size output and AR

[catflap001]

hi. i've been using agk for a few years and i sometimes have this problem, although i've never been able to remedy it on my own or on the forum, so i usually just give up.

i have the newest alpha agk installed.

i have a recording in 16:9 widescreen. that's the AR i recorded in in.

it's a half hour, recorded in LP speed. in agk i choose the vob, and the third line description of the file says it's 4:3. so i go into the hidden menu and try different AR sizes.

a couple of things i'm not sure about...

do i name the output file before or after changing the AR size in the hidden menu?

and...in the hidden menu, do i check the box for "override input AR" and then choose a size next to it? or keep the box unchecked and choose a size?

and then, which size do i choose? i've tried several combinations and i always get an incorrect result.

to go on...

i choose 1/4 CD 175MB size with autowidth, xvid and vbr mp3.

the first try i chose the AR of 16:9 and checked the override box. the size was 104MB. and when i play it in wmp11 it's squeezed to 4:3 and i can only get it to play in widescreen with wmp6.4 alternative.

my second try was "original" with the override box checked. that came out in correct AR but only 109MB. opening it on wmp11 it was a small rectangle in the middle of the screen until i switched to full screen and the picture wasn't as clear as it should be.

my third try i didn't change anything in the hidden menu. the result was like the first try although the size was slightly bigger at 110MB.

in all three tries, no matter what i did, the third line description always says it's 4:3, even when it's 16:9 widescreen.

i recorded from a dvr on my widescreen tv. the dvr is set to play and record automatically in widescreen (when available).

i've found that if i change the default settings on the dvr to 4:3, i can use agk without having to change any hidden settings, but then this means i always have to change the settings on my tv and dvd recorder, and i'd rather not have to do that because it always gets confusing if i have to keep changing the settings for dvd recording and playback.

i only mention my dvr because i've seen discussions here and in stickies about using them like DVB and TIVO. i've looked through some of them but still i can never find the right way to encode a 16:9 widescreen recording at the right size and AR without having to change the settings on my dvr, dvd recorder and tv.

i hope someone can help me. and i also hope i haven't broken any rule about mentioning a dvr.

thanks.

sorry, i didn't keep the first 2 logs, but here is the last one where i didn't change any settings:

[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] AutoGK 2.45
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] OS: WinXP (5.1.2600).2
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Job started.
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Input file: E:\Videos\xray WS\VTS_03_0.IFO
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Output file: E:\Videos\xray WS\xray WS.avi
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Output codec: XviD
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Audio 1: ??? AC3 2ch
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Subtitles: none
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Format: AVI
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Target size: 175Mb
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Audio 1 settings: VBR MP3 with average bitrate: 128Kbps
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Standalone support enabled: MTK/Sigma
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Started encoding.
[12/30/2008 5:32:31 PM] Demuxing and indexing.
[12/30/2008 5:32:44 PM] Processing file: E:\Videos\xray WS\VTS_03_1.VOB
[12/30/2008 5:32:44 PM] Source resolution: 720x576
[12/30/2008 5:32:44 PM] Found PAL source.
[12/30/2008 5:32:44 PM] Source aspect ratio: 4:3
[12/30/2008 5:32:44 PM] Analyzing source.
[12/30/2008 5:33:57 PM] Source is considered to be interlaced.
[12/30/2008 5:33:57 PM] Output will contain 43980 frames
[12/30/2008 5:33:57 PM] Decoding audio.
[12/30/2008 5:34:28 PM] Normalizing audio.
[12/30/2008 5:34:37 PM] Encoding audio.
[12/30/2008 5:39:42 PM] Audio1 size: 23,428,464 bytes (22.34 Mb)
[12/30/2008 5:39:42 PM] Overhead: 1,759,232 bytes (1.68 Mb)
[12/30/2008 5:39:42 PM] Video size: 158,313,104 bytes (150.98 Mb)
[12/30/2008 5:39:42 PM] Running compressibility test.
[12/30/2008 5:42:21 PM] Duration was: 2 minutes 39 seconds
[12/30/2008 5:42:21 PM] Speed was: 13.80 fps.
[12/30/2008 5:42:21 PM] Compressibility percentage is: 22.13
[12/30/2008 5:42:21 PM] Using softer resizer.
[12/30/2008 5:42:21 PM] Chosen resolution is: 400x304 ( AR: 1.32 )
[12/30/2008 5:42:21 PM] Predicted comptest value is: 57.98%
[12/30/2008 5:42:21 PM] Running first pass.
[12/30/2008 5:58:07 PM] Duration was: 15 minutes 45 seconds
[12/30/2008 5:58:07 PM] Speed was: 46.50 fps.
[12/30/2008 5:58:07 PM] Expected quality of first pass size: 44.46%
[12/30/2008 5:58:07 PM] Trying to adjust settings.
[12/30/2008 5:58:07 PM] Chosen resolution is: 320x240 ( AR: 1.33 )
[12/30/2008 5:58:07 PM] Predicted comptest value is: 70.39
[12/30/2008 5:58:07 PM] Re-running first pass.
[12/30/2008 6:11:31 PM] Duration was: 13 minutes 23 seconds
[12/30/2008 6:11:31 PM] Speed was: 54.75 fps.
[12/30/2008 6:11:31 PM] Expected quality of first pass size: 63.96%
[12/30/2008 6:11:31 PM] Running second pass.
[12/30/2008 6:29:23 PM] Duration was: 17 minutes 52 seconds
[12/30/2008 6:29:23 PM] Speed was: 41.00 fps.
[12/30/2008 6:29:23 PM] Job finished. Total time: 56 minutes 52 seconds
====================================================

[catflap001]

sorry about a double post, but while i'm waiting for a reply, i did another encode.

this time, i checked the override box and chose 16:9. i manually put in 175MB for size.

the result was just as my second try above. the AR was correct, but it was maybe 1/3 of the screen with a black box around it until i opened the player full screen. the file size came to 109MB, not 175 that i specified.

so here's the log for that one:

[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] AutoGK 2.45
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] OS: WinXP (5.1.2600).2
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Job started.
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Input file: E:\Videos\xray WS\VTS_03_0.IFO
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Output file: E:\Videos\xray WS\xray WS4.avi
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Output codec: XviD
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Audio 1: ??? AC3 2ch
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Subtitles: none
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Format: AVI
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Target size: 175Mb
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Audio 1 settings: VBR MP3 with average bitrate: 128Kbps
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Standalone support enabled: MTK/Sigma
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Started encoding.
[12/30/2008 8:53:18 PM] Demuxing and indexing.
[12/30/2008 8:53:36 PM] Processing file: E:\Videos\xray WS\VTS_03_1.VOB
[12/30/2008 8:53:36 PM] Source resolution: 720x576
[12/30/2008 8:53:36 PM] Found PAL source.
[12/30/2008 8:53:36 PM] Source aspect ratio: 4:3
[12/30/2008 8:53:36 PM] Manual aspect ratio: 16:9
[12/30/2008 8:53:36 PM] Analyzing source.
[12/30/2008 8:54:52 PM] Source is considered to be interlaced.
[12/30/2008 8:54:52 PM] Output will contain 43980 frames
[12/30/2008 8:54:52 PM] Decoding audio.
[12/30/2008 8:55:27 PM] Normalizing audio.
[12/30/2008 8:55:35 PM] Encoding audio.
[12/30/2008 9:00:48 PM] Audio1 size: 23,428,464 bytes (22.34 Mb)
[12/30/2008 9:00:48 PM] Overhead: 1,759,232 bytes (1.68 Mb)
[12/30/2008 9:00:48 PM] Video size: 158,313,104 bytes (150.98 Mb)
[12/30/2008 9:00:48 PM] Running compressibility test.
[12/30/2008 9:03:06 PM] Duration was: 2 minutes 17 seconds
[12/30/2008 9:03:06 PM] Speed was: 15.95 fps.
[12/30/2008 9:03:06 PM] Compressibility percentage is: 26.31
[12/30/2008 9:03:06 PM] Using softer resizer.
[12/30/2008 9:03:06 PM] Chosen resolution is: 448x256 ( AR: 1.75 )
[12/30/2008 9:03:06 PM] Predicted comptest value is: 56.05%
[12/30/2008 9:03:06 PM] Running first pass.
[12/30/2008 9:18:36 PM] Duration was: 15 minutes 30 seconds
[12/30/2008 9:18:36 PM] Speed was: 47.28 fps.
[12/30/2008 9:18:36 PM] Expected quality of first pass size: 46.04%
[12/30/2008 9:18:36 PM] Trying to adjust settings.
[12/30/2008 9:18:36 PM] Chosen resolution is: 352x208 ( AR: 1.69 )
[12/30/2008 9:18:36 PM] Predicted comptest value is: 72.12
[12/30/2008 9:18:36 PM] Re-running first pass.
[12/30/2008 9:32:14 PM] Duration was: 13 minutes 38 seconds
[12/30/2008 9:32:14 PM] Speed was: 53.75 fps.
[12/30/2008 9:32:14 PM] Expected quality of first pass size: 64.36%
[12/30/2008 9:32:14 PM] Running second pass.
[12/30/2008 9:49:30 PM] Duration was: 17 minutes 15 seconds
[12/30/2008 9:49:30 PM] Speed was: 42.47 fps.
[12/30/2008 9:49:30 PM] Job finished. Total time: 56 minutes 11 seconds
====================================================

[Om Prakash]

Hi,

First of all, I'm not an expert with AutoGK and encoding as such.

I want to ask couple of questions.

1. Are you able to encode other VOBs(perhaps a movie) with proper output size (using Xvid) you have mentioned?
2. Did you try DivX by anychance? Because I have this output size issue, when I choose Xvid sometimes and when I use Divx it's fixed.

Give it a shot, let me know.

Thanks.
Om.

[CWR03]

The problem with both file size and quality is probably the chosen resolution, which is very small. If you encode a short video into a small resolution, the Xvid becomes saturated (Can't feed it any more bitrate) and you get an undersized output. Try a fixed width of 640, check your force 16:9 and try again.

The "small window" in WMP isn't anything at fault except its playing back the video at the actual size.

[catflap001]

hi om.

i can rip and encode a movie from a dvd using the default settings with xvid and vbr mp3. i've only ever had one dvd that refuses to encode with proper AR and size and i gave up on that one a long time ago.

i don't like to use divx, so i haven't tried it yet. i will when i have a chance.

meanwhile, i made a new test with another recording that was much shorter - 1minute in length. i changed my dvd/hdd recorder setting (NOT the dvr setting) to Automatic AR in recording mode and kept the dvr AR in widescreen.

the third line description showed it was 16:9 letterbox. i also checked the hidden override menu and chose 16:9 (the log is below).

the result was correct AR, but i had specified the size to be 8MB and it came out as 5.54MB.

although the AR in wmp11 seemed correct and filled most of the screen before switching to full screen, it had black bars on the sides (as well as the normal on top and bottom because it's widescreen).

and even though the third line input description showed it as 16:9, the scrolling log said the source was 4:3 (see log).

so i don't know what to do. if i keep the settings i changed on my dvd recorder, i'm afraid it will affect the recording AR of broadcasts that are recorded directly to the dvdr. the dvr is a separate machine and somehow the dvd recorder will record direct broadcasts differently than it does from dvr-to-dvd recorder.

so here's the log of my test:

[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] AutoGK 2.45
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] OS: WinXP (5.1.2600).2
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Job started.
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Input file: E:\Videos\test\VTS_01_0.IFO
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Output file: E:\Videos\test\test7.avi
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Output codec: XviD
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Audio 1: ??? AC3 2ch
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Subtitles: none
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Format: AVI
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Target size: 8Mb
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Audio 1 settings: VBR MP3 with average bitrate: 128Kbps
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Standalone support enabled: MTK/Sigma
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Started encoding.
[12/30/2008 8:36:44 PM] Demuxing and indexing.
[12/30/2008 8:36:45 PM] Processing file: E:\Videos\test\VTS_01_1.VOB
[12/30/2008 8:36:45 PM] Source resolution: 720x576
[12/30/2008 8:36:45 PM] Found PAL source.
[12/30/2008 8:36:45 PM] Source aspect ratio: 4:3
[12/30/2008 8:36:45 PM] Manual aspect ratio: 16:9
[12/30/2008 8:36:45 PM] Analyzing source.
[12/30/2008 8:37:05 PM] Source has percentage of interlacing in motion areas: 94.68
[12/30/2008 8:37:05 PM] Source is considered to be interlaced.
[12/30/2008 8:37:05 PM] Output will contain 1524 frames
[12/30/2008 8:37:05 PM] Decoding audio.
[12/30/2008 8:37:06 PM] Normalizing audio.
[12/30/2008 8:37:06 PM] Encoding audio.
[12/30/2008 8:37:15 PM] Audio1 size: 887,880 bytes (0.85 Mb)
[12/30/2008 8:37:15 PM] Overhead: 60,928 bytes (0.06 Mb)
[12/30/2008 8:37:15 PM] Video size: 7,439,800 bytes (7.10 Mb)
[12/30/2008 8:37:15 PM] Running compressibility test.
[12/30/2008 8:37:15 PM] Writing the following script to E:\Videos\test\agk_tmp\test7_comptest.avs
===========================================================
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\autocrop.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\RemoveGrainSSE3.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\leakkerneldeint.dll")

movie = mpeg2source("E:\Videos\test\agk_tmp\test7.d2v")
cropclip = autocrop(movie,mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples=10,aspect=0,threshold=34,samplestartframe=0,leftadd=0,rightadd=0,topadd=0,bottomadd=0)
fixed_aspect = 1.42222222222222
c_width = width(cropclip)
c_height = round(height(cropclip) / fixed_aspect)
input_par = float(c_width)/float(c_height)
input_par = (input_par > 1.4) || (input_par < 1.25) ? input_par : (4.0/3.0)
out_width = 640
out_height = round(float(out_width) / input_par)
hmod = out_height - (floor(out_height / 16 ) * 16)
out_height = (hmod > 4) ? (out_height + (16 - hmod)) : (out_height - hmod)
new_aspect = (float(out_width) / float(out_height)) / fixed_aspect
LeakKernelDeInt(movie,order=1,sharp=true)
autocrop(mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples=10,aspect=new_aspect,threshold=34,samplestartframe=0,leftadd=0,rightadd=0,topadd=0,bottomadd=0)
LanczosResize(out_width,out_height)
RemoveGrain(mode=2)
SelectRangeEvery(15,15)
===========================================================
[12/30/2008 8:38:15 PM] Duration was: 59 seconds
[12/30/2008 8:38:15 PM] Speed was: 25.73 fps.
[12/30/2008 8:38:15 PM] Compressibility percentage is: 53.61
[12/30/2008 8:38:15 PM] Chosen resolution is: 608x384 ( AR: 1.58 )
[12/30/2008 8:38:15 PM] Predicted comptest value is: 58.79%
[12/30/2008 8:38:15 PM] Running first pass.
[12/30/2008 8:38:15 PM] Writing the following script to E:\Videos\test\agk_tmp\test7_movie.avs
===========================================================
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\autocrop.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\RemoveGrainSSE3.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\leakkerneldeint.dll")

movie = mpeg2source("E:\Videos\test\agk_tmp\test7.d2v")
cropclip = autocrop(movie,mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples=10,aspect=0,threshold=34,samplestartframe=0,leftadd=0,rightadd=0,topadd=0,bottomadd=0)
fixed_aspect = 1.42222222222222
c_width = width(cropclip)
c_height = round(height(cropclip) / fixed_aspect)
input_par = float(c_width)/float(c_height)
input_par = (input_par > 1.4) || (input_par < 1.25) ? input_par : (4.0/3.0)
out_width = 608
out_height = round(float(out_width) / input_par)
hmod = out_height - (floor(out_height / 16 ) * 16)
out_height = (hmod > 4) ? (out_height + (16 - hmod)) : (out_height - hmod)
new_aspect = (float(out_width) / float(out_height)) / fixed_aspect
LeakKernelDeInt(movie,order=1,sharp=true)
autocrop(mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples=10,aspect=new_aspect,threshold=34,samplestartframe=0,leftadd=0,rightadd=0,topadd=0,bottomadd=0)
LanczosResize(out_width,out_height)
RemoveGrain(mode=2)
===========================================================
[12/30/2008 8:38:58 PM] Duration was: 42 seconds
[12/30/2008 8:38:58 PM] Speed was: 35.49 fps.
[12/30/2008 8:38:58 PM] Expected quality of first pass size: 55.36%
[12/30/2008 8:38:58 PM] Running second pass.
[12/30/2008 8:39:56 PM] Duration was: 58 seconds
[12/30/2008 8:39:56 PM] Speed was: 26.23 fps.
[12/30/2008 8:39:56 PM] Job finished. Total time: 3 minutes 11 seconds

[catflap001]

hi CWR03.

sorry, i was writing when you posted that above. so this is for you now...

i've always chosen autowidth in the advanced settings. i never have a problem with AR and size when i rip a dvd (except for that one stubborn video i mentioned above).

i know the problem must lie with the settings on my dvd recorder, dvr and tv, but it gets too confusing to have to remember them when i want to change them around for encoding purposes. that's why i need to find the right settings with agk so i can avoid that confusion. and if i've delezed the recording from the dvr and only have it on the hdd or a dvd, i can't change it once it's been recorded.

i used to have a regular tv and i set the dvd recorder to 4:3, so i never had a problem with encoding that way. these confusions only started when i got a widescreen tv and had to set it to 16:9 for recording, otherwise there sometimes are difficulties in copying to a dvd. the dvd recorder has a specific mindset that only allows certain ARs to be copied to certain types of discs at certain copy speeds. if i don't follow that, the copy to a disc will go at real time speed. it's confusing.

if, for example, i change the dvr setting to 4:3 and the dvd recorder setting to 4:3. i think i'd be able to encode properly as i did before with my previous 4:3 tv. but then, instead of being able to use the widescreen function on my TV, i have to zoom it in to 16:9 and i think that disturbs the picture quality a little bit.

and also, i have other xvid avi's that were encoded in widescreen and i don't need to change any settings on my dvd dvr or tv. it automatically sees it as widescreen if the dvd plyer and tv are set to 16:9.

so that's why i need a way to avoid all of the setting changes. it drives my crazy.

but when i have a chance, i'll try the resolution of 640 you suggested.

what about the other questions i asked about in the hidden menu? any ideas?

[catflap001]

sorry again about double posting, but i'm updating as i try each test.

i think i figured out the settings for recording from my dvr to dvd recorder so i don't have to change any agk settings - at least for widescreen recordings, although it's a pain in the neck to have keep switching the tv and dvr playback AR settings. i haven't tried any 4:3 recordings yet.

except -- the file is still undersized. although the test file looks ok, i'm not happy about the undersizing. for example, the size of an average half hour recording is usually 175MB, but i wasn't able to get it on my first recording that i posted about here. i don't have the original on my dvr anymore so i can't fiddle with those settings.

so now i'm concerned with 2 things: first, the undersizing of recordings. i can't recall that happening except for the stubborn dvd video i gave up on.

second, i still need to find a way to get the agk settings correct for earlier recordings that have different dvr playback AR recording to the dvd recorder, such as the half hour recording that led me to start this thread. if i want to encode a 45mon recording at 350MB, i don't want it to come out at 270MB or something.

i was able - through some manipulation of the settings in the hidden menu - to encode an earlier short clip at the correct AR, but it was still undersized and there is a white line of "static" (i don't know what else to call it) that runs horizontally at the top of the screen starting on the left side and stops in the center. even making the playback full screen doesn't get rid of it.

so all solutions are gratefully accepted.

btw, i do recall i did try divx in the past and still had the same problems.

[manono]

First upgrade your AutoGK and then report back with a log file if you're still getting undersized files. Be sure to remove your XviD codec in Add/Remove files before updating your AutoGK.

[CWR03]

If you're getting the same undersize issue with both Xvid and DivX, it points more to oversaturation. Try setting a width of 640 as I suggested before.