sx264 - qt based x264 gui (Linux&Windows)

[Selur]

@Emess:
Feature request along those lines though, option to use raw .264 files as output besides for mkv/mp4/m2ts.
Got a use-case for this? You want .264 only output then or audio raw too?

Cu Selur

[buzzqw]

Got a use-case for this? You want .264 only output then or audio raw too?

+1

outputting raw h264 and aac audio could be useful for proper muxing (with mkvmerge or mp4box)

BHH

[Selur]

@buzzqw: if I the the use-case right sx264 supports this already :)
When disabling 'delete intermediate' under misc sx264 will leave you with:
1. the normal output
2. the raw audio stream
3. the raw video stream
4. the .meta file if .m2ts output was selected
Side node: If muxing is not done proper I hope someone would tell me so I can fix it. ;)

Cu Selur

[buzzqw]

no no.. i don't want to blame! :p

BHH

[Selur]

Okay :P

[Emess]

Just having raw output for muxing with multiple audiotracks or setting a container framerate or other random things one can do by muxing it manually, especially for example, ordered chapters or timecode files in matroska. Having to hunt around for the temp files is messy and somewhat annoying. I mean just the raw video OR audio stream, without muxing at all.

E~

[Selur]

I mean just the raw video OR audio stream, without muxing at all.
If I would support .264 as output, it would be video only with no size adjustments (thinking about overhead here) to the container.
I could also add an option to skip the muxing part and move the tmp files to the folder the output is ment to be. This would give you all the outputs (size adjusted to a specific container) but not muxed.
Both are minor changes I could do relatively fast. :)

General questions:
- Whats the difference between 'ordered chapters' and the chapter option currently present int the "Tags, Subtitles, Chapters" register?

Cu Selur

[Emess]

Ordered chapters are chapters that exist outside the main mkv file. Think of the main mkv as a chapter index, it 'imports' the chapters from other files to display as 1 central file. I always encode with crf in general, but for specified bitrate/size users, having it calculate for total file size (load audio size from file) and then copying the temp file to the output dir could work pretty well, esecially as the user can set their wanted size here.

For more info on ordered chapters and other matroska features not in your muxing dialogue but found in mmg, see http://www.mod16.org/hurfdurf/?p=8

E~

[Selur]

Okay, thanks. Got the main part of the supporting of '.264 output' and 'disabling of just the muxing' finished, going to fix some minor bugs tonight and will probably release a working version tomorrow. :)

Cu Selur

[Selur]

rev454
*fixed*
- x264 command line only shown after defaults have been saved
- video only source -> no audio handling possible

*changed*
- 'job control'-view
-- can show progress&state of multiple parallel jobs
-- allows to start/stop/set to waiting a current job
- enabling 'adaptive dct' as default (tsmuxer 1080 vs. 1084)
- using tsmuxer to demux .m2ts/.mts/.ts files

*added*
- 'force input PAR type to' - option

*cosmetics*
- removed 'Alternative audio stream' checkbox for audio stream, stream can now be entered directly
- rearranged and renamed option in Misc-tab

*updated*
- windows pack: mencoder, ffmpeg, tsmuxer, x264 and sx264


-> updated downloads in first post

[nakTT]

Thanks Selur!
a truly great software! (and now i can test it even under win)

thanks!!

BHH

EDIT: just a hint for windows user
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL NEEDED APPLICATIONS IN SX264 FOLDER OR IN SYSTEM PATH
Hi,

My I know what do you mean by System path? Thanks.

[buzzqw]

Hi,

My I know what do you mean by System path? Thanks.

this package

Reading up on the licences I made a 'small' package for windows users containing most of the files needed.
I'll not update the package each time I update sx264, so download the package + the current windows binary to to get the most up-to-date sx264.
You still need to download NeroAacEnc and if needed the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package.
For the package:
http://www.mediafire.com/?msmmslkhnzq

you must unzip the package OR in the same folder as sx264 OR in your c:\windows\system32 folder

BUT is much better to uncompress on sx264 folder

BHH

[nakTT]

you must unzip the package OR in the same folder as sx264 OR in your c:\windows\system32 folder

BUT is much better to uncompress on sx264 folder

BHH
Thanks for the reply. Yes I agree with you that uncompress it to sx264 is much better and I would say safer. Thanks again.

[Selur]

btw. updated the win package link since I accidentally put in an old sx264 version. :)

[Selur]

rev455
*fixed*
- the newly introduced audio handling bug

*added*
- some additional debug outputs

-> updated downloads in first post

[Selur]

rev456
*cosmetics*
- x264 command line view always showing up when coming out of minimized to system try state
- percent view and rest time show (of top most job) again in window title

*fixed*
- crash with mkv output when audio handling was enabled
- bitrate&filesize not adjustable (-> show x264 cl bug)
- log output wasn't updated

-> updated downloads in first post

[Selur]

rev457
*cosmetics*
- forgot to show progress when extracting/multiplexing with tsmuxer
- removed direct-8x8, see: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=144433

*fixed*
- problems when converting .m2t files

*updated*
- windows package: x264 and sx264 version

-> updated downloads in first post

[Selur]

rev461
*fixed*
- forgot to remove direct8x8 call from default simple settings

*updated*
- windows package, testing another filehoster, since downloads from mediafire were too slow (< 4kByte/s)

-> updated downloads in first post

[Emess]

rev454*changed*
- 'job control'-view
-- can show progress&state of multiple parallel jobs
-- allows to start/stop/set to waiting a current job
BRILLIANT. I now have no reason to use any other UI. Thanks :D

On loading, I keep getting an alert about font paths. There is no single font path in *nix really, is it asking for a specific directory with fonts, or a directory with subdirs? Maybe code it to use fontconfig like most other apps so that it can locate them itself?

E~

[Selur]

Thanks for the feedback.
atm sx264 wants a single path with truetype fonts (.ttf) in it, which seemed to be the fastest way crossplatform way. :)
I never really thought about it much since, I personally - at least at the moment - don't need subtitles&co at all and nobody gave me any feedback. :)
-> will read up a bit about fontconfig and think about scanning the system using it

Cu Selur

[Emess]

Can always check for fontconfig during configure and if it's there it will set the right path. If not it asks the user at runtime. Or something.

One other thing, the resizer, what are the equivalent avisynth filters to the different modes? It's hard to tell which one I want >.<

E~

[Selur]

rev464
*fixed*
- taking infos from first video stream when multiple video streams are present
- support to mux .sup subtitles when creating blu rays
- broken report and missing log command line output

*cosmetics*
- changed some name/position of some elements

*added*
- linux only: searching for *.ttf file according to /etc/fonts/fonts.conf

*updated*
- new mediainfo, x264 and sx264 build for windows package

-> updated downloads in first post

------
One other thing, the resizer, what are the equivalent avisynth filters to the different modes? It's hard to tell which one I want >.<
Sorry, can't really help there since I never really compared mencoder/ffmpeg vs. avisynth resizers.

Cu Selur

[Pitti]

THX Selur :)
464 is nice.

a little issue in the audiotab:
if the option "Encode audio stream" is selected, then audioencoding is disabled.
should be named to "keep orginal audio" or so.

[Selur]

yup, had a small mix up with some versions and the naming of the option, will be fixed in the next version. :)

[Selur]

rev466
*fixed*
- levelForBitrate needs to be 25% higher for highprofile
- max Bitrate&Buffer at Level 4.0 (used lower values before)
- x264 command line view not updated after an encode

*cosmetics*
- small adjustments and renamings

*updated*
- windows package: new x264, sx264 and mkvmerge version

-> updated downloads in first post

[Pitti]

Hallo Selur

can you think again about the personal profiles?
the decoding part (filtertab) and the encoding part (x264) should be separated (in my mind).

Sometimes the source needs to be cropped or deinterlaced sometimes not,
but the x264-settings are the same (especially on tv-caps).

this makes the possibility to import megui-profiles easer.

one more request :)
the jobs are temporarily?
can you implement the feature that the queue is saved in a file?

Pitti
PS: sorry wegen meines schlechten english

[Selur]

sorry wegen meines schlechten english
I also post updates over at M2D, Flaskmpeg.info and the german doom9 forum. ;)

the decoding part (filtertab) and the encoding part (x264) should be separated (in my mind).
I'll think about it. :)

the jobs are temporarily?
can you implement the feature that the queue is saved in a file?
Yes, jobs are temporary, but I will think about an Option to load and save them. :)

Cu Selur

Ps.: Main problem atm is that I'm kind of swamped with stuff in real live so free time and time to code are limited. ;)

[Selur]

rev470
*added*
- profile manager, gives the ability to load/save/delete general/audio/video/filter profiles
- not sure if one of the profiles is missing some parameters that should be included, so feedback is needed
- general = everything, audio = everything under Audio->Audio Encoding, video = all x264 settings, filter = everything under Filter/Subtitle->Filter Settings
- atm. encoding profiles require to be in 'advanced' mode

*cosmetics*
- a lot of changes. ;)

*updated*
- windows package: new x264, sx264 version

-> updated downloads in first post

[flebber]

Hi selur congrats its coming along nicely.

With the new profile management section do we copy and create the profiles to our sx264 directory in any particular fashion to get profiles to load, eg c:\sx264\Profiles c:\sx264\Filters etc.

I ask because I cannot seem to load profiles into these settings and would love to add the megui profiles and then some filters. however currently seems unable to the import megui profiles is not active. Regarding filters which ones are supported should I use Avisynth ?
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1363/3267092487_916bef0a67.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1106/3267092493_f8d92e26e6.jpg

[Selur]

Atm importing MeGui is not supported since I did not write any code for it. (It's planned, but will take some time.) :)
When you configure sx264 the way you like you can create a profile by pressing the 'Save As' Button, an entering a name the Profile should get. sx264 will automatically create the needed folders and subfolders and offer the profile in the drop-down menu.
About the filters, like mentioned in the changelog, when saving a filter profile everything under Filter/Subtitle->Filter Settings will be saved to the profile. You can not add any external filters.
And like mentioned in the first post: 'extended Avisynth-Support like with MeGui+AvsP' is not planned, you are free to feed sx264 with an avisynth script and as long as you are aware or the known problems (see first post) everything should work file.

Cu Selur

[flebber]

Sounds good. I like the layout updates, much cleaner and easier.

[Pitti]

This is a great update.
It's not an alpha anymore ;)

I have a little trubble to input the bitrate.
The automatic between filesize and bitrate hangs if i input these values manually.

[Selur]

@pitti: could you explain a bit more what you do to run into the problem? Seems to work here. :) Might also help i you start sx264 enable debug output cause invoke the problem and send me the created debg output file. -> if this is a bug this really is a reason why it should still be alpha, since this really is an important feature that should be stable before going to beta. ;)
-> there's some bug somewhere that's even causing sx264 to crash, don't know if it's the same that's causing your problem, will try to hunt it down tonight.

Cu Selur

[Selur]

okay, found&killed a small bug which was triggered when entering a target size to fast and in such provoking a loop. iirc you are using the 64bit binary if so plz try if http://stashbox.org/396991/sx264_testing.zip fixes your problem too. :)

[Pitti]

could you explain a bit more what you do to run into the problem?
- I load the videofile,
- set the outputname,
- go to the bitratefield and input the value manually (not using the spinbutton)
>> then the cpu-usage is going to 100% and sx264 is hanging
here is the debug: http://www.pittiplatsch.gmxhome.de/sx264Debug.txt

it seems that 473test fixes the problem

[Selur]

Thanks for the info, will make a new release for all systems tomorrow. :)

[Pitti]

can you please bring back the option "disable auto deinterlacing"

I have some TV-caps marked as interlaced, but there is no interlacing.
If i can disable this option (like in ver 466) in this case manually the encoding is much faster.

[Selur]

it's still there it just moved to 'Misc'->'Input Settings'->'Disable auto deinterlacing' ;) (wasn't sure if this is a better place -> open for suggestions ;))

CU Selur

[Pitti]

i like the old place more
otherwise maybe on both places

[Selur]

"otherwise maybe on both places"-> I'll try that. ;)

[Selur]

rev473
*added*
- importing MeGui audio/video profiles in profile manager (settings that are not supported in sx264 atm. will be ignored)
- reset settings option in profile manager

*fixed*
- fast manual targetsize change causing crash

*cosmetics*
- 'disableAutoDeinterlaceCheckBox' now under Filter/Subtitle and Misc->Input Settings
- fixed the naming of the 'tagTab'
- fixed some glitches under Audio->Audio Encoding

-> updated downloads in first post

[buzzqw]

good update!

thanks :)

BHH

[Pitti]

I think there is one more mainfeature necessary before we can go to search the hidden bugs.
It is the Possibility to keep the queue save over a restart.

Your progress has been made for this short time are really amazing.

Grüßle Pitti
Ps: is there any function in mencoder like the trim() function in avisynth.
for the short testings before the entire encodinprocess

[Selur]

In general there is only problem is one can't jump in every source, which makes it impossible to set start and end time, had feature in an earlier version but removed it since I never found the time to really test which formats allow jumping with mencoder/mplayer and which not,... atm I'm doing a bunch of gui changes but the queue saving is planned. ;)

[Pitti]

trim is not so important. I can trim the source with other tools like tsmuxer or mkvmerge.

but saving the queue (automaticly) is very important because sometime my wife interrupting my computer progress
(she call me: Hooooolger come to the supper or so) ;)

saving the queue is also saving my marriage :)

enough joking
cu Pitti

[Emess]

I'd imagine you could trim in avisynth and using avs2yuv open the pipe as the input in sx264, as long as some sort of way to define the frames is used, like x264 --frames option for this exact purpose. Maybe support named pipe's as input with a popup to ask for the number of frames? This could still be a problem for 2pass tho, so a better way would be for sx264 to create the pipe itself for each pass, maybe have it run wine avs2yuv.exe <stuff> itself. Or maybe this is just a really bad idea. It'd sure save HDD space though.

E~

[Selur]

Yup, wouldn't be to hard to include avisynth, but like I stated before 'I don't like the wine-way' and avisynth support/integration will only come when avisynth (3) runs native on linux. ;)

[Selur]

rev474

*added*
- auto load/save jobHistory and jobQueue (only not finished jobs will be saved, for infos about finished job use jobHistory)
- save/clear jobHistory
- 'close on queue finished' and 'shutdown on close' (later only for windows, no clue how to do it on linux without admin rights)

*cosmetics*
- added a menubar
- some small renamings and rearrangements

*fixed*
- p4x4 not enabled when level = unrestriced was selected


-> updated downloads in first post

[Selur]

rev475

*cosmetics*
- added button to open misc to main register (before it was only in the menubar)

-> updated downloads in first post

[Emess]

Not a feature request this time but it's been bugging me for a while. Is it possible to use a different location for storing the packages? The site you use currently can't be used with wget (at least not for me) and is VERY slow in a browser. I build a package so my packagemanager doesn't bork and the buildscript usually autodownloads the source but it's not possible here. Is there a possibility of svn access returning?

E~