AutoMKV 0.95 beta 21 NEED TESTER!

[Honeyko]

about manual crop and resize AND anamorphic... i cannot guarantee the perfect fuctions, moreover resize must be not NONE

1st Suggestion: Whenever "Manual Resize / Crop" is checked, AutoMKV will determine if there is already a setting for Resize Filter other than NONE. If it is NONE, then it will be changed to SimpleResize(neutral soft).

2nd suggestion: Whenever "Anamorphic Encoding" is checked, AutoMKV will determine if there is already a setting for "Force Muxing AR". If there isn't one, then AutoMKV will automatically select a Force Muxing AR after calculating the resultant AR obtained if the user had chosen "Autocrop Only" in "Set Width Resolution" in basic settings. (99% of the time these will be the same.)

==//==

BUG: Force Muxing AR isn't working with AVI containers.

[Honeyko]

b8: BUG: Changes to Profile, filters and Specify Bitrate or Quality are having no effect on xvid encodes.

[delacroixp]

It shouldn't be, as only 720x576 worth of real pixels are being pushed -- the rest is just player software anamorphic zooming.
Quite right... it's just like zooming in one direction... it's identical to upscaling a 720 movie onto a 1280 HD TV (with slightly less stretch).
There are no miracles... the stretch is no magic trick of illusion... the cost is watered-down clarity !

1 frame is like half a glass of water... the surface area being the resolution and the depth being the bitrate.
Spill the water and it covers a small piece of floor... to cover more floor, you need a fuller glass.
Resolution and bitrate together increase the volume of clarity.
I guess that 10-foot glasses are impractical... though Sony (http://www.sonypictures.com/cthe/superbit/what_is_superbit.html) did release Superbit DVD's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superbit) by keeping the same footprint as regular DVD's but doubling the bitrate. They are also more upscalable than regular DVD's.

A 720x576 footprint has limited stretchability. Even 480 P HD (http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/thechroniclesofnarniaprincecaspian/) looks better than NTSC (more original pixels... same DAResolution).


:):devil::D
Pascal

[buzzqw]

update 0.95 beta 9 http://www.64k.it/andres/data/a/AutoMKV095beta9.exe
look below for changelog

@Aylwin

i haven't Vista.. so i don't know what is the system folder..
if c:\windows\system32 is already present.. i will continue to copy libsound here

@Honeyko

1st Suggestion: Whenever "Manual Resize / Crop" is checked, AutoMKV will determine if there is already a setting for Resize Filter other than NONE. If it is NONE, then it will be changed to SimpleResize(neutral soft

done

2nd suggestion: Whenever "Anamorphic Encoding" is checked, AutoMKV will determine if there is already a setting for "Force Muxing AR". If there isn't one, then AutoMKV will automatically select a Force Muxing AR after calculating the resultant AR obtained if the user had chosen "Autocrop Only" in "Set Width Resolution" in basic settings. (99% of the time these will be the same.)
not possibile without knowing the width/height, crop values and resize...

also.. why check force muxing ar.. automkv will force ar in mux with correct value if anamorphic encoding is checked

BUG: Force Muxing AR isn't working with AVI containers.
not a bug of automkv, virtualdub haven't a option to force ar

b8: BUG: Changes to Profile, filters and Specify Bitrate or Quality are having no effect on xvid encodes.
specify bitrate is perfectly fuctional
if you are referring to status encoding window, when specify quality, that reports bitrate.. that's a display bug only, the encoding bat is reporting the correct cq/crf encoding (fixed)

BHH

[Honeyko]

@Honeyko2nd suggestion: Whenever "Anamorphic Encoding" is checked, AutoMKV will determine if there is already a setting for "Force Muxing AR". If there isn't one, then AutoMKV will automatically select a Force Muxing AR after calculating the resultant AR obtained if the user had chosen "Autocrop Only" in "Set Width Resolution" in basic settings. (99% of the time these will be the same.)not possibile without knowing the width/height, crop values and resize... also.. why check force muxing ar.. automkv will force ar in mux with correct value if anamorphic encoding is checkedUhm, what all my gobbledegook really meant to say was that I'd like AutoMKV to automatically tick a setting in Force Muxing if the user checks Anamorphic Encoding, since any anamorphic encode usually necessitates a different muxing AR to achieve desirable output.

Guessing the likely DAR should be easy if the user has already loaded an input file. (In such a case, AutoMKV would simply perform an autocrop calculation to determine AR.) If the user hasn't, a pop-up could alert him to the fact that no muxing AR has been set due to that.
b8: BUG: Changes to Profile, filters and Specify Bitrate or Quality are having no effect on xvid encodes.specify bitrate is perfectly fuctional
if you are referring to status encoding window, when specify quality, that reports bitrate.. that's a display bug only, the encoding bat is reporting the correct cq/crf encoding (fixed)I ran a bunch of tests with a 40mb MPEG2 clip, and no matter what I did with the settings, AutoMKV always produced an xvid/avi of exactly the same size. ???? -- I have a hunch that these problems may stem from the decision to change/reset/default numerous items when a different container, codec or input file is chosen (the Resize filter resetting to NONE bug was one such example). ....I make such changes regularly during testing. (But I also quit and restarted b8 several times just to be sure.)

I'll see if the behavior repeats in b9.
BUG: Force Muxing AR isn't working with AVI containers.not a bug of automkv, virtualdub haven't a option to force arWould there be any way of duplicating what MPEG4modifier (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=78050) does in this regard?

==//==

BTW: Could you grab hold of AutoGK 2.48 and run a "100% Quality" xvid pass on a test clip, and figure out what it's doing? I really do like that setting for "transparent" output of about 60%-ish original VOB size, and would have been happy with it for quite awhile longer if not for AutoGK's lack of useful filters for dealing with horrendously grainy/dirty sources. I.e., if I could stuff the LEM filter into AutoGK, I'd be a happy camper. (For the purposes of creating anamorphic encodes with that tool, I'd hit the Ctrl-F9 settings page, and Override Input AR to "original", then re-mux the created video with MPEG4Modifier later to fatten the horizontal.)

[Honeyko]

b9 BUG: "Manual Crop" (not Manual Resize/Crop) values aren't being implemented...at least not to my first b9 xvid/avi test).

[buzzqw]

b9 BUG: "Manual Crop" (not Manual Resize/Crop) values aren't being implemented...at least not to my first b9 xvid/avi test).

... here is ok.. open the movie.avs and look for crop values

BHH

[Aylwin]

i haven't Vista.. so i don't know what is the system folder..
if c:\windows\system32 is already present.. i will continue to copy libsound here
It works perfectly now. Thanks! :)

[buzzqw]

@Aylwin

:)

feel free to report any problem with Vista and AutoMKV

:thanks:

BHH

[Honeyko]

b9 BUG: If you begin a second project which has source audio of exactly the same type (e.g., AC3 5.1) as a previous first project, and select "Copy Original" for both of them, the second project will sometimes incorporate the first one's leftover audio from the Temp folder.

Solution: Delete the entire contents of the Temp folder as the first step of an encode (i.e., exactly what AutoGK does).

[buzzqw]

there is already a "del temp file" check in advanced settings

BHH

[Aylwin]

b9 BUG: If you begin a second project which has source audio of exactly the same type (e.g., AC3 5.1) as a previous first project, and select "Copy Original" for both of them, the second project will sometimes incorporate the first one's leftover audio from the Temp folder.

Solution: Delete the entire contents of the Temp folder as the first step of an encode (i.e., exactly what AutoGK does).
I've been experiencing the same bug but I thought it was related to that .dll problem I've been having. But now I can confirm that it's still there in beta 9.

In my case, the problem also happens with "Lame". AutoMKV knows that an existing file with the same name exists:

http://cal-family.org/files/error2.jpg

But for some reason, the file is not overwritten when I click Yes and then I end up with the previous job's audio. I guess one workaround is to set Del Temp File but it should anyway overwrite if I click Yes.

[acrespo]

I check anamorphic to encode a DVD movie to PSP profile. The job is not finishing, then I open movie.avs in VDub and appears a error in line 71. The code is below:

movie = tfm(movie,d2v="D:\vob\temp\movie.d2v").tdecimate()
last=movie.
fixed_aspect = -1.#IND00
out_width = 720
out_height = 720
#resizestart

The line is last=movie. (. what?)

[Honeyko]

there is already a "del temp file" check in advanced settingsYeah, but that kills 'em at the end of an encoding -- before I get a chance to look at them if I want to, such as AC3 tracks that I frequently pull off to the side.

[buzzqw]

the problem is when container is avi
in this case automkv will mux in file avi any file with extension mp3/ac3/dts present in temp folder.. and so even older project audio files

BHH

[buzzqw]

@crespo
.. see..
i will check.. thanks!!

please donwload http://www.64k.it/andres/data/a/AutoMKV095beta10.exe

BHH

[Aylwin]

There's something I've noticed for all versions. If you set Specify Quality in the Advanced Settings tab, is not saved if you use Save Setting in the Basic Settings tab.

So I have to manually add, for example, to automkv.ini:
Quality Encoding = 1
Quality Value = 80

I haven't check other settings though but I guess this can easily be fixed?

[Honeyko]

BUG:

1. Launch AutoMKV. Open a video file. Change a profile.
2. Note that any Resize Filter resets to NONE.
3. Go to Advanced Settings and check Manual Crop/Resize.
4. Resize Filter switches to SimpleResize (previous suggestion implemented)
5. Start Encoding. When finished, change a profile.
6. Note that Resize Filter resets to NONE again.
7. Manually adjust Resize Filter to any filter (not NONE).
8. Start Encoding.
9. BUG: As encoding begins, Resize Filters resets to NONE.

....IMO, this kind of resetting behavior is going to cause more problems farther down the road even after this bug is fixed.

Suggestion: A "Reset to Default Settings" button, with a confirmation pop-up. Otherwise, no resets unless the user attempts some kind of match conflict (i.e., AAC audio previously selected, and user switches to AVI container), in which case there should be a pop-up alerting the user to the change.

==//==

Speaking now of one thing that doesn't reset, I notice that, after my first project, "Didees SixOfNine-HVS.cqm" is always there as Deinterlacer Custom Matrix despite my not previously selecting it. (It's the first one on the list, so...?)

[buzzqw]

@crespo

http://www.64k.it/andres/data/a/AutoMKV095beta10.exe

please report any problem

BHH

[buzzqw]

1. Launch AutoMKV. Open a video file. Change a profile.
2. Note that any Resize Filter resets to NONE.

delete your automkv.ini

automkv will start with Simpleresize and Automatic
and after changing a profile it will stay to Simpleresize and Automatic

Deinterlacer Custom Matrix despite my not previously selecting it

delete the automkv.ini :)

EDIT
@Aylwin
So I have to manually add, for example, to automkv.ini:
Quality Encoding = 1
Quality Value = 80
download beta10

BHH

[Honeyko]

b10: Changing profiles is still resetting Resize Filters.

[buzzqw]

not here, and i aks other tester to report this issue :confused:

sorry pal but i am totaly unable to replicate the problem

BHH

[Honeyko]

Does b10 even create an automkv.ini file? I've just searched my entire network, including hidden and system files, and cannot find one.

[buzzqw]

automkv.ini in created in automkv folder

and is created only by clicking on Save Setting

BHH

[Honeyko]

I think I've figured it out:

If you have "Don't Care About Size" selected for Disk Settings, and HighPerformance 1-pass *or* ConstantQuality for profile, the combination will conflict with Resize Filter settings (necessary for Manual Crop/Resize).

[buzzqw]

yes, you are right, thanks!

i will try to do a better approach

BHH

[Aylwin]

download beta10
Quality settings are now saved correctly.

Still the strange issue with audio though when ripping DVD (.IFO) to MKV. Now, there's no more message about any duplicate file name but it still uses the audio from a previous rip.

[buzzqw]

in next beta the previus temp folder will be totally emptied

BHH

[Aylwin]

in next beta the previus temp folder will be totally emptied
Yes, I think it's better to empty the temp folder before starting a new job rather than at the end of the previous one.

[buzzqw]

yes, it's already as you said


on launching encoding automkv will previusly delete only some files on temp folder, with new builds it will erase all contents of temp

BHH

[acrespo]

No. Beta 10 frozen after create audio file. The status bar indicate this:

Computing and analysing movie parameters

Program is not responding.

[BlackDog21]

I get a Windows Script Host error against file mkvmaudio_pip.vbs line 2 char 1 when trying to encode an xvid copying original audio. It then prompts to say "Audio wasn't encoded properly. After 120 seconds AutoMKV will go ahead without audio. Should I quit?"

I still get this with beta10.

[buzzqw]

@acrespo

movie.avs is now ok ?

and about freeze audio.. after audio encoding automkv will wait 7 seconds before recover encoding

also.. a log is welcome

@BlackDog21

check your antivirus, maybe it block the vbscript

BHH

[acrespo]

Hummmm movie.avs doesn't exist now! AutoMKV frozen (not responding) for several hours! And here is the log:

VTS_01_0.IFO.log

21:15:22 0.95 beta 10 - - - - - - - - - - - - - START JOBS - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21:15:22 Selected Input file: Z:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_0.IFO
21:15:22 Selected Output dir: D:\vob\temp\
21:15:22 Selected Final Name: BUFFY S05E08
21:15:22 Selected Container type: MP4
21:15:22 Selected Encoder: X264
21:15:22 Selected Size: 350 / 1
21:15:22 Selected Profile: PSP Max.xml
21:15:22 Selected Resizer: Spline36Resize (neutral sharp) / 720
21:15:22 Selected Filters: NONE
21:15:22 Selected Deinterlacer: Decimating
21:15:22 Selected Field Order: AUTO
21:15:22 Activate PGC Ripping: 1
21:15:22 Track Language 1: 80: English (AC3 2ch, 0xBD 0x80) [0,1,2,3]
21:15:22 Audio Codec 1: Nero AAC
21:15:22 Audio Quality 1: 128
21:15:22 Audio Channel 1: Stereo
21:15:22 Track Language 2: NONE
21:15:22 Audio Codec 2: Nero AAC
21:15:22 Advanced Audio Settings DUMP Track 1
21:15:22 Audio Track Language: und
21:15:22 Nero Option Profiles: LC --- Encoding Mode: -CBR
21:15:22 CCT Option Profiles: AUTO --- Channel Options: AUTO
21:15:22 Lame Settings: ABR
21:15:22 Audio Normalization: 1
21:15:22 Frequency: AUTO --- Tempo: NONE --- Pitch: NONE --- Other Add:
21:15:22 Selected 1' Sub tracks: RIP ALL SUBS
21:15:22 Activate Anamorphic Encoding
21:15:22
21:15:22 Starting ripping from Z:\VIDEO_TS\ to D:\vob\temp\
21:16:05 Finished Ripping
21:16:05 Starting SubRipping
21:16:39 Subtitle Size: 1390592 bytes
21:16:39 Finished SubRipping
21:16:39 Activate PGC processing: PGC 1 [0:44:28:28]


VTS_01_1.vob.log

21:06:23 Dgindex CMD: C:\encodes\AutoMKV\exe\dgindex\dgindex.exe -FO=0 -OM=1 -TN=80 -YR=2 -AIF=[D:\vob\temp\DVD\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_1.vob] -OF=[D:\vob\temp\movie] -exit -minimize
21:07:44 D2V file size: 369868
21:07:44 Audio 1 :movie t80 2_0ch 192kbps delay 0ms.ac3
21:07:44 Pre Audio Size: 62689536 bytes
21:07:44 Applying DelayAudio of 0 to audio file: movie t80 2_0ch 192kbps delay 0ms.ac3
21:07:44 Encoding D:\vob\temp\movie t80 2_0ch 192kbps delay 0ms.ac3 to Coding Tech. AAC
21:10:07 Encoded 1' Audio Track: 42451876 bytes
21:16:39 Dgindex CMD: C:\encodes\AutoMKV\exe\dgindex\dgindex.exe -FO=0 -OM=1 -TN=80 -YR=2 -AIF=[D:\vob\temp\DVD\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_1.vob] -OF=[D:\vob\temp\movie] -exit -minimize
21:17:28 D2V file size: 378824
21:17:28 Audio 1 :movie t80 2_0ch 192kbps delay 0ms.ac3
21:17:28 Pre Audio Size: 64118016 bytes
21:17:28 Applying DelayAudio of 0 to audio file: movie t80 2_0ch 192kbps delay 0ms.ac3
21:17:28 Encoding D:\vob\temp\movie t80 2_0ch 192kbps delay 0ms.ac3 to NeroAAC with custom command line
21:21:42 Unable to encode Audio, try piping with FFmpeg!
21:21:42 NeroAACEnc doesn't accept piping from ffmpeg, switching to Coding Tech. AAC at 128kbps
21:24:06 Encoded 1' Audio Track: 42580408 bytes

[buzzqw]

@acrespo

the log are inconsistent

21:15:22 0.95 beta 10 - - - - - - - - - - - - - START JOBS - -

and then

21:06:23 Dgindex CMD: C:\encodes\AutoMKV\exe\dgindex\dgindex.exe -FO=0 -OM=1 -TN=80 -YR=2 -AIF=[D:\vob\temp\DVD\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_1.vob] -OF=[D:\vob\temp\movie] -exit -minimize

try deleting temp folder and retry

thanks!

BHH

P.S .. here is ok... :o

[Honeyko]

Tip for all: If the Temp folder (or more properly, something inside it) won't delete even after you've shut off every relevant program, open your Task Manager and force-close Explorer.exe, then re-run Explorer.exe. Then try deleting again.

(Buzz, is there any chance of my "No Final Mux" suggested option making it into b11? :cool:)

[BlackDog21]

check your antivirus, maybe it block the vbscript


It's not being blocked. The file is there, but it throws an error on line 2.

[buzzqw]

@Honeyko

(Buzz, is there any chance of my "No Final Mux" suggested option making it into b11? )

.. could be usefull ?

the files are already in temp folder.. so.. it's just to skip the muxing part ?

any comments from other users ?
(btw would be easy to implement)

@BlackDog21
post the vbs and the relative batch

BHH

[Honeyko]

@Honeykois there any chance of my "No Final Mux" suggested option making it into b11?.. could be usefull?Very. Two reasons: 1. You are creating multi-gig output and don't have twice the file's space left on your drive. 2. You intend to mux more than two audio tracks and/or subtitles (with complicated title fields and so forth) into the output; AutoMKV's muxing in this case would just be a wasted, unnecessary step because you intend to use a 3rd-party utility (such as MKVmergeGUI) anyway.the files are already in temp folder.. so.. it's just to skip the muxing part? (btw would be easy to implement)You got it -- except for one important bit: Don't leave them in the Temp folder (where they would be destroyed by the next queued project), instead just move them into a newly-created folder of name DATETIME_FILENAME. (This "move" will only be a copy if the Temp folder and the destination are on different volumes.)

[valnar]

Originally Posted by buzzqw

main work of automkv is make rip
near all rips will downsizing width/height

so.. why apply a so sharper resize when the output will be "small" ?

also.. lanczos need near +10% bitrate for getting same quantitizer as simpleresize or bicubic

so.. i can suggest to use

biliner for less then 55%
bicubic resize for 55% - 65%
simpleresize for downsizing at 65%-85% (720*0.8=612 width)
lanczos for 85% to 95%
spline for 95 and upsizing


Very interesting since I encode my movies at Q20 [800 photo-realistic, 720 animation, 640 4:3] or Q22 [older stuff] and they invariably fall below 30% of the orginal video-only filesize.
I find that X264 is most efficient at low bitrates and eventhough DVD's are quite cheap, the time and effort taken to encode "1 movie = 1 DVD" is best left to DVD Shrink or the folks at Handbrake and MeGUI.

Perhaps I could suggest that we use a slider for the width, along with a recommendation (eg 800, Q20 [PAL 16:9]).
I don't see the value for anamorphic transcoding and AutoMKV could officially recommend PAR 1:1 along with a resolution equal to the original-number-of-pixels (after cropping), as an upper limit.
AutoMKV could run the d2v analysis on loading to obtain the necessary format information and calculate the recommended settings.

Dr DivX has a quite usefull cropping and resize system (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=969913#post969913) that could prevent re-inventing of the wheel.


:):devil::D
Pascal


This single post has kept me up at night..... and got me thinking.

I like the idea of keeping my encodes to 1:1 PAR, as impractical as that may be given an anamorphic source. We go through the process of cleaning up the video and deinterlacing/IVTC, so why not also remove anamorphing? Sounds reasonable, right? Well, some think so, some not. It's certainly a point of discussion. I'm from the new school of doing MKV encodes to keep the original quality. I want to leave the days of encoding to lower quality with XVID.

A "resolution equal to the original-number-of-pixels" is an interesting idea. The wider the AR of the movie (and by removing black bars), the more width of the encode. Some pixels will need to be interpreted and sharpened since we would remove anamorphing and upscale, but I imagine there must be an AVISynth filter or two that does a better job than any real-time upscaler built into a TV - not to mention the deinterlacing/telecine conversion in the first place. The plus side is 1:1 PAR compatibility for finnicky applications that don't support DAR, but the downside is there is still some upscaling going on with a 1920x1080p HDTV. The question is -- How does the video look with both upscalings applied?

delacroixp,
So... I assume you've found approximately 800 pixels wide to be a good trade off between original resolution and file size? How does it look compared to the original DVD? Is your 800 resolution recommendation for 1.85 or 2.35 "photo-realistic" movies?

Is spline36 the best option for minor upscaling (and de-anamorphisizing™) of SD DVD resolutions?

-Robert

[Honeyko]

I like the idea of keeping my encodes to 1:1 PAR, as impractical as that may be given an anamorphic source. We go through the process of cleaning up the video and deinterlacing/IVTC, so why not also remove anamorphing? Sounds reasonable, right? Well, some think so, some not. It's certainly a point of discussion.If the source is 720x480 -- that IS the "source". If the anamorphic DAR is 853x362 sans black-bars, then encoding to 853x362 1:1 pixels doesn't give you more quality -- it just gives you more pixels and more work for the encoder. In fact, it'll sacrifice quality as the borders of pixels across the image grid are being shifted.I'm from the new school of doing MKV encodes to keep the original quality. I want to leave the days of encoding to lower quality with XVID.Containers are irrelevant to codec quality.Is spline36 the best option for minor upscaling (and de-anamorphisizing™) of SD DVD resolutions?"Upscaling" beyond a minimal "round up to mod16 after cropping" is a complete waste; all it does is generate bloated, "thinner" imagery. I.e., if you glue ten Skittles on a piece of rubber, then stretch the rubber -- you might think you're getting better quality because the encoder has generated more Skittles (pixels), but you're not, because ALL THE DATA in the now larger number of Skittles came from the original ten.

All you're really doing by upscaling image size is telling the codec to do the exact same thing the Zoom button on the player does -- except that you're hard-coding a much bigger file-size.

[valnar]

If the source is 720x480 -- that IS the "source". If the anamorphic DAR is 853x362 sans black-bars, then encoding to 853x362 1:1 pixels doesn't give you more quality -- it just gives you more pixels and more work for the encoder. In fact, it'll sacrifice quality as the borders of pixels across the image grid are being shifted.Containers are irrelevant to codec quality."Upscaling" beyond a minimal "round up to mod16 after cropping" is a complete waste; all it does is generate bloated, "thinner" imagery. I.e., if you glue ten Skittles on a piece of rubber, then stretch the rubber -- you might think you're getting better quality because the encoder has generated more Skittles (pixels), but you're not, because ALL THE DATA in the now larger number of Skittles came from the original ten.


I realize everything you've said, but the point is some hardware (and less likely - software) players don't respect AR. 1:1 PAR just guarantees compatibility - that's the only reason to do this. I don't want to discuss here what those software/hardware devices are. 'Not important to AutoMKV.

All you're really doing by upscaling image size is telling the codec to do the exact same thing the Zoom button on the player does -- except that you're hard-coding a much bigger file-size.

Well, maybe. Yes, I am wasting bits, but compared to an original MPEG2 DVD, not size. It'll still be smaller, just not as small to your point. One of my questions is, and I could be wrong, is that some offline scalers might be better, or at least not as damaging, as some other scalers - including the one built into your TV or whatever.

Let's face it, no matter what, we're all taking some degradation due to conversion to H.264 via this or any other utility in this forum. But of all the factors that decide what we do with video, there may be a time (like it is for me) where PAR 1:1 becomes more important for other reasons. Now, given that, what do I do to minimize losing resolution? I'd rather use all the original bits and upscale a bit than to throw some away.

-Robert

[Honeyko]

Is there a way to force-background all processes?

I am scared to death of having something pop to the foreground when I am typing or mouse-clicking. "Q" will abort encodes in various command-line windows, and mouse-clicks on buttons are obviously bad depending upon the button accidentally hit.

...I think this one may have bit me in the ass today, nine hours into an encode, leaving me with a 2.2gig fragment.

*grrr* http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/waffen/violent-smiley-017.gif

Will start from scratch, and hope this doesn't repeat....

[delacroixp]

2. You intend to mux more than two audio tracks and/or subtitles (with complicated title fields and so forth) into the output; AutoMKV's muxing in this case would just be a wasted, unnecessary step because you intend to use a 3rd-party utility (such as MKVmergeGUI) anyway.
Well... to be honest, if you're using the MKV container there is little sense in using Xvid since MKV's only play on PC's.
I use the MKV container, do my own audio encodes and mux with MKVmergeGUI.
I've given up on subtitles since they're more trouble than they're worth.

Hence, encoding with M4v-only would certainly circumvent the muxing issue in my case.


:):devil::D
Pascal


ps
Of course, that short circuits the 'automatic signalling' aswell, but I'm tending to do that manually too... since I've got all the calcs anyway.

[delacroixp]

delacroixp,
So... I assume you've found approximately 800 pixels wide to be a good trade off between original resolution and file size? How does it look compared to the original DVD? Is your 800 resolution recommendation for 1.85 or 2.35 "photo-realistic" movies?

Is spline36 the best option for minor upscaling (and de-anamorphisizing™) of SD DVD resolutions?

In a world of super-realistic 3D and regular IMAX, 1080p and 720p HD... even psuedo 480p HD (http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/thechroniclesofnarniaprincecaspian/hd/) looks better than Mpeg2.
That said, it's painfull to lose any clarity during transcodes and a width of 800 is a nice round number, a suitable catchall for just about any PAL 16:9 movie and a good standard... regardless of cropping (with no danger of upscalling).

A width of 864 is the perfect PAR 1:1 transfer of 'real' 16:9 movies... if no cropping is necessary (864x480 = 414,720 pixels = 720x576)... 864x480 is the 100% upper limit.
As to wider-angle movies (1.85, 2.37)... 864 can work if you slightly drop the height (eg, 864x448 & 864x352 respectively) and signall the correct AR... both within 5% of "equal no-of-pixels"
However, a width of 848 or even 832 is probably better for very wide-angle movies and 16:9 movies with cropping.
Cropping on the left or right will squeeze the margins even further.

A width of 800 @ Q20 produces "lean and mean" encodes that benefit from both 'space and time'... a good place to start for any encoding enthusiast.
(There are no 'fat' boys or girls around these encodes)


:):devil::D
Pascal

[Honeyko]

Well... to be honest, if you're using the MKV container there is little sense in using Xvid since MKV's only play on PC's.VLC plays MKV, and it's available for every platform.

[delacroixp]

Is spline36 the best option for minor upscaling (and de-anamorphisizing™) of SD DVD resolutions?

I feel your pain...

It's like being married and you both want to spend some quality time together watching a movie.
The wife wants to watch Sleepless in Seattle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepless_in_Seattle) and you prefer Saving Private Ryan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_Private_Ryan).
What's to be done...
1) you watch The Last Samurai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Samurai) which neither of you enjoy, 2) take turns in choosing or 3) go out to a restaurant instead ?

In the world of encoding... there are no easy choices if you want to hone your skill into a fine art !!!


:):devil::D
Pascal


*** PS ***
Encoding is like the RGB Colour System (http://www.karbosguide.com/books/photobook/img/960.png)... each circle represents Quality, Speed or Filesize.
800_Q20 is that whitespace in the middle.
All the people who want Extreme quality, Extreme speed or Extreme filesize (big or small) are on the outer edges of the bigger circles.
The inner-space is a happy-space... a happy-place for happy-people !!!

[delacroixp]

VLC plays MKV, and it's available for every platform.
VLC (http://www.videolan.org/) as in VideoLAN VLC ?
Sure... MKV's can't play on SAP (http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvd/product.asp?model=hd-xa1)'s.

Few people encode Xvid or DivX into the MKV container unless they're trying to bypass the 4 GB limitation.
The real power of DivX and Xvid is it's ability to play on Stand Alone DVD Players.
H264 is light years ahead of standard Mpeg4 if compression and quality is the only measure (to the exclusion of portability).

MKV users could simply choose MP4 to avoid muxing in certain situations.


:):devil::D
Pascal


ps
I usually close AutoMKV during X264 encodes... if muxing is not necessary.
A problem if you have a whole string of batch encodes waiting in the wings.

[Honeyko]

A width of 864 is the perfect PAR 1:1 transfer of 'real' 16:9 movies... if no cropping is necessary (864x480 = 414,720 pixels = 720x576)... 864x480 is the 100% upper limit. As to wider-angle movies (1.85, 2.37)... 864 can work if you slightly drop the height (eg, 864x448 & 864x352 respectively) and signall the correct AR... both within 5% of "equal no-of-pixels"Well, if you do that, then not only are you stretching the horizontal while encoding, you're also squishing the vertical. Basically you're taking a 3:2 source and smashing it with an encoding mallet until it's 16:9 or 1.85:1 or 2.35:1.

When file size (e.g., 700mb) isn't an object, encoding without resizing the source's PAR ensures the best possible quality-retention for any given set of profiles, filters, etc.

[Honeyko]

H264 is light years ahead of standard Mpeg4 if compression and quality is the only measure (to the exclusion of portability).Going with quality for the moment, what profile, custom-matrix, and Advanced and Advanced Profiles Editing selections would you choose for, say, a mid-80s DVD print of an average film with a good deal of grain and some flicker, if I were looking for medium-to-good bitrates (but without high bitrate "spikes" that'd choke slower systems)?

(Uh, yeah, I chose those particular conditions for a reason!)