to SRT conversion routine
- Improved log activity (reference to Help/FAQs section)
+ Improved AviSynth Script generation routine (AddBorders now uses only mod 2 values)
- Removed 'Save Log file in Output Folder at runtime' option in 'Preferences'/'Misc' (now it always saved)

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

;)

Bye

dipendotsFTW

20th May 2013, 18:40

what video renderer would you recommend for optimal results? default Video Renderer? Enhanced Video Renderer? VMR9?

MrC

20th May 2013, 21:52

@dipendotsFTW

what are you referring to? Output setup in Media Player Classic? Somehow OT....

;)

Bye

manolito

21st May 2013, 00:25

Thanks very much MrC for the new version...

I did a few short test conversions, everything worked beautifully. No corrections to the German language file are required.

And special thanks for implementing the option to specify the value for audio normalization, much appreciated...:):)

Cheers
manolito

yab_tater

23rd May 2013, 00:08

I am working with the current alpha release and am having an issue where the video tracks in my finished DVDs are shorter than the original sources (causing audio de-sync). When I check my temporary folder, MediaInfo reports the encoded, un-muxed video tracks are the correct duration and they play fine (with no audio, of course). After muxing and authoring, the videos are missing just over one minute in duration from each approximately 25 minute video. The DVD has four videos, each with two language tracks and one subtitle track. The audio and subtitle tracks retain their correct durations and are in sync with each other. Do you have any thoughts as to what might be going wrong?

Thanks! :)

MrC

24th May 2013, 10:07

@manolito

thanks for the feedback ;)

@yab_tater

could you post the AVStoDVD project log file?

;)

Bye

yab_tater

25th May 2013, 19:20

could you post the AVStoDVD project log file?

Here you go -- thanks for the help! :)

MrC

26th May 2013, 14:57

@yab_tater

from the log file the 4 source files (mkv) and the 8 elementary output files (m2v, ac3) have all the same duration (24:29), thus there should not be issues during encoding. Do you mean that after authoring, the resulting DVD is missing 1 min video and audio is out-of-sync? Have you tried both with your PC and with a standalone DVD player?

Do you have the possibility to upload one mkv to test it?

;)

Bye

ggtop

29th May 2013, 22:06

Hi MrC,

I'm running into an error when using joining multiple source files. I load 20 avi dv (3,5 GB in total; ~ 20 min) into A2D and want to join them. The avs file is created and so on.
When loading the avs files avs2avi is started in the background but while the process is still there A2D reaches a 30sec threshold to throw an error. Result is that it cannot be loaded even though everything works fine but takes a bit longer (~1 min). Is there a workaround or can I customize the timeout?

BTW The error is reproducable with 2.60 and 2.70 beta

ggtop

MrC

31st May 2013, 12:39

Probably a safer approach would be to use VirtualDub to join the DVs and then load the resulting AVI into AVStoDVD.

;)

Bye

ggtop

31st May 2013, 21:04

Hi MrC,

maybe we have a little misunderstanding. I want to use A2D, because A2D takes over the clip boundaries as chapter points. Everything is fine but only the timeout is the culprit. Especially when running my laptop on battery and power mangenment is slowing down cpu 30 sec is not enough.
Would be great to switch the timeout off through settings.

ggtop

manolito

1st June 2013, 03:50

Hi MrC,

I just made some small test encodes using an interlaced TFF source to find out if ffmpeg handled this correctly. And I think there is a problem...

AVStoDVD uses these ffmpeg parameters:
-flags +ilme -top 1

But I believe it should be like this:
-flags ildct+ilme -alternate_scan 1 -top 1

Could you please do some research and verify the parameters...;)

(This is the main reason I do not like ffmpeg that much... Terrible documentation, and the interface changes all the time without any regard for backward compatibility)

Cheers
manolito

MrC

1st June 2013, 15:04

@ggtop

ok, now I understand. I can add a question msgbox to retry with a longer timeout.

@manolito

I agree about the doc, it is so inadeguate for all the options ffmpeg has. ;)

As far as I have understood, 'ilme' is the real necessary flag to tell ffmpeg to encode interlaced material. 'ildct' should apply a dc transformation, but I have read users complaining of slow encoding. Probably it could be added for HQ encoding. I have found no mentions to 'alternate_scan' in the ffmpeg build I use for AVStoDVD.

;)

Bye

manolito

2nd June 2013, 01:05

As far as I have understood, 'ilme' is the real necessary flag to tell ffmpeg to encode interlaced material. 'ildct' should apply a dc transformation, but I have read users complaining of slow encoding. Probably it could be added for HQ encoding. I have found no mentions to 'alternate_scan' in the ffmpeg build I use for AVStoDVD.

For alternate_scan I only found something on the Avanti website:
http://avanti.arrozcru.com/tpl_upd.htm
I think that this parameter is a must for interlaced encodes.

For 'ildct' I'm not sure. I did a test conversion with and without it, speed was identical, I think it won't hurt to use it (there must be a reason that this parameter exists).

Anyways, the ffmpeg version you use does support all these parameters for interlaced. ffmpeg usually throws an error if it encounters a parameter it does not know, and this is not the case here.

So I would lobby to use the full set of interlaced parameters all the time.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

2nd June 2013, 09:44

@manolito

since the output of a 'ilme' only conversion seems to be ok (from mediainfo report) and adding 'ildct' and 'alternate_scan' does produce the same output (better in quality?), let's ask to the community, maybe they can give us some hints:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=167995
http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/356455-FFmpeg-and-mpeg2-interlaced-encoding?p=2245175

;)

Bye

manolito

2nd June 2013, 16:31

Another example for the miserable state off ffmpeg documentation:

-flags +ilme+ildct+alt -top 1

You still find this in the current ffmpeg online documentation, but since early 2012 the '-flags alt' paramter does not work any more. For current versions of ffmpeg you have to use '-alternate_scan 1' instead.

I still remember how long it took me to find this when WinFF was upgraded and used a newer ffmpeg version. And from all the different forum comments I can only assume that almost nobody uses ffmpeg for encoding interlaced content...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

2nd June 2013, 16:43

Thanks manolito for the useful and patient research over the web. FFmpeg is really a nice piece of sw, but probably its scope has somehow "exploded" during the years.

BTW, coming back on topic, using only 'ilme', have you found any theoretical or visual issues in the output mpeg2? I have planned to release 2.7.0 Final (with only 'ilme') tomorrow, I would not like to release a bugfix the day after...

;)

Bye

manolito

2nd June 2013, 17:20

Not sure about 'ildct', but IMO '-alternate_scan 1' should be set for every interlaced encode.

Have a look here (I have no idea how old this is...)
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/FFMPEG_An_Intermediate_Guide/Flags_Flags#ilme

My personal preference would be to also set 'ildct' for all interlaced encodes...

Chees
manolito

MrC

3rd June 2013, 11:21

Ok, I finally surrender ;)

-flags +ilme+ildct -alternate_scan 1

will be the command.

:)

Bye

manolito

3rd June 2013, 14:57

Thanks...:):devil:

Cheers
manolito

MrC

7th June 2013, 19:47

AVStoDVD 2.7.0 final is out. Interlaced encoding improvements w/ FFmpeg and increased timeout to 60s for AviSynth sources reading.

;)

Bye

manolito

8th June 2013, 19:44

Beautiful, thank you very much...

I did a few short test conversions using interlaced sources with ffmpeg, no problems, the ffmpeg parameters are perfect.

Cheers
manolito

Taurus

9th June 2013, 16:25

Where to find AVStoDVD 2.7.0 final?
On the Homepage and Videohelp still the 2.6.0.
Only Alpha 2.7.0 visible.
Thank you.

manolito

9th June 2013, 16:39

No problem here...

http://i42.tinypic.com/bhfu9u.jpg

Maybe your browser is caching an older sourceforge page?

Cheers
manolito

Taurus

9th June 2013, 18:00

Strange, this has never happened to me.
Even after loading the webadress with a new request, still the old version was showing.
But clearing the browser cache did the trick.
Finally 2.7.0 on Soundforge was showing up.
So, thank you manolito and of course MrC for steady updating AVStoDVD.

Reino

20th June 2013, 22:13

Hi MrC,

Normally I stay as far away from dvds as possible, but last week I made some camera shots from a friend's wedding and he asked me if I could burn it on dvd.
I've once used DVDFlick in the past, but that's all. Now I decided to install and give AVStoDVD a try. In the end I managed to create a nice dvd, but with quite some effort.

It turns out the custom Avisynth-script I enter in the "Title Edit"-Avisynth-tab isn't saved for the encoding process. In the end it does end up in the log-file (see below), but the Avisynth-script that AVStoDVD creates in the system's Temp directory to work with, will always be the "Auto AviSynth Script"!
When I untick "Auto AviSynth Script" and then press any key, the text becomes red, while it first was black. What's that about?

This is the source and my script:
<20-6-2013 19:57:30>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: D:\Trouwerij\script_dvd.avs
Info: AviSynth - 0 kbps - 1920x1080 - DAR 1 - 50 fps (CFR) - 34:36 minutes - 103830 frames
Audio 1: D:\Trouwerij\script_dvd.avs
Info: AviSynth - 0 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 34:36 minutes (0 ms delay)
[A2DInfo.avsi]
<>

<20-6-2013 19:57:30>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
vid1=FFMpegSource2("D:\Trouwerij\00002.mkv", atrack=-1)
vid2=FFMpegSource2("D:\Trouwerij\00003.mkv", atrack=-1).FadeOut(100)
vid3=FFMpegSource2("D:\Trouwerij\00004.mkv", atrack=-1).FadeIO(100)
vid4=FFMpegSource2("D:\Trouwerij\00005.mkv", atrack=-1).FadeIn(100)

vid=vid1+vid2+vid3+vid4

Video=vid.FadeIO(200)
Video=Video.Spline64Resize(720,576).SelectEven()
Audio=vid.FadeIO(400)
AudioDub(Video,Audio)
<>
AVStoDVD's working script would always be:
Audio = Import("D:\Trouwerij\script_dvd.avs")
Video = Import("D:\Trouwerij\script_dvd.avs")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Spline64Resize(720,576,0,420,0,-420)
Video = Video.SelectEven()

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
I think you can imagine what a horribly stretched video that would become!

I luckily found a work-around however:
- Start the encoding process and abort right away.
- Delete the log-file it just created in the source-directory.
- Open an Explorer window and go to C:\DOCUME~1\<username>\LOCALS~1\Temp (WinXP) or C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp (Win7)
- Start the encoding process again.
- A message appears (for only a minute or so) that the m2v-file it tries to create in the C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\My Videos (WinXP) or C:\Users\<username>\Videos\ (Win7) directory already exists, with the question whether or not to overwrite it.
- This gives you some time to open AVStoDVD's working script in the system's Temp directory, copy-paste your custom Avisynth script and to save it.

Surely this wasn't your intention with AVStoDVD I hope?!

Oh, and another thing.
Apparently AVStoDVD does save the custom chapter-list in the a2d-file, but fails to load the list upon reopening the project.

MrC

22nd June 2013, 15:46

@CoRoNe

it seems you have found a nice bug in the 2.7.0 release! :)

The AviSynth script becomes red when the user changes something and it is inteded to be used instead of auto script. This feature is unfortunately broken in 2.7.0 release (it works until 2.6.0).

About the excessive letterboxing, it is caused by the wrong aspect ratio detected in the source AviSynth file (1 vs 1.778). You can tweak the DAR by using 'Title'/'Edit Source Title Info'/'Video Display Aspect Ratio'. Insert 1.778 instead of 1. At last you can avoid all the stop-and-go process.

About the chapters list not loaded, I know there's that issue. Anyway, thanks for the report.

Within few days I should publish a new 2.7.1 release with all these annoying things (and some more) fixed.

;)

Bye

Reino

22nd June 2013, 20:30

I created the dvd on a family member's laptop (Win7), because with it's quad-core Intel Core i5 cpu it's much more powerful than the AMD Athlon XP 3200+ in my own computer (yes, it's that old! :p) (WinXP). However, I wanted to see if the custom-Avisynth-script-issue was a computer-specific issue, so I installed AVStoDVD on my pc as well, only to find out it can't load Avisynth-scripts:
Cannot find 'C:\DOCUME~1\Admin\LOCALS~1\Temp\AVSInfo.txt' (Timeout 60 seconds).

script_dvd.avs for testing purposes, on both computers, consists only of:
FFMpegSource2("D:\Trouwerij\00005.mkv", atrack=-1)
AVSInfo.avs I changed to:
Import("C:\Program Files\Media\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DInfo.avsi")
A2DInfo("D:\Trouwerij\script_dvd.avs", "D:\Trouwerij\AVSInfo.txt", true)
When I then run manually put AVSInfo.avs through avs2avi.exe, on the laptop I get:
AVS2AVI v1.39 (c) 2002-2004:
Christophe Paris, David Leatherdale, int21h, Moitah
http://www.avs2avi.org/

Source:
* Filename: "D:\Trouwerij\AVSInfo.avs"
* FourCC: YV12
* Frames: 250
* Resolution: 1920x1080
* Frame rate: 2.841 FPS
Compressor:
* No Recompression
Destination:
* Format: Null
* Pass 1/1: Finished in 00:00:10.620 (23.54 FPS)
* Frames: 250 (250 keyframes)
* Size: 741.58 MB
and AVSInfo.txt:
[Video Info]
HasVideo: 1
Width: 1920
Height: 1080
Framecount: 4440
Framerate: 50.000000
VideoTime: 88800

[Audio Info]
HasAudio: 1
AudioLength: 4260864
AudioRate: 48000
AudioChannels: 2
AudioTime: 88000

# ASCII file generated by A2DInfo
[Video Info]
HasVideo: 1
Width: 1920
Height: 1080
Framecount: 4440
Framerate: 50.000000
VideoTime: 88800

[Audio Info]
HasAudio: 1
AudioLength: 4260864
AudioRate: 48000
AudioChannels: 2
AudioTime: 88000

# ASCII file generated by A2DInfo

but on my computer I get:
AVS2AVI v1.39 (c) 2002-2004:
Christophe Paris, David Leatherdale, int21h, Moitah
http://www.avs2avi.org/

Source:
* Filename: "D:\Trouwerij\AVSInfo.avs"
* FourCC: None (RGB32)
* Frames: 240
* Resolution: 616x104
* Frame rate: 24.000 FPS
Compressor:
* No Recompression
Destination:
* Format: Null
* Pass 1/1: Finished in 00:00:00.245 (979.59 FPS)
* Frames: 240 (240 keyframes)
* Size: 58.65 MB
and no AVSInfo.txt.

It doesn't look like this is AVStoDVD's fault, but rather that there's something seriously wrong with avs2avi.exe (running on old hardware).
Do you have any idea?

Thanks for your effort and thanks in advance for 2.7.1! ;)

MrC

24th June 2013, 20:55

It could be that, with the Athlon, 60 seconds timeout is not enough to complete the A2DInfo routine, with the more load due to the full indexing made by FFMpegSource2. Have you tried to switch to DirectShowSource? Since DSS does not require the full indexing, the A2DInfo output should be faster.

;)

Bye

qyot27

25th June 2013, 06:37

but on my computer I get:
AVS2AVI v1.39 (c) 2002-2004:
Christophe Paris, David Leatherdale, int21h, Moitah
http://www.avs2avi.org/

Source:
* Filename: "D:\Trouwerij\AVSInfo.avs"
* FourCC: None (RGB32)
* Frames: 240
* Resolution: 616x104
* Frame rate: 24.000 FPS
Compressor:
* No Recompression
Destination:
* Format: Null
* Pass 1/1: Finished in 00:00:00.245 (979.59 FPS)
* Frames: 240 (240 keyframes)
* Size: 58.65 MB
and no AVSInfo.txt.

It doesn't look like this is AVStoDVD's fault, but rather that there's something seriously wrong with avs2avi.exe (running on old hardware).
Do you have any idea?
The resolution is 616x104 and it's reporting RGB32 as the colorspace. That's AviSynth generating an error response. Chances are that you'd see a fully-fledged error message video if you tried playing the script in Windows Media Player 6.4 (or tried opening it in an ffmpeg git build from after 2013-03-21, in which case the error message would be printed right there in the Command Prompt).

Although it's equally true that 'there's something wrong with avs2avi', but it has nothing to do with old hardware. It's just that avs2avi is old [and mostly(?) unmaintained] and the stuff it distilled from VirtualDub hasn't been updated in years...possibly not since 2004. If anything, it's more likely that avs2avi would stop working with newer versions of Windows and/or AviSynth than it would with older versions of either of them.

cweb

25th June 2013, 09:44

I'm using the latest SET version of Avisynth 2.6.
Just trying some tests and noticed that when I use HC under AVStoDVD it keeps crashing immediately. I'm using Win7 64-bit and AVStoDVD can't find avisynth even if it's there...

MrC

25th June 2013, 10:22

cweb

25th June 2013, 14:21

@qyot27

actually Avs2Avi can be easily replaced with FFmpeg for NULL output encoding. Will do.

@cweb

I have never checked the compatibility between AviSynth 2.6 and AVStoDVD. Any other users experiences?

;)

Bye
I then chose ffmpeg instead of henc and AVStoDVD worked correctly. I hadn't used henc recently, perhaps I Should see if it is working for me directly with my avisynth 2.6.
Thanks.

MrC

25th June 2013, 19:58

@cweb

thanks for the feedback about FFmpeg/HCenc. Pls keep us informed if you get other issues with AviSynth 2.6.

;)

Bye

Reino

25th June 2013, 20:22

Chances are that you'd see a fully-fledged error message video if you tried playing the script in Windows Media Player 6.4Why didn't I think of that?! This is what MPC-BE returns (absolutely no WMP on my computer!):
I don't know what "ruturn" means
(jdl-util.avsi, line 492)
(C:\Program Files\Media\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DInfo.avsi, line 11)
(D:\Trouwerij\AVSInfo.avs, line 2)Wtf?! jdl-util.avsi resides in Avisynth's plugin-dir, and yes, it seems it has a typo at line 492, but although I can't see anything fishy going on in A2DInfo.avsi, does it scan my entire Avisynth's plugin-dir for syntax errors or something? :p

After correcting the typo in jdl-util.avsi:
AVS2AVI v1.39 (c) 2002-2004:
Christophe Paris, David Leatherdale, int21h, Moitah
http://www.avs2avi.org/

Source:
* Filename: "D:\Geele Bosch\Trouwerij\AVSInfo.avs"
* FourCC: YV12
* Frames: 250
* Resolution: 1920x1080
* Frame rate: 2.841 FPS
Compressor:
* No Recompression
Destination:
* Format: Null
* Pass 1/1: Finished in 00:00:37.103 (6.74 FPS)
* Frames: 250 (250 keyframes)
* Size: 741.58 MB...and AVStoDVD can open the script as well. :thanks:

@ cweb: Running Avisynth 2.6.0 Alpha 4 [130114] I encoded the wedding shots with HCenc (2-pass) without any problems.

cweb

25th June 2013, 20:31

@cweb

thanks for the feedback about FFmpeg/HCenc. Pls keep us informed if you get other issues with AviSynth 2.6.

;)

Bye
thanks .. I will.

qyot27

25th June 2013, 23:30

@qyot27

actually Avs2Avi can be easily replaced with FFmpeg for NULL output encoding. Will do.
Another option would be AVSMeter (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=165528), as its output is roughly similar to avs2avi's. Example:
AVSMeter 1.5.2 by Groucho2004
AviSynth 2.60, build:May 16 2012 [03:31:34]
Active MT Mode: 0

Number of frames: 6681
Length (hhh:mm:ss.ms): 000:04:27.240
Frame width: 720
Frame height: 480
Framerate: 25.000 (25000/1000)
Colorspace: YV12

Frames processed: 28 (0 - 27)
FPS (min | max | average): 4.96 | 10.42 | 6.43
CPU usage (average): 93%
Thread count: 1
Physical Memory usage (peak): 95 MB
Virtual Memory usage (peak): 103 MB
Time (elapsed): 000:00:04.357

Using post-March 21st builds of FFmpeg has one glaring caveat concerning AviSynth: 2.5.8 doesn't like it one bit (http://ffmpeg.org/trac/ffmpeg/ticket/2526), and any source loading filter causes 2.5.8 to crash with the new demuxer. 2.6 and AvxSynth (the latter has no bearing on AVStoDVD) have no problems with it. This would also include the upcoming release of FFmpeg 1.3, unless the 2.5.8 issue either gets fixed in the interim or it's something further down inside of FFmpeg (or libavformat) that requires some other change to cope with it.

A way of getting around this I guess would be to query AviSynth, and if 2.5.7 or 2.5.8 is detected, fall back to an older version of FFmpeg that uses the old demuxer (point release 1.2.1 would be a good candidate, IMO). Either that or use it as an excuse to make people upgrade to 2.6, but that's mean and a little lopsided since x264 uses the same type of dynamic loading method that FFmpeg is now using, and it has no problems with 2.5.8.

MrC

26th June 2013, 12:35

@qyot27

thanks for pointing to AVSMeter and for the info on recent FFmpeg builds. Luckily (my laziness...) the FFmpeg package currently shipped with AVStoDVD is dated Nov 2012, prior release 1.1.

;)

Bye

Big Vern

28th June 2013, 17:59

Mr C.
I had to do a fresh install of windows 7 64bit ultimate. Now, when I try to use AVStoDVD 2.7.0, HCenc just sits there and does nothing for about 15 seconds, then it says its not responding. I have tried the latest versions of ffdshow and haali splitter. I even uninstalled them and AVStoDVD, rebooted, then used everything from your package, and HCenc is still hanging and not responding. I cannot for the life of me fathom out what has gone wrong? Is there a config file or something I can upload that you can look at to see if there is any conflicting software? I have not installed new from what I was using 2 days ago when AVStoDVD was working great.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Regards...

***EDIT***
Sorted, forgot to run "Win7DSFilterTweaker". All is good now :)

manolito

2nd July 2013, 23:43

MrC

3rd July 2013, 21:46

Any news on this?

Half way 2.7.0 hotfix, half way 2.7.1 alpha (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_271_Alpha_130702_exe_only.7z)

;)

Bye

manolito

3rd July 2013, 23:56

Thanks, already doing a conversion with it...:D

Cheers
manolito

manolito

5th July 2013, 21:44

Originally Posted by MrC
@CoRoNe

it seems you have found a nice bug in the 2.7.0 release!

The AviSynth script becomes red when the user changes something and it is inteded to be used instead of auto script. This feature is unfortunately broken in 2.7.0 release (it works until 2.6.0).

FYI I just did a conversion using a slightly edited AviSynth script, and this edited script was in fact used for the conversion (according to the log file). So I guess this feature is at least partly working in version 2.7.0

Sorry, I spoke too soon, the current 2.7.1 alpha does not fix the issue...:eek:

The general log file for the conversion tells me that the edited AviSynth script was used, but the individual .avs files show that this is not true.

Going back to 2.6.0 for the moment...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

10th July 2013, 20:55

@manolito

the summer is tragic... New hotfix (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_271_Alpha130708_exe_only.7z)

;)

Bye

manolito

11th July 2013, 00:41

@manolito

the summer is tragic...

Really this tragic? Are you talking just about the weather or the general political situation or the fact that all of us are spied upon by the Americans and the British? :angry:

Whatever, no need to get too depressed. The new hotfix works beautifully, the edited AviSynth script is now really executed...:D

Thanks a lot,

Cheers
manolito

MrC

11th July 2013, 11:20

It was a mention to a 90's dance song "The summer is magic" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Summer_Is_Magic).

BTW, for some personal reasons, this is a really tough period: I would deserve more time to AVStoDVD, but recently I just can give some support on the forums.

;)

Bye

manolito

11th July 2013, 16:34

Hi MrC,
I am very sorry to hear this. I hope you and your family are in good health. All my best wishes...

Cheers
manolito

Sparktank

19th July 2013, 03:02

An interesting issue I came across recently.

The Short Story:
Problem: Portable (NoInstall) will not start.
Symptom: "Run-time error '383' 'Text' property is read-only"
Solution: install A2D (of the same version that matches the portable version and then the portable version will run).

AviSynth versions:

AviSynth 2.5.8 then...
AviSynth 2.6.0 Alpha4 [Jan 14th, 2013] (IanB)
Avisynth 2.6 MT [2013.03.09] (SEt)

FFDshow version:
K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 9.9.5 [ffdshow 1.3.4513]

User Accounts:
One only, me, the Administrator (so no need to run with elevated privileges).

The LONG Story:

I had to reformat, reinstall my Windows XP machine (x86, SP3) but after doing the long-winded MS updates and getting around to reinstalling all my programs...

I went to setup the NoInstall (portable) version of AVStoDVD 2.7.0 (stable).
I've never really installed it before. I've always used the portable version and updated some of the libraries manually.
Normally, updating libraries (ffmpeg, etc) didn't cause any compatibility issues with using A2D.

But for the longest time, I've been getting a "Run-time error '383' 'Text' property is read-only" error.
I've seen several in this forum and in the comment section on the VideoHelp mirrored page commenting on the same issue.
I know it doesn't offer much in itself as to what the problem is.

Extensive google searches shows it has something to do with one of the dialogue/pop-up boxes in VB6.
I do have the VB6 control placed and registered. I even unregistered and reregistered it.

I saw one search result where you suggested to delete the registry and let itself recreate the registry key for the '383' error.
I've checked the registry for any AVStoDVD keys and made sure to delete them and let A2D rewrite them.
I did registry cleaning/defragging and deleted the manually updated components went back to the original NoInstall archive.

I tried using older portable versions: 2.6.0, 2.5.0.

I also tried to right-click on the portable program and try with different "compatibility" settings.
Nothing.

I also tried to right-click on the portable program and try running the program with different privilege settings.
"Run as..." > Current User > [no] Protect my computer...
Nothing.
"Run as..." > Current User > [yes] Protect my computer...
The splash screen showed up and then nothing.
The task manager showed the program was running at nearly 95% CPU usage.
I had to terminate the process forcibly.

I couldn't get anything to work.

Until!

Finally, I decided, as a last resort, to run the installer for A2D with the latest stable version that matches the latest stable portable version.
All extra installations were left blank due the components already being installed.
However, just for safe measure, I checked the VB6 control to make an "official" install of the VB6 control.

Success! :)

After installation, I was able to start the program and finally see the opening quick selection!
I then went into the installed program and set up all the program settings to my preference and then closed it.
I ran the portable version and it ran successfully as well!

I have no idea if uninstalling A2D will affect the portable version or not.
I'll test that after I convert some movies.
I guess the portable version wouldn't write anything to the registry? :confused:

I thought I might post this in case others with the same 383 error might get a better idea of how to go about troubleshooting their own problem.
I have no idea if it's exclusive to only portable versions or if having it previously installed has any effect.

That's all the information I can provide, too.
I don't have any debuggers or diagnostic utilities to help narrow down the cause for the 383 error.

Hope that helps and hope you're doing well.

Since I lost the usability of the front-end to A2D, I've been toying with HCenc using the .ini and some avs scripts. :devil:
'Twas a fun learning experience, lol.

On a side note, there was a few instances where I noticed the visual quality had dropped significantly and something happened between the first pass and the final encoding pass.
I'm not sure what it was, nor do I remember how my scripting was back then.
But I remember doing some 10 minute tests and used the *LOSSLESS switch in the manual HCenc encoding.
Quality was retained from the initial pass to the encoding pass.

Though, I imagine my scripting back then was very amateurish which resulted in the quality loss between the two passes.

Although, the lossless switch does take up a lot of GB in file size (not for everyone), but...

Request:
Can we get the option to use the *LOSSLESS switch in HCenc?
Maybe an option to set the lossless path as well?

Thanks, again for everything you've put into this bundle. :)

MrC

19th July 2013, 12:53

@Spartank

thanks for the detailed report! ;)

the "Run-time error '383' 'Text' property is read-only" VB6 message happens when the program is trying to set an invalid value to a control, i.e. a ComboBox or a TabStrip or an ItemList.

During startup AVStoDVD looks if there is the HKCU/Software/AVStoDVD registry key and try to load the preferences values written in that key.

If in the AVStoDVD registry key are stored invalid values (because of user tweaking them or due to old version preferences values no more supported), then the error msg pop out.

That's why, in case of those errors, I usually suggest to uninstall the previous versions using the uninstaller or by manually delete the reg key if the portable version is used. Moreover there is the 'Options'/'Restore Default Preferences' command that roughly delete the reg key.

About the *LOSSLESS command in HCenc, do you know that you can easily add it the the HCenc ini script by activating the 'Edit Command Parameters at runtime' option?

;)

Bye

Sparktank

20th July 2013, 00:15

'Edit Command Parameters at runtime'

:facepalm:

Haha, I somehow managed to completely look past that and see it only as a cosmetic design.

Thanks for the reminder. ;)

EDIT: Also, thanks for the detailed explanation. Best so far from all the google searches.

Big Vern

28th July 2013, 11:43

Sparktank

28th July 2013, 12:51

Mr. C or anyone else.
Does Cinema Craft Encoder work with this tool? I did search the thread for cinema craft encoder but got only 2 references, and no answer as to whether it does or not.

Regards...

You actually have to search using quotes for "CCE" (as it is less than four letters).

But it was no longer supported since version 1.2.0.

@Marvel

thanks for your good opinion. About CCE, support to it has been discontinued since release 1.2.0 (November 2007) because I have chosen to support only free software, and I have no plan to reintroduce it. Sorry.

;)

Bye

MrC

30th July 2013, 16:50

AVStoDVD release 2.7.1 is available (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.7.1/).

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added errors check just after IDX/SUB and SRT subtitles external files loading
- Added 'Fix IDX' routine for IDX/SUB subtitles
- Added assets folder free disc space check at project start up
- Added 'Full Preview' option in DVD Menu Editor
- Replaced Avs2Avi with FFmpeg for NULL encoding purposes (Avs2Avi has been actually removed from AVStoDVD package)
- Improved ReadAVSInfo routine
- Improved 'Open Project' routine (now it detects media files as wrong input and switch to 'Add Title' routine)
- Improved 'Fix SRT' routine for authored subtitles
- Improved ASS subtitles parsing routine
- Improved log activity

;)

Bye

Big Vern

31st July 2013, 17:32

Trying to convert to DVD9 dual-layer and keep getting this error in ImgBurn.

It happens every time I try and do a dual-layer disc, DVD5s are fine! Am I missing an option here to set the layer break in AVStoDVD?

MrC

31st July 2013, 20:12

@Big Vern

see Help/FAQ/Burning/Q7.2

;)

Bye

Big Vern

1st August 2013, 06:15

@Big Vern

see Help/FAQ/Burning/Q7.2

;)

Bye

Thank you Mr. C ;)

Reino

4th August 2013, 16:56

AVStoDVD release 2.7.1 is available (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.7.1/)...

The custom-Avisynth-script-issue is gone now. Thank you, MrC.

qyot27

17th August 2013, 18:30

Using post-March 21st builds of FFmpeg has one glaring caveat concerning AviSynth: 2.5.8 doesn't like it one bit (http://ffmpeg.org/trac/ffmpeg/ticket/2526), and any source loading filter causes 2.5.8 to crash with the new demuxer. 2.6 and AvxSynth (the latter has no bearing on AVStoDVD) have no problems with it. This would also include the upcoming release of FFmpeg 1.3, unless the 2.5.8 issue either gets fixed in the interim or it's something further down inside of FFmpeg (or libavformat) that requires some other change to cope with it.
Updates.

'1.3' wasn't used as the version number; it was actually released as FFmpeg 2.0. It still has the problematic behavior with 2.5.8.

FFmpeg 2.0.1 includes a stopgap fix that prevents video from loading if 2.5 is detected and warns the user to upgrade to 2.6. Audio can still be handled through 2.5.8, just so long as the script doesn't try to hand video to FFmpeg (in other words, KillVideo() or loading audio-only files works; this is also true of 2.0, but the difference is that 2.0.1 won't crash if you accidentally try to give it video through 2.5.8).

The current git master of FFmpeg (as of 4 hours ago; as I'm typing this post it's the second-to-newest commit) contains a true fix that allows 2.5.8 to fully work properly once more. So projecting this to some future release, it'd be either a '2.0.2' or a '2.1', unless it gets a major version bump again.

MrC

18th August 2013, 15:33

@qyot27

thanks for the very interesting update. Hopefully the FFmpeg developers will continue to support AviSynth scripts in upcoming releases. Meanwhile I will stick to Nov 2012 version.

Keep us updated!

;)

Bye

qyot27

18th August 2013, 18:57

I wouldn't worry about AviSynth support being dropped, it's simply that the AviSynth demuxer received a very long overdue upgrade* this year and getting it completely back up to speed has just taken several months. Now that 2.5 works with it again, I'd say it's on an equal level to where it was before the rewrite, except with the added bonuses that it can work on Linux and OSX now (by using AvxSynth), and it outputs its error messages to FFmpeg's logging functions which displays it on stdout/stderr rather than writing an error video you have to watch in order to diagnose it. I can personally attest that using it with 2.6 seems to be rock-solid.

You'll also note that generally, the AviSynth demuxer tends to be really stable, and rarely needs fixing. There's only one page of commits that refer to AviSynth when you search on FFmpeg's git repo, only 38 commits (some of which are actually merges and a couple that only mention AviSynth but don't touch its demuxer), and a good half of them are from this year and concern the new demuxer. So that's roughly 20 commits over the 6½ years that FFmpeg used the old version. Now that the new one is more or less on equal ground, the commits on it will probably drop off like the old one's did and it'll just be about making sure it still compiles whenever libavformat's API changes.

*The old AviSynth demuxer relied on accessing scripts through Video for Windows. The new demuxer loads and uses avisynth.dll (or libavxsynth.[so|dylib]) directly. x264 underwent a similar transition from VfW to direct loading in late 2009, which is why I said that it was long overdue on FFmpeg's side.

manolito

18th August 2013, 23:32

Hi qyot27,

I do appreciate your helpful comments about ffmpeg compatibility with different versions of AviSynth very much, but this also triggers a real bad ranting about ffmpeg development (this is in no way directed at you)...

I come from the very old days of IBM compatible computers, and backward compatability was everything at this time. When Apple came into the game, they had a very different attitude about backward compatibility, and this was always one of the reasons I hated Apple.

Now the ffmpeg developpers release versions which only work with AviSynth 2.6 which is still Alpha. Are they crazy? Alpha means that it should not be used in productive environments.

I try to avoid ffmpeg as much as I can, but this is not always possible. I have at least 5 different ffmpeg versions on my computer, and if the version which came with a specific software actually works, I am happy. But in reality this is not always the case.

One example is WinFF. They try to use current versions of ffmpeg, but often they fail to update their templates for yet another change in the ffmpeg command line interface. I spent a lot of time to debug these things or to find a different ffmpeg version which actually worked.

ffmpeg documentation is another problem, in most cases the documentation which comes with a specific ffmpeg version is faulty and does not match the actual ffmpeg version.

My conclusion is that ffmpeg is a prime example how distributed software development should NOT be done. Pure chaos...

OK, this is OT for this thread, but I had to get this out!

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

19th August 2013, 01:47

Now the ffmpeg developpers release versions which only work with AviSynth 2.6 which is still Alpha. Are they crazy? Alpha means that it should not be used in productive environments.
That it only worked with 2.6 (video-wise; 2.5.8 did still work for audio) was an honest oversight. In this case I'll willingly shoulder a lot of the blame for not realizing this since I helped test the patches back in February and March and have periodically submitted follow-up patches (including the one that fixes it with 2.5.8) on a couple of the issues the new demuxer has.

As SEt notes here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1564368#post1564368), though, 2.6 is not alpha as far as stability goes. There was also another quote that I can't find now where someone - I can't remember who - admitted that the 2.6 builds were being used as a sort of '2.5.9' since it's been so long since the last release (2.5.8 was released nearly 5 years ago, after all) and it resolves many of the bugs that 2.5.8 had. I'd say that assessment isn't far off from reality, even given some of the recent big changes that have occurred.

fantasmanegro

6th September 2013, 16:54

i was trying to encode with last avstodvd 2.7.1... but hcenc crash at second pass in 65%... no log in temp files...

any clue?

MrC

8th September 2013, 20:15

fantasmanegro

9th September 2013, 19:16

1. Does it crash with every input title?

2. Have you tried to use FFMpegSource instead of A2DSource?

3. Have you tried to switch to FFmpeg CBR 1-pass?

The project log file would be helpful, even the project has not ended.

;)

Bye

there is no log... i was using lavf as splitter and ffdshow as decoder... but yesterday i changed from a2dsource to FFMPEGSource and Lavf to Haali and there was no error...

when i was using lavf there was no error message in hcenc, but after start using haali, there was a warning in hcenc about different frames in second pass...

this is the first time i'm having "bugs" with avstodvd... not before...

it's working right now...

MrC

10th September 2013, 08:03

there is no log...

not possible, look in output folder, there is a .log file with the same name of your project.

Meanwhile, thanks for the report.

;)

Bye

EpheMeroN

1st October 2013, 18:42

AVStoDVD (latest version) works fine on my WinXP system at home. But on my Win7 x64 system it crashes every single time. See attached log. Whatever you need to figure this out I will provide! Thanks.

<10/1/2013 7:31:12 AM>
START PROCESS
<>

<10/1/2013 7:31:12 AM>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: NTSC
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 4449/4450 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD Folder
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: C:\Users\user1\Videos
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Show Progress Status window

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline16Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 1
PAL SpeedUp: 0
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Level 1: 6500
Video Profile Level 2: 4500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 448
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 18pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: D: TSSTcorp DVD-ROM TS-H353C D100
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 0
Adjust ffdshow at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0
<>

<10/1/2013 7:31:12 AM>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: C:\Vids\the.town.that.dreaded.sundown.mkv
Info: AVC - 5446 kbps - 1280x544 - DAR 2.353 - 23.976 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 1:29:54 hours - 129327 frames
Audio 1: C:\Vids\the.town.that.dreaded.sundown.mkv
Info: DTS - 1509 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 24 bit - 1:29:54 hours (0 ms delay) - EN
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.61]
<>

<10/1/2013 7:31:12 AM>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

Video = A2DVideoSource("C:\Vids\the.town.that.dreaded.sundown.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\user1\AppData\Local\Temp", FrameRate=23.976, VFR=false)
Audio = A2DAudioSource("C:\Vids\the.town.that.dreaded.sundown.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\user1\AppData\Local\Temp")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.AddBorders(0,88,0,88)
Video = Video.Spline16Resize(720,480)
#Using DGPulldown/HCenc to upsize FPS

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<10/1/2013 7:31:12 AM>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Encoding Profile: HCenc VBR 1-pass
Target Video FileSize: 4072.9 MB
Encoding Parameters: -ini "C:\Users\user1\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_0_the.town.that.dreaded.sundown.mkv.HCenc.ini"
HCenc ini file:
*INFILE C:\Users\mjohnson\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_0_the.town.that.dreaded.sundown_1.avs
*AVSRELOAD
*OUTFILE C:\Users\user1\Videos\DVD_0_the.town.that.dreaded.sundown.m2v
*LOGFILE C:\Users\user1\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_0_the.town.that.dreaded.sundown.HCenc.log
*MAXBITRATE 9000
*1PASS
*BITRATE 6334
*PROFILE BEST
*ASPECT 16:9
*PROGRESSIVE
*TFF
*PULLDOWN
*BIAS 60
*DC_PREC 10
*MATRIX MPEG
*AQ 1
*LUMGAIN 1
*SMP
*PRIORITY IDLE
*DBPATH C:\Users\user1\AppData\Local\Temp
*WAIT 2
<>

<10/1/2013 7:35:18 AM>
Process aborted during Title 1 VIDEO encoding operations.

For Video issues troubleshooting see Help/FAQ/Video section.
<>

<10/1/2013 7:35:18 AM>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.7.1
<>

MrC

4th October 2013, 22:13

@EpheMeroN

I assume you have installed all the required splitter and codecs (ffdshow 32bit). Then have a look at Help/FAQ/General/Q1.5

;)

Bye

MrC

4th October 2013, 22:13

Pre-release 2.7.2 Alpha 131004 is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.7.2%20Alpha%20131004/). For debug purpose only.

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added support to MicroDVD format (SUB/TXT) subtitles
- Added automated unzip of Skin icons in case of library load fault during startup
- Improved SRT->SUP subtitles vertical positioning for widescreen aspect ratio
- Improved log activity for single project and batch jobs
- Improved Video DVD compliant detection routine (max bitrate is now checked)
- Changed default subtitles font dimension from 18pt to 16pt

;)

Bye

manolito

5th October 2013, 22:04

Hi MrC,

it looks like the prerelease mostly fixes some subtitle issues. Since I do not use subtitles at all (I hate them to no end), is there anything you want me to test with this release?

Cheers
manolito

MrC

6th October 2013, 21:57

Hi manolito,

actually there are no major changes in video/audio encoding or AviSynth scripting. Some subs, errors handling and log improvements. No particular debug, just verify if there are discrepancies between project settings and output. In other words, just use it as usual... Ah, there are no new GUI objects or menu items to be translated into German.

Thanks, as always, for your help and support.

;)

Bye

manolito

10th October 2013, 00:28

Alright, did a couple of short test conversions (mostly Youtube clips), no problems so far...:)

Cheers
manolito

MrC

11th October 2013, 16:35

Alright, did a couple of short test conversions (mostly Youtube clips), no problems so far...:)

Thanks for the feedback. I'm updating the Help file, the final 2.4.2 should be out within few days.

In the next release I would add Win7/8 codecs check and selection (ffdshow instead of MS), something like Preferred Filters Tweaker. I wonder if it would be better to leave the user to decide what codecs to use or have AVStoDVD change to ffdshow automatically at runtime in a transparent, but somehow "invasive", way (coming back to original user preferred codecs setup at the end of the project).

;)

Bye

MrC

16th October 2013, 19:34

Release 2.7.2 final is out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.7.2/)

;)

Bye

manolito

17th October 2013, 20:59

Thanks very much MrC for the new version...:)

Everything works nicely here, I just found a (purely cosmetic) issue which might have been present for some time...

What I did was trying to just author and burn a fully DVD compliant MPEG2 file which was small enough to fit on one DVD. My settings are to keep compliant video and audio, so all AVStoDVD had to do was demux the source and author it using MuxMan.

After importing the source file the main window told me that the final size would be 9.5 GB (source file was 2.9 GB) and the status line was very red. A novice user might have given up at this point, but I started the process anyways, and it finished successfully.

This time it is not MediaInfo's fault, I tried three different versions.

Here's the log:
<17.10.2013 20:35:55>
START PROCESS
<>

<17.10.2013 20:35:55>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: PAL
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 9526/4450 MB (214%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD-Ordner
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: I:
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Fortschrittsfenster anzeigen (Voreinstellung)

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Spline36Resize/Spline36Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 1
PAL SpeedUp: 1
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2000
Video BitRate Level 1: 6500
Video Profile Level 2: 3500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 224
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 1 (@ 0.98)
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 6
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: H: BENQ DVD DD DW1620 B7W9
DVD Burning Speed: 8x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 0
Unload ActiveMovie library: 0
Adjust ffdshow at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0
<>

<17.10.2013 20:35:55>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: I:\test.mpg
Info: MPEG-2 Video - 2507 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 1,778 - 25 fps (CFR) - Interlaced (TFF) - 2:28:38 hours - 222966 frames
Audio 1: I:\test.mpg
Info: MPEG-1 Audio layer 2 - 192 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 2:28:38 hours (0 ms delay)
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.58]
<>

<17.10.2013 20:35:55>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

# Video is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Video = A2DVideoSource("I:\test.mpg", CacheFolder="I:", FrameRate=25, VFR=false)
# Audio is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Audio = A2DAudioSource("I:\test.mpg", CacheFolder="I:")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12(interlaced=true)

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<17.10.2013 20:35:55>
START VIDEO DEMUXING OPERATIONS
Target Video FileSize: 9037,4 MB
FFmpeg Parameters: -i "I:\test.mpg" -vcodec copy "I:\DVD_0_test.m2v"
<>

<17.10.2013 20:43:11>
END VIDEO DEMUXING OPERATIONS
Created File: I:\DVD_0_test.m2v (2637,7 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 2480 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 1,778 - 25 fps (CFR) - Interlaced (TFF) - 2:28:38 hours - 222966 frames
<>

<17.10.2013 20:43:11>
START AUDIO DEMUXING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
FFmpeg Parameters: -i "I:\test.mpg" -acodec copy -map 0:1 "I:\DVD_0_test_1.ToFix.mp2"
<>

<17.10.2013 20:45:29>
END AUDIO DEMUXING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: I:\DVD_0_test_1.mp2 (204,1 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: MPEG-1 Audio layer 2 - 192 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 2:28:38 hours (0 ms delay)
<>

<17.10.2013 20:45:30>
START DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
BatchMux Parameters: -arglist "I:\DVD_0_BatchMux.ini"
BatchMux ini file:
-d "I:\DVD_0\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "I:\DVD_0_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "I:\DVD_0_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "I:\DVD_0_Palette.txt"
-v "I:\DVD_0_test.m2v"
-vidmode LB
-a1 "I:\DVD_0_test_1.mp2"
-a1lang de
-cellfr "I:\DVD_0_test_Chapters.txt"
-progfr "I:\DVD_0_test_Chapters.txt"
-chapfr "I:\DVD_0_test_Chapters.txt"

<>

<17.10.2013 20:58:51>
END DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
Created Folder: I:\DVD_0 (2926,4 MB)

CHECK DVD SIZE
DVD Folder (actual) Size: 2926,4 MB
vs Estimated Size: 9526 MB -> 69,3% undersize
vs Assets Size: 2841,9 MB -> Warning!
<>

<17.10.2013 20:58:51>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.7.2
<>

As i said, it is purely cosmetic...:D

Cheers
manolito

MrC

17th October 2013, 22:23

Well, not so cosmetic, at least for a less experienced user. :)

Use following hotfix (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_272_Hotfix_131017.7z)

;)

Bye

manolito

18th October 2013, 03:35

Wow, this is hard to believe...

At 10 PM I report a non-critical issue for some software I use to its author.

At 11:30 PM the author sends me a working hotfix.

You would think that I must have paid good money for this software, plus I purchased priority gold support. And even then this kind of customer service would seem extraordinary.

But this just happened with AVStoDVD which happens to be free...

MrC, you are amazing...:D
Thank you so much,

Cheers
manolito

MrC

18th October 2013, 09:03

Wait, wait, thanks for the kind words... but actually the hotfix was already ready (http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/277852-AVStoDVD-Support-Thread?p=2274478&viewfull=1#post2274478)...

;)

Bye

Fishman0919

6th November 2013, 05:03

@MrC...

Any chance of seeing 2-pass ffmpeg video support?

ffmpeg ver 2.0.2 and 2.1 are pretty good.

netmask

6th November 2013, 05:03

Is it possible to set subtitles default ON if so how?

Thanks

manolito

6th November 2013, 08:09

@MrC...

Any chance of seeing 2-pass ffmpeg video support?

ffmpeg ver 2.0.2 and 2.1 are pretty good.

I just tested ffmpeg 2.1 a little bit, and I agree that it is pretty good...

First of all it does play along nicely with AviSynth 2.57 and 2.58 again (thanks qyot27 :D ). I used it within AVStoDVD for a couple of test conversions and did not run into any problems.

But I do not see any reason to include 2-pass ffmpeg support in AVStoDVD. First of all it would not be a simple matter of just changing 1 or 2 command line parameters. Instead ffmpeg would have to be called twice with different parameters.

And second I do not see any benefit. If you need 2-pass for higher quality, you already have the HC encoder. Do you believe that ffmpeg 2-pass would give you higher quality than HCenc 2-pass? Or do you think that ffmeg would be faster than HC? I doubt it in both cases.

Cheers
manolito

Fishman0919

7th November 2013, 05:42

I just tested ffmpeg 2.1 a little bit, and I agree that it is pretty good...

First of all it does play along nicely with AviSynth 2.57 and 2.58 again (thanks qyot27 :D ). I used it within AVStoDVD for a couple of test conversions and did not run into any problems.

But I do not see any reason to include 2-pass ffmpeg support in AVStoDVD. First of all it would not be a simple matter of just changing 1 or 2 command line parameters. Instead ffmpeg would have to be called twice with different parameters.

And second I do not see any benefit. If you need 2-pass for higher quality, you already have the HC encoder. Do you believe that ffmpeg 2-pass would give you higher quality than HCenc 2-pass? Or do you think that ffmeg would be faster than HC? I doubt it in both cases.

Cheers
manolito

I agree... somewhat.

Faster... no

Better... On most stuff I encode below 3500k, I feel Yes. Anything above 3500k, mostly No.

Calling ffmpeg for multi passes can be done with just 1 command line bat file with different settings.

ffmpeg.exe -i "####.avs" -framerate 23.976 -aspect 16:9 -dc # -g 12 -maxrate 7500k -q:v 2 -b_strategy 2 -brd_scale 2 -bf 2 -profile:v 4 -pass 1 -passlogfile ffmpeg -an -f mpeg2video pass1.m2v

ffmpeg.exe -i "####.avs" -framerate 23.976 -aspect 16:9 -dc # -g 12 -lmin 0.01 -mblmin 1 -qmin 1 -qmax 31 -maxrate 7500k -b:v ####k -bf 2 -pre_dia_size 5 -dia_size 5 -qcomp 0.7 -qblur 0 -preme 2 -me_method dia -sc_threshold 0 -sc_factor 4 -bidir_refine 4 -profile:v 4 -mbd rd -mbcmp satd -precmp satd -cmp satd -subcmp satd -skipcmp satd -pass 2 -passlogfile ffmpeg -an -f mpeg2video pass2.m2v

But this is just a thought for the back burner.

manolito

7th November 2013, 07:01

I agree... somewhat.

Faster... no

Better... On most stuff I encode below 3500k, I feel Yes. Anything above 3500k, mostly No.

Wow, your command line for the second pass is really impressive! Also quite slow probably...;) And still no adaptive matrix, no auto GOP adjustment. Requires extensive tests to determine which decoder has the edge at these low bitrates...

For me whenever I am not happy with low bitrate encodes, usually Procoder does the trick. Not that sharp, but very pleasant to watch.

Cheers
manolito

Fishman0919

7th November 2013, 07:21

Wow, your command line for the second pass is really impressive! Also quite slow probably...;) And still no adaptive matrix, no auto GOP adjustment. Requires extensive tests to determine which decoder has the edge at these low bitrates...

For me whenever I am not happy with low bitrate encodes, usually Procoder does the trick. Not that sharp, but very pleasant to watch.

Cheers
manolito

Slow... kinda Yes... about 40-45fps on my PC... where HC is about 65fps. not to bad if you remove "-mbd rd" but with somewhat of a drop in quality... about 50fps.

adaptive matrix... No... never looked into setting it.

auto GOP adjustment... Yes.

I was a Procoder fan for low bitrates, but i liked the ability to change what I wanted with ffmpeg. I believe it delivers as good of, if not better then, quality.

This was just a quick 2-pass sample that looks pretty good.

MrC

7th November 2013, 20:55

Fishman0919

8th November 2013, 04:14

@netmask

see Help/FAQ/Subtitles/Q5.7 :sorry:

@Fishman0919

good point, FFmpeg is making big improvements in latest releases. Does Hank have to be worried? ;)

What about adding an easter egg (a registry subkey under AVStoDVD main key) to swap HCenc 2-pass with FFmpeg 2-pass? Encoding profile label will remain HCenc 2-pass, but FFmpeg will be launch instead.

;)

Bye

Sure.

I like ffmpeg for long...... movies. 2 1/2 hrs where the bitrate can get down to around 3500k or lower.... ffmpeg seems to do well when/where HC may not.

MrC

9th November 2013, 11:14

manolito

10th November 2013, 06:02

Tested the 2.7.3 Alpha version a little bit under WinXP (I know this will not help you a lot...) just to see if there are any incompatibilities.

Clicking every option on the new DirectShow Codecs selection page resulted in the expected error messages. But so far no damage was done, FilMerit cannot find any inconsistencies in my DS Filter chain. Very cool...

At the bottom of this codec selection page there is a link to the Win7 filter tweaker tool. This link is hardcoded to use IE. Bad... Could you change this to use whichever browser is defined as the default browser?

One minor cosmetic thing:
Somehow you must have reduced the width for this item in the main program window:
140020 AviSynth FrameServing-Test des Titels zur Laufzeit ausführen
The translated text does not fit any more, a line break is introduced. Peanuts...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

10th November 2013, 12:06

@manolito

thanks for the quick feedback! Very appreciated, as usual. The retro compliance with XP is very important. I still have a XP Virtual Machine, but a regularly used OS is a different stuff. ;)

About the default browser, I check the following reg key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.htm\OpenWithList

On my systems (both Win7 and XP) that key returns FIREFOX.EXE. If the read routine fails for any reasons, it falls back to IEXPLORE.EXE.

About the checkbox label width, I will enlarge it again.

;)

Bye

manolito

10th November 2013, 13:17

About the default browser, I check the following reg key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.htm\OpenWithList

On my systems (both Win7 and XP) that key returns FIREFOX.EXE. If the read routine fails for any reasons, it falls back to IEXPLORE.EXE.

I think you are using the wrong reg key. On my computer I have SRWare Iron set as my default browser, but the reg key you are checking will return IE.

IMO you should check this key instead:
"HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell\open\command"
The "Default" entry contains the default browser (at least on my XP SP3 machine).

Cheers
manolito

//Edit//
Maybe this key is more "correct" for a multi-user OS:
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\http\shell\open\command"

Fishman0919

11th November 2013, 06:40

Release 2.7.3 Alpha 131108 is out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.7.3%20Alpha%20131108/). For testing purpose only!

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added 'Preferred DirectShow Codecs Setup' section
- Added SetACL 2.0.3.0 (LGPL by Helge Klein) to AVStoDVD package

Feedbacks on Codecs selection new section (for Win7/8) are very appreciated.

;)

Bye

On Win 8.1 Pro I get an endless loop when trying to change mpeg1 support from "Microsoft" to "ffshow".

Click "ffshow", "change yes or no" then error... back to "change yes or no" and continues to repeats no matter what I pick.

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr37/fishman0919/test_zpse8d210d9.jpg (http://s467.photobucket.com/user/fishman0919/media/test_zpse8d210d9.jpg.html)

MrC

13th November 2013, 14:17

@manolito

good point, I will add that key as primary check, the currently used as backup.

@Fishman0919

thanks for the loop bug report. Easy to fix.

Does the error 'Preferred Codec NOT updated' happen only on mpeg1 codec or on all codecs?

;)

Bye

Fishman0919

14th November 2013, 05:58

MrC

14th November 2013, 09:56

All of them.

I assume you are administrator of your Win8 system, aren't you?

;)

Bye

Fishman0919

14th November 2013, 18:03

I assume you are administrator of your Win8 system, aren't you?

;)

Bye

Yes ;)

But if I right click on "AVStoDVD.exe" and run as admin.... it does works fine

MrC

14th November 2013, 20:25

Yes ;)

But if I right click on "AVStoDVD.exe" and run as admin.... it does works fine

Noted. Thanks for the feedback.

;)

Bye

manolito

18th November 2013, 19:49

There is a regression in AVStoDVD which started with version 2.71... :eek:

I remember that v. 2.70 had a bug that an edited AviSynth script was shown in red, but was not actually used. This was fixed in v. 2.71, but obviously this fix broke another feature.

Starting with v. 2.71 it is no longer possible to trim the source visually by using the preview. The trim points show up in the script window, but they do not get added to the script.

http://i39.tinypic.com/6j0eo5.png

The only workaround I found is to note down the trim points, uncheck trimming and check it again using the noted trim points.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

19th November 2013, 10:47

@manolito

thanks for the bug report. You know: 3 steps forward, 2 steps backword... that's the hard path of one-man programming. My luck is to have you all as great supporters.

Hotfix (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_273Alpha131119_exe_only.7z)

;)

Bye

manolito

19th November 2013, 22:01

Beautiful, thanks so much...:thanks:

Did two short tests using the hotfix, and everything works perfectly. Trimming using the preview works, and the old bug that the edited AviSynth script was not used did not come back either. Perfect!

So this is 2 steps forward, 0 steps backward. :D

Thanks again
manolito

manolito

17th December 2013, 20:18

Hi MrC,

I hope you are fine and not too stressed from preparations for Xmas...:D

This time I have a feature request for AVStoDVD: I would like to have an alternative routine for frame rate conversions.

Let me explain...
Right now I do a couple of DVDs from Live Music shows (YouTube). Many of these clips are 29.97fps, sometimes 30fps, and they are progressive. Even if my DVD player can play NTSC, I prefer to create PAL DVDs (better quality with my setup).

For this frame rate conversion to 25fps AVStoDVD uses ChangeFPS(25), and this method skips whole frames. The result is that parts with horizontal motion look very juddery.

Of course I could just treat the source as interlaced, in this case AVStoDVD uses LeakKernelDeint to bob deinterlace the clip. The result looks fine, but using a bobber makes this method slow. For a progressive source a script like this is faster:
Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.AssumeTFF()
Video = Video.Spline36Resize(720,576)
Video = Video.ChangeFPS(50)
Video = Video.SeparateFields()
Video = Video.SelectEvery(4,0,3)
Video = Video.Weave()

Of course the result will be interlaced, so a little more bitrate is required, and the encoder must be set to interlaced. But horizontal motion is much smoother.

I use this method manually, and I like the results. It would be real nice if AVStoDVD could offer this frame rate conversion method as an alternative to the plain ChangeFPS() method.

Cheers
manolito

harrylentil

18th December 2013, 11:29

Hello MrC, first time user and newbie here.

I am having no luck creating DVDs with subtitles, on any software I try, DEVEDE, DVDflick, AVI2DVD or AVS2DVD. I have tried with about five subtitled movies. Here is an example where AVS2DVD authored the file structure, finished, no errors. The project had the .SRT file in it, definitely. But there's no subs on the movie (.VOB) played with a software player (VLC Player, PotPlayer, subs on) or burned onto disk and played on my Sony DVD player, and if I drop the 1st .VOB file into a new project in AVS2DVD, there's only video and audio found. The .SRT files have the proper structure and are in ASCII (opened and saved with Notepad), or in UTF-8 and are in English anyway, so no >Ascii127 characters. I opened this last .SRT file in SubtitleCreator no problems. MkvToolNix is installed. I am using Windows XP SP 3.
First I was using ver 1.5.1, now 2.7.2. The job created 2 log files, DVD_0.log:

<11/12/2013 11:37:49>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.7.2

and that is all there is in there. DVD_1.log is:

<11/12/2013 11:38:04>
START PROCESS
<>

<11/12/2013 11:38:04>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: PAL
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 4449/4450 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD Folder
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: C:\movie
Delete Temp Assets Files: No
Delete Temp Working Files: No
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Show Progress Status window

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline16Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 1
PAL SpeedUp: 0
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Level 1: 2500
Video Profile Level 2: 2500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 192
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: E: LITE-ON DVDRW SHW-160P6S PS01
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 0
Adjust ffdshow at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0
<>

<11/12/2013 11:38:04>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: G:\Movies\Borgen series 2 part 1.avi
Info: XviD - 1374 kbps - 720x320 - DAR 2.25 - 23.976 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 2:05:12 hours - 180120 frames
Audio 1: G:\Movies\Borgen series 2 part 1.avi
Info: MPEG-1 Audio layer 3 - 128 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 2:05:12 hours (0 ms delay) - DANSK
Subs 1: G:\Movies\Borgen series 2 part 1.srt
Info: SubRip (SRT) - G:\Movies\Borgen series 2 part 1.srt
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.61]
<>

<11/12/2013 11:38:04>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

Video = A2DVideoSource("G:\Movies\Borgen series 2 part 1.avi", CacheFolder="C:\DOCUME~1\t\LOCALS~1\Temp", FrameRate=23.976, VFR=false)
Audio = A2DAudioSource("G:\Movies\Borgen series 2 part 1.avi", CacheFolder="C:\DOCUME~1\t\LOCALS~1\Temp")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.AddBorders(0,42,0,42)
Video = Video.Lanczos4Resize(720,576)
#Using DGPulldown/HCenc to upsize FPS

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<11/12/2013 11:38:04>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Encoding Profile: FFmpeg CBR 1-pass
Target Video FileSize: 4148.5 MB
Encoding Parameters: -i "C:\DOCUME~1\t\LOCALS~1\Temp\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1_1.avs" -threads 1 -aspect 16:9 -c:v mpeg2video -b:v 4632k -minrate 4632k -maxrate 4632k -bufsize 2000k -dc 9 -y "C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1.m2v"
<>

<11/12/2013 13:20:13>
END VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Video Source Filter: A2DSource (AVISource)
Created File: C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1.m2v (4148.2 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 4632 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 1.778 - 23.976 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 2:05:05 hours - 179940 frames
<>

<11/12/2013 13:20:13>
START PULLDOWN OPERATIONS
DGPulldown Parameters: "C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1.m2v" -srcfps 23.976 -destfps 25 -inplace -tff
<>

<11/12/2013 13:33:56>
END PULLDOWN OPERATIONS
DGPulldown executed on File: C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1.m2v (4148.2 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 4632 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 1.778 - 24 fps (CFR) - Progressive (2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:3 Pulldown) - 2:05:12 hours - 180300 frames
<>

<11/12/2013 13:33:56>
START AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Wavi+Aften Parameters: "C:\DOCUME~1\t\LOCALS~1\Temp\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1_1.avs" - | "C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\Aften\aften.exe" -b 192 -pad 0 -dynrng 5 -bwfilter 0 - "C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1_1.ac3"
<>

<11/12/2013 13:42:33>
END AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Audio Source Filter: A2DSource (DirectShowSource)
Created File: C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1_1.ac3 (171.9 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 192 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 16 bit - 2:05:12 hours (0 ms delay)
<>

<11/12/2013 13:42:53>
START SUBS ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
SRT fixing routine applied (0 lines fixed).
SubtitleCreator Parameters: "C:\DOCUME~1\t\LOCALS~1\Temp\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1.srt" -p2 -i"C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\SubtitleCreator\Examples\VTS_01_1.I FO"
<>

<11/12/2013 13:43:23>
END SUBS ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1_1.sup (2.17 MB)
<>

<11/12/2013 13:43:23>
START DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
BatchMux Parameters: -arglist "C:\DOCUME~1\t\LOCALS~1\Temp\DVD_1_BatchMux.in i"
BatchMux ini file:
-d "C:\movie\DVD_1\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "C:\DOCUME~1\t\LOCALS~1\Temp\DVD_1_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "C:\DOCUME~1\t\LOCALS~1\Temp\DVD_1_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "C:\DOCUME~1\t\LOCALS~1\Temp\DVD_1_Palette.txt "
-v "C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1.m2v"
-vidmode LB
-a1 "C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1_1.ac3"
-a1lang en
-s1 "C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1_1.sup"
-s1lang en
-s1ext 1
-cellfr "C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1_Chapters.txt"
-progfr "C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1_Chapters.txt"
-chapfr "C:\movie\DVD_1_Borgen series 2 part 1_Chapters.txt"

<>

<11/12/2013 13:57:37>
END DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
Created Folder: C:\movie\DVD_1 (4428 MB)

CHECK DVD SIZE
DVD Folder (actual) Size: 4428 MB
vs Estimated Size: 4449 MB -> 0.5% undersize
vs Assets Size: 4322.3 MB -> Warning!
<>

<11/12/2013 13:57:37>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.7.2
<>

manolito

19th December 2013, 20:43

manolito

20th December 2013, 18:57

Here is my own idea...

This issue only happens if the source has a width which is not divisible by 4 AND if DirectShowSource is used as the source filter. (The problem has nothing to do with ffdshow, it also happens with CoreAVC as the decoder).

It should be possible to modify a2dsource.avsi to test if the source width is mod4 or not, and if it is not mod4 then just skip trying DirectShowSource and jump directly to ffmpegsource2 instead.

Does this make sense?

Maybe this approach is too radical, though. So far I had this problem only with AVC video, maybe other source formats do not require a workaround. I will do some more tests...

Cheers
manolito

//Edit//
I did a few more tests, see the results here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1658658#post1658658
I will try to modify a2dsource.avsi to skip DirectShowSource if the source clip is not MOD4, I am just not so sure if my AviSynth scripting skills will be sufficient...

MrC

21st December 2013, 20:12

MrC

21st December 2013, 20:20

MrC

21st December 2013, 20:33

I just had an annoying issue with a source file with a width of 854. It was a regular MP4 file with AVC video and AAC audio. The a2dsource.avsi picked DirectShowSource as expected, there was no error message, but the output was total garbage.

I use ffdshow and Haali splitter, the versions are those which jdobbs endorses for BD-Rebuilder. I tested 4 different versions of AviSynth and DirectShowSource.dll, but this did not change anything.

Using ffms2 or DSS2 as source filters fixed the problem. But since DirectShowSource does not throw an error it is impossible for a2dsource.avsi to fall back on a different source filter automatically.

I posted the problem in the AviSynth thread, see here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1658354#post1658354

Quickly tested the mp4 file. Win7 64bit system with AviSynth 2.5.8 and ffdshow 1.3.4500.

DSS + ffdshow = garbage
DSS + MS DTV-DVD Video Decoder = no garbage
FFMS2 + ffdshow = no garbage

First time that MS garbage is not responsible of more garbage... I have not tried CoreAVC.

There must be a nasty combination of DSS and ffdshow when width is not mod4. Fortunately "not mod4" is very rare and I think it can be handled by implementing the check in A2DSource.avsi you have proposed.

Thanks for the continuous and valid support to our vintage AVStoDVD.

;)

Bye

manolito

22nd December 2013, 00:49

Hi MrC,

no rush for a final release, you sure deserve a little relaxing after the end of year job stress...

Fortunately "not mod4" is very rare
Not so rare here... Of my last 5 YouTube downloads 3 had a frame size of 854x480.

(In case someone has an issue with "YouTube downloads", I did ask in the "The Rules Explained" thread, and it should be OK to discuss YouTube downloads here once they have been online for some time. See here: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1658338#post1658338 )

In the meantime I just had to get the modified version of a2dsource.avsi ready. Works nicely on my computer now, but I could sure use some feedback...;)

Link:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vj9l01

I made two modded versions of the script. The first version just skips DirectShowSource if the source is not MOD4 and jumps directly to ffmpegsource2. The second version adds the DSS2 source filter to the script. Requires that the Haali splitter is installed and that avss.dll is copied from the Haali folder to the AVS2DVD\lib folder.

I am not sure yet if DSS2 or ffmpegsource2 has the edge. With ffms2 the indexing takes some time, but the actual linear decoding seems to be a little faster on my machine than DSS2.

For both versions of the script I left the AVISource part unmodified. I have AviSynth 2.57 installed (any newer version is not compatible with DVD2SVCD which I still use all the time). And with this AviSynth version AVISource does decode NON-MOD4 AVI files without problems. But when I had installed the latest AviSynth 2.60 alpha version, AVISource would also garble NON-MOD4 AVI files.

So I have included a NON-MOD4 AVI file in the download, and I would appreciate some feedback from other AVS2DVD users. Does AVStoDVD handle this source file without problems or not, and which Windows version and AviSynth version are you using? It might be necessary to also branch from AVISource to a different source filter if the source is NON-MOD4.

The implementation of the changes did cause some headaches for me, mainly because I am not too experienced with AviSynth scripting. The thing which is not very elegant is that in order to determine the width of the source clip within an AviSynth script, I have to load the source clip first. This means invoking DirectShowSource early in the script and possibly disregarding it later. But I have not found a way to access the MediaInfo information about the clip properties from within the AVS script. Something for the AviSynth gurus...

Alright, Happy Holidays for everybody, Merry Xmas and all my best wishes for the new year...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

22nd December 2013, 21:53

Hi manolito

the script works (good job!), there is just a coding "inelegance" when invoking DSS at the beginning to find out the clip's width: if the clip cannot be opened by DSS, then MOD4 variable will be always 0

DirectShowSource(VideoSource)
MOD4 = width() % 4

It is true that if DSS cannot open the clip, we do not care about the mod2 issue, and FFMS2 will be returned. ;)

A more "elegant" way would be to test every time the Video.width property and, if fails mod4, to jump to the next source filter. Not sure if the integration with the Try...Catch control structure is easy (or even possible).

I'm thinking about handling the issue within AVStoDVD (in the AVS script generation routine) where I have all the Mediainfo properties available: if the width is not mod4, then skip A2DSource and go directly with FFMpegSource.

manolito

23rd December 2013, 00:49

Thanks MrC for the kind words...

I knew my solution was not too elegant, but your hints were right on the money (as usual). So here is my latest effort, and this is as elegant as it can possibly get. It requires just 1 additional line in the a2dsource.avsi.

The DSS section now looks like this:
Try {
SourceStr = "A2DVideoSource: DirectShowSource"
Video = DirectShowSource(VideoSource, fps = FrameRate, convertfps = VFR, audio = false)
Video = (Width(Video) % 4 == 0) ? Video : Error
}

What did the trick was setting the "Video" variable to "Error" in case of a non-mod4 source. I had tried setting it to "0" before, but that did not work. This was pure trial and error (or call it intuition), I did not find anything about the "Try...Catch" details in the AviSynth documentation.

Whatever, this version works perfectly on my computer.
I'm thinking about handling the issue within AVStoDVD (in the AVS script generation routine)
I don't think that this would be necessary, and just modifying the a2d source script has the additional advantage that users can add their own preferred source filters to the script. (I really like DSS2...)

BTW did you have a chance to test if the non-mod4 AVI works on your system using AVISource?

Anyways, I promise I won't bug you any more before next year... :D

Cheers
manolito

MrC

23rd December 2013, 13:48

No bugging, this is support! ;)

The version #2 is brilliant and elegant, just one more code line. Beautiful! I would add the 'Video = (Width(Video) % 4 == 0) ? Video : Error' line also in the AVISource section because, on my system, it outputs the same garbage as DSS.

I agree that, with the solution you proposed to A2DSource.avsi, I do not need to change the AVStoDVD routines.

Thanks again and have a nice Xmas and all the best for 2014

;)

Bye

yab_tater

24th December 2013, 18:52

Happy holidays!

I was curious if any progress had been made regarding adding the ability to choose the outline color of text in the Menu Editor? I know your to-do list is long, so its all good either way. :)

yab_tater

25th December 2013, 13:43

I thought I would be fancy for my current project and set custom chapter breaks in my DVDs. I counted out the frames using Avidemux and Vitualdub, unchecked "Use Source Chapter List" in my preferences, set the Chapter Interval to 999, and then opened my View/Edit Title Settings, went to Chapters, deleted any previous auto generated chapter breaks, and added new breaks with my frame counts. Unfortunately, the frame values were resulting in bad (too short) times. In one example a chapter break at frame 31893 corresponded to a time stamp of 0:22:10.205 in Virtualdub, but in the custom chapters window of AVStoDVD, frame 31893 was showing a time stamp of 00:17:44.164. Obviously, this mistiming is thoroughly throwing off my chapter breaks when I play the DVD. Not surprisingly, the automatically generated chapter breaks have similarly messed up timing, for example the auto generated chapter break for frame 18000 shows a time stamp of 10:00.601 where in my source videos, frame 18000 corresponds to a time stamp of 12:30.751. And if you are at this point wondering, my source material clocks in at 23.976 fps.

Aside from whatever is the root cause of this issue, it seems entering custom chapter breaks via time stamp (something, for example DVD Styler can do) would be a straightforward way of sidestepping the issue. It would also allow an easy way to add "close enough" chapter break values without having to open up a specialized application in order to count frames.

Thanks for your attention. :)

PS -- After working on this some more this morning, the problem is indeed caused by my source material being 24fps where AVStoDVD is assuming it is 30fps. I can work around the problem to a certain extent by taking my frame count and multiplying it by 1.25. This stops working if I try to put a chapter break near the end of a video as my multiplication can produce a number of frames larger than contained in the file, and the too large value gets flagged as an invalid figure. So, there you are.

MrC

25th December 2013, 21:53

@yab_tater

unfortunately no progress so far on text outline color in DVD Menu. But do not give up hope...

About chapters position when source is NTSC-film based (23.976 fps), you have to consider that the output will be at 29.97 fps (2:3 pulldown), hence the output frames "seen" by Muxman will be more than the source frames. This effect is considered in AVStoDVD. If you want a chapter flag at 10:00 minutes, put 18000 fps and you will have it in the output DVD. I suggest you to use the 'Preview Clip' option, you will have the possibility to easily insert the chapters flags using a proper button in a visual context. AVStoDVD will take care to do all the timestamps-to-frames conversions.

I may agree with you that switching from frames to timestamps in the manual insert routine would be less confusing. Another item in the ToDo list.

;)

Bye

yab_tater

25th December 2013, 23:08

@yab_tater

unfortunately no progress so far on text outline color in DVD Menu. But do not give up hope...

Oh well, something to look forward to in the future.

About chapters position when source is NTSC-film based (23.976 fps), you have to consider that the output will be at 29.97 fps (2:3 pulldown), hence the output frames "seen" by Muxman will be more than the source frames. This effect is considered in AVStoDVD.

This is a puzzling statement as the working bits of AVStoDVD are very happy taking 24p as input and outputting the same. My ISO files/DVDs are still in 24p, there is no 2:3 pulldown to 30fps. This was in fact the reason I stopped using DVD Styler as it always outputs at 29.97fps and I wanted to retain 24p. Perhaps this is the problem, the custom chapter code is taking into account 2:3 pulldown when it is not taking place.

If you want a chapter flag at 10:00 minutes, put 18000 fps and you will have it in the output DVD. I suggest you to use the 'Preview Clip' option, you will have the possibility to easily insert the chapters flags using a proper button in a visual context. AVStoDVD will take care to do all the timestamps-to-frames conversions.

I am sorry I was not clear in describing my problem, which is that, to use your example, putting in 18,000 frames does not result in a break at 10:00 in my DVDs, but one at 8:00. To get a chapter break at 10:00, I would need to enter a frame count of 22,500. Interestingly, the frame counter of the AVStoDVD preview window shows the correct fps in relation to time, so this may be another work around to the problem.

I may agree with you that switching from frames to timestamps in the manual insert routine would be less confusing. Another item in the ToDo list.

It is good to have things with which to stay busy. ;)

manolito

26th December 2013, 11:53

This is a puzzling statement as the working bits of AVStoDVD are very happy taking 24p as input and outputting the same. My ISO files/DVDs are still in 24p, there is no 2:3 pulldown to 30fps.

There is no HARD pulldown in your output, but there certainly is SOFT pulldown via setting the RF flag accordingly. 24 fps is not DVD compliant. You should have a look at this thread:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1654796#post1654796

You have to differentiate between encoded frames and presentation frames. The presentation frames include the repeated fields, and the chapter frame numbers always relate to the presentation frames.

There is a nice little tool called ChapterGen which lets you convert between different chapter formats. It can also automatically convert the chapter positions between different frame rates.

http://i40.tinypic.com/2hchoqf.jpg

You can export your chapters from here into a "CellTimes.txt" file which you can then import into AVStoDVD.

Good luck
manolito

MrC

26th December 2013, 12:22

In addition to what manolito wrote:

I am sorry I was not clear in describing my problem, which is that, to use your example, putting in 18,000 frames does not result in a break at 10:00 in my DVDs, but one at 8:00. To get a chapter break at 10:00, I would need to enter a frame count of 22,500

This is puzzling: 22500 frames at 10:00 means the framerate would be 37.5 fps... are you really sure that AVStoDVD is doing that in the 'Add Chapter' routine? If my source title is 23.976 fps (output NTSC) and if I manually add a chapter flag @22500 frame, the related timestamp is 12:30.751

Please double check

;)

Bye

manolito

29th December 2013, 22:05

Re Non-Mod4 issue:

Just to let you know that hello_hello came up with another nice workaround for the problem. Have a look here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1659686#post1659686

I think that the modified a2dsource.avsi has the edge, mainly because it does not require that ffdshow is used as the decoder, and because switching to ffmpegsource2 is faster. But I do like his approach. And AVStoDVD probably could make the necessary ffdshow settings at runtime.

Happy new year to everybody...

Cheers
manolito

rs008f

31st December 2013, 08:21

Is it possible to change the number of titles per page on the DVD menu?

I got this error during DVD authoring of 52 MKV files. It happened on title #33 which means on the third DVD menu page. Too many files?

Segment memory resources --> RELEASED
Local Stack memory --> RELEASED
File i/o structures --> DEALLOCATED

MrC

31st December 2013, 09:12

@manolito

yes I do prefer your solution within A2DSource.avsi. It will be published with 2.7.3 final. ;)

@rs008f

please avoid double posting here and at videohelp.com

;)

Bye

manolito

2nd January 2014, 06:54

More findings about these non-mod4 sources:

After getting rid of ffdshow and Haali and installing the current LAV filters, all of the problematic non-mod4 source files suddenly worked...:confused:

See here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1660292#post1660292

The LAV audio filters gave me some problems within AVStoDVD. For an MPEG2 source with MPEG audio (MP2) I did not get any audio at all. I was unable to fix this via the LAV settings, so I switched to a combination of ffdshow and LAV filters.
//EDIT// Please ignore this. The source file was broken.

My winning combination looks like this:
I installed ffdshow first, but disabled the video decoders completely. Then I installed the LAV filters, but only selected the splitter and the video decoders. So far after about a dozen test conversions everything looks good...

This is probably not for the average AVStoDVD user, setting up this stuff is a little complicated. But it sure is interesting.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

2nd January 2014, 15:32

@manolito

thanks for the new feedback. Do you know if LAV Filter settings are stored in the win registry, such as ffdshow? If yes, I may add the adjustments at runtime also for LAV Filter.

I'm sending you the 2.7.3 English.lang.ini to update the German.lang.ini. Thanks in advance :)

;)

Bye

qyot27

2nd January 2014, 20:03

Do you know if LAV Filter settings are stored in the win registry, such as ffdshow? If yes, I may add the adjustments at runtime also for LAV Filter.
It would appear so:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/LAV

with separate areas for 'Audio', 'Video', and 'Splitter'.

MrC

2nd January 2014, 23:48

@qyot27

thanks, good to know. What is your opinion about LAV Filter? Is it still a "promise" or already a full alternative to ffdshow?

;)

Bye

manolito

3rd January 2014, 01:04

Alright, here is yet another workaround for the non-mod4 issue.

In the AviSynth thread Wilbert recommended to add the Pixel_Type value YUY2 to the DirectShowSource command, and this workaround (while not elegant) did indeed work.

You can get the same result by modifying the ffdshow video decoder output settings:
http://i39.tinypic.com/1zchg09.jpg

Disabling the YV12 output effectively makes these non-mod4 sources work.

So why do the LAV video filters work out of the box? Do they automatically detect problems with YV12 output and switch to YUY2? All of this is a big mystery to me...:confused:

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

3rd January 2014, 04:18

@qyot27

thanks, good to know. What is your opinion about LAV Filter? Is it still a "promise" or already a full alternative to ffdshow?

;)

Bye
A 'full' alternative? LAV has no VFW component, but for everything else, yes (or LAV is better). And if you need the VFW component, it's not like ffdshow's can't be used in tandem with it (unless you're using the 64-bit version of ffdshow - that complaint has been getting tossed around lately in the ffdshow dev thread since either the VFW interface gets disabled in all the 64 bit builds of ffdshow, or only under Win8...something like that).

ffdshow's development has almost halted, and on top of that, it relies on an internal copy of the libav* libraries, whereas LAV Filters doesn't. So basically, LAV is actively maintained and uses much more up-to-date versions of avcodec, avformat, etc. It's also capable of playing both HEVC and Opus - ffdshow can't (and unless there's been a recent update, Haali can't deal with Opus streams in MKV, despite Opus-in-MKV being finalized back in July).

So why do the LAV video filters work out of the box? Do they automatically detect problems with YV12 output and switch to YUY2? All of this is a big mystery to me...
It could be a bug in swscale that got fixed in the newer versions that LAV Filters links to. Or a fix that was specific to FFmpeg, since ffdshow took sides with Libav.

Or maybe it is a difference in the underlying DirectShow-related bits, but I know even less about that.

manolito

4th January 2014, 04:26

Alright, I took the plunge...:)

I uninstalled ffdshow, Haali and the FLVSplitter completely and installed the latest LAV filter package (0.59.1), all settings at their defaults.

No problems so far, decoding non-mod4 width sources works each and every time. One minor glitch in AVStoDVD: For MPEG2 source files with MPEG audio (MP2), I do not get any sound in the preview. The actual conversion does work, though, and playing the file in a DirectShow based player also works. So this is most likely a AVStoDVD issue.

//EDIT//
It did work after enabling 32bit floating point output which was disabled by default
http://picload.org/image/lgdwogp/lav_audio.jpg

But I do have a couple of questions:
In ffdshow there is a setting for raw sources, and it should be set to "All Supported". LAV filters do not have such a setting. Is it unnecessary, or could the absence of this setting cause trouble?

My other question is about the audio mixer. In ffdshow it is enabled by default, and AVStoDVD modifies its settings at runtime to ensure proper channel mapping for multichannel sources.

For LAV filters the audio mixer is disabled by default. Will this result in a false channel mapping for multichannel sources (i.e. is it necessary for AVStoDVD to modify the mixer settings), or will the LAV audio filters deliver a correct channel mapping without activating the mixer?

Since I do not have a multichannel configuration in my system, I have no way to test this. But so far the LAV filters look very promising to me...

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

4th January 2014, 10:53

In ffdshow there is a setting for raw sources, and it should be set to "All Supported". LAV filters do not have such a setting. Is it unnecessary, or could the absence of this setting cause trouble?
It seems it can handle raw video, but I've not tested extensively. The 'rawvideo' and 'rawaudio' options are actually in the Splitter's formats list.

manolito

4th January 2014, 13:50

Thanks qyot27 for the information...:thanks:

So I'd say it is up to MrC now to test the LAV filters. Especially if the audio channel mapping works correctly out of the box, or if the mapping must be corrected like with ffdshow.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

4th January 2014, 21:22

I'm currently in the process to finalize 2.7.3 release (cosmetics and help file update). After publishing it, I will give a try to LAV Filters and check all the runtime adjustment needed. With ffdshow, AVStoDVD adjusts:

- Raw Video and Audio "on" when previewing output using ActiveMovie DShow class (quartz.dll)

- Audio mixer when encoding audio with DirectShow approach

- Preferred filters merit with the new tool introduced with 2.7.3 alpha releases

;)

Bye

Sparktank

4th January 2014, 21:32

Wonderful progress!

Can't wait to show my friends this program. They've been looking for something to back up their BD's so their kids don't ruin them.
They got Windows 8.1, and not much internet.

When they get it up and running, I'll check on them and see how things are going and report back on 8.1 progress.

It's been awhile since I've given this a go (or even updated lol).
Looking forward to the updates and checking things out, MrC. :)

manolito

5th January 2014, 08:24

More interesting findings about non-mod4 sources and LAV Filters:

(This applies to using ffdshow and Haali)
I came across some MPEG1 and MPEG2 files which ffmpegsource2 cannot handle. This is the error message:
http://i42.tinypic.com/ztte0z.png

This means that my workaround for a2dsource.avsi does not work for these sources. I found another workaround which forces DirectShowSource to output YUY2 in such cases. Maybe this one should be used generally instead of the old one. The DirectShowSource commands look like this now:

Video = DirectShowSource(VideoSource, fps = FrameRate, convertfps = VFR, audio = false)
Video = (Video.Width % 4 ==0) ? Video : DirectShowSource(VideoSource, fps = FrameRate, convertfps = VFR, audio = false, \
pixel_type = "YUY2")

I uploaded two offending files plus the modified a2dsource.avsi here:
http://www27.zippyshare.com/v/95856523/file.html

When using LAV Filters instead of ffdshow and Haali the offending files are handled by ffmpegsource2 without problems. This means that the LAV splitter works better in combination with ffmpegsource2 than Haali. Kind of funny because the ffms2 documentation states that in order to decode OGG and MPEG streams correctly the Haali splitter must be installed. But using ffmpegsource2 is not even necessary for these files with the LAV filters, DirectShowSource handles them just fine.

Overall I am quite happy with the LAV filters so far. Raw sources indeed do not seem to be a problem, the AVS2DVD preview works with all kinds of source formats. Remains the audio mixer and the preferred filters merit...

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

5th January 2014, 09:50

When using LAV Filters instead of ffdshow and Haali the offending files are handled by ffmpegsource2 without problems. This means that the LAV splitter works better in combination with ffmpegsource2 than Haali. Kind of funny because the ffms2 documentation states that in order to decode OGG and MPEG streams correctly the Haali splitter must be installed. But using ffmpegsource2 is not even necessary for these files with the LAV filters, DirectShowSource handles them just fine.
The docs say that to seek in them reliably, that you need Haali. It doesn't say it requires it for decoding. If Haali's not installed (or if FFMS2 has been built with anything other than the Professional version of MSVC), it falls back to libavformat's demuxer - there's no way for it to see, let alone use, LAV Filters (nor would it be necessary, considering that LAV Filters uses libavformat too). The key point there is that that blurb in the docs has probably not changed in the several years since FFMS2 was first released, and in the meanwhile, libavformat's demuxers have gotten a lot better, even if MPEG-2 Transport Streams are still something of a sore spot.

You'd probably have gotten the same behavior if, when Haali was still installed, you used either the C plugin version of FFMS2 or used the demuxer=lavf option.

manolito

6th January 2014, 02:25

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated...

Cheers
manolito

Kangiten

10th January 2014, 11:04

Hello everyone,

I'm new to AVS2DVD. After some trial-and-error attempts, I've managed to get pretty much everything working.

I still have a little question pertaining to chapters. So I have a Blu-ray which I want to convert to DVD9. Although I'm in a PAL country (and therefore not used to NTSC encoding), the Blu-ray is 23,976 fps. When converting, AVS2DVD logically suggested I should encode in NTSC. After the encoding, I checked the .vob files with GSpot, which indicated a frame rate of 29,97 fps (which, if I understand correctly, means that AVS2DVD performed pulldown).

Now, after encoding, I realized that I forgot to include the original chapters. So I extracted the original chapter list. Now, my understanding is that I have to correct this chapter list so they adjust to the new frame rate. I found out that I could do just that with Chapter Grabber. Now, the thing is when I open the *.vob files in Ifoedit, it reports a frame rate of 30 fps next to the chapters (and not the 29,97 fps that I expected).

So my question is: should I use 29,97 fps or 30 fps as the basis for chapter conversion? I don't know if the difference matters all that much, but if you do things, you might as well do them properly :)

Thanks for any input.

qyot27

10th January 2014, 13:12

As a note, I believe that the Blu-ray specs allow for 23.976 in all regions. For that matter, I think the same is also true of 25, but I'm not as sure on that (and I have no discs that it might occur on to verify it, either).

Personally, in that situation, I'd override it and make it convert to PAL. Less of a framerate difference and such, and no quibbling over whether you have to account for a denominator of 1001 or 1000 when trying to do a chapter conversion (also, '30fps' is often used as a shorthand for anything with a numerator of 30000, just like '24fps' is sometimes for 24000 numerators - because 30000/1000 isn't compliant with the DVD spec, the shorthand is probably what you're seeing there).

manolito

16th January 2014, 20:39

Here's a somewhat delayed Xmas present for Fishman0919...:)

I made a small wrapper for ffmpeg.exe which enables 1-pass and also 2-pass VBR encodes using ffmpeg. The 2-pass command line is taken from this post:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1651880#post1651880

Here is the readme:
ffmpeg VBR modes for AVStoDVD
------------------------------------

This small utility allows 1-pass VBR and high quality 2-pass VBR encodes
using ffmpeg under AVStoDVD.

Installation:

1. Go to the "AVStoDVD\FFmpeg" folder and rename the original "ffmpeg.exe"
to "_ffmpeg.exe". This name is hard coded into the script and cannot
be changed.

2. Extract the two files "ffmpeg.exe.vbr" and "ff_vbr.bat" into this folder,
then rename "ffmpeg.exe.vbr" to "ffmpeg.exe".

Usage:

With the AVStoDVD default settings nothing changes at all (hopefully).
For medium and lower bitrates the HCenc encoder is used by default.
If you override this setting and force ffmpeg CBR, now ffmpeg will operate
in 1-pass VBR mode instead.

If your bitrate is below 3500k AND you have activated the ffmpeg high
quality mode, ffmpeg will run in a high quality 2-pass VBR mode.
(command line parameters courtesy of Fishman0919)
Download here: //EDIT// Link removed

I have tested it quite a bit with ffmpeg version 2.1.1, on my Windows XP machine it is very stable. I do not know however if renaming ffmpeg.exe in a folder under "program files" will work under Win7 or Win8. If it doesn't, you probably know the usual workarounds (Take Ownership or install AVStoDVD outside of program files). The script itself only writes into the specified output folder which should not be a problem.

The provided "ffmpeg.exe.vbr" is just a compiled batch file which only calls ff_vbr.bat. Not too elegant, but "ffmpeg.exe" is hard coded into the AVStoDVD executable, and I really did not want to patch the executable.

There are a couple of things I noticed while I made this thing, maybe one of you guys has some answers:

I noticed that AVStoDVD sets a buffer size of 2000k by default. According to the DVD specs this is a little high, it should be 1835k according to Hank315. Is there a special reason for this?

In 2-pass mode using Fishmans parameters, ffmpeg issues a warning:
ME_MAP size may be a little small for the selected diamond size
Is this something serious or should I ignore it?

When I was comparing 1-pass VBR mode to good old QuEnc I noticed that ffmpeg has a tendency to undersize quite a bit, sometimes by almost 20%. This was for an already low bitrate of 3900k. While QuEnc 1-pass and HCenc 1-pass both had no problems, ffmpeg only reached a bitrate of a little over 3000k.

I then tried to specify a minimum quantizer of 1, but it did not help very much. Are there any parameters I can use to avoid this undersizing without compromising speed?

Whatever, please test my little tool and let me know what should be improved....

Cheers
manolito

Fishman0919

17th January 2014, 02:03

Thank you kind sir.... I'll give this a try tonight :)

ME_MAP size may be a little small for the selected diamond size

That because I set the diamond size to 5... ffmpeg think 3 should be enough. little gain for little speed lost. -pre_dia_size 5 -dia_size 5

When I was comparing 1-pass VBR mode to good old QuEnc I noticed that ffmpeg has a tendency to undersize quite a bit, sometimes by almost 20%. This was for an already low bitrate of 3900k. While QuEnc 1-pass and HCenc 1-pass both had no problems, ffmpeg only reached a bitrate of a little over 3000k.

I then tried to specify a minimum quantizer of 1, but it did not help very much. Are there any parameters I can use to avoid this undersizing without compromising speed?

-lmin 0.01 -mblmin 1 -qmin 1 -qmax 31

Let ffmpeg go down to 0.01 quantizer

ffmpeg.exe -i "####.avs" -framerate 23.976 -aspect 16:9 -dc # -g 12 -maxrate 7500k -b_strategy 2 -brd_scale 2 -bf 2 -profile:v 4 -lmin 0.01 -mblmin 1 -qmin 1 -qmax 31 -maxrate 7500k -b:v ####k -bf 2 -pre_dia_size 5 -dia_size 5 -qcomp 0.7 -qblur 0 -preme 2 -me_method dia -sc_threshold 0 -sc_factor 4 -bidir_refine 4 -profile:v 4 -mbd rd -mbcmp satd -precmp satd -cmp satd -subcmp satd -skipcmp satd -pass 1 -passlogfile ffmpeg -an -f mpeg2video pass1.m2v

...would be a good 1 pass

EDIT:

If your bitrate is below 3500k AND you have activated the ffmpeg high
quality mode, ffmpeg will run in a high quality 2-pass VBR mode.
(command line parameters courtesy of Fishman0919)

?? Where would I do that?

@ECHO off

SET FF_DRIVE=%~d0
SET FF_PATH=%~p0
SET ORIGINAL=%*
SET CMDLINE=
SET /A bitrate=8500
SET hq=0

manolito

17th January 2014, 10:55

Thanks Fishman for the tips, time for some more testing...

?? Where would I do that?
Here:
http://i43.tinypic.com/24v7l1v.jpg

The hq variable is initialized to 0 first, then if the "-trellis" parameter is detected in the commandline issued by AVStoDVD it is changed to 1.
IF %1==-trellis SET hq=1
.....
IF %bitrate% LSS 3500 IF %hq%==1 GOTO 2pass

I could have omitted the initialization, but then the hq check would have to be:
IF !%hq%==!1

Cheers
manolito

manolito

17th January 2014, 14:21

Fishman0919

18th January 2014, 05:58

Yes, the -lmin and -mblmin parameters really did the trick. No more undersizing in 1-pass VBR mode.

The ffmpeg defaults for both values are 236, so I figured that 0.01 or 1 could be a little agressive. So I did some tests with a 5min chunk of a critical source. I set the bitrate to 4000k, and without the -lmin and -mblmin parameters the encode came out at 2898k.

With values of 0.01 and 1 I did get 4000k, but in darker scenes the bitrate was much higher than with HCenc 1-pass. After playing around a little bit I found that the sweet spot for both -lmin and -mblmin values lies at 170 for me.

I already modified the batch file and uploaded it, this is the link:
http://www7.zippyshare.com/v/81023194/file.html

Cheers
manolito

Thanks for the updated batch... :)

Sweet spot 170?... 1.70, .170

EDIT: IF %1==-maxrate SET CMDLINE=%CMDLINE% -maxrate 8500k -qmin 1 -lmin 170 -mblmin 170

I believe/thought the default for both was 3... it's been awhile. Odd that 170 works well for you... seems a bit high... but if it works :D

The bitrate is probably higher then HC in darker scenes because ffmpeg uses the Mpeg Standard maxtic by default and isn't using AQM... trying to retain more detail.
In my testing I found that FFMpeg is OK at best in 1 pass encoding.... unless you turn all the setting to the max and bring the encoding to a crawl.

With AVStoDVD v2.7.2... I get no option...
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr37/fishman0919/AVStoDVD_zps3e58bb85.jpg (http://s467.photobucket.com/user/fishman0919/media/AVStoDVD_zps3e58bb85.jpg.html)

manolito

18th January 2014, 09:04

Thanks for the updated batch... :)

Sweet spot 170?... 1.70, .170

EDIT:

I believe/thought the default for both was 3... it's been awhile. Odd that 170 works well for you... seems a bit high... but if it works :D

Hi Fishman,

from the ffmpeg 2.2.1 help:
-lmin <int> E..V.. minimum Lagrange factor (VBR) (from 0 to INT_MAX) (default 236)
-mblmin <int> E..V.. minimum macroblock Lagrange factor (VBR) (from 1 to 32767) (default 236)
Some more tests make it appear as if there is a hard switch between the values of 170 and 180. Using 180 makes ffmpeg behave just as if the defaults of 236 are used, i.e. heavy undersizing. Weird...
BTW what the hell is the "Lagrange Factor"? I thought that I already knew a little bit about MPEG2 encoding, but obviously I was wrong. :o

The bitrate is probably higher then HC in darker scenes because ffmpeg uses the Mpeg Standard maxtic by default and isn't using AQM... trying to retain more detail.
In my testing I found that FFMpeg is OK at best in 1 pass encoding.... unless you turn all the setting to the max and bring the encoding to a crawl.
I only need the 1-pass VBR mode for encodes where the source quality is already questionable, and my first objective is that it must fast. Faster than HCenc 1-pass. And this is the case with your help now, I am happy with it. :)

With AVStoDVD v2.7.2... I get no option...

You are looking at the wrong place...:devil:
This option is not under "Preferences", it is under "View/Edit Title Settings" for each loaded source file.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

18th January 2014, 13:58

Sweet spot 170?... 1.70, .170

EDIT:
Quote: IF %1==-maxrate SET CMDLINE=%CMDLINE% -maxrate 8500k -qmin 1 -lmin 170 -mblmin 170

I believe/thought the default for both was 3... it's been awhile. Odd that 170 works well for you... seems a bit high... but if it works

OK, I think I found the explanation for these odd values.
From the ffmpeg manual:
The four options lmin, lmax, mblmin and mblmax use ’lambda’ units, but you may use the QP2LAMBDA constant to easily convert from ’q’ units: ffmpeg -i src.ext -lmax 21*QP2LAMBDA dst.ext

The value of the QP2LAMBDA constant is 118. You are still using the Q units while the current ffmpeg versions use the lambda units.

Here is a small conversion table:

Q Lambda
_________________________________________________

Default 2 236
lmin 0.01 1.18
mblmin 1 118
My sweet
spot 1.44 170

Seems like I should make more tests to see if I really should use the same values for lmin and mblmin for my "sweet spot". And your 2-pass command line should probably be modified also by adding "*QP2LAMBDA" to your values.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

18th January 2014, 16:49

Alright, another (and hopefully final) version of my tool...;)

//EDIT// Link removed

For the quick 1-pass VBR mode I changed -lmin to 175 and left -mblmin at its default value of 236. Works well on my test files.

I also took the liberty to convert the 2-pass parameters from the old q units to lambda units. Now it looks like:
-lmin 1.18 -mblmin 118

Cheers
manolito

Fishman0919

18th January 2014, 21:25

Hi Fishman,

from the ffmpeg 2.2.1 help:

Some more tests make it appear as if there is a hard switch between the values of 170 and 180. Using 180 makes ffmpeg behave just as if the defaults of 236 are used, i.e. heavy undersizing. Weird...
BTW what the hell is the "Lagrange Factor"? I thought that I already knew a little bit about MPEG2 encoding, but obviously I was wrong. :o

I only need the 1-pass VBR mode for encodes where the source quality is already questionable, and my first objective is that it must fast. Faster than HCenc 1-pass. And this is the case with your help now, I am happy with it. :)

You are looking at the wrong place...:devil:
This option is not under "Preferences", it is under "View/Edit Title Settings" for each loaded source file.

Cheers
manolito

A multivariable calculus technique.

LINK (http://wmueller.com/precalculus/families/lagrange.html)

EDIT: A few test runs and all seems to be working fine... thank you for your work ;)

Fishman0919

19th January 2014, 07:20

I did a couple of tests on 2 pass encodings with -lmin 1.18 -mblmin 118

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (BluRay)
ffmpeg -lmin 1.18 -mblmin 118 - 4.24g
ffmpeg -lmin 0.01 -mblmin 1 - 4.33g
HC - 4.32g

Saving Private Ryan (BluRay)
ffmpeg -lmin 1.18 -mblmin 118 - 4.26g
ffmpeg -lmin 0.01 -mblmin 1 - 4.32g
HC - 4.32g

-lmin 1.18 -mblmin 118 seems to have a hard time with dark movies... I'll play with the setting to find a point where it works for 2 pass encodings.

I also added the Standard Matrix to the command line... works better with encodings below 3500k. Will do some testing to see if QuEnc's QLB matrix will work better.

Mpeg Standard Matrix (Default)
-intra_matrix "8,16,19,22,26,27,29,34,16,16,22,24,27,29,34,37,19,22,26,27,29,34,34,38,22,22,26,27,29,34,37,40,22,26,27,29,32,35,40,48,26,27,29,32,35,40,48,58,26,27,29,34,38,46,56,69,27,29,35,38,46,56,69,83" -inter_matrix "16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16"

Standard Matrix.
-intra_matrix "8,16,19,22,26,27,29,34,16,16,22,24,27,29,34,37,19,22,26,27,29,34,34,38,22,22,26,27,29,34,37,40,22,26,27,29,32,35,40,48,26,27,29,32,35,40,48,58,26,27,29,34,38,46,56,69,27,29,35,38,46,56,69,83" -inter_matrix "16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,19,20,21,22,23,24,26,27,20,21,22,23,25,26,27,28,21,22,23,24,26,27,28,30,22,23,24,26,27,28,30,31,23,24,25,27,28,30,31,33"

QLB Matrix
-intra_matrix "8,16,19,22,26,27,29,34,16,16,22,24,27,29,34,37,19,22,26,27,29,34,37,39,22,22,26,27,29,34,38,42,22,26,27,29,32,36,40,50,26,27,29,32,36,40,50,61,26,27,29,35,40,50,59,75,27,29,35,40,50,59,75,89" -inter_matrix "16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,25,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,26,19,20,21,22,23,24,26,28,20,21,22,23,25,26,28,29,21,22,23,24,26,28,29,31,22,23,24,26,28,29,31,34,23,24,25,28,29,31,34,38"

manolito

19th January 2014, 10:47

Thanks Fishman for your tests. The reason I modified your original values was that I thought you had used them assuming they were "q" units.

For lower bitrate encodes I am a big fan of the MANONO matrices. Maybe you can include them in your tests.

Manono1
-intra_matrix "8,8,8,9,11,13,14,17,8,8,9,11,13,13,14,17,8,8,11,12,13,14,17,94,9,11,13,13,14,17,17,94,11,11,13,13,14,17,94,94,13,13,14,16,17,20,94,94,13,13,14,17,94,94,94,94,13,14,17,94,94,94,94,94" -inter_matrix "12,12,13,14,15,16,22,26,12,13,14,15,16,22,26,32,13,14,15,16,22,26,32,41,14,15,16,22,26,32,41,53,15,16,22,26,32,41,53,94,16,22,26,32,41,53,70,94,22,26,32,41,53,70,94,94,26,32,41,53,94,94,94,94"

The MANONO 2 matrix (aka Sony Medium) is also very good, it is less radical at the higher frequencies.

Manono2
-intra_matrix "8,12,13,14,15,16,19,22,12,13,14,15,16,19,22,26,13,14,15,16,19,22,26,32,14,15,16,19,22,26,32,41,15,16,19,22,26,32,41,53,16,19,22,26,32,41,53,70,19,22,26,32,41,53,70,94,22,26,32,41,53,70,94,127" -inter_matrix "12,12,13,14,15,16,19,22,12,13,14,15,16,19,22,26,13,14,15,16,19,22,26,32,14,15,16,19,22,26,32,41,15,16,19,22,26,32,41,53,16,19,22,26,32,41,53,70,19,22,26,32,41,53,70,94,22,26,32,41,53,70,94,127"

I will leave the testing of the 2-pass parameters to you, because I have a hard time making out small differences on my old CRT tv set. Looking forward to your results...:)

Cheers
manolito

MrC

19th January 2014, 15:42

soneca

19th January 2014, 19:15

Thanks MrC! :cool:

Fishman0919

20th January 2014, 04:28

manolito, Fishman0919, what about adding the 'ffmpeg_vbr.zip' package to the AddOns stuff (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_addons/) on SourceForge? Just tell me when you are confident and satisfy enough. Of course it would be better to have the option available directly in AVStoDVD. Another item in the ToDo list. ;)

Meanwhile 2.7.3 release is finally out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.7.3/). Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added 'Preferred DirectShow Codecs Setup' section
- Added SetACL 2.0.3.0 (LGPL by Helge Klein) to AVStoDVD package
- Improved framerate conversion section of AviSynth script generation routine
- Updated A2DSource.avsi to properly handle non-mod4 width sources (thanks to manolito)
- FFmpeg updated to 2.1 (git-9244a68)

;)

Bye

Awesome... thanks for the update.

I did a few more test and found that -lmin 0.75 -mblmin 50 seem to work very well on my test movies... bitrates hitting the target. Dark scene still look good without bitrates peaking to high. I also noticed that moving grass and still walls look better... -lmin 1.18 -mblmin 118 may have looked somewhat better on these but seemed to fail in the dark areas.

I'm running a couple more movies right now but -lmin 0.75 -mblmin 50 seems pretty good for 2 pass encodings.

Fishman0919

20th January 2014, 08:41

I think the settings for FFMpeg are are pretty good now for 2 pass encoding. Quality is good, speed is good and it's hitting the target bitrate for bright and dark movies.
I stayed with the Standard Matrix because of compatibility with some DVD players and it just seemed to work well with FFMpeg below 3500k.

I think I dialed in the setting pretty good on my test with "Man of Steel" BluRay encoded at 3200k. A bitrate view of HC026_beta_16-06-2011, CCE-Basic 2.70 01.16 and ffmpeg-2.1.1

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr37/fishman0919/bitrates_zpsc1a7dd22.jpg (http://s467.photobucket.com/user/fishman0919/media/bitrates_zpsc1a7dd22.jpg.html)

Here are my 2 pass settings...
@ECHO on
_ffmpeg.exe -i %in% -aspect %aspect% -dc %dc% -g 12 -maxrate 7500k -q:v 2 -b_strategy 2 -brd_scale 2 -bf 2 -profile:v 4 -intra_matrix "8,16,19,22,26,27,29,34,16,16,22,24,27,29,34,37,19,22,26,27,29,34,34,38,22,22,26,27,29,34,37,40,22,26,27,29,32,35,40,48,26,27,29,32,35,40,48,58,26,27,29,34,38,46,56,69,27,29,35,38,46,56,69,83" -inter_matrix "16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,19,20,21,22,23,24,26,27,20,21,22,23,25,26,27,28,21,22,23,24,26,27,28,30,22,23,24,26,27,28,30,31,23,24,25,27,28,30,31,33" -pass 1 -passlogfile "%out_path%ffmpeg" -an -f mpeg2video %il% "%out_name%_pass1.m2v"

_ffmpeg.exe -i %in% -aspect %aspect% -dc %dc% -g 12 -lmin 0.75 -mblmin 50 -qmin 1 -qmax 31 -maxrate 7500k -b:v %bitrate%k -bf 2 -pre_dia_size 5 -dia_size 5 -qcomp 0.7 -qblur 0 -preme 2 -me_method dia -sc_threshold 0 -sc_factor 4 -bidir_refine 4 -profile:v 4 -mbd rd -mbcmp satd -precmp satd -cmp satd -subcmp satd -skipcmp satd -intra_matrix "8,16,19,22,26,27,29,34,16,16,22,24,27,29,34,37,19,22,26,27,29,34,34,38,22,22,26,27,29,34,37,40,22,26,27,29,32,35,40,48,26,27,29,32,35,40,48,58,26,27,29,34,38,46,56,69,27,29,35,38,46,56,69,83" -inter_matrix "16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,19,20,21,22,23,24,26,27,20,21,22,23,25,26,27,28,21,22,23,24,26,27,28,30,22,23,24,26,27,28,30,31,23,24,25,27,28,30,31,33" -pass 2 -passlogfile "%out_path%ffmpeg" -an -f mpeg2video %il% %out%

manolito

20th January 2014, 11:31

Thanks a lot Fishman. Those bitrate views look excellent to me. I think that I will also add the standard matrix to the 1-pass VBR mode. AFAIK the MPEG Standard matrix with all non-intra coefficients set to 16 was never a good choice for DVD encodes, at least this is what I read about all the common MPEG2 encoders.

Maybe even the high bitrate CBR mode would profit from using the standard matrix. I will add it in my next upload.

manolito, Fishman0919, what about adding the 'ffmpeg_vbr.zip' package to the AddOns stuff on SourceForge? Just tell me when you are confident and satisfy enough.
I like the idea, thank you for your trust...;)

It looks like Fishman has finalized the 2-pass parameters, so this part is probably final. I will add the standard matrix to the 1-pass VBR mode, and maybe the standard matrix is also a better choice for the CBR mode. I will need your advice on this. Finally I probably should polish the documentation a little bit and convert it to PDF.

Also did you notice my question about the buffer size of 2000k in CBR mode? Any special reason for this slightly higher size?

And of course thanks for the new version, I will install it right away and run a few tests. Also letting you know that I have been using LAV filters (0.60 and 0.60.1) for some time now without any issues. I cannot test the correct channel assignment though, the LAV mixer is disabled by default, and I kept it that way.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

20th January 2014, 14:09

Here we go...

//EDIT// Link removed

I added Fishman's new parameters to the 2-pass section, 1-pass VBR also uses the standard matrix, and for the default 1-pass CBR mode I also added the standard matrix, but left it deactivated for now.

If you want to try the standard matrix in 1-pass CBR mode, open the batch file with an editor, go to the label ":dont_touch" and delete the "REM" in front of the corresponding line. Save the file and have fun...

Cheers
manolito

Fishman0919

21st January 2014, 04:33

Here we go...

http://www32.zippyshare.com/v/59964280/file.html

I added Fishman's new parameters to the 2-pass section, 1-pass VBR also uses the standard matrix, and for the default 1-pass CBR mode I also added the standard matrix, but left it deactivated for now.

If you want to try the standard matrix in 1-pass CBR mode, open the batch file with an editor, go to the label ":dont_touch" and delete the "REM" in front of the corresponding line. Save the file and have fun...

Cheers
manolito

Thank You!

manolito

22nd January 2014, 12:58

New findings:

It seems that the error when using DGindex was not my fault. The hidden ffmpeg call for NUL output has these parameters:
-i "I:\AVSInfo.avs" -f rawvideo -y NUL

I did intercept these parameters and called _ffmpeg.exe with correct parameters, but I still got a timeout error whenever the MPEG2 source file was longer than 1 minute.

Next I removed my VBR tool completely and tried to use DGindex on a 10 minutes long MPEG2 file, and again I got the timeout error.

Conclusion: Even if my computer is old and slow, this timeout error should not happen. Using ffmpeg for NUL encoding seems to be VERY much slower than the former AVS2AVI method. Using DGindex is completely impossible on my computer. Either the timeout must be removed, or something other than ffmpeg should be used for this (AVSmeter?).

So I will leave my VBR tool as it is for the moment, just keep in mind to avoid using DGindex.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

22nd January 2014, 16:59

Alright, after several more hours of testing this is what I came up with:

I used the new version 2.73 for my tests, everything worked without problems. One question, though:
- Improved framerate conversion section of AviSynth script generation routine
What does this exactly mean? I could not see any difference compared to the latest alpha test versions.

I did go back to ffdshow and Haali for my tests, and there are still problems when trying to convert non-mod4 MPEG files. ffmpegsource2 throws an error, so I made a modified A2DSource.avsi which reverts to DirectShowSource with forced YUY2 output as a last resort. This not needed when using LAV filters.

The modified files plus a test MPEG source file are here:
//EDIT
Links not valid any more

Now my ffmpeg-VBR tool:

I uploaded a new version with the following changes:
1-pass VBR maxrate reduced to 8000k. In one of my tests I made MuxMan choke on a source with 2 high bitrate audio tracks (PCM plus 448k AC3). The slightly reduced maxrate took care of it.

For the DGindex issue I modified the ffmpeg.exe.vbr stub to make the ffmpeg folder the active folder before doing anything else. The parameters -i "I:\AVSInfo.avs" -f rawvideo -y NUL are passed to _ffmpeg.exe correctly. But unless your computer is very fast you might still get a timeout error. In this case just avoid DGindex...:p
//EDIT// Link removed

//EDIT// Added some custom quant matrices and edited the readme. Please redownload...

The plugin is now available permanently on the AVStoDVD SourceForge page:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_addons/ff_vbr.bat%20(ffmpeg%20VBR%20modes)/

Cheers
manolito

Guest

22nd January 2014, 17:54

The only thing you can do right now is to either not use DGindex I don't fully understand your issue but if you think there is something I can change in DGIndex to help with it, please let me know and I will get right on it. There should be no reason for people to avoid DGIndex.

manolito

22nd January 2014, 21:44

Uh Oh, what did I do...:o

Hi Don, thanks for chiming in. I would never say anything to the effect of "Avoid to use DGIndex". What I wanted to say in this case is "If you are experiencing timeout errors while using DGIndex from within AVStoDVD, unfortunately the only thing you can do right now is to avoid using DGIndex and use the standard approach (DirectShowSource or ffmpegsource2)".

DGIndex works perfectly, there is nothing you can do to make it work even better under AVStoDVD. The timeout error occurs after DGIndex has done its thing.

If you are interested, here's a short explanation. Normally AVStoDVD uses a source filter selection routine which tries AVISource, DirectShowSource and ffmpegsource2. The exception is when an MPEG2 source file is detected. In this case a window pops up strongly recommending to use DGIndex. Only if the user declines the standard approach is used.

Right after DGIndex has finished, AVStoDVD calls a routine to gather some information about the source files. This involves calling some encoder where the output is redirected to the NUL device. It used to be AVS2AVI, but after some issues with it MrC switched to ffmpeg. (Qyot027 suggested to use AVSMeter IIRC). All this happens hidden to the user, there is no visible window. And there is a timeout of 60 seconds built into this routine.

Now comes my little plugin which extends the ffmpeg capabilities to include 1-pass VBR and 2-pass VBR modes. To do this I had to use some ugly tricks to hack into ffmpeg.exe, because AVStoDVD itself is not very "hack friendly". All paths and file names of helper applications are hard coded into the executable. So I had to be really careful not to break any other ffmpeg uses (like demuxing and audio encoding) while trying to expand video encoding.

So when I first got this timeout error my first thought was of course that I had screwed up somewhere, probably failing to pass the intercepted parameters correctly. But it turned out that I was (almost) not to blame at all, the timeout error also turned up when my plugin was completely uninstalled.

So this is not a DGIndex issue at all, it is an AVStoDVD issue. I hope I didn't bother you too much with the details, Thanks for offering your help...;)

Cheers
manolito

Guest

22nd January 2014, 21:52

I don't understand your description of why the problem occurs only with DGIndex.

manolito

23rd January 2014, 11:47

It only happens when using DGIndex as the source filter because this information gathering routine is only executed after indexing with DGIndex.

The old CLI command was:
"C:\Programmi\AV\AVStoDVD Dev\Avs2Avi\avs2avi.exe" "C:\Programmi\AV\AVStoDVD Dev\Lib\AVSInfo Example.avs" -c "null" -o n
But MrC changed it to the current:
"C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\FFMpeg\ffmpeg.exe" -i "I:\AVSInfo.avs" -f rawvideo -y NUL
And this last routine takes forever on my computer, so I get a timeout error for any MPEG2 source file longer than 1 minute.

I can't say that I fully understand why this routine is necessary. It is executed in a hidden mode, and it is not well documented. For all other source filters this routine is not executed, it seems only to be necessary when using DGIndex.

Cheers
manolito

Groucho2004

23rd January 2014, 12:46

Right after DGIndex has finished, AVStoDVD calls a routine to gather some information about the source files. This involves calling some encoder where the output is redirected to the NUL device. It used to be AVS2AVI, but after some issues with it MrC switched to ffmpeg. (Qyot027 suggested to use AVSMeter IIRC). All this happens hidden to the user, there is no visible window. And there is a timeout of 60 seconds built into this routine.
I don't understand why an external tool like ffmpeg has to be involved for retrieving the info from an avs file. It's just a few lines of code to do that. Examples for coding this are out there.

MrC

23rd January 2014, 14:13

Let's make some clarifications.

I have written an AviSynth script to analyze properties of .avs input files (A2DInfo.avsi).
The A2DInfo function must be somehow called.
The less invasive method to call it is to use the "null" output with avs2avi.exe or the "-y NUL" with ffmpeg.exe
From release 2.7.1 I have replaced avs2avi with ffmpeg for that purpose, in order to reduce the quantity of third part software distributed with AVStoDVD
To read .d2s files properties I create an .avs file that open the .d2s. Hence the same A2DInfo function is used
DGIndex is not involved in this issue, because DGIndex is only used to index mpeg2 input files and to create the .d2s file.
I was not aware that the d2s->avs->A2DInfo->ffmpeg chain is troublesome for slow systems. I can increase the timeout from 60s to 120s. Or have avs2avi come in help in case of timeout.

Of course I am open to change anything necessary to improve the AVStoDVD reliability and ease-of-use.

;)

Bye

MrC

23rd January 2014, 14:25

I used the new version 2.73 for my tests, everything worked without problems. One question, though:

What does this exactly mean? I could not see any difference compared to the latest alpha test versions.

Better handling of interlaced source.
PullDown only if source is (originally or made) progressive.

Release 2.7.2

VideoStandardStr = "pal_video"
[...]
If VideoStandard = NTSC Then
VideoStandardStr = "ntsc_video"
[...]
End If
' Adjust FPS
If FPS < 2 / 3 * InputFPS Then
Str = "Video = Video.ChangeFPS(""" & VideoStandardStr & """)" & vbCrLf
Else
Str = "Video = Video.ConvertFPS(""" & VideoStandardStr & """)" & vbCrLf
End If
If .InputVideoInfo.FrameRateMode = "CFR" Then
Select Case Round(InputFPS - FPS, 3)
Case Is = 0
Str = ""
Case Is > 0
If InputFPS = 2 * FPS Then
Str = "Video = Video.SelectEven()" & vbCrLf
Else
Str = "Video = Video.ChangeFPS(""" & VideoStandardStr & """)" & vbCrLf
End If
Case Is < 0
Select Case InputFPS
Case 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, 60 'only these fps are mpeg2 compliant
Str = "#Using DGPulldown/HCenc to upsize FPS" & vbCrLf
End Select
If Preferences.PALSpeedUp = True And FPS = 25 And InputFPS = 23.976 Then
Str = "#Using AssumeFPS() to upsize FPS" & vbCrLf 'see below
End If
End Select
End If

Release 2.7.3

' Adjust FPS
If InStr(1, Create_AVSScript, "LeakKernelBob(") <> 0 Then
If VideoStandard = PAL Then
sFPS = "50"
Else
sFPS = "59.94"
End If
Else
If VideoStandard = PAL Then
sFPS = "25"
Else
sFPS = "29.97"
End If
End If
Str = "Video = Video.ChangeFPS(" & sFPS & ")" & vbCrLf
If FPS < 2 / 3 * InputFPS Then
Str = "Video = Video.ConvertFPS(" & sFPS & ")" & vbCrLf
End If
If .InputVideoInfo.FrameRateMode = "CFR" Then
Select Case Round(InputFPS - FPS, 3)
Case Is = 0
Str = ""
Case Is > 0
If InputFPS = 2 * FPS Then
Str = "Video = Video.SelectEven()" & vbCrLf
End If
Case Is < 0
If InputInterlaced = False Or .AVSDeInterlace = True Then
Select Case InputFPS
Case 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, 60 'only these fps are mpeg2 compliant
Str = "#Using DGPulldown/HCenc to upsize FPS" & vbCrLf
End Select
If Preferences.PALSpeedUp = True And FPS = 25 And InputFPS = 23.976 Then
Str = "#Using AssumeFPS() to upsize FPS" & vbCrLf 'see below
End If
End If
End Select
End If

;)

Bye

manolito

23rd January 2014, 17:11

Hi MrC,

thanks for the detailed explanation of the new routine for handling interlaced content. Since I almost never do NTSC conversions I probably would have never noticed it...

Regarding the timeout error I get when converting MPEG2 sources using DGIndex, I really wanted to find out what's going on, and the result is pretty clear:

It is NOT my slow computer, it is ffmpeg.

I went back to AVStoDVD version 2.70 which still uses AVS2AVI, and with this version I got no problems at all. Even a big 4.35 GB MPEG2 source file did not cause a timeout.

So why is ffmpeg so damned slow when using "null" output? I also tried a couple of different ffmpeg versions, but this did not make any difference.

One thing I don't understand is why can't you use the same method for gathering this source information which you also use for the other source filters? Is there some info in the d2v file which you cannot get from the MPEG file? Since forcing DirectShowSource or ffmpegsource2 for these files works, and all the necessary information can be retrieved, this should also work when using DGIndex. Get the information from the MPEG2 file and use the d2v just for decoding.

Whatever, I think that just increasing the timeout value is not a good idea. Some other method should be used. Just my two cents...;)

Cheers
manolito

Groucho2004

23rd January 2014, 17:37

I have written an AviSynth script to analyze properties of .avs input files (A2DInfo.avsi).
The A2DInfo function must be somehow called.
The less invasive method to call it is to use the "null" output with avs2avi.exe or the "-y NUL" with ffmpeg.exe
I took some time and looked at the code that you use to gather the AVS info. No offence, but it gives me the creeps. Running ffmpeg in a timed loop and then brutally killing it - yikes.

I suggest you use AVSMeter with the "-i" switch instead of ffmpeg or avs2avi. It just reads the script, gathers the info and then exits without reading any frames (so you don't have to kill it).

An even better option would be to skip the "A2DInfo.avsi" thing altogether and write the avs properties directly to a text file. I might even have the code for that somewhere.

MrC

23rd January 2014, 19:43

thanks for the detailed explanation of the new routine for handling interlaced content. Since I almost never do NTSC conversions I probably would have never noticed it...

We are lucky to live in a PAL country. ;)

Regarding the timeout error I get when converting MPEG2 sources using DGIndex, I really wanted to find out what's going on, and the result is pretty clear:

It is NOT my slow computer, it is ffmpeg.

I went back to AVStoDVD version 2.70 which still uses AVS2AVI, and with this version I got no problems at all. Even a big 4.35 GB MPEG2 source file did not cause a timeout.

So why is ffmpeg so damned slow when using "null" output? I also tried a couple of different ffmpeg versions, but this did not make any difference.

May I say that the issue is ffmpeg *on* slow computers? I have currently a core i5 @ 3.1GHz (desktop) and a core 2 Duo @ 1.8GHz (laptop), no issue on both.

BTW, going back to avs2avi may be a good option, also to preserve the functionality of the ffmpeg vbr tool. :)

One thing I don't understand is why can't you use the same method for gathering this source information which you also use for the other source filters? Is there some info in the d2v file which you cannot get from the MPEG file? Since forcing DirectShowSource or ffmpegsource2 for these files works, and all the necessary information can be retrieved, this should also work when using DGIndex. Get the information from the MPEG2 file and use the d2v just for decoding.

The reason should be found in my laziness: after creating the d2s index file, I remove the original mpeg2 input file and add the newly created d2s, just as a user would add it. Hence same routine for indexed mpeg2 and direct d2s feeds.

Another option could be to parse the d2s file, retrieve the mpeg2 source pathname and get the mediainfo details from that.

manolito, could you please test some avs files as input files? The more complex, the better. Please advise if you get timeout on your system.

;)

Bye

MrC

23rd January 2014, 19:52

I took some time and looked at the code that you use to gather the AVS info. No offence, but it gives me the creeps. Running ffmpeg in a timed loop and then brutally killing it - yikes.

No offence, I know that my coding ability is quite embarassing. :o

BTW, the loop is just needed to implement the timeout. If the ffmpeg (avs2avi) call ends before timeout, then the loop in interrupted without brutal killing. The following KillRunningProcess is just inserted for safety reason.

I suggest you use AVSMeter with the "-i" switch instead of ffmpeg or avs2avi. It just reads the script, gathers the info and then exits without reading any frames (so you don't have to kill it).

Thanks for the suggestion, I will surely take a look at AVSMeter. :)

An even better option would be to skip the "A2DInfo.avsi" thing altogether and write the avs properties directly to a text file. I might even have the code for that somewhere.

Well, A2DInfo.avsi does generate a txt file... code can be improved, please advise if you find a more efficient way (AVSMeter, maybe?).

;)

Bye

manolito

24th January 2014, 00:03

BTW, going back to avs2avi may be a good option, also to preserve the functionality of the ffmpeg vbr tool. :)

Oh, my VBR tool works just fine, even with the hidden ffmpeg routine...:D
After I experienced the timeout failure, I first suspected that my tool was to blame. But this was not the case. My fake ffmpeg.exe stub intercepts the command line parameters correctly and passes them to the batch file. And the batch file makes sure that whenever there is no video bitrate parameter present, it will call the original ffmpeg.exe with the original command line.

BTW as far as I am concerned, my VBR tool is final. Fishman has no complaints, and all test conversions I did with it came out nicely.

manolito, could you please test some avs files as input files? The more complex, the better. Please advise if you get timeout on your system.

;)

Bye

Will do, just not tonight...:p

Cheers
manolito

manolito

24th January 2014, 14:04

Will do, just not tonight...:p

Reporting back with my test results:

Yes, I can provoke a timeout error after loading a complex AVS script into AVStoDVD 2.73. A "normal" AVS file with just a little resizing and sharpening is no problem, but after adding almost a dozen other filters and a slow deinterlacer to the script I got a timeout error each and every time.

This happened regardless if my VBR tool was installed or not. And going back to AVStoDVD version 2.70 took care of the issue reliably.

So it is true: ffmpeg does not love my slow computer...:rolleyes:

Cheers
manolito

MrC

24th January 2014, 16:25

Reporting back with my test results:

Yes, I can provoke a timeout error after loading a complex AVS script into AVStoDVD 2.73. A "normal" AVS file with just a little resizing and sharpening is no problem, but after adding almost a dozen other filters and a slow deinterlacer to the script I got a timeout error each and every time.

This happened regardless if my VBR tool was installed or not. And going back to AVStoDVD version 2.70 took care of the issue reliably.

So it is true: ffmpeg does not love my slow computer...:rolleyes

Thanks for the precise report, manolito, as usual.

Next AVStoDVD release will take care of slower systems, either with AVSMeter or back to avs2avi, but probably it is time to think about an upgrade.

;)

Bye

manolito

25th January 2014, 11:53

but probably it is time to think about an upgrade.

;)

Bye

Yeah, I know, I have a retro personality. I get attached to technical things over the years (my motorcycle is from 1991...)

Cheers
manolito

MrC

31st January 2014, 11:19

I suggest you use AVSMeter with the "-i" switch instead of ffmpeg or avs2avi. It just reads the script, gathers the info and then exits without reading any frames (so you don't have to kill it).

Hi Groucho, I have tested AVSMeter and, wow, it does its job in a very efficient way. Good piece of sw.

I have found only a drawback to adopt it: from what I have understood, AVSMeter analyze only the video stream, not the audio stream, such as channels number, sampling frequency and time. Is it possible to do that or to add it in future releases?

Many thanks (if you want I can move this post to the AVSMeter support thread).

;)

Bye

Groucho2004

31st January 2014, 11:42

I have found only a drawback to adopt it: from what I have understood, AVSMeter analyze only the video stream, not the audio stream, such as channels number, sampling frequency and time. Is it possible to do that or to add it in future releases?
Once you run AVSMeter it collects all information from a script, video and audio. It simply does not report any audio related information.
If you are running AVSMeter instead of ffmpeg or avs2avi (with your adinfo.avsi script), this will not make any difference.
However, if you want to parse the log file AVSMeter produces I would have to add the audio information as well. (I'll probably do that for the next version).

MrC

31st January 2014, 15:37

Let's continue with PMs

;)

Bye

manolito

20th February 2014, 06:12

I spent quite some time trying to analyze this issue, as it only becomes apparent for longer source files. All I can say right now is that the PAL-Speedup routine seems to be broken, since it always results in a bad sync error (audio is off by several seconds at the end of a 2 hour clip).

My source was a regular progressive NTSC clip @ 23,976fps. It made no difference if the source was XviD AVI / MP3 or MPEG2 / AC3.

Normally I use good old DVD2SVCD for such conversions (it uses BeSweet to convert audio), and PAL speedup works flawlessly. But when I tried to convert the same files using AVStoDVD I always got these sync errors.

Using the default DGPulldown method works, but I really hate the judder on horizontal pans it creates.

When I first got these sync errors I thought that SSRC might be the culprit, but replacing it with ResampleAudio made no difference. Next thing I tried was using TimeStretch, but this also did not solve it. Replacing WAVI+Aften with ffmpeg+Aften was futile just as well.

My last desperate attempt was to install AviSynth 2.58 instead of 2.57, but this also was unsuccessful.

Conclusion:
I have no idea if it is AviSynth itself or the implementation within AVStoDVD, but fact is that PAL speedup is broken in AVStoDVD.

Here is a log file for such a conversion where I had already replaced SSRC with ResampleAudio:

<18.02.2014 01:11:04>
START PROCESS
<>

<18.02.2014 01:11:04>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: PAL
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 4450/4450 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD-Ordner
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: I:
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Fortschrittsfenster anzeigen (Voreinstellung)

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Spline36Resize/Spline36Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 1
PAL SpeedUp: 1
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2000
Video BitRate Level 1: 2000
Video Profile Level 2: 2000
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 224
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: H: BENQ DVD DD DW1620 B7W9
DVD Burning Speed: 8x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 0
Unload ActiveMovie library: 0
Adjust ffdshow at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0
<>

<18.02.2014 01:11:04>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: I:\test.mpg
Info: MPEG-2 Video - 4979 kbps - 720x480 - DAR 1,778 - 23,976 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 1:52:33 hours - 161930 frames
Audio 1: I:\test.mpg
Info: AC3 - 224 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 16 bit - 1:52:24 hours (-6 ms delay)
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.58]
<>

<18.02.2014 01:11:04>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

Video = A2DVideoSource("I:\test.mpg", CacheFolder="I:", FrameRate=23.976, VFR=false)
Audio = A2DAudioSource("I:\test.mpg", CacheFolder="I:")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Spline36Resize(720,576)
#Using AssumeFPS() to upsize FPS

Audio = Audio.DelayAudio(-0.006)

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
AssumeFPS("pal_film", sync_audio=true).ResampleAudio(48000)
<>

<18.02.2014 01:11:04>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Encoding Profile: FFmpeg CBR 1-pass
Target Video FileSize: 4174,1 MB
Encoding Parameters: -i "I:\DVD_0_test_1.avs" -threads 1 -aspect 16:9 -c:v mpeg2video -b:v 5406k -minrate 5406k -maxrate 5406k -bufsize 2000k -dc 9 -y "I:\DVD_0_test.m2v"
<>

<18.02.2014 04:47:28>
END VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Video Source Filter: A2DSource (DirectShowSource)
Created File: I:\DVD_0_test.m2v (4142,1 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 5364 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 1,778 - 25 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 1:47:57 hours - 161928 frames
<>

<18.02.2014 04:47:30>
START AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Wavi+Aften Parameters: "I:\DVD_0_test_1.avs" - | "E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\Aften\aften.exe" -b 224 -pad 0 -dynrng 5 -bwfilter 0 - "I:\DVD_0_test_1.ac3"
<>

<18.02.2014 05:08:27>
END AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Audio Source Filter: A2DSource (DirectShowSource)
Created File: I:\DVD_0_test_1.ac3 (173 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 224 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 16 bit - 1:47:57 hours (0 ms delay)
<>

<18.02.2014 05:08:27>
START DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
BatchMux Parameters: -arglist "I:\DVD_0_BatchMux.ini"
BatchMux ini file:
-d "I:\DVD_0\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "I:\DVD_0_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "I:\DVD_0_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "I:\DVD_0_Palette.txt"
-v "I:\DVD_0_test.m2v"
-vidmode LB
-a1 "I:\DVD_0_test_1.ac3"
-a1lang de
-cellfr "I:\DVD_0_test_Chapters.txt"
-progfr "I:\DVD_0_test_Chapters.txt"
-chapfr "I:\DVD_0_test_Chapters.txt"

<>

<18.02.2014 05:26:33>
END DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
Created Folder: I:\DVD_0 (4404,7 MB)

CHECK DVD SIZE
DVD Folder (actual) Size: 4404,7 MB
vs Estimated Size: 4450 MB -> 1,0% undersize
vs Assets Size: 4315,1 MB -> OK
<>

<18.02.2014 05:26:34>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.7.3
<>

Any ideas?

Cheers
manolito

MrC

20th February 2014, 17:52

@manolito

I keep in my test clips library one MKV (AVC+DTS) and one AVI (XviD+MP3) as progressive 23.976fps samples. I get no out-of-sync with them. I use default AVStoDVD encoding settings (except for the PAL-SpeedUp option, of course), use ffdshow as directshow decoder and AviSynth 2.5.8. Hence we have to figure out what is the configuration that is causing the issue.

Just a brainstorm to fix:

- try with FFMpegSource for video, audio or both
- try with HCenc
- be sure that ffdshow (or LAVFilter) is decoding the audio track
- remove the DelayAudio statement

Always check with the Preview tool instead of encoding the whole project.

If the out-of-sync happens also with a small portion of the mpg file, please upload it so that I can test it.

Let me know

;)

Bye

manolito

23rd February 2014, 05:10

Always check with the Preview tool instead of encoding the whole project.

If this worked I would already have found the reason for this issue...:D

But unfortunately my computer is way too slow for real time MPEG2 encoding. The AVStoDVD preview gives me an idea if I will get useable audio and video from the encode, but checking A/V sync is absolutely impossible.

Here is an update:

I restarted from scratch and used a progressive PAL DVD I had created from a TV capture. I converted it to an NTSC XviD AVI @23.976fps file using ffmpeg.

Converting this file with AVStoDVD worked all the time, no matter which encoder I used. The source filter was AVISource, for Audio DirectshowSource was used with ffdshow as the decoder.

Next I converted this AVI file to an NTSC MPEG2 file using ffmpeg again. No pulldown was used. The MPEG2 file played fine in all my software players (VLC, MPC-HC and WMP).

This file caused a bad audio sync problem with the AVStoDVD default settings. Remember that I could not use DGIndex because this will give me a timeout error. I declined the indexing request so the standard method was used. A2DSource selected DirectShowSource for audio and video, and ffdshow was the decoding filter.

I used this version of ffdshow:
ffdshow_rev4504_20130312_clsid.exe
I activated MPEG2 decoding using libavcodec (mpeg2codec was removed in this version), and I also selected "All Supported" for raw video and audio. All other settings were left at their default settings. These are the settings jdobbs requests for BD-Rebuilder. I had activated AVStoDVDs option to adjust ffdshow settings at runtime.

Could this have something to do with the "Detect Soft Telecine" option in ffdshow? I am not quite sure where to go from here. I could either modify the source MPEG2 file to use pulldown, I could try to modify some ffdshow settings, I could uninstall ffdshow and use lavfilters instead, or I could force ffmpegsource...

Will report back after some further tests...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

23rd February 2014, 23:00

This file caused a bad audio sync problem with the AVStoDVD default settings. Remember that I could not use DGIndex because this will give me a timeout error. I declined the indexing request so the standard method was used. A2DSource selected DirectShowSource for audio and video, and ffdshow was the decoding filter.

We know, DSS is surely not the best choice to frameserve a mpeg2 stream. FFMS2 at least is frame accurate.

About the AviSynth/DGIndex source timeout error, would you try this "very" alpha 2.7.4 release (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_274_Alpha_140222_exe_only.7z)? I have replaced the original AviSynth source properties detection routine with a new one, replacing A2DInfo.avsi with AVSMeter, courtesy from Groucho2004. It should be much faster, with vintage hardware too.

;)

Bye

manolito

23rd February 2014, 23:47

Thanks for the test version, will try it tonite...:D

Meanwhile I ran 2 more conversions using the NTSC MPEG2 file, and I am very surprised by the results:

First time I forced ffmpegsource for video and audio. Got a bad sync error again.

Then I uninstalled Haali and ffdshow and used lavfilters 0.60.1 with all settings at their default values. A2DSource picked DirectShowSource for both video and audio, and this time the result was in perfect A/V sync.

What is going on here? Could it be this setting?
http://i60.tinypic.com/1424n80.jpg

I remember that ffdshow also has this checkbox, but it was off by default. Should I do another conversion with ffdshow with this checkbox activated?

Cheers
manolito

manolito

24th February 2014, 01:14

Short feedback for the new "very alpha" version:

No timeout errors any more, gathering the info is just as fast as with the older version 2.70. Thanks...:)

I did not do a complete encode, but I did find a difference in the created AviSynth script between the alpha version and version 2.70. My source was the NTSC MPEG2 clip, PAL speedup and Auto Audio Delay were both enabled.

Version 2.70
Import("E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")
LoadPlugin("E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\DGIndex\DGDecode.dll")

Video = MPEG2Source("I:\test.d2v")
# Audio is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Audio = A2DAudioSource("I:\test T80 2_0ch 224Kbps DELAY -5ms.ac3", CacheFolder="I:")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Spline36Resize(720,576)
Video = Video.ConvertFPS("pal_video")

AudioDub(Video, Audio)

Version 2.74 "very" alpha
Import("E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")
LoadPlugin("E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\DGIndex\DGDecode.dll")

Video = MPEG2Source("I:\test.d2v")
Audio = A2DAudioSource("I:\test T80 2_0ch 224Kbps DELAY -5ms.ac3", CacheFolder="I:")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Spline36Resize(720,576)
#Using AssumeFPS() to upsize FPS

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
AssumeFPS("pal_film", sync_audio=true).SSRC(48000)

Version 2.70 ignores the PAL speedup option, it uses ConvertFPS instead. The new alpha version does the PAL speedup, but I cannot find audio delay adjustment. Is this done later outside of AviSynth?

Anyways, AVSMeter seems to work perfectly.

Cheers
manolito

//EDIT//
BTW I found a confusing line in the German translation.
Could you please correct the following line and replace "Sperre" by "Erzwinge"
240070 Erzwinge gewähltes Video-Profil für alle Bitraten (NICHT empfohlen)
Thanks

manolito

24th February 2014, 10:59

What is going on here? Could it be this setting?
http://i60.tinypic.com/1424n80.jpg

Well, I gave it a shot and changed the setting in the ffdshow configuration
http://i62.tinypic.com/33zebex.png
but no luck, still getting the same sync error.

For the new "very" alpha version, PAL speedup works without sync errors after using DGIndex on the source file. But the automatic audio delay correction is not working, after indexing is finished the input window shows no delay for the audio even if the demuxed audio file name has the delay value in it.

Looks like getting the delay info from AVSMeter is not (yet) working. Maybe you can extract the delay from the audio file name instead...

Back to the sync problems...
My conclusion from almost a week of doing test conversions goes like this:

If the source is an NTSC MPEG2 file AND you are using PAL speedup during the conversion, the only way to get a result with perfect Audio/Video sync is to either use DGIndex or DirectShowSource with lavfilters installed.

If you use DirectShowSource together with ffdshow or you use ffmpegsource2, you will end up with a bad out-of-sync result.

Remember this only happens for PAL speedup, the DGPulldown method is not affected.

Cheers
manolito

Groucho2004

24th February 2014, 12:50

Looks like getting the delay info from AVSMeter is not (yet) working. Maybe you can extract the delay from the audio file name instead...
I might be missing something here but how would you use Avisynth to determine the audio delay? Avisynth does not export any function for this purpose.

MrC

24th February 2014, 20:55

manolito, thanks for the extensive testing. I will try to replicate the out-of-sync issue with FFMS2 and/or DSS+ffdshow with a mpeg2 ntsc-film.

Good to read that the standard DGIndex approach does work properly.

About the delay (very small indeed), I will try to add the delay detection by parsing the demuxed audio filename, when a d2v+ac3(mp2) project is involved. No way to detect delay when source file is an AviSynth script: as Groucho already said, AviSynth is not capable to output that info.

;)

Bye

PS. Thanks for the German update!

manolito

25th February 2014, 03:42

Thanks MrC,

one question I forgot:
When you changed from ResampleAudio to SSRC, did you include a fallback to ResampleAudio if the source framerate is rejected by SSRC?
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1623850#post1623850

Cheers
manolito

MrC

25th February 2014, 11:12

one question I forgot:
When you changed from ResampleAudio to SSRC, did you include a fallback to ResampleAudio if the source framerate is rejected by SSRC?
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1623850#post1623850

Yes, I did, it doesn't cover all the situations, but actually most.

Select Case .InputAudioInfo(AudioNum).SampleRate
Case "48000"
Create_AVSScript = Create_AVSScript & ".SSRC(48000)" & vbCrLf
Case Else 'SSRC does not accept all input samplerates
Create_AVSScript = Create_AVSScript & ".ResampleAudio(48000)" & vbCrLf
End Select

;)

Bye

manolito

26th February 2014, 01:51

Beautiful, thanks...:D

Fishman0919

13th March 2014, 02:54

Now my ffmpeg-VBR tool:

I uploaded a new version with the following changes:
1-pass VBR maxrate reduced to 8000k. In one of my tests I made MuxMan choke on a source with 2 high bitrate audio tracks (PCM plus 448k AC3). The slightly reduced maxrate took care of it.

Yes... I've found that ffmpeg will over shoot the max bitrate by 700-800... sometimes more.

That's why in my 2-pass setting I set the max to 7500k.. add 700-800 and your at 8300k'ish

manolito

13th March 2014, 12:18

That's why in my 2-pass setting I set the max to 7500k

Yeah, I did notice this setting, and for average bitrates below 3500k it makes perfect sense. But I use the 1-pass VBR mode for much higher bitrates, so I wanted this value to be a little higher...

The overshooting in ffmpeg is much more benign than in good old QuEnc, though. For QuEnc I could never use a max bitrate above 8000k, even with only 1 audio track @ 224k. Somehow ffmpeg handles the VBV buffer in a much better way than QuEnc, because for the same actual max rate MuxMan often chokes on the QuEnc encode while it handles the ffmpeg encode just fine.

Cheers
manolito

blueriver

18th March 2014, 06:09

I agree... somewhat.

Faster... no

Better... On most stuff I encode below 3500k, I feel Yes. Anything above 3500k, mostly No.

Calling ffmpeg for multi passes can be done with just 1 command line bat file with different settings.

ffmpeg.exe -i "####.avs" -framerate 23.976 -aspect 16:9 -dc # -g 12 -maxrate 7500k -q:v 2 -b_strategy 2 -brd_scale 2 -bf 2 -profile:v 4 -pass 1 -passlogfile ffmpeg -an -f mpeg2video pass1.m2v

ffmpeg.exe -i "####.avs" -framerate 23.976 -aspect 16:9 -dc # -g 12 -lmin 0.01 -mblmin 1 -qmin 1 -qmax 31 -maxrate 7500k -b:v ####k -bf 2 -pre_dia_size 5 -dia_size 5 -qcomp 0.7 -qblur 0 -preme 2 -me_method dia -sc_threshold 0 -sc_factor 4 -bidir_refine 4 -profile:v 4 -mbd rd -mbcmp satd -precmp satd -cmp satd -subcmp satd -skipcmp satd -pass 2 -passlogfile ffmpeg -an -f mpeg2video pass2.m2v

But this is just a thought for the back burner.

in a few days ago......... i update bitdefender with latest version, then HC encoder crashed in second Pass

i just read the script for 2 pass ffmpeg encoder for low bitrate,
where do i put this script when i have multiple video input

thanks in advance

manolito

18th March 2014, 12:53

The easiest way to use Fishman's script from within AVStoDVD is to use my little plugin...
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1663423#post1663423

Cheers
manolito

blueriver

18th March 2014, 16:52

thanks for the link
I already downloaded it

my format is NTSC

what can i do with 3files

manolito

18th March 2014, 17:53

There is a "Readme.pdf" in the archive...

Cheers
manolito

blueriver

18th March 2014, 19:33

wow thanks, i just test a short video .....it so great!
but
i want to encode multiple files (2800 to 3000 bitrate for each)
doesnt work ..... it been aborted

so what wrong with the bitrate?
and can we add multiple files

appreciated

http://i57.tinypic.com/nbp3ko.jpg

manolito

19th March 2014, 00:52

Just to be sure I just checked it again: Multiple files are no problem with the plugin, works perfectly here.

There is nothing wrong with the bitrate, but according to your screenshot you did not check the "Use Ffmpeg HQ Options" checkbox. This means that you are using the 1-pass VBR mode. If you want 2-pass mode you have to check this HQ option.

You say the conversion was aborted. Do you have any error message?

The nice thing about using a batch file for the plugin is that anyone with some basic knowledge about batch file scripting can modify the plugin according to his/her needs. In your case HCenc does not work, so you probably want to use ffmpeg for all bitrates. Then you have to decide which ffmpeg mode should be used depending on the bitrate. If you need help modifying the batch file just tell me your preferences...

Cheers
manolito

manolito

19th March 2014, 14:19

Here is an example how you could modify your settings for using ffmpeg exclusively:

First of all go to Preferences -> Video and lock ffmpeg for all bitrates.
http://i59.tinypic.com/330ai5u.jpg
Make sure you have "Save current preferences as Default" activated.

Now load ff_vbr.bat into an editor and edit the section under the :doit label.

Original:
:doit
REG QUERY HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AVStoDVD /v VideoProfileLevel1 >"%out_path%$temp.txt"
FOR /F "usebackq tokens=3" %%a IN ("%out_path%$temp.txt") DO SET /A threshold=%%a
IF EXIST "%out_path%$temp.txt" DEL "%out_path%$temp.txt"

IF %bitrate% LSS 3500 IF %hq%==1 GOTO 2pass
IF %bitrate% GTR %threshold% GOTO dont_touch

_ffmpeg.exe%CMDLINE%
GOTO :EOF

Modified:
:doit

IF %bitrate% GTR 6500 GOTO dont_touch
IF %bitrate% LSS 3500 GOTO 2pass
IF %hq%==1 GOTO 2pass

_ffmpeg.exe%CMDLINE%
GOTO :EOF

Save the file and enjoy...:D

The modified version has the following behavior:

1. For bitrates above 6500 kbps the original CBR mode is used.

2. For bitrates below 3500 kbps the high quality 2-pass mode is always used no matter if HQ mode is checked or not.

3. For bitrates between 3500 kbps and 6500 kbps it depends if the HQ checkbox is checked or not. If HQ is checked then you will get 2-pass VBR, if not the encoding will be done in 1-pass VBR mode.

Feel free to modify this behavior according to your needs, it's easy... :cool:

Cheers
manolito

blueriver

20th March 2014, 20:05

thanks for nice scripts, i like it,

i want to encode FFmpeg with 2 pass on low bitrate video

There is nothing wrong with the bitrate, but according to your screenshot you did not check the "Use Ffmpeg HQ Options" checkbox. This means that you are using the 1-pass VBR mode. If you want 2-pass mode you have to check this HQ option.
------- even i check mark on option but still error

In your case HCenc does not work, so you probably want to use ffmpeg for all bitrates. <<<< You right

this is my log:

<3/20/2014 1:56:50 PM>
START PROCESS
<>

<3/20/2014 1:56:50 PM>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: NTSC
DVD Titles number: 2
DVD Size: 1900/1900 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: MPEG2 Streams
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: C:\Users\LANY\Videos
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Show Progress Status window

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline16Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 1
PAL SpeedUp: 0
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Level 1: 2500
Video Profile Level 2: 2500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 192
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: F: ATAPI iHAS124 Y BL0V
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 0
Adjust ffdshow at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0
<>

<3/20/2014 1:56:50 PM>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: S:\10_.mkv
Info: AVC - 3686 kbps - 1280x720 - DAR 1.778 - 29.97 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 41:26 minutes - 74510 frames
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.61]
<>

<3/20/2014 1:56:50 PM>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

Video = A2DVideoSource("S:\10_.mkv", CacheFolder="D:\Temp\AVStoDVD", FrameRate=29.97, VFR=false)

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Spline16Resize(720,480)

Return Video
<>

<3/20/2014 1:56:50 PM>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Encoding Profile: FFmpeg CBR 1-pass
Target Video FileSize: 950.4 MB
Encoding Parameters: -i "D:\Temp\AVStoDVD\DVD_0_Title_01_10__1.avs" -threads 8 -aspect 16:9 -c:v mpeg2video -b:v 3207k -minrate 3207k -maxrate 3207k -bufsize 2000k -dc 8 -bf 2 -mbd rd -trellis 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -y "C:\Users\LANY\Videos\DVD_0_Title_01_10_.m2v"
<>

when i click start the message popup :

http://i58.tinypic.com/2duebrl.png

please help , I dont know what to do.
I like your scripts and AVStoDVD very very much

sorry for late reply , i was so buzy on the last 2 days

appreciated!

manolito

20th March 2014, 21:04

Unfortunately the AVStoDVD log file is not very eloquent in this case...

My first guess would be that the plugin is not installed correctly. Please open the "AVStoDVD\ffmpeg" folder in Explorer. Make sure that under "Folder Options" you specified that all file extensions should be displayed. Compare your folder content with this screen shot:
http://i57.tinypic.com/ke93cn.jpg

Check the file sizes. "_ffmpeg.exe" should have the biggest size, "ffmpeg.exe" and "ff_vbr.bat" should be just a few kilobytes in size.

If this does not give any results, I will have to send you a modified ff_vbr.bat with some "@echo on" and "pause" commands so the error messages will be visible.

Cheers
manolito

blueriver

20th March 2014, 23:03

yes , please modify a script for me,

i check FFmpeg folder is same as your pic.

- changed a2dsource.avis in folder LIB

manolito

20th March 2014, 23:48

Just to rule out that it has something to do with the modified a2dsource.avsi, I would suggest that you change the video source filter (under "Preferences") from a2dsource to DirectShowSource or FFMpegSource and try another encode.

I will make a debug ff_vbr.bat for you tomorrow.

Cheers
manolito

blueriver

21st March 2014, 03:13

may i ask do i need to setup anything from FFdshow,
i think windows change codec or dll ,
in folder SysWOW64 , I add msvcp80.dll & msvcr71.dll

manolito

21st March 2014, 11:01

The AVStoDVD help has a comprehensive section upon how to set up ffdshow. RTFM... ;)

Otherwise I have no idea how to configure AVStoDVD under 64-bit Windows, you need to ask MrC. I believe that the Visual C runtime DLLs are not needed for AVStoDVD, but you do need the Visual Basic runtime files.

Generally I suggest that before debugging the VBR plugin you should make absolutely sure that AVStoDVD works without the plugin. Please delete ffmpeg.exe and ff_vbr.bat from the AVStoDVD\FFMpeg folder and rename _ffmpeg.exe back to ffmpeg.exe. Then start a conversion and force ffmpeg as the encoder.

Only if this conversion works it will make sense to debug the plugin. The plugin does work for several users, so I am suspicious that it could be something about your specific system.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

21st March 2014, 14:23

@MrC

I found a HD Transport Stream (a BBC broadcast) in another thread which AVStoDVD cannot handle on my system:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1674190#post1674190
I first tried to repack it to MKV but MKVMergeGui cannot open it. Repairing the stream with TSDoctor took care of this problem, but whatever decoder I pick in AVStoDVD (I tried ffdshow, ffms2 and DSS2 Mod), I always get some horizontal trembling of the video, and audio is not in sync.

So far the only method I found to convert this file to MPEG2 is to use ffmpeg (current version 2.1.4) directly without AviSynth. It does throw warnings at the start of the file and it reports 56 frame dups, but the result looks nice and audio is in sync.

Any ideas how AVStoDVD can be convinced to process such files correctly?

Cheers
manolito

blueriver

21st March 2014, 19:09

The AVStoDVD help has a comprehensive section upon how to set up ffdshow. RTFM... ;)

Generally I suggest that before debugging the VBR plugin you should make absolutely sure that AVStoDVD works without the plugin. Please delete ffmpeg.exe and ff_vbr.bat from the AVStoDVD\FFMpeg folder and rename _ffmpeg.exe back to ffmpeg.exe. Then start a conversion and force ffmpeg as the encoder.

Cheers
manolito

YEAH when i use the original ffmpeg.exe .. it worked
blut i dun deleted ff_vbr.bat , and keep modify A2DSource.avsi
so would you check for me
it encoded with 2 pass or filter that you mentioned

<3/21/2014 11:45:29 AM>
START PROCESS
<>

<3/21/2014 11:45:29 AM>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: NTSC
DVD Titles number: 2
DVD Size: 1920/1920 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: MPEG2 Streams
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: D:\Temp
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Show Progress Status window

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: FFMpegSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline16Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 1
PAL SpeedUp: 0
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Level 1: 2500
Video Profile Level 2: 2500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 192
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: F: ATAPI iHAS124 Y BL0V
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 0
Adjust ffdshow at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0
<>

<3/21/2014 11:45:29 AM>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: S:\10.mkv
Info: AVC - 3686 kbps - 1280x720 - DAR 1.778 - 29.97 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 41:26 minutes - 74510 frames
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.61]
<>

<3/21/2014 11:45:29 AM>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Lib\ffms2.dll")

Video = FFVideoSource("S:\10.mkv", track=-1, seekmode=0)

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Spline16Resize(720,480)

Return Video
<>

<3/21/2014 11:45:29 AM>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Encoding Profile: FFmpeg CBR 1-pass
Target Video FileSize: 960.5 MB
Encoding Parameters: -i "D:\Temp\AVStoDVD\DVD_2_Title_01_10_1.avs" -threads 8 -aspect 16:9 -c:v mpeg2video -b:v 3241k -minrate 3241k -maxrate 3241k -bufsize 2000k -dc 8 -bf 2 -mbd rd -trellis 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -y "D:\Temp\DVD_2_Title_01_10.m2v"
<>

<3/21/2014 11:59:43 AM>
END VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Created File: D:\Temp\DVD_2_Title_01_10.m2v (960.5 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 3241 kbps - 720x480 - DAR 1.778 - 29.97 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 41:26 minutes - 74509 frames
<>

<3/21/2014 11:59:43 AM>
TITLE 2 SOURCE FILES
Video: S:\11_.mkv
Info: AVC - 3686 kbps - 1280x720 - DAR 1.778 - 29.97 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 41:23 minutes - 74443 frames
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.61]
<>

<3/21/2014 11:59:43 AM>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Lib\ffms2.dll")

Video = FFVideoSource("S:\11_.mkv", track=-1, seekmode=0)

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Spline16Resize(720,480)

Return Video
<>

manolito

21st March 2014, 20:02

OK, here is a debug version of ff_vbr.bat:
http://www58.zippyshare.com/v/42784311/file.html

Reinstall the plugin as before, but this time use the debug version of ff_vbr.bat.

Two things will be different:
1. You will see the ffmpeg command line, so you can make a screen shot of the command window.

2. All ffmpeg output is redirected to the file ff_vbr.log in the output folder. This log file should contain all error messages which ffmpeg issues.

Good luck...
manolito

blueriver

21st March 2014, 20:28

sorry when i use your modified ffmpeg.exe
doesnt work, same message error

http://i59.tinypic.com/6rlj10.jpg

lof from ff_vbr.log
'_ffmpeg.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
'_ffmpeg.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

I prefer 2 pass

thanks so much

manolito

21st March 2014, 21:45

Alright, we are making progress...

The message
'_ffmpeg.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
means that ff_vbr.bat is executed correctly, but the renamed original _ffmpeg.exe cannot be executed.

Are you sure you renamed the original ffmpeg.exe correctly?
Another possible reason could be Windows permissions. There is a little tool called "WinOwnership" by Josh Cell Software which lets you take ownership of files and folders.

Another possible reason could be that some antivirus software on your computer blocks my fake ffmpeg.exe because it is a compiled batch file. Some AV software stupidly assumes that compiled batch files are generally evil and should be blocked. Try to exclude the AVStoDVD folder from your antivirus software.

As a last resort you could try to install ASVStoDVD to a folder which is not monitored by Windows. Instead of "C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD" you could install it to "C:\AVStoDVD". Maybe worth a try.

Otherwise I have pretty much run out of ideas what could cause your problems.

Good luck
manolito

MrC

21st March 2014, 22:53

@blueriver

some ground rules:

- AVStoDVD is a 32bit application. It works on 64bit systems.
- No need of VC runtime libs, VB stuff is included in the installer package
- AVStoDVD needs 32bit codecs, i.e. ffdshow 32bit
- If you have installed ffdshow 64bit, AVStoDVD will NOT use it
- After installing ffdshow 32bit, use the 'Codecs'/'Preferred DirectShow Codecs Setup' to select it as preferred decoder for the media to decode.

@manolito

thanks for the link, I will test it ASAP.

;)

Bye

blueriver

21st March 2014, 23:23

to :manolito

i reinstall to C; but still no hope

to MrC,

i checked ffdshow is in folder :C:\Program Files (x86)\ffdshow

after updated windows and bitdefender i cant encode 2 pass hcenc and ffmpg

now all i can do is go with ffmpg 1 pass i think ( i havent test 1 padd Hcenc yet)
i appreciated Mr Manolito go with me to debug avstodvd

i am here

and wat I do next, please show me, thanks

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=243rgrc&s=8#.Uyy8BoWApsk

manolito

22nd March 2014, 00:38

@MrC

Thanks for looking into this file. I forgot that you might not have TS Doctor, and maybe you don't want to clutter up your computer with the trial version. So here is the same file processed by TS Doctor:
http://www25.zippyshare.com/v/13268540/file.html

@blueriver

Your link to the screenshot does not work.

Another thing you can try:
Calling _ffmpeg.exe from the ff_vbr.bat obviously results in an error message. You should try what happens if you call _ffmpeg.exe manually from the command line.

Open a command window and navigate to the AVStoDVD\FFmpeg folder (use cd Commands). Then call _ffmpeg.exe and tell me what happens. Do you get an error message again, or do you get the usual version information?

And if Bitdefender makes HCenc crash, maybe it also gets in the way with the VBR plugin. Uninstall Bitdefender completely and see if it makes a difference.

Cheers
manolito

blueriver

22nd March 2014, 13:09

wowow it works now, thanks alot
i rename original to _ffmpeg.exe as you said
i thought the script dont call ffmpeg.exe so I rename to other for me to remember

now it can run with 2 pass ,thanks for mr Manolito spend alot of time with me to fix it

may I ask 1 more question:

when i click start it popup windows: http://tinypic.com/usermedia.php?uo=fNkd6hpTbcMbtu49ZjA4N4h4l5k2TGxc#.Uy15B4WApsk

should I check yes always ... and does it affect to others video converter software ?

manolito

22nd March 2014, 15:03

This popup window is caused by your ffdshow settings. You have specified that only applications which you entered into the white list can call ffdshow. You should click "Yes, Always" and "Don't ask me again".

BTW your last 2 tinypic links do not display in my good old Opera 12 browser, I have to use Chrome to see them. Bummer...

I'm glad that my plugin now works for you...
Probably my Readme.pdf is not clear enough. :devil:

Cheers
manolito

blueriver

25th March 2014, 19:33

@MrC

I hope next version, would you setup 2pass for ffmpeg and setup FFmpeg HQ Options (filter) on preference page
so i can set default not to setup for each EPS

appricated your works!

manolito

26th March 2014, 20:51

@blueriver

I have no idea if supporting ffmpeg 2-pass natively is anywhere on MrC's todo list, but I agree that for the ffmpeg HQ option a second checkbox to save the setting as the default (just like for the HCenc settings) would be useful.

In the meantime if you do not want to set the HQ checkbox for every single file in the source list, just use my modification of the ff_vbr.bat from a week ago:
:doit

IF %bitrate% GTR 6500 GOTO dont_touch
IF %bitrate% LSS 3500 GOTO 2pass
IF %hq%==1 GOTO 2pass

_ffmpeg.exe%CMDLINE%
GOTO :EOF

If you want ffmpeg 2-pass mode for all encodes below 6500k, use this modification:
:doit

IF %bitrate% GTR 6500 GOTO dont_touch
GOTO 2pass

@MrC

For this problematic HD transport stream the only reliable solution I found is to remux the file to MP4 using the current ffmpeg version 2.1.4 with just the -vcodec copy -acodec copy parameters. The resulting file is recognized by MediaInfo as VFR with no audio delay, and ffdshow handles it just fine.

After replacing ffdshow with the current LAVFilters 0.61.1 the original file (not the fixed version) was loaded correctly by DirectShowSource. But audio delay still remained problematic.

BTW if you want to experiment with LAVFilters, the current version has an issue with AviSynth 2.5x. See this post by clsid:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1675124#post1675124

Cheers
manolito

MrC

27th March 2014, 16:04

@blueriver

thanks for the suggestion, next release will for sure have a default ffmpeg HQ settings saving option and a mention of manolito's routine to implement ffmpeg vbr 2pass encoding.

@manolito

thanks for the hint about the problematic ts file and for the latest LAV Filters issue with AviSynth 2.5x. I am playing a little bit with LAV Filters and, well, they are really interesting. Very probably AVStoDVD release 2.7.4 will still deliver ffdshow as suggested codecs suite, but with 2.8.0 I could drop Haali and ffdshow vs LAV Filters.

Release 2.7.4 is 99.9% ready, but unfortunately I am in Taiwan for my job for 2 weeks, hence there is a little delay to publish it.

;)

Bye

manolito

27th March 2014, 16:51

Enjoy your trip... :D

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

27th March 2014, 20:56

Not that I've tested with AVStoDVD, but it appears to be an issue with AviSynth, period. Not specifically 2.5. Reason being, I attempted to use it with AviSynth+ and if I tried using DirectShowSource to open the video, it would just hang. It's not that LAV Filters seems to not like AviSynth (since if you use other source filters like FFMS2 it works fine), it may actually be a conflict purely between LAV Filters and DirectShowSource, and even more specifically, it only happened when I tried to open the script in Windows Media Player 6.4. It opened correctly if I used mpv (http://mpv.srsfckn.biz/) to test the script (linked to lachs0r's mpv builds for the convenience of others; I build my own).

My [wild] guess about what's causing it would be that it's creating some kind of recursion problem. Firstly, I don't remember LAV Filters ever exposing the AviSynth splitter to the end user before, but even at that, you're looking at a chain of DLLs: if you open the script in a DirectShow-based player, LAV Filters opens and splits the script, by loading libavformat (avformat-lav-55.dll), which loads AviSynth.dll, which loads DirectShowSource.dll, which loads LAV Filters to do the splitting/decoding of the source file (which would almost certainly incur avformat-lav-55.dll a second time). This is probably confusing DirectShow by hitting some kind of DLL limit (as per being DirectShow-based it has to try opening the same copy of LAV Filters, and subsequently the same avformat-lav-55.dll, twice). mpv wouldn't be affected by this because it doesn't rely on DirectShow, it relies directly on libavformat: so mpv uses its own copy of libavformat to load AviSynth.dll, which loads DirectShowSource.dll, which uses LAV Filters (which uses avformat-lav-55.dll). That mpv and LAV Filters would be using different libavformat binaries (mpv's highly likely to be statically linked* into mpv itself) and mpv not invoking LAV Filters twice might have something to do with it working there.

*also generally the case with the libavformat copy that exists in FFMS2, or even LSMASHSource; on Windows, those source filters are almost always statically linked to their dependency libraries, so there's little-to-no confusion about which is which and in what order.

I could be absolutely wrong about the real cause, so don't take this as authoritative. It's just a guess (and wouldn't serve to explain why ffdshow would be unaffected by it**). But to compare it to looking at a mirror reflected in another mirror would not be a totally inaccurate way to describe how it appears to be set up in this particular case of using DirectShowSource as your source filter. Stare at it too long and it starts messing with your head.

**beyond the obvious point that ffdshow used versions of libavformat that were far too old to support loading AviSynth.dll dynamically, so ffdshow itself may have loaded AviSynth.dll (the configuration reading as 'AviSynth' rather than 'libavformat' when you configure it seems to bear this out, although I can't be sure); it'd still have to deal with the situation of the fact that AVISource or DirectShowSource could call ffdshow, unless setting ffdshow's configuration that way actually made it act as a pass-through.

manolito

28th March 2014, 00:34

Thanks a lot for this extensive explanation (though I have to admit that I will need to reread your post a few times to be able to understand it... :stupid: )

clsid's post
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1675124#post1675124
solved the problem completely under AVStoDVD. Does that mean that after applying this Registry patch the LAV splitter is not used any more for AVS input?

Whatever, I am in the situation that I use some older applications which are not maintained any more (like DVD2SVCD) that are not compatible with AviSynth 2.6. I cannot even use 2.58, the last working version is 2.57. All would be well if several versions of AviSynth could be used on a per-application basis, but obviously this is not possible.

Still I do try to keep my system as much up-to-date as possible, and this also means that I would like to replace ffdshow with LAVFilters (because LAVFilters handle a lot of problematic source files which ffdshow does not). Right now the best compromise for me looks like using LAVFilters together with DSS2Mod, it even handles files which ffms2 cannot.

Cheers
manolito

Groucho2004

28th March 2014, 00:59

All would be well if several versions of AviSynth could be used on a per-application basis, but obviously this is not possible.
Of course it's possible. Switching Avisynth versions could even be done with a simple batch file.

manolito

28th March 2014, 02:54

You mean putting the desired avisynth.dll into the application folder? Or keeping several versions of avisynth.dll in the system32 folder under different names and copy the desired version to avisynth.dll via batch file?

I remember trying these methods a long time ago, and it did not work. I always had to reboot to load the desired version.

Cheers
manolito

Groucho2004

28th March 2014, 10:57

You mean putting the desired avisynth.dll into the application folder? Or keeping several versions of avisynth.dll in the system32 folder under different names and copy the desired version to avisynth.dll via batch file?
The latter.
If you are using the auto-load directory, you would also have to exchange these files (directshowsource.dll, etc.) - or - have a auto-load directory for each Avisynth version and change the pointer(s) in the registry.

I remember trying these methods a long time ago, and it did not work. I always had to reboot to load the desired version.
Works for me. There is no reason that would require a reboot. However, if you are using Windows 7 or Vista, the safety mechanisms might not allow you to do anything in the system directory. Just put avisynth.dll and DevIL.dll in a directory to which the PATH variable points.

manolito

10th April 2014, 07:03

@MrC

Hope you had a good time in Taiwan and that you got back home safely...

In the meantime I experimented a little bit using different source filter configurations (mainly playing with the HD transport stream from RedDwarf1), and the results are quite interesting.

Regarding LAVFilters there is a new version 0.61.2 which solves the crash issue with AviSynth. Still there is something strange going on with the AVStoDVD preview. It does not crash any more, but it opens several instances of LAV filters, and when exiting the preview I get an error message (DeleteIfExist - Access denied). Using clsid's reg fix which disables LAV splitter for AviSynth solves this problem.

Back to the problematic HD transport stream. I finally got it working under AVStoDVD, there is even no need to fix the stream using TSDoctor. This is what I had to do:

Use LAV Video source and LAV splitter instead of ffdshow and Haali. I kept ffdshow Audio filter to make use of AVStoDVDs ability to adjust the mixer settings at runtime, but if this feature is not needed, LAV Audio works just fine, too.

Replace DirectShowSource with DSS2 mod.
http://xvid4psp.googlecode.com/files/DSS2%20mod%20%2B%20LAVFilters.7z
It has a preroll parameter for interlaced transport streams, but for this progressive source file I kept the preroll value at the default of 0. IMO this is a perfect replacement for DirectShowSource (Video only).

With this setup I got perfect video output, but A/V sync was still a problem. After many tests I am quite sure that AviSynth is to blame for this.

The source file has a DVD compliant AC3 audio track. When I used Direct Audio Stream Copy I got perfect sync. Using FFmpeg safe mode for audio also resulted in perfect sync. Only when using an audio mode which used AviSynth while also modifying the audio by specifying Normalizing I got a sync problem.

When I disabled Normalizing and Delay correction, I again got perfect sync no matter which audio conversion method I used. I conclude that manipulating the audio within AviSynth is the reason for these sync problems.

(MediaInfo reports an audio delay of 1135 ms for this file. From my experience I have learned that I cannot trust MediaInfo when it reports such huge delays. So I did ignore this audio delay.)

Alright, for the time being my preferred source filter setup is DSS2 mod using LAV Video, LAV Splitter and ffdshow Audio. This also takes care of the non-mod4 issue, no need to use ffms2 for such files any more. If someone has other problematic source files, please upload them somewhere... :cool:

Cheers
manolito

Guest

10th April 2014, 13:06

After many tests I am quite sure that AviSynth is to blame for this.
...
When I disabled Normalizing and Delay correction, I again got perfect sync no matter which audio conversion method I used. I conclude that manipulating the audio within AviSynth is the reason for these sync problems.

(MediaInfo reports an audio delay of 1135 ms for this file. From my experience I have learned that I cannot trust MediaInfo when it reports such huge delays. So I did ignore this audio delay.) That says to me it was the incorrect delay value correction that caused the problem, not simply manipulating in Avisynth itself. From what you say, it is MediaInfo that is the culprit, not Avisynth. Did I misunderstand you?

manolito

10th April 2014, 23:53

That says to me it was the incorrect delay value correction that caused the problem, not simply manipulating in Avisynth itself. From what you say, it is MediaInfo that is the culprit, not Avisynth. Did I misunderstand you?

Yes you did, I believe I was not clear enough in my explanation...

The file I was talking about comes from your DGDecIM thread, it cannot be opened by apps like MKVMerge, MP4Box or AVIDemux. FFMpeg all by itself handles it well, it creates a perfect DVD compliant MPEG2 file without any sync problems from it.

Trying to process this file with AVStoDVD revealed two problems: DirectShowSource using ffdshow could not handle the video part, and audio was out of sync.

The video problems could be overcome by replacing DirectShowSource with DSS2 mod and using LAVFilters instead of ffdshow. But there was still the audio sync problem.

AVStoDVD has several methods to process the audio. FFMpeg safe mode bypasses AviSynth altogether for audio conversion. The other methods do use AviSynth (Wavi + Aften, FFMpeg + Aften and FFMpeg with AviSynth but without Aften).

For the methods which use AviSynth there are two methods implemented which manipulate the audio before encoding. These are Normalizing and Automatic Delay Correction. Both can be turned on or off either globally or for each individual source file.

And these are the audio sync results for the various methods:

FFMpeg Safe Mode: OK
(With this method audio manipulation is not available)

Any other method with Normalizing and Delay Correction OFF: OK

Same methods with Normalizing ON: Sync Error

Having Automatic Delay Correction ON or OFF made no difference. In both cases there was a sync problem.

So it is not just a MediaInfo problem reporting an incorrect audio delay value. Normalizing the audio stream within AviSynth is enough to desync audio and video.

I did my tests using AviSynth 2.57, I will repeat these tests with AviSynth 2.60 (pretty easy now with Groucho's switcher).

Cheers
manolito

MrC

11th April 2014, 20:07

@manolito

thanks again for the heavy tests and detailed reports. These are hard times for my job, free time has become sooo thin. Release 2.7.4 is ready, at least as alpha. It includes the FFmpeg HQ params option in the Preferences. Do you believe I just cannot find 15 mins to pack the installer and upload it on SourceForge?

About LAVFilters: very likely, it will replace ffdshow and Haali from release 2.8.0

About DSS2 mod: I will take a look, for sure. Do you know where to find 25h days?

;)

Bye

manolito

12th April 2014, 03:38

So it is not just a MediaInfo problem reporting an incorrect audio delay value. Normalizing the audio stream within AviSynth is enough to desync audio and video.

I did my tests using AviSynth 2.57, I will repeat these tests with AviSynth 2.60 (pretty easy now with Groucho's switcher).

Here is an update, and after many more test runs I think I nailed down the reason for these sync issues... ;)

First of all, this has nothing to do with different versions of AviSynth. I tried 2.57, 2.58 and 2.60A5, and this made no difference.

The problem seems to be caused by a combination of 3 different facts:
1. The source file is "problematic", some would call it "broken".
2. DirectShowSource was used as the audio source filter.
3. AviSynth's Normalize() function is a 2-pass thing. After determination of the peak level a seek operation to the start of the file is performed before doing the actual audio processing.

Usually in AVStoDVD it is safe to use DirectShowSource for audio because audio is handled in a strictly linear mode. Frame accurate seeking is normally not required. For this reason you get perfect sync as long as Normalize() is not invoked.

At least for problematic files like the one in question the seek operation to the start of the file is not accurate when using DirectShowSource. So we get a sync error.
(Maybe it would be possible for AviSynth to use a different approach for Normalize() which does not involve seeking. Like store the peak value somewhere, then reset/reload the source file and start processing it without any seek operations. But this probably won't happen...)

Now the solutions:
We obviously need a frame accurate audio source filter which could be ffms2 or LSMASH. Unfortunately the original source file is rejected by both of them. Only thing that helps is to fix the source file with TSDoctor first.

After using the fixed source file and forcing ffms2 as the audio source filter I get a perfect conversion without sync errors.

The second solution is to repack the fixed source file into an MKV container. (MKVMerge does not accept the original source file). Using the MKV file as the source does not require to use ffms2 as the audio source filter, DirectShowSource works just fine.

Cheers
manolito

Guest

12th April 2014, 13:59

Third option: normalize the audio in an external application.

manolito

13th April 2014, 01:08

Oh yes, but this is a design decision MrC made a long time ago.

Personally I would prefer if audio was processed outside of AviSynth (using SoX and DelayCut or eac3to or even good old BeSweet). But AVStoDVD is written in VB6 and not very hack-friendly. Audio is extracted from AviSynth using Wavi or FFmpeg and then piped to Aften. The command line is hard coded into the executable, no way to inject something different without patching the executable.

BTW (a little OT) would you have any links to problematic source files which normally can only be handled by your source filters? Like interlaced HD transport streams? The reason I ask is that I would like to make AVDtoDVDs source file handling as good as possible without using hardware dependent source filters. Thanks...

Cheers
manolito

Guest

13th April 2014, 01:36

But AVStoDVD is written in VB6 and not very hack-friendly. I suppose a serious developer won't want to make hacks, so it is not a problem.

...would you have any links to problematic source files which normally can only be handled by your source filters?
Just look for streams that the other decoders barf on. (What is all this remuxing to MKV nonsense?) DGDecNV/IM will handle them fine. Also note, DGDecIM is not limited to HW decoding.

manolito

13th April 2014, 03:27

Just look for streams that the other decoders barf on.

Seems to be surprisingly difficult to find interlaced AVC samples by googling. So I pulled everything I could get from your DGDecIM thread, this will keep me busy for some time...

(What is all this remuxing to MKV nonsense?) DGDecNV/IM will handle them fine.

Well, I sure did not invent this. From the ffms2 documentation:
Decoding some M2TS files using Haali's splitter will cause massive blocking and other corruption issues. You can work around the issue either by remuxing the file to MKV
And from the DSS2 mod doc:
Or repack your file to something more seekable. Or use DGDecNV.
And my own tests showed that when DirectShowSource caused sync problems with the TS file, after repacking to MKV the sync problems were gone using DirectShowSource.

Also note, DGDecIM is not limited to HW decoding.

Thanks for the hint, I did not know this...
But it turns out that I could not use it on my computer even if I had a license. Running dgindexim from the command line to get a machine ID just throws an error message "Not a valid Win32 application". Probably because my CPU does not support SSE2.

And in any case, MrC made it quite clear a couple of years ago (when he dropped support for the CCE encoder) that he will only support free tools in the future.

Cheers
manolito

Guest

13th April 2014, 03:48

Right now the best compromise for me looks like using LAVFilters together with DSS2Mod, it even handles files which ffms2 cannot. It seems you already have access to the problematic streams.

Well, I sure did not invent this. From the ffms2 documentation:,,, No sensible tool would require the user to remux the input stream. As I keep asking, is it so hard to demux a transport stream?

Probably because my CPU does not support SSE2.

And in any case, MrC made it quite clear a couple of years ago (when he dropped support for the CCE encoder) that he will only support free tools in the future.
You're free to limit your options in whatever way you like. Good luck with your projects.

manolito

13th April 2014, 05:53

As I keep asking, is it so hard to demux a transport stream?

Demux a HD AVC transport stream if you do not own DGDecNV or DGDecIM? Please enlighten me...

I tried with your deprecated DGAVCDec and got a raw h264 video stream which was not accepted by AVStoDVD as a valid input. Trying to demux using mkvextract crashed the program. And if I have to use MKVToolnix at all then it is just as fast to remux to MKV as it is to just demux the input.

Good luck with your projects.

Thanks, same to you... :cool:

Cheers
manolito

Guest

13th April 2014, 14:13

I was not advising you to demux the stream and input the ES. I was lamenting the state of the broken internal transport stream demuxers in some well-known source filters. Probably OT for this thread so I leave it.

dsmbr

14th April 2014, 16:44

I have A/V-desync problems as well.

http://pastebin.com/cg9fBjFV

I was just looking for a simple solution to put a media-file on a DVD.

The different output-methods didn't make any difference (M2V/ISO/...). How could they.

I followed this guide (http://imouto.my/watching-h264-videos-using-compute-unified-device-architecture-cuda/) for watching things on my PC, but else I don't even know how to set preferred encoders/decoders outside of MPC-HC.

I'm not good with GraphStudio and such kind of tools.

This makes me really depressed since I don't really know where to start.

manolito

15th April 2014, 04:22

Hi dsmbr and welcome to the forum!

The log you posted looks OK to me. Hard to tell what causes your sync problem without a sample source file... :rolleyes:

Things you can try:

Under Preferences->AviSynth you can force to use FFmpegsource for video and audio instead of A2DSource. And under Audio you should also try to force reencoding the audio (untick "Keep DVD compliant audio tracks").

The second part of your post should not have anything to do with sync problems. The guide is about hardware assisted decoding and playback of HD files. If you have installed ffdshow on your computer, AVStoDVD uses it in conjunction with DirectShowSource. And ffdshow has DXVA support for several years now, you must probably activate it in the ffdshow video setup. But for video conversion the difference in speed is rather small because encoding is normally the bottleneck, not decoding.

If you do not make any progress with your sync problem, you should try if you can reproduce it with a very short file, and then you can upload the file somewhere.

Good luck
manolito

MrC

15th April 2014, 13:01

@dsmbr

in addition to manolito' suggestions, could you also check with 'Codecs'/'Build DirectShow Filters Graph' what filters your system is using to split and decode the MKV file?

;)

Bye

dsmbr

15th April 2014, 16:53

Hi dsmbr and welcome to the forum!

The log you posted looks OK to me. Hard to tell what causes your sync problem without a sample source file... :rolleyes: Too huge to upload, maybe I can split the file.

Things you can try:Under Preferences->AviSynth you can force to use FFmpegsource for video and audio instead of A2DSource. And under Audio you should also try to force reencoding the audio (untick "Keep DVD compliant audio tracks"). I will.

The second part of your post should not have anything to do with sync problems. The guide is about hardware assisted decoding and playback of HD files. If you have installed ffdshow on your computer, AVStoDVD uses it in conjunction with DirectShowSource. And ffdshow has DXVA support for several years now, you must probably activate it in the ffdshow video setup. But for video conversion the difference in speed is rather small because encoding is normally the bottleneck, not decoding. I just wanted to give a hint why I had LAV Filters/Video/Audio installed. The mentioned tutorial doesn't even use ffdshow. I installed it in addition to use the RAW-filter for the SmoothVideo Project (SVP). I was confused why HCenc is calling ffdshow.

If you do not make any progress with your sync problem, you should try if you can reproduce it with a very short file, and then you can upload the file somewhere. Like I said, I'll try to.

@dsmbr

in addition to manolito' suggestions, could you also check with 'Codecs'/'Build DirectShow Filters Graph' what filters your system is using to split and decode the MKV file?

;)

Bye LAV-Video/Audio.

manolito

16th April 2014, 06:27

Using LAV instead of ffdshow does not cause problems in my experience. AVStoDVD can correct ffdshow's mixer settings at runtime (to fix channel assignment), and you will lose this feature when using LAV Audio. The other ffdshow setting which gets corrected by AVStoDVD is enabling decoding for raw audio and video. But AFAIK LAV supports raw material out of the box.

My setup right now is using ffdshow only for audio and LAV Splitter and LAV Video. And for better frame accuracy I replaced DirectShowSource with DSS2 mod.

If your sync problem has anything to do with the missing frame accuracy of DirectShowSource then your new conversion forcing FFmpegSource should be fine. In my case the sync problem went away when I either used FFmpegSource, or when I deactivated audio normalization (Preferences->Audio) using DirectShowSource.

Cheers
manolito

dsmbr

16th April 2014, 18:16

And for better frame accuracy I replaced DirectShowSource with DSS2 mod. If your sync problem has anything to do with the missing frame accuracy of DirectShowSource then your new conversion forcing FFmpegSource should be fine. In my case the sync problem went away when I either used FFmpegSource, or when I deactivated audio normalization (Preferences->Audio) using DirectShowSource. That's my problem. I wouldn't even know how to switch source/splitter-filters.

Switching to FFmpegSource is not so easy either. Do I have to change anything within the ffdshow-video/audio/raw-options?

manolito

17th April 2014, 08:56

Yes, it can get a little confusing if you are new to video conversion. AVStoDVD is basically very easy to use, but at the same time it is powerful enough to allow advanced users to tweak a lot of settings.

In your case the first thing you should do is to replace DirectShowSource based source filters (ffdshow or LAV Filters) with FFmpegsource. FFmpegSource is normally frame accurate while seeking, DirectShowSource is not. This will show you if DirectShowSource is to blame for your sync problem.

FFmpegSource has nothing to do with ffdshow. If you use FFmpegSource all ffdshow settings are irrelevant.

To force FFmpegsource all you have to do is click on "Preferences -> AviSynth". In this window you see that for video and audio the "A2DSource" source filter is selected by default. Change both of them to "FFmpegsource". Next select the Audio tab and deactivate the option "Keep compliant audio". This will ensure that your source audio will get reencoded (otherwise it will just be demuxed from the source and used as it is).

Now click OK, load your source and make the conversion. And let us know if the sync problem still persists.

Cheers
manolito

dsmbr

17th April 2014, 15:24

Did seem to work, but now the colors are a bit washed out. I think this happens during the colorspace-conversion. Duh.

This is very frustrating. AVStoDVD was my preferred choice since it's using very good (or even the best?) tools for every single job.

manolito

17th April 2014, 18:57

You are right, AVStoDVD does use very good tools for the job, but for best results a little user effort may be required... ;)

If your sync problem is solved now, it is time to lean back and celebrate. Color offsets are much easier to fix.

You should familiarize yourself with the different colorimetry of HD and SD video. If you convert from HD to SD you mostly have to correct the colorimetry, and for this purpose AVStoDVD comes with the ColorMatrix AviSynth filter. You can access it by clicking the title edit button and selecting the AviSynth tab. After deactivating the "Automatic" checkbox go to the "Color" tab and choose the desired ColorMatrix setting.

Good luck
manolito

dsmbr

17th April 2014, 23:25

Hello,

I should have mentioned that my source isn't HD either. h264-video-stream in SD-resolution.

I just read this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/t/1038839/rec-601-smpte-c-rec-709-confusion-thread) and this one (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=167587) afterwards and now I'm even more confused. Then I looked into the wiki-article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YUV#BT.709_and_BT.601) and my head exploded.

When standardising high-definition video, the ATSC chose a different formula for the YCbCr than that used for standard-definition video. This means that when converting between SDTV and HDTV, the color information has to be altered, in addition to image scaling the video.
Unfortunately, VFW and Directshow don't have color tags so as developer you are doomed to always guess what you are processing. Microsoft recommends BT.601 for SD resolution and BT.709 for higher resolutions for video.
MPEG-2 allowed to use BT.709 and something like BT.601 (BT.470-2 system B, G)
MPEG-4 ASP used BT.601 all the way
MPEG-4 AVC allowes to use both with BT.709 as default (even for SD content).
Colormatrix only converts between YUV , not RGB. If you convert between RGB, YUV you use ConvertToXX (matrix =XX)

MediaInfo of my source says:
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0

1) Has this anything to do with it?
2) This whole color-space-issue is just something that is relevant during recording or conversion of a video, correct?
3) If this is true and you don't know what color-space has been used to record/create your current source, you'd have to guess, right?
4) The default AviSynth-scripts already includes "Video = Video.ConvertToYV12(). What do I do about this?

manolito

18th April 2014, 07:42

Sorry I am probably the wrong person for answering these questions - I have next to zero experience with these things...

Your MediaInfo output tells you that your source already is YV12, so the ConvertToYV12() is redundant (but it does not hurt, so just leave it there). YV12 is the required colorspace for DVD, and it also is the native format for AviSynth (starting with version 2.5). So it makes sense for AVStoDVD to issue this command at the beginning of the script it generates.

I believe your other assumptions are basically correct. Bottom line: You mostly have to guess.

I hope one of the specialists will jump in here to answer your questions properly...

Cheers
manolito

dsmbr

18th April 2014, 15:11

I hope one of the specialists will jump in here to answer your questions properly... Sadly barely anyone looks into these forums :o

MrC

18th April 2014, 21:48

@dsmbr

do you have the possibility to upload a portion of the problematic source file?

;)

Bye

dsmbr

19th April 2014, 01:39

@dsmbr do you have the possibility to upload a portion of the problematic source file? I'm not sure if I'm able to split the source without re-encoding. But it's not so important anyway. I play a bit with the Colormatrix-settings until it's fixed.

I have a much stranger problem with the integration of idx/sup-subtitles. Looks like this:

http://i.imgur.com/VJvqolA.jpg

MrC

27th April 2014, 16:19

New 2.7.4 Alpha release is out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.7.4%20Alpha%20140423/). Changes:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added NTSC SlowDown routine for progressive PAL to NTSC conversions ('Preferences'/'AviSynth')
- Added support to LAV Filters (detection and preferred codecs selection)
- Added support to MPEG-4 Part 14 (mp4 and m4a) audio files as input
- Added AVSMeter 1.7.7 to NoInstall and Installer packages
- Added new routine ('ReadAVSInfoF') to read AviSynth scripts and DGIndex projects
- Replaced FFmpeg with AVSMeter to run 'ReadAVSInfo' routine (A2DInfo.avsi)
- Moved FFmpeg HQ option from 'Edit Title' to 'Preferences'
- Added possibility to customize the FFmpeg HQ command line flags
- Improved handling of DGIndex projects sources
- Improved 'Preview Title Output' avs script for better compatibility with Raw Video directshow codecs
- DGIndex updated to release 1.5.8
- MediaInfo updated to release 0.7.67

Happy download and testing!

;)

Bye

MrC

27th April 2014, 16:38

@manolito

The ff_vbr.bat util has now its place (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_addons/ff_vbr.bat%20%28ffmpeg%20VBR%20modes%29/) in AVStoDVD repository.

Please, have a look if that release is actually the latest. If you agree, I would call it 1.0.0

Thanks again for your great support

;)

Bye

manolito

27th April 2014, 20:57

Thanks MrC for the new version... :)

So far everything works great, especially this update
- Improved 'Preview Title Output' avs script for better compatibility with Raw Video directshow codecs
makes LAV splitter for AviSynth useable again.

And yes, the ff_vbr.bat is the latest version. I have added a few more custom quant matrices for myself in the meantime, but this is probably irrelevant for most users...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

28th April 2014, 22:13

I have uploaded a quick hotfix (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_274Alpha140428_exe_only.7z) because of this GUI issue (http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/277852-AVStoDVD-Support-Thread?p=2318156&viewfull=1#post2318156).

;)

Bye

manolito

29th April 2014, 12:55

Thanks for the Hotfix...

sure, I have started to implement the possibility to resize the main AVStoDVD form, but I did only half work. There's even no references in the Change Log...
Does this concern me as a translator? If a user resizes the main form, will all the text boxes also get resized automatically?

Cheers
manolito

MrC

29th April 2014, 16:25

@manolito

currently not, because you can only enlarge the form and textboxes will only change positions, not dimensions.

Thanks anyway for thinking about.

;)

Bye

manolito

7th May 2014, 19:52

@MrC
During the last couple of days I have played around quite a bit with the latest alpha version, everything is cool, no problems so far.

Just one little request concerning the modified ffmpeg HQ setting:
The old behavior was that you had to select HQ mode under Project Settings for each file in the source window individually. Bad for folks who are encoding 10 files at once because they have to check the HQ setting for each file individually.

The new behavior is that the HQ setting is done in the Global Preferences window (it can even be saved so it will get used in future projects). But in the Project Settings window the HQ checkbox has disappeared. This means that now there is no way any more to have different HQ settings for individual files. HQ can only be active either for all or for none of them.

I would lobby for the return of the HQ checkbox in the Project Settings window. The global setting would then be used as the default for all files in the source list, but the setting could still be changed for individual files.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

10th May 2014, 13:40

Hi manolito,

got it, I will put in the ToDo list, with not great priority. If a somebody wants to customize the FFmpeg settings can actually use the 'Edit Encoder Command Parameters at runtime' option.

Thanks for the testing report. I'm planning to release the final version within few days.

;)

Bye

manolito

14th May 2014, 17:05

Just stumbled upon a small problem with the AVStoDVD preview. The main avs script always contains a color conversion to YV12 at the beginning. Now I discovered that for the preview script all instances of
Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
are replaced by
Video = Video.ConvertToRGB()

This works fine as long as all filters in the script accept RGB input. When I replaced ChangeFPS(25) by FDecimate(25) in one of my conversions, the preview threw an error that FDecimate only accepts YUY2 and YV12. Quite a surprise for me because the main script explicitly did a color conversion to YV12.

Luckily I found a workaround:
AVStoDVD seems to use a simple Search and Replace, so just inserting a space character right after the dot makes the search fail and nothing gets replaced.
Video = Video. ConvertToYV12

But still I wonder why the conversion to RGB is necessary for the preview...:confused:

Cheers
manolito

MrC

17th May 2014, 13:39

Hi manolito,

the RGB conversion is needed to improve the compatibility of preview (using MS quartz.dll library) with raw video decoders, such as MS' or LAV Filters.

ffdshow properly handles raw YV12 when 'Raw Video' option is set to 'All Supported'.

BTW I can fix that by adding the .ConvertToRGB() function elsewhere without replacing .ConvertToYV12()

;)

Bye

manolito

17th May 2014, 16:40

Yes, please move the function to the end of the preview script, after all filters have been executed...

Thanks and cheers
manolito

manolito

17th May 2014, 19:58

And while I'm at it, I found two small issues with the German translation and one global issue:

1. If I switch from German to English temporarily, I cannot go back to German, there is no "German" entry in the GUI. Have to select German in the Registry.

2. In the "Avisynth/Transform" tab the boxes for cropping and vertical resizing need to be wider. They are fine as long as you do not actually use them, but after entering some values there is not enough room to display the values. The boxes for trim and fade are OK.

3. Whenever I try to call the startup tutorial from the main menu, the program crashes with a runtime error 383 and the message: "Text property is write protected". This happens for English and German languages.

Sorry to cause you some trouble before releasing 2.74 stable... :o

Cheers
manolito

MrC

26th May 2014, 19:55

Hi manolito, sorry for big late.

I cannot reproduce issues #1 and #3. Better if we go PMing. Ok for #2.

;)

Bye

manolito

26th May 2014, 23:00

Sorry, can't send you a PM right now, always getting this message:
MrC has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space.

So here's my message:
Hi MrC,

thanks for getting back to me. After you told me that you cannot reproduce the issues with language selection and the startup tutorial I did some tests, and I must say that this a mystery to me...

My system is WinXP SP3, slow CPU (no SSE2) and low on RAM (576 MB). Using the latest AVStoDVD_274Alpha140428, replaced ffdshow and MediaInfo with different versions. I always use the noinstall versions, mscomctl.ocx is correctly registered. I had used different versions of the main AVStoDVD executable without clearing previous registry entries, but I had not really encountered problems.

After your post I completely deleted the AVStoDVD registry entry under HKCU/Software (hoping this would reset everything), but after this I could not even start AVStoDVD any more. Always got the run time error message "Text property is write protected". Replacing AVStoDVD.exe with earlier versions did not make any difference. Chkdsk gave my HDD a clean bill of health, reregistering mscomctl.ocx also made no difference.

Next step was restarting from scratch, deleted the whole AVStoDVD folder under Program Files and reinstalled the latest alpha version. Now I had no problems whatsoever, I did all the modifications I had done before, I used CCleaner and Puran Defrag, but I could not reproduce the previous problems. Very weird...

I am glad that everything is working now, but what could be the reason for my previous problems? And what does this error message "Runtime Error 383, Text property is write protected" mean in VB6?

And for the "Crop" and "Vertical Resize" boxes, I tried hard to come up with shorter German translations, but I failed. Would be nice if you could move the "Trim" and "Fade" boxes to the right and make some room for "Crop" and "Vertical Resize".

Take care and cheers
manolito

manolito

28th May 2014, 20:37

Did some research and a little more tests, it seems this runtime error 383 and the message: "Text property is write protected" are not so rare for VB6 programs. Mostly it turned out that some VB system file was corrupt or not registered.

This was probably also true in my case. Since extracting the AVStoDVD noinstall archive again into its folder solved the problems, I suspect that mscomctl.ocx had become corrupted during one of my frequent restores from image backups.

One other small thing I encountered yesterday:
I was trying to convert a FLV file (AVC and AAC) which was 60 fps progressive to PAL 25 fps. AVStoDVD used "ConvertFPS(25)" which failed because the fps change was too large. The AviSynth documentation says that in these cases ConvertFPS must be used in "Switch Mode" instead of the default "Blend Mode".

I got a pretty good looking conversion by using "FDecimate(25)" instead.

Cheers
manolito

Guest

28th May 2014, 20:48

As the author of FDecimate, I don't recommend it generally, due to a design fault that I never found time to fix. If your case doesn't invoke it, then OK, but be wary. The symptom would be out of order frames in some scenarios.

MrC

3rd June 2014, 21:32

Hi manolito,

sorry for being so distracted recently, I could give a tons of explanations, but better not to waste time... ;)

2. In the "Avisynth/Transform" tab the boxes for cropping and vertical resizing need to be wider. They are fine as long as you do not actually use them, but after entering some values there is not enough room to display the values. The boxes for trim and fade are OK.

Fixed. Thanks!

Next step was restarting from scratch, deleted the whole AVStoDVD folder under Program Files and reinstalled the latest alpha version. Now I had no problems whatsoever, I did all the modifications I had done before, I used CCleaner and Puran Defrag, but I could not reproduce the previous problems. Very weird...
I am glad that everything is working now, but what could be the reason for my previous problems? And what does this error message "Runtime Error 383, Text property is write protected" mean in VB6?

That message is caused by a read-only control that is being written by the code or a "restricted values" control that is receiving an unexpected value: i.e. when a combo-box is populated at runtime with one unexpected element. Example: start AVStoDVD, read from registry some custom settings, populate the GUI combo-boxes. If there are any unsupported elements, the error 383 pops out. Have you deleted the AVStoDVD reg key before re-installing it? Maybe you have played too hard with your AVStoDVD reg key... ;)

I was trying to convert a FLV file (AVC and AAC) which was 60 fps progressive to PAL 25 fps. AVStoDVD used "ConvertFPS(25)" which failed because the fps change was too large. The AviSynth documentation says that in these cases ConvertFPS must be used in "Switch Mode" instead of the default "Blend Mode".

You are perfectly right. From the AviSynth doc:
new_rate Target frame rate. Can be integer or floating point number. In Blend Mode, new_rate must be at least 2/3 (66.7%) of the source frame rate, or an error will occur. This is to prevent frame skipping. If you need to slow down the frame rate more than that, use Switch Mode.

I'm wondering if FDecimate is not the magic wand (as many other DG's stuff ;) ), it is better to use ConvertFPS in Switch Mode or the simpler ChangeFPS, or what else?

;)

Bye

MrC

3rd June 2014, 21:41

Quick 2.7.4 Alpha hotfix (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_274Alpha140603_exe_only.7z)

;)

Bye

manolito

4th June 2014, 05:04

Thanks for the hotfix, will do some tests later today...

For the runtime error issue my first thought was the registry key also (I had tried some older versions and not cleaned the reg key when going back to the latest version). But even deleting the whole reg key did not help at all, after deleting the key AVStoDVD would not even start any more without the runtime error.

So I figured that the problem must lie in the AVStoDVD program folder itself, and replacing everything in the program folder did indeed fix the problem. Weird, but it is working now... :D

I am not sure what to use for fps conversions with high ratios. FDecimate does just drop frames like ChangeFPS, it only makes intelligent decisions which frames should be dropped. I had at least two conversions where FDecimate resulted in a much smoother playback than ChangeFPS. I did not detect any out of order frames with it, but according to neuron2 this only happens in certain scenarios - would be good to know what these scenarios are...

I have never used ConvertFPS in switch mode so I have no idea if it is actually better than ChangeFPS.

Thanks again
Cheers
manolito

manolito

5th June 2014, 08:47

Hi MrC,

here's some test results and observations for the latest 2.7.4 hotfix...

I got rid of Haali and ffdshow first and installed the latest LAVFilters (all settings at their defaults).

BTW I can fix that by adding the .ConvertToRGB() function elsewhere without replacing .ConvertToYV12()

This one obviously did not make it into the hotfix. FDecimate does not work in preview without a workaround.

The boxes for cropping and vertical resizing are perfect now.

LAVFilters are recognized and the filter settings can be accessed from the AVStoDVD menu without any problems.

In the Audio Filter setup the mixer is disabled by default. Is this a problem? If I enable the mixer, is there a need for AVStoDVD to adjust the mixer settings like with ffdshow? And is it a potential problem to have the "Adjust ffdshow settings at runtime" activated even when ffdshow is not installed?

I made the observation that using LAVSplitter for AVS files makes my preview real slow and jerky. After I edit the registry to disable the LAV splitter for AVS files by changing the Source Filter under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Media Type\Extensions\.avs back to its original value of {D3588AB0-0781-11CE-B03A-0020AF0BA770} (courtesy of clsid) then the preview gets fast and smooth again. After changing this reg key it is also required to enable 32-bit floating point audio in the LAV audio filter (disabled by default). If I don't do this the preview for sources with AC3 audio will not work (no sound). But maybe this is just my soundcard.

Alright, that's it for now. I think I will stick with LAVFilters.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

8th June 2014, 22:10

Hi manolito,

thanks for the lates tests.

Step by step, hopefully, the last hotfix (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_274Alpha140608_exe_only.7z)before the final 2.7.4 release

In the Audio Filter setup the mixer is disabled by default. Is this a problem? If I enable the mixer, is there a need for AVStoDVD to adjust the mixer settings like with ffdshow?

Actually it should not be a problem: having the mixer disabled by default in LAV Filters, the input audio channels should not be altered. Instead ffdshow, by default, has the 2.0 channels configuration.

And is it a potential problem to have the "Adjust ffdshow settings at runtime" activated even when ffdshow is not installed?

No, it is not: if ffdshow is not installed, AVStoDVD will performe no changes to the ffdshow reg key.

;)

Bye

manolito

9th June 2014, 13:15

Step by step, hopefully, the last hotfix before the final 2.7.4 release

Yes, I think so. Everything looks stable to me (tested under WinXP only).

The ConvertToRGB() command in the preview script is perfect now. And for fps conversions with high ratios ChangeFPS gets used now.

Depending on the source characteristics I sometimes do get jerky playback with ChangeFPS, and for me this gets fixed by using FDecimate instead. After reading this post by DoctorM:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1159858#post1159858
I went back to the older version 1.02, and so far I have never seen out of order frames with it.

There is a small correction for the German translation. Please update this line:
741410 Für weitere Medien- und Codec Unterstützung bitte das Win7DSFilterTweaker Tool benutzen.
The original translation did fit into its box before LAV support was added, but now it is too long.

As far as I am concerned, version 2.7.4 is ready for prime time. Thanks a lot... :cool:

Cheers
manolito

MrC

14th June 2014, 22:11

2.7.4 Final build is *finally* out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.7.4/).

Many thanks to manolito for the extensive debug and German translation!

;)

Bye

manolito

15th June 2014, 15:06

Thank you very much for the new version... :thanks:

Just did a couple of short test conversions, found no problems whatsoever. :cool:

One question: I might be wrong, but I have the feeling that for frame rate conversions now ConvertFPS() is mostly used while older versions used ChangeFPS() more frequently. What are the internal rules for determining the conversion method? Is it basically always ConvertFPS() with the exception if the ratio is too high?

The reason I am asking is that I know some folks who really hate blend conversions. I still watch my DVDs on a CRT TV where blend conversions look pretty good, but sometimes I make DVDs for others who will be watching them on LCDs.

Thanks again,

Cheers
manolito

MrC

15th June 2014, 19:39

Yes, I made some adjustments according to our previous discussion about the ConvertFPS limit at 66.7% of the source frame rate in blend mode. Now the framerate routine section is:

Str = "Video = Video.ChangeFPS(" & sFPS & ")" & vbCrLf
If FPS > 2 / 3 * InputFPS Then
Str = "Video = Video.ConvertFPS(" & sFPS & ")" & vbCrLf
End If
If .InputVideoInfo.FrameRateMode = "CFR" Then
Select Case Round(InputFPS - FPS, 3)
Case Is = 0
Str = ""
Case Is > 0
If InputFPS = 2 * FPS Then
Str = "Video = Video.SelectEven()" & vbCrLf
End If
Case Is < 0
If InputInterlaced = False Or .AVSDeInterlace = True Then
Select Case InputFPS
Case 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, 60 'only these fps are mpeg2 compliant
Str = "#Using DGPulldown/HCenc to upsize FPS" & vbCrLf
End Select
If Preferences.PALSpeedUp = True And FPS = 25 And InputFPS = 23.976 Then
Str = "#Using AssumeFPS() to upsize FPS" & vbCrLf 'see below
End If
If Preferences.NTSCSlowDown = True And FPS = 29.97 And InputFPS = 25 Then
Str = "#Using AssumeFPS() to downsize FPS to 23.976 and then DGPulldown to upsize to 29.97 " & vbCrLf 'see below
End If
End If
End Select
End If

sFPS (string) and FPS (float) are both output framerate.

;)

Bye

manolito

15th June 2014, 23:30

Thanks for the explanation, but the source code confirms my suspicion that ConvertFPS is the default method now, and only if the conversion limit of 66.7% is reached ChangeFPS will be used instead.

(Just to make it clear to everyone, ChangeFPS changes the frame rate by duplicating or dropping frames while ConvertFPS uses blending to achieve the fps conversion)

Just to make sure I went back to V. 2.7.3 and started a conversion of a 29.97 fps progressive source to 25 fps, and sure enough this older version used ChangeFPS while the current version 2.7.4 used ConvertFPS.

This is probably a philosophical issue (are blend conversions using ConvertFPS evil or not), but I sure know some people who would never use blend conversions.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

16th June 2014, 17:42

Actually in the 2.7.3 release there was an unproper switch from ChangeFPS to ConvertFPS:

Str = "Video = Video.ChangeFPS(" & sFPS & ")" & vbCrLf
If FPS < 2 / 3 * InputFPS Then
Str = "Video = Video.ConvertFPS(" & sFPS & ")" & vbCrLf
End If

instead in 2.7.4:

Str = "Video = Video.ChangeFPS(" & sFPS & ")" & vbCrLf
If FPS > 2 / 3 * InputFPS Then
Str = "Video = Video.ConvertFPS(" & sFPS & ")" & vbCrLf
End If

I would say there are 3 scenarios:

1. Upsizing FPS: when input FPS is much lower than output FPS (< 66%), ChangeFPS should be preferred because of ConvertFPS (blend mode) limitation

2. Upsizing FPS: when input FPS is close to output FPS (> 66% but < 100%), what is better? Is it a matter of personal flavour or is there a common direction, at least nowadays for LCD panels?

3. Downsizing FPS: when input FPS is higher than output FPS (> 100%), I assume that blending (ConvertFPS) should be preferred to dropping frames (ChangeFPS). But I am open to discussion.

Of course the above scenarios do not apply to *easier* progressive FPS conversion, where PullDown, PAL SpeedUp, NTSC SlowDown routines can be used.

;)

Bye

manolito

16th June 2014, 20:08

This is from the SmoothDeinterlace (by Gunnar Thalin) AviSynth port (by Xesdeeni) readme:
NOTE 2: I prefer ChangeFPS() when going from PAL to NTSC. This AVISynth filter
replicates frames to achieve the new frame rate. This is faster than the
ConvertFPS() filter, and it does not introduce the "jutter" common to much
converted video, caused by blending of adjacent fields. It does cause a stutter
due to the replicated frame (actually, a field), but as hard as I try, I cannot
see it. This may be because those of us that watch NTSC are used to the 3:2
pulldown conversion of film to video, which contains the same type of stutter.
However, when converting from NTSC to PAL, ChangeFPS() drops frames. This is
much less desirable, so I recommend ConvertFPS() when converting in this
direction. Perhaps my PAL-land based friends can take a look for themselves and
let me know what they think.

This is in line with your scenarios 2 and 3. I spent some time googling for opinions on fps conversion, and a majority of people seem to prefer ChangeFPS no matter what. Since I watch my videos on a CRT I have no problems with ConvertFPS, but I have no idea how ugly blending actually looks on an LCD.

Next thing I will probably do is give the old MotionProtectedFPS script some test runs. It should be way faster than the MVFlow based fps converters, and it is easy to use. It will probably introduce some artifacts depending on the source characteristics (scene changes), but it should result in smooth motion. I will report back...

Cheers
manolito

//EDIT//
Just did a few test conversions with MotionProtectedFPS, and they look fine to me. Very smooth horizontal pans, no obvious artifacts so far. Speed is about half of what I get with ChangeFPS, but still quite acceptable.
If you want to play with it, keep in mind that it requires the old MaskTools 1.58. I uploaded the necessary stuff here:
http://www40.zippyshare.com/v/90029504/file.html

manolito

17th June 2014, 17:20

After doing almost a dozen more test conversions (mainly files from w6rz.net) my conclusion is as follows:

For interlaced sources (where the source is first bob-deinterlaced and only fields are dropped or blended) I have a hard time seeing any differences on my CRT TV. No matter if I use ChangeFPS, ConvertFPS or MotionProtectedFPS, all these conversions (downconversions from 29.97 to 25) look very good to me.

It gets different if the source is progressive so the usual conversion will drop or blend whole frames instead of fields. ChangeFPS looks very stuttery in this case, ConvertFPS looks much better (probably due to my CRT TV), and MotionProtectedFPS looks very good.

A good example is this 29.97 progressive anime clip:
http://www.w6rz.net/1080p30.zip

BTW w6rz.net only offers legitimate clips for download...

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

24th June 2014, 19:26

Hi guys. I'm getting this error.
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/54700356/avs2dvd%20error.jpg
I tried 2 times with different vids, same outcome.

SuLyMaN

24th June 2014, 20:18

Solved my issue. My firewall blocked the process :S

SuLyMaN

25th June 2014, 06:18

manolito

28th June 2014, 18:40

I converted some files and the resulting DVD has stuttering audio on an LG DVD player :(. I will test on another player and on PC.

edit: Plays fine on PC.
edit2: Works fine on my 8 year old DVD no brand player from China....

Sounds like your LG player needs a lens cleaning (or get a repair job)... ;)

Unless configured differently AVStoDVD uses MuxMan for DVD authoring and IMGBurn for burning. Both tools are extremely reliable in my experience. MuxMan can even be considered as a compliance checker for the elementary streams, because it is so picky. If authoring with MuxMan succeeds without any error message then you can be 99.9% sure that the resulting DVD structure is flawless.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

29th June 2014, 15:07

I have been meaning to post this for some time, but never got to it... :o

It only happens when FFMpeg is used as the encoder AND audio normalization is activated. It does not happen with HCenc, also the source filters do not matter (I used DSS with LAVfilters, but ffdshow/Haali behaves the same way). This error was introduced some time ago when QuEnc was replaced by FFMpeg.

With audio normalization on as soon as FFMpeg is invoked, it just shows the opening screen with version information and compiler settings, and then it just sits there for several minutes without starting the encode. CPU is at 100%, and there is some HDD activity. This sure looks like the normalizing pass.

But after video encoding is done and Wavi / Aften is started, it again just sits there for the same amount of time as before displaying "Writing WAV file". Also 100% CPU again plus HDD activity. Normalizing taking place for a second time it seems.

This behavior does not do any harm except wasting time. But since it does not happen with HCenc (and it did not happen with QuEnc in the past) I think that something can probably be done about it...

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

30th June 2014, 08:52

I'm actually pleasantly surprised by AVS2DVD. The black nothrills menu works fine for me! However, a minor irritation is that it will create menu titles horizontally instead of vertically and long file names are 'cut out' unless adjusted. Any way to change the default menu to vertical titles and longer file names support?

@manolito: The LG player is not fine :) It is a work player/recorder and it can continue to stutter :p

MrC

1st July 2014, 19:20

@manolito

you are right, let me see if I can add any switch to FFMpeg to ignore the audio delivered by the AVS script.

@SuLyMaN

I am pleasantly surprised you are pleasantly surprised! ;)

What do you mean by long file names 'cut out'? A screenshot would help.

About vertical titles, unfortunately it is not possible, because VB6 does not give many graphical options to developers. For fancy DVD menu you should try DVD Styler. Just output elementary DVD compliant streams with AVStoDVD and then author with DVD Styler.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

2nd July 2014, 05:45

What do you mean by long file names 'cut out'? A screenshot would help.

About vertical titles, unfortunately it is not possible, because VB6 does not give many graphical options to developers. For fancy DVD menu you should try DVD Styler. Just output elementary DVD compliant streams with AVStoDVD and then author with DVD Styler.

;)

Bye

Hi. I just reformatted my PC. I will get a screenshot asap. What I mean is that the full file name will not show (adjusted to 200 I think in default and you have to change it to 350).
About the vertical menu, same can be done, but I have to go in the menu and move the generated thumbnails of videos manually. Else it will be horizontally displayed.
As I said, I don't need fancy menus and want to cut out on time badly spent (aka dvd menus!)
I'll try to make a screenshot of this too and post soon.

manolito

2nd July 2014, 12:48

I only create menus with text based titles in AVStoDVD, and they are always aligned vertically by default.

But if you need thumbnails, there is a setting in the menu wizard under "Options" called "Max thumbs per row". Set this value to 1 instead of the default 4, and your thumbnails will be aligned vertically.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

2nd July 2014, 14:31

you are right, let me see if I can add any switch to FFMpeg to ignore the audio delivered by the AVS script.

@MrC

So it is FFMpeg itself... :rolleyes:
Weird why it treats AVS input differently from other encoders. I browsed the FFMpeg docs and the web a little bit, but I could not find any switch to make it behave differently.

Maybe audio manipulation (at least the normalizing, maybe also resampling and delay) should be moved from AviSynth to SoX. The SoX command could be easily added to the WAVI -> Aften (or FFMpeg -> Aften) batch file, piping it right in between WAVI and Aften.

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

5th July 2014, 07:11

Hello, i'm using your software avs2dvd since 2 or 3 years. It is a great software. for me better than convertxtodvd. But i have problem with pulldown. If i using 23,976 fps movies, it's convert to 25 fps via asumefps. But if i using 24 fps movies, it did not convert to 25 fps and the movies stutter.

manolito

5th July 2014, 13:50

Hi Mister XY, and welcome to the forum...

You are right, AVStoDVD only uses PAL speedup (assumepfs(25)) only for 23.976fps sources and not for 24fps. I brought this up a while ago, see this post:
And at last one (probably stupid) question:
PAL Speedup only works for 23.976 fps sources. Why doesn't it also work for 24 fps sources?
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1624536#post1624536

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

5th July 2014, 15:09

Ok thanks, but i dont really find a solution.

manolito

5th July 2014, 19:13

Oh, that's pretty easy, AVStoDVD is a lot more versatile than one might see on the first looks... :cool:

1. Load your 24fps source into AVStoDVD
2. In the "Title" menue select "Edit Source Title Info" and click on "Video Frame Rate".
3. Change the value from 24 to 23.976
4. Click on "View/Edit Title Settings" and go to the "AviSynth" tab.
5. Uncheck "Auto AviSynth Script" and in the line for the video source filter (second from above) change the frame rate back to the "real" value of 24.

Steps #4 and #5 are probably not even necessary, in a couple of tests I got perfect audio sync even without specifying the correct source frame rate in the source filter.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

5th July 2014, 20:49

@manolito

very good suggestion, that's exactly the workaround I would have suggested to Mr XY. :)

Step 4 and 5 are necessary if the source is VFR and DSS needs some more hints about the avg framerate.

Have you tried using MotionProtectedFPS for direct 23.976 / 24 fps to 25 fps conversions? Without DGPulldown, I mean.

;)

Bye

manolito

5th July 2014, 22:18

Have you tried using MotionProtectedFPS for direct 23.976 / 24 fps to 25 fps conversions? Without DGPulldown, I mean.

Hi MrC,

thanks for giving my workaround your official blessings... :)

And yes, I have done a lot more tests with fps conversions based on motion compensation.

23.976 / 24 fps to 25 fps using MotionProtectedFPS works nicely. For natural content I have a hard time detecting any warped edges, even looking at stills. I also tried both of the MVTools based fps converters (MVFlowFPS and MVFlowFPS2), but I did not see any advantage compared to MotionProtectedFPS. Both MVTools based methods are way slower, and they had a tendency to produce more artifacts. And these artifacts were more visible when watching clips (not stills). The same goes for salFPS3. IMO MotionProtectedFPS is the best compromise if you want to use motion-compensated fps conversion.

The real torture test I ran with MotionProtectedFPS was using an NTSC DVD which is true interlaced 29.97 (not telecined). The DVD is Prince - The Hits Collection, the different videos are quite demanding. Converting it to PAL in the usual way (bob deinterlace, use changefps for fps conversion, resize and reinterlace) results in a very acceptable PAL DVD, but of course the dropped fields are visible if you concentrate on it.

What I did next was a conversion where I first applied a fast same rate deinterlacer (Yadif) and then used MotionProtectedFPS to get a progressive 25fps file. Very smooth motion, a few artifacts but not terrible at all, and the speed was quite fast. Only the vertically scrolling end credits did not look too good.

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

6th July 2014, 10:39

About the vertical menu, same can be done, but I have to go in the menu and move the generated thumbnails of videos manually. Else it will be horizontally displayed.
.

Newb post. The menu renders well and no clipping of text whatsoever. I was clicking 'edit' and this is why I was seeing issues when there was none!

Works well. Enjoy the simple plain black menu!

MrC

14th July 2014, 16:02

AVStoDVD release 2.7.5 Alpha 140714 is available (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.7.5%20Alpha%20140714/)

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added MotionProtectedFPS, Motion_12Dec05 and MaskTools libraries to implement Motion Compensation FPS change
- Replaced ChangeFPS/ConvertFPS with MotionProtectedFPS in AviSynth script generation routine
- MediaInfo updated to release 0.7.69

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

15th July 2014, 18:57

One thing, Should I always uninstall before installing or can I install on the old version?

MrC

16th July 2014, 21:49

One thing, Should I always uninstall before installing or can I install on the old version?

Yes, as explained in Help/FAQ/General/Q1.7

;)

Bye

manolito

26th August 2014, 06:07

Anyone interested in testing a plugin which allows to use SoX or DynamicAudioNormalizer for normalizing audio (instead of the built-in AviSynth normalizing function) ?

The reason I wrote this plugin was that I had some issues with AviSynth normalizing:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1685231#post1685231

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1677270#post1677270

As an additional bonus the plugin handles huge non-standard temp WAV files > 4GB.

Download:

// Link Removed - New version here: //
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1693124#post1693124

Note:
The plugin requires patching of the main AVStoDVD executable. If you are not comfortable with this, please do not use the plugin.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

27th August 2014, 20:43

Hi manolito, it looks promising in several aspects.

I'm currently in vacation with no PC and limited web access (smartphone). Next week, coming back, I will give a try for sure.

Thanks for expanding once more A2D capabilities.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

29th August 2014, 06:57

Thanks for the update! Should reinstall AVS2DVD today. Had a HDD crash. What a PITA to get windows up and running with all your previous settings/softwares...

manolito

29th August 2014, 08:45

Maybe now you might want to use a good imaging backup software regularly... :devil:

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

30th August 2014, 10:54

@manolito: I paid the price once at start of this year :( I already had backup! This is a 2nd failure on me but the damage was more of lost time and hassles than anything else :)

@everybody else: I was doing some searches on the net about dvd conversion softwares etc and came across an interesting read.
http://forums.vso-software.fr/encoding-q-a-t17855.html
Now, I'm a firm believer of VBR based encodes (been a DVD rebuilder/HCenc user) for years but in FAQ 3. they say that a CBR is better than VBR. I know that you are free and do not need to answer for 'them' but I am wondering why are they making such a bold claim. For all I know from being there for many years reading much contents, it is agreed that re-encoders such as CCE, HCEnc etc yield the best quality.

SuLyMaN

30th August 2014, 12:38

Latest version is not working :( HCEnc keeps crashing before first pass ends....Tried different files.
Crashes...

manolito

30th August 2014, 12:54

... but in FAQ 3. they say that a CBR is better than VBR.

You misunderstood them completely. They are not talking about CBR, they are talking about CQ (Constant Quantizer). This is something completely different.

You probably can have endless discussions if multi-pass VBR or CQ gives you better quality. I would say that both have their merits. HC for example does not offer CBR, but it does have CQ based encoding, and the modified CQ version called CQ_MaxBitrate which observes the DVD maximum allowed bitrate gives you excellent quality encodes.

Lately there have been a couple of reports that HC crashes under Win 8 or Win 8.1. Sometimes it was false alarm and it turned out that some Antivirus software caused the crashes. If you absolutely cannot get HC to work, you should probably have a look at the ffmpeg VBR plugin (available at the AVStoDVD SourceForge page under Addons).

Cheers
manolito

MrC

5th September 2014, 20:01

@Sulyman

any update on your issue?

May I ask you if you had the same problem with older AVStoDVD releases together with the same OS? Do you get the same problem with FFmpeg or only with HCenc?

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

6th September 2014, 09:31

@MrC: 2.7.4 was working awesome. I had a HDD crash and reinstalled Windows + all my other softwares (same as pre-crash). I do not know why it is crashing but it appears to stall and close before HCenc finishes the first pass encode (right before it completes it)

I have not had time to trouble shoot the problem as the first step I wanted to try is on another computer and see if I get the same problem. I will thus be able to figure out if its a software (avstodvd) issue or an issue on my PC. I intend to test it at latest tomorrow though. I am setting up a PC for a friend and it is one of the softwares that I will pre install. I will report back if it crashes on another PC also.

MrC

6th September 2014, 14:17

I will report back if it crashes on another PC also.

Thanks. Please report also the system configuration (OS, directshow filters, involved codecs). The project log file would help too.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

6th September 2014, 17:25

I have good news and bad news :P

The good news is that AVS2DVD 2.7.5 is working perfectly on the other PC I tested.
The bad news is that I have to figure out why it is not working on my PC!
I will try to reinstall with the default settings. If it fails, I will post back the log.
Thanks!

MrC

6th September 2014, 18:22

The good news is that AVS2DVD 2.7.5 is working perfectly on the other PC I tested.
The bad news is that I have to figure out why it is not working on my PC!
I will try to reinstall with the default settings. If it fails, I will post back the log.
Thanks!

What are the differences between the 2 PC? Operating system? 32/64 bit? Codecs?

;)

Bye

MrC

6th September 2014, 21:17

Anyone interested in testing a plugin which allows to use SoX or DynamicAudioNormalizer for normalizing audio (instead of the built-in AviSynth normalizing function) ?

Just tested. Config:

- mkv clip > 2h
- 2 audio tracks: 1st AC3 6ch (DSS) and 2nd AAC 2ch (FFS2)
- used default option 1
- used the modded AVStoDVD.exe from the Patch folder
- LAV Filters as DS decoders

Worked nicely, no failures, good normalization, big wav properly burped. Just minor cosmetics for the warning messages from Aften window.

Really a nice job, manolito. :cool:

When you are confident to give the add-on the "1.0 release" tag, if you agree, I will publish it on SourceForge.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

7th September 2014, 06:58

What are the differences between the 2 PC? Operating system? 32/64 bit? Codecs?

;)

Bye

Both running Windows 7 Pro 32 bits, 4GB RAM. Codecs on the new system had none installed. On the old system, AFAIK, I never install codecs as I use potplayer for my viewing needs...

Downloading a youtube vid (720p mp4) for testing purposes. Will reinstall AVS2DVD and give it a try.

SuLyMaN

7th September 2014, 10:33

I tested it again today (reinstalled) It is working properly....Thanks for helping. I still have no clue what went wrong...

manolito

7th September 2014, 12:24

Hi MrC,

welcome back to the "old continent". And thanks for testing my plugin... :cool:

Good to know that it seems to work under Win7 because I only tested it under XP. If you have the time maybe you could also give DynamicAudioNormalizer (Mode = 2) a test run. I like it very much for DVD video content. It does bring up quieter parts, but without destroying the dynamic characteristics of the source.

When I wrote the plugin I really tried hard to make it work without patching the AVStoDVD.exe file. After more than 2 days I finally gave up, CMD.exe always evaluates the pipe character which made all my efforts useless. I tried all dirty batch file tricks I found (running aften.bat in a new instance of CMD.exe, using delayed variable expansion, escaping the pipe character), nothing worked.

I have no idea if SoX delivers a better normalization quality than AviSynth, but after what I was reading SoX does use the highest quality algorithms. The Aften parameter "readtoeof 1" which is always used in the plugin does no harm with shorter files except causing wrong values in the progress indicator. I think it should always get used.

LoRd_MuldeR just sent me a new version of his DynamicAudioNormalizer which features a new compression method. The threshold is no longer dependent on the input volume which should make pre-normalizing unnecessary (Mode = 3). I need to do a lot of testing and then probably update the plugin, even if using real compression within AVStoDVD is not all that useful. So it will take a little more time until the plugin will be 1.0 :D

Cheers
manolito

manolito

10th September 2014, 15:31

I just finished a new version of the plugin...

Changes:

Added Upmixing stereo to 6-ch pseudo surround
Fixed a stupid bug
Cosmetics

Download here:

http://www76.zippyshare.com/v/13534542/file.html

Cheers
manolito

//Edit: Cosmetics, release candidate, please redownload //

SuLyMaN

12th September 2014, 11:35

Hi manolito. What does the plugin do?
How to use it?
Thanks!

manolito

12th September 2014, 13:22

Hi SuLyMaN,

from the plugin documentation:
This small utility allows using SoX and DynamicAudioNormalizer instead of
AviSynth Normalizing under AVStoDVD. It also removes the 4 GB limit for
temporary WAV files.
The main reason for writing this plugin was that the built-in AviSynth Normalizing
caused a few issues for me. When using ffmpeg as the video encoder, audio
normalizing was always executed twice. And more importantly I sometimes got
audio sync problems when using DirectShowSource as the audio source filter
together with AviSynth Normalizing.
This plugin remedies these issues by using SoX for regular normalizing, plus it can
use the DynamicAudioNormalizer by LoRd_MuldeR.

The plugin can be used for traditional normalizing, normalizing with DynamicAudioNormalizer ( http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=170980 ), and it can use all the other capabilities of SoX and DynamicAudioNormalizer. Currently available are a compression mode and upmix from stereo to 6-ch pseudo surround.

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

17th September 2014, 22:23

Hello, if i'm using the plugin which allows to use SoX or DynamicAudioNormalizer for normalizing audio, i get an error "WARNING: Failed to parse unsigned integral value "--input-rate"
ERROT: Invalid or incomplete commando-line argument have been detected.

manolito

17th September 2014, 23:36

Hi Mister XY,

first of all make sure that you installed the plugin correctly. Have you really renamed the original wavi.exe to _wavi.exe? And then extracted wavi.exe.mod from the plugin archive to the wavi folder and renamed it to wavi.exe?

After the correct installation of the plugin the content of the AVStoDVD\Wavi folder should look exactly like this:
http://i61.tinypic.com/11cfswm.jpg

Your error comes from DynamicAudioNormalizer. Are you using the included version, or did you replace it with a newer version? If you replaced it, please go back to the included version.

Are you using Mode=2 or Mode=3 ?

The plugin sets the value for "--input-rate" to 48000, because only this value is DVD compliant, and AVStoDVD always converts different rates to 48000 within AviSynth.

To debug this error, please edit the file "Wavi_mod.bat" and disable the following command under : DynNorm and/or :Compress

IF EXIST "%TempPath%wavi.txt" DEL "%TempPath%wavi.txt"
(Just add a REM in front of it)

Do another conversion, after the error you should have a file "wavi.txt" in your AVStoDVD temp folder. Please post the content of this file.

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

18th September 2014, 07:02

Hello, i'm using your version. And through and after the conversion, the wavi.txt is empty (with IF EXIST "%TempPath%wavi.txt" DEL "%TempPath%wavi.txt"). and after many minutes, aften crashed.
And i have 2 Directorys more in my avi directory.
DynamicAudioNormalizer
SoX

And it only cashed with DynamicAudioNormalize. Sox runs very well.

manolito

18th September 2014, 13:32

And i have 2 Directorys more in my avi directory.
DynamicAudioNormalizer
SoX

Very strange. The plugin does not create any new directories. This must have happened when you installed the plugin.

During the installation you only have to extract the files in the root folder of the plugin archive into the "AVStoDVD\Wavi" folder. If you extracted the whole archive then you will have these subfolders under the "Wavi" folder. (I guess "avi directory" was a typo.)
Actually - you should also get a third subfolder called "Patch".
These 3 folders do not do any harm, they only contain the original distributions of SoX and DynamicAudioNormalizer and instructions for patchin AVStoDVD.exe. You can safely delete them.

What do you mean by "wavi.txt is empty" ? Is the file not there, or is it there but contains no text? To keep this file you have to disable (rem out) the line in the batch file. The line must be:
REM IF EXIST "%TempPath%wavi.txt" DEL "%TempPath%wavi.txt"
After this the "wavi.txt" file should be in the AVStoDVD temp folder. You can configure where this temp folder should be in the AVStoDVD preferences.

I need the content of "wavi.txt" because my plugin determines the number of channels from this text file. DynamicAudioNormalizer needs the number of channels as a commandline argument, and I use _wavi.exe (the original but now renamed wavi.exe) to analyze the source audio. And this somehow seems to fail on your computer.

As an alternative you could specify the number of channels manually and try another conversion. Use this DynNorm script version for a source with 2-ch audio:

:DynNorm
IF EXIST "%TempPath%$temp.wav" DEL "%TempPath%$temp.wav"
_wavi.exe %source% - | dynamicaudionormalizercli.exe -i - --input-bits 16 --input-chan 2 --input-rate 48000 -o "%TempPath%$temp.wav" -b
SET aften_input=%TempPath%$temp.wav
CALL SET aften_cmd=%%aften_cmd: - "= "%aften_input%" "%%
%aften_cmd%
IF EXIST "%TempPath%$temp.wav" DEL "%TempPath%$temp.wav"
GOTO :EOF

Copy and paste this into the "wavi_mod.bat" file and delete the original DynNorm section.

Good luck
manolito

Mister XY

18th September 2014, 17:03

Yes, the wave.txt contains no text.
I have disabled via REM but the wavi.txt consist no text, it was an empty file.

manolito

18th September 2014, 18:48

OK, we are getting closer...

This line in the script:
_wavi.exe %source% 2>"%TempPath%wavi.txt"

calls the original (now renamed) wavi.exe with just the source AVS as a parameter. This will display some info about the source audio, which is then redirected to the file "wavi.txt".

There could be several reasons why it does not work on your machine, but before I send you a debug version of the batch file, please try the DynNorm part from my previous post. (it is for 2-ch audio, if your audio has 6 channels, replace --input-chan 2 with --input-chan 6. If this works then I know where I have to look.

BTW which operating system are you using, and is it 32-bit or 64-bit?

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

18th September 2014, 19:35

Yes, it is work very well with the change (--input 2 and 6 runs very good).
And i have Windows 7 64bit.

manolito

18th September 2014, 20:30

Sounds good...

Here is the debug version of the DynNorm section:

:DynNorm
c:
md a2d_debug
%WAVI_DRIVE%
CD "%WAVI_PATH%"
_wavi.exe %source% 2>c:\a2d_debug\wavi.txt"
FOR /F "usebackq tokens=4" %%a IN ("c:\a2d_debug\wavi.txt") DO SET channels=%%a
IF EXIST "%TempPath%$temp.wav" DEL "%TempPath%$temp.wav"
echo Wavi Drive: %WAVI_DRIVE% >>c:\a2d_debug\wavi.txt
echo Wavi Path: %WAVI_PATH% >>c:\a2d_debug\wavi.txt
echo Temp Path: %TempPath% >>c:\a2d_debug\wavi.txt
echo Source AVS: %source% >>c:\a2d_debug\wavi.txt
echo Channels: %channels% >>c:\a2d_debug\wavi.txt
_wavi.exe %source% - | dynamicaudionormalizercli.exe -i - --input-bits 16 --input-chan %channels% --input-rate 48000 -o "%TempPath%$temp.wav" -b
SET aften_input=%TempPath%$temp.wav
echo Aften Input: %aften_input% >>c:\a2d_debug\wavi.txt
CALL SET aften_cmd=%%aften_cmd: - "= "%aften_input%" "%%
echo Aften Command: %aften_cmd% >>c:\a2d_debug\wavi.txt
%aften_cmd%
IF EXIST "%TempPath%$temp.wav" DEL "%TempPath%$temp.wav"
GOTO :EOF

Replace the original DynNorm section in the batch file with this version. Make sure Mode is set to 2.

With this debug version a new folder on your C: drive with the name "a2d_debug" will be created. All plugin variables will be written to "wavi.txt" in this new folder. And I need the content of "wavi.txt"

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

18th September 2014, 21:13

I have start it and get only errors and dynamicaudionormalizercli.exe crashed and i have no folder and no wavi.txt

OK here is the file content

Wavi Drive: C:
Wavi Path: \Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Wavi\
Temp Path: E:\DVD\Temp\
Source AVS: "E:\DVD\Temp\DVD 6 Kanal_2_Movie.avs"
Channels:
Aften Input: E:\DVD\Temp\$temp.wav
Aften Command: "C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Aften\aften.exe" -readtoeof 1 -b 448 -pad 0 -dynrng 5 -bwfilter 0 "E:\DVD\Temp\$temp.wav" "E:\DVD\DVD 6 Kanal_2_Movie.ac3"

OK i think, i have found the error, in avs2dvd was the lav filter active. I have resetet to "Voreinstellungen" and now, the wavi.txt have the real channels in.

Found PCM audio: 6 channels, 48000 Hz, 16 bits, 5903.646687 seconds.
Wavi Drive: C:
Wavi Path: \Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Wavi\
Temp Path: E:\DVD\Temp\
Source AVS: "E:\DVD\Temp\DVD_3_Movie.avs"
Channels: 6

manolito

18th September 2014, 23:30

OK i think, i have found the error, in avs2dvd was the lav filter active. I have resetet to "Voreinstellungen" and now, the wavi.txt have the real channels in.

Great, that's it. But you need to tell me more (since I only have WinXP installed, the Preferred DirectShow Codecs Setup section is not working for me). So I need you as my Win7 Beta tester... :D

Do you have the LAV audio mixer enabled? And if so, which channel configuration is active?

Background:
When DirectShow is used as the audio source filter, audio will be imported into AviSynth using the audio mixer of the active codec. For ffdshow the mixer settings are adjusted at runtime by AVStoDVD, so there should be no problems. For LAVFilters the audio mixer is disabled by default after the installation. This means that the audio is imported into AviSynth "as is", no downmixing will be applied.

In your case the problem is that Wavi is unable to detect the audio properties. This means that the audio source filter (LAV in your case) is doing something wrong. I have no idea what the reason might be. Are you using the current LAV version 0.62? I would like to reproduce the problem, so any hints about what you have changed in your settings will be helpful.

Thanks a lot for testing...

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

19th September 2014, 17:44

Hello, yes, the Audio mixer is enabled an it set to "Stereo". I use LAV via K-Lite and is it the newest one (0,62).
And i have send you my settings.

manolito

19th September 2014, 21:00

Hello, yes, the Audio mixer is enabled an it set to "Stereo". I use LAV via K-Lite and is it the newest one (0,62).

Alright, wrong answer... :eek:
Your chances to get any help with DirectShow filter problems are not too good if you mention that you use codec packs like K-Lite.

I made some tests using LAVFilters for audio, and it always worked no matter if the mixer was enabled or disabled. I guess that the problems is not with LAVFilters, but has something to do with the codec pack.

Could you change your settings again to the one which caused the crash with DynamicAudioNormalizer, and then go to "Codecs -> Build DirectShow Filters Graph". Make a screenshot of the graph and post it here. I bet there are some other filters in the graph instead of LAVFilters.

With the current version of AVStoDVD LAVFilters do work, but they are not yet fully supported. You have to take care of the LAV mixer settings yourself. Let's say you have a source with 6-ch audio and you want to keep the 6 audio channels. With LAV as your audio source filter the 6-ch setting in AVStoDVD will have no effect at all. If your LAV mixer is enabled and set to stereo, you will end up with 2-ch audio.

For the next version MrC has planned full LAVFilters support, so this current mixing issue will be resolved. In the meantime you can avoid all trouble by specifying FFMpegSource as your audio source filter (under Preferences -> AviSynth). This will not use DirectShowSource and take care of downmixing using AviSynth functions.

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

21st September 2014, 11:02

If i'm using the ffmpegsource in avysinth, the mixer settings was equal. But with directshow, i must change the mixer settings in LAV or FFdshow. But since yesterday, i cant use the ffmpegsource, very often hcenc and ffmpeg will be chrashed.

OK the error is far far away ;-).
Now it's run with the ffmpegsource. Bevor, it's crashed by mkv and avi.

ah, wavi and aften crashed, if the titles from movie has "ä,ö,ü" in the titlename.

And when it is possible that subtitles also convert from 23,976 fps to 25 fps?

Big Vern

21st September 2014, 11:25

Mr C. I know have asked you before, and you replied.."I like my DVDs too much, but you never know".

So, time has moved on, and I will pester you only once more. Please, is there any chance of making a blu-ray version of your software? AVStoDVD is so damn easy to use, a blu-ray version would wipe the floor with the competition overnight, and I would pay/donate good money for this ;)

This will be the last time I will ask, as I don't wanna become a right pest. If the answer is no, then I will have bite the bullet and get either TMPGEnc Authoring Works 5 or ConvertXtoHD.

manolito

22nd September 2014, 00:38

If i'm using the ffmpegsource in avysinth, the mixer settings was equal.
When using ffmpegsource for audio, the mixer settings you made for LAVFilters or ffdshow do not matter, they will not be used. Downmixing is done by using a downmix function from "Downmix.avsi" in the "AVStoDVD\lib" folder.

But with directshow, i must change the mixer settings in LAV or FFdshow.

You do not have to change mixer settings for ffdshow (as long as the mixer is enabled). AVStoDVD will do that for you automatically, if this option is activated under "Preferences\Misc"

For LAvFilters you do have to change mixer settings yourself at the moment, but this will change in the next versions of AVStoDVD.

It is generally a good idea to avoid "Umlaute" in file names, I have no idea if it is Wavi or Aften which chokes on those file names.

And you cannot ask me anything about subtitles, I never use subs, they destroy my visual experience.

Cheers
manolito

//Edit
Did a couple of tests to determine which application it is that chokes on extended ASCII characters. It is Wavi.exe. It has nothing to do with my plugin at all. I could probably modify the plugin to use ffmpeg instead of Wavi, but I think it is not worth the trouble. Just don't use extended characters in file names.

//Edit 2
Found a nice little app which automatically removes extended characters from all file names in a given directory:
http://dimitar.me/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/RenameFiles2.3b.exe

MrC

22nd September 2014, 20:03

And when it is possible that subtitles also convert from 23,976 fps to 25 fps?

You have to use SubtitleCreator. Select from menu: 'Synchronize'/'Convert Frame Rate'.

Mr C. I know have asked you before, and you replied.."I like my DVDs too much, but you never know".

So, time has moved on, and I will pester you only once more. Please, is there any chance of making a blu-ray version of your software? AVStoDVD is so damn easy to use, a blu-ray version would wipe the floor with the competition overnight, and I would pay/donate good money for this ;)

This will be the last time I will ask, as I don't wanna become a right pest. If the answer is no, then I will have bite the bullet and get either TMPGEnc Authoring Works 5 or ConvertXtoHD.

Thanks Big Vern for the consideration. Unfortunately the today answer is not different from the past one.

When I started A2D project I was actually younger and with much much more free time. Now, with 2 brisk kids and some more responsability with my job, the free time is really narrowing day by day. I just can give a limited support (many many thanks to manolito for helping me in this task ;) ) and get some minor updates to A2D.

Nevertheless, you never know what life will deserve. If one day I will find some good free time, I will for sure consider the idea to upgrade AVStoDVD to AVStoBD (or AVStoHD, or AVStoAVCHD, or whatever).

You know, the source code is there, a willing user may start to look inside it, laugh a bit to my humble programming, and upgrade...

;)

Bye

manolito

23rd September 2014, 19:50

AVStoDVD is so damn easy to use, a blu-ray version would wipe the floor with the competition overnight, and I would pay/donate good money for this ;)

There are several reasons why I am not so sure about that.

First of all nobody I know burns HD content to Blu-Ray blanks any more. Hard drive space today is much cheaper than space on optical disks so it is much more economical to put your videos on an external hard drive. Either the TV has a built-in media player which plays HD content without any conversion from an external drive, or people use a media server box like WD TV (or serve it from a NAS).

IMO converting HD sources to a Blu-Ray structure only makes sense if you want a menu. And even then what's wrong with existing free software like MultiAVCHD or AVCHDCoder?

Cheers
manolito

manolito

27th September 2014, 18:59

Did a couple of tests to determine which application it is that chokes on extended ASCII characters. It is Wavi.exe. It has nothing to do with my plugin at all. I could probably modify the plugin to use ffmpeg instead of Wavi, but I think it is not worth the trouble. Just don't use extended characters in file names.

Sorry, this statement is completely wrong... :eek:
It has nothing to do with Wavi.exe, it is AVStoDVD itself.

Explanation:
AVStoDVD as a Windows application uses the ANSI character set while console applications often require the ASCII character set. Wavi is such a software, and when it is called by AVStoDVD it is fed with file names in the ANSI format. This is alright as long no extended characters are used, but if a file name contains such characters (above 127) Wavi will choke on it.

I believe this should be fixed within AVStoDVD itself, because such file names are not that rare. AVStoDVD issues a warning when it encounters such a source file, but it would be nice if this was fixed.

For my Wavi_Mod plugin I have already implemented a fix. I just use a simple ANSI to ASCII converter to modify the file names in the parameter list of the Wavi call. Fast and easy.
I will do some more tests and update the documentation, and later tonight I will upload the new version.

I have no idea if the same issue is present for some other helper applications which AVStoDVD uses, so my plugin might not fix the problem generally. All I can say is that ffmpeg.exe does not show this issue, and my plugin fixes it for Wavi.

Cheers
manolito

//EDIT
Is it possible that this character set issue only happens when the helper application is called from a batch file invoking a new instance of CMD.EXE (as opposed to calling the application directly from within VB) ?

Groucho2004

27th September 2014, 22:25

AVStoDVD as a Windows application uses the ANSI character set while console applications often require the ASCII character set. Wavi is such a software, and when it is called by AVStoDVD it is fed with file names in the ANSI format. This is alright as long no extended characters are used, but if a file name contains such characters (above 127) Wavi will choke on it.

I believe this should be fixed within AVStoDVD itself, because such file names are not that rare. AVStoDVD issues a warning when it encounters such a source file, but it would be nice if this was fixed.

For my Wavi_Mod plugin I have already implemented a fix. I just use a simple ANSI to ASCII converter to modify the file names in the parameter list of the Wavi call. Fast and easy.
I will do some more tests and update the documentation, and later tonight I will upload the new version.

I have no idea if the same issue is present for some other helper applications which AVStoDVD uses, so my plugin might not fix the problem generally. All I can say is that ffmpeg.exe does not show this issue, and my plugin fixes it for Wavi.

Cheers
manolito

//EDIT
Is it possible that this character set issue only happens when the helper application is called from a batch file invoking a new instance of CMD.EXE (as opposed to calling the application directly from within VB) ?

This has nothing to do with ANSI/ASCII but ANSI and OEM characters sets.
When you create a batch file that contains file names with characters > 127 and save it in Notepad, it will inevitably fail. The characters have to be converted to the OEM character set which means that they will look weird in Notepad but the batch file will work.
Decent text editors like Ultraedit, EM Editor or Notepad+ can save the files in the correct encoding.

As for AvstoDVD, I guess all that's missing is that conversion, the Win32 API has functions for that (CharToOem(), for example).

WAVI can handle these characters in file names fine, I only noticed that it won't convert the console output properly (it's using the ANSI string which of course looks weird in a console), see screen shot below.

http://s28.postimg.org/bnsx670fh/image.png

manolito

28th September 2014, 00:01

Thanks Groucho for chiming in... :thanks:

you are of course right, converting the intercepted file names from ANSI to ASCII only works for lower case German Umlaute (ä, ö, ü), but not for uppercase Umlaute and the "ß" character. Looks like the converter is meant for a different code page. I still use code page 437 which is identical to the OEM code page, so for me ASCII and OEM are the same.

It looks like I will have to either find a CLI ANSI to OEM converter, or I will have to modify the ANSI to ASCII converter myself, I have the source code.

Cheers
manolito

Groucho2004

28th September 2014, 00:56

I still use code page 437 which is identical to the OEM code page, so for me ASCII and OEM are the same.
You should use 850. 437 is ancient and does not support all ISO 8859-1 characters.
Also, ASCII does not support any characters beyond 127 and is irrelevant for this discussion. It's a 7 bit encoding scheme, not a Windows code page.

It looks like I will have to either find a CLI ANSI to OEM converter, or I will have to modify the ANSI to ASCII converter myself, I have the source code.
You could use the "CHCP" internal command (example for CP1252):

chcp 1252
wavi script.avs out.wav
chcp 850

Here is a link (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb964653) to the MS reference documentation for code pages.

Edit:
Writing an universal converter that can deal with all languages for ANSI->OEM is pretty simple, if you're stuck I will consider it.

manolito

28th September 2014, 01:31

Also, ASCII does not support any characters beyond 127 and is irrelevant for this discussion. It's a 7 bit encoding scheme, not a Windows code page.

When I talk about ASCII, I mean "Extended ASCII" of course. And that would be OEM CP437. (I still have to use DOS programs sometimes, and CP850 causes all kinds of trouble.)

Thanks for the tip about the CHCP command. Lots of testing ahead.

The Win_Asc converter I am using (more than 20 years old) uses the following conversion table:

228,'ä',
246,'ö',
252,'ü',
196,'Ä',
214,'Ö',
220,'Ü',
223,'ß',
176,248,
167,21,
178,253,
180,39,
181,230

Only the first 3 entries work, entries 4 to 7 do not (and the rest should be irrelevant). If the CHCP thing does not work, I will have to find the correct conversion settings for this program... :rolleyes:

Cheers
manolito

Groucho2004

28th September 2014, 01:44

The Win_Asc converter I am using (more than 20 years old) uses the following conversion table:

228,'ä',
246,'ö',
252,'ü',
196,'Ä',
214,'Ö',
220,'Ü',
223,'ß',
176,248,
167,21,
178,253,
180,39,
181,230

Only the first 3 entries work, entries 4 to 7 do not (and the rest should be irrelevant).
Terrible hacking, makes me shiver.

If the CHCP thing does not work
It does work. However, you have to specify the code pages manually (although with a clever batch file this could probably be adapted to cater for all languages).

Edit:
It should be easy to make that necessary OEM conversion before writing to batch files in AVStoDVD. This would be the obvious solution.

Groucho2004

28th September 2014, 15:06

It looks like I will have to either find a CLI ANSI to OEM converter
Found a spare hour, here you go (https://www.dropbox.com/s/gfrnp744t1gbt6j/AnsiToOEM.zip?dl=0).

Usage is simple:
AnsiToOEM file

It uses the active system locale to determine the code page(s) for conversion. Works for all languages.

manolito

28th September 2014, 18:14

Thanks very much Groucho for your efforts, but unfortunately I cannot make it work... :mad:

Using CHCP 1252 before the Wavi call does not help. And the AnsiToOEM converter you found is very nice, but (just like the old Win_Asc converter which makes you shiver) it also only works for lower case Umlaute (ä, ö, ü).

BTW where did you find this converter? I did search extensively for something like this without success. Did you compile it yourself?

I totally agree that the OEM conversion should be made before writing the batch file, but obviously this is something MrC would have to do.

Cheers
manolito

Groucho2004

28th September 2014, 18:31

Using CHCP 1252 before the Wavi call does not help. And the AnsiToOEM converter you found is very nice, but (just like the old Win_Asc converter which makes you shiver) it also only works for lower case Umlaute (ä, ö, ü).
I tested both with all kinds of extended characters and languages (German, French Czech), both methods work. I can't understand why it's not working for you. Give me more details, files you tried to convert, etc.

BTW where did you find this converter? I did search extensively for something like this without success.
I wrote it this morning.

manolito

29th September 2014, 02:44

OK, it is an AVStoDVD issue, I made some progress working around the issues, this is my current state:

Using the old WIN_ASC program I modified the conversion table so now the characters ä, ö, ü, Ä, Ö, and ß do work. Only Ü still causes trouble.

If you do not have AVStoDVD installed it is a little hard to reproduce the problem, here it is in a nut shell:

For a source file äöü.flv AVStoDVD writes a batch file with this content:
wavi.exe äöü.avs - | aften.exe {params} äöü.ac3

This batch file is executed via CMD.EXE, and the CMD console window shows:
wavi.exe [weird characters].avs ...

Wavi will not find the avs file and abort.

Now my Wavi_Mod plugin intercepts the Wavi call and retrieves the command line parameters. It converts the source avs file name using a Win to ASCII converter and calls Wavi.exe with the converted avs file name.

This works nicely for lowercase characters like ä, ö, ü, but uppercase characters and the ß character do not work. The behavior is the same for the old Win_Asc software I am using and your AnsiToOEM software.

This is sure a problem that should be fixed by AVStoDVD itself, I just try to find a workaround for now.

My current conversion table looks like this:
228,'ä',
246,'ö',
252,'ü',
'-','Ä',
214,'Ö',
220,'Ü',
'¯','ß',
176,248,
167,21,
178,253,
180,39,
181,230

And only the Ü character still does not work.

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

29th September 2014, 06:33

The simplest solution to all of this is get rid of wavi and aften entirely and just rely on libavcodec to do it at all times. Mostly because aften hasn't been updated in over 3½ years (http://sourceforge.net/p/aften/code/ci/89aee3d496bb2a89f046025402626ee12a12969f/log/?path=) (actually, it's even worse, because the build of aften packaged with AVStoDVD is from March 2008) and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the changes to the encoder quality in aften were merged back upstream years ago anyway (namely because the developer is also on the libavcodec team on the Libav side (https://git.libav.org/?p=libav.git&a=search&h=HEAD&st=commit&s=ac3enc)). And then some, since there's also other ac3enc-related commits to libavcodec since 2011.

There's really just no reason to use either of those applications anymore, but especially so with wavi if it's having codepage issues that ffmpeg doesn't. wavi offers nothing over ffmpeg in this case.

For that matter, it would be worth it to update ffmpeg to a more recent git or point release (preferably 2.4), as 2014 has seen a good amount of updates to its mpeg[1|2|video] encoder(s), and the AviSynth demuxer had some important updates between November 2013 and May 2014 that makes it fully stabilized.

Groucho2004

29th September 2014, 09:04

OK, it is an AVStoDVD issue,
Maybe.
I only realised now that the output from AVStoDVD goes through a whole mess of further processing (your mod) involving patching the main executable, batch file with piping through stdout, modified wavi.exe , sox, etc.

Your mod looks to me like you're trying to kill a fly with a missile air strike.

You have to start at the beginning of that chain and first check the output from AVStoDVD for valid characters and then take it from there.

MrC

29th September 2014, 12:54

@manolito, groucho2004

thanks for highlighting and deepening the ANSI (better, Unicode) to OEM issue (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/microsoft.public.vb.winapi/vkctPsFBCWM). I will put it in the ToDo list with high priority.

@qyot27

Good point. That would simplify the overall package as well. What about the advanced Aften options, such as "Stream Padding Start", "Dynamic Range Compression", "Bandwith Low-Pass Filter"? Do you know if they can be replaced with FFmpeg?

;)

Bye

manolito

29th September 2014, 17:31

Thanks guys for all the useful tips, I did learn a lot of new and interesting things during the last days... :thanks:
And I also found a reliable solution for the problem. :)

@qyot27

I mostly do not agree with your proposals. I remember a post by Mr. Ruggles himself where he stated that he stopped working on Aften, but shifted his work to the ffmpeg project. He said that the aften code in ffmpeg was probably a little better, but basically there was no difference in encoding quality. I think that Aften is as good as it gets (I do use a newer build by KurtNoise), switching to ffmpeg for audio encoding will not improve the sound.

And for using more up-to-date versions of ffmpeg you have a point, but it can be a nightmare to keep up with ffmpeg development, it is a fast moving target. The developers have no respect for backward compatibility, they frequently change command line parameters, mostly without properly documenting it. For me it is a constant PITA to keep my WinFF templates working.

Having said this, it is safe to upgrade ffmpeg to the current stable build. The naming convention for the Zeranoe builds (static Win32) looks like the versions with a version number in its names are stable, so the latest stable version should be version 2.2.3. I have used it for months with AVStoDVD without issues.

And getting rid of Wavi would mean that I could not hack into audio processing any longer to add things like SoX and DynamicAudioNormalizer... ;)

@Groucho2004

The issue with extended ASCII characters has absolutely nothing to do with my mod. It occurs whenever the "Wavi + Aften" method is used for audio processing.

My mod was written because I wanted to move audio normalizing away from AviSynth and use SoX instead. Hacking into the Wavi -> Aften routine was the easiest way to do it. And since the plugin already existed I tried to expand it to correct the "Extended ASCII characters" problem.

@Groucho2004 and @MrC

The workaround which I have found is simple and could be easily implemented in a future version of AVStoDVD. I found the tip here (Answer #1):
http://superuser.com/questions/269818/change-default-code-page-of-windows-console-to-utf-8

The codepage must be set to 1252, 65001 (UTF-8) does not work. I call AVStoDVD via batch file which inserts this entry into the Registry before starting the program, and removes the entry after the program closes. I have tested this with almost all console applications which are called by AVStoDVD, no problems so far.

The reason why a "CHCP 1252" in my plugin before the Wavi call did not work is simple. It comes too late. AVStoDVD creates a batch file which runs Wavi with a pipe to Aften. It uses two instances of CMD.EXE (not obvious first because all output goes into one console window). The batch file uses the first CMD instance, and Wavi runs in another instance. Because my mod intercepts Wavi, I can only change the code page in the second instance, and this is not enough.

One thing in this workaround is a little clumsy, though. I would like to change the codepage to the one which is used by Windows instead of blindly using 1252. According to this table
http://www.mydigitallife.info/ansi-code-page-for-windows-system-locale-with-identifier-constants-and-strings/
1252 covers most Western countries, but not all. But I found no way to retrieve the current codepage from the Registry. There are methods using the Win API, but I have not found any small CLI tool which spits out the current ANSI codepage.

//EDIT
Please disregard the last statement. I did find a tool called "getacp.exe" from LTE-Data which does exactly what I need. The complete workaround is ready to go, see next post...

Whatever, AVStoDVD now works flawlessly using source files with extended characters in their names (maybe I have to patch the executable again to remove the warning :devil: ) .

Thanks again,

Cheers
manolito

manolito

29th September 2014, 23:59

Did you encounter this warning already?

http://i57.tinypic.com/9zy1b9.jpg

I made a fix for this issue, you can download it here:
http://www8.zippyshare.com/v/80541974/file.html

I tested it extensively on my WinXP system (German, uses ANSI code page 1252). Some feedback from users with Win7 or Win8 would be nice, and especially from users in countries which do not use code page 1252.

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

30th September 2014, 04:01

@qyot27

Good point. That would simplify the overall package as well. What about the advanced Aften options, such as "Stream Padding Start", "Dynamic Range Compression", "Bandwith Low-Pass Filter"? Do you know if they can be replaced with FFmpeg?
That I don't know, as my memories of using aften years ago rarely if ever required having to set those kinds of options.

But from the help:
>ffmpeg -h encoder=ac3
ffmpeg version r66361 git-bb8de55 Copyright (c) 2000-2014 the FFmpeg developers
built on Sep 19 2014 17:19:21 with gcc 4.9.1 (GCC)
configuration: --prefix=/home/qyot27/win32_build --cross-prefix=i686-w64-mingw32- --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --dis
able-w32threads --enable-avresample --disable-doc --disable-debug --enable-fontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libf
ribidi --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-openal --enable-op
engl --enable-libquvi --enable-librtmp --enable-libsoxr --enable-libvidstab --enable-libflite --enable-libgme --enable-l
ibgsm --enable-libilbc --enable-libmodplug --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libnut --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libop
encore-amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libshine --enable-libspeex --enable
-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libutvideo --enable-libvo-aacenc --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libvorbis --en
able-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxavs --enable-libxvid --e
nable-avisynth --cpu=pentium3 --extra-cflags='-mfpmath=sse -march=pentium3 -msse -mtune=pentium3 -DPTW32_STATIC_LIB -DCA
CA_STATIC -DMODPLUG_STATIC' --extra-ldflags='-mconsole -Wl,--allow-multiple-definition' --target-os=mingw32 --arch=x86 -
-pkg-config-flags=--static
libavutil 54. 7.100 / 54. 7.100
libavcodec 56. 1.101 / 56. 1.101
libavformat 56. 4.102 / 56. 4.102
libavdevice 56. 0.100 / 56. 0.100
libavfilter 5. 1.101 / 5. 1.101
libavresample 2. 1. 0 / 2. 1. 0
libswscale 3. 0.100 / 3. 0.100
libswresample 1. 1.100 / 1. 1.100
libpostproc 53. 0.100 / 53. 0.100
Encoder ac3 [ATSC A/52A (AC-3)]:
Threading capabilities: no
Supported sample formats: fltp
Supported channel layouts: mono stereo 3.0(back) 3.0 quad(side) quad 4.0 5.0(side) 5.0 2 channels (FC+LFE) 2.1 4 cha
nnels (FL+FR+LFE+BC) 3.1 5 channels (FL+FR+LFE+SL+SR) 5 channels (FL+FR+LFE+BL+BR) 4.1 5.1(side) 5.1
AC-3 Encoder AVOptions:
-per_frame_metadata <int> E...A... Allow Changing Metadata Per-Frame (from 0 to 1) (default 0)
-center_mixlev <float> E...A... Center Mix Level (from 0 to 1) (default 0.594604)
-surround_mixlev <float> E...A... Surround Mix Level (from 0 to 1) (default 0.5)
-mixing_level <int> E...A... Mixing Level (from -1 to 111) (default -1)
-room_type <int> E...A... Room Type (from -1 to 2) (default -1)
notindicated E...A... Not Indicated (default)
large E...A... Large Room
small E...A... Small Room
-copyright <int> E...A... Copyright Bit (from -1 to 1) (default -1)
-dialnorm <int> E...A... Dialogue Level (dB) (from -31 to -1) (default -31)
-dsur_mode <int> E...A... Dolby Surround Mode (from -1 to 2) (default -1)
notindicated E...A... Not Indicated (default)
on E...A... Dolby Surround Encoded
off E...A... Not Dolby Surround Encoded
-original <int> E...A... Original Bit Stream (from -1 to 1) (default -1)
-dmix_mode <int> E...A... Preferred Stereo Downmix Mode (from -1 to 2) (default -1)
notindicated E...A... Not Indicated (default)
ltrt E...A... Lt/Rt Downmix Preferred
loro E...A... Lo/Ro Downmix Preferred
-ltrt_cmixlev <float> E...A... Lt/Rt Center Mix Level (from -1 to 2) (default -1)
-ltrt_surmixlev <float> E...A... Lt/Rt Surround Mix Level (from -1 to 2) (default -1)
-loro_cmixlev <float> E...A... Lo/Ro Center Mix Level (from -1 to 2) (default -1)
-loro_surmixlev <float> E...A... Lo/Ro Surround Mix Level (from -1 to 2) (default -1)
-dsurex_mode <int> E...A... Dolby Surround EX Mode (from -1 to 2) (default -1)
notindicated E...A... Not Indicated (default)
on E...A... Dolby Surround EX Encoded
off E...A... Not Dolby Surround EX Encoded
-dheadphone_mode <int> E...A... Dolby Headphone Mode (from -1 to 2) (default -1)
notindicated E...A... Not Indicated (default)
on E...A... Dolby Headphone Encoded
off E...A... Not Dolby Headphone Encoded
-ad_conv_type <int> E...A... A/D Converter Type (from -1 to 1) (default -1)
standard E...A... Standard (default)
hdcd E...A... HDCD
-stereo_rematrixing <int> E...A... Stereo Rematrixing (from 0 to 1) (default 1)
-channel_coupling <int> E...A... Channel Coupling (from -1 to 1) (default -1)
auto E...A... Selected by the Encoder
-cpl_start_band <int> E...A... Coupling Start Band (from -1 to 15) (default -1)
auto E...A... Selected by the Encoder

The issue is that those options may not be treated as ac3-specific, in which case they won't show up in that list and you'd have to find them in the general output of -h full. Or the features/their effects could be achieved with what's in the ac3 encoder list but exist under different names.

And for using more up-to-date versions of ffmpeg you have a point, but it can be a nightmare to keep up with ffmpeg development, it is a fast moving target. The developers have no respect for backward compatibility, they frequently change command line parameters, mostly without properly documenting it. For me it is a constant PITA to keep my WinFF templates working.
I doubt CLI options change within a single branch, so it should be enough to stay on a stable release branch (i.e. 2.4), use the bugfix updates (2.4.1, 2.4.2, 2.4.3, etc.), and wait until there's significant distance - or certain highly desired updates - to justify updating to a newer release branch (some future 2.6, 2.7, whatever), and then update the templates accordingly.

Having said this, it is safe to upgrade ffmpeg to the current stable build. The naming convention for the Zeranoe builds (static Win32) looks like the versions with a version number in its names are stable, so the latest stable version should be version 2.2.3. I have used it for months with AVStoDVD without issues.
The current stable version is 2.4.1. 2.2.3 is simply the last point version Zeranoe compiled and distributed explicitly as a point release, back in June. And 2.2.3 only contains one of the AviSynth fixes I mentioned earlier - it doesn't contain the last one that correctly handles duration for audio-only scripts. 2.3.x and 2.4.x do contain this commit, and 2.2.x likely doesn't contain any of the MPEG-2 related updates I mentioned either, as it was split off back in February (2.3.x might include some of them).

And getting rid of Wavi would mean that I could not hack into audio processing any longer to add things like SoX and DynamicAudioNormalizer...
I'm not seeing how wavi is special in this case. It's just as possible to pipe the PCM-Wave stream out of ffmpeg. The major problem that could occur would deal with ffmpeg's setting a nulled stream size in the header and how the program receiving the pipe deals with that (some are fine with it, others aren't). If the receiving application isn't okay with it, said application could either be patched, or qaac can be used as an intermediary to normalize the headers.

Detailed here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1685336#post1685336

Mister XY

30th September 2014, 05:41

Hello Manolito, yes i getting the message also, but it convert the files with Umlaute. Thanks, great Job.

Mister XY

1st October 2014, 19:45

Ok, how can i used subtitle creator? I have subtitles in an mkv file. How can i edit the framerate by the subtitles??

manolito

1st October 2014, 20:07

The current stable version is 2.4.1. 2.2.3 is simply the last point version Zeranoe compiled and distributed explicitly as a point release, back in June. And 2.2.3 only contains one of the AviSynth fixes I mentioned earlier - it doesn't contain the last one that correctly handles duration for audio-only scripts. 2.3.x and 2.4.x do contain this commit, and 2.2.x likely doesn't contain any of the MPEG-2 related updates I mentioned either, as it was split off back in February (2.3.x might include some of them).

The improvements for MPEG-2 encoding sure sound interesting, so I downloaded the latest Zeranoe build (20140928-git-3edb9aa) and made a couple of tests. The command line parameters seem to be identical to those for version 2.2, I ran it against my WinFF templates and used it for several AVStoDVD conversions, no problems.

But where can I find some more info about these MPEG-2 improvements? Visually I could not detect any differences between the output of version 2.2 and 2.4, and the changelog at ffmpeg.org is very vague, the MPEG encoder is not even mentioned.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

1st October 2014, 22:14

@qyot27

thanks for deepening the ac3 encoding capabilities of FFmpeg. Actually AVStoDVD already has the option to use FFmpeg as AC3 audio encoder, the avs script as input. However it lacks the bells and whistles of Aften. I will search if the Aften advanced option can be somehow replicated by FFmpeg as you suggest and, in case, I will for sure consider to put 'FFmpeg (AviSynth)' as default option for AC3 encoding, leaving 'Wavi+Aften' as secondary option for legacy and for hackers like manolito ;P

@Mister XY

you have to demux the subs with MKVextract and then open the subs file with SubtitleCreator. Select from menu: 'Synchronize'/'Convert Frame Rate'.

;)

Bye

manolito

2nd October 2014, 01:37

As I see it it all comes down to a rather philosophical issue. Do we prefer a Swiss Army Knife tool which promises to fulfill all our needs, or do we like a "One Trick Pony" tool which does just one thing, but does this thing perfectly?

When I was younger I did prefer the Swiss Army Knife approach, but this has changed. I now use dedicated tools for dedicated tasks whenever possible.

In the past ffmpeg did everything, but the quality was average at best. I concede that this has changed. Today the encoders / decoders / muxers / demuxers built into ffmpeg are on a par (sometimes even better) with the dedicated tools (X264, Aften, AAC...).

My problem with todays ffmpeg is the underlying philosophy to cover each and every issue using command line parameters. No single person in the whole world can master this any more, the concept has outgrown itself.

So I would strongly lobby to not turn AVStoDVD into just another ffmpeg GUI, we already have enough of those.

Just my two cents...

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

2nd October 2014, 09:10

But where can I find some more info about these MPEG-2 improvements? Visually I could not detect any differences between the output of version 2.2 and 2.4, and the changelog at ffmpeg.org is very vague, the MPEG encoder is not even mentioned.
http://git.videolan.org/?p=ffmpeg.git&a=search&h=HEAD&st=commit&s=mpegvideoenc

http://git.videolan.org/?p=ffmpeg.git&a=search&h=HEAD&st=commit&s=mpegvideo_enc

http://git.videolan.org/?p=ffmpeg.git&a=search&h=HEAD&st=commit&s=mpeg12enc

The improvements may not have anything/much to do with actual encoded quality, but with performance, code cleanliness, and general bugfixes. I see all three of those areas being addressed in various commit messages amongst those searches. Quality (or quality-per-byte) of the encoded image may very well be in there too, of course. That can often be a side effect of fixing bugs.

@qyot27

thanks for deepening the ac3 encoding capabilities of FFmpeg.
I haven't done anything related to the AC3 encoder. So I'm not the one to thank on that.

One feature to suggest would be to add the option for the user to select x262 as the MPEG-2 encoder. When testing with the latest source (http://git.videolan.org/?p=x262.git), it wasn't quite to the same level as I can get with my usual HCenc profiles, but still performed very admirably. Not sure how it compares against FFmpeg's MPEG-2 encoder, though.

manolito

2nd October 2014, 15:42

http://git.videolan.org/?p=ffmpeg.git&a=search&h=HEAD&st=commit&s=mpegvideoenc

http://git.videolan.org/?p=ffmpeg.git&a=search&h=HEAD&st=commit&s=mpegvideo_enc

http://git.videolan.org/?p=ffmpeg.git&a=search&h=HEAD&st=commit&s=mpeg12enc

The improvements may not have anything/much to do with actual encoded quality, but with performance, code cleanliness, and general bugfixes. I see all three of those areas being addressed in various commit messages amongst those searches. Quality (or quality-per-byte) of the encoded image may very well be in there too, of course. That can often be a side effect of fixing bugs.

Thanks for the links... :thanks:
Literally a hundred commits during a short time span. I wonder how thoroughly all these commits get tested before they are applied.

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

11th October 2014, 20:30

You can also use the new version from HCenc (0.27)

MrC

12th October 2014, 18:25

You can also use the new version from HCenc (0.27)

Not sure about that: the new features (http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1695943&postcount=48) are not that useful to mpeg2 SD enconding and it requires Avisynth 2.6 alfa 4 or higher to run.

Anyway, we must stay always alert for HCenc improvements!

;)

Bye

Djard

26th October 2014, 01:05

SuLyMaN

27th October 2014, 17:43

MrC

27th October 2014, 21:10

Hi MrC. Just used AVS to make a DVD :) Perfect! I used the black menu template. I was wondering if I can add images in the "C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\Menu\Templates\" and have it load when editing menu so I can choose the background with a static custom image?
Also, any way of making subtitles load automatically on a burnt DVD?

Thanks.

Just have a look here (http://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_addons/More%20Templates/) and follow the instructions. Let me know if anything is not clear.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

29th October 2014, 06:05

Just have a look here (http://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_addons/More%20Templates/) and follow the instructions. Let me know if anything is not clear.

;)

Bye

Thanks! I'm having a look. But what about making subtitles load automatically on a burnt DVD?

SuLyMaN

29th October 2014, 06:11

Wow. Perfect! I can even create mine :) The ones you linked me is great though.

manolito

29th October 2014, 20:38

But what about making subtitles load automatically on a burnt DVD?

From the AVStoDVD FAQ:

Q5.7 Is it possible to have the subtitles always on, instead of using the DVD remote control to activate them?
A: No, unfortunately it is not possible, because BatchMux (the wrapper to MuxMan) does not make available that capability. Anyway there is always the possibility to use the 'Hard Encoding' option in Title Edit - Subtitles.
An external solution is to use DVDShrink in re-Authoring mode.

Cheers
manolito

Sir Didymus

29th October 2014, 22:05

Hi SuLyMaN, hi manolito!

Thanks for raising this point about the Q5.7... :-)
It happened time by time to me to spot at this consideration and to think about, but I had always little time to carry out some testing for verifying and providing some clear yes/no answer about...

Anyway, the BatchMux wrapper, based on my understanding, should support already all of the possible language extension options for the subpicture streams...

In practical terms, it should be easily possible, after the -[SEGi]sx subpicx_file mandatory file specification, to simply add the -[SEGi]sxext 9 option, which makes the subpicture to be defined as "forced" for the authoring layer, and this should be possibly already enough to fulfill the job!

Easy, isn't it?

Anybody want to carry out some testing on the matter?
In order to confirm or disconfirm that the solution is effective, it shouldn't be necessary much more than to manually edit the ini file provided to BatchMux, by adding the above language extension option 9, and to relaunch the wrapper manually...

Cheers,
SD

manolito

30th October 2014, 11:57

Hi Sir Didymus,

good to see you after a long time... :)
Your solution to make the subs "forced" indeed looks very easy. But I will leave the testing to SuLyMaN and MrC, since I have no experience with subtitles at all, I never use them.

BTW your old BatchMux plugin for DVD2SVCD (it is from 2007) is still in frequent use on my computer, even though I am probably the only person in the whole world who still uses DVD2SVCD... :cool:

Cheers
manolito

Sir Didymus

30th October 2014, 16:21

2007... Wow! ;)
Your contribution at that time was more than fundamental, for sure...

Well, while we chat on the subject... Time by time I tried to restart thinking about some upgrades to BatchMux, but I have been always catched in the difficulties of "understanding" again some pieces of codes, since in spite of the very well documented and commented source program, it has a certain complexity (and somewhere an excessive verbosity)... In my understanding the biggest missing feature, in the current public version, is the lack to the support of the chaptering, audio and subpicture menues... Do you think that it could be still useful to dedicate some time to analyze these extensions for a possible future version of the wrapper (for AVStoDVD, I mean... NOT for DVD2SVCD!!! :p ...)...

manolito

30th October 2014, 17:49

Yes, chapter, audio and subpicture menues have been requested by some AVStoDVD users a couple of times. If you could dedicate some of your time to implement these features, I am sure that some folks would really appreciate it.

Personally I would not have too much use for this, I prefer simple menues, and my remote lets me control audio and subs selection quite nicely. And for jumping to a specific chapter for me it is much faster to just press the Skip button a couple of times than calling a chapter menu. But each to his own... :p

Basically it would come down to a collaboration between you and MrC, because he would have to update the menu section of AVStoDVD quite a bit. And I am not sure how much time he would have for this.

And speaking of DVD2SVCD, I still use it more often than AVStoDVD, mostly because it allows me a little more control, and with the help of some plugins it still can use up to date audio and video encoders, muxers and other helper applications. And somehow it gives me that warm fuzzy feeling like wearing old (and a little smelly) running shoes, it just feels comfortable...

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

30th October 2014, 20:15

Your solution to make the subs "forced" indeed looks very easy. But I will leave the testing to SuLyMaN and MrC, since I have no experience with subtitles at all, I never use them.

Haha. When I'm not half dead as I am today, I'll figure out what exactly did Sir Didymus said and try to use it :)
Does not sound so simple!

MrC

30th October 2014, 20:45

@Sir Didymus,

I'm very happy to have you back in this thread! And even more happy to read that BatchMux development might have a new spring! For sure the most requested authoring features can be taken from AVStoDVD FAQ:

Q6.2 Is it possible to have a Menu page to select chapters/audio languages/subtitles languages?
A: Unfortunately it is not possible: BatchMux (the MuxMan wrapper used to perform DVD authoring) does not support those features.

Q6.4 Is it possible to have subtitles displayed by default on the resulting DVD?
A: Unfortunately it is not possible: BatchMux (the MuxMan wrapper used to perform DVD authoring) does not support those features.

Q6.5 Is it possible to produce a DVD with continuous playing loop?
A: Unfortunately it is not possible: BatchMux (the MuxMan wrapper used to perform DVD authoring) does not support that feature. But, as workaround, you can create a motion DVD Menu with the looping clip as background and remove all other DVD Menu elements (thumbs and labels).

manolito is right when he writes that I will take some time to update AVStoDVD menu building page accordingly, but I will have no more excuses and stop to blame the evil Sir Didymus' BatchMux :p

"Scherzi a parte", let's keep in touch, DVDs are not dead (yet).

About the suggestion to use the sub Forced extension, it is actually already possible (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/Forced_Subs.png)with AVStoDVD. But, AFAIK, that's a sort of nominal flag and not all DVD players are using it to eventually force the subs display. At least on my 2 standalone players (Pioneer DVD and Samsung BD) and MPC-HC.

And speaking of DVD2SVCD, I still use it more often than AVStoDVD

Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi! Betrayal! I'm bleeding... :D

;)

Bye

Sir Didymus

31st October 2014, 09:14

... it is actually already possible with AVStoDVD.

... I'll figure out what exactly did Sir Didymus said and try to use it :)
Does not sound so simple!

To MrC: cool!

To SuLyMaN. Very simple (under the light of the above comment from MrC): please produce one basic DVD (just one title, nothing else), with forced subtitles. Test it into a standalone player (no SW player). Please post in this thread the BatchMux.ini file and the .mxp file that are created by AVStoDVD. Thanks!

Sir Didymus

5th November 2014, 11:30

MrC

5th November 2014, 14:15

OK. No need to wait any longer for that... I have just carried out some testing, and I confirm your findings: the subtitles are correctly flagged as forced, but some navigational commands (SetSTN) need to be introduced in the DVD authoring... An upgrade of BatchMux is needed for the purpose... Let's work on this...

:thanks: a lot! That's really a great news!

Just another (quick & easy) feature request: possibility to save the BatchMux stdout to a log file.

;)

Bye

Sir Didymus

5th November 2014, 14:34

Oh, yes! You are right... It was another small thing that you have already asked some (...hem, long) time ago... OK. Let's say it slipped from my attention... :( ... Next release will include this option...

Cheers,
SD

MrC

5th November 2014, 14:35

AVStoDVD 2.8.0 Alpha 141031 is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.0%20Alpha%20141031/)

Change Log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added 'Fix Subtitles Errors' option in 'Edit Title'/'Subtitles' (previously fixing routine was mandatory)
- Added better support to extended ASCII chars (thanks to manolito)
- Added few System Info details to project log file
- Added 'Demux File' tool
- Improved support to LAV Filters (add audio mixer adjust routine at runtime)
- Improved support to SubRip SRT subtitles (musical notes and removal of <font> formatting)
- Improved 'Fix SRT' routine for SubRip subtitles
- Improved support to DVD compliant DTS audio tracks
- Replaced ffdshow and Haali Media Splitter with LAV Filters 0.63 in Installer Package
- AVSMeter updated to release 1.8.3

;)

Bye

manolito

5th November 2014, 16:30

Thanks for the new version...

Unfortunately something seems to be wrong with the SourceForge links. The files are not where they are supposed to be, trying to download always gets me into a loop.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

5th November 2014, 23:25

Thanks manolito for the SF download issue report. I have uploaded again the Source and NoInstall packages. Those 2 should work now.

;)

Bye

manolito

6th November 2014, 00:10

Yes the download is working now, thanks...

Cheers
manolito

ThaDraGun

8th November 2014, 04:07

Nothing important, but just a very minor annoyance I have..

Just wondering if there was any way to set it so it saves the movie folders without the "_0"? for example: "Dawn of the planet of the apes_0"
I understand it needs to add the number when you have duplicates with the same name, but otherwise I wish it just stayed the same as the dvd label

manolito

8th November 2014, 16:34

@ThaDraGun

You do have a point, but it would cause trouble for people like me who usually don't bother to enter a label (just leave it at the default "DVD"). If there was no numbering, the next conversion would overwrite the previous one.

@MrC

Sorry, I found a regression in the current Alpha141031. With this version it is not possible to just author already compliant elementary streams. Here is the log:

<08.11.2014 15:50:13>
START PROCESS
<>

<08.11.2014 15:50:13>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: PAL
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 4462/4450 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD-Ordner
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: I:
Delete Temp Assets Files: No
Delete Temp Working Files: No
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Fortschrittsfenster anzeigen (Voreinstellung)

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Spline36Resize/Spline36Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 1
PAL SpeedUp: 1
NTSC SlowDown: 1
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2000
Video BitRate Level 1: 7000
Video Profile Level 2: 3500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 0
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 224
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: H: BENQ DVD DD DW1620 B7W9
DVD Burning Speed: 8x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 0
Unload ActiveMovie library: 0
Adjust DirectShow Filters at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0

SYSTEM INFO

Operating System: Windows XP Service Pack 3 (32 bit)
AviSynth is installed: YES (release 2.5.7)
LAV Filters is installed: YES (release 0.63.0)
ffdshow is installed: NO
<>

<08.11.2014 15:50:13>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: I:\test.m2v
Info: MPEG-2 Video - 6191 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 16:9 - 25 fps (CFR) - Progressive (TFF) - 1:35:13 hours - 142833 frames
Audio 1: I:\test.ac3
Info: AC3 - 224 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 16 bit - 1:35:13 hours (0 ms delay)
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.70]
<>

<08.11.2014 15:50:13>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

# Video is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Video = A2DVideoSource("I:\test.m2v", CacheFolder="I:", FrameRate=25, VFR=false)
# Audio is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Audio = A2DAudioSource("I:\test.ac3", CacheFolder="I:")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<08.11.2014 15:50:13>
SKIP VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Source video file: 'I:\test.m2v' is already DVD compliant.
Created File: I:\test.m2v (4217,1 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 6191 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 16:9 - 25 fps (CFR) - Progressive (TFF) - 1:35:13 hours - 142833 frames
<>

<08.11.2014 15:50:13>
WARNING! Process aborted during 'Title 1 AUDIO encoding operations start' Section.
<>

<08.11.2014 15:50:13>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.8.0 Alpha build 141031
<>

The error is not present in the previous (private) Alpha141022 you had given me for testing. Something you changed between these two versions must have broken it... ;)

And I have a feature request:

More and more often I have sources where the content is 4:3 but which were converted as 16:9 with pillar boxes to the left and right. Of course I want to remove the pillar boxes and encode as 4:3 (I still watch my stuff on a 4:3 CRT TV).

AVStoDVD has an automatic way to do this for the opposite case (convert 4:3 to 16:9) by selecting the correct border strategy, but in my case I have to do the cropping manually.

But this turned out to be harder than necessary. The automatic crop routine is not all that reliable, and for cropping manually there is no visual control. Would it be possible to add a manual cropping mode with visual feedback like VirtualDub, StaxRip or dmMediaEncoder?

Cheers
manolito

MrC

8th November 2014, 19:03

@ThaDraGun and manolito

what about leaving the first project attempt without suffix and start to use suffixes (_1, _2, etc) from 2nd attempt?

@manolito

thanks for the bug report. A silly error indeed (a null string not properly handled).

About the visual cropping mode, actually it is a feature in my ToDo list from way long time, even before the auto crop routine implementation. I like the idea, I'm sure I would love to develop it, I just need time...

;)

Bye

manolito

8th November 2014, 19:36

@ThaDraGun and manolito

what about leaving the first project attempt without suffix and start to use suffixes (_1, _2, etc) from 2nd attempt?

Yes, I like it that way..

About the visual cropping mode, actually it is a feature in my ToDo list from way long time, even before the auto crop routine implementation. I like the idea, I'm sure I would love to develop it, I just need time...

;)

Bye

No rush, you've got all the time in the world... :)

Cheers
manolito

ThaDraGun

9th November 2014, 05:54

@ThaDraGun and manolito

what about leaving the first project attempt without suffix and start to use suffixes (_1, _2, etc) from 2nd attempt?

Yup that's exactly what I meant.
So for those who don't use the label it would still be ok.. it would be DVD for the first project, then DVD_1, DVD_2 and so on.

thanks for considering the change

MrC

9th November 2014, 21:35

To test the 'Normalize' feature in AVStoDVD, I converted a video clip with AAC audio, setting Normalize at 0.10, 1.00, and then disabled. Examining the waveform of all three audio files--side by side--in Audacity, I find no visual or audible difference. Has anyone managed to actually normalize an audio stream during conversion to DVD, using AVStoDVD?

Yes, many times ;)

See this Audacity screenshot (http://www50.zippyshare.com/v/16630795/file.html) containing a stereo track normalized @95% and the same stereo track normalized @10%.

Could you please report the AVStoDVD log files of the projects you have run to produce the 3 samples? And maybe upload the 3 samples as well?

;)

Bye

MrC

19th November 2014, 21:27

New 2.8.0 Alpha 141118 is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.0%20Alpha%20141118/).

Many thanks to manolito for the intensive debug he did.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

20th November 2014, 06:24

Thanks MrC. Any changelog on this new release?

MrC

20th November 2014, 17:08

Thanks MrC. Any changelog on this new release?

Sure, from the History.txt file:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added 'Fix Subtitles Errors' option in 'Edit Title'/'Subtitles' (previously fixing routine was mandatory)
- Added better support to extended ASCII chars (thanks to manolito)
- Added few System Info details to project log file
- Added 'Demux File' tool
- Improved support to LAV Filters (add audio mixer adjust routine at runtime)
- Improved support to SubRip SRT subtitles (musical notes and removal of <font> formatting)
- Improved 'Fix SRT' routine for SubRip subtitles
- Improved support to DVD compliant DTS audio tracks
- Improved log activity
- Removed "_0" project/DVD name suffix on first trial
- Replaced ffdshow and Haali Media Splitter with LAV Filters 0.63 in Installer Package
- Changed maximum number of Titles from 99 to 64 to reflect Muxman limitation
- AVSMeter updated to release 1.8.3

;)

Bye

Sir Didymus

20th November 2014, 23:47

- Changed maximum number of Titles from 99 to 64 to reflect Muxman limitation

It is not really relevant for the 99% of all practical purposes, but I would ask (kindly :-)) for retracting of the quoted change... There is not this limitation in Muxman, I think...

Groucho2004

21st November 2014, 00:03

There is not this limitation in Muxman, I think...
And looking at the muxman history, this appears to be true:
05/06/03 Beta version 0.15rc1 now available to members only for 30 days
adds:content to menu domains
up to 99 titlesets (VTS) (spec limit)
up to 32767 segments per titleset (spec limit)
unlimited segment definitions
multilingual audio/subs in menu domain

manolito

21st November 2014, 00:51

Please have a look at this post:
http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/277852-AVStoDVD-Support-Thread?p=2355068&viewfull=1#post2355068

A project with 83 titles in it led to this BatchMux error:
-- PGC "VMG_Lu1_Pgc1" Pre command group has 166 commands, maximum is 128.
-- PGC "VMG_Lu1_Pgc1" contains 166 commands total, maximum is 128.
-- Exiting due to errors, no multiplex performed.

So is this obvious limitation to 64 titles caused by MuxMan or by BatchMux (the version which comes with AVStoDVD) ?

Cheers
manolito

Sir Didymus

21st November 2014, 09:24

WOW! I see... The limitation to 64 titles is not coming from AVS2DVD or Muxman! It is an issue of the BatchMux implementation. If you want to reach the titles of your compilation by means of a menu, then you have to add precommands and post commands (in the language of the DVD virtual machine) to the program chains that are collecting the titles, in order to handle the navigational support (e.g. the jump to the title from the menu and the coming back to the menu when the title play ends). I have to check on how to handle this issue, but it seems to me that the growing of pre commands and post commands should be better controlled by BatchMux, and the limit reach of 128 pre commands or post commands should trigger the creation of one new PGC to support the full specs... :mad:

Well, this is definitely something that need to be addressed... For the moment I "retract" my request of retracting the change...

OK. Thanks manolito for the very informative links!
:thanks:

SuLyMaN

21st November 2014, 12:55

I think I'll test out the beta tonight :D Thanks all!

MrC

21st November 2014, 13:52

Well, this is definitely something that need to be addressed... For the moment I "retract" my request of retracting the change...

Ok, thanks for explaining and considering the problem of the pre and post commands. :)

Meanwhile I will change the statement in the History.log file to address the issue to BatchMux.

;)

Bye

manolito

29th November 2014, 01:41

Wavi_Mod plugin - New version with added EBU R128 Loudness Normalization

Get it here:
//Edit: Link removed, new version available

Changes:
1. Added R128GAIN by Peter Belkner to enable EBU R128 Loudness Normalization
2. Removed dithering from all SoX processing operations

Note:
When using EBU R128 with a high reference level (like -14 LUFS) you might run into clipping. To remedy this I added a peak limiter to SoX (limitergain = 0.025). This might lead to a resulting file which has a lower LUFS level than specified.

Happy testing... :D

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

29th November 2014, 12:26

Did a test on forced subs. Works great. Is there any way to force the subs display with a fixed size? I love the user submitted templates.

Sent from my HM 1SW using Tapatalk

MrC

30th November 2014, 20:23

@SuLyMaN

do you mean hard-encoded subs or authored subs with the "Forced" flag on?

About the templates, if you build any nice, please submit them, I will be happy to upload them to SourceForge.

;)

Bye

manolito

2nd December 2014, 07:20

This is the latest version of my Wavi_Mod plugin, and unless someone discovers some serious bugs, this will be the final version.

Changes:
Some cosmetic changes to the console window output
Added basic logging for EBU R128 mode
Code cleanup
Updated documentation

Download:
http://www45.zippyshare.com/v/50268829/file.html

Enjoy
manolito

MrC

24th December 2014, 22:48

AVStoDVD release 2.8.0 Alpha 141224 is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.0%20Alpha%20141224/).

Main change vs previous Alpha is support to 5.0 audio plus some bugfixes.

;)

Bye

manolito

25th December 2014, 17:15

Thanks very much for the Alpha version... :thanks:

Looking good, just one minor cosmetic thing:
On startup the software still checks if Imago is present and issues a warning if it is not. No big deal...

Merry Christmas + a Happy New Year to everyone here on the forum!

Cheers
manolito

MrC

26th December 2014, 21:16

Thanks manolito for the report.

Quick post Xmas hotfix (http://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.0%20Alpha%20141224/AVStoDVD_280_Alpha141226_hotfix.7z/download)

;)

Bye

jandor

30th December 2014, 16:39

Hi, @MrC

Congratulations on this project! A great design.

I am using Windows 10 64 bits ... an "insider". And I'm really enjoying it ... even if it is hard to forget Win7.
When running AVStoDVD comes the message: "Warning VB6 Common Controls not found!"
I also tested the compatibility mode for Win7 and Win8, but did not work. The error message remained.
Recalling that the Win10 supports most of the programs supported by Win7.
Did this error would not have anything to do with DirectX 9c or DirectX 10, which I have not installed?

Ah! The program continues enabled in "Task Manager" .... and I have to force its closure .... Ctrl+Alt+Del.

Happy New Year to everyone... with good health and much happiness.

qyot27

30th December 2014, 19:20

VB6 = Visual Basic 6, not DirectX. Considering its age, Microsoft probably stopped shipping the runtime for it by default in Windows 10.

Try installing this first:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24417

jandor

30th December 2014, 20:14

manolito

31st December 2014, 00:10

Looks like I discovered a small (cosmetic) issue with the new ffmpeg based muxing routine.

If my project consists of more than one title and I have selected "Muxed MPEG2 File" as the output, the muxing window for the second, third and all following titles shows wrong sizes and the progress bar is way off.

Example:
I have two titles in my project. The combined (audio + video) size of the first title is 3400 MB, the size of the second title is 800 MB. The muxing window for the first title shows the correct size of 3400 MB, but for the second title the muxing window shows a size of 4200 MB instead of the correct size of 800 MB. Of course the progress bar also displays funny values, but the resulting MPEG file is OK.

Cheers
manolito

jandor

1st January 2015, 01:51

MrC

1st January 2015, 20:28

@jandor

Glad to read that you have figured out what was the problem. Actually I could add the option to register the mscomctl.ocx library at runtime. Definively useful in these days, when Win7 is no more equipped with. The Office suite still contains the ocx, but not everybody have Office installed.
BTW thanks for reporting the general compatibility of AVStoDVD with Win10 64bit. :)

@manolito

Thanks for the bug report

Have a great 2015, guys

;)

Bye

MrC

5th January 2015, 20:02

Release 2.8.0 Final is out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.8.0/). Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Revision of Tracks ID naming and Streams Order numbering
- Added 'Fix Subtitles Errors' option in 'Edit Title'/'Subtitles' (previously fixing routine was mandatory)
- Added better support to extended ASCII chars (thanks to manolito)
- Added few System Info details to project log file
- Added 'Demux File' tool
- Added support to 5.0 channels audio output
- Added a sanity check on input video time vs frames count
- Added a sanity check on manual crop values (must be even)
- Replaced ffdshow and Haali Media Splitter with LAV Filters 0.63 in Installer Package
- Replaced ImagoMPEG-Muxer with FFmpeg for all MPEG2 output muxing
- Removed ImagoMPEG-Muxer from Installer and NoIntall packages
- Removed "_0" project/DVD name suffix on first project trial
- Improved support to LAV Filters (add audio mixer adjust routine at runtime)
- Improved support to SubRip SRT subtitles (musical notes and removal of <font> formatting)
- Improved Muxing MPEG2 routine (multi audio track support)
- Improved 'Fix SRT' routine for SubRip subtitles
- Improved support to DVD compliant DTS audio tracks
- Improved log activity on many sections
- Changed maximum number of Titles from 99 to 64 to reflect BatchMux limitation
- Updated license to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International, plus added some clarifications about distribution of 3rd party software.
- AVSMeter updated to release 1.8.3
- VB6 Common Controls updated to release 6.1.98.34

;)

Bye

manolito

6th January 2015, 03:25

Nice, thanks a lot for the new stable version... :thanks:

Just did some short test runs, everything looks cool. The muxing window now displays correct values for multiple titles.

Another thing totally unrelated to the current stable version:

Do not update ffmpeg to the latest point release 2.5.2

By default AVStoDVD uses ffmpeg CBR mode for high bitrates above 6500 kbps. This does invoke padding sometimes, especially if the frame size is VCD or Half-D1. With the latest ffmpeg versions I get this error:

[mpeg2video @ 0591dc20] stuffing too large
Video encoding failed

and the encoding aborts.

The last ffmpeg version which does not have this problem is from 2014-09-28.

I really wonder why the ffmpeg developers felt that they had to address this padding issue, because while not being too elegant the resulting encodes worked quite well -at least for me.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

7th January 2015, 13:29

@manolito

thanks for the feedback.

So the latest FFmpeg release without the error msg is 20140928-git-3edb9aa (http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/win32/static/ffmpeg-20140928-git-3edb9aa-win32-static.7z), correct?

;)

Bye

manolito

7th January 2015, 19:47

That's correct, this is the very last version without the error. The next version is from Oct 2nd 2014, and this one and all later versions show the issue.

I don't know what you might do to make AVStoDVD compatible with the latest ffmpeg versions. If you omit the "minrate" parameter you will get VBR instead of CBR. You could also just reduce the specified CBR bitrate, but by how much? This would probably only work by try and error...

I already tried to find a command line switch to disable padding altogether, but I could not find anything.

Cheers
manolito

qyot27

8th January 2015, 10:15

The error message itself has been around for a very, very long time. A cursory Google search showed results from 2007 that referenced the warning with a build from 2004. What happened on September 28th and 29th* were that some memory optimizations and VBV compliance stuff were committed to mpegvideo_enc.c, and those altered (what I presume were) the allocation procedures enough to make this noticeable.

*the commits:
http://git.videolan.org/?p=ffmpeg.git;a=commit;h=755f7929c6aa919918df534ae68cc78441b186e7
http://git.videolan.org/?p=ffmpeg.git;a=commit;h=1441641d786a2deecae49c6dc2979af8791ce962
http://git.videolan.org/?p=ffmpeg.git;a=commit;h=61c0683080176cfc6c325e556a3b7a4ca9566d5c

Whatever the actual issue, it seems to be proportionally linked to resolution, as after some more testing,

352x240 starts throwing it at 6333k
352x288 starts throwing it at 7194k
352x480 starts throwing it at 10637k, which is too high for DVD compliant video (in other words, AVStoDVD should never be able to encounter it for 352x480 or any higher resolution, since the buffer size needed to trigger it increases along with frame size).
352x576 starts throwing it at 12359k
704x480 starts throwing it at 19246k
720x480 starts throwing it at 19637k
704x576 starts throwing it at 22689k
720x576 starts throwing it at 23158k

Anyone feel like graphing that number sequence and see if a more concrete pattern emerges? Because this is starting to look a lot less like an actual bug and a lot more like a limit imposed by the math being used for some part of the frame allocation (you could argue that would technically be a 'bug', but there'd have to be a limit somewhere, and so either you get 'the limit is set too low' or 'this is actually what the spec requires'). The difference in resolution vs. the bitrate where this appears seems to be about the same as the ratio of the difference between the last paired resolution/bitrate limit in the sequence**. Not being the exact ratio is probably a simple rounding issue.

**what I'm saying here is,
(704x480x24) / (720x480x24) = 0.977777778
19246 / 19637 = 0.980088608

Quite honestly, a Quarter-D1 frame doesn't need a bitrate that high - usually, even just 2000kbps is enough (for anime content at least), since the resolution would soften the image so much that 2000kbps is already pretty generous. And since Quarter-D1 is the only case that AVStoDVD would run into, it might be a good idea to add some bitrate logic based on resolution that lowers it down to a sane level for frame sizes that small.

manolito

8th January 2015, 19:46

Thanks qyot27 for this detailed explanation and analysis. I just checked the bitrate thresholds for VCD frame sizes, you are right on the money (as always...).

This means for AVStoDVD that it should be easy to implement a workaround. Just a simple
IF framesize=352x288 AND bitrate >7150 THEN set bitrate=7150
plus a corresponding condition for 352x240, and everything should be fine.

Thanks again
manolito

MrC

8th January 2015, 22:36

Hotfix (http://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.8.0/AVStoDVD_280_Hotfix_150108.7z/download) to remove the misleading warning message reported here (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/AVStoDVD#11859).

Just download, unzip and overwrite the AVStoDVD.exe file from release 2.8.0

;)

Bye

soneca

9th January 2015, 00:21

Danette

10th January 2015, 17:49

I have MKV’s of TV episodes, created by MakeMKV, that were taken directly from the DVD’s. With every attempt to convert these back into a DVD format, AVStoDVD (v 2.8.0) aborts the process at the authoring step.

I saw an old post, by MrC, that suggested Do not create chapters: go to 'Settings'/'Authoring Burning'/'Chapters Interval' and select 999 minutes. I tried that and it worked. However, now I have videos without chapters. Is there a way to get AVStoDVD to provide the chapters in the DVD as it seems to offer?

I have tried setting it to create chapters with a single episode and it works fine. However, when I do two or more video files, there is persistent aborting at the authoring point.

I can provide logs, but other posts have indicated that the two logs (DVD and BatchMux) don't provide useful information.

Sir Didymus

10th January 2015, 20:42

There should be two other files in your environment to inspect in case of authoring issues:

"C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp"
"C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log"

The first one is the MuxMan script file (input to MuxMan), the second one is the log file created directly by MuxMan during the authoring activities. This last one should tell (hopefully) something more about the issue...

Cheers,
SD

Danette

10th January 2015, 22:05

I checked, but no such entries in that directory. In fact, I scanned my hard drive for them and nothing was found. There are BatchMux files there, but they are similar (in information) to the BatchMux files generated when the abort occurs and placed in the folder containing the empty DVD output.

MrC

10th January 2015, 22:52

@Danette

you should find a couple of .log files in the DVD output folder you have selected in your project. Please post them here.

;)

Bye

Danette

11th January 2015, 00:31

Thanks for the interest, MrC.

The DVD log:

<1/10/2015 6:26:09 PM>
START PROCESS
<>

<1/10/2015 6:26:09 PM>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: NTSC
DVD Titles number: 2
DVD Size: 3713/4450 MB (83%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD Folder
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Show Progress Status window

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline16Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 1
PAL SpeedUp: 0
NTSC SlowDown: 0
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Level 1: 6500
Video Profile Level 2: 4500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 192
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 10
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: D: ASUS DRW-24B1ST i 1.00
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 0
Adjust DirectShow Filters at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0

SYSTEM INFO

Processor Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4440 CPU @ 3.10GHz
Operating System: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (64 bit)
AviSynth is installed: YES (release 2.5.8)
LAV Filters is installed: YES (release 0.63.0)
ffdshow is installed: YES (release 1.3.4532)
<>

<1/10/2015 6:26:09 PM>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\01 Pilot.mkv
Info: MPEG-2 Video - 4599 kbps - 720x480 - DAR 4:3 - 29.97 fps (VFR) - Interlaced (TFF) - 50:17 minutes - 90425 frames
Audio 1: C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\01 Pilot.mkv
Info: AC3 - 448 kbps - CBR - 6 ch - 48000 Hz - 16 bit - 50:17 minutes (0 ms delay) - EN
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.69]
<>

<1/10/2015 6:26:09 PM>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

# Video is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Video = A2DVideoSource("C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\01 Pilot.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp", FrameRate=29.97, VFR=true)
# Audio is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Audio = A2DAudioSource("C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\01 Pilot.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12(interlaced=true)

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<1/10/2015 6:26:09 PM>
START VIDEO DEMUXING OPERATIONS
Target Video FileSize: 1654.1 MB
FFmpeg Parameters: -i "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\01 Pilot.mkv" -vcodec copy -an -sn "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot.m2v"
<>

<1/10/2015 6:26:35 PM>
END VIDEO DEMUXING OPERATIONS
Created File: C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot.m2v (1689.4 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 4697 kbps - 720x480 - DAR 4:3 - 29.97 fps (CFR) - 50:17 minutes - 90422 frames
<>

<1/10/2015 6:26:35 PM>
START AUDIO DEMUXING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
FFmpeg Parameters: -i "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\01 Pilot.mkv" -acodec copy -vn -sn -y "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_1.ToFix.ac3"
<>

<1/10/2015 6:26:45 PM>
END AUDIO DEMUXING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_1.ac3 (161.1 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 448 kbps - CBR - 6 ch - 48000 Hz - 16 bit - 50:17 minutes (0 ms delay)
<>

<1/10/2015 6:26:45 PM>
TITLE 2 SOURCE FILES
Video: C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\02 Memory.mkv
Info: MPEG-2 Video - 4603 kbps - 720x480 - DAR 4:3 - 29.97 fps (VFR) - Interlaced (TFF) - 50:17 minutes - 90424 frames
Audio 1: C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\02 Memory.mkv
Info: AC3 - 448 kbps - CBR - 6 ch - 48000 Hz - 16 bit - 50:17 minutes (0 ms delay) - EN
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.69]
<>

<1/10/2015 6:26:45 PM>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

# Video is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Video = A2DVideoSource("C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\02 Memory.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp", FrameRate=29.97, VFR=true)
# Audio is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Audio = A2DAudioSource("C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\02 Memory.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12(interlaced=true)

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<1/10/2015 6:26:45 PM>
START VIDEO DEMUXING OPERATIONS
Target Video FileSize: 1655.8 MB
FFmpeg Parameters: -i "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\02 Memory.mkv" -vcodec copy -an -sn "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory.m2v"
<>

<1/10/2015 6:27:17 PM>
END VIDEO DEMUXING OPERATIONS
Created File: C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory.m2v (1691 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 4701 kbps - 720x480 - DAR 4:3 - 29.97 fps (CFR) - 50:17 minutes - 90424 frames
<>

<1/10/2015 6:27:17 PM>
START AUDIO DEMUXING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
FFmpeg Parameters: -i "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\Converted\02 Memory.mkv" -acodec copy -vn -sn -y "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_1.ToFix.ac3"
<>

<1/10/2015 6:28:00 PM>
END AUDIO DEMUXING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_1.ac3 (161.1 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 448 kbps - CBR - 6 ch - 48000 Hz - 16 bit - 50:17 minutes (0 ms delay)
<>

<1/10/2015 6:28:00 PM>
START DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
BatchMux Parameters: -arglist "C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_BatchMux.ini"
BatchMux ini file:
-d "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\MuxMan"
-prio NORMAL
-palette "C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Palette.txt"
-v "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot.m2v"
-vidmode 4:3
-a1 "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_1.ac3"
-a1lang en
-cellfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_Chapters.txt"
-progfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_Chapters.txt"
-chapfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_Chapters.txt"
-SEG2v "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory.m2v"
-SEG2vidmode 4:3
-SEG2a1 "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_1.ac3"
-SEG2a1lang en
-SEG2cellfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_Chapters.txt"
-SEG2progfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_Chapters.txt"
-SEG2chapfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_Chapters.txt"

<>

<1/10/2015 6:28:09 PM>
Process aborted during DVD AUTHORING operations!

Check following files for more details:

AVStoDVD log file <C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD.log>
BatchMux log file <C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_BatchMux.log>

For more troubleshooting on Authoring issues, see Help/FAQ/Authoring.
<>

<1/10/2015 6:29:10 PM>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.8.0
<>

The BatchMux log:

BatchMux version --> 1.3
Destination Folder --> C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD\VIDEO_TS
MuxMan Script File --> C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp
MuxMan Log String --> -l "C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log"
Folder of the MuxMan executable --> C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\MuxMan
Check presence of MuxMan.exe --> PASSED
Palette File --> C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Palette.txt
Default Palette --> SUCCESSFULLY REDEFINED
Segment #1 - Video File #1 --> C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot.m2v
Checking asset for importing as --> M2V, M1V, MPV
Video Coding Mode --> MPEG-2
Video Resolution (Nominal) --> (720x480)
MPEG-2 Aspect Ratio (DAR) --> 4:3
Video Frame Rate --> 29,97 fps
Video Bitrate (Nominal, Kbps) --> 9571
VBV Buffer Size (Kbyte) --> 224
Segment #1 - Video Display Mode --> 4:3
Segment #1 - Audio #1 File #1 --> C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_1.ac3
Segment #1 - Audio Lang Code #1 --> en
Segment #1 - Timeframe file --> C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_Chapters.txt
Segment #1 - Total Nr of Cells --> 6
Segment #1 - Timeframe file --> C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_Chapters.txt
Segment #1 - Total Nr of Programs --> 6
Segment #1 - Timeframe file --> C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_Chapters.txt
Segment #1 - Total Nr of Chapters --> 6
Segment #2 - Video File #1 --> C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory.m2v
Checking asset for importing as --> M2V, M1V, MPV
Video Coding Mode --> MPEG-2
Video Resolution (Nominal) --> (720x480)
MPEG-2 Aspect Ratio (DAR) --> 4:3
Video Frame Rate --> 29,97 fps
Video Bitrate (Nominal, Kbps) --> 9571
VBV Buffer Size (Kbyte) --> 224
Segment #2 - Video Display Mode --> 4:3
Segment #2 - Audio #1 File #1 --> C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_1.ac3
Segment #2 - Audio Lang Code #1 --> en
Segment #2 - Timeframe file --> C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_Chapters.txt
Segment memory resources --> RELEASED
Local Stack memory --> RELEASED
File i/o structures --> DEALLOCATED

MrC

11th January 2015, 09:57

@Danette

The issue can be addressed to the chapters file created for the second title. You can try to edit the chapters list ('Edit Title'/'Chapters') and removing the last chapter point. If it works, could you copy and paste here the original chapters list?

;)

Bye

Sir Didymus

11th January 2015, 11:38

Furthermore, please do a test by changing your project settings in order to preserve the temorary working files (you can see in your logs just above that "Delete Temp Working Files: Yes").

In this way the input mxp file for MuxMan and its output log will be kept in your file system...

:-)

Danette

11th January 2015, 15:29

MrC: I deleted the last chapter from both titles and ran it again, but the aborting problem persists. Since you only wanted the logs if it was successful, I did not post them.

Sir Didymus: With your suggestion, I was able to access those log files. They are posted, below.

MuxMan.mxp log:

-d "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\MuxMan"
-prio NORMAL
-palette "C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Palette.txt"
-v "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot.m2v"
-vidmode 4:3
-a1 "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_1.ac3"
-a1lang en
-cellfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_Chapters.txt"
-progfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_Chapters.txt"
-chapfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_Chapters.txt"
-SEG2v "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory.m2v"
-SEG2vidmode 4:3
-SEG2a1 "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_1.ac3"
-SEG2a1lang en
-SEG2cellfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_Chapters.txt"
-SEG2progfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_Chapters.txt"
-SEG2chapfr "C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_Chapters.txt"

MuxMan.log

BatchMux version --> 1.3
Destination Folder --> C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD\VIDEO_TS
MuxMan Script File --> C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp
MuxMan Log String --> -l "C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log"
Folder of the MuxMan executable --> C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\MuxMan
Check presence of MuxMan.exe --> PASSED
Palette File --> C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Palette.txt
Default Palette --> SUCCESSFULLY REDEFINED
Segment memory resources --> RELEASED
Local Stack memory --> RELEASED
File i/o structures --> DEALLOCATED

Sir Didymus

11th January 2015, 16:41

Danette, sorry for insisting. Maybe it depends on my English that is not adequate, but it seems obvious to me that we are not understanding each other.

Let me repeat in few simple words...
In order to help you we need to see the content of these files:
"C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp" and
"C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log"

Neither of the files that you have just posted are corresponding to what we expect to see...

Could you check again, please? :cool:

Danette

11th January 2015, 18:31

Sir Didymus: your English is fine (in fact, perfect). I may not be selecting the right options, in MeGUI, to retain these files.

In the AVStoDVD main screen, I have unchecked both “Delete temporary DVD assets files” and “Delete AVStoDVD working files.”

When the process completes, to that Temp directory, the new files that are added are:

DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_1.avs
DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_1.avs
DVD_BatchMux.ini
DVD_BatchMux.bat
DVD_Palette.txt
DVD_BatchMux.log

There are no “DVD_MuxMan.mxp” or “DVD_MuxMan.log” files on the computer (I searched the hard drive). Please let me know if I am not selecting the correct options to create those files.

Sir Didymus

12th January 2015, 15:25

That's quite odd, infact.

Normally this low-level information is available, once you disable its removal from the file system... :confused:

Without these files it seems to me not so easy to solve the issue...

Sorry... No further hints from my side...

Danette

12th January 2015, 17:56

Does your version 2.8.0 generate these files?

MrC

12th January 2015, 18:52

Does your version 2.8.0 generate these files?

Yes, it does. When you get the first warning about DVD authoring error, press to stop the process, without going ahead with the second attempt. At least you will save time to get out of the project and try to recover the log files...

;)

Bye

manolito

12th January 2015, 18:52

manolito

12th January 2015, 18:58

@MrC

Do you have plans to implement a workaround for the "Too much stuffing" error with the latest FFMpeg versions?

If not, I can probably implement a workaround in my FF_VBR plugin. I can use AVSMeter to retrieve the height of the AVS input clip and limit the CBR bitrate according to the threshold values determined by qyot27. I already made a Proof of Concept script...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

12th January 2015, 21:24

Yes it does (the latest hotfix is installed)

http://i61.tinypic.com/33ubjpg.png

But this is after a successful muxing. Maybe the files are not created after muxing aborts? No idea...

DVD_MuxMan.mxp is actually the MuxMan project "saved" file, it is created by BatchMux to be served to MuxMan. DVD_MuxMan.log is created by MuxMan at runtime, at least some rows should be present...

Do you have plans to implement a workaround for the "Too much stuffing" error with the latest FFMpeg versions?

If not, I can probably implement a workaround in my FF_VBR plugin. I can use AVSMeter to retrieve the height of the AVS input clip and limit the CBR bitrate according to the threshold values determined by qyot27. I already made a Proof of Concept script...

Not a top priority item: I think that very few users nowadays are using 1/2 D1 or 1/4 D1 resolutions. But it is for sure in the ToDo list. I would say to go ahead and integrate the workaround in the FF_VBR plugin. Thanks!

;)

Bye

Danette

12th January 2015, 21:41

MrC and Sir Didymus,

Well, success ...at least in identifying the problem. I have also been able to generate the two MuxMan logs, which are listed at the end of this post.

I went back to your initial request, MrC:

The issue can be addressed to the chapters file created for the second title. You can try to edit the chapters list ('Edit Title'/'Chapters') and removing the last chapter point. If it works, could you copy and paste here the original chapters list?

It wasn’t about “removing the last chapter point” in the second title. It was about removing all of the chapter points in that second title (leaving the first title alone). However, that made me look at the chapters in more detail. AVStoDVD is importing them incorrectly. With each title added, AVStoDVD is accumulating the chapters from all previous titles, but also drops some chapter points as the accumulation of titles increase. When I removed the section of chapters in the second title, that were added from the first tile, everything processed correctly.

The only problem is that all titles, after the first title, are missing the first several chapter points from the new title. I’m having a little trouble figuring out which are the correct title starting and ending points because the times reported by AVStoDVD do not match the times that are reported when I extract the chapters from each file using MKVExtract.

Some AVStoDVD chapters lists as requested by MrC (three titles, from one project, showing the accumulation) appear below. Note that each title actually only has six chapter points, not the accumulation that you see AVStoDVD creating, below.

Title 1

CHAPTER01=00:00:00.000
CHAPTER01NAME=Chapter 1
CHAPTER02=00:00:53.387
CHAPTER02NAME=Chapter 2
CHAPTER03=00:13:11.958
CHAPTER03NAME=Chapter 3
CHAPTER04=00:23:53.433
CHAPTER04NAME=Chapter 4
CHAPTER05=00:34:47.920
CHAPTER05NAME=Chapter 5
CHAPTER06=00:49:28.469
CHAPTER06NAME=Chapter 6

Title 2

CHAPTER01=00:00:00.000
CHAPTER01NAME=Chapter 1
CHAPTER02=00:00:53.387
CHAPTER02NAME=Chapter 2
CHAPTER03=00:13:11.958
CHAPTER03NAME=Chapter 3
CHAPTER04=00:23:53.433
CHAPTER04NAME=Chapter 4
CHAPTER05=00:34:47.920
CHAPTER05NAME=Chapter 5
CHAPTER06=00:49:28.435
CHAPTER06NAME=Chapter 6
CHAPTER07=00:09:57.997
CHAPTER07NAME=Chapter 7
CHAPTER08=00:26:58.851
CHAPTER08NAME=Chapter 8
CHAPTER09=00:36:39.466
CHAPTER09NAME=Chapter 9
CHAPTER10=00:49:29.702
CHAPTER10NAME=Chapter 10

Look at this one with three titles in the project:

Title 3

CHAPTER01=00:00:00.000
CHAPTER01NAME=Chapter 1
CHAPTER02=00:00:53.387
CHAPTER02NAME=Chapter 2
CHAPTER03=00:13:11.958
CHAPTER03NAME=Chapter 3
CHAPTER04=00:23:53.433
CHAPTER04NAME=Chapter 4
CHAPTER05=00:34:47.920
CHAPTER05NAME=Chapter 5
CHAPTER06=00:49:28.435
CHAPTER06NAME=Chapter 6
CHAPTER07=00:09:57.997
CHAPTER07NAME=Chapter 7
CHAPTER08=00:26:58.851
CHAPTER08NAME=Chapter 8
CHAPTER09=00:36:39.466
CHAPTER09NAME=Chapter 9
CHAPTER10=00:49:28.001
CHAPTER10NAME=Chapter 10
CHAPTER11=00:13:49.929
CHAPTER11NAME=Chapter 11
CHAPTER12=00:27:50.570
CHAPTER12NAME=Chapter 12
CHAPTER13=00:37:39.959
CHAPTER13NAME=Chapter 13
CHAPTER14=00:49:25.698
CHAPTER14NAME=Chapter 14

The MuxMan logs from the two-title project, which is represented in the first two titles of the above chapter points list):

MuxMan version 0.16.8
Opened script file C:\Users\Primary\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_8_MuxMan.mxp
Accepted audio C:\Users\Primary\Videos\DVD_8_Title_01_01 Pilot_1.ac3
Accepted audio C:\Users\Primary\Videos\DVD_8_Title_02_02 Memory_1.ac3

14:22:04 Begin multiplex VTS01.
Title Segment List
Seg1
Maximum audio duration 180850 fields.
Starting scene Seg1_Scn1 at 00:00:00:00
Starting scene Seg1_Scn2 at 00:00:53:11, requested for 00:00:53:10
Starting scene Seg1_Scn3 at 00:13:10:06, requested for 00:13:10:05
Starting scene Seg1_Scn4 at 00:23:52:01, requested for 00:23:52:00
Starting scene Seg1_Scn5 at 00:34:44:26, requested for 00:34:44:25
Starting scene Seg1_Scn6 at 00:49:25:16, requested for 00:49:25:15
SeqEnd at 6996A12D.
Bytes remaining in buffer = 0.
Bitrate - avg: 5254876, min: 491028 (lba 0), max: 9165874 (lba 80207).
Shortest GOP has 14 fields, longest GOP has 30 fields.
Fields: 180850, VOBU: 5948, Sectors: 967707.

14:23:38 Begin multiplex VTS02.
Title Segment List
Seg2
Maximum audio duration 180848 fields.
Starting scene Seg2_Scn1 at 00:00:00:00
Starting scene Seg2_Scn2 at 00:00:53:12, requested for 00:00:53:10
SeqEnd at 69AFA0EE.
Bytes remaining in buffer = 0.
Bitrate - avg: 5259066, min: 491028 (lba 0), max: 8969462 (lba 7497).
Shortest GOP has 14 fields, longest GOP has 30 fields.
Fields: 180848, VOBU: 5917, Sectors: 968468.

14:24:37 Begin multiplex VMG.
14:24:37 End multiplex.

Section=Settings
{
Destination Folder=C:\Users\Primary\Videos\DVD_8\VIDEO_TS
Item=Palette
{
Name=DefaultPalette
Color 0=0, 0, 255
Color 1=255, 0, 0
Color 2=0, 0, 0
Color 3=255, 255, 255
Color 4=0, 255, 0
Color 5=255, 0, 255
Color 6=255, 255, 0
Color 7=0, 125, 125
Color 8=125, 125, 125
Color 9=225, 225, 225
Color 10=125, 0, 0
Color 11=0, 125, 0
Color 12=0, 0, 125
Color 13=222, 0, 255
Color 14=222, 125, 0
Color 15=125, 0, 125
}
}
Section=Content
{
Item=Segment
{
Name=Seg1
Display Mode=4:3
Item=Video Stream
{
Standard=NTSC
Item=Video Play
{
File=C:\Users\Primary\Videos\DVD_8_Title_01_01 Pilot.m2v
}
}
Item=Audio Stream
{
Stream Number=1
Language=en
Language Extension=1
Delay=0
Item=Audio Play
{
File=C:\Users\Primary\Videos\DVD_8_Title_01_01 Pilot_1.ac3
}
}
Item=Scene List
{
Item=Scene
{
Name=Seg1_Scn1
Scene Time=00:00:00:00
Uop=00000000
}
Item=Scene
{
Name=Seg1_Scn2
Scene Time=00:00:53:10
Uop=00000000
}
Item=Scene
{
Name=Seg1_Scn3
Scene Time=00:13:10:05
Uop=00000000
}
Item=Scene
{
Name=Seg1_Scn4
Scene Time=00:23:52:00
Uop=00000000
}
Item=Scene
{
Name=Seg1_Scn5
Scene Time=00:34:44:25
Uop=00000000
}
Item=Scene
{
Name=Seg1_Scn6
Scene Time=00:49:25:15
Uop=00000000
}
}
}
Item=Segment
{
Name=Seg2
Display Mode=4:3
Item=Video Stream
{
Standard=NTSC
Item=Video Play
{
File=C:\Users\Primary\Videos\DVD_8_Title_02_02 Memory.m2v
}
}
Item=Audio Stream
{
Stream Number=1
Language=en
Language Extension=1
Delay=0
Item=Audio Play
{
File=C:\Users\Primary\Videos\DVD_8_Title_02_02 Memory_1.ac3
}
}
Item=Scene List
{
Item=Scene
{
Name=Seg2_Scn1
Scene Time=00:00:00:00
Uop=00000000
}
Item=Scene
{
Name=Seg2_Scn2
Scene Time=00:00:53:10
Uop=00000000
}
}
}
}
Section=Navigation
{
Item=First PGC
{
Name=FP
Item=Pre Commands
{
mov GPRM0, 0
JumpSS TitleMenu
}
}
Item=VMG
{
Item=Language
{
Name=VMG_Lu1
Item=PGC
{
Name=VMG_Lu1_Pgc1
Menu ID=Title Menu
Item=Pre Commands
{
if ( GPRM0 == 0 ) GoTo 3
if ( GPRM0 == 1 ) GoTo 4
JumpTT VTS01_Ttn1
JumpTT VTS02_Ttn1
}
}
}
}
Item=VTS01
{
Item=Language
{
Name=VTSM01_Lu1
Item=PGC
{
Name=VTSM01_Lu1_Pgc1
Menu ID=Root Menu
Item=Pre Commands
{
JumpSS VMG_Lu1_Pgc1
}
}
}
Item=Title
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1
Item=PGC
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1
Menu ID=Title Entry
Item=Post Commands
{
mov GPRM0, 1
CallSS RSM=1, VMG_Lu1_Pgc1
}
Item=Program List
{
Item=Program
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg1
Item=Cell
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Cell1
Linked Scene=Seg1_Scn1
}
}
Item=Program
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg2
Item=Cell
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Cell2
Linked Scene=Seg1_Scn2
}
}
Item=Program
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg3
Item=Cell
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Cell3
Linked Scene=Seg1_Scn3
}
}
Item=Program
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg4
Item=Cell
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Cell4
Linked Scene=Seg1_Scn4
}
}
Item=Program
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg5
Item=Cell
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Cell5
Linked Scene=Seg1_Scn5
}
}
Item=Program
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg6
Item=Cell
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Cell6
Linked Scene=Seg1_Scn6
}
}
}
}
Item=Part of Title List
{
Item=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg1
Item=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg2
Item=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg3
Item=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg4
Item=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg5
Item=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg6
}
}
}
Item=VTS02
{
Item=Language
{
Name=VTSM02_Lu1
Item=PGC
{
Name=VTSM02_Lu1_Pgc1
Menu ID=Root Menu
Item=Pre Commands
{
JumpSS VMG_Lu1_Pgc1
}
}
}
Item=Title
{
Name=VTS02_Ttn1
Item=PGC
{
Name=VTS02_Ttn1_Pgc1
Menu ID=Title Entry
Item=Post Commands
{
Exit
}
Item=Program List
{
Item=Program
{
Name=VTS02_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg1
Item=Cell
{
Name=VTS02_Ttn1_Pgc1_Cell1
Linked Scene=Seg2_Scn1
}
}
Item=Program
{
Name=VTS02_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg2
Item=Cell
{
Name=VTS02_Ttn1_Pgc1_Cell2
Linked Scene=Seg2_Scn2
}
}
}
}
Item=Part of Title List
{
Item=VTS02_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg1
Item=VTS02_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg2
}
}
}
}

Sir Didymus

13th January 2015, 10:03

OK. Great!

Concerning the "low level" operations, everything seems OK to me... I mean, I don't see any issue in the authoring activities.

The MuxMan engine is requested (in your 2 chapters example) to produce a compilation composed by 2 separate titles, placed in two distinct VTSs, with cells (and programs and chapters) listed in the files:
"C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_01_01 Pilot_Chapters.txt" and
"C:\Users\Primary\Desktop\Videos\DVD_Title_02_02 Memory_Chapters.txt"

You should be also able to open and see the content of these text files for a further confirmation of your findings (i.e. that the chapter points of the different titles seem mixed up)...

Cheers,
SD

Danette

13th January 2015, 16:58

Yes: looking at the files from the completed processing, there are two separate segments showing the six chapters for each title and, yes; the second set is incorrect. It is almost a duplicate of the first set, but off by a few milliseconds.

So, how do I get AVStoDVD to import/process chapters correctly?

MrC

13th January 2015, 18:06

Danette

13th January 2015, 20:12

PROBLEM SOLVED!

Hopefully, you’re reading this before you do anymore work on it.

I have been clicking the “Plus” icon to add titles. When it opens the selected folder containing the MKV files, I select multiple MKV files (in my case, two or three MKVs), adding them all at once. This should not be done.

I just stumbled onto adding them one at a time. So, you have to click the “Plus” icon and add ONE file only, click the “Plus” icon again and add the second file, etc. Doing it in this specific order, the chapter entries are all correct in the title editor and the project processes perfectly.

In both cases, the titles do show up separately but, in the case of adding all files at once, the chapters are incorrectly added.

If this can’t be fixed, you may want to consider adding this as a note in the “Help” file.

manolito

13th January 2015, 21:34

FFMpeg VBR plugin - New Version

Changes:
Implements a workaround for the issue described here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1704784#post1704784

This issue only occurs with ffmpeg versions newer than September 2014. Only relevant when using VBR frame sizes for the output in CBR mode.

The plugin limits the CBR bitrate to 6330 kbps for 352x240 and to 7190 kbps for 352x288. Thanks to qyot27 for determining these bitrate thresholds.

Download link:
http://www9.zippyshare.com/v/NFMcn5RI/file.html

Cheers
manolito

//EDIT
Oops, I had completely forgotten to make this thing work with ffmpeg safe mode for video encoding...
Of course I cannot use AVSMeter to determine the height if the input is not an AVS script. And I also had to implement a workaround for this ffmpeg parameter:
-vf pad=320:240:4:0
The EQUAL sign is a delimiter for CMD.exe, whenever a command line like this is processed, the "=" character will disappear. And ffmpeg does not like this.

The new version should work also in ffmpeg safe mode, please redownload...

MrC

13th January 2015, 22:06

@Danette

thanks for the very good job to find out the problem. I will add that the issue happens only if the source mkv has their own chapters list, imported by AVStoDVD. I will fix it in the next release for sure.

@manolito

thanks for the new FFmpeg VBR plugin. Is it already to be considered stable to upload it at SourceForge?

;)

Bye

manolito

13th January 2015, 22:14

Thanks MrC

Yes, I think it is stable already, but of course some testing by users with different system configurations would be nice (Win8, GPT hard drive).

The only change is the addition of a couple of lines of code:
SET Fixed_Rate=
..\AVSMeter\AVSMeter.exe %in% -i >"%out_path%$temp.txt"
FOR /f "usebackq tokens=2,3" %%a IN ("%out_path%$temp.txt") DO IF %%a==height: SET Height=%%b
IF EXIST "%out_path%$temp.txt" DEL "%out_path%$temp.txt"
IF %Height%==288 IF %bitrate% GTR 7190 SET Fixed_Rate=7190
IF %Height%==240 IF %bitrate% GTR 6330 SET Fixed_Rate=6330
IF "%Fixed_Rate%"=="" GOTO NoFix
CALL SET ORIGINAL=%%ORIGINAL:-b:v %bitrate%k=-b:v %Fixed_Rate%k%%
CALL SET ORIGINAL=%%ORIGINAL:minrate %bitrate%k=minrate %Fixed_Rate%k%%
CALL SET ORIGINAL=%%ORIGINAL:maxrate %bitrate%k=maxrate %Fixed_Rate%k%%

I tested it with about 10 different short clips under WinXP, and I could not detect any errors... :cool:

Cheers
manolito

//EDIT

Updated version, please redownload from here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1705778#post1705778

Danette

13th January 2015, 22:46

MrC,

Glad to help make the program better. It's a good program.

Thanks to Sir Didymus, as well.

ThaDraGun

28th January 2015, 23:50

Not sure what info/logs you will need to know the real answer. Thought you may have some idea tho. Since I've updated to the latest version I keep getting errors when trying to make a dvd.
I tried 3 different version of a movie and each one gives the same "abnormal frame rates error" When I click ok it continues and then the video ends up being out of sync.

Now Im making a dvd with 5 tv episodes. Same error, every episode. I'm not sure how its going to turn out yet because its still going. It doesnt continue on to the next episode until I click ok so Its taken 19hrs so far. :(

I feel like I might have the settings wrong or something unless its just a coincidence that 8 videos in a row have the same error.

Here's the error:
http://s9.postimg.org/ce3f39ymn/Untitled_1.jpg

Any idea?

EDIT:

Yup all 5 episodes are out of sync. It finally finished while I was sitting here waiting for the prompts.

EDIT 2:

One other thing. So last week I made a movie with the older version of avstodvd and the process had no errors and the end result was perfect. No sync issues. For a little test I used the same video file and this time the "abnormal frame rates error" popped up a couple times. I clicked ok every time. When it was done there was audio sync issues through the whole movie just like the other ones.. So now I know for sure its not the video files that are broken. Something is wrong with the settings or mediainfo.

EDIT 3:

Just uninstalled the current avstodvd and installed an older version instead: 2.7.4.
I added the same 5 tv show episodes and created the dvd. It took 1hr 20min, no errors.
No sync issues. Dvd turned out perfect.

manolito

29th January 2015, 06:44

Hi ThaDraGun

The error about the abnormal video frame value was fixed with this hotfix:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1705132#post1705132

The sync problems are a different matter, though... :eek:

The main difference between versions 2.5 and 2.8 is that 2.5 comes with ffdshow/Haali as DirectShow filter/splitter and 2.8 now prefers LAV Filters. The main reason is that ffdshow is no longer maintained, and LAV Filters seem to do a better job in many situations. But there are folks who experience sync problems with LAV Filters (you are not alone...).

Of course you can also use version 2.8 together with ffdshow/Haali. If this solves the sync problems, fine, then you know where to look in order to fix the problem. Just one thing: Avoid to have LAV and ffdshow/Haali installed in parallel. If you want to switch between the two, uninstall the other package.

If you feel adventurous you could even participate in debugging the cause of the sync error:

1. Install version 2.8 plus LAV Filters. Make sure that ffdshow and Haali are not installed.
2. If you are using Win7 or Win8 open AVStoDVD as an admin, goto "Codecs" and click "Preferred DirectShow Filters Setup". Make sure to select LAV so the Microsoft filters are disabled. If it does not work this way, download and run the Win7 DS Filter Tweaker tool (download link at the bottom of the window).
3. In Explorer go to the "AVStoDVD\Lib" folder and open the file "A2DSource.avsi" with Notepad.
4. Search for "convertfps = VFR" and replace it with "convertfps = true" (without the quotes). Save the file.

Now do a conversion with the same source file which previously resulted in a sync error and see what happens now...

Cheers
manolito

archaeo

30th January 2015, 00:14

I'm just starting to use AVStoDVD and seeing that it is a very good program.
One thing I'm getting a little confused about is in the preferences/video tab.
So, in there if I choose 'HC enc 1pass' oprion and hit the lock button, with the 'save current preferences as default' also checked, does this mean that this choice is locked as a default, even after exiting and restarting the program?
I looked at the FAQ, which states: If you want to nevertheless freeze the video encoder, select the profile and then press the lock icon.
If I then want to go back to AVStoDVD default auto choose, how do I unlock the choice? It's not readily apparent when it's locked in and when it's not.

Thanks

manolito

30th January 2015, 10:36

Hi archaeo,

So, in there if I choose 'HC enc 1pass' oprion and hit the lock button, with the 'save current preferences as default' also checked, does this mean that this choice is locked as a default, even after exiting and restarting the program?

Yes.

I looked at the FAQ, which states: If you want to nevertheless freeze the video encoder, select the profile and then press the lock icon.
If I then want to go back to AVStoDVD default auto choose, how do I unlock the choice? It's not readily apparent when it's locked in and when it's not.
Thanks

Example:
Highlight the 2-pass VBR mode, set the lower bitrate level to 2500 and the upper level to 4500
Highlight the 1-pass VBR mode and set the lower level to 4500 and the upper level to 6500
Now highlight the ffmpeg CBR mode and set the lower level to 6500, set upper level to 8500

These are the default values and they work nicely. But you might prefer different bitrate ranges for the different encoding modes, and you can specify these here. Just remember: You must set bitrate RANGES for all three encoding modes.

An easier way to get the same result is to use the Quick Startup Tutorial:
Go to "Tools" and run the Quick Startup Tutorial. Under "Select Video Encoder" choose "Smart Selection" and press OK. This will set the bitrate ranges for the three encoding modes to their defaults.

Cheers
manolito

archaeo

30th January 2015, 16:56

thanks manolito, very helpful :thanks:

MrC

30th January 2015, 19:06

@ThaDraGun

please do follow manolito's suggestions. If you do not solve, could you post here one AVStoDVD project log file or, even better, update one of the 5 episodes out of sync?

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

4th February 2015, 17:55

Just popping in and needed to encode some vids :) Got to re-install after yet another Windows install on a new SSD. Thanks for the new version!

manolito

6th February 2015, 16:45

There is a new Alpha 2.8.1 published yesterday. :)
Check it out...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

7th February 2015, 21:03

Thanks manolito for the announce.

Release 2.8.1 Alpha 150203 (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.1%20Alpha%20150203/) change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added routine to shift times for text-based subtitles when PAL SpeedUp or NTSC SlowDown are activated
- Added Visual Crop section in 'Edit Title'/'AviSynth'
- Added a warning for dual presence of ffdshow and LAV Filters
- Added a check for Windows Common Controls (mscomctl.ocx) presence and prompt to install it at runtime
- Improved PAL SpeedUp routine (now also 24 fps source titles are supported)
- Improved Auto Crop routine and moved to Visual Crop section
- Improved log activity (Chapters creation section)
- Improved filters merit change routine in 'Preferred DirectShow Codecs Setup' section
- Improved RAM detection routine (now it works for 64 bit systems)
- Improved detection of Variable Frame Rate (VFR) sources
- Updated A2DSource.avsi to assume VFR true as default if not specified
- Changed 'Adjust Frame Strategy' default value to 'Add Left/Right Borders'
- Changed 'Unload DirectShow ActiveMovie library at runtime' default value to 'On'
- FFmpeg updated to release 2.2.3 (2014-06-19)

;)

Bye

MrC

22nd February 2015, 16:16

New 2.8.1 Alpha is out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.1%20Alpha%20150219/).

Main difference from previous Alpha is the refactoring of fps conversion routines and interactions with the GUI (preview, trim, chapters).

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

27th February 2015, 19:00

SuLyMaN

27th February 2015, 19:03

MrC

27th February 2015, 19:38

Thanks for the update. Just installed. Going to do a DVD....I got a suggestion MrC. Is it possible to include the templates in the installer? Why waste such a good stuff by putting it in a separate download and it can go unnoticed by users?

Yes I agree. At least in the Installer version. Even if the link to the templates pack is (should be) well visible in the DVD Wizard section...

;)

Bye

MrC

27th February 2015, 19:43

Oh a minor 'bug' While installing, the installer skipped installing avisynth as it was already installed on my system. Upon running the software, it found out that I had version 2.5.6 and that 2.5.7 was required as a minimum to ensure nothing is broken. Is it not possible to include a check in the installer to verify this? :)

I have to check how to rest the avisynth.dll release number within NSIS, the software used to build the installer. Not sure if it is possible. Suggestions by more experienced users of NSIS are welcome!

;)

Bye

[Edit] Found (http://nsis.sourceforge.net/GetDllVersion_Command_Explained), a bit tricky

SuLyMaN

5th March 2015, 08:46

MrC

5th March 2015, 16:00

Hi MrC. I am having trouble using the latest beta version. So far, I have not been able to output a DVD. The software creates a video file in its temp directory but is anable to create a DVD....I will uninstall the beta and test a stable build...5 attempts so far have not proved fruitful.

I suggest to:

- uninstall completely the latest installation
- locate and delete the registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AVStoDVD
- uninstall AviSynth
- uninstall ffdshow and/or LAV Filters (whatever you are using)
- download the latest 2.8.1 Alpha build, Installer package
- install everything within the package

If you still have troubles, please post here a project log file.

;)

Bye

manolito

8th March 2015, 10:11

Reporting a regression in the current Alpha 150219:

When I feed AVStoDVD with compliant video and audio streams plus chapters for just muxing and authoring, the chapters are ignored.

<08.03.2015 09:42:27>
START PROCESS
<>

<08.03.2015 09:42:27>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: PAL
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 4442/4450 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD-Ordner
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: I:
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Fortschrittsfenster anzeigen (Voreinstellung)

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Spline36Resize/Spline36Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 1
PAL SpeedUp: 1
NTSC SlowDown: 1
Video Resolution: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2000
Video BitRate Level 1: 7000
Video Profile Level 2: 3500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 0
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 224
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: H: BENQ DVD DD DW1620 B7W9
DVD Burning Speed: 8x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 0
Unload ActiveMovie library: 0
Adjust DirectShow Filters at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0

SYSTEM INFO

Processor Name:
Operating System: Windows XP Service Pack 3 (32 bit)
Current user is Admin: YES
Available Output Disc Space: 2,3 GB
AviSynth is installed: YES (release 2.5.7)
LAV Filters is installed: YES (release 0.64.0)
ffdshow is installed: NO
<>

<08.03.2015 09:42:27>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: I:\rit.m2v
Info: MPEG-2 Video - 4881 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 4:3 - 25 fps - Progressive - 1:58:37 hours - 177923 frames
Audio 1: I:\rit.ac3
Info: AC3 - 224 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 16 bit - 1:58:37 hours (0 ms delay)
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.72]
<>

<08.03.2015 09:42:27>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

# Video is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Video = A2DVideoSource("I:\rit.m2v", CacheFolder="I:", FrameRate=25)
# Audio is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Audio = A2DAudioSource("I:\rit.ac3", CacheFolder="I:")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<08.03.2015 09:42:27>
SKIP VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Source video file 'I:\rit.m2v' is already DVD compliant.
<>

<08.03.2015 09:42:27>
SKIP AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Source audio file 'I:\rit.ac3' is already DVD compliant.
<>

<08.03.2015 09:42:27>
DVD CHAPTERS CREATION OPERATIONS
Title 1 Input Chapters List: 3775 14275 19650 32825 37850 46025 56525 64975 75425 88025 98925 111350 120025 126100 134025 146850 160850
Title 1 Output Chapters List:
<>

<08.03.2015 09:42:27>
START DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
BatchMux Parameters: -arglist "I:\DVD_BatchMux.ini"
BatchMux ini file:
-d "I:\DVD\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "I:\DVD_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "I:\DVD_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "I:\DVD_Palette.txt"
-v "I:\rit.m2v"
-vidmode 4:3
-a1 "I:\rit.ac3"
-a1lang de

<>

<08.03.2015 10:02:03>
END DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
Created Folder: I:\DVD (4425,3 MB)

CHECK DVD SIZE
DVD Folder (actual) Size: 4425,3 MB
vs Assets Size: 4331,5 MB -> OK
vs Estimated Size: 4442 MB -> 0,4% undersize
<>

<08.03.2015 10:02:04>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.8.1 Alpha build 150219
<>

When feeding the software with an already muxed MPEG2 file the chapters are handled correctly. Previous versions did not have this problem...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

8th March 2015, 12:04

Thanks for the report, manolito. I will check ASAP, because the 2.8.1 Final is almost ready for distribution.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

9th March 2015, 05:50

I have got stable version 2.80 to work on my system. I am unsure if the problem was caused by the beta version anyways. It might just be that it could have been a subtitles issue... I will try again on next release. Thanks MrC.

Sent from my HM 1SW using Tapatalk

SuLyMaN

10th March 2015, 18:00

Hi again MrC. First of all, I am extremely sorry to be bothering you and taking your time on this project. I managed to pinpoint the error I was getting before. It happens on ver 2.8.0 also and seems to be a bug.

[Bug report]
Avs2dvd closes on any mkv file with self contained subtitles if you choose option 'hardcode subtitles'. If there is a fix for this, would be great :) Also, if you try to render the menu with the option 'hardcoding' of subtitles in mkv files with self contained subtitles, "error 53 - File not found message appears"

Anyways thanks for an awesome program!

MrC

11th March 2015, 20:46

Thanks SuLyMaN for the bug report. I will fix it in the next release.

Meanwhile, as workaround, toggle on the 'Demux selected subtitles track' option, when you are prompted to select the subs embedded in the source mkv.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

12th March 2015, 10:17

Meanwhile, as workaround, toggle on the 'Demux selected subtitles track' option, when you are prompted to select the subs embedded in the source mkv.

;)

Bye

With embedded subs, I am not prompted to select subtitles (maybe because it has only one of them). It automatically selects them in the program window.

Also I do not see the 'Demux selected subtitles track' otpion anywhere. No biggie though. I can live with that as I know what not to do :) I'll wait for your fix!

Feature Request:
As with many of the settings of the program which can be saved as default (Eg paths, selected encoder, bitrates etc) is it possible to have a setting to save the menu say to certain font size or default menu to use?

Thanks again for this awesome software!

MrC

15th March 2015, 16:44

Yes, you are right, when there is just one subs track, A2D does not ask you to select "one of them" and select the only one by default, without giving the possibility to demux it. BTW you can easily use the 'Tools'/'Demux File' utility to extract the subs track. Now you have an external SRT and you can add it to your project and safely select the hard-encoded subs option.

About the menu: have a look in the Menu\Templates folder. For each menues there is a label.ini file where you can edit and customize many properties.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

16th March 2015, 06:06

@MrC. Thanks man. Another option to tinker with! I'll have a look at the label.ini!

SuLyMaN

17th March 2015, 08:18

@MrC/Anyone knowledgeable: I've been trying to get a menu like this one...(http://ietrsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/free-menu-templates-for-mac-f1vdzdah.jpg)
The ini settings in the templates folder do not allow me to set the menu as in the picture above. They always come up horizontally. I have to manually adjust those. I want to adjust those as when putting 3 subtitles on one page, the text get one over the other. I tried looking in the temp folder and copy/paste some files to force the menu editor to display them vertically. It was of no avail :)
Are there ANY settings I am missing out or is it just not possible with the tools used to create the menu?
I see that this is a feature that was in your to do list since 2009 (while searching on google, I came a post in this thread concerning this issue) but I am certain, there must be a reason why it didn't get implemented :)
Thanks again man!

manolito

17th March 2015, 10:10

Have you tried this setting?

http://i58.tinypic.com/11snfxk.png

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

17th March 2015, 10:44

Have you tried this setting?

http://i58.tinypic.com/11snfxk.png

Cheers
manolito

Hah! That might be a winner :D I'll check it out as soon as I get home and report! Thanks a lot manolito!

EDIT: Works perfectly! WOW. Big thanks manolito!

MrC

17th March 2015, 21:39

@SuLyMaN

if you are building some pretty DVD menu templates, what about sharing them with other A2D users? I can also upload your creations to A2D Add-on section @ SourceForge. And put a special thanks to you in the A2D docs.

What do you think?

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

18th March 2015, 05:46

@MrC: Heh it's not a bad idea to make a template but that template was used as illustration. If I can get any nice template up, of course, I will make it public and free just as your software :D

Something in my to do list as they say ;-)

MrC

24th March 2015, 21:42

Release 2.8.1 final is available (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.8.1/).

Change log (cumulative):

- Some bugs fixed
- Added routine to shift times for text-based subtitles when PAL SpeedUp or NTSC SlowDown are activated
- Added Visual Crop section in 'Edit Title'/'AviSynth'
- Added a warning for dual presence of ffdshow and LAV Filters
- Added a check for Windows Common Controls (mscomctl.ocx) presence and prompt to install it at runtime
- Added PTS creation when multiplexing with FFmpeg (thanks to manolito)
- Added 'Collage' and 'Blue Rain' as DVD Menu Templates to the Installer and NoInstall package
- Improved PAL SpeedUp routine (now also 24 fps source titles are supported)
- Improved Auto Crop routine and moved to Visual Crop section
- Improved log activity (Chapters creation section)
- Improved filters merit change routine in 'Preferred DirectShow Codecs Setup' section
- Improved RAM detection routine (now it works for 64 bit systems)
- Improved detection of Variable Frame Rate (VFR) sources
- Updated A2DSource.avsi to assume VFR true as default if not specified
- Changed 'Adjust Frame Strategy' default value to 'Add Left/Right Borders'
- Changed 'Unload DirectShow ActiveMovie library at runtime' default value to 'On'
- LAV Filters updated to release 0.64
- FFmpeg updated to release 2.2.3 (2014-06-19)

;)

Bye

manolito

25th March 2015, 18:02

Thanks for the new version... :thanks:
Working nicely here.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

25th March 2015, 21:20

Hi manolito. Actually there are no significant changes vs latest alpha. Anyway thanks for the feedback

;)

Bye

MrC

26th March 2015, 23:14

Quick hotfix (https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_281_Hotfix_150326.7z)that removes a false error message about 'drive not ready' on some configurations.

;)

Bye

ThaDraGun

14th April 2015, 21:32

Hmm.. I always make my own menu backgrounds with photoshop and have never had a problem before. I just alter wallpapers I find online
Today I made one and tried to set it as the background and it says "warning! Selected Image file is invaild"

.jpg
1.60mb
2560x1440
72dpi

AVStoDVD v2.8.1

MrC

15th April 2015, 19:44

ThaDraGun

16th April 2015, 02:23

Send me the jpg by email (avstodvd@gmail.com)

;)

Bye

I emailed you the pic.

Just got it working tho, not sure what was wrong with it but I opened the file in Corel paintshop pro and resaved it again as a .jpg and it then when I added it to avstodvd it was fine.
Not sure what photoshop did to make it incompatible

MrC

16th April 2015, 15:16

The image you sent me has 32bit color depth, which is not supported by Visual Basic 6 (24bit max, at least without tricking). That's why A2D has rejected it. Very likely, Corel Paintshop has downgraded it to 24bit.

;)

Bye

MrC

8th May 2015, 19:30

Release 2.8.2 Alpha 150507 is out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.2%20Alpha%20150507/)

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added .style file generation routine for SubRip hard-encoded subtitles font customization
- Added auto adjustment of colour coefficients if source is using ITU-R BT.709 set (thru ColorMatrix plugin)
- Revised Video Encoder selection criteria in 'Preferences'/'Video' and 'Edit Title'/'Video'
- Moved location of Profile.xml file from SubtitleCreator folder to Local AppData folder
- Improved Profile.xml file generation routine
- Improved handling of interlaced sources (added support to MBAFF and PAFF tags)
- Improved bitrate calculation routine
- Improved log activity
- Updated main AVStoDVD icon (32, 48, 64, 256 px)
- LAV Filters updated to release 0.65

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

9th May 2015, 09:46

Hi MrC. Just reinstalled AVS2DVD today latest build and encoding a DVD at the moment :D I just noticed something. AVS2DVD is using HCENC 0.26 Beta, not even 0.27 and I just saw 0.28 came out yesterday :D
Any reasons as to this?

manolito

9th May 2015, 10:47

Simple reason:
AVStoDVD installs AviSynth version 2.58 which is the latest stable version. And HCenc 0.28 needs at least AviSynth version 2.60 RC1. The latest version is 2.60 RC3, and many people agree that it can be considered stable, but MrC probably wants to wait for the release version.

In the meantime you can upgrade AviSynth and HCenc yourself. Install AviSynth 2.60 RC3 over the old version, and for HCenc just extract HCenc.exe from the archive into the AVStoDVD\HCenc folder. And let us know if it works... :cool:

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

9th May 2015, 15:09

Thanks manolito. I'll see what changes in new version before taking the plunge :D

MrC

9th May 2015, 16:12

Yes, actually I'm using AviSynth 2.6 RC3 without problems. But I have no hurry (no real need) to bundle it to AVStoDVD package... ;)

About HCenc 0.28, I would wait to check its reliability and the real new benefits to DVD encoding. I have kept 0.26 so far mainly for the stability.

Of course any feedbacks about these topics are very welcome

;)

Bye

manolito

10th May 2015, 08:54

FWIW I just did a couple of short test encodes using HCenc 0.28 latest build from May-08-2015 under AviSynth 2.60 RC3, and everything worked just fine.

Still I don't have a clue if the improvements compared to version 0.26 have any influence on DVD compliant output. At least I could not see any difference... :devil:

Cheers
manolito

manolito

19th May 2015, 13:54

Another small issue caused by MediaInfo...

While working on a different project I came across some MP4 files (AVC video, 6-ch AAC audio) where the number of audio channels causes a problem.

I get these files from ffmpeg using the Fraunhofer libfdk-aac library. A small test sample is here:
http://www44.zippyshare.com/v/erXu5G6U/file.html

MediaInfo reports Channels = 2, Channels_Original = 6. Loading such a file into AVStoDVD makes AVStoDVD think that the audio has 2 channels which is definitely wrong. Forcing 6 channels takes care of it.

I am not the only one having this problem. Have a look here:
http://ffmpeg.gusari.org/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1378

In the last post of this thread Zenitram explains what is happenig.

Suggestion for AVStoDVD:
If the "Channels_Original" entry is present, use the channel count from this entry instead of the value from the "Channels" entry.

I remember there was a similar issue recently for video when there were two different values for the framerate mode (CFR or VFR), and this was fixed accordingly.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

21st May 2015, 20:41

Thanks manolito for this hint. Definitvely worth taking it into account for next release.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

2nd June 2015, 08:09

Guys, I know I'm going to repeat myself but I can't find the place to set AVStoDVD to load the DVD menu (in cases of multiple videos) instead of automatically playing the first title. Can someone please tell me where to set this? Thanks and sorry for repeating myself...

MrC

3rd June 2015, 12:46

SuLyMaN

3rd June 2015, 15:25

@SuLyMaN

that's puzzling, because the default command is exactly to display the DVD menu, not to play the first title.

Are you sure you do not have activated any override command on your DVD player?

;)

Bye

No, I just put the DVD in (both my player and another player) and the first title starts to play automatically :S

Is it possible that I changed a setting in AVStoDVD causing this?

manolito

3rd June 2015, 16:12

Is it possible that I changed a setting in AVStoDVD causing this?

Could it be that you have this box checked?

http://i57.tinypic.com/qx56bl.jpg

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

3rd June 2015, 16:18

@manolito: I loaded my software and it was unchecked. Maybe I used it, I cannot say for sure. But thanks for the input. I will try an encode without this box checked.

Mister XY

6th June 2015, 20:21

I get this error with the new beta.
edit: is not only in beta, it is also in 2.8.1
And i only get this error, if i activeted the checkbox "Pal Speedup für NTSC zu Pal benutzen".

SuLyMaN

7th June 2015, 14:16

Could it be that you have this box checked?

http://i57.tinypic.com/qx56bl.jpg

Cheers
manolito

I did a few encodes, ,made sure this box was not checked, does not work...
Uninstalling and reinstalling at this point. Hope this works :s

MrC

7th June 2015, 22:10

@Mister XY

better if you upload the image to another host service (Dropbox, Tinypic, Sendspace, Mediafire, ...). And post the 2.8.2 Alpha project log file too.

@SuLyMaN

as already mentioned, A2D (actually BatchMux) is not capable to force the direct play of first DVD title. The option manolito was referring is just the position of the highlight when the DVD menu is loaded: option unchecked -> first title thumb is highlighted, option checked -> play all button is highlighted.
Do you get the same behaviour (direct play of first title) with all the players you have tried? I mean software player (i.e. MPC-HC, VLC, WMP) and external DVD player?

Anyway, if you really can't figure out, you can use PgcEdit to mod the authored DVD structure to do what you prefer upon disc insert: http://jean.laroche.free.fr/Jumping0.4.3.1/

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

8th June 2015, 06:34

as already mentioned, A2D (actually BatchMux) is not capable to force the direct play of first DVD title.

Heh Thanks for the answer. I actually do not want to play the first DVD title which is currently the case. I want it to go to the title menu which displays the 2-3 videos which I can then select to play.

The option manolito was referring is just the position of the highlight when the DVD menu is loaded: option unchecked -> first title thumb is highlighted, option checked -> play all button is highlighted.

As I said, I am getting no DVD menu, even clicking on root/title button is not getting on the menu to choose the titles currently.

Do you get the same behaviour (direct play of first title) with all the players you have tried? I mean software player (i.e. MPC-HC, VLC, WMP) and external DVD player?

Bye

I have used Windows media player and the auto DVD menu popup has also directly played the first title when selected. I cannot select the title/root menus. I have not tried on a new AVStoDVD install yet though.

Anyway, if you really can't figure out, you can use PgcEdit to mod the authored DVD structure to do what you prefer upon disc insert: http://jean.laroche.free.fr/Jumping0.4.3.1/

;)
Bye

Thanks for this link. I want to keep it as the last option I investigate/try :P

Mister XY

8th June 2015, 08:02

Where found i the log if i want to create the DVD Menu? I only have a log, if i create the complete dvd.
edit:
here is the Log
http://pastebin.com/gs6LFBNG
i have tested it with the LAv filter from AVS2DVD package (0.64,0.65), K-lite
with different source filters, and every is the same.
and here with coorect Menu
http://pastebin.com/zTy40ERz

MrC

8th June 2015, 20:58

@Mister XY

it is indeed a bug, being there since the introduction of PAL SpeedUp routine. Thanks for the report.

A new 2.8.2 Alpha should be out within few days, there will be a fix for that.

;)

Bye

MrC

13th June 2015, 10:54

Release 2.8.2 Alpha build 150613 is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.2%20Alpha%20150613/)

Cumulative change log from 2.8.1

- Some bugs fixed
- Added .style file generation routine for SubRip hard-encoded subtitles font customization
- Added auto adjustment of colour coefficients if source is using ITU-R BT.709 set (thru ColorMatrix plugin)
- Added handling of MediaInfo Channel(s)_Original tag
- Added auto selection of HCenc AVAMAT7 matrix for very low bitrates (below 2500 kbps)
- Added Hard FrameRate Conversion option in 'Preferences'/'AviSynth'
- Revised Video Encoder selection criteria in 'Preferences'/'Video' and 'Edit Title'/'Video'
- Replaced PgcDemux with FFmpeg for DVD video and audio demuxing
- Removed PgcDemux from Installer and NoInstall packages
- Moved location of Profile.xml file from SubtitleCreator folder to Local AppData folder
- Improved Profile.xml file generation routine
- Improved handling of interlaced sources (added support to MBAFF and PAFF tags)
- Improved bitrate calculation routine
- Improved log activity
- Updated main AVStoDVD icon (32, 48, 64, 256 px)
- MediaInfo updated to release 0.7.74
- LAV Filters updated to release 0.65
- AviSynth updated to release 2.6.0

;)

Bye

manolito

13th June 2015, 19:07

:thanks:

Could not find any issues during a few hours of testing...

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

18th June 2015, 08:24

Thanks man! Still to solve my DVD menu issue but I'll give it a go!

Big Vern

21st June 2015, 11:30

Mr C, or anyone else.

What is the best setup for doing low bitrate DVDs? What matrix is best suitable, I have been reading its either FOX1 or AVAMAT7, is this the case?

Regards...

SuLyMaN

21st June 2015, 14:35

Thanks man! Still to solve my DVD menu issue but I'll give it a go!
Solved...A new problem cropped up. I have a problematic video. No amount of tweaking will fix the image and sound syncing... I will post the details later.

manolito

21st June 2015, 20:32

Mr C, or anyone else.

What is the best setup for doing low bitrate DVDs? What matrix is best suitable, I have been reading its either FOX1 or AVAMAT7, is this the case?

Regards...

Hi Big Vern,

what do you understand by "Low Bitrate"? Anything below 3500 kbps or even lower?

First of all do not overestimate the influence of a Custom Quant Matrix for an encoder which uses the exponential quantizer scale (like HCenc). So called low bitrate matrices basically have a LowPass effect on the encode.

The two matrices you mention are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Fox1 is definitely not for low bitrate encodes, it is one of the most bitrate eating matrices. Avamat7 is well suited for low bitrates.

The latest AVStoDVD Alpha has an "automatic" setting for the HCenc matrices. It uses Avamat7 for bitrates below 2500 and the MPEG Standard matrix for higher bitrates.

You really should do a couple of test encodes using different matrices and analyze the differences. Other settings I would recommend for low bitrates are HCenc 2-pass, profile best, and slightly raised values for AQ and LumGain (I use values of 2 for both).

Or you could try my FF_VBR plugin which allows to use ffmpeg 2-pass VBR with high quality parameters for bitrates below 3500 kbps. Fishman0919 believes that the quality is better than for HCenc (I do not really have an opinion...)
See this post:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1651880#post1651880

Cheers
manolito

adam933

23rd June 2015, 23:19

First I want to thank _MrC_, manolito, and others for their help.
I could never have figured out a2v (or most of it) by myself.

When I select Advanced Project Settings and tick "Edit Encoder Command Parameters at runtime" all is well until near the end of the encoding when the final
Window pops up with the Muxman parameters window on top of it. If I click the red X, Muxman starts and finishes the project.

This really isn't a big deal, but do I have something selected to cause it?

Thanks again for your help.

adam933

manolito

24th June 2015, 04:20

Hi adam933,

yes, I agree, the MuxMan parameter window is certainly not an encoder window, and IMO it is not very useful to be able to edit the MuxMan parameters at runtime. And it certainly gets in the way with unattended conversions.

Maybe a timeout which closes this window automatically after 30 secs or 1 min?

Cheers
manolito

MrC

27th June 2015, 14:50

Release 2.8.2 Final is out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.8.2/).

No major changes vs latest Alpha.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

27th June 2015, 15:25

Hi MrC. Thanks for the update.

A little 'annoyance fix' request if it is even possible. I have noticed that each time you select the ISO output and the ISO optimised setting is not present in imgburn (for example, you burnt a couple of divx vids, random files etc) on a DVD. Imgburn waits for user to change to the proper setting for outputing the ISO file. Is it not possible to do this via a command line paramter?

manolito

27th June 2015, 23:18

Thanks MrC for the new stable version. Works well... :thanks:

@ SuLyMaN

What exactly did you change in the IMGBurn options to burn other stuff? File system options?

The only additional command line parameters which should maybe added to AVStoDVD are these IMO:

/FILESYSTEM "ISO9660 + UDF" /UDFREVISION "1.02" /RECURSESUBDIRECTORIES YES

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

28th June 2015, 02:34

Oh I don't change anything myw. I go with imgburn recommendation. Each time I burn a type of dvd /cd, it keeps the last used setting. So everytime I use Avs2dvd and the last used setting is not the one used for outputting ISO, I get an imgburn pop-up waiting for user input.

manolito

28th June 2015, 02:54

Alright, then I think MrC should add some command line parameters to AVStoDVD. (The RECURSESUBDRECTORIES parameter is probably unnessessary)

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

28th June 2015, 09:46

Alright, then I think MrC should add some command line parameters to AVStoDVD. (The RECURSESUBDRECTORIES parameter is probably unnessessary)

Cheers
manolito

If he thinks it is a worthwhile request that is :P. Also, Imgburn could be bundled in the installer? Or he needs permission to that.
The imgburn software needs only the imgburn.exe file to work properly.

MrC

28th June 2015, 20:26

@SuLyMaN

these are the common switches that A2D uses to create the ISO file:

/mode isobuild /buildmode imagefile /src "D:\Movies\DVD\DVD\VIDEO_TS" /dest "D:\Movies\DVD\DVD.iso" /volumelabel "DVD" /overwrite yes /noimagedetails /start /close

in addition to manolito' suggestion, what other ImgBurn settings are you using to be changed by A2D?

I cannot bundle ImgBurn to A2D package because Lightning UK (the author) did not give me the permission.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

29th June 2015, 14:05

Hi MrC. Thanks for the reply. I do not use any settings in particular. It's just that IMGBURN is my DVD burning software and when I do some type of CD/DVD (data, divx, etc) it saves the setting. If I use A2D after, it will not auto continue when the time comes to launch IMGBURN. Instead, there is a prompt to change settings and the prompt waits for user input to continue. I would guess that IMGBURN does not execute the command right away but awaits user confirmation ....

MrC

29th June 2015, 17:52

@SuLyMaN

could you post a screenshot of ImgBurn message? Which ImgBurn release are you using? I use it too for many purposes (audio CD, data CD/DVD, etc.) but I do not change any settings at all, hence I cannot replicate the issue.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

29th June 2015, 18:15

SuLyMaN

29th June 2015, 18:20

First picture of me changing the settings in imgburn.....
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/54700356/A2D%20IMG%2001.png

Second picture of imgburn asking confirmation to change setting after A2D has finalised video conversion to convert output to ISO.
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/54700356/A2D%20IMG%2002.png

Did a 3rd time with the ISO setting saved. Output was done automatically.

manolito

29th June 2015, 23:09

Yes, this is exactly what I thought...

/FILESYSTEM "ISO9660 + UDF" /UDFREVISION "1.02"

will fix it.

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

30th June 2015, 02:47

Yes, this is exactly what I thought...

/FILESYSTEM "ISO9660 + UDF" /UDFREVISION "1.02"

will fix it.

Cheers
manolito

Can I change it somewhere in the A2D paramaters or is it something MrC should do himself? Thanks Manolito :)

manolito

30th June 2015, 03:32

Can I change it somewhere in the A2D paramaters or is it something MrC should do himself?

This is something MrC would have to change... ;)

If you cannot wait for the updated A2D version, I could hack the call to IMGBurn.exe and add these paramters. (I have become some kind of a specialist for hijacking A2D helper tools. So far I hacked Wavi, FFMpeg and AVSMeter already... :D )

Cheers
manolito

//EDIT//
OK, this was quick and painless...

1. Download this file:
http://www69.zippyshare.com/v/bXlpP9Dm/file.html

2. In your ImgBurn folder rename ImgBurn.exe to _ImgBurn.exe (Do not change this name to something else)

3. Extract imgburn.exe from the downloaded archive into the ImgBurn folder

4. Enjoy...

SuLyMaN

30th June 2015, 06:33

Thanks manolito. Would it continue to properly select the filesystem or will it 'lock' it "ISO9660 + UDF" permanently irrespective of DVD being burnt?

manolito

30th June 2015, 07:27

It just sets the DVD file system on startup, nothing gets 'locked'. If you want to burn an XviD AVI it will pop up a window asking you to use the ISO + Joliet file system just like it did before. But on the next start the DVD file system will be active again.

So if you want to burn XviD AVIs most of the time, the new behavior could be a little annoying, because you have to change the file system to ISO + Joliet after every restart of IMGBurn.

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

30th June 2015, 07:43

Oh thats great. Because when you burn Xvid, you are usually at your desktop :P unlike when doing an encode on A2D! So, your fix is great I'd say! Thanks again.

adam933

7th July 2015, 03:12

I have a sync problem with this project.

How do I manage the 2002 msec delay?

Thanks for your help.

manolito

7th July 2015, 07:14

A delay this large is certainly an error. Most likely reason are your DirectShow source filters (if you are on Win7 or Win8). Microsoft prevents that other installed filters get used, and the M$ filters are mostly crap.

You should change the preferred DirectShow Filtes to LAV.

Quote by MrC from a VideoHelp post:
you should avoid to have Microsoft DTV-DVD Video and Audio codecs doing the decoding stuff for your video and audio files. Use Win7DSFilterTweaker (or the tool inside AVStoDVD: 'Codecs'/'Preferred DirectShow Codecs Setup') to switch from MS codecs to LAV Filters

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

7th July 2015, 10:12

Oh....You mean the audio and video are out of sync? If that is the case, I'll try changing codecs tonight! I had one problematic video driving me nuts. I tried like 7-8 times with different settings but the audio kept getting out of sync with the video!
Thanks!

adam933

7th July 2015, 17:51

A delay this large is certainly an error. Most likely reason are your DirectShow source filters (if you are on Win7 or Win8). Microsoft prevents that other installed filters get used, and the M$ filters are mostly crap.

You should change the preferred DirectShow Filtes to LAV.

Quote by MrC from a VideoHelp post:

Cheers
manolito

Hi manolito
Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm using all LAV filters - I just checked with FilterTweaker and ran it again to make sure.

I did get a better result (closer sync) when I replaced "VFR" with "true" in /lib/ A2DSource.avsi but I don't want to fiddle with _MrC_'s scripts if I can help it.

Thanks again for your help.

adam933

manolito

7th July 2015, 18:36

Hi adam933,

your A2D log would be helpful. On Doom9 it always takes a while to get attachments approved, so please post your log directly or upload it to SendSpace or ZippyShare or some other hoster.

Using convertfps = true all the time is a good idea IMO, from my experience this never hurts. (MrC might disagree...)

Personally I use DSS2Mod instead of DirectShowSource all the time for more than half a year, and DSS2 always uses convertfps=true, no way to disable it. And I never had issues with it.

Other things you could try is to use FFMpegSource instead of A2DSource for you video and audio. If your source has AVC video you could also try to repack it into an MKV container before feeding it to AVStoDVD.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

7th July 2015, 19:40

The log file (elsewhere) could help a lot.

BTW manolito suggestions, as well as A2D FAQs, are valid.

;)

Bye

MrC

7th July 2015, 19:40

Erased. Double post.

adam933

7th July 2015, 19:55

The BR.log.txt file is attached to my original message.
Let me know if you can't access it.

adam933

adam933

7th July 2015, 19:56

The BR.log.txt file is attached to my original message.
Let me know if you can't access it.

adam933

manolito

7th July 2015, 20:06

This is how your original post looks to others:

http://i.imgur.com/Qa4ZKCg.jpg

Doom9 is a little paranoid about attachments, it's a good idea to post text directly and larger stuff via a hosting service.

Cheers
manolito

adam933

7th July 2015, 20:17

woops!.

Here is the log:

<7/7/2015 11:03:36 AM>
START PROCESS
<>

<7/7/2015 11:03:36 AM>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: NTSC
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 4450/4450 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD Folder
DVD Label: BR_LAVcheck
DVD Menu: Static Menu
Output Folder: C:\Users\bill\Videos
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Show Progress Status window

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline16Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 0
FPS Hard Conversion: 0
PAL SpeedUp: 0
NTSC SlowDown: 0
Video Resolution: 0
Video Encoder: 3
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 0
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 192
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 0
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Verdana 12pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: D: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSB0 LN00
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 1
Adjust DirectShow Filters at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 1

SYSTEM INFO

Processor Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4670K CPU @ 3.40GHz
Operating System: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (64 bit)
Current user is Admin: YES
Available Output Disc Space: 198 GB
AviSynth is installed: YES (release 2.6.0)
LAV Filters is installed: YES (release 0.65.0)
ffdshow is installed: NO

CODECS REPORT

H.264/AVC: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
Xvid: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
DivX 4/5/6: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
Other MPG4: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
DV: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
MPEG1: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
MPEG2: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
MP2: LAV Audio Decoder {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}
MP3: LAV Audio Decoder {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}
AAC: LAV Audio Decoder {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}
AC3: LAV Audio Decoder {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}

<>

<7/7/2015 11:03:36 AM>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: C:\Video\BR\BR.mkv
Info: MPEG-2 Video - 4598 kbps - 720x480 - DAR 16:9 - 23.976 fps (CFR) - Progressive (2:3 Pulldown) - 1:56:40 hours - 209780 frames
Audio 1: C:\Video\BR\BR.mkv
Info: AC3 - 192 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 1:56:40 hours (2002 ms delay) - EN
Subs 1: C:\Video\BR\BR.mkv
Info: VobSub (IDX) - EN
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.74]
<>

<7/7/2015 11:03:36 AM>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD_282_NoInstall\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

Video = A2DVideoSource("C:\Video\BR\BR.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp", FrameRate=23.976, VFR=false)
Audio = A2DAudioSource("C:\Video\BR\BR.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
#PullDown: using DGPulldown/HCenc to upsize FPS

Audio = Audio.DelayAudio(2.002)

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<7/7/2015 11:03:36 AM>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Video Encoding Profile: HCenc VBR 2-pass
Target Video FileSize: 4170.7 MB
Encoding Parameters: -ini "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck.HCenc.ini"
HCenc ini file:
*INFILE C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_1.avs
*AVSRELOAD
*OUTFILE C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck.m2v
*LOGFILE C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck.HCenc.log
*MAXBITRATE 9000
*BITRATE 4998
*PROFILE BEST
*ASPECT 16:9
*PROGRESSIVE
*TFF
*PULLDOWN
*BIAS 50
*DC_PREC 9
*MATRIX MPEG
*AQ 2
*LUMGAIN 2
*SMP
*PRIORITY IDLE
*DBPATH C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp
*WAIT 2
<>

<7/7/2015 11:29:17 AM>
END VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Video Source Filter: A2DSource (DirectShowSource)
Created File: C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck.m2v (4172.5 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 5000 kbps - 720x480 - DAR 16:9 - 23.976 fps - Progressive (2:3 Pulldown) - 1:56:40 hours - 209776 frames
<>

<7/7/2015 11:29:18 AM>
DIRECTSHOW AUDIO MIXER OPERATIONS:
No LAV Filters mixer ON/OFF adjustment required at runtime
<>

<7/7/2015 11:29:18 AM>
START AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Wavi+Aften Parameters: "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_1.avs" - | "C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD_282_NoInstall\Aften\aften.exe" -b 192 -pad 0 -dynrng 5 -bwfilter 0 - "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_1.ac3"
<>

<7/7/2015 11:30:00 AM>
END AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Audio Source Filter: A2DSource (DirectShowSource)
Created File: C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_1.ac3 (160.3 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 192 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 1:56:42 hours (0 ms delay)
<>

<7/7/2015 11:30:00 AM>
START SUBS EXTRACTING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
MKVExtract Parameters: tracks "C:\Video\BR\BR.mkv" 2:"C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck.idx"
<>

<7/7/2015 11:30:14 AM>
END SUBS EXTRACTING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck.idx (33.3 KB)
<>

<7/7/2015 11:30:14 AM>
START SUBS ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
IDX errors fixing routine applied (0 errors fixed).
VSConv Parameters: -f sup -i "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck.idx" -o "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_1" -id 0
<>

<7/7/2015 11:30:15 AM>
END SUBS ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_1.sup (1.1 MB)
<>

<7/7/2015 11:30:15 AM>
DVD CHAPTERS CREATION OPERATIONS
Title 1 Input Chapters List: 4609 6844 10992 16594 19598 24280 33518 37017 41179 44611 53187 60644 62004 67087 70716 79610 82688 85987 88970 91045 97479 104555 109687 115415 118818 125501 127707 135049 139175 145339 147395 150118 152123 156844 161593
Title 1 Output Chapters List: 4609 6844 10992 16594 19598 24280 33518 37017 41179 44611 53187 60644 62004 67087 70716 79610 82688 85987 88970 91045 97479 104555 109687 115415 118818 125501 127707 135049 139175 145339 147395 150118 152123 156844 161593
Created File: C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_Chapters.txt (259 Byte)
<>

<7/7/2015 11:30:15 AM>
START DVD MENU BUILDING OPERATIONS
DVD Menu settings:
Style: 0
Aspect Ratio: 1
Titles Format: 0
Template: Blue Rain
Max Titles Page: 12
Enable Play All: 1
Force Play All: 0
Background Audio: 0
Max Thumbs Row: 4
Thumb Image Source: 0
Thumb Frame Position: 10%
HL Frame Format: 0
HL Selection Color: 5
HL Play Color: 0
Menu Video BitRate: 6000 kbps
Motion Menu Duration: 15 seconds
Thumb Drop Shadow: 2
Play All Shadow: 2
Arrows Shadow: 0
<>

<7/7/2015 11:30:17 AM>
END DVD MENU BUILDING OPERATIONS
Created File (Menu Page 1): C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_MenuPage1.bmp (1 MB)
<>

<7/7/2015 11:30:17 AM>
START DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
BatchMux Parameters: -arglist "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_BatchMux.ini"
BatchMux ini file:
-d "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD_282_NoInstall\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_Palette.txt"
-v "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck.m2v"
-vidmode LB
-a1 "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_1.ac3"
-a1lang en
-s1 "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_1.sup"
-s1lang en
-s1ext 1
-cellfr "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_Chapters.txt"
-progfr "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_Chapters.txt"
-chapfr "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_BR_LAVcheck_Chapters.txt"
-SEG2v "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_MenuPage1.bmp"
-SEG2vidmode LB
-SEG2s1 "C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck_Menu.sst"
-SEG2s1dmode WIDE_LB
-SEG2hlmnu "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_MenuPage1_Buttons.mnu"
-SEG2hlcsm "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_HighlightScheme.csm
-hcn "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\BR_LAVcheck_BatchMux.hcn"
<>

<7/7/2015 11:33:29 AM>
END DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
Created Folder: C:\Users\bill\Videos\BR_LAVcheck (4426.1 MB)

CHECK DVD SIZE
DVD Folder (actual) Size: 4426.1 MB
vs Assets Size: 4334.9 MB -> OK
vs Estimated Size: 4450 MB -> 0.5% undersize
<>

<7/7/2015 11:33:30 AM>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.8.2
<>

manolito

7th July 2015, 22:09

Thanks for the log file...

Looks OK to me except for the delay for the audio track.

How did you create the MKV? MakeMKV or MKVMerge?

In my experience large delay values like yours appear when the source file has problems at the beginning. Does the file come from a TV capture or from a DVD recorder? Was it a transport stream originally?

If the file was captured from DVB-S or DVB-T you should run it through ProjectX or PVAStrumento to convert it from TS to PS.

And what happens if you just ignore the delay (specify to not correct the delay in the audio settings) ?

Maybe you should cut out a short sample of your source (use DGIndex) and upload it somewhere...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

7th July 2015, 22:19

Another option you have is to avoid audio re-encoding (it is already a DVD compliant AC3 track).

Very likely the audio delay reported by MediaInfo from your mkv is not reliable.

;)

Bye

adam933

8th July 2015, 03:03

_MrC_ and manolito,

Thanks for the suggestions; I will try all of them.

Manolito - I have downloaded DSS2 mod + LAVFilters.zip. I already have LAV Filters installed. How do you "install" DSS2 mod ?

The BR title is from a DVD I purchased several years ago, and I used MakeMKV on it.

I'm still working on the clip.

Thanks for your help.
adam933

manolito

8th July 2015, 09:12

Manolito - I have downloaded DSS2 mod + LAVFilters.zip. I already have LAV Filters installed. How do you "install" DSS2 mod ?

I did it like this:

1. All you need from the DSS2Mod archive is the file "avss.dll" (or avss_26.dll for AviSynth 2.6). Copy the file (only one of them) into your "AviSynth\plugins" folder.

2. Load "A2Dsource.avsi" from the A2D\lib folder into notepad and replace the DirectShowSource part (starts at line 29) with the following:

Catch(Err_Msg) {
Try {
SourceStr = "A2DVideoSource: DSS2 mod"
Video = DSS2(VideoSource, fps = FrameRate, preroll = 15) # Set preroll to 100 or higher for interlaced HD .ts or .m2ts files
}

Since you have LAVFilters already installed you can disregard the LAV which comes together with DSS2Mod. (Basically DSS2Mod provides the possibility to use LAVFilters without installing them, but I have never used it this way).

Let me know how it works for you...

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

9th July 2015, 18:34

MrC

11th July 2015, 18:55

AVStoDVD release 2.8.3 Alpha 150711 is out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.3%20Alpha%20150711/).

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added 'Open Project Log file' option in main window menu 'View'/'Operations Log'
- Added 'Video FrameRated Mode' option in main window menu 'Title'/'Edit Source Title Info'
- Added 'A2D Projects Path' option in 'Preferences'/'Paths'
- Added 'fpsnum' and 'fpsden' flags to FFmpegSource calls when source video is not CFR
- Added '-readtoeof 1' command to Aften CL when wave input is potentially over 4 GB
- Added '/FILESYSTEM "ISO9660 + UDF" /UDFREVISION "1.02"' switches to ImgBurn command line
- Improved handling of VFR sources
- Updated A2DSource.avsi to handle FrameRateNum and FrameRateDen as input parameters to A2DVideoSource()
- Updated AviSynth warning at startup if currently installed release is below 2.6.0
- AVSMeter updated to release 2.0.6 (changed ConUseSTDOUT=1 and TimeLimit=3600 in AVSMeter.ini)
- Improved log activity

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

12th July 2015, 14:33

Thanks for this release!

Groucho2004

12th July 2015, 15:25

- AVSMeter updated to release 2.0.6 (changed ConUseSTDOUT=1 and TimeLimit=3600 in AVSMeter.ini)
Just curious - Why a time limit of 1 hour? Doesn't AVSMeter in your program just retrieve the clip details (which would take milliseconds)?

MrC

12th July 2015, 19:43

Just curious - Why a time limit of 1 hour? Doesn't AVSMeter in your program just retrieve the clip details (which would take milliseconds)?

Take a 4gb m2v file, frameserve it with DGIndex or FFMS2, on "vintage" PC (such as our friend manolito's ;) ), the reading process will be way long. Actually 1hr may be too much for the standard user patience and can be decreased.

Unfortunately there are around few m2v files which header does not contain the video time and frames count tags. MediaInfo hence cannot output them. A2D relies on AVSMeter as backup media info reader in these cases.

;)

Bye

Groucho2004

12th July 2015, 20:53

Take a 4gb m2v file, frameserve it with DGIndex or FFMS2, on "vintage" PC (such as our friend manolito's ;) ), the reading process will be way long. Actually 1hr may be too much for the standard user patience and can be decreased.

Unfortunately there are around few m2v files which header does not contain the video time and frames count tags. MediaInfo hence cannot output them. A2D relies on AVSMeter as backup media info reader in these cases.

;)

Bye
I still don't get it. The "TimeLimit" setting does not apply when you invoke AVSMeter with the "-i" ("-info") switch in order to read the clip properties. The setting only limits the time the program reads frames, i.e. "normal" operation without using the "-i" switch.

MrC

12th July 2015, 21:05

The "TimeLimit" setting does not apply when you invoke AVSMeter with the "-i" ("-info") switch in order to read the clip properties. The setting only limits the time the program reads frames, i.e. "normal" operation without using the "-i" switch.

I assumed that the TimeLimit was meant to set a "kill" time for AVSMeter execution. If not, I will reset it. No big harm anyway, old fashioned users will wait.

Thanks for making this point clear

;)

Bye

Groucho2004

12th July 2015, 22:13

I assumed that the TimeLimit was meant to set a "kill" time for AVSMeter execution.
I don't blame you, the description I wrote for this setting was a bit ambiguous. I updated the documentation.

manolito

21st July 2015, 15:42

Here's a new version of my Wavi_Mod plugin which offers alternative methods for audio normalizing. This is a major update with the following changes:

Replaced R128Gain with BS1770Gain. It supports normalizing according to the ReplayGain 2 (-18 LUFS), EBU R128 (-23 LUFS) and the ATSC (-24 LUFS) standards.

The Bit Depth for the intermediate PCM stream (or WAV file) can be specified. Either the resolution which AviSynth spits out can be used without change, or you can force 32bit float, 24bit int or 16bit int resolutions.

Several changes to make the plugin compatible with the latest A2D Alpha version.

Download here:
http://www4.zippyshare.com/v/GuYyZs9R/file.html

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

22nd July 2015, 05:56

Hi. How to add/use it? Thanks :)

manolito

22nd July 2015, 12:21

Hi. How to add/use it? Thanks :)

The plugin comes with a comprehensive manual. Note that you will have to patch the AVS2DVD executable using a hex editor. If you are not comfortable with this then the plugin is not for you...

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

23rd July 2015, 06:20

Yeps. That rules me out.

manolito

23rd July 2015, 16:19

Yeps. That rules me out.

Don't be so shy, using a hex editor is no different from using a text editor... :) I recommend HxD, it even comes as a portable version.

Anyways, if you want to try my plugin without patching anything, I just uploded a new version which contains already patched versions of the latest stable A2D version 2.8.2 as well as the current Alpha 2.8.3. I recommend to use the latest Alpha.

//EDIT//
Uploaded a new version which includes "patchit" by McAfee for automatic patching of the A2D executable. Works for current and future versions of AVStoDVD. Removed the already patched executables from the distribution.

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

27th July 2015, 17:24

Ah I got time to come and download your version today but you edited the link out :) Anyways, no biggie. Thanks.

manolito

27th July 2015, 22:38

I replaced the old link in this post
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1730972#post1730972
with a new one. You might have to clear your browser cache before trying to download...

Cheers
manolito

manolito

21st August 2015, 09:00

Wavi_Mod plugin for AVStoDVD

Looks like my plugin did not survive the recent server crash at SourceForge. The link is there, you can download the file, but the file is way too small and cannot be opened... :scared:

Anyways, here is an updated version with the following improvements:

1. Implemented mandatory clipping protection for the EBU R128 / BS1770 normalizing mode.

2. The stereo to 6-ch upmix mode has been expanded. Now there are 3 different upmix methods which can additionally be tweaked. Thanks a lot to Tebasuna for his help.

Download here:
http://www44.zippyshare.com/v/L21znK0j/file.html

Cheers
manolito

MrC

21st August 2015, 21:10

@manoilito

just uploaded the latest wavi_mod release (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_addons/Plugins/Wavi_mod%20%28Alternative%20Audio%20Normalizing%29/) to SF. Thanks for advising and thanks again for this brilliant extension.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

30th August 2015, 08:37

Hi guys. Thanks for the updates/wave plugin. Going to try it out.
I got one more question. Is there any way to make AVS2DVD remember my output settings of directly burning to DVD? Thanks!

manolito

30th August 2015, 19:14

Bug Fix for the Wavi_Mod plugin

The automatic clipping prevention routine of the EBU R128 / BS1770 normalization modes had a small bug. In some cases the routine would use peak normalization instead of EBU / BS1770 normalization.

The fix has been tested on more than 30 clips, should be fool proof now... (trying to do floating point math with the good old batch language can be a littly tricky :eek: )

Download:
http://www31.zippyshare.com/v/db5euD2i/file.html

Cheers
manolito

Nordo

6th September 2015, 06:21

I am sorry if this has been answered before.
I have tried searching this thread but couldn't find an answer.

I am using AVStoDVD 2.8.1.
I am trying to convert an avi file.
AVStoDVD lists the audio file as "MPEG-1" and also says it is "internal".

I am using LAV codecs for video and audio.
After AVStoDVD has run for about 30 seconds, I get an error message : "ERROR, Audio track contains no audio frames".

I've never had this problem before.
Can anyone please help?

SuLyMaN

6th September 2015, 06:27

Maybe a corrupted file. I am sure it is a useless answer I have [emoji14]

Nordo

6th September 2015, 11:18

I forgot to mention that I can play the file (movie) perfectly OK on my computer using VLC. Video and audio are great.

It's just that AVStoDVD doesn't seem to recognise or can't find the audio.

manolito

6th September 2015, 15:41

Hi Nordo,

to be able to help you, please post your AVStoDVD log file and make a screen shot of the filter graph and also post it here...

Using the latest AVStoDVD version is also a good idea.

Cheers
manolito

Nordo

7th September 2015, 02:11

Hi Manolito
Filter graph and file log below:-

http://s276.photobucket.com/user/AussieNordo/media/Codec%20Graph.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

http://s276.photobucket.com/user/AussieNordo/media/Error%20Log.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

Hope I've added them correctly.:scared:

manolito

7th September 2015, 03:25

Your filter graph is correct, but the log file is a little short. The whole AVStoDVD log file is needed.

You should update AVStoDVD to the latest version. Also AviSynth should be updated to version 2.60 and LAV Filters to version 0.65. And generally you cannot discuss torrent downloads at Doom9.

Cheers
manolito

Nordo

7th September 2015, 08:29

Thanks Manolito
I was trying not to be too explicite with what I was doing.
Regarding the log file, how and where do I capture the whole file?
I tried searching through this thread and other places but could find any instructions.
Cheers

manolito

7th September 2015, 12:19

After a conversion the log file will be in your output folder. If the DVD title is "DVD" (the default) then the log file will have the name "DVD.log".

This is a regular text file. Open it with Notepad, copy and paste the whole content into your post. For better readability you can "quote" the log content. Or you can upload the log file to a file hoster like SendSpace or Zippyshare and post just the link.

Cheers
manolito

Nordo

8th September 2015, 03:26

Thanks Manolito
File log below.

<6/09/2015 2:24:51 AM>
START PROCESS
<>

<6/09/2015 2:24:51 AM>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: PAL
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 4450/4450 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD Folder
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: H:\Main Movie\Self Less
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Close all applications and shutdown system

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: FFMpegSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: FFMpegSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline16Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 0
PAL SpeedUp: 0
NTSC SlowDown: 0
Video Resolution: 1
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Level 1: 6500
Video Profile Level 2: 4500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 3
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 192
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: G: ATAPI iHAS324 B AL1B
DVD Burning Speed: 8x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 1
Adjust DirectShow Filters at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 1

SYSTEM INFO

Processor Name: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 965 Processor
Operating System: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (64 bit)
Current user is Admin: NO
Available Output Disc Space: 0 GB
AviSynth is installed: YES (release 2.5.8)
LAV Filters is installed: YES (release 0.64.0)
ffdshow is installed: NO
<>

<6/09/2015 2:24:51 AM>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: H:\My Downloads\TORRENTS\Self Less\Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG\Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG.avi
Info: XviD - 751 kbps - 640x352 - DAR 1.818 - 25 fps - Progressive - 1:52:12 hours - 168301 frames
Audio 1: H:\My Downloads\TORRENTS\Self Less\Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG\Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG.avi
Info: MPEG-1 Audio layer 3 - 112 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 44100 Hz - 1:52:12 hours (0 ms delay)
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.69]
<>

<6/09/2015 2:24:51 AM>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
LoadPlugin("H:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Lib\ffms2.dll")

# Audio is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Audio = FFAudioSource("H:\My Downloads\TORRENTS\Self Less\Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG\Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG.avi", track=1)
Video = FFVideoSource("H:\My Downloads\TORRENTS\Self Less\Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG\Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG.avi", track=-1, seekmode=0)

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.AddBorders(0,4,0,4)
Video = Video.Lanczos4Resize(720,576)

Audio = Audio.SSRC(48000)

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<6/09/2015 2:24:51 AM>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Encoding Profile: HCenc VBR 2-pass
Target Video FileSize: 4189.9 MB
Encoding Parameters: -ini "C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG.HCenc.ini"
HCenc ini file:
*INFILE C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG_1.avs
*AVSRELOAD
*OUTFILE H:\Main Movie\DVD_Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG.m2v
*LOGFILE C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Self.less.2015.BRRip.XviD-ETRG.HCenc.log
*MAXBITRATE 9000
*BITRATE 5221
*PROFILE BEST
*ASPECT 16:9
*PROGRESSIVE
*TFF
*BIAS 50
*DC_PREC 9
*MATRIX MPEG
*AQ 1
*LUMGAIN 1
*SMP
*PRIORITY HIGH
*DBPATH C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Temp
*WAIT 2
<>

<6/09/2015 2:25:28 AM>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.8.1
<>

MrC

8th September 2015, 12:53

Sorry cannot give advises about conversions of torrent files. If you still get issue with legal files, than come back here and we will be glad to help you.

;)

Bye

Nordo

9th September 2015, 03:51

Sorry cannot give advises about conversions of torrent files. If you still get issue with legal files, than come back here and we will be glad to help you.

;)

ByeI fully understand.
:thanks:

manolito

15th September 2015, 19:23

A little bit OT, but it should be a bit of additional motivation for folks like MrC and others who still engage in writing software to create and modify DVDs:

http://i.imgur.com/2ph5wgR.jpg

DVD sales are still more than twice as high as BluRay sales. The tendency on this forum to look at the DVD as an obsolete technology is not justfied... :p

Cheers
manolito

MrC

15th September 2015, 22:11

Very interesting! Anyway we cannot ignore the slow decline...

I am surprised about the flat trend of BD from 2013 to 2014. And what are "VoD"? Download/Streaming video?

;)

Bye

manolito

15th September 2015, 22:27

VoD stands for Video on Demand

Cheers

//EDIT//
Forgot to mention that the data are just for Germany, source is the GfK (Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung), a very reliable source.

MrC

17th September 2015, 21:42

AVStoDVD release 2.8.3 final is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.8.3/).

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added 'Open Project Log file' option in main window menu 'View'/'Operations Log'
- Added 'Video FrameRated Mode' option in main window menu 'Title'/'Edit Source Title Info'
- Added 'A2D Projects Path' option in 'Preferences'/'Paths'
- Added 'Spline36Rezize' value to 'AVS Up/DownSize Filter' options in 'Preferences'/'AviSynth'
- Added 'Display Info' option in 'Edit Title'/'AviSynth'
- Added 'fpsnum' and 'fpsden' flags to FFmpegSource calls when source video is not CFR
- Added '-readtoeof 1' command to Aften CL when wave input is potentially over 4 GB
- Added '/FILESYSTEM "ISO9660 + UDF" /UDFREVISION "1.02"' switches to ImgBurn command line
- Added a warning message in 'Quick Startup Tutorial' if H.264/AVS or AAC are decoded by MS DirectShow Filters
- Added AviSynth library 'Upmix.avsi' (thanks to tebasuna51 and manolito)
- Added possibility to upmix audio sources from Stereo to pseudo-Surround (5.0 and 5.1)
- Improved audio channels downmix management ('Downmix.avsi' functions are always called when dowmnmix is required)
- Improved handling of VFR sources
- Updated A2DSource.avsi to handle FrameRateNum and FrameRateDen as input parameters to A2DVideoSource()
- Updated SRT ReSync routine to handle constant shift times (i.e. when AviSynth Trim is activated)
- Updated .style file generation routine to support MicroDVD format for hard-encoded subtitles font customization
- Updated AviSynth warning at startup if currently installed release is below 2.6.0
- AVSMeter updated to release 2.0.6 (changed ConUseSTDOUT=1 in AVSMeter.ini)
- Improved log activity

;)

Bye

manolito

18th September 2015, 00:03

Thanks a lot for the new version, works like a charm... :D

This new feature
- Improved audio channels downmix management ('Downmix.avsi' functions are always called when dowmnmix is required)

requires an update of my Wavi_Mod plugin. Here it is:
http://www39.zippyshare.com/v/ojgGwzb1/file.html

Main changes:
The SoX based upmix routines now integrate into AVStoDVD in a fully transparent way
BS1770Gain updated to the current version 0.47
Several bug fixes

Cheers
manolito

manolito

18th September 2015, 00:40

FFMpegSource and HEVC (H.265) source files

ffms2 v. 2.17 which comes with AVStoDVD cannot decode HEVC source files. To handle these sources you have to update ffms2.

You can either use the official Myrsloik builds at GitHub, or the C-plugin builds by qyot27.

The official builds should work right out of the box (I could not test them because they won't run on my old CPU). The C-plugin builds can also be used transparently by AVStoDVD, but it requires a little tweaking. BTW you find the latest build here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1739037#post1739037

If anyone is interested in using a qyot27 build, let me know...

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

18th September 2015, 08:11

Yay. Thanks man. What about the feature of autoloading of subs? I read that this functionality is now possible. Has it been integrated in avstodvd yet?
Thanks!

Przemek_Sperling

18th September 2015, 08:53

Thank you. Truly great software.

Sir Didymus

18th September 2015, 09:22

@SuLyMaN

Please be patient... This subs autoloading feature still needs some refinements (and further testing from the side of the BatchMux middleware) before its introduction into one alpha or beta release of AVS2DVD...

I am working on this - as reported in the thread freshly created on the restart of the BatchMux development. In the next hours there will be a consolidation of the BM test cases... And some other news... Even if the subject addresses mostly MrC, I will keep all users and interested people well informed and updated on the matter...

Cheers
SD

MrC

18th September 2015, 16:07

@SuLyMaN

as SD said, I still have to test the new BM feats. Of course it is one of the top priorities, but release 2.8.3 release was actually ready since some days.

Stay tuned

;)

Bye

snarfies

20th September 2015, 15:42

Will HCenc ever be updated? .28 has been out for some time now...

Groucho2004

20th September 2015, 15:50

Will HCenc ever be updated? .28 has been out for some time now...
What? The last update was August 16th, 2015.

manolito

20th September 2015, 15:57

What? The last update was August 16th, 2015.

Exactly. The version which ships with AVStoDVD is 0.26.

And before someone asks, yes you can use 0.28 with AVStoDVD as long as you have AviSynth 2.60 installed (you have to rename HCenc_028.exe to HCenc.exe).

Cheers
manolito

adam933

15th October 2015, 17:42

I have a video in mkv format that has "Opus" as the audio format.
What is the best way to handle it in AVStoDVD?

Thanks for your help.

manolito

15th October 2015, 22:51

Have you already tried it?

LAV Audio handles Opus audio right out of the box, so the conversion should work without changing any settings. If it does not work for you, please post your AVStoDVD log file...

Cheers
manolito

adam933

16th October 2015, 01:58

<10/15/2015 7:41:22 PM>
START PROCESS
<>

<10/15/2015 7:41:22 PM>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: NTSC
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 4450/4450 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: ISO UDF Image
DVD Label: 2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE
DVD Menu: Static Menu
Output Folder: C:\Users\bill\Videos
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Show Progress Status window

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: FFMpegSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: FFMpegSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline16Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 0
FPS Hard Conversion: 0
PAL SpeedUp: 0
NTSC SlowDown: 0
Video Resolution: 0
Video Encoder: 3
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 0
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 192
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 0
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Verdana 12pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: D: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSB0 LN00
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 1
Adjust DirectShow Filters at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 1

SYSTEM INFO

Processor Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4670K CPU @ 3.40GHz
Operating System: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (64 bit)
Current user is Admin: YES
Available Output Disc Space: 68.1 GB
AviSynth is installed: YES (release 2.6.0)
LAV Filters is installed: YES (release 0.65.0)
ffdshow is installed: NO

CODECS REPORT

H.264/AVC: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
Xvid: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
DivX 4/5/6: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
Other MPG4: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
DV: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
MPEG1: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
MPEG2: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
MP2: LAV Audio Decoder {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}
MP3: LAV Audio Decoder {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}
AAC: LAV Audio Decoder {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}
AC3: LAV Audio Decoder {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}

<>

<10/15/2015 7:41:22 PM>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: C:\Users\bill\Downloads\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE.mkv
Info: AVC - 0 kbps - 854x480 - DAR 1.779 - 29.97 fps - Progressive - 2:56:43 hours - 317786 frames
Audio 1: C:\Users\bill\Downloads\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE.mkv
Info: Opus - 0 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 2:56:43 hours (0 ms delay) - EN
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.74]
<>

<10/15/2015 7:41:22 PM>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD_283_NoInstall\Lib\ffms2.dll")

Audio = FFAudioSource("C:\Users\bill\Downloads\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE.mkv", track=-1)
Video = FFVideoSource("C:\Users\bill\Downloads\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE.mkv", track=-1, fpsnum=2997, fpsden=100, seekmode=0)

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Spline16Resize(720,480)

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<10/15/2015 7:41:22 PM>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Video Encoding Profile: HCenc VBR 2-pass
Target Video FileSize: 4080.1 MB
Encoding Parameters: -ini "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE.HCenc.ini"
HCenc ini file:
*INFILE C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_1.avs
*AVSRELOAD
*OUTFILE C:\Users\bill\Videos\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE.m2v
*LOGFILE C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE.HCenc.log
*MAXBITRATE 9000
*BITRATE 3228
*PROFILE BEST
*ASPECT 16:9
*PROGRESSIVE
*TFF
*BIAS 30
*DC_PREC 8
*MATRIX MPEG
*AQ 2
*LUMGAIN 2
*SMP
*PRIORITY IDLE
*DBPATH C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp
*WAIT 2
<>

<10/15/2015 7:41:38 PM>
Process halted during Title 1 VIDEO encoding operations.

Error Message: 'Warning! Title 1 output Video duration (00:00:00) is shorter than expected duration (02:56:43).'

Video errors warning message skipped.
<>

<10/15/2015 7:41:39 PM>
START AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Wavi+Aften Parameters: "C:\Users\bill\AppData\Local\Temp\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_1.avs" - | "C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD_283_NoInstall\Aften\aften.exe" -b 192 -pad 0 -dynrng 5 -bwfilter 0 - "C:\Users\bill\Videos\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_1.ac3"
<>

<10/15/2015 7:43:24 PM>
END AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: C:\Users\bill\Videos\2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_2015 Tennessee 38 Georgia 31 (Full Game)-r1Mi6z9a4vE_1.ac3 (0 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 192 kbps - CBR - 1 ch - 48000 Hz - 0 seconds (0 ms delay)
<>

<10/15/2015 7:43:33 PM>
Process aborted during Title 1 AUDIO (Track 1) encoding operations.

Error Message: Warning! Title 1 Audio Track 1 output Audio duration (00:00:00) is shorter than expected duration (02:56:43).

For Audio issues troubleshooting see Help/FAQ/Audio section.
<>

<10/15/2015 7:43:33 PM>
Warning! AVStoDVD Project ended with errors.
<>

<10/15/2015 7:43:33 PM>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.8.3
<>

Thanks Manolito.
I saw no reference to Opus in the log or the setup screens.
If I convert the audio of the original mkv video to MP3 using VLC, and substituting it for the Opus audio, the project works. Also, the codec graph looks OK (all LAV including LAV splitter).

adam933

manolito

16th October 2015, 03:38

Hi Adam,

thanks for the log file, I think I know what causes your problem...

Looks like you forced FFMpegSource as your video and audio source filters. This means that LAVFilters will not get used.

The ffms2 version which comes with AVStoDVD is quite old (version 2.17), and I believe that it does not support Opus. You should try to specify A2DSource (or DirectShowSource) for video and audio and see what happens.

If you want to stick with FFMpegSource you should manually replace the old version with a newer one (the necessary files reside in the "AVStoDVD\Lib" folder).

Cheers
manolito

adam933

16th October 2015, 18:16

Hi Manolito,

Once again, you are right on the money.
I selected A2DSource for Avisynth preferences both video and audio.

I ran the project with no other changes, and it finished with an excellent ISO file.

I still have a couple of questions:
1. Can I leave the preferences at A2DSource, or should I return them to FFMpeg?

2. I found ffms2.dll in the Lib folder but don't know where to update.
I would prefer to use LAV throughout if possible.

Many thanks for your help. I would be happy to post the log of the successful project if you are interested. Just let me know.

adam933

manolito

16th October 2015, 23:04

1. Yes, you probably should have A2DSource specified as your default source filter (explanation follows...). This is the AVStoDVD default setting.

2. To update FFMPEGSource to the latest version 2.22 you need to overwrite ffms2.dll in the A2D\Lib folder with the one from this download page:
https://github.com/FFMS/ffms2/releases

I think that ffms2.lib should also be extracted to the A2D\Lib folder. I could not test this version myself because it won't run on my ancient CPU, though. And you should use the X86 version, even if you are under Win-64bit.

Now a little technical stuff about source filters:

To be able to decode the source file, AviSynth needs a "source filter". AVISource and WAVSource are built into AviSynth, other common external source filters are MPEG2Source (for VOB and MPEG files), FFMPEGSource, L-SMASH and DirectShowSource. For DirectShowSource you will additionally need a splitter and a decoder package like ffdshow or LAVFilters.

All DirectShow based source filters suffer from the inability to seek precisely. FFMpegSource and L-SMASH do seek accurately, but they require that the source is indexed first (costs some time).

For AVStoDVD the ability to seek accurately is mostly not important because the source will only be accessed in a linear way (but there are some AviSynth filters which do seek forward and backward). In most cases using DirectShowSource together with LAV Filters will give you good results.

The A2DSource setting in AVStoDVD is special. A2DSource is not a source filter, it is a wrapper script which can switch between different source filters. It works like this:

For video it tries AVISource first, if this fails it tries DirectShowSource, and if this also returns an error it falls back on FFMPEGSource. It used to be that FFMPEGSource worked when everything else failed, but this is no longer true for the old version 2.17 (does not support Opus and HEVC aka H.265).

Cheers
manolito

herkow

16th October 2015, 23:17

Hi, I've been trying to use MKV subtitles and it's impossible. The .mkv contains 6 subtitle tracks, and only audio and video are detetcted by AVS2DVD. Using tools > Demux shows all the tracks, I check the subtitle I want to use, it is saved as .pgs and AVS2DVD does not recognize it. I tried MKVExtractGUI2 and it saves the subtitle as .sup. AVS2DVD now recognizes the subtitle track, but the result is the same: NO SUBS IN THE DVD.

Here's the log:

<13/10/2015 9:54:01 p. m.>
START PROCESS
<>

<13/10/2015 9:54:01 p. m.>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: NTSC
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 4450/4450 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD Folder
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: C:\Users\herko\Videos
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Show Progress Status window

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Lanczos4Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 0
FPS Hard Conversion: 0
PAL SpeedUp: 0
NTSC SlowDown: 0
Video Resolution: 1
Video Encoder: 0
Video BitRate Min: 3000
Video BitRate Max: 9000
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 0
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 192
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 0
DVD Audio Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): ES - Spanish
DVD Subs Language (Primary): ES - Spanish
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Arial 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: D: ATAPI BD B DH4B1S 7P5A
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 0
Unload ActiveMovie library: 1
Adjust DirectShow Filters at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0

SYSTEM INFO

Processor Name: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7500 @ 2.93GHz
Operating System: Windows 8 (64 bit)
Current user is Admin: YES
Available Output Disc Space: 715 GB
AviSynth is installed: YES (release 2.6.0)
LAV Filters is installed: YES (release 0.65.0)
ffdshow is installed: NO

CODECS REPORT

H.264/AVC: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
Xvid: Mpeg4s Decoder DMO {2A11BAE2-FE6E-4249-864B-9E9ED6E8DBC2}
DivX 4/5/6: Mpeg4s Decoder DMO {2A11BAE2-FE6E-4249-864B-9E9ED6E8DBC2}
Other MPG4: Mpeg4s Decoder DMO {2A11BAE2-FE6E-4249-864B-9E9ED6E8DBC2}
DV: DV Video Decoder {B1B77C00-C3E4-11cf-AF79-00AA00B67A42}
MPEG1: MPEG Video Codec {feb50740-7bef-11ce-9bd9-0000e202599c}
MPEG2: LAV Video Decoder {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
MP2: Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder {E1F1A0B8-BEEE-490D-BA7C-066C40B5E2B9}
MP3: MP3 Decoder DMO {BBEEA841-0A63-4F52-A7AB-A9B3A84ED38A}
AAC: Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder {E1F1A0B8-BEEE-490D-BA7C-066C40B5E2B9}
AC3: No Preferred Filter set

<>

<13/10/2015 9:54:01 p. m.>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: Z:\xxx\xxx\xxx.mkv
Info: AVC - 12411 kbps - 1920x804 - DAR 2,388 - 23,976 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 2:05:43 hours - 180851 frames
Audio 1: Z:\xxx\xxx\xxx.mkv
Info: DTS-HD - 0 kbps - VBR - 8 / 6 ch - 48000 Hz - 24 bit - 2:05:43 hours (0 ms delay) - EN
Subs 1: Z:\xxx\xxx\xxx_spa.sup
Info: IfoEdit (SUP) - Z:\xxx\xxx\xxx_spa.sup
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.74]
<>

<13/10/2015 9:54:01 p. m.>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Lib\ColorMatrix.dll")

Video = A2DVideoSource("Z:\xxx\xxx\xxx.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp", FrameRate=23.976, VFR=false)
Audio = A2DAudioSource("Z:\xxx\xxx\xxx.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp")

Video = Video.ColorMatrix(source=0,dest=2)
Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.AddBorders(0,138,0,138)
Video = Video.Lanczos4Resize(720,480)
#PullDown: using DGPulldown/HCenc to upsize FPS

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<13/10/2015 9:54:01 p. m.>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Video Encoding Profile: HCenc VBR 1-pass
Target Video FileSize: 4155,2 MB
Encoding Parameters: -ini "C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_2_xxx.HCenc.ini"
HCenc ini file:
*INFILE C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_2_xxx_1.avs
*AVSRELOAD
*OUTFILE C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx.m2v
*LOGFILE C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_2_xxx.HCenc.log
*MAXBITRATE 9000
*1PASS
*BITRATE 4621
*PROFILE BEST
*ASPECT 16:9
*PROGRESSIVE
*TFF
*PULLDOWN
*BIAS 50
*DC_PREC 9
*MATRIX MPEG
*AQ 1
*LUMGAIN 1
*SMP
*PRIORITY IDLE
*DBPATH C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp
*WAIT 2
<>

<14/10/2015 12:05:10 a. m.>
END VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Video Source Filter: A2DSource (DirectShowSource)
Created File: C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx.m2v (4154,1 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 4619 kbps - 720x480 - DAR 16:9 - 23,976 fps - Progressive (2:3 Pulldown) - 2:05:43 hours - 226061 frames
<>

<14/10/2015 12:05:10 a. m.>
DIRECTSHOW AUDIO MIXER OPERATIONS:
LAV Filters mixer ON/OFF changed from '0' to '1' at runtime
No LAV Filters mixer SETTING adjustment required at runtime
<>

<14/10/2015 12:05:10 a. m.>
START AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Wavi+Aften Parameters: "C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_2_xxx_1.avs" - | "C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\Aften\aften.exe" -b 192 -pad 0 -dynrng 5 -bwfilter 0 - "C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_1.ac3"
<>

<14/10/2015 12:05:34 a. m.>
WARNING! Errors found during Title 1 Audio Track 1 encoding.
Audio filesize is too low (0 MB)
Backup Audio encoding routine (FFmpeg Safe Mode) is starting ...
<>

<14/10/2015 12:05:54 a. m.>
START FFMPEG (SAFE MODE) AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1) - Trial 1/2
FFmpeg Parameters: -threads 2 -i "Z:\xxx\xxx\xxx.mkv" -vn -c:a ac3 -ac 2 -ar 48000 -ab 192k -y "C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_1.ac3"
<>

<14/10/2015 12:32:15 a. m.>
END AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Audio Source Filter: A2DSource (DirectShowSource)
Created File: C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_1.ac3 (172,6 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 192 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 2:05:43 hours (0 ms delay)
<>

<14/10/2015 12:32:15 a. m.>
START SUBS ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Copy Source SUP file
<>

<14/10/2015 12:32:18 a. m.>
END SUBS ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_1.sup (24,2 MB)
<>

<14/10/2015 12:32:18 a. m.>
DVD CHAPTERS CREATION OPERATIONS
Title 1 Input Chapters List: 11036 20636 29527 40001 50224 59043 66863 76375 87757 98362 107503 117272 130949 142003 152033 162292 169752
Title 1 Output Chapters List: 13794 25794 36908 50001 62779 73803 83578 95468 109696 122952 134378 146589 163686 177503 190041 202864 212189
Created File: C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_Chapters.txt (130 Byte)
<>

<14/10/2015 12:32:18 a. m.>
START DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
BatchMux Parameters: -arglist "C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_2_BatchMux.ini"
BatchMux ini file:
-d "C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_2_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_2_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "C:\Program Files (x86)\AVStoDVD\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_2_Palette.txt"
-v "C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx.m2v"
-vidmode LB
-a1 "C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_1.ac3"
-a1lang en
-s1 "C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_1.sup"
-s1lang es
-s1ext 1
-cellfr "C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_Chapters.txt"
-progfr "C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_Chapters.txt"
-chapfr "C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_Chapters.txt"

<>

<14/10/2015 12:39:29 a. m.>
END DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
Created Folder: C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2 (4421,2 MB)

CHECK DVD SIZE
DVD Folder (actual) Size: 4421,2 MB
vs Assets Size: 4350,9 MB -> OK
vs Estimated Size: 4450 MB -> 0,6% undersize
<>

<14/10/2015 12:39:30 a. m.>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.8.2
<>

Awesome software. Best quality than every "paid" software.

herkow

17th October 2015, 01:09

More info:

ffmpeg version 2.2.3 Copyright (c) 2000-2014 the FFmpeg developers
built on Jun 19 2014 20:24:25 with gcc 4.8.3 (GCC)
configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --disable-w32threads --enable-a
g --enable-frei0r --enable-gnutls --enable-iconv --enable-libass --enable-libbl
e --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libilbc --enable-libmodplug --enable
enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-librtmp
r --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab
benc --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --
libxavs --enable-libxvid --enable-decklink --enable-zlib
libavutil 52. 66.100 / 52. 66.100
libavcodec 55. 52.102 / 55. 52.102
libavformat 55. 33.100 / 55. 33.100
libavdevice 55. 10.100 / 55. 10.100
libavfilter 4. 2.100 / 4. 2.100
libswscale 2. 5.102 / 2. 5.102
libswresample 0. 18.100 / 0. 18.100
libpostproc 52. 3.100 / 52. 3.100
[dca @ 02b3c060] Number of channels changed in DCA decoder (8 -> 6)
[matroska,webm @ 02b373e0] Could not find codec parameters for stream 2 (Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle): unspecified size
Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' and 'probesize' options
[matroska,webm @ 02b373e0] Could not find codec parameters for stream 3 (Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle): unspecified size
Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' and 'probesize' options
[matroska,webm @ 02b373e0] Could not find codec parameters for stream 4 (Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle): unspecified size
Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' and 'probesize' options
[matroska,webm @ 02b373e0] Could not find codec parameters for stream 5 (Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle): unspecified size
Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' and 'probesize' options
[matroska,webm @ 02b373e0] Could not find codec parameters for stream 6 (Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle): unspecified size
Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' and 'probesize' options
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'C:\Users\herko\Videos\xxx.mkv':
Metadata:
title : xxx
encoder : libebml v1.3.1 + libmatroska v1.4.2
creation_time : 2015-10-02 23:01:18
Duration: 02:05:43.02, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 16326 kb/s
Chapter #0.0: start 0.000000, end 460.335000
Metadata:
title : 00:00:00.000
Chapter #0.1: start 460.335000, end 860.735000
Metadata:
title : 00:07:40.335
Chapter #0.2: start 860.735000, end 1231.564000
Metadata:
title : 00:14:20.735
Chapter #0.3: start 1231.564000, end 1668.417000
Metadata:
title : 00:20:31.564
Chapter #0.4: start 1668.417000, end 2094.801000
Metadata:
title : 00:27:48.417
Chapter #0.5: start 2094.801000, end 2462.627000
Metadata:
title : 00:34:54.801
Chapter #0.6: start 2462.627000, end 2788.786000
Metadata:
title : 00:41:02.627
Chapter #0.7: start 2788.786000, end 3185.516000
Metadata:
title : 00:46:28.786
Chapter #0.8: start 3185.516000, end 3660.240000
Metadata:
title : 00:53:05.516
Chapter #0.9: start 3660.240000, end 4102.557000
Metadata:
title : 01:01:00.240
Chapter #0.10: start 4102.557000, end 4483.813000
Metadata:
title : 01:08:22.557
Chapter #0.11: start 4483.813000, end 4891.261000
Metadata:
title : 01:14:43.813
Chapter #0.12: start 4891.261000, end 5461.706000
Metadata:
title : 01:21:31.261
Chapter #0.13: start 5461.706000, end 5922.750000
Metadata:
title : 01:31:01.706
Chapter #0.14: start 5922.750000, end 6341.085000
Metadata:
title : 01:38:42.750
Chapter #0.15: start 6341.085000, end 6768.971000
Metadata:
title : 01:45:41.085
Chapter #0.16: start 6768.971000, end 7080.115000
Metadata:
title : 01:52:48.971
Chapter #0.17: start 7080.115000, end 7543.019000
Metadata:
title : 01:58:00.115
Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p(tv, bt709), 1920x804 [SAR 1:1
n, 47.95 tbc (default)
Metadata:
title : xxx
BPS : 12377811
BPS-eng : 12377811
DURATION : 02:05:42.994000000
DURATION-eng : 02:05:42.994000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 180851
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 180851
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 11670719364
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 11670719364
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: dts (DTS-HD MA), 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 1536 k
Metadata:
title : xxx
BPS : 3900995
BPS-eng : 3900995
DURATION : 02:05:43.019000000
DURATION-eng : 02:05:43.019000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 707158
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 707158
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 3678160512
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 3678160512
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:2(eng): Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle
Metadata:
title : xxx
BPS : 9321
BPS-eng : 9321
DURATION : 01:56:58.428000000
DURATION-eng : 01:56:58.428000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 2680
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 2680
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 8177738
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 8177738
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:3(eng): Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle
Metadata:
title : xxx
BPS : 10822
BPS-eng : 10822
DURATION : 01:58:59.174000000
DURATION-eng : 01:58:59.174000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 3212
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 3212
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 9658119
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 9658119
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:4(fre): Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle
Metadata:
title : xxx
BPS : 9573
BPS-eng : 9573
DURATION : 01:56:58.428000000
DURATION-eng : 01:56:58.428000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 2966
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 2966
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 8398666
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 8398666
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:5(spa): Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle
Metadata:
title : xxx
BPS : 8711
BPS-eng : 8711
DURATION : 01:56:58.470000000
DURATION-eng : 01:56:58.470000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 2572
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 2572
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 7643084
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 7643084
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:6(por): Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle
Metadata:
title : xxx
BPS : 8142
BPS-eng : 8142
DURATION : 01:56:58.345000000
DURATION-eng : 01:56:58.345000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 2574
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 2574
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 7143469
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 7143469
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Output #0, ac3, to 'C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_4_xxx_1.ac3':
Metadata:
title : xxx
encoder : Lavf55.33.100
Chapter #0.0: start 0.000000, end 460.335000
Metadata:
title : 00:00:00.000
Chapter #0.1: start 460.335000, end 860.735000
Metadata:
title : 00:07:40.335
Chapter #0.2: start 860.735000, end 1231.564000
Metadata:
title : 00:14:20.735
Chapter #0.3: start 1231.564000, end 1668.417000
Metadata:
title : 00:20:31.564
Chapter #0.4: start 1668.417000, end 2094.801000
Metadata:
title : 00:27:48.417
Chapter #0.5: start 2094.801000, end 2462.627000
Metadata:
title : 00:34:54.801
Chapter #0.6: start 2462.627000, end 2788.786000
Metadata:
title : 00:41:02.627
Chapter #0.7: start 2788.786000, end 3185.516000
Metadata:
title : 00:46:28.786
Chapter #0.8: start 3185.516000, end 3660.240000
Metadata:
title : 00:53:05.516
Chapter #0.9: start 3660.240000, end 4102.557000
Metadata:
title : 01:01:00.240
Chapter #0.10: start 4102.557000, end 4483.813000
Metadata:
title : 01:08:22.557
Chapter #0.11: start 4483.813000, end 4891.261000
Metadata:
title : 01:14:43.813
Chapter #0.12: start 4891.261000, end 5461.706000
Metadata:
title : 01:21:31.261
Chapter #0.13: start 5461.706000, end 5922.750000
Metadata:
title : 01:31:01.706
Chapter #0.14: start 5922.750000, end 6341.085000
Metadata:
title : 01:38:42.750
Chapter #0.15: start 6341.085000, end 6768.971000
Metadata:
title : 01:45:41.085
Chapter #0.16: start 6768.971000, end 7080.115000
Metadata:
title : 01:52:48.971
Chapter #0.17: start 7080.115000, end 7543.019000
Metadata:
title : 01:58:00.115
Stream #0:0(eng): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 192 kb/s (default)
Metadata:
title : xxx
BPS : 3900995
BPS-eng : 3900995
DURATION : 02:05:43.019000000
DURATION-eng : 02:05:43.019000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 707158
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 707158
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 3678160512
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 3678160512
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2015-10-02 23:01:18
_STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:1 -> #0:0 (dca -> ac
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help

Sir Didymus

17th October 2015, 10:55

Hi herkow!
Welcome, first of all... :-)

Apparently, from the batchmux.ini options, one subs file is fed to BatchMux:

-s1 "C:\Users\herko\Videos\DVD_2_xxx_1.sup"
-s1lang es
-s1ext 1

To ensure that this single subs stream is really present in the DVD, you may want to manually launch muxman.exe and to load your mxp project file into the GUI that will open. The project file that you have to load is this one:
"C:\Users\herko\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_2_MuxMan.mxp"

Once the project is loaded into the MuxMan GUI, no warnings should be present, if the subs asset is compliant. Otherwise it may have been discarded... To check this, if you press "start", your DVD will be produced again, and a log file regarding the muxman authoring will be created directly under C:\

The log file will be named: C:muxman.log

It would be interesting to have a look also at the content of this file...
:-)

Cheers,
SD

manolito

5th November 2015, 15:47

Just discovered a nasty bug in my Wavi_Mod and FFMpeg_VBR plugins:

When a source file name contained an exclamation mark, both plugins would crash. The culprit was the delayed variable expansion which has the habit to make exclamation marks in text input disappear.

Download the fixed versions here:
http://www19.zippyshare.com/v/tJcoZMJY/file.html

Cheers
manolito

Ian_J

16th November 2015, 14:43

I'm hoping someone on here can help me.

I have been using AVStoDVD happily for many months.

I recently upgraded my my OS hard drive and decided to clear off some older items rather than clone them over to save time.

Now the problem, since then AVStoDVD will not work, it keeps failing before the final remux.

Please see attached log of a test I have done.

I will just add that I am using a video file that encoded to DVD fine before I cleaned down the old hard drive to clone it.

If any extra info is required (MediaInfo output etc) please ask.

Many thanks for all and any help.

Ian

I have just tried the same video with ffdshow_rev4532_20140717_clsid & LAVFilters-0.67 (uninstall, reboot, install and reboot between each set of codecs)

Still no joy, what am I missing?

MrC

16th November 2015, 23:02

Hi Ian_J and welcome there.

Sometimes it takes ages to have the attachments approved by Doom9 mods. I suggest to copy and paste the log file content OR to upload the file elsewhere (pastebin, dropbox, zippyshare, etc).

Take note that AVStoDVD project log files have .log extension (not .txt) and are located in the DVD output folder.

For self troubleshooting have a look at Help/FAQ/Video/Q3.1

;)

Bye

Ian_J

16th November 2015, 23:21

Hello MrC,

Many thanks for your reply.

The files I posted are the log files I changed the extensions as the forum would not allow me to post .log files.

Please see below for info requested:

DVD.log:

<16/11/2015 13:02:09>
START PROCESS
<>

<16/11/2015 13:02:09>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: PAL
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 4450/4450 MB (100%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD Folder
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: D:\_Converted\Test DVD
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Show Progress Status window

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline16Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 0
FPS Hard Conversion: 0
PAL SpeedUp: 0
NTSC SlowDown: 0
Video Resolution: 0
Video Encoder: 3
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 1
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 448
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 0
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): ZH - Chinese
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: Tahoma 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: E: PIONEER BD-RW BDR-206D 1.06
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Unload ActiveMovie library: 1
Adjust DirectShow Filters at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0

SYSTEM INFO

Processor Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07GHz
Operating System: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (64 bit)
Current user is Admin: YES
Available Output Disc Space: 680 GB
AviSynth is installed: YES (release 2.6.0)
LAV Filters is installed: NO
ffdshow is installed: YES (release 1.3.4532)

CODECS REPORT

H.264/AVC: ffdshow Video Decoder {04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}
Xvid: ActiveMovie Filter Class Manager {083863F1-70DE-11D0-BD40-00A0C911CE86}
DivX 4/5/6: ffdshow Video Decoder {04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}
Other MPG4: ffdshow Video Decoder {04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}
DV: ffdshow Video Decoder {04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}
MPEG1: ffdshow Video Decoder {04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}
MPEG2: ffdshow Video Decoder {04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}
MP2: ffdshow Audio Decoder {0F40E1E5-4F79-4988-B1A9-CC98794E6B55}
MP3: ffdshow Audio Decoder {0F40E1E5-4F79-4988-B1A9-CC98794E6B55}
AAC: ffdshow Audio Decoder {0F40E1E5-4F79-4988-B1A9-CC98794E6B55}
AC3: No Preferred Filter set

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<16/11/2015 13:02:09>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: C:\Test DVD.mkv
Info: AVC - 4074 kbps - 1280x544 - DAR 2.353 - 24 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 1:50:20 hours - 158872 frames
Audio 1: C:\Test DVD.mkv
Info: DTS - 1509 kbps - CBR - 6 ch - 48000 Hz - 24 bit - 1:50:20 hours (0 ms delay) - ZH
Audio 2: C:\Test DVD.mkv
Info: DTS - 1509 kbps - CBR - 6 ch - 48000 Hz - 24 bit - 1:50:20 hours (0 ms delay) - EN
Subs 1: C:\Test DVD.mkv
Info: SubRip (SRT) - EN
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.74]
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<16/11/2015 13:02:09>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("C:\Video\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")

Video = A2DVideoSource("C:\Test DVD.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp", VFR=false, FrameRateNum=24, FrameRateDen=1, FrameRate=24)
Audio = A2DAudioSource("C:\Test DVD.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.AddBorders(0,88,0,88)
Video = Video.Spline16Resize(720,576)
#PullDown: using DGPulldown/HCenc to upsize FPS

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
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<16/11/2015 13:02:09>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT (Audio Track 2)
Import("C:\Video\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")
LoadPlugin("C:\Video\AVStoDVD\Lib\ffms2.dll")

Video = A2DVideoSource("C:\Test DVD.mkv", CacheFolder="C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp", VFR=false, FrameRateNum=24, FrameRateDen=1, FrameRate=24)
# Forced 'FFAudioSource' to encode secondary Audio Tracks
Audio = FFAudioSource("C:\Test DVD.mkv", track=2, cachefile="C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\A2DFFA_" + String(Rand()) + ".cache")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.AddBorders(0,88,0,88)
Video = Video.Spline16Resize(720,576)
#PullDown: using DGPulldown/HCenc to upsize FPS

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
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<16/11/2015 13:02:09>
DIRECTSHOW AUDIO MIXER OPERATIONS:
No ffdshow mixer ON/OFF adjustment required at runtime
ffdshow mixer SETTING changed from '1' to '13' at runtime
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<16/11/2015 13:02:09>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Video Encoding Profile: HCenc VBR 2-pass
Target Video FileSize: 3627 MB
Encoding Parameters: -ini "C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Test DVD.HCenc.ini"
HCenc ini file:
*INFILE C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Test DVD_1.avs
*AVSRELOAD
*OUTFILE C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD.m2v
*LOGFILE C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Test DVD.HCenc.log
*MAXBITRATE 8604
*BITRATE 4596
*PROFILE BEST
*ASPECT 16:9
*PROGRESSIVE
*TFF
*BIAS 50
*DC_PREC 9
*MATRIX MPEG
*AQ 1
*LUMGAIN 1
*SMP
*PRIORITY IDLE
*DBPATH C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp
*WAIT 2
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<16/11/2015 13:22:28>
Process halted during Title 1 VIDEO encoding operations.

Error Message: 'Warning! Title 1 output Video duration (00:00:00) is shorter than expected duration (01:50:20).'

Video errors warning message skipped.
<>

<16/11/2015 13:22:28>
START AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Wavi+Aften Parameters: "C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Test DVD_1.avs" - | "C:\Video\AVStoDVD\Aften\aften.exe" -b 448 -pad 0 -dynrng 5 -bwfilter 0 -readtoeof 1 - "C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD_1.ac3"
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<16/11/2015 13:25:22>
WARNING! Errors found during Title 1 Audio Track 1 encoding.
Audio Channels are incorrect (2 vs 6)
Backup Audio encoding routine (FFmpeg Safe Mode) is starting ...
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<16/11/2015 13:25:22>
START FFMPEG (SAFE MODE) AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1) - Trial 1/2
FFmpeg Parameters: -threads 8 -i "C:\Test DVD.mkv" -map 0:1 -vn -c:a ac3 -ar 48000 -ab 448k -y "C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD_1.ac3"
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<16/11/2015 13:26:50>
END AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Audio Source Filter: A2DSource (DirectShowSource)
Created File: C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD_1.ac3 (353.5 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 448 kbps - CBR - 6 ch - 48000 Hz - 1:50:20 hours (0 ms delay)
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<16/11/2015 13:26:50>
START AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 2)
Wavi+Aften Parameters: "C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Test DVD_2.avs" - | "C:\Video\AVStoDVD\Aften\aften.exe" -b 448 -pad 0 -dynrng 5 -bwfilter 0 -readtoeof 1 - "C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD_2.ac3"
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<16/11/2015 13:31:52>
END AUDIO ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 2)
Audio Source Filter: FFMpegSource
Created File: C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD_2.ac3 (353.5 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 448 kbps - CBR - 6 ch - 48000 Hz - 1:50:20 hours (0 ms delay)
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<16/11/2015 13:31:52>
START SUBS EXTRACTING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
MKVExtract Parameters: tracks "C:\Test DVD.mkv" 3:"C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Test DVD.srt"
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<16/11/2015 13:32:12>
END SUBS EXTRACTING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Test DVD.srt (103.3 KB)
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<16/11/2015 13:32:15>
START SUBS ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
ANSI format conversion routine applied
SRT errors fixing routine applied (1 lines fixed)
SubtitleCreator Parameters: "C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Test DVD.srt" -p2 -i"C:\Video\AVStoDVD\SubtitleCreator\Examples\VTS_01_1.IFO"
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<16/11/2015 13:32:21>
END SUBS ENCODING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD_1.sup (2.3 MB)
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<16/11/2015 13:32:21>
DVD CHAPTERS CREATION OPERATIONS
Title 1 Input Chapters List: 7200 14400 21600 28800 36000 43200 50400 57600 64800 72000 79200 86400 93600 100800 108000 115200 122400 129600 136800 144000 151200 158400
Title 1 Output Chapters List:
No Chapters List created for Title 1
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<16/11/2015 13:32:21>
START DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
BatchMux Parameters: -arglist "C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_BatchMux.ini"
BatchMux ini file:
-d "D:\_Converted\Test DVD\DVD\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "C:\Video\AVStoDVD\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Palette.txt"
-v "C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD.m2v"
-vidmode LB
-a1 "C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD_1.ac3"
-a1lang zh
-a2 "C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD_2.ac3"
-a2lang en
-s1 "C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD_1.sup"
-s1lang en
-s1ext 1

<>

<16/11/2015 13:32:31>
Process aborted during DVD AUTHORING operations!

Check following files for more details:

AVStoDVD log file <D:\_Converted\Test DVD\DVD.log>
BatchMux log file <D:\_Converted\Test DVD\DVD_BatchMux.log>

For more troubleshooting on Authoring issues, see Help/FAQ/Authoring.
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<16/11/2015 13:32:35>
Warning! AVStoDVD Project ended with errors.
<>

<16/11/2015 13:32:35>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.8.3
<>

DVD_BatchMux.log:

BatchMux version --> 1.3
Destination Folder --> D:\_Converted\Test DVD\DVD\VIDEO_TS
MuxMan Script File --> C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp
MuxMan Log String --> -l "C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log"
Folder of the MuxMan executable --> C:\Video\AVStoDVD\MuxMan
Check presence of MuxMan.exe --> PASSED
Palette File --> C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Palette.txt
Default Palette --> SUCCESSFULLY REDEFINED
Segment #1 - Video File #1 --> C:\Users\Ian_J\Videos\DVD_Test DVD.m2v
Checking asset for importing as --> M2V, M1V, MPV
Segment memory resources --> RELEASED
Local Stack memory --> RELEASED
File i/o structures --> DEALLOCATED

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 00:11

I've tried using LAVFilters-0.67-Installer but I keep getting a crash similar to the following so really wan to go back to using ffdshow as that worked fine before my tinkering.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: HCenc.exe
Application Version: 0.26.0.0
Application Timestamp: 4df95881
Fault Module Name: avformat-lav-57.dll
Fault Module Version: 57.14.100.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 0039000e
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00002cf1
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 2057
Additional Information 1: 57a0
Additional Information 2: 57a0f65ce37391d97f1a9d6f783b616c
Additional Information 3: 1a31
Additional Information 4: 1a31b00fead8ff9d5ecf354180c0973e

Sir Didymus

17th November 2015, 08:46

Apparently, HC Encoder refused to complete its job, or aborted just after starting...
Maybe you may want to double check that avisynth is properly installed on your system?

<<
Process halted during Title 1 VIDEO encoding operations.
Error Message: 'Warning! Title 1 output Video duration (00:00:00) is shorter than expected duration (01:50:20).'
>>

Cheers,
SD

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 09:07

Hi SD,

I've uninstalled & installed everything that AVStoDVD requires: avisynth, ffdshow & LAVFilters.

Used the stand alone versions of avisynth & LAVFilters, tried the versions that install alongside AVStoDVD.

Overwritten the HCenc 0.26 that installs in AVStoDVD with 0.27 & 0.28, all give the same result.

The furthest I have got is with both ffdshow & LAVFilters installed (I know I shouldn't and I didn't used to have that setup when it worked) and then mix and match filters to deal with the audio and video.

Nope still won't work.

The one thing I have notice when looking at my DirectShow Filters with ffdshow installed is that there is no AC3 filter enabled even though I have it selected.

Is there a tool that can clean up all of my filters?

Or that can clean up everything ready for a fresh install of ffdshow?

I have tried K-Lite Codec Tweak Tool but still my ffdshow filter didn't show AC3 even though I has it selected.

Sir Didymus

17th November 2015, 13:23

Ok. Let see...

First of all, we need the temporary files available for the subsequent analysis, so please enable in the GUI of AVStoDVD the related checkboxes in order to revert the current setting of your configuration:

<<
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
>>

Then, relaunch AVStoDVD with the new configuration; you shoud fall again in the same issue, but now the temporary files and assets should be available, so proceed by opening this file [just drag'n drop or open it into whatever media player in your PC]:

<<
C:\Users\Ian_J\AppData\Local\Temp\DVD_Test DVD_1.avs
>>

I guess some error message will be shown instead of your movie...

Right?

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 13:58

I've done as you requested and disabled Delete Temp Assets and set another encode going.

15127

I have gone back to using ffdshow as that is what worked before but I kept getting HCenc crashing so have overwritten the 0.26 with 0.27

15128

PS can anyone tell me how long I have to keep answering the random questions for?

Well before I found the right answer to the random question HCenc crashed.

I have checked the MPG video and it was fine up to the point HCenc crashed.

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 14:54

Every time now HCenc is getting to 100% it crashes.

I can close it down and AVSoDVD continues to work on the files, extracting audio and subtitles etc but the remux fails.

Is there a specific version of HCenc I should be using with AVStoDVD.

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 15:27

I took off ffdshow to try LAVFilters 0.67 but that runs through sampling then crashes part way through the encode.

I'm burned out, can't be any more combinations to try.

manolito

17th November 2015, 16:01

It has been a while, but I do remember some users who could not get HCenc to run on their Win7 computers (I believe it was over @ VideoHelp).

You could still try if you have more luck if you force FFMpeg instead of HCenc as your encoder... :eek:

Cheers
manolito

Sir Didymus

17th November 2015, 17:07

Yes... Well, HC is a very intensive and deep system validator... If it starts properly, by encoding few second of movie and then crashes --> very probably something is screwed up in your system (HW? File system? Who knows...)...

Sorry, but I have no additional hints other than for you to try to reinstall from scratch the whole OS on your machine... :eek:

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 17:11

I just can't understand why everything worked with the exact same hardware apart from the drive the OS was on.

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 19:00

I've finally got it to go through an entire file without error, but the output is too big for a DVD.

Does AVStoDVD support any other encoders? CCE etc?

manolito

17th November 2015, 20:20

The last AVStoDVD version which supported CCE was version 1.1.3. Very old, not really recommended today... :(

Current versions only support HCenc and FFMpeg. By default FFMpeg can only be used for high bitrates in CBR mode, but you can get much higher quality from FFMpeg if you use my ffmpeg_VBR plugin:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1745423#post1745423

It is a small download, read the included PDF manual and decide if you want to check it out...

Cheers
manolito

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 20:49

I'll definitely check it out, always prefer VBR if possible to get the best quality.

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 21:04

Thanks Manolito,

Just set a recode going, fingers crossed it finishes and fits the disc.

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 22:40

Hi Manolito,

1st video went through fine in 25 minutes, I don't know if I did everything right though as the DVD is only 2.55Gb from a 4.35GB 1280x720p DTS file.

Previously AVStoDVD filled the disc (I understand the savings VBR can make though)

I amended the .bat file as I will always be using FFmpeg and have set my video tab to FFmpeg CBR 1-pass and ticked the Use High Quality Settings.

I locked my AVS Audio and Video Source to FFMpeg Source.

I would like to get a 2 pass encode that makes full use of the space on the DVD.

Is there any way to get that using the settings?

Many thanks

Ian

manolito

17th November 2015, 23:10

Hi Ian,

as MrC already suggested, please do not attach log files or other stuff to your post as it can take some days until a moderator approves it. Right now I can't see your attached file.

If I understand you correctly, you always want to use the High Quality 2-pass VBR mode. Please do not do this for bitrates above 7500 kbps, because the ffmpeg parameters are not intended for such high bitrates (ffmpeg might throw an error), and it also does not make much sense. CBR is a better choice in these cases.

You should modify the ff_vbr batch file like this:
Replace the section under the :doit label with:

:doit
IF [%bitrate%==[ GOTO dont_touch
IF %bitrate% GTR 7500 GOTO CBR
GOTO 2pass

If you cannot fill the disk using this code then the requested bitrate is high enough to reach the max bitrate limit. The only way to get a bigger file size in this case would be to use padding, but ffmpeg does not do this (completely useless, quality would be the same).

Cheers
manolito

Ian_J

17th November 2015, 23:13

Thanks Manolito,

Yeah I realised as soon as I had posted that the image would not show up so just described my settings. I cannot see anyway on the forum to remove the image though.

I have amended the bat file and will run another test.

Ian_J

18th November 2015, 01:43

Those new settings work like a dream.
The original setting took the file to 2.55GB and it looked a bit soft, the new setting nearly filled the disc at 4.24Gb and the picture seems much cleaner.

Thank you Manolito.

manolito

18th November 2015, 14:35

Glad it works for you... :D

The 2-pass High Quality parameters come from forum member Fishman0919 (whose request triggered the creation of this plugin). According to him these settings give a better result than HCenc for lower bitrates (<= 3500).

If you use this mode for high bitrate conversions, you could maybe tweak some settings (the 2-pass commandline parameters are at the bottom of the script). My experience with tweaking ffmpeg is limited, you would have to test this for yourself.

Cheers
manolito

Przemek_Sperling

19th November 2015, 14:29

manolito, thank you for your help.:thanks: I experience similar problems like Ian_J (Error Message: 'Warning! Title 1 output Video duration (00:00:00) is shorter than expected duration.') and switching from HCEnc to ffmpeg solved my problem.

What seems to be interesting - I have two machines, one with Win 10 the other with Win 7 (fresh install, I went back from Win 10 to Win 7 due to lacking drivers) and both started to have the problems after LAV filters update (from v. 0.66 to v 0.67). Coincidence? I do not know. I swear I have no problems with cooling the CPUs of the machines, as well as I did not touch HCEnc.

Sir Didymus

19th November 2015, 14:54

manolito

19th November 2015, 17:09

What seems to be interesting - I have two machines, one with Win 10 the other with Win 7 (fresh install, I went back from Win 10 to Win 7 due to lacking drivers) and both started to have the problems after LAV filters update (from v. 0.66 to v 0.67). Coincidence? I do not know. I swear I have no problems with cooling the CPUs of the machines, as well as I did not touch HCEnc.

Hi Przemek,

this is indeed interesting. On my ancient computer (Intel Celeron 1.1 GHz Coppermine running under WinXP) I have no problems using the latest LAV filters (I use the latest nightly 0.67.0-3).

Could you please go back to version 0.66 and see if this solves the HCenc problem?

Another thing you could try is fix a registry setting which LAV alters upon installation:
Fix_LAV.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

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

Save it as a .reg file and run it after the LAV installation. This has saved some folks' butts already...

Cheers
manolito

Ian_J

20th November 2015, 12:46

Thanks Przemek for commenting. And of course double thanks to manolito for the troubleshooting and for his great work here at doom9...
I was infact wondering why ffmpeg works in the Ian_J scenario and HCEnc isn't... :scared:

Seconded on the thanks for all the help, I was at the end of my tether trying to get AVStoDVD working again.

Done a few discs now and all works well using FFMpeg VBR.

Ian_J

23rd December 2015, 13:15

I spoke too soon.

Just tried doing a disc with subtitles and they don't work.

I have tried playing the original file and the subtitles work fine.

manolito

23rd December 2015, 15:48

Sorry, subtitles are not my turf, I am totally ignorant about subs. You will have to wait for MrC, but I suppose that he will be quite busy with real life at this time of the year.

What you should do in any case is post your log file (do not attach files in this forum, post the text directly or upload it to SendSpace or ZippyShare).

Whatever, after a crazy year 2015 I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year... :)

Cheers
manolito

MrC

27th December 2015, 23:24

@Jan_J

yes, please, upload the project log file and the subtitles file to convert.

;)

Bye

MrC

31st December 2015, 14:41

AVStoDVD release 2.8.4 Alpha 151229 is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.4%20Alpha%20151229/)

Change log:

- Added 'Execute AVStoDVD with Elevated Privileges' option in 'Preferences'/'Misc'
- Added 'All'/'None' selection buttons to all ListBox forms
- Improved parsing routine for SubRip subtitles
- Removed 2nd authoring attempt if 1st fails (used new BatchMux 1.4 -bmlog flag)
- Validated compatibility with Windows 10
- ColorMatrix plugin updated to release 2.5
- FFMpegSource plugin updated to release 2.21
- BatchMux updated to release 0.14
- HCenc updated to release 0.28 (16-08-2015)
- AVSMeter updated to release 2.1.3
- LAV Filters updated to release 0.67
- MediaInfo updated to release 0.7.77

;)

Bye

manolito

1st January 2016, 04:19

Thanks very much for the new version, I just tested it a little bit, no problems so far...

I cannot comment on the Improved parsing routine for SubRip subtitles, I never use subs.

Otherwise the only thing not working on my computer is the new ffms2 version. This version requires a CPU with SSE2 capability, and my machine only has SSE. This breaks the new version even if I do not use FFMpegSource because the A2DSource.avsi always tries to load ffms2.dll.

If there are any A2D users out there using a computer without SSE2 capability, I do have a transparent workaround, just let me know...

The newer BatchMux version works well with some basic menu creation tasks.

Updating the A2D helper utilities is already a little behind, some apps have been updated recently:

HCenc has been updated on Dec 21 fixing a critical VBV buffer bug.
ffms2 has a newer version 2.22.
MediaInfo is now at version 0.7.81

I tested these new versions, they all work well.

The included version of ffmpeg 2.2.3 is getting a little old. The latest stable point release is version 2.8.4, and it is also working nicely (except for the bitrate limit for VCD frame sizes). I have no idea though if there are any improvements for MPEG2 encoding in the newer versions.

Happy New Year!

Cheers
manolito

Groucho2004

1st January 2016, 18:31

- AVSMeter updated to release 2.1.3Just curious - Why not the latest version (2.1.6)?

MrC

1st January 2016, 22:03

@manolito

thanks for testing the new Alpha so quickly. I will add to the Readme.txt file the explicit requirement to have a SSE2 capable CPU. I will check the newer releases of HCenc, ffms2 and MediaInfo ASAP (don't know how soon in these days, actually...). I would kindly ask you to update the German.lang.ini file, line 270031. ;)

@Groucho2004

I will update. BTW, are there any improvements in the AVS info report from release 2.1.3 to 2.1.6? I apologize if I'm asking directly w/o going to read the change log... I feel so squeezed in this period.

;)

Bye

Groucho2004

1st January 2016, 22:45

BTW, are there any improvements in the AVS info report from release 2.1.3 to 2.1.6?
The clip info section has not changed.
There is comprehensive info about the installed Avisynth version in the "[General info]" section which might be useful to you (or other GUI authors).

MrC

2nd January 2016, 16:24

The clip info section has not changed.
There is comprehensive info about the installed Avisynth version in the "[General info]" section which might be useful to you (or other GUI authors).

Thanks!

;)

Bye

manolito

2nd January 2016, 17:21

Here are the updated 2 lines for the German language file:

270030 AVStoDVD mit erweiterten Rechten ausführen:
270031 Erzwingt Starten von AVStoDVD wie mit 'Rechts-Klick' > 'Ausführen als Administrator'

Tested the latest AVSMeter version, no problems.

Quick question:
I noticed that the file "ffms2.avsi" is present in the Lib folder. I think it should not be there since AVStoDVD does not call any of its functions. Am I right?

Cheers
manolito

MrC

3rd January 2016, 17:01

Thanks manolito for the translations ;)

You are right, the ffms2.avsi is redundant in A2D scope. BTW can be useful for any curious user who wants to play with ffms2 or to learn some AviSynth scripting.

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

4th January 2016, 07:33

Yay new version. Thanks MrC. Going to download and use it tonight!
I have a request for you if its possible to implement without too much work. Each time you load AVStoDVD, you have to choose your output (iso, file, burn dvd) The setting is not saved. Is there some way to save the last used setting? Thanks.

MrC

4th January 2016, 10:10

Sure: 'Preferences' > 'Misc' > 'Save general Settings at Program Exit'

Don't forget to toggle on 'Save current Preferences as default'

;)

Bye

SuLyMaN

4th January 2016, 15:21

Worked perfectly. Thanks :) Now to upgrade to new version!

hurricane51

7th January 2016, 03:48

How do I disable the Play All button in version 2.8.3?

manolito

7th January 2016, 16:17

http://i.imgur.com/Y5oszgx.png

Cheers
manolito

hurricane51

7th January 2016, 18:47

Thanks. Just creeping senility showing.

manolito

26th January 2016, 11:59

The newer BatchMux version works well with some basic menu creation tasks.

This statement was a little premature... :(

Some more extensive tests showed that the new BatchMux version 1.4 is not fully backward compatible.

For most projects MuxMan will fail completely using the new BatchMux version. The log says that it cannot find the destination folder, but this folder does exist for sure.

BatchMux INI file:
-bmlog "I:\DVD_BatchMux.log"
-d "I:\DVD\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "I:\DVD_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "I:\DVD_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "E:\Programme\AVStoDVD\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "I:\DVD_Palette.txt"
-v "I:\DVD_2.m2v"
-vidmode 4:3
-a1 "I:\DVD_2_1.ac3"
-a1lang de
-SEG2v "I:\DVD_MenuPage1.bmp"
-SEG2vidmode 4:3
-SEG2s1 "I:\DVD_Menu.sst"
-SEG2s1dmode LB
-SEG2hlmnu "I:\DVD_MenuPage1_Buttons.mnu"
-SEG2hlcsm "I:\DVD_HighlightScheme.csm
-hcn "I:\DVD_BatchMux.hcn"

BatchMux Log file:
BatchMux log file --> I:\DVD_BatchMux.log
BatchMux: ERROR - destination folder does not exist...
Dyn. allocated segment resources --> RELEASED
--> 1 segments
Dyn. allocated BmArg resources --> RELEASED
--> 37 BmArg structures
Local Stack memory --> RELEASED

To fix the issue it is not required to go back to the last A2D stable version. Replacing BatchMux.exe 1.4 in the new separate BatchMux subfolder with the previous version 1.3 takes care of it.

Cheers
manolito

Sir Didymus

26th January 2016, 13:52

Ho, oh... :scared:

...but this folder does exist for sure...

Mhhh... Please forgive me for asking, but are you totally sure about this? Or better, which folder are you sure about? I\DVD or I\DVD\VIDEO_TS? or both?

In my tests, if the folder pointed out in the -d command exists, the error about missing destination folder should be NOT produced...

What about (in your testing environment) trying with a destination folder which does not end with "VIDEO_TS" ?

Note that the behaviour of MuxMan about creating automatically the VIDEO_TS subfolder has changed in the release 0.16.7, and in particular it is not the same to launch manually MuxMan through its GUI or via C/L. So the need to explicitly check about the existance of the destination folder before launching the authoring session, introduced in BM 1.4 can not be avoided...

The fix of using BM 1.3 as a temporary solution is very good, indeed (no more log file about the authoring session, however)...

manolito

26th January 2016, 16:00

Hi SD,

Mhhh... Please forgive me for asking, but are you totally sure about this? Or better, which folder are you sure about? I\DVD or I\DVD\VIDEO_TS? or both?

Both of course. There is a folder I:\DVD which has the subfolders AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS. Both are completely empty.

It also has nothing to do with a delay if the folder(s) are newly created. I repeated the conversion many times while these folders were already present.

What about (in your testing environment) trying with a destination folder which does not end with "VIDEO_TS" ?

This is totally under the control of AVStoDVD. I specified to use "I:\" as the output folder, and A2D creates the VIDEO_TS subfolder by itself.

Note that the behaviour of MuxMan about creating automatically the VIDEO_TS subfolder has changed in the release 0.16.7, and in particular it is not the same to launch manually MuxMan through its GUI or via C/L. So the need to explicitly check about the existance of the destination folder before launching the authoring session, introduced in BM 1.4 can not be avoided...

It has nothing to do with the MuxMan version, version 0.16.8 has been used by A2D for a long time already.

So far I think nothing has been lost, by using BatchMux 1.4 AVStoDVD has not added any new features so going back to version 1.3 is not a big deal. For using the new features of the latest BatchMux version 1.6 it will be necessary to modify AVStoDVD quite a bit, and this will take some time...

Cheers
manolito

Sir Didymus

26th January 2016, 17:36

It also has nothing to do with a delay if the folder(s) are newly created. I repeated the conversion many times while these folders were already present.

Even though the folders are already present, once you launch a new conversion the DVD folder under I: is (possibly - I am not sure about) newly created, then its subfolders may still not exist at the time BM is launched. This is easy to check (just add whatever testing file in the VIDEO_TS folder; if this file is still there after a new conversion this will demonstrate that the folder is already present).

Another test, without using AVS2DVD, would be interesting: which is by launching BM from a cmd window, manually. The command to use would be something like this:
I:\BatchMux.exe -arglist DVD_BatchMux.ini

So far I think nothing has been lost, by using BatchMux 1.4 AVStoDVD has not added any new features so going back to version 1.3 is not a big deal. For using the new features of the latest BatchMux version 1.6 it will be necessary to modify AVStoDVD quite a bit, and this will take some time...

I agree. I would like just to understand. At this time it is not clear to me if the fault you are experiencing is an issue of BM or not... I mean, BM 1.4 introduced the support of some MuxMan additional features, newly introduced in MuxMan starting from version 0.16.7. Even thought these new features are not used, the way of launching MuxMan changed in BM 1.4. So, some adaptation was needed anyway in AVS2DVD for using BM 1.4; I hope this is understood.
Let's way for some comments on the subject from MrC.

MrC

29th January 2016, 17:27

SD, manolito

I have had some weeks ago an email exchange with a A2D user, having a similar problem. Unfortunately I currently do not have the time to dig deeply into this issue. I report the email exchange, if it can help...

Hi, hope you don't mind me emailing you with a problem regarding the newest alpha. I understand it's an alpha release and expect there to be issues but just like to keep up to date with new versions. With the new alpha any project will abort during authoring stage, I'm guessing this is related to the changes to BatchMux?

I tried a few different files and had the same issue all at the authoring stage, below is the message from one of the log files (they all seem to end with this error)

BatchMux log file --> D:\temp\DVD_BatchMux.log
BatchMux: ERROR - destination folder does not exist...
Dyn. allocated segment resources --> RELEASED
--> 1 segments
Dyn. allocated BmArg resources --> RELEASED
--> 29 BmArg structures
Local Stack memory --> RELEASED

The same files work with 2.8.3. I tried updating the noinstall as well as new installation.

Sorry to bother you

Thanks,
User

------------------------------------

Hi User,

could you please send me the complete project .log file?

Thanks
User

------------------------------------

Yeah of course, thanks for the quick response.

Have attached the logs from 3 projects, this was a clean install of the new alpha.

Thanks.

------------------------------------

Hi User,

It seems that AVStoDVD is not able to create the "D:\Documents\AVStoDVD\Clip - 18x01\VIDEO_TS" folder. Not enough user privileges?

I would suggest you to try 2 things, separately:

1. Modify the output folder, using for example: "C:\Users\User\Videos"

2. Activate the option 'Execute AVStoDVD with Elevated Privileges' from 'Preferences' > 'Misc'

Let me know

Bye

------------------------------------

Hi, I've attempted again with your suggestions and this is the new log file. It does create the folders and the files are there.

Thank you for helping too.

------------------------------------

Hi, last email I swear! Seems it only doesn't work if I set the output to the D drive, can't understand why as it worked in the previous version. Seems to work if everything is on the C drive. I can make do with that for now I think, still strange.

Thanks for your time and solving the issue

Bye

MrC

Sir Didymus

29th January 2016, 20:19

Ok. Just checked. The issue is in the code of BM.

There is one single line of code where the problem originates.

One new function has been introduced, from the release 1.4 up to the latest 1.6, which is most possibly responsible for the reported odd behaviours. This function (in the WinApi) is the "GetFileAttributes". In the BM code it is used to check the destination folder against the constant 0x10 "FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY". All other results from this test currently trigger the reported BatchMux ERROR. I am quite sure (now, after deepening the matter) that encrypted directories - 0x4000 "FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ENCRYPTED", mounted volumes, network drives and possibly other legit directories in the user's file system are wrongly interpreted as invalid directories.

I will do some testing during the week end and report back to you...

Stay tuned, and in the meanwhile, please proceed as suggested by manolito - downgrade to BM release 1.3, or by MrC - just use a plain directory under the C: volume...

Cheers,
SD

manolito

30th January 2016, 00:33

Hi MrC and SD,

did a few more tests, and it sure has nothing to do with permissions - I am using Win XP.

The user from VideoHelp is right IMO, the issue only appears if the destination for MuxMan is on a different drive than the drive where the program resides.

In my case my system drive is E:, and this is where my program files folder is located. The only way to avoid the error is to specify a folder on E: as my output folder in AVStoDVD. Using any other drive as the destination causes MuxMan to crash.

Cheers
manolito

Sir Didymus

30th January 2016, 23:00

Ok, let's give a try to this one (BatchMux v1.4.1, hotfix, beta):

http://www93.zippyshare.com/v/8ZFyL4Lq/file.html

Once you download it, it is intended as a direct replacement for the version 1.4 of BatchMux.exe, located in the AVS2DVD programs folder.

In case issues are still present with this version, please let me know...

manolito

31st January 2016, 12:14

Thanks SD, this hotfix works here. Beautiful...

Cheers
manolito

Sir Didymus

31st January 2016, 17:00

OK! Great... Thanks, manolito, for the very rapid testing & report. Let's wait for a while for possible feedbacks from other users, incurred in other troubles related to the same bug, before considering the problem solved. OK, another thing to consider for the future is that obviously the already released BM versions 1.5 and 1.6 are from now on deprecated. Clearly, there is no urgency to provide new versions of BM 1.5 and 1.6. It would be not even wise, since maybe it is better to wait for other possible bugs & issues in the current BM 1.4.1; the relevant features of BM 1.5 and 1.6 are already known (from the other thread dedicated to BM), so whenever MrC requires, their updates will be distributed...

... Beautiful ...

Mhhh, yes! :p
How to disagree?

Cheers,
SD

Deach

1st February 2016, 09:01

Can confirm the issue is fixed on my end too.

Sir Didymus

1st February 2016, 09:59

Oh, thank you Deach, for your report, and welcome in the doom9 community.
:-)

Deach

1st February 2016, 11:13

Oh, thank you Deach, for your report, and welcome in the doom9 community.
:-)

Cheers. I was the user MrC was talking about earlier, had to wait 5 days though obviously to be able to post!

Relevant I suppose at the minute, is there much performance benefit to having temp files assets and whatever else across difference drives?

Sir Didymus

1st February 2016, 13:20

Ah, I see! Good to know...

Yes, at least partially. The authoring engine (MuxMan) and the video encoder (HcEnc, for instance) are the most time-consuming components in AVS2DVD, I think... The encoder especially...

Both are heavily using I/O operations to read large chunks of input assets and produce equally big output files. So, reading from one drive and writing to a different (physical) one is surely beneficial. I do not have recent figures on the matter, to tell you frankly; furthermore nowadays SSD are quite diffused, so this benefit of distributing the I/O jobs on different drives is not as huge as it was some years ago...

There is also to consider that both encoding and authoring, in AVS2DVD, are single thread modules, using in a very intense way just one of the available CPU cores, so the gain you can obtain will be in any case bounded by the CPU, at a given point...

manolito

1st February 2016, 13:39

There is also to consider that both encoding and authoring, in AVS2DVD, are single thread modules, using in a very intense way just one of the available CPU cores, so the gain you can obtain will be in any case bounded by the CPU, at a given point...

Hi SD,

this is not true for HCenc and FFMpeg... :p
AVStoDVD configures both encoders so they will use all available CPU cores (at least if you have configured it this way under Preferences->System).

But for my encodes the CPU load is still only at about 30% because the real bottleneck is AviSynth and the filters I use. These are all single threaded, and switching to AviSynth MT or AviSynth+ and using only MT plugins is something I do not dare right now.

Cheers
manolito

Sir Didymus

1st February 2016, 16:32

Ah, I was not aware about that... Do you know if this is achieved by the controlling environment (e.g. AVS2DVD is splitting the overall work into multiple individual encoding jobs) or these two encoders are real multithread applications (allowing to achieve one single encoding job to be completed individually by using multiple threads)?

manolito

1st February 2016, 18:51

It is entirely the encoders...

From the A2D manual:
If you have a multi-processor / multi-core CPU and you use this option, video encoding speed will be improved a lot.
HCenc multithread encoding is activated by "*SMP" command in HCenc.ini file
FFmpeg multithread encoding is activated by "-threads n" command line flag, where n is the number of the cores used.

Cheers
manolito

Sir Didymus

1st February 2016, 21:13

Very relevant features indeed (for both encoders...). Regarding HCenc I already clarifyed to me any doubts, via the related FAQ, explaining its multiprocessing feature. That's great!

So, forgive me the wrong statement above... :o

Well, back to the question about the usefulness of splitting encoding and authoring activities by keeping on different physical volumes the related input and output assets, I am still positive that there are tangible benefits by selecting different volumes for the reading and for the writing operations.

However, me too curious about some recent evaluations about this aspect, with modern HW configurations, including the usage of SSD devices...

Cheers,
SD

manolito

16th February 2016, 18:16

It's quiet here... The software seems to be working perfectly :devil:

Well, I don't want to spoil the party, but I did find a small issue with chapter creation. It only happens for muxed MPEG2 source files. I have set an interval for automatic chapter creation and also ticked the checkbox to prefer the source chapters if present.

In this case the fixed chapters routine should take over (MPG files cannot have chapters). But it doesn't, no chapters will be created. I believe that the reason is that MediaInfo reports one empty chapter for these files. This is the source info from AVStoDVD:
GENERAL INFO
PathName: I:\test.mpg
Format: MPEG-PS
Time: 2:54:25 hours
Audio Tracks: 1
Subs Tracks: 0

VIDEO TRACK INFO
PathName: I:\test.mpg
Track ID: 224
Stream Order: 0
Time: 2:54:25 hours
Compression: MPEG-2 Video
BitRate Mode: VBR
Avg BitRate: 3256 kbps
Min BitRate:
Max BitRate:
Resolution: 720x576
Display AspectRatio: 1,778
Pixel AspectRatio: 1,422
Frame AspectRatio: 1,25
FrameRate Mode:
FrameRate: 25 fps
Frame Count: 261636
Scan Type: Interlaced
Interlaced: Yes
Field Order: TFF
Color Space: YUV
Colour Coefficients:
DVD Compliance: 1

AUDIO TRACK INFO (Track 1)
PathName: I:\test.mpg
Track ID: 189-128
Stream Order: 1
Time: 2:54:25 hours
Compression: AC3
BitRate Mode: CBR
Avg BitRate: 224 kbps
Channels: 2
SampleRate: 48000 Hz
Resolution:
Language:
Delay: 0 ms

CHAPTERS INFO
Chapter 1: Count

This MediaInfo output is not correct IMO, but it has been there forever (I went back to version 0.7.58). So I think that A2D should just assume that there never is any source chapter info for MPEG2 files.

BTW if I first demux the MPG file and feed the elementary streams to A2D, the chapters will be created correctly.

Otherwise the latest alpha version with the fixed BatchMux version is in frequent use here, and for me it is absolutely stable.

Cheers
manolito

Deach

26th February 2016, 00:28

Hi SD,

this is not true for HCenc and FFMpeg... :p
AVStoDVD configures both encoders so they will use all available CPU cores (at least if you have configured it this way under Preferences->System).

But for my encodes the CPU load is still only at about 30% because the real bottleneck is AviSynth and the filters I use. These are all single threaded, and switching to AviSynth MT or AviSynth+ and using only MT plugins is something I do not dare right now.

Cheers
manolito

Would there be much of a benefit from other AviSynth forks? I've tampered with both + and the MT fork briefly but I couldn't say for sure if there was any noticeable improvement based on the odd few encodes I'd run with them installed? I suppose it depends on the project settings as well.

Recent BatchMux working fine here still too, no issues to report!

Sir Didymus

27th February 2016, 09:53

Ok. Regarding BM, thanks manolito and Deach for your confirmation. Your support is great! With low priority, in the next days/weeks I will update the thread dedicated to the BM development with some related information, just for future tracing purposes [...hem, especially to remind myself about the "status quo", since three versions of BatchMux are affected: 1.4.1, 1.5.1 and 1.6.1... :-( ...].

manolito, concerning the other small glitch (chaptering based on MPG container) I totally agree with your considerations and proposed solution. It's a relatively minor issue, indeed, since the backup of unticking the checkbox to prefer the source chapters allows to live with the problem...

About speeding up the AviSynth operations, IMO things are definitely not simple to deal with. The (radically different) applicative approach "A la DVD Rebuilder", of dividing the source assets in chuncks (titles, chapters or segments), with one CPU dedicated to the operations for each individual chunk, would be probably beneficial. But it is just a matter of speculations, since in the context of AVS2DVS is would be probably almost impossible to implement (again IMHO, these conjectures here are just "free wheel thinking") and the B/C ratio would be for sure extremely low...

Maybe exploring furthermore the usage of AviSynth MT or AviSynth+, strictly with MT plugins, would give higher benefits, with a relatively minor effort, if the throughput of the job is the priority...

MrC

10th March 2016, 18:23

Guys, I'm not dead... maybe just zombified by my job... within few days I should publish a new alpha with some minor improvements (BM 1.4.1, tnx SD, more subs tools) and bugfixes (mpeg2 auto chapters issue, tnx manolito, AVS join titles chapters flags with fps conversion, tnx davexnet from VH forum).

;)

Bye

manolito

10th March 2016, 21:07

Guys, I'm not dead... maybe just zombified by my job...

This is very reassuring - I was almost ready to email you inquiring about your health... :p

Take care
manolito

manolito

13th March 2016, 11:53

By default AVStoDVD uses the following HQ parameters when the FFMpeg HQ mode is activated:
-bf 2 -mbd rd -trellis 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2

These parameters are officially recommended, see here:
https://ffmpeg.org/faq.html#Which-are-good-parameters-for-encoding-high-quality-MPEG_002d1_002fMPEG_002d2_003f

But at least for current versions of FFMpeg the "trellis" parameter causes heavy artifacts with a lot of sources. It looks like the background is "pulsing", the reason is that all I-frames are bitrate-starved, i.e. their quantizer is way too high.

Here is an example source file:
http://www67.zippyshare.com/v/PpKnauBU/file.html

Even with the highest bitrate these artifacts are clearly visible. Removing the "-trellis 2" from the HQ parameters fixes the problem.

Thanks to SilverSolver from the DVDStyler forum for discovering the issue and being a great help in finding the culprit.

I recommend to everyone to remove the "trellis" parameter from the HQ FFMpeg parameter list...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

15th March 2016, 13:37

Thanks manolito for the hint

;)

Bye

manolito

19th March 2016, 22:35

I just uploaded new versions of my AVStoDVD plugins, here's the link:
http://www72.zippyshare.com/v/vQjJSXBw/file.html

Changes:

Wavi_Mod now uses the latest version 0.4.9 of BS1770Gain

ffmpeg_vbr features some usability improvements.

1. The bitrate thresholds for switching between different encoding modes and the thresholds for switching between Custom Quant Matrices can now be specified independently.
2. The 1-pass VBR and 2-pass VBR modes can now be forced regardless of the video bitrates.
3. In forced 2-pass VBR mode the desired HQ mode can now be specified (Normal Quality, Regular HQ, Extreme HQ).
4. In the Extreme HQ mode the MPEG Adapted matrix and a DC precision of 10 are forced.

The plugins were tested under WinXP and Win7 (32-bit and 64-bit) and AviSynth 2.60. I used the latest FFMpeg point release 3.0.

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

20th March 2016, 05:11

Great. Thanks so much manolito. I'll give it a try :) if I can figure out those stuffs. I tried once and failed.
One question. I've always used HC ENC VBR 2 passes. Can you/anyone comment on
FFMPEG 1pass CBR
FFMPEG 1pass CBR (use high quality setting)
and
HC ENC 1 pass VBR

I get it that CBR = constant bit rate and VBR = variable bitrate. I assume FFMPEG 1 pass CBR is the fastest and least quality while HC ENC 1 pass VBR is a tradeoff of quality and speed?
What about FFMPEG 1pass CBR (use high quality setting)?

edit: Managed to install it and get it working I suppose and testing a DVD encode now. My questions above still remain :P

manolito

20th March 2016, 13:26

Hi SuLyMaN,

as always this is mostly a compromise between speed and quality. As a rule of thumb you can say that the higher the encoding bitrate the less you will notice differences in quality between the different encoding modes.

This already is the philosophy of AVStoDVD. If you have activated "Smart Selection" for the encoding modes (this is the default), FFMpeg CBR will be used for high bitrates above 6500 kbps, HCenc 1-pass VBR for medium bitrates between 4500 kbps and 6500 kbps, and HCEnc 2-pass VBR for lower bitrates below 4500 kbps. Generally these thresholds do make sense, but they can probably be optimized depending on the source characteristics.

And of course there are folks who put quality above anything else, and they will use 2-pass VBR all the time regardless of the bitrate.

For the difference between FFMpeg and HCenc the answer is not so easy. A lot depends on the command line parameters for FFMpeg, and they can get quite complicated. Using only FFMpegs default parameters the output quality will mostly be inferior compared to HCenc.

My plugin uses Fishman0919s extreme high quality parameters by default for bitrates below 3500 kbps (the threshold can be edited), and according to Fishman using these parameters gives FFMpeg an edge over HCenc - at least at lower bitrates.

The latest version of my plugin has added some versatility in using different FFMpeg encoding modes. Now it is possible to force 2-pass VBR regardless of the bitrate, and the 2-pass mode can now be combined with parameters for normal quality, regular HQ and extreme HQ. And you also can combine it with any Custom Quant Matrix you like (with the exception of the Extreme HQ Mode where the MPEG Adapted Matrix is forced).

I know that this versatility is only important for power users, most users will be happy with the default automatic mode. Still it is nice to have this versatility, and it can be quite useful for users who cannot get HCenc working (there were reports that HCenc can crash under Win10).

Cheers
manolito

SuLyMaN

20th March 2016, 14:09

Thanks manolito. I am currently encoding a DVD with the FFMPEG 1pass CBR (use high quality setting) having installed your plugins. The encoded started at the time of my post and is still in progress at the time of this post. So, I will rate it at at least 3x - 4x more slow that HCENC with 2 pass on my PC (core 2 duo e6600 2.4Ghz, 4GB RAM) as at least 9 hours have passed since I started the encode and it is stuck at 38%?. It could also be stuck as there are 2 cmd windows open for audio encoding and there does not seem to be progress besides my CPU being pegged at 100%. Most of my DVDs are under 3500 kbps. I assume this will then yield the best quality setting. I was more interested in having a 'best' setting and a 'fastest' setting.
Reading your post above, I would have to say either HC enc or FFMPEG 1pass CBR (use high quality setting) for best quality and for fastest setting, I will have to test the HCenc 1pass VBR with the FFMPEG 1pass CBR.

manolito

20th March 2016, 16:28

First of all having two cmd windows for audio encoding is not normal at all. Whatever the reason, it has nothing to do with the ffmpeg-vbr plugin. This plugin does not touch audio at all.

And second I am not so sure if you really selected 1-pass CBR. If you checked the FFMpeg HQ option under preferences and your bitrate is below 3500 kbps, then you will get the Extreme HQ 2-pass mode with the ff_vbr plugin installed. You will only get a 1-pass CBR encode if your bitrate is above 6500 kbps (the AVStoDVD default threshold for switching between CBR and 1-pass VBR). You can edit this threshold in the Registry.

My plugin does not let you force CBR for bitrates lower than this threshold. The reason is that the quality would be awful. If you really need FFMpeg CBR at low bitrates you will have to uninstall my plugin.

For using FFMPEG with my plugin the fastest setting would be to force 1-pass VBR without specifying the HQ option under preferences.
The best quality setting would be to force 2-pass VBR using a value of 3.

I will have to test the HCenc 1pass VBR with the FFMPEG 1pass CBR.

This does not make any sense. As I already said there is no way to use FFMPEG CBR for bitrates below 6500 kbps. And comparing CBR to 1-pass VBR is like comparing apples to oranges.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

31st March 2016, 16:54

New 2.8.4 Alpha release is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.4%20Alpha%20160331/).

Cumulative change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added 'Execute AVStoDVD with Elevated Privileges' option in 'Preferences'/'Misc'
- Added 'All'/'None' selection buttons to all ListBox forms
- Added 'Tools'/'Subtitles Tools'/'Check/Fix SRT Subs' option
- Added 'Tools'/'Subtitles Tools'/'Re-Sync SRT Subs' option
- Improved parsing routine for SubRip subtitles
- Removed 2nd authoring attempt if 1st fails (used new BatchMux 1.4 -bmlog flag)
- Removed '-trellis 2' from FFmpeg HQ cli flags
- Revised dual layer DVD output label from 'DVD-9 (9.4 GB)' to 'DVD-9 (8.5 GB)'
- Validated compatibility with Windows 10
- ColorMatrix plugin updated to release 2.5
- FFMpegSource plugin updated to release 2.22
- BatchMux updated to release 1.4.1 beta (30-01-2016)
- HCenc updated to release 0.28 (21-12-2015)
- AVSMeter updated to release 2.1.3
- LAV Filters updated to release 0.67
- MediaInfo updated to release 0.7.77

;)

Bye

manolito

1st April 2016, 00:50

Thanks a lot... :thanks:

Ran my usual tests with it, no problems at all.
The updated German language file (3 new lines for the subs tools) is here:
https://www.sendspace.com/file/sq6r06

Cheers
manolito

Przemek_Sperling

1st April 2016, 08:25

Thx for the update, but I read " LAV Filters updated to release 0.67". Shouldn't it be " LAV Filters updated to release 0.68"?

MrC

2nd April 2016, 13:40

Thanks manolito for the quick test report and for the tranlation.

@Przemek, not yet updated to LAV 0.68. If you did, you may check if there are compatibility issues with latest A2D and report back here. Thanks!

;)

Bye

manolito

2nd April 2016, 17:57

I have been using LAV 0.68 from the day it came out. No problems whatsoever. (But I only use it with DSS2 Mod, I have ditched DirectShowSource completely.)

Cheers
manolito

manolito

12th April 2016, 23:34

Found a regression in the latest 2.8.4 Alpha...

When trying to import more than 1 source files at once I get the following error:
http://i.imgur.com/2zl4hL7.png

(It is a Windows message, therefore it is German. Should be something like "Types Mismatch")

The 2.83 versions including the hotfix do not have this problem. The previous 2.8.4 Alpha 151229 also works. It also has nothing to do with MediaInfo, I tried several older versions.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

15th April 2016, 16:47

Thanks manolito for the report. Will fix asap.

Bye

manolito

17th April 2016, 03:07

And the next bug report... :devil:

This one has been around for a while, 2.83 stable already has it.

Visual cropping fails if the source is MPEG2 elementary streams or if the source is a muxed MPEG2 file and indexing with DGIndex is selected (the recommended way).

In these cases visual cropping fails because the source duration cannot be detected. In the source window the correct duration is displayed, though. So it cannot be a MediaInfo issue. And it also has nothing to do with AVSMeter versions.

So far the only workaround is to manually mux MPEG elementary streams before feeding them to AVStoDVD, and when A2D recommends to index the MPEG2 file using DGIndex to decline this request.

Cheers
manolito

//EDIT//
This problem not only occurs with MPEG2 elementary streams, all elementary stream formats seem to be affected.

Just tried to add raw AVC and AAC streams (extensions .264 and .aac). For both video and audio A2D could not detect the duration, I had to enter the correct duration manually. But even after manually entering the duration the visual cropping routine still failed with the message: Could not detect duration.

MrC

18th April 2016, 15:30

Hi manolito,

thanks again for the fresh report ;)

Here below a quick fix for both the multiple source input and the visual crop error. I have tested just a d2v project without audio. I did not have the possibility to test the AVC/AAC raw streams w/o duration.

https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_284_Alpha160418_exe_only.7z

;)

Bye

manolito

18th April 2016, 17:34

Thanks a lot for the quick fix... :thanks:

Tested all the scenarios which failed before, everything now works as expected.

The reason why I find issues a little faster than before is that I now phased out good old DVD2SVCD on my ThinkPad and use A2D almost exclusively for my DVD creations (mostly captured movies from TV). To be able to reuse all my tricky little AVS scripts I had made for DVD2SVCD over the years I moved all these scripts to templates which I can import into the A2D AviSynth tab.

The only thing which I could not automate so far is to change the source properties to Progressive. All captured MPEG2 PAL streams are flagged as Interlaced even if the content is purely Progressive. Maybe I will write a Macro to change the scan type with one click...

Thanks again,
Cheers
manolito

Lebowsky

19th April 2016, 13:22

hi,

dunno if I should solve this by manually editing the generated avisynth script (not sure what the avs function would be anyway) or if there is another way.

For an independent screening in a theater, I have a source with hardcoded subtitles, and I need to overlay subtitles in another language on top of it. The timestamps should be identical, according to the movie producer who gave me both files. Unfortunately he doesn't have a clean HQ source without already overlayed subs.

Is there a way to overlay the new subtitles and have some kind of black background around it? Like a square, or full-width black stripe, that would show up only when the subtitles are shown?

thanks!

Sir Didymus

19th April 2016, 16:14

One possibility is to produce a project with the new subtitles, possibly presented as forced subs, then using DvdSubEdit to change the opacity (contrast) of all used colors (E2, E1, PA, BG), including the background, to 15, e.g. 100% solid color, for a given subpicture individually or for all subpictures as a whole... However, I am not sure that this "trick" will solve the issue for all subpictures: maybe there are some ones where the underlying hardcoded subs are still partially visible, for the parts outside the canvas of the new subs... It's just an idea... Maybe better solutions exist... :-(

manolito

19th April 2016, 18:32

This could also be a nice usage of my old "ActiveArea" AVS script... :D

You could specify the x and y coordinates of the hardcoded subs and make this area black before adding the new subs. You would do it like this:

Paste the following into a new text file with the name "ActiveArea.avs"
# Define the coordinates of the desired active area
# X1 is left, Y1 is top, X2 is right, Y2 is bottom

X1 =
Y1 =
X2 =
Y2 =

# Make the values MOD4

X1 = X1 - (X1 % 4)
Y1 = Y1 - (y1 % 4)
X2 = (X2 + 3) / 4 * 4
Y2 = (Y2 + 3) / 4 * 4

Active = crop(X1,Y1,X2-X1,Y2-Y1)
Above = Y1 > 0 ? crop(0,0,width(),Y1) : NOP
Below = Y2 < height() ? crop(0,Y2,width(),height()-Y2) : NOP
Left = X1 > 0 ? crop(0,Y1,X1,Y2-Y1) : NOP
Right = X2 < width() ? crop(X2,Y1,width()-X2,Y2-Y1) : NOP
Last = Active

BlankClip(Active)
# My_Filter_2(...parameters...)
# My_Filter_3(...parameters...)

IsClip(Left) ? StackHorizontal(Left, Last) : NOP
IsClip(Right) ? StackHorizontal(Last, Right) : NOP
IsClip(Above) ? StackVertical(Above, Last) : NOP
IsClip(Below) ? StackVertical(Last, Below) : NOP

return Last

Find the coordinates of the hard coded subs and enter them into this script.

Now import the script into AVStoDVD (View/Edit Title Settings -> AviSynth). Uncheck "Auto AviSynth Script" and insert the following lines right after the "Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()" line:
# Must be inserted into the AVS script after the "ConvertToYV12()" command

Last = Video
Import("FULL PATH\ActiveArea.avs")
Video = Last

Don't forget to specify the full path for the "ActiveArea" script.

After importing this script the whole hard subs area should be pitch black so you can overlay your new subs.

Good luck
manolito

Lebowsky

19th April 2016, 18:47

manolito - this looks awesome. Unfortunately I don't have time to test it tonight, but will do tomorrow, so I'll report back in 36-48h. Two questions already though, so that I can start directly tomorrow :)

First, it seems the ActiveArea is constantly displayed correct? Or is there a way to have it only when subs are as well? (from the SRT timestamps or something maybe... not sure what is feasible in a not too complicated way...)

Second, script should look like this, correct? I can use hardcode my own subs as well, no need to have them as a subtitle track?

(...)
Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Last = Video
Import("FULL PATH\ActiveArea.avs")
Video = Last
Video = Video.Lanczos4Resize(720,576)
Video = Video.TextSub("C:\Project\subs.srt")

AudioDub(Video, Audio)

manolito

19th April 2016, 20:33

Yes, the script is correct. To only invoke it when subs are present will take some effort, though. I think you would have to create trim statements to stitch together the ranges with and without subs. And I have no idea how you could create the trim commands from your SRT timestamps (I am totally ignorant about subs...). ConditionalFilter could be another option. This is stuff for the experts like Gavino...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

21st April 2016, 17:29

AVStoDVD 2.8.4 Final is available to download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd/AVStoDVD%202.8.4/).

Just minor fixes from latest Alpha.

;)

Bye

Lebowsky

21st April 2016, 17:50

congrats :)

manolito

21st April 2016, 18:11

Thanks very much for the new stable version... :thanks:

Made a few basic tests, everything looks cool.

Thanks
manolito

8140david

17th May 2016, 05:35

Hi,
I just installed the latest stable version.
I get this error when I launch the program:
"Windows Common Controls 6.0 library (mscomctl.ocx) has not been found in your system. ... Do you want to install it?"
I click yes, and I get the same message next time I launch the program.
I am on Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bits.
What can I do?
Thanks in advance

manolito

17th May 2016, 10:22

Hi 8140david and welcome to the forum...

This message means that mscomctl.ocx is not registered in your system. Normally the AVStoDVD installer takes care of this automatically, but in your case it looks like this has been blocked.

The file itself should be in the "AVStoDVD\Lib" folder, please verify if it really is there. To register it manually open a command window and run the following command as an administrator:
"regsvr32 [filename]"

Good luck
manolito

8140david

17th May 2016, 20:01

Thanks, but it doesn't work.

I still get the message when I run Avstodvd.
And if I say yes to install it, I get this error message:
"Error 75, error in the file path"

Any idea?

manolito

17th May 2016, 22:40

Looks like this is a case for MrC himself...;)

MrC

18th May 2016, 12:44

Interesting, let me check why the error persists.

Meanwhile you can download and install the VB6 Runtime package

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24417

;)

Bye

manolito

10th June 2016, 15:23

Added an Administrator Manifest to the compiled batch files. This should ensure better compatibility with Win10.

Just after adding an Administrator Manifest to my compiled batch files I got a complaint by a Win10 user:
I get the popup: "Do you want to allow the following program from an unknown publisher to make changes to this computer?"

Without the added Administrator Manifest the file works fine for him.

Was I too quick to make this change? I cannot test this myself since I absolutely refuse to let Win10 get close to any of my computers. Could some AVStoDVD users who are under Win10 please test at least one of the plugins and report her/his findings?

Cheers
manolito

manolito

10th June 2016, 21:16

After some research it seems clear that the Windows UAC is responsible for this issue. For some reason the compiled batch files trigger this UAC warning only if they were compiled with an included Administrator Manifest.

Personally I always disable UAC completely after every new Windows installation. But I would probably not recommend this to the average user.

So I decided to recompile my batch files without Administrator Manifests. Please redownload if you have any UAC issues...
http://www109.zippyshare.com/v/FThfn5UY/file.html

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

19th June 2016, 07:01

Hello, i have tested avs2dvd under wine. It's runs very well but in authoring must be an error. Is it possible that the script has error or did batchmux use any lib's?
if i want to start it via wine, batchmux did not start. Under windows i see an short windows. Under i wine, id did not do anything.

Logfile
<19.06.2016 11:10:58>
START PROCESS
<>

<19.06.2016 11:10:58>
PROJECT SETTINGS

DVD Video Standard: PAL
DVD Titles number: 1
DVD Size: 34/4450 MB (1%)
DVD Output Setup: DVD-Ordner
DVD Label: DVD
DVD Menu: No Menu
Output Folder: Z:\home\thomas\DVD
Delete Temp Assets Files: Yes
Delete Temp Working Files: Yes
Edit Command Parameters: No
Post Process Task: Fortschrittsfenster anzeigen (Voreinstellung)

PREFERENCES

MultiThread: 1
AVS Video Source Filter: FFMpegSource
AVS Audio Source Filter: A2DSource
AVS UpSize/DownSize Filter: Lanczos4Resize/Spline16Resize
Frame Adjust Strategy: 0
FPS Hard Conversion: 0
PAL SpeedUp: 1
NTSC SlowDown: 1
Video Resolution: 0
Video Encoder: 0
Video BitRate Min: 2500
Video BitRate Max: 8500
Keep DVD Compliant Video: 0
AC3 Audio Encoder: 0
Force FFmpeg for Long Audio: 1
DVD Audio Format: 0
DVD Audio BitRate: 192
Keep DVD Compliant Audio: 1
Normalize Audio: 0
Auto Delay Audio: 1
DVD Audio Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Audio Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Language (Primary): DE - German
DVD Subs Language (Secondary): EN - English
DVD Subs Font: DejaVu Serif Condensed 16pt (255,255,255)
Chapters Interval: 5
Use Source Chapters: 1
DVD Burning Drive: D: ATAPI iHAS124 B AL0S
DVD Burning Speed: 4x
Auto Erase DVD RW: 1
Execute with Elevated Privileges: 0
Unload ActiveMovie Library: 1
Adjust DirectShow Filters at runtime: 1
Save General Settings: 0

SYSTEM INFO

Processor Name: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz
Operating System: Windows 7 - Service Pack 1 (6.1.7601) 32 bit
User has Admin Rights: YES
Running with Elevated Privileges: YES
Available Output Disc Space: 67 GB
AviSynth is installed: YES (release 2.6.0)
LAV Filters is installed: YES (release 0.68.0)
ffdshow is installed: YES (release 1.0.7)

CODECS REPORT

H.264/AVC: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt
Xvid: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt
DivX 4/5/6: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt
Other MPG4: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt
DV: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt
MPEG1: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt
MPEG2: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt
MP2: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt
MP3: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt
AAC: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt
AC3: Kein bevorzugter Filter eingestellt

<>

<19.06.2016 11:10:58>
TITLE 1 SOURCE FILES
Video: F:\media\thomas\DOWNLOAD\Film\Sample\Film.mkv
Info: AVC - 5152 kbps - 1920x1080 - DAR 16:9 - 25 fps (CFR) - Progressive - 32 seconds - 798 frames
Audio 1: F:\media\thomas\DOWNLOAD\Film\Sample\Film.mkv
Info: AC3 - 384 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 32 seconds (16 ms delay) - DE
[MediaInfoLib - v0.7.77]
<>

<19.06.2016 11:10:58>
AVISYNTH SCRIPT
Import("C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\Lib\ffms2.dll")

# Audio is frameserved by AviSynth just for Preview and Edit purposes.
Audio = A2DAudioSource("F:\media\thomas\DOWNLOAD\Film\Sample\Film.mkv", CacheFolder="Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp")
Video = FFVideoSource("F:\media\thomas\DOWNLOAD\Film\Sample\Film.mkv", track=-1, seekmode=0)

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Spline16Resize(720,576)

AudioDub(Video, Audio)
<>

<19.06.2016 11:10:58>
DIRECTSHOW AUDIO MIXER OPERATIONS:
No ffdshow mixer ON/OFF adjustment required at runtime
No ffdshow mixer SETTING adjustment required at runtime
No LAV Filters mixer ON/OFF adjustment required at runtime
<>

<19.06.2016 11:10:58>
START VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Video Encoding Profile: FFmpeg CBR 1-pass
Target Video FileSize: 32,4 MB
Encoding Parameters: -i "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_Film_1.avs" -threads 4 -aspect 16:9 -c:v mpeg2video -b:v 8500k -minrate 8500k -maxrate 8500k -bufsize 2000k -dc 10 -y "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_Film.m2v"
<>

<19.06.2016 11:11:11>
END VIDEO ENCODING OPERATIONS
Created File: Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_Film.m2v (32,3 MB)
OUTPUT VIDEO INFO: MPEG-2 Video - 8500 kbps - 720x576 - DAR 16:9 - 25 fps - Progressive - 32 seconds - 798 frames
<>

<19.06.2016 11:11:11>
START AUDIO DEMUXING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
FFmpeg Parameters: -i "F:\media\thomas\DOWNLOAD\Film\Sample\Film.mkv" -c:a copy -vn -sn -y -map 0:1 "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_Film_1.ToFix.ac3"
<>

<19.06.2016 11:11:12>
START AC3 FIXING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
ac3fix Parameters: "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_Film_1.ToFix.ac3" "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_Film_1.ac3"
<>

<19.06.2016 11:11:13>
END AUDIO DEMUXING OPERATIONS (Track 1)
Created File: Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_Film_1.ac3 (1,5 MB)
OUTPUT AUDIO INFO: AC3 - 384 kbps - CBR - 2 ch - 48000 Hz - 32 seconds (0 ms delay)
<>

<19.06.2016 11:11:13>
START DVD AUTHORING OPERATIONS
BatchMux Parameters: -arglist "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_BatchMux.ini"
BatchMux ini file:
-bmlog "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_BatchMux.log"
-d "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD\VIDEO_TS"
-mxp "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp"
-l "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log"
-muxman "C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\MuxMan"
-prio LOW
-palette "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_Palette.txt"
-v "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_Film.m2v"
-vidmode LB
-a1 "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_Film_1.ac3"
-a1lang de

<>

<19.06.2016 11:11:31>
Process aborted during DVD AUTHORING operations!

Check following files for more details:

AVStoDVD log file <Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD.log>
BatchMux log file <Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_BatchMux.log>

For more troubleshooting on Authoring issues, see Help/FAQ/Authoring.
<>

<19.06.2016 11:12:32>
Warning! AVStoDVD Project ended with errors.
<>

<19.06.2016 11:12:32>
Log file created by AVStoDVD Release 2.8.4
<>

BatchMux log file --> Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_BatchMux.log
BatchMux version --> 1.4.1
Destination Folder --> Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD\VIDEO_TS
MuxMan Script File --> Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp
MuxMan Log String --> -l "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log"
Folder of the MuxMan executable --> C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\MuxMan
Check presence of MuxMan.exe --> PASSED
Palette File --> Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_Palette.txt
Default Palette --> SUCCESSFULLY REDEFINED
Segment #1 - Video File #1 --> Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_Film.m2v
Checking asset for importing as --> M2V, M1V, MPV
Video Coding Mode --> MPEG-2
Video Resolution (Nominal) --> (720x576)
MPEG-2 Aspect Ratio (DAR) --> 16:9
Video Frame Rate --> 25 fps
Video Bitrate (Nominal, Kbps) --> 8300
VBV Buffer Size (Kbyte) --> 246
Segment #1 - Video Display Mode --> LB
Segment #1 - Audio #1 File #1 --> Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_Film_1.ac3
Segment #1 - Audio Lang Code #1 --> de
Started preparation of --> MUXMAN SCRIPT
Completed preparation of --> MUXMAN SCRIPT
MuxMan RunString --> -run
Strings (local stack - bytes) --> 917
Time Codes (local heap - bytes) --> 13
Static memory usage % --> 0.71
Starting MuxMan Authoring with --> LOW task priority
MuxMan Authoring --> COMPLETE
BatchMux: ERROR opening Log File Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log
Dyn. allocated segment resources --> RELEASED
--> 1 segments
Dyn. allocated BmArg resources --> RELEASED
--> 23 BmArg structures
Local Stack memory --> RELEASED
File i/o structures --> DEALLOCATED

Is it possible, that i must change the folder for Muxman from "C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\MuxMan" in the ini file?
And how can i change it?

Sir Didymus

19th June 2016, 22:48

Hello, Mister XY.

Regarding BM, you are working outside of the perimeter of its intended usage & OS environment. Furthermore my knowledge about wine is almost insignificant. However let me try to give some help at the best of my possibilities...

First of all you should understand the purpose of BM, as a background information. BatchMux is simply a "compiler"; it creates one authoring "program" (e.g. the MuxMan mxp script file) from the directives and instructions provided by AVS2DVD. Of course, in order to be consistent (and to work properly), this mxp script is referencing and needs a series of inputs (the authoring assets). After creating the mxp script, BM tries to launch MuxMan, by feeding it with the just created mxp script file. OK? That's all! :-)

Now, some hints.
1. BM does not need external libreries. To check BM is properly working, you may want to simply launch it FROM A CONSOLE window. After simply typing "BatchMux.exe", it should produce a basic help screen, both under Windows and in wine.

2. During the testing, obviously, it is important to work by instructing AVS2DVD to leave all temporary assets and temporary files in the working directories; otherwise these files are deleted at the end of the AVS2DVD session.

3. From your log file it seems to me that BM operates correctly until the step of creating the mxp file. After obeying to the recommendation of the step 2 above, could you please confirm that the file "Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.mxp" exists? If so, you can open it with a text editor to get a look at the MuxMan script file... :-)

4. From your log file, BM reports that the preparation of the mxp script file was completed: "Completed preparation of --> MUXMAN SCRIPT", so I am almost sure that the step 3 above was carried out OK in the wine environment.

5. To launch MuxMan, in the the very final steps of the BM code, an OS call similar to "system ("Start /WAIT MuxMan.exe")" is executed, so IN MY UNDERSTANDING, two possibilities exist: or the system call executed by BM is failing under wine, or the system call is working, but MuxMan itself is not working in wine. For sure MuxMan did not start at all in your reported testing session, since it did not produce any log file, as reported in the log line: "BatchMux: ERROR opening Log File Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log".

6. Please carry our this test under wine: manually launch MuxMan (simply double click on it). The graphic GUI of MuxMan should start. If so, you please can do: File --> Load Project and open the mxp script file of the step 3. If you simply hit then "Start", you should be able to create manually, with a single click, the whole DVD!!!

OK?

Cheers,
SD

Mister XY

20th June 2016, 04:51

This is the mxp script.
Section=Settings
{
Destination Folder=Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_3\VIDEO_TS
Item=Palette
{
Name=DefaultPalette
Color 0=0, 0, 255
Color 1=255, 0, 0
Color 2=0, 0, 0
Color 3=255, 255, 255
Color 4=0, 255, 0
Color 5=255, 0, 255
Color 6=255, 255, 0
Color 7=0, 125, 125
Color 8=125, 125, 125
Color 9=225, 225, 225
Color 10=125, 0, 0
Color 11=0, 125, 0
Color 12=0, 0, 125
Color 13=222, 0, 255
Color 14=222, 125, 0
Color 15=125, 0, 125
}
}
Section=Content
{
Item=Segment
{
Name=Seg1
Display Mode=Only Letterbox
Item=Video Stream
{
Standard=PAL
Item=Video Play
{
File=Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_3_Film.m2v
}
}
Item=Audio Stream
{
Stream Number=1
Language=de
Language Extension=1
Delay=0
Item=Audio Play
{
File=Z:\home\thomas\DVD\DVD_3_Film_1.ac3
}
}
Item=Scene List
{
Item=Scene
{
Name=Seg1_Scn1
Scene Time=00:00:00:00
Uop=00000000
}
}
}
}
Section=Navigation
{
Item=First PGC
{
Name=FP
Item=Pre Commands
{
mov GPRM0, 1
JumpSS TitleMenu
}
}
Item=VMG
{
Item=Language
{
Name=VMG_Lu1
Item=PGC
{
Name=VMG_Lu1_Pgc1
Menu ID=Title Menu
Item=Pre Commands
{
if ( GPRM0 == 1 ) GoTo 2
JumpTT VTS01_Ttn1
}
}
}
}
Item=VTS01
{
Item=Language
{
Name=VTSM01_Lu1
Item=PGC
{
Name=VTSM01_Lu1_Pgc1
Menu ID=Root Menu
Item=Pre Commands
{
JumpSS VMG_Lu1_Pgc1
}
}
}
Item=Title
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1
Item=PGC
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1
Menu ID=Title Entry
Item=Post Commands
{
Exit
}
Item=Program List
{
Item=Program
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg1
Item=Cell
{
Name=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Cell1
Linked Scene=Seg1_Scn1
}
}
}
}
Item=Part of Title List
{
Item=VTS01_Ttn1_Pgc1_Pg1
}
}
}
}

6. Please carry our this test under wine: manually launch MuxMan (simply double click on it). The graphic GUI of MuxMan should start. If so, you please can do: File --> Load Project and open the mxp script file of the step 3. If you simply hit then "Start", you should be able to create manually, with a single click, the whole DVD!!!

This run

For sure MuxMan did not start at all in your reported testing session, since it did not produce any log file, as reported in the log line: "BatchMux: ERROR opening Log File Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp\DVD_MuxMan.log".

And yes, muxman did not start via avs2dvd.
I also have change the standard app from mono to wine. After this, muxman starts.

Sir Didymus

20th June 2016, 10:14

This run

That's great! At least you have a way (dirty, but working) to produce your DVD under wine... :-)

My conclusion is then that the piece of code, within BM, where the "system()" OS call is attempted, is not working in wine. :(

May I ask what happens, under wine, if you type in a console window the command "Start /WAIT MuxMan.exe"?

Edit. Hum... What do you mean with "After this, muxman starts"?!? Everything works now via avs2dvd? If so, yuppi! & forget my comments just above...

Mister XY

20th June 2016, 19:37

No no muxman starts as solo app, not in avstodvd.
In an wine terminal it's start with "Start muxman" and with "wait muxman" i get an message, that wait is for batch.

Sir Didymus

20th June 2016, 22:35

So, you confirm that in a wine terminal, if you type: "Start muxman" the MuxMan GUI starts, and if you type "Start /WAIT muxman" it gives an error instead?

If this is the case, frankly speaking, I am definitely non in favour of providing support to this case... The /WAIT argument is quite important for the Start command... What shall I do if it is not implemented in its full form in wine?

Of course, in principle, the whole spawning mechanism adopted by BM could be changed, in order to avoid using the Start command. The idea could be to create a batch file, with the MuxMan C/L arguments and to launch this new batch file by means a different "system" call from within the code of BM.

The point is that this change would be just beneficial to improve the compatibility with the wine envinonment, at the risk of introducing issues for other users running AVS2DVD in the Windows environment...

Mhhh, I don't think it's a good idea to implement things in this way... Especially considering that you already have a working solution to complete manually the authoring session...

Sorry,
SD

Mister XY

21st June 2016, 06:27

ah, you mean i must type "Start /wait muxman". i have think i must test with "start muxman" or "wait muxman".
If i start with "start /wait muxman" Muxman starts.

Sir Didymus

21st June 2016, 10:27

Could you try this?

http://www10.zippyshare.com/v/rGVzWdp0/file.html

It is a snippet of code doing this:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <process.h>

main()

{
int ret = 0;

printf ("Test1 - Using \"system()\" OS call\n");
printf (" - TP1 - before executing MuxMan...\n");
ret = system ("MuxMan.exe");
printf (" - TP2 - after executing MuxMan; \"system()\" --> %d\n", ret);
}

Put the test1.exe in the same folder where MuxMan is located, and launch it from a console windows, as shown in attached images 1, 2 and 3. Is MuxMan starting?

Mister XY

21st June 2016, 17:53

it's look like fine. See the atachment.

Sir Didymus

21st June 2016, 18:22

This is very strange !?!?
Sorry, we can not see the direct attachments in the replies until they are approved by some mod, but this is not relevant anyhow. What you say is indeed very clear and very strange.

Well, let see...
:sly:

The executable of BM acts exactly like the snippet of code in my previous post.

So, you can do another test, if you wish...

In the program folder of AVS2DVD there should exist one file named BatchMux.exe.

In the temporary files assets ("Z:\home\thomas\DVD\Temp") there should exist one initialization file named "DVD_BatchMux.ini".
Please copy BatchMux.exe into this directory, and then, from a console window, type "BatchMux.exe -arglist DVD_BatchMux.ini".

Is MuxMan starting?
Maybe some privileges should be attributed to the executable BatchMux.exe? What about changing the standard app from mono to wine also for BM?

Mister XY

21st June 2016, 20:02

No, MuxMan is not starting.
I will test do edit the ini file.
edit: i have also edit the path to muxman, and nothing happend.
BatchMux has also open with wine.

Sir Didymus

21st June 2016, 21:21

Well, at this point I have little hope on the matter. Having no access to a linux machine, I can not do any test on my own to replicate the issue and to further thinking on how to solve it. Sorry...
:(

manolito

22nd June 2016, 00:15

@Mister XY

As it seems Wine gives you a lot of trouble running AVStoDVD under Linux, have you tried running it in a VM with a Win7 installation? Sounds cleaner to me...

Cheers
manolito

Mister XY

22nd June 2016, 07:23

The reason is, i want go away from windows to use Linux :-). But i see is not so stable. I have also Windows 10 as first os and Linux Mint as second. So i have the option to use it under Windows.

manolito

8th July 2016, 16:09

Again an updated version of my A2D plugins:

Only the FFmpeg VBR plugin has changed this time. It fixes an undersize tendency for 1-pass VBR, and it now has an option to use Mplex instead of FFmpeg for multiplexing.

Background:
I have never been too happy with FFmpeg's muxing capabilities. But now I also get audio sync problems in some situations. FFmpeg always muxes the audio tracks into the MPG file with a -40ms delay. The MPG itself plays fine, even after repacking it into an MKV container there are no sync problems.

But after transcoding such a file to AVC/AAC (I use StaxRip for this) I do get an audio sync problem. MediaInfo reports this -40ms delay, and StaxRip feels that it must correct the delay. If you override the delay correction manually, everything is cool again.

Instead of digging deeper into this FFmpeg peculiarity, I decided to ditch FFmpeg for muxing altogether. Mplex IMO is more reliable anyways (of course it can't touch MuxMan), and it does not add an audio delay.

I included an older version which still works under WinXP using a non-SSE2 CPU. You can of course replace it with a more current version if your CPU supports it (DVDStyler comes with a much newer version).

Download link:
http://www31.zippyshare.com/v/3F9AcVNv/file.html

Just uploaded a newer version which is made for the current AVStoDVD_285_Alpha161027. I highly recommend to use this Alpha version, it has many improvements and is very stable.
http://www28.zippyshare.com/v/YKGhbfmL/file.html

Cheers
manolito

//EDIT//
After toying around a little bit with the FFmpeg muxing parameters I found the culprit for this stupid -40ms audio delay. It is the "-f vob" parameter ("-f dvd" has the same issue). Replacing this parameter with "-f mpeg" or omitting it altogether results in a muxed MPEG2 file without any audio delay. According to the FFmpeg docs the "-f mpeg" parameter is only for MPEG1 program streams while "-f vob" is for MPEG2 program streams.

Whatever, I will use Mplex from now on...

manolito

9th July 2016, 16:51

@MrC

Quick question for the developer:
What is the safest way to detect if FFmpeg is used for muxing?

A2D now uses FFmpeg for so many tasks, it is hard to keep track of all the possible parameters.

Right now I just check for the "-f vob" parameter in the command line in the hope that this parameter is only used for muxing. But I am not 100% sure if this is true (or if this could change in the future).

I see two other possibilities. First I can check for the "+genpts" parameter, and second I can check if the input parameter "-i" is used more than once. I believe that A2D only issues FFmpeg command lines with just 1 input file, with the only exception when muxing is requested.

I already tested the last possibiliy, so far I could not break it. What do you think?

Cheers
manolito

//EDIT//
Alright, I just went ahead and modified the plugin so it now detects if more than two input files are specified in the command line. Seems to be the safest way to me...

I also revamped the forced VBR modes. The forced modes for 1-pass and 2-pass VBR modes now include HQ modes, and these modes will now override any HQ settings made in AVStoDVD itself.

Example:
In the AVStoDVD preferences the user has specified to use FFmpeg in HQ mode. If in the plugin settings (ff_vbr.ini) a VBR mode with normal quality is forced (value=1) then the HQ setting made in the A2D preferences will be ignored. Seems more logical to me...

Download link in the previous post, please redownload...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

15th July 2016, 15:06

@manolito

there are only 2 places where FFmpeg is called to do muxing:

- during process encoding when selected output is 'Muxed MPEG2 File'
- when DVD Menu Full Preview option is activated in Menu Editor

nothing more ;) "-f vob" is called both time and only for those 2 times.

There is an old issue related to FFmpeg muxing: when muxing a WAV audio, output MPG file has the audio track messed up. I had reported this issue to the developers many years ago, but there was no fix.

What about mplex? Do you get problems to mux WAV audio?

;)

Bye

thescrapyard

23rd July 2016, 10:55

Just a minor request :

If I install the very latest release of avisynth+ over a previous install of avisynth 2.6.0.5, AVStoDVD complains AviSynth is not installed and reports the avisynth.dll as 0.1.0

If I install the first release of avisynth+ then AVStoDVD correctly reports the avisynth.dll as 2.6.x.x and runs as normal

If I now manually overwrite the avisynth.dll with the latest avisynth+ r2076, it once again complains the avisynth.dll is 0.1.0

I'm assuming this is down to the version of avisynth.dll being updated to take into account the current progress on the MT issues and various other issues that avisynth+ had in the past so as not to confuse matters

The problem is now that AVStoDVD won't run unless it detects avisynth.dll as 2.6.x.x

Is there anyway that this can be changed so that as long as the avisynth.dll is detected it doesn't matter what version is returned. This should fix the incorrect version errors and allow me to try out the updated avisynth+, which can be quite a bit faster that avisynth as plugins and external plugins have been updated and quite a few issues fixed and also MT mode runs as default without using a patched avisynth as I have in the past to squeeze as much as I can out of the encoding

I've pointed this issue out on the avisynth+ forums as well, but removing the version checks of avisynth.dll should stop the incompatibility error

Thanks for all your continuing hard work

MrC

23rd July 2016, 11:44

thescrapyard

24th July 2016, 08:12

@thescrapyard

wait, if the AviSynth release check routine reports "0.1.0", then A2D will give you just a warning. Just ignore the warning and go ahead. Instead there is a show stop when AviSynth.dll is not found from the path taken from "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AviSynth" registy key.

Which is your case?

;)

Bye

I'll have to do a bit more testing and recreate the steps I took, but its working now. I uninstalled avisynth+, reinstalled avisynth and then manually copied the avisynth+ r2076 overwriting the avisynth.dll

That appears to have worked, but some reason if you install avisynth, then avisynth+ so that everything now uses avisynth+ thats when it all goes wrong. Maybe pointers are being changed that wrere being checked but now don't exists. I had this issue in the past and can't remember how I fixed it

I'll try again when I've a bit more time and try seeing if pointers have been changed after installing avisynth+

manolito

26th July 2016, 12:19

Hi MrC and thanks for the detailed reply...
And sorry for the delay, I just came back from my annual motorcycle trip. This year it was northern Italy and Switzerland. We stayed in Domodossola for some days and did the Swiss Alpes from there (Furka, Nufenen, Gotthard, Grimsel and Susten).

@manolito

there are only 2 places where FFmpeg is called to do muxing:

- during process encoding when selected output is 'Muxed MPEG2 File'
- when DVD Menu Full Preview option is activated in Menu Editor

nothing more ;) "-f vob" is called both time and only for those 2 times.

There is an old issue related to FFmpeg muxing: when muxing a WAV audio, output MPG file has the audio track messed up. I had reported this issue to the developers many years ago, but there was no fix.

What about mplex? Do you get problems to mux WAV audio?

;)

Bye

So just checking for "-f vob" would be sufficient, thanks for the info. I think for now I will leave it as it is (checking for more than one input file) until I or someone else finds a problem...

For me the FFmpeg muxing problem is not the broken WAV muxing, it is the delay it introduces. Take DVD compliant audio and video streams and mux them once using FFmpeg and then using Mplex or Imago. Then feed the resulting files to MediaInfo. Only the file muxed with FFmpeg will show a -40 ms delay.

Mplex cannot mux WAV files directly.
Mplex cannot directly mux WAV files, they must be converted to
LPCM first. This can be done with eac3to:

eac3to.exe input.wav output.lpcm

(Note: The extension has to be .lpcm, .pcm will not work with Mplex)

The command line for muxing should look like this:

Mplex.exe -f 8 -o output.mpg input.m2v input.lpcm

Cheers
manolito

MrC

27th July 2016, 12:34

Thanks manolito for the reply.

I agree that FFmpeg should be dropped for mpg muxing.

I have noticed that Mplex can handle properly ac3 and mp2. Very interesting the workaround for wav (intermediate conversion to pcm). I'm wondering if wav>pcm can be performed only by eac3to or also FFmpeg is capable. I would be not so happy to include eac3to to A2D package just for this purpose...

Will check.

;)

Bye

manolito

27th July 2016, 19:31

Did some googling and found that FFmpeg can convert WAV to RAW, but you need to specify bit depth, big or little endian and signed or unsigned. And mainly I have no idea if RAW is the same as LPCM...

Cheers
manolito

MrC

28th July 2016, 17:27

RAW should be PCM without header.

If I remember correctly Wavi can output RAW PCM. Have to check if Wavi RAW can be accepted by Mplex.

;)

Bye

MrC

16th October 2016, 16:09

New 2.8.5 alpha release is out (https://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/files/avstodvd_alpha_beta/AVStoDVD%202.8.5%20Alpha%20161014/).

Change log:

- Some bugs fixed
- Added 'IVTC' option (Inverse Video Telecine routine for hard-telecined NTSC source) to 'Edit Title'/'AviSynth' section
- Added TIVTC plugins package to implement IVTC (TFM.TDecimate)
- Added tooltips to 'Edit Title'/'AviSynth' options
- Substituted FFmpeg with Mplex for MPEG2 muxing
- Refactored wave PCM audio stream retaining
- Forced selection of Full-D1 resolution when using FFmpeg and high bitrates (6500+) to avoid padding
- FFMpegSource plugin updated to release 2.22 (r1103 C plugin)

Most of new features are inclusions of the several and valid mods by manolito. Unfortunately I have had very few time to carefully debug those new feats. I guess the bravest of you will help with the usual competency.

;)

Bye

manolito

17th October 2016, 02:29

Hi MrC and thanks a lot for the new version... :thanks:

To be honest I was afraid that you had stopped working on AVStoDVD, the last version came out half a year ago. The forum was also very quiet, so I guessed that the days of converting stuff to DVD were numbered.

But I was wrong. Almost 60 downloads within a few hours after the announcement, that's not bad. I will start testing later tonight.

Do you have download URLs to some hard telecined clips?

And another question about this:
- Forced selection of Full-D1 resolution when using FFmpeg and high bitrates (6500+) to avoid padding

This is of course one of the possible workarounds. The other one is to limit the CBR bitrate for VCD resolutions to 7190 kbps or 6330 kbps (for NTSC). This is how my FF_VBR plugin does it, and I probably prefer this to upscaling a source with a frame size equal or smaller than VCD.

Thanks again and cheers
manolito

manolito

17th October 2016, 05:07

Alright, here are my first quick test results:

The forced Full D1 selection does not work right now because the resize parameters do not correctly appear in the AVS script. The script still has a resize command which resizes to VCD.

The Mplex version which comes with the Alpha does not work on my WinXP Non-SSE2 computer. I have a different compile of the same version which does (comes with the latest version of my FF_VBR plugin).

The Mplex parameters are questionable IMO. The -f 3 parameter should not be used for target files which later may be authored to DVD. Use -f 8 instead (MPEG2 with DVD Nav Packs). And the LPCM parameters cannot be used for muxing WAV files, the WAV has to be converted to LPCM first. If you do not do this, the -L parameters are useless.

The ffms2 C-Plugin integration works well. This will probably be the last version which works under XP, qyot27 has stopped compiling ffms2 C-Plugins. I believe that the file "ffms2.avsi" is not required in the A2D\Lib folder as it never gets called.

And of course I will start translating the new tool tips for the German language files, just give me a day or two...

Cheers
manolito

manolito

17th October 2016, 12:07

Creating an MPEG2 file with PCM audio actually works well. The FFMpeg command to convert a WAV file to LPCM actually works (I never got it to work so far), and Mplex happily muxes this LPCM audio. Still I think that "-f 3" should be replaced by "-f 8". I hex edited the A2D executable to do just this, and the results were beautiful.

Still I have questions about detecting hard telecined sources. How can you tell if a 29.97 source is truely interlaced, or if it is hard telecined? Does MediaInfo tell you the difference?

Cheers
manolito

manolito

18th October 2016, 05:29

Spent the last couple of hours with the new IVTC feature, here is what I found:

First of all I could not find any hard telecined sample clips for download, so I made some myself... :D

How can you tell if a 29.97 source is truely interlaced, or if it is hard telecined?

The answer is simple, A2D does not make any attempt to detect hard pulldown automatically. The IVTC checkbox becomes active whenever the source has a frame rate of 29.97 fps and is flagged as interlaced.

So it is the responsibility of the user to make sure that the source is really hard telecined before using the IVTC option. I am not aware of any automatic method for this, which means that the user must step through the source frame by frame and make sure that there is a constant 3:2 pulldown pattern. Using IVTC on truly interlaced content will lead to catastrophic results.

I noticed that when a standard conversion to PAL is done at the same time, the fps change behavior is not consistent. Right now A2D always uses a hard fps change command (like ChangeFPS) to bring up the rate to 25 fps. IMO it should behave like it does for a 23.976 progressive source file, and this is use either PAL speedup (if the checkbox is ticked) or use DGPullown.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

18th October 2016, 06:52

As promised, here come the updated parts of the German language file:

350000 AviSynth
350001 AviSynth Script Editieren
350010 Automatisch erstellen
350110 Beschneiden
350111 Überflüssige Pixel von den Bildern abschneiden
350120 Vertikale Größenänderung
350121 Vergrößern/Reduzieren des Seitenverhältnisses
350130 Trimmen
350131 Einen Teilbereich des Videos auswählen
350140 Ein-/Ausblenden
350141 Lineares Blenden zu Schwarz am Beginn und am Ende
350150 Info anzeigen
350151 Überlagern des Videos mit den Clip-Eigenschaften
350210 Tweak
350211 Justieren von Farbton, Sättigung, Helligkeit und Kontrast des Videos
350220 ColorMatrix
350221 Colorimetrie-Umwandlung unter Benutzung unterschiedlicher Koeffizienten
350310 DeBlock
350311 Block-Artefakte aus den Bildern entfernen
350320 De-Interlace
350321 Interlaced Video zu Progressive umwandeln
350330 Schärfen
350331 Die Bildkanten schärfen. Negative Werte machen das Bild unschärfer
350340 MSharpen
350341 Schärft die Ränder ohne das Bildrauschen zu verstärken
350350 HQDN3D
350351 Entfernt hochfrequentes Bildrauschen, minimiert Blending-Artefakte
350360 IVTC
350361 Macht Video-Telecine rückgängig, um die Original 24 fps progressiven Bilder wiederherzustellen
350410 Audio-Verstärkung
350411 Audio-Lautstärke um gewählten Wert verändern
350420 Audio-Verzögerung
350421 Einen zeitlichen Versatz zwischen Audio und Video einstellen

Please note that the tool tip for Audio Delay does not get displayed by the current Alpha (same for English language file).

Cheers
manolito

MrC

19th October 2016, 10:28

Thanks manolito for the extensive testing of the new features. You have been my saviour so many times... :)

FFmpeg padding with VCD: I agree with your suggestion. The method to alter the max bitrate instead of the resolution is more elegant and effective.

Mplex: ok I will put -f 8 instead of -f 3, even if Muxman does not complain if I use -f 3. I will also grab the release from your plugin to support non-SSE2 cpu. Is that release a special compiled one or just an older release?

IVTC: I have found no "auto" way to detect if a NTSC source is hard telecined or truly interlaced, so the checkbox becomes available (not greyed out) if the source is NTSC interlaced. Then the user has the responsibility to check the IVTC option to definitively activate the reverse telecine function.

Interlaced PAL to NTSC conversion: AFAI remember, pulldown or PAL speedup should be applied only to progressive sources. I have to check.

Thanks a lot for the German translation too! Good job!

;)

Bye

MrC

19th October 2016, 10:35

The other one is to limit the CBR bitrate for VCD resolutions to 7190 kbps or 6330 kbps (for NTSC). This is how my FF_VBR plugin does it

How did you come out with 7190 (PAL) and 6330 (NTSC) values? Theoretical or empirical?

;)

Bye

manolito

19th October 2016, 14:56

How did you come out with 7190 (PAL) and 6330 (NTSC) values? Theoretical or empirical?

;)

Bye

It was not me, it was qyot27 who made the effort to determine these thresholds. See here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1705060#post1705060

For muxing with Mplex, the -f 8 option for MPEG2 muxing seems to be the universal method which is used by just everyone. It does matter if for example you take the muxed MPEG2 file and import it into another software like DVDStyler which uses DVDAuthor to create the DVD. DVDAuthor will fail if the source MPEG2 does not have DVD NavPacks.

And for the Mplex version, this is a long story, I have to go back a long way...

My first encounter with Mplex was with good old DVD2SVCD, and the (modified) Mplex version which came with it had a strong tendency to cause stuttering. (Which eventually led to my collaboration with Sir Didymus to create BatchMux for DVD2SVCD).

But later versions of Mplex got rid of the stuttering, and the version I am using comes from DVDForger 0.61 Alpha by Alvarez (the man who created WAVI). You can still find it at Videohelp. The next version from DVDForger 0.62 Alpha did not work any more on my machine. Looks like you are shipping this version with the current Alpha, it shows the same version info, but it is a little bigger.

For the IVTC feature:
Interlaced PAL to NTSC conversion...AFAI remember, pulldown or PAL speedup should be applied only to progressive sources.

We are talking about NTSC to PAL conversion here. And after a successful IVTC you will have just this: A progressive 23.976 source. So PAL speedup (or soft pulldown by DGPulldown) will be just what the doctor ordered...

//EDIT//
I believe that pulldown via DGPulldown can indeed only be used for progressive sources, but PAL speedup should work no matter if the source is progressive or interlaced.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

20th October 2016, 06:30

Contrary to what qyot27 posted a little while ago he did just publish a new version of his ffms2 C-Plugin:

Get it here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1783312#post1783312

Tested it extensively under AVStoDVD, works perfectly even with my old WinXP Non-SSE2 computer. Just replace the file "ffms2.dll" (use the x32 version) in the "AVStoDVD\Lib" folder with the new version.

Cheers
manolito

MrC

21st October 2016, 15:43

@manolito

bitrate caps for NTSC and PAL: my bad, it was documented in this thread... thanks anyway...

Mplex for non SSE2: I would like to include the non SSE2 executable, but switch to it only if needed. What is the error message you get on your P3 system when you use the newer mplex.exe?

NTSC to PAL conversion when NTSC is telecined: you are right, the pulldown/speedup approach would be much more appropriate. Will implement it.

New FFMS2 C plugin: great! thanks to you and qyot27

;)

Bye

manolito

21st October 2016, 17:27

Mplex for non SSE2: I would like to include the non SSE2 executable, but switch to it only if needed. What is the error message you get on your P3 system when you use the newer mplex.exe?

Hi MrC,

there is no error message when using the newer version of Mplex.exe (size 165 KB), it just does not create a muxed file. The older version (size 151 KB) has no problems.

Both versions display exactly the same version info:
mjpegtools mplex-2 version 1.9.0 (2.2.7)

So I have my doubts if the newer version really uses SSE2 commands. My guess is that the person who compiled the newer version used a newer compiler version which defaulted to SSE2 output. If this person had just changed one compiler option, the newer version would probably work perfectly on non-SSE2 machines.

It should be easy to test for you if I am right (I obviously cannot test it on my non-SSE2 Coppermine CPU):
Take a longer source file and mux it using both Mplex versions and note the time for the multiplexing. If the muxing times are the same or close then using the newer version would be useless.

Cheers
manolito

manolito

22nd October 2016, 09:24

I bit the bullet and did my own muxing tests using 3 different versions of Mplex. And I was quite surprised by the results... :devil:

Test bed:
ThinkPad T410, Core i5 CPU, Win7 64-bit
Latest AVStoDVD 2.85 Alpha
Mplex versions:
1. Version 1.9.0 (2.2.7), size 151 KB, the version which works without SSE2
2. Version 1.9.0 (2.2.7), size 165 KB, the version which comes with the latest A2D Alpha and does not work without SSE2
3. Version 2.1.0 (2.2.7), the version which comes with the latest 32-bit version of DVDStyler. It also needs SSE2, and it is a shared build which needs 2 external libraries. Download it here: http://www99.zippyshare.com/v/I4vwyd2r/file.html
Source file:
A full 3 and a half hour DVD with 2 audio tracks (Woodstock Director's cut)

I rebooted the computer before every muxing test to exclude any possible caching effects. The muxing times were as follows:

1. 3 min 45 sec
2. 4 min 08 sec
3. 4 min 45 sec

I repeated the tests several times because I had a hard time believing this, but the muxing times were constant in every test.

I also compared the resulting MPEG2 files, they had exactly the same size for every version of Mplex.exe. I believe (without testing this) that the results were bit identical.

Conclusion:
The oldest Mplex version (size 151 KB) was by far the fastest one. Absolutely no need to upgrade to a newer Mplex version to achieve better speed. Enabling SSE2 in the compiler settings has nothing but adverse effects in this case.

This is a clear example that the attitude of some people in this forum (to look down on others who still use older hardware and older Operating Systems) is not justified. In many cases if a newer software version does not work any longer under WinXP or on a CPU without SSE2 support the reasons are not technical at all. Mostly it is just the laziness of the developer who cannot bring himself to toggle a couple of compiler switches. And of course there's also a couple of developers who seem to be on a mission to eradicate older OSs or hardware. Evangelists...

Alright, enough ranting for today...

Cheers
manolito