AVStoDVD Support Thread

[manolito]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

@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]

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]

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]

@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]

Hello Manolito, yes i getting the message also, but it convert the files with Umlaute. Thanks, great Job.

[Mister XY]

Ok, how can i used subtitle creator? I have subtitles in an mkv file. How can i edit the framerate by the subtitles??

[manolito]

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]

@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]

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]

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]

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]

You can also use the new version from HCenc (0.27)

[MrC]

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]

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?

[SuLyMaN]

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.

[MrC]

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]

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]

Wow. Perfect! I can even create mine :) The ones you linked me is great though.

[manolito]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

@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]

... 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]

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...

[MrC]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Thanks manolito for the SF download issue report. I have uploaded again the Source and NoInstall packages. Those 2 should work now.

;)

Bye

[manolito]

Yes the download is working now, thanks...

Cheers
manolito

[ThaDraGun]

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]

@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]

@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]

@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]

@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]

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]

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]

Thanks MrC. Any changelog on this new release?

[MrC]

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