Questions to GUI users on available GUIs

[stax76]

I've a couple of questions to GUI users, non GUI users are welcome to post as well of course. I hope the thread will be useful to explore different natures of GUIs and users.

1.) How much experience do you have in computing in general and in video encoding?

2.) How many tutorials on video encoding and GUIs have you read?

3.) Which GUIs have you tried and how thoroughly have you tried them? Where did they fail?

4.) Which GUIs have you been used over the years and for how long?

5.) Of what nature are your sources and your output format?

6.) How many encodes do make in a given time frame?

7.) How much time do you like preparing an encode?

8.) For what reasons did you give up using GUIs or not even start?

[stax76]

1.) How much experience do you have in computing in general and in video encoding?

StaxRip started 2001 as VBScript, became VB6, became .NET 1.0 and soon will be .NET 4.0 so I've gained much experience coding StaxRip.

2.) How many tutorials on video encoding and GUIs have you read?

I've probably not read as much as I've should, in german there is Brother John's encodingwissen I read and recommend, it's huge.

3.) Which GUIs have you tried and how thoroughly have you tried them? Where did they fail?

I didn't seriously try GordianKnot as is didn't seem to be suitable for converting larger amounts of DVB captures. I follow the MeGUI and RipBot264 development and use them sometimes. I understand their design and concept and pros and cons of them.

4.) Which GUIs have you been used over the years and for how long?

StaxRip most of the time

5.) Of what nature are your sources and your output format?

A lot PAL DVB captures in the past but now I don't convert much TV captures, I don't even watch much TV other than TV series which I'm much of an addict. I just convert PAL DVDs, not too many in recent years. I use x264 using simple settings, AAC, MKV, everything DivX Plus compatible, small files stored on the HD (if you are a newbie and want to store on HD, DON'T USE 2PASS!). I don't include subtitles so I can focus on the acting, luckily in germany there is very good synchronization, some stars have very cool synchron voices. If I could understand everything perfectly I would watch english more often. Right now I probably get only 90-95% of everything spoken, english is simply not my native language. I consider though to include the English track as HEv2/SBR+PS so it don't take much space, English subtitles would then also make sense.

No HD plans so far but in February free HDTV starts in germany, so far it was only Pay TV.

6.) How many encodes do make in a given time frame?

Sometimes few in a row, sometimes non for weeks, it varies but generally not too many. There are so many movies and stars but few good enough to watch a second time.

7.) How much time do you like or spend preparing an encode?

I did not measure but I spend hardly time on tweaking, I've poor eyes anyway, sometimes I use a noise filter. I just want the encoding to be setup quick and painfree.

8.) For what reasons did you give up using GUIs or not even start?

I avoid command shells and applications that involve manual work and complexity and prefer simple and fancy GUIs.

[Betsy25]

1.) How much experience do you have in computing in general and in video encoding?
Cumputing, pretty much .... Video encoding, I keep feeling a newbie.
2.) How many tutorials on video encoding and GUIs have you read?
I've read some (parts) about MeGUI, and did my best the read a German manual about StaxRip from some pope looking forum member.:D
3.) Which GUIs have you tried and how thoroughly have you tried them? Where did they fail?
MeGUI, AviDemux, HDConvertToX, RipBot264 all failed on me to either do not do what they promised (user bugs, program bugs ??), or in MeGUI's case crashed more on me than it produced encodings, Only tool I keep my hope in is StaxRip, because it's clear for beginners, has all the options for the no-beginner, and especially is programmed in a proper way, read : Added features are (mostly) properly added from the very beginning, and it doesn't get filled with buckets of half- or non-working "features" which make the author(s) give up once they completely lost the red wire of their GUI.
4.) Which GUIs have you been used over the years and for how long?
MeGUI and AviDemux for some months, StaxRip for a long time, in the avi-only ages, avi.NET was my favourite.
5.) Of what nature are your sources and your output format?
Sources are almost all DVD, have no BluRay on my PC, output format is mostly .avi or .mp4 (because these formats are almost properly handled by the PS3)
6.) How many encodes do make in a given time frame?
When I'm a buying period, I can by 10 DVD's at once, now it's almost a year ago, since I did a "fresh" encode, I do keep encoding the same movies over and over again, testing x264, the GUI's and because it may have become an addiction ?:scared:
7.) How much time do like or spend preparing an encode?
Doesn't matter, as long as the result is (very) good, time doesn't matter, perhaps because I'm not a pirate having to be the first to spread some encoded stuff, so for me, time is not that important.
8.) For what reasons did you give up using GUIs or not even start?
Some because of their bugs, and "dumb" layout, because there is no single logic where to start, and where to go from there.
I keep preferring StaxRip because you clearly take your time to properly implement something, with other apps there is such a load of bugs (mostly due writing errors in the code, and once those begin to build up, you see their pattern of creating even more bugs when older bugs are actually being addressed. That gives me a sense that I'm trying something that is broken in so many places that I'm really not more interested in an encoder GUI that is always failing somewhere, and you get the feeling that you have more chance at winning the lottery than producing a successful encoding with it), That's the feeling I don't have with StaxRip, it has always been super-clean regarding bugs, and that, for me, is the proper way to have a long standing GUI that builds on great user experiences, and not building name with its bug threads being the biggest of the pack.

[RiCON]

1.) How much experience do you have in computing in general and in video encoding?
Been working with computers for almost 10 years and have always been very curious about the workings inside them, both in hardware and software. Only started video encoding more or less when Matroska showed up, then stopped for a few years until 1 year ago or so, when I started fansubbing.
2.) How many tutorials on video encoding and GUIs have you read?
A few. A few man pages on the relevant apps, reviews on filters and their readmes, etc. Tutorials on GUI, not so much. A GUI shouldn't need a tutorial to be used.
3.) Which GUIs have you tried and how thoroughly have you tried them? Where did they fail?
Tried MeGUI because liked the range of features. Also, StaxRip, RipBot, MicroX264 and sx264. In ye olden times, also used GKnot.
4.) Which GUIs have you been used over the years and for how long?
The GUI I used the longest so far was MeGUI, for half a year.
5.) Of what nature are your sources and your output format?
Mostly DVD and BD rips. Always MKV with H.264 video, AAC-LC audio and ASS subs.
6.) How many encodes do make in a given time frame?
Been kinda lazying out from fansubbing so the only encodes I've been doing are for testing and to downscale videos so I can watch them on my Atom netbook.
7.) How much time do like or spend preparing an encode?
For a fansub, I can spend a whole day or even a few days looking for the best compromise between quality and size. To downscale for the netbook, I'd like to just order a simple resize to 512x288 with --tune fastdecode and in a way I don't spend much time setting up the encodes for a potentially large list of files.
8.) For what reasons did you give up using GUIs or not even start?
I've given up MeGUI because I frequently encountered bugs in some features. I started using more of the apps themselves instead of MeGUI, like DGIndex and TsMuxer/eac3to.
Ripbot doesn't have resizing, so I would have to make my own .avs every time I'd like to downscale a video.
I don't like using StaxRip very much. A few superfluous options and everything assumed "for newbies". Haven't messed with it a lot, though.
sx264 simply doesn't work, sometimes, dunno why.
MicroX264 is the perfect GUI for the downscaling part. All I have to do is replace the resolution part with "--stdin y4m", delete "-raw" from avs2yuv and just paste the changes to the app or just paste everything in a .bat and run. Because no windows show up and the settings are kept, I can queue a lot of encodes effortlessly. With the updated not so much.
For the fansubbing encodes, I just use my own scripts, because they're more customizable and fail-safe than almost any GUI. I usually need access to x264's presets, tunes, levels, occasional change of options and qpfile importing.

[harycover]

This may be a simple answer but the first thing I expect from a gui is to work, fancy options are worthless if they introduce some bugs

I'm using ripbot264 because it's really simple, user friendly, quite reliable (almost 100%) and very fast, I tried hdconvertoX, there are some nice features like subtitles support, much more options for audio and video encoding but it's quite buggy (my apologies to it's author) but after 20 or so encodings with it only half of them got till the end of the process for various reasons

I once used to encode using command line when divx was at version 3.12 but I want now efficiency and no more hassle because I don't have time to waste struggling to check why it didn't work

So... if you are working on your GUI (wich I didn't try yet) your first aim should be reliability... if the job is in the queue then it's supposed to be done or the gui shouldn't accept to put it there, it has to check that everything is ok before saying that the job is accepted, if you generously add an option make sure it is compatible with all the process before (that's a lot of work I know)

Cheers :)

[prOnorama]

1.) 10 years (Windows only) , 4 years or so video encoding;

2.) a few, an AutoGK guide, a few guides on Xvid & Gknot, and a few guides on MeGui & x264;

3.) AutoGK (used it a few months before switching to GK), then GordianKnot (used it a lot but not anymore because I don't use Xvid anymore and because GK development has been dead for years), MeGUI (still use it but the actual encoding I do via the command line now), tried RipBot264 (good as 1 click encoder), StaxRip (didn't try it a lot, didn't like the interface and also if I just load an .avs it started to override it with it's own settings), ASXGUI/HDConverttoX (tried once didn't like the interface and/or didn't let met use my own settings);

4.) MeGUI the last few years;

5.) mostly HD sources nowadays, output format .mkv using x264 and usually DTS core audio or AC3 (core). PS: Xvid should die it's vastly inferior to x264. I have the feeling standalone device support for x264 (or MPEG-4 AVC) might get mainstream acceptance sooner if it weren't for pesky old Xvid codec.

6.) 5-8 a month or so;

7.) a little as possible (Edit: well that doesn't mean I don't take the time to properly test the encode, I always do a 5% test encode (or a few) and adjust the bitrate and/or settings according to the source). What I don't do is encode the same source again, when it's done it's done and it goes to one of my external HD's)

8.) see 3.)

In short: favorite easy to use 1 click GUI -> Ripbot264, favorite overall GUI: MeGUI (with the remark that the development has been rocky lately, but it might get bug free again)

[stax76]

@ prOnorama & harycover

Am I right to assume your sources are mostly Blue-ray?

[stax76]

didn't try it a lot, didn't like the interface and also if I just load an .avs it started to override it with it's own settings

There were a couple of improvements made in this regard, for instance a new menu to define the source aspect ratio which is in particular useful opening AVS files since it cannot be detected and users are likely to want full control over this so this is now a 100% supported scenario, it hasn't always been that way.

MeGUI supports it too but I don't know exactly how it manages aspect ratio. RipBot264 can open AVS too but again I don't know how it manages aspect ratio and audio for AVS sources.

[harycover]

@ stax76

Yes, you're right, mostly blu ray and HD content, I also downsize some hdvideo so I can send it through internet, like prOnorama I encode in x264 for both hd and sd videos, ogg audio for optimal size or direct stream copy when size doesn't matter much

As far as I am concerned a GUI like ripbot264 that would add more audio encoding options and some subtitles support would be just perfect, for the moment I'm doing this part "manually" using mkvmerge, bdsup2sub, etc...

[prOnorama]

There were a couple of improvements made in this regard, for instance a new menu to define the source aspect ratio which is in particular useful opening AVS files since it cannot be detected and users are likely to want full control over this so this is now a 100% supported scenario, it hasn't always been that way.

MeGUI supports it too but I don't know exactly how it manages aspect ratio. RipBot264 can open AVS too but again I don't know how it manages aspect ratio and audio for AVS sources.

Ah OK been a while since I tried it maybe I should give it another chance, but to be honest I mostly do everything by hand now: eac3to to demux audio (or DGIndex for DVD) subtitles, chapters; GraphStudio -> AvSP -> .avs -> x264 via command line; mux everything with mkvmerge GUI. It's just I have to change the script a little for each encode, but since I don't do that many it's still OK. At least you can use the latest version of x264 (change all the options yourself if necessary) and aren't dependent on a GUI which might be outdated.

Having said that: a simple GUI with some de-interlacing/IVTC filter presets could still be helpful, I always have to check back on some AviSynth related guide for those options (don't use them that much).

And yes mostly Blu-ray sources, some HDTV.

[stax76]

At least you can use the latest version of x264 (change all the options yourself if necessary) and aren't dependent on a GUI which might be outdated.

I don't know how much of a problem this was in other GUIs. In StaxRip it was never a issue, a incompatible setting enabled in a profile can just be set to the default value so no command is generated, this combined with custom commands should enable to use the application without updates for months. Profiles are built based on presets and tunings keeping the used commands at minimum except for profiles that target devices where it can't be avoided. I've paused StaxRip several times, 8 months one time and another pause can happen anytime. Did not cause issues, people continued to use it and were able to update used applications. The authors of applications used by GUIs are aware a lot of applications depend on their application and try to avoid unnecessary breaking changes.

[sumawo13]

1.) How much experience do you have in computing in general and in video encoding?

7 years using computers, encoding has only become a real interest of mine within the last year or two, but I've used encoding tools before.

2.) How many tutorials on video encoding and GUIs have you read?

An untold number.

3.) Which GUIs have you tried and how thoroughly have you tried them? Where did they fail?

The first GUI I used was VirtualDub for compressing some Fraps videos several years back. I've also used multipurpose encoding tools like Xvid4PSP, MediaCoder, WinFF, et cetera. Aside from VirtualDub, most of them were overly confusing in their layout and exposed encoder options that, at the time, a novice like myself didn't understand.

4.) Which GUIs have you been used over the years and for how long?

I've used VirtualDub since either 2004 or 2005.

I've used MeGUI since 2008, after I began exploring other formats such as H.264, AAC, MKV, et cetera, although I've recently stopped using it as it is no longer maintained.

5.) Of what nature are your sources and your output format?

My sources are generally NTSC Region 1 DVDs containing telecined film content.

I usually encode to H.264 for the video using x264, AAC for the audio using NeroAAC, and I mux to MKV. I don't usually include subtitles as most of my content is in English.

6.) How many encodes do make in a given time frame?

It's hard to say. I do a lot of test encoding, playing with settings of the encoder and any Avisynth filters I might use. I also don't keep most of my encodes for very long, so I'm always re-encoding. I don't know an exact number, but I make multiple encodes per day.

7.) How much time do like or spend preparing an encode?

Not much time, but most of it is spent on writing the Avisynth script and batch file I use to encode.

8.) For what reasons did you give up using GUIs or not even start?

I think most GUIs try to do too many things. They not only want to be an encoder, but they also want to do everything else. I don't need an encoder to write my Avisynth scripts for me.

[buzzqw]

i can say only this: users start using a gui, and appreciated it for what gui offers.

at the same time users gain experience (on encoding) they start asking more and more and not correlated to gui features

a gui must "do" what is supposed to do, must not trasform is a ugly overwhelmed all around tab (like automkv).

Developers must say NO to features request beyond the scope of the gui.

BHH

[smok3]

1.) How much experience do you have in computing in general and in video encoding?
more than i ever wanted
2.) How many tutorials on video encoding and GUIs have you read?
plenty
3.) Which GUIs have you tried and how thoroughly have you tried them?
i tried plenty, but i keep getting back to cli/scripting
Where did they fail?
- automagic settings and different detections that usually fail
- workflow assumptions that just wont work, wizard like linear 20 question systems
- unreliable batch processing, lack of repeatability
- lack of logical preset system for resizing, croping, ect
- unwanted encoding parameters abstraction layers (especially those that call command line progies like x264, for example quality scale in % was seen in one of this)
- they only run on windows
- lack of watch folder
- stability, unwanted complexity
- lack of drag/drop to my preset (or lack of droplets)
- lack of connection to xy editing software (encode from timeline) p.s. why can't there be a standard for gui to gui piping?
- huge log or no log at all / per file, no human readable info about encoding time / per file
- lately: lack of prores input support
- lately: hard to install on ubuntu (handbrake) /me linux noob
4.) Which GUIs have you been used over the years and for how long?
virtualdub is absolute winer, lately comercial ones, like compressor on mac
5.) Of what nature are your sources and your output format?
various sources, output is something crossplatform, something that can be easily used on the web
6.) How many encodes do make in a given time frame?
certainly at least one per day
7.) How much time do you like preparing an encode?
as little as i can, but i wont relly on some automagic stufff
8.) For what reasons did you give up using GUIs or not even start?
i think gui and cli should merry and have lil guicli kids (and no, that doesnt mean i would love to edit some xml files).

[xdaft]

1.) How much experience do you have in computing in general and in video encoding?

Computing in general (non-coding) about 10 years or a little bit more. Video encoding - about 4 months.

2.) How many tutorials on video encoding and GUIs have you read?

Well not enough. 5-6 I guess.

3.) Which GUIs have you tried and how thoroughly have you tried them? Where did they fail?

ASXGui, StaxRip, RipBot, Meninx, MiniCoder, Mediacoder, XMedia Recode, a little bit GK (but I suck at using it), HDConvertoX, AutoMen, MeGui, FFcoder, Handbrake, MiniCoder, sx264 (and Hybrid). They did not fail, I just suck at using them I guess o.0 Most comprehensible to me are RipBot/ Meninx, FFCoder and Handbrake.

4.) Which GUIs have you been used over the years and for how long?

As I said 4 months at encoding BUT I prefer MeninX and FFcoder(most comprehensible).

5.) Of what nature are your sources and your output format?

720p (any source), DVD and HDTV (downloaded from any internet source).

6.) How many encodes do make in a given time frame?

2 per day I guess . Mainly because I want to learn how to use the programs and try to understand what and when to use :)

7.) How much time do you like preparing an encode?

Well not much, since I am still a newbie.

8.) For what reasons did you give up using GUIs or not even start?

Too little explanations in the app (do I have to use the forum for everyting o.0 a little bit tooltip won't hurt o.0 ) and failed encodes (multiple).

[Atak_Snajpera]

@harycover
As far as I am concerned a GUI like ripbot264 that would add more audio encoding options and some subtitles support would be just perfect, for the moment I'm doing this part "manually" using mkvmerge, bdsup2sub, etc...
All subtitles are automatically demuxed. Even forced blu-ray subtitles are demuxed. You can burn subtitles , you can mux subtitles . Ripbot automatically converts subtitles if they are not supported in specific container (.ass in mp4 or .sup in .mkv) so what's missing?

Ripbot doesn't have resizing, so I would have to make my own .avs every time I'd like to downscale a video.
and who told you that?
http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/17/new1d.png

[ricardo.santos]

1.) How much experience do you have in computing in general and in video encoding?
Im fairly proficiente with hardware and software...always learning when it comes to video encoding

2.) How many tutorials on video encoding and GUIs have you read?
Lots

3.) Which GUIs have you tried and how thoroughly have you tried them? Where did they fail?
All of them were thoroughly tried...GK, ATGK, avi.Net, megui, ripbot, staxrip, automen, autoff, automkv, winff, Avanti, Asxgui, avidemux, autoffmpeg2theora, Gvc, Gui4ffmpeg, Kiss DejaVu Enc, meninx, lamexp, yamb,xvid4psp, etc etc

4.) Which GUIs have you been used over the years and for how long?
nowadays only use avi.Net, AsxGui, lamexp, avidemux and Avanti

5.) Of what nature are your sources and your output format?
Dvds, DV, Avi to flv/mp4/h264 (web streaming)

6.) How many encodes do make in a given time frame?

2 perhaps 3 a week

7.) How much time do you like preparing an encode?
The gui does it for me

8.) For what reasons did you give up using GUIs or not even start?
havent stoped using guis

[Betsy25]

The main reason people try and forget about StaxRip is in most cases the way it presents itself, most (lousy) triers will start it up and immediatelly yell "Is That All ?" .... they don't know the power of the right mouse button, That's the strength (and perhaps also weakness) of StaxRip, it presents itself quite naked, but once you start checking things out, configuration options, right mouse clicks, you WILL find out it offers so much more.

[nakTT]

The main reason people try and forget about StaxRip is in most cases the way it presents itself, most (lousy) triers will start it up and immediatelly yell "Is That All ?" .... they don't know the power of the right mouse button, That's the strength (and perhaps also weakness) of StaxRip, it presents itself quite naked, but once you start checking things out, configuration options, right mouse clicks, you WILL find out it offers so much more.
If that is the case, I will give StaxRip another try.

Last time I was turned off just exactly the way you said, since I'm one of those lousy triers.


:thanks:

[ricardo.santos]

StaxRip was great in the early times, but stayed dorment during a long time, the issue for me was not the options but the way it downloads stuff to our pc, i would download some tool and it would keep saying it wasnt there, that happened during the time that staxrip went "underground" so i turned to something else, i tried it recently but some errors popped up. Ill try it again as soon as i can

[nakTT]

StaxRip was great in the early times, but stayed dorment during a long time, the issue for me was not the options but the way it downloads stuff to our pc, i would download some tool and it would keep saying it wasnt there, that happened during the time that staxrip went "underground" so i turned to something else, i tried it recently but some errors popped up. Ill try it again as soon as i can
Yes, that was also one of the main reason I choose MeGUI over Staxrip (even though MeGUI is really difficult to use at first). Thanks ricardo, for pointing it out.

[ricardo.santos]

One of the main problems for me is the lack of subtitles options in these guis, like defining a vertical position, or what color, size...most of the times i use an avisynth script:

imagine my desktop with an avs script and a folder with an avi file called teste and an srt sub called teste
DirectShowSource("Desktop\folder\teste.avi")
Lanczos4Resize(640,360)

i activate the subtitles options in ffdshow and load the avs into MPC and then i can preview the subs in it and can alter their properties in ffdshow, after that i feed the avs to asxgui or another one.

Its complicated and most gui authors are not aware that users might need this specially foreign users...

Avanti is the only gui that im aware that does subtitle customization.

[harycover]

@harycover

All subtitles are automatically demuxed. Even forced blu-ray subtitles are demuxed. You can burn subtitles , you can mux subtitles . Ripbot automatically converts subtitles if they are not supported in specific container (.ass in mp4 or .sup in .mkv) so what's missing?



@ Atak_Snajpera

1 : thank you very very much for this tool

2 : What's missing :

-Multiple audio tracks, I know that ripbot demux everything before but when I want multiple audio I have to repeat manually the audio part of the process then mux manually, also a little bit more audio options, I prefer to use q6 ogg quality than q4 for example, I can't select this with ripbot

-Multiple subs selection, SRT support (I didn't check this one), remuxing subtitles, I don't like burning subtitles, subtitles must stay "disablable" when watching a video

That's all :) with this it would be the perfect tool because there would be no "manual" part

[Atak_Snajpera]

-Multiple subs selection, SRT support (I didn't check this one), remuxing subtitles, I don't like burning subtitles, subtitles must stay "disablable" when watching a video

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/6810/new1p.png

I prefer to use q6 ogg quality than q4 for example, I can't select this with ripbot
another crazy audiophile :) Do you really hear difference between q4 an q6???
~128 kbps Vorbis = 192 MP3 in terms of quality. I hear no difference on my Creative Fatali1y headphones above 192 Mp3.

[RiCON]

Indeed. Missed the resize there.
Except it doesn't save the resize "options" from previous encodes and the custom setting doesn't accept input other than using the tiny buttons. When going from 1280 to 512 it took a couple minutes just to get there. That's just annoying. And no, I don't want the preset resolutions.
And there's all this delay analysing the source. When one has more than 2 encodes to do at a time it's not very practical to be spending 5 minutes setting up the encode each time.

[Atak_Snajpera]

And there's all this delay analysing the source.
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED! Gui MUST get basic informations about source file! I need resolution , framecount , fps and so on ... How am i supposed to get this info ? From your head?

When going from 1280 to 512 it took a couple minutes just to get there. That's just annoying.
select PSP.iphone and then custom.

[harycover]

Sorry to be a bit OT...


another crazy audiophile :) Do you really hear difference between q4 an q6???


@ Atak_Snajpera

Yes I do hear a difference on a m-audio soundcard and sennheiser headphones :p although on most audio speakers there would be little difference, I think this is an easy option to add to your GUI ;)

So... is multiple audio tracks support scheduled in ripbot dev :D ? that would be great ^^

PS : I feel dumb about subs... I've seen this option but I thought they would be burnt into the image too, my mistake

[turbojet]

I think all guis have strengths and weaknesses but none suite what I'm looking for. So I have to resort to cli for x264 encoding except with full backups (BD-Rebuilder). For XviD I rely on GordianKnot although it's not complete (not very good input, no stream selection). For DVD I rely on DVD-RB for most things but it lacks IVTC support which is the difference between a good and usually really bad looking encode on certain DVD's. However I feel that if you took all the strengths of all the GUI's it would make for a really good gui that everyone who wanted a gui could use. I've made a list of what I've thought about what a good gui should consist of:

GUI:
- Simple GUI like BD-Rebuilder/simple x264 Launcher (only a few buttons, no tabs/pages, after initial setup it should only take a few clicks to start encode by setting input, output, playlist, audio, subs, encoder, device, speed)
- Advanced mode gives access to visual crop, encoder settings/command line, edit avisynth script, ivtc, deinterlace
- programming language that's easily translated between x86, x64, windows, mac, linux
- Input avi/avs/BD/DVD/flv/ifo/m2ts/mkv/mp4/mpls/ogm/ts
- Output AVCHD (x264) AVI (xvid) BD (x264, CCE, HCenc) DVD (CCE, HCenc) (M2)TS (cce, hcenc, x264) MKV (AVC, XviD) MP4 (AVC)
- playlist selection on main window
- easy audio and sub selection on main window that supports multiple audio/subs like BD-Rebuilder/AVCHDcoder with choice to add external streams
- On startup check windows 7 VC-1 settings like BD-Rebuilder/RipBot264
- On startup check to make sure avisynth, ffdshow and haali media splitter are installed
- On startup check if AVC/MPEG2/VC-1 is decodable, if not ask to decode the failed with ffdshow (3x 1 frame video files works)
- customizable working dir (option to delete when done) (option to use output dir)
- customizable output dir
- portable without installer (more work for?), nothing written to registry, no files/dirs outside of the app's directory (except working dir/output dir)
- Update system per component (like MeGUI)
- Profiles like MeGUI except have 2 settings: device and speed/quality
- devices dropbox disabled if AVCHD/BD/DVD selected otherwise have: iPhone, Xbox360, iPod, DXVA, None, etc.
- When a device is set only allow the range of options supported (eg. 720p AVCHD x264 ref 1-6, 1080p ref 1-4)
- speed/quality dropbox: fast, normal, slow (should be enough?)
- Use BDSup2Sub to handle sup/vobsub conversions except OCR (suprip) like RipBot (Java is fairly popular, tsmuxer fails)
- resolution slider like gordian knot, 240x-720x in 8x steps and 720x, 1440x, 1920x
- Compressibility check like gordian knot with compression percentage relative to resolution
- pause/resume button like AVCHDcoder, simple x264 launcher
- dropbox with these portions of media: 1/8 1/6, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3 3/4 1, 2, 3, 4
- dropbox for avi/mkv media: CD (700 MB) DVD5 (4480) DVD9 (8145) (calcualtion is very accurate to go within 3 MB of capacity)
- dropbox for AVCHD/DVD media: DVD5 (4475 MB) and DVD9 (8140) (7 MB short for oversize protection and prevent read errors on cheap media)
- dropbox for BD media: BD25 (23850 MB), BD50 (47700 MB) (16 and 32 MB short of capacity, might need more for oversize protection from HD audio overhead)
- editable MB size box for custom size
- detect x64 OS's and give an option to use x64 x264 and xvid (x64 isnt always faster for example x264 --preset veryfast/ultrast or --pass 1)
- dvd input: if one pgc vts use dgindex directly, if multipgc vts use pgcdemux cli to demux the correct pgc before feeding it to dgindex
- use pgcdemux to demux dvd subs, chapters
- queue system like megui but on main page and get rid of owner, start, end, add total time it took
- display (estimate) bitrate calculated, update gui if it changes (vbr audio, subtitle changes)
- option to image/burn with imgburn (option to delete encoded files after burn/image)
- if source is compliant to device setting according to mediainfo and fits output ask if they want to encode video or use original video
- use chaptergen cli to handle chapter conversions
- use dvdauthor for cli dvd authoring (or any alternatives?)
- in advanced mode encoder settings/command line window ability to save/load custom profiles like megui
- in advanced mode allow avisynth preview if mpc-hc/mplayer path set
- while encoding hide encoder window and show fps, eta, time elapsed in main window (any reason for separate window?)
- path options in menu for subrip, suprip, text editor, mpc-hc/mplayer, neroaacenc, cce
- windows 7 taskbar progress
- option to shutdown, sleep when complete

AUDIO:
- Supported audio encoders: aften, faac, flac, lame, nero aac (link to if selected and not found), ogg, surcode dts (detect if installed first)
- use eac3to -keepDialnorm since its a huge help on BD players that support it (same volume between disks) and has no effect on unsupported players
- allow AC3/DTS/DTS-HD/LPCM/TrueHD audio in BD, DTS/AC3 in AVCHD, MP3/AC3 in avi, AAC/AC3/DTS/FLAC/MP3/OGG in mkv, AAC/AC3 in mp4, AC3/DTS/LPCM (48khz)in DVD

VIDEO:
- Supported video encoders: CCE, HCenc, x264, xviD (DivX 6? DivX AVC? MS VC-1?)
- Option to use DGNV tools (50%+ speedup over current VC-1 directshow decoders)
- autocrop all but AVCHD/BD/DVD
- 2 pass for all video encoders
- CRF for x264, Constant Quant for XviD, 1 pass for HCenc, Constant quality for CCE
- remove pulldown if exists
- fix directshowsource issue by adding correct assumefps immediately afterwards
- If 29.97 fps input auto ivtc (use iscombed() from decomb.dll during compressibility check, if 3:2 exists in 20%+(?) use TFM().TDecimate(hybrid=1) (if 4:2 use LeakKernelBob(twoway=true).RePAL(quality=3) it outputs 24.975 so assumefps(25) and enforce audio encode to speedup with eac3to)
- deinterlace if auto ivtc detects it shouldn't be done but only if output isn't BD/DVD (deinterlacing ruins BD/DVD playback)
- if 25i use leakkerneldeint(full=false), very fast and only touches real interlaced frames

COMPLICATED:
- custom menus like multiavchd
- Keep original BD menus, translate to AVCHD and DVD compatible
- keep original DVD menus, translate to AVCHD compatible
- Keep extras
- Edit menu buttons, hiding one blanks target
- pgcedit like trace mode to blank/remove previews, warnings, etc.

Unfortunately I don't have the programming knowledge to do any of this although I can explain (down to the command line) how to do all but the things in the complicated section.

[Kurtnoise]

@Turbojet: there are several contradictions in what you said...all tools described are not x-platform.



and btw, some codecs are redundant.

[buzzqw]

and.. without tabs and panels this gui should be full hd itself ;)

BHH

[MatLz]

You will must use a GUI to use this GUI.
:D

[Atak_Snajpera]

@turbojet
You are a dreamer :) If you were a programmer you wouldn't create this huge wish list. During devopment you would probably drop at least half of it. It is like designing a car for everybody! Not possible. One driver will say too much , other will say too little.

[nakTT]

@turbojet
You are a dreamer :) If you were a programmer you wouldn't create this huge wish list. During devopment you would probably drop at least half of it. It is like designing a car for everybody! Not possible. One driver will say too much , other will say too little.
What if we could give a standard GUI option for average user so they won't say it "too much" and an advanced GUI option for user who want to be able to set every parameter in the x264 using the GUI, so they won't say it "too little"?

[ricardo.santos]

and an advanced GUI option for user who want to be able to set every parameter in the x264 using the GUI, so they won't say it "too little"?

That kind of user wouldnt need a GUI

[nakTT]

That kind of user wouldnt need a GUI
I mean a user like me who might know nothing about how to use command line to encode video + Audio, but want to have all the setting options of the x264 on the GUI (since I basically know what setting options to choose). So far MeGUI and ASXGui fulfill my need in this respect. Perhaps other GUI can also.

[turbojet]

@Turbojet: there are several contradictions in what you said...all tools described are not x-platform.

This is true and I'm not suggesting make it multi-platform but preferably use a language that can be easily adopted to mac/linux when/if the external tools support these OS's, quite a few do already.



and btw, some codecs are redundant.

Do you mean this line?
- allow AC3/DTS/DTS-HD/LPCM/TrueHD audio in BD, DTS/AC3 in AVCHD, MP3/AC3 in avi, AAC/AC3/DTS/FLAC/MP3/OGG in mkv, AAC/AC3 in mp4, AC3/DTS/LPCM (48khz)in DVD

That was done to show codecs per container.

and.. without tabs and panels this gui should be full hd itself ;)

BHH

This one is 530x680

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/4319/encodegui.png

@turbojet
You are a dreamer :) If you were a programmer you wouldn't create this huge wish list. During devopment you would probably drop at least half of it. It is like designing a car for everybody! Not possible. One driver will say too much , other will say too little.

Yes I am a dreamer. However all of the stuff I mentioned that's not in the complicated section exists in various gui's so it's all possible. I don't realize how much work it would take and I'd imagine if a few minds worked together it wouldn't be overwhelming, after all most of this is calling external tools. IIRC AutoGK came out within a year after len0x took over the GK project and he was working solo AFAIK. Some of the more complex stuff like auto-ivtc, compression check come from Auto(GK).

[mariush]

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/6810/new1p.png


another crazy audiophile :) Do you really hear difference between q4 an q6???
~128 kbps Vorbis = 192 MP3 in terms of quality. I hear no difference on my Creative Fatali1y headphones above 192 Mp3.

Just because you don't, doesn't mean others don't.

[RiCON]

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED! Gui MUST get basic informations about source file! I need resolution , framecount , fps and so on ... How am i supposed to get this info ? From your head?
avs2yuv, y4m, etc. That should take less than a second with DSS().

select PSP.iphone and then custom.
Doing that for 30 encodes is still annoying.

Is is so very hard to keep all the settings from the previous encode? Hell, you can even make it opt-in. Put a button like "Save as Default" or "Use Previous Settings" and after that's pressed, you'd just have to press "Done".

[stax76]

Why not batch encode 30 files?

[Atak_Snajpera]

avs2yuv, y4m, etc.
audio info as well? I don't think so.

Is is so very hard to keep all the settings from the previous encode? Hell, you can even make it opt-in. Put a button like "Save as Default" or "Use Previous Settings" and after that's pressed, you'd just have to press "Done".
At the moment only resize presets are remembered. Why do you use weird 512 resolution?? What's wrong with 640x... ??? In x264 world you don't have to use such low resolutions unless your device does not support more.

[RiCON]

Why not batch encode 30 files?
Because I'd need 30 separate .avs. No point using GUI, then.
audio info as well? I don't think so.

Wavi?
At the moment only resize presets are remembered. Why do you use weird 512 resolution?? What's wrong with 640x... ??? In x264 world you don't have to use such low resolutions unless your device does not support more.
Aegisub in Ubuntu in an Atom netbook (1024x600). Was using 512x288 because it didn't insert any DAR error, unlike 640x360 or 480x272.
Sure, I'll use 480x272 instead.
Would be great if you could also create new profiles for audio and resizing and not just video.

[prOnorama]

another crazy audiophile :) Do you really hear difference between q4 an q6???
~128 kbps Vorbis = 192 MP3 in terms of quality. I hear no difference on my Creative Fatali1y headphones above 192 Mp3.

Sorry but Creative Fatal1Ty aren't exactly audiophile headphones (the "leet" name itself should give a hint, t's a gamer headset apparently), I bet a decent pair of Sennheiser or Beyerdynamic headphones will blow these away.

Anyway my point: IMO you should give the user the freedom of choice regarding bitrate and codec for audio format (whether it's DTS, AC3, MP3, Vorbis, AAC etc.) and not impose your own standards of quality on users who might have different ideas about the quality they desire.

It's easy to choose anything from very low to maximum bitrate in MeGUI, my guess is it would also not be hard to implement in RipBot264. (Just guessing here maybe it is a lot of work)

[Atak_Snajpera]

Sorry but Creative Fatal1Ty aren't exactly audiophile headphones
you would be surprised how good they are!

I bet a decent pair of Sennheiser or Beyerdynamic headphones will blow these away.
How do you know? Have you done a test. ofcourse not! So your statement means nothing for me. If something does not have fancy name it does not mean it is worse! Fatal1Ty is just a marketing name. It does not mean it is only for gamers!

[RiCON]

If you do want users to use your GUI, I'd suggest not being so stubborn about requests to make more quality available to those who do notice the difference.

Also, VBR > ABR.

[stax76]

Because I'd need 30 separate .avs. No point using GUI, then.

You still need to setup options to run against so a GUI is as relevant as when doing a single encode. I'm not sure you understand what's this all about. Do you understand the difference between job processing and batch processing?

[Kurtnoise]

Do you mean this line?
- allow AC3/DTS/DTS-HD/LPCM/TrueHD audio in BD, DTS/AC3 in AVCHD, MP3/AC3 in avi, AAC/AC3/DTS/FLAC/MP3/OGG in mkv, AAC/AC3 in mp4, AC3/DTS/LPCM (48khz)in DVD
no, this one :

Output AVCHD (x264) AVI (xvid) BD (x264, CCE, HCenc) DVD (CCE, HCenc) (M2)TS (cce, hcenc, x264) MKV (AVC, XviD) MP4 (AVC)


About language & external tools : at the moment, you cannot create a single GUI for all platforms using tools mentioned. You have to make choices. This is not a language issue...

[turbojet]

no, this one :

Output AVCHD (x264) AVI (xvid) BD (x264, CCE, HCenc) DVD (CCE, HCenc) (M2)TS (cce, hcenc, x264) MKV (AVC, XviD) MP4 (AVC)

AVC should really be x264 but I don't see any redunancy when talking about encoders.

About language & external tools : at the moment, you cannot create a single GUI for all platforms using tools mentioned. You have to make choices. This is not a language issue...

Which is why I said when/if the tools are supported it can be easily translated. Switching eac3to to tsmuxer for demuxing and using ffmpeg for encoding means you could already do the basic conversion on linux/mac. Subs, multi-pgc, dts encoding are about the only thing I mentioned that can't be done by calling external tools.

[Kurtnoise]

AVC should really be x264 but I don't see any redunancy when talking about encoders.
cce & hcenc = both mpeg-2 encoders. That's not redundant for you ?


Switching eac3to to tsmuxer for demuxing ...
yeah, for basic tasks it's ok but not recommended for BD audio streams extraction (especially for audio gaps correction)...

[Yoshiyuki Blade]

1.) How much experience do you have in computing in general and in video encoding?

Probably about 15 years of exposure. From the early days of gradual learning and experiencing to full-blown enthusiasm with computer hardware, and using the years of learning to intuitively navigate through new software. As for video encoding. I probably really got into it around 2006, so that's about 3 years... felt a lot longer though.

2.) How many tutorials on video encoding and GUIs have you read?

Not many. I think the old and outdated ones on Doom9 are the only ones that I've read extensively. The rest of my learning comes from the intuitiveness of the GUI itself and picking up bits of information from various forum posts.

3.) Which GUIs have you tried and how thoroughly have you tried them? Where did they fail?

I started out using Gordian Knot for XviD encodes. I've mostly used it to encode video, and didn't really touch the other stuff. However, because it was so old and outdated, I opted to move onto something more modern, and used MeGUI next.

It was the same situation with MeGUI. I've mostly used it to queue up and batch encodes, but I've also used it for audio encoding too. Both of them pretty much functioned the way I wanted, and any "failures" I can think of just really comes down to nitpicking.

MeGUI has a multitude of functions that I tend to use other tools for before and after encoding, such as VirtualDub to preview and navigate avisynth scripts and mkvtoolnix GUI to mux video with audio.

4.) Which GUIs have you been used over the years and for how long?

I've always used mkvmerge to create MKVs. MeGUI was probably one of the more persistent GUIs I've used.

5.) Of what nature are your sources and your output format?

Sources vary a lot. Although mostly DVD sources in the past, I've also played around with video capture sources from camcorders, FRAPS, and image sources. AVISynth + VirtualDub has a much bigger influence with how I handle sources than the GUIs I use.

Output is almost exclusively H.264 in an MKV container format. I've only used MP4 where its necessary, such as in devices like the PSP.

6.) How many encodes do make in a given time frame?

When I wanna set out on a hobby "project," I start off making minor encodes that vary from a few minutes to a few hours. However, when I'm confident to go all-out, I'd queue up several encodes simultaneously. Anywhere from 4 to 8 concurrent encodes, with dozens more in queue, lasting several days at a time.

7.) How much time do you like preparing an encode?

I often spend a lot. At the most complex of preparations, I start off by producing a lossless "original" source file. Then spend a lot of time messing with AVISynth to see what I can come up with. Then sometimes I take an extra step to make a lossless "prepass" encode. And finally a final encode. These don't tend to involve GUIs very much. As I've mentioned earlier, I do a lot of "editing" with AVISynth, and use VirtualDub just to see how it looks. Only when I'm ready to encode do I actually plug it into a handy GUI.

8.) For what reasons did you give up using GUIs or not even start?

I still use GUIs, and still prefer to use them. It all comes down to intuitiveness. Can I figure out what the options do without having to refer to an external source? Does the "flow" of the GUI make it feel easy to prepare, set up and execute each step with minimal interference? Are there any minor annoyances that I have to learn to "work around?" There are several factors that goes into a great GUI, and I won't be able to list the problems until the problems come up :D.

[twazerty]

1.) How much experience do you have in computing in general and in video encoding?

I have lots of knowledge in hardware. Software also but not that much. I haven't much experience in videoencoding. But I do have my own videoconverter.

2.) How many tutorials on video encoding and GUIs have you read?

Almost none. Only the guides to do the basic stuff.

3.) Which GUIs have you tried and how thoroughly have you tried them? Where did they fail?

VirtualDub was ok but too much settings for me. MeGUI, far too complicated for the basic stuff I needed, MediaCoder, same problem. I used MeGUI and MediaCoder to create AVCHD's. Also tried ripbot264. But none of them mached with my ideas on how it should work.

4.) Which GUIs have you been used over the years and for how long?

Virtual Dub, couple of years.
MediaCoder, several months.
MeGUI, couple of days.
RipBot264, couple of days.

5.) Of what nature are your sources and your output format?
In the past I created VCD's. Did no encoding when the DVD format was active. And 16 months ago I started with MKV --> AVCHD.

6.) How many encodes do make in a given time frame?

1-4 a day. Ofcource not every day :)

7.) How much time do you like preparing an encode?

As little as possible.

8.) For what reasons did you give up using GUIs or not even start?

I hated it to do the same steps over and over again. Why setting the resolution over and over again. Why applying the same settings over and over again. I dropped them all and started with my own application when I was capable. AVCHDCoder is the result of it. I added everything that I needed to do a MKV to AVCHD conversion. Dropped all advanced settings because they are not necessary in my opinion. And why should I need more then 1 applications to finish the job? I just added (almost) everything in 1 GUI. In my opinion there is no alternative for AVCHDCoder.

It is just the way how you look at it. Some people like tons of advanced settings. And want to make the 100% perfect output. My opinion it is waste of time. In the past I wasted 10-40 minutes with MeGUI/MediaCoder, tsMuxer etc for only 1 title. In the same time a added 10 movies to the queue and started the process. Go to work/school/sleep and the next morning it is ready to burn. I don't ask much but no application could deliver it to me. RipBot comes close but is missing tons of options that I want to use. ((basic) Menu's, multiple items/multiple audio/perfect bitrate calculation without doing it manually/custom intro) And other tools are missing even more. It are all great applications. I like it but it costs me too much time to use/configure them.