VidCoder: Alternative HandBrake GUI for Windows

[therube]

> Divide size by time approach {can be} very {in}accurate ... can be ... misleading.
> it gave numbers that were not even remotely close to accurate for a lot of my sources
> content complexity changes throughout most videos, and can change quite substantially...

Understood & expected.
It is after all an estimate.
And you should approach it just that way going in.

But to me that doesn't necessarily negate the value of having the data, even if it ends up being wrong.
If nothing else, by being way off, it tells you that it came across sections of the encode that it had to throw way more time & bits into.


Likewise we have an ETA: for the encode time, that is displayed, that can & is similarly affected.

[therube]

Audio.

Why are some bitrates grayed out or not available at all?
I see qaac has a --formats, & maybe it is constrained to those settings/values?
And I suppose that what VidCoder shows or allows is based on something similar?

But sometimes audio isn't particularly important.
You want it, but all it needs to be is passable.

So for instance, FDK LC, Stereo, 44.1, you seem limited to a low of 48 kbps.
But why can you not use/select 32?

With the command line encoder you can:

> fdkaac -b 1 or -b 1024

I suppose it has constraints built in, because, with the particular source, -b1 ended up at 12 kbps (sounding quite awful, I must say) & -b1024 ended up at 530 kbps (sounding no better then -b512, which was 512 kbps), so why shouldn't I be able to select & use "32" with FDK LC from within a GUI?

FDK HE does allow 32, but I find I get "chirps" if I jump though a clip when using low bitrates like 32. Not the end of the world, but IMO, HE has a bug in that respect, where LC at the same bitrate does not have that problem. So if I could use LC & 32 it would be just that much cleaner, if I were jumping around.

avcodec (all these names get very confusing to me), is that ffmpeg? Cause if so, that sounds awful - compared to FDK or qaac at the same bitrate. On it's own, you may not care one way or the other, & again "audio" may not be important at all to the clip, but once you've heard the difference between (& I"ll say ffmpeg) & other encoders, it's like, well why not use something that is better, for no additional cost.


All in all, no big deal, but if additional flexibility can be added, so much the better.

[RandomEngy]

The bitrates VidCoder shows are based on the restrictions HandBrake puts on them. The number of channels in the output is a big factor in this calculation. For what use do you need 32 kbps audio?

[RandomEngy]

Also I kept an eye on the file size and it presents another problem: even if you assume that each section of the video increase size at a fixed rate, there's a significant lag in the file size from the encoding progress. It doesn't go anywhere for a while, then catches up right at the end, adding 12MB all at once. I guess it's just buffered data in-memory getting written out to disk. I might show the current size but I don't want to try and extrapolate anything from it, just due to those two confounding factors.

[mike20021969]

It doesn't go anywhere for a while, then catches up right at the end, adding 12MB all at once.

I'm sure that with earlier versions of VidCoder (and I'm thinking a while back), the file size increased as it went along from the start of the encoding process.

[RandomEngy]

Well it does increase, it's just that it gets started late and finishes a whole big chunk all at once at the end.

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 1.5.11 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/114322):

* Added Encode Details window. Exposes elapsed time, ETA, current and average FPS, running file size, current pass and pass progress. Open it by going to Windows -> Encode Details while an encode is running.
* Subtitle dialog now disables the "Burn In" checkbox when it's either unavailable or it's the only option. It also disables the "Forced Only" when the subtitle type doesn't support the "Forced" flag.
* Updated HandBrake core to SVN 5872.

* Fixed crash in the preview window when a source file is deleted after scanning.

[dejong12]

Is it possible to add an option to select more frames to trim a video?
An example to clarify:
I have a recorded show in which I want to remove the commercials. I know the start and end frames of each part of the show.
I want to trim the video to only have the show.
It'd be like:
Frames 1000-3000
Frames 4000-6000
Frames 7000-9000
Then Vidcoder would append these three files into one.

Would it be possible to accomplish this?

[therube]

> For what use do you need 32 kbps audio?


I don't "need" 32 kpbs.
I would only choose it for bitrate (IOW, file size) savings.

Again, in particular circumstances, transcoding, horrible source to begin with, or whatever it may be, "audio" may be relatively unimportant, not that I'd want to remove it altogether, but I don't need the source's, say, 128 kpbs, so by choosing 32, I can still have something acceptable while cutting the audio size by a good bit (50% more then what 64 kbps would give me).

And again, HE would be fine, expect for artifacts that are introduced.

So at those times, even if it were "out of spec", but knowing that I am specifically doing it - because I want to, having the option to do so through the GUI just makes things convenient.



Edit:
expect for artifacts that are introduced
Perhaps this is not in the actual audio ? but rather a consequence of the player?
Readily apparent in MPlayer. Less so in MPC. Virtually not heard in VLC.
(But then I use MPlayer 99% of the time.)

[therube]

1.5.11 (& at least some of the Betas before)

Settings | Video, Encoder Settings, if Basic is selected, the settings below (Preset, Tune, Profile, Level) may not necessarily display.
Possibly caused by Revert.

Example:

You're sitting at Basic & the settings below do display.

Make a change, say move the Quality selector.
Then Revert.

At that point, you've reloaded the particular Preset.
You're still on Basic.
But the settings below Basic no longer show.

Now you could click Basic again, or click Advanced & then jump back to the Video tab, at which point the settings below Basic reappear.

[RandomEngy]

dejong12: Cutting out multiple parts of the video isn't supported by the HandBrake API that I use. So it's not possible.

therube: Thanks for the bug report. I'll fix in the next beta. About the audio rates, again HandBrake supplies the limits and I'm going with what they give.

[therube]

> HandBrake supplies the limits and I'm going with what they give

OK.
(Even though I'd rather have the option to override.)



Audio.


1) If a codec is pre-selected, & you then change it to Passthrough, leaving Scope: alone, at its default, Any, Passthrough will not take effect unless you specifically select a Fallback method (& different, at least once, from what may initially display as Fallback).

So if codec defaults to AAC & you change it to Passthrough, leaving Scope at its default, Any, then simply tell it to encode, your output is whatever the AC3 settings were & Passthrough is ignored.


2) I believe if you choose Passthrough, then set the Scope: to the specific codec of the source, & the source & container are not compatible, then hb.dll crashes.

Suppose not a lot you can do about that.
Nice that a worker thread is used so the UI doesn't crash.

[RandomEngy]

Thanks for the report. I've got a fix for #1 which I'll include in the next beta. I wasn't able to repro the crash, though I might not be picking the right source/container/codec.

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 1.5.12 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/114521):

* Added an option to preserve Created and Last Modified times when converting files. In Options -> Advanced.
* Added an option to mark an automatically selected subtitle track as "Default".
* Updated HandBrake core to SVN 5878.

* Fixed auto passthrough not applying just after switching to it.
* Fixed bug where preset/profile/tune could disappear when reverting a preset.

[BZeeme]

When converting a DVD title (say 1 hour long and 12 chapters) to a MKV, is there a way for the MKV to have 12 chapters? Every thing I've tried creates an hour long MKV but only 1 chapter???

[RandomEngy]

Have you tried checking "Include Chapter Markers"?

[BZeeme]

Have you tried checking "Include Chapter Markers"?

Yes. I've gone through the options and all of the tabs looking for items I think may affect "chapters" - still only 1 chapter.

[RandomEngy]

Well "Include chapter markers" is the only option related to that. You might try in HandBrake and see if it has the same problem. If so you can report to them to fix. If it doesn't have a problem, provide an encode log.

[BZeeme]

Still only one chapter in the output MKV with HandBrake (15 chapters in the input DVD title). I'll report the problem to the HandBrake people. Thanks for the assistance.

[Toei]

hi ,

its possible add name to subtitles, english, spanish, .... (closed captions, srt files) like we do in advanced audio,

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 1.4.25 (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/115536):

* Added Chinese Simplified translation, thanks to china591 and jxtp.
* Added Italian translation, thanks to Shambhala76.

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 1.5.13 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/115564):

* Encodes that complete with errors are no longer marked as "Failed" but with a new warning state.
* Updated HandBrake core to SVN 5908.
* Updated WPF NotifyIcon library.

* Fixed crash on selecting a title in the Add Multiple Titles dialog.

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 1.5.14 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/115592):

* Fixed crashes for profiles using an old muxer. These profiles have been upgraded to use the new avformat muxers.

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 1.5.15 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/117224):

* Updated HandBrake core to SVN 5953. This should fix the intermittent "encode failed" false positives.

* Fixed issue with some SSA subtitles failing to burn in.
* Fixed problem with codec and passthrough selectors getting messed up when switching containers.

[somy]

Hi,
Thank you for the work!
I'd like to ask if there is any way to do batch transcoding using the same preset and preserves the original file structure of the video files?

[somy]

I'd also like to report an issue - when transcoding interlaced video to MP4, it seems that it doesn't set the interlaced flag and the video play doesn't apply deinterlacing to the result MP4 video.

[RandomEngy]

Preserves the original file structure? Not sure what you mean there. It always has to re-encode the video.

As for the interlace flag, does HandBrake have the same behavior?

[Ruriko]

Is there anyway to run it on Ubuntu? already tried wine but it doesn't work :( handbrake supports linux so why not vidcoder?

[somy]

Preserves the original file structure? Not sure what you mean there. It always has to re-encode the video.

As for the interlace flag, does HandBrake have the same behavior?

I mean choose a folder, all videos in subfolders are transcoded and saved in the same folder structure in the output folder.
For example, under c:\input I have two videos a.mp4 and b.mp4 in two subfolders folderA and folderB. I set output folder to c:\output and I would like a future to output a.mp4 and b.mp4 in the subfolders respectively.
I hope it makes sense ......

[JohnAStebbins]

Is there anyway to run it on Ubuntu? already tried wine but it doesn't work :( handbrake supports linux so why not vidcoder?

VidCoder GUI is written in MS C#. It *might* be possible to port this to Mono, but it wouldn't be easy. And I'm sure RandomEngy has other things he would rather do than support Linux users.

[RandomEngy]

I mean choose a folder, all videos in subfolders are transcoded and saved in the same folder structure in the output folder.
For example, under c:\input I have two videos a.mp4 and b.mp4 in two subfolders folderA and folderB. I set output folder to c:\output and I would like a future to output a.mp4 and b.mp4 in the subfolders respectively.
I hope it makes sense ......

Ahh I get you. That feature is actually on the backlog already, I should get around to it sometime soon.

As for Linux support I'm pretty sure that WPF doesn't work there, even if you use Mono. I don't really want to rewrite every bit of UI in VidCoder. Though if there were a committed volunteer I would not turn them down.

[somy]

Ahh I get you. That feature is actually on the backlog already, I should get around to it sometime soon.

As for Linux support I'm pretty sure that WPF doesn't work there, even if you use Mono. I don't really want to rewrite every bit of UI in VidCoder. Though if there were a committed volunteer I would not turn them down.

Hi RandomEngy,

That sounds great! Thank you for the fantastic project!

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 1.5.16 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/117946):

* Added new option. Options -> File Naming -> Preserve folder structure in batch encodes
* DRC compatibility is now detected from the HandBrake library and is grayed out when used on a source that does not support it. (Currently non-AC3 sources)
* Updated HandBrake core to SVN 6008.

[somy]

Released VidCoder 1.5.16 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/117946):

* Added new option. Options -> File Naming -> Preserve folder structure in batch encodes
* DRC compatibility is now detected from the HandBrake library and is grayed out when used on a source that does not support it. (Currently non-AC3 sources)
* Updated HandBrake core to SVN 6008.

That's quick :)
Thanks for the new version!

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 1.5.17 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/118886):

* Updated HandBrake core to SVN 6061. This should fix crashes on scanning some Blu-rays.

[hello_hello]

Vidcoder no run on XP no more?

I tried 1.5.17 Beta earlier today, and after installing and trying to run it a window flashed on the screen so briefly I had to take a screenshot to read it:

"Win Xp support is currently broken and it's not know when or if it'll be fixed", or something very similar to that.

Is that expected? I can't seen any obvious reference to "no XP" anywhere here. https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/
I have dot net 4.

Thanks.

[RandomEngy]

Ahh right, I had forgotten that the splash screen causes the first dialog to be dismissed, I'll fix it so the error stays up.

Whether or not XP is supported will be up to HandBrake. In any event I'd recommend upgrading ASAP as Microsoft is stopping security updates for it in April.

[hello_hello]

Cheers. Maybe you could make mention of the lack of XP support somewhere? Just to save XP users the trouble of downloading. And maybe block the installer from installing Vidcoder on a PC which it won't run on?
I can't say the thought of Microsoft stopping XP security updates in April particularly worries me. It must be close to a year since I've run Windows update anyway (I wasn't far off. My last XP image is dated 31/5/13).

So what's the last version of Vidcoder XP users can install? I had it installed but I uninstalled it before installing the latest beta and I can't remember which version it was.

Thanks.

[mike20021969]

So what's the last version of Vidcoder XP users can install?

1.4.25 stable or 1.5.6 beta.

[mike20021969]

Whether or not XP is supported will be up to HandBrake.

According to s55, support for XP is not looking rosy.

https://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=29152#p134651

It looks dead to me since I asked.

[hello_hello]

Thanks for the info.
I found it interesting one of the developers in the thread you linked to said there's not a large number of XP users visiting the site. A google seems to indicate roughly 30% of PCs running Windows still run XP. I guess it probably means if a PC is used for video encoding, it's more likely to be running a newer version of Windows than the average PC.

[jkauff]

Thanks for the info.
I found it interesting one of the developers in the thread you linked to said there's not a large number of XP users visiting the site. A google seems to indicate roughly 30% of PCs running Windows still run XP. I guess it probably means if a PC is used for video encoding, it's more likely to be running a newer version of Windows than the average PC.
I would guess that a big chunk of that 30% are pirate copies running on computers in China and elsewhere in the world. Most of the rest are in corporations, which don't tend to use Handbrake.

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 1.5.18 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/119836):

* Updated HandBrake core to SVN 6123.
* Fixed crash on 2-pass encodings in x64.

[ShogoXT]

Hi there, thanks for all your work on this program. I recently moved to it after I needed multi audio that other programs couldnt provide easily enough and vob chapter select.

Im working with SD basic anime, very cartoony. I think I have most of the settings I want nailed down, except for the interlacing. Detelecine removes most of the problem and its set to restore to 23.9 fps, but on some key frames there is still interlacing.

After doing a lot of searching and reading, ive tried to test and compare the separate combos of deinterlacers always on to see which one would effect the line edges the least.

https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/Decomb
I use the default setting there for custom settings.
7:2:6:9:80:16:16:10:20:20:4:2:50:24:1:-1
I then changed the last number to 0 for TFF and the first number to test the various combos. All of the combos I tested were terrible except the non custom Slower setting, resulting in stair step lines like the futurama example in the link.

I used the default decomb + detelecine and the result is OK, but there are noticeable stair step lines on those areas left behind PLUS logo and still screens tend to look a tiny bit jittery. I remember on one of the interlacing guides there was a more formal description for it, but I cant remember where it was.

SO I tried searching high and low before posting this, but does anyone know how I can test better working decomb settings for anime OR setup detelecine to not miss those areas? Perhaps a few recommended parameter adjustments for the above? I honestly couldnt understand what the rest of those parameters change...

Thank you very much

EDIT: Seems similar to this link, I know nothing about avisynth, but im pretty sure it wouldn't work for vidcoder.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=162611

[fantasmanegro]

Hi there, thanks for all your work on this program. I recently moved to it after I needed multi audio that other programs couldnt provide easily enough and vob chapter select.

Im working with SD basic anime, very cartoony. I think I have most of the settings I want nailed down, except for the interlacing. Detelecine removes most of the problem and its set to restore to 23.9 fps, but on some key frames there is still interlacing.

After doing a lot of searching and reading, ive tried to test and compare the separate combos of deinterlacers always on to see which one would effect the line edges the least.

https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/Decomb
I use the default setting there for custom settings.
7:2:6:9:80:16:16:10:20:20:4:2:50:24:1:-1
I then changed the last number to 0 for TFF and the first number to test the various combos. All of the combos I tested were terrible except the non custom Slower setting, resulting in stair step lines like the futurama example in the link.

I used the default decomb + detelecine and the result is OK, but there are noticeable stair step lines on those areas left behind PLUS logo and still screens tend to look a tiny bit jittery. I remember on one of the interlacing guides there was a more formal description for it, but I cant remember where it was.

SO I tried searching high and low before posting this, but does anyone know how I can test better working decomb settings for anime OR setup detelecine to not miss those areas? Perhaps a few recommended parameter adjustments for the above? I honestly couldnt understand what the rest of those parameters change...

Thank you very much

EDIT: Seems similar to this link, I know nothing about avisynth, but im pretty sure it wouldn't work for vidcoder.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=162611


yes it will not... for what you are asking is required avisynth "advanced" decomb deinterlace filter... and... other gui...

[Ruriko]

I want to batch encode with english subtitles & burn in but it won't let me select burn-in if I select the language

[jkauff]

I want to batch encode with english subtitles & burn in but it won't let me select burn-in if I select the language
Are you using the latest beta? I just did a burn-in yesterday with no problems. Maybe it's a bug in batch mode.

[jkauff]

@RandomEngy. Would it be too difficult to add a shutdown warning to VidCoder? Like an idiot, I installed a new program 2 hours into an encode and it restarted the system.

[Ruriko]

Are you using the latest beta? I just did a burn-in yesterday with no problems. Maybe it's a bug in batch mode.

No I'm not using the beta cause I can't open it. Error gave me:
System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'VidCoder.Model.Database' threw an exception. ---> System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'HandBrake.Interop.Model.Encoders' threw an exception. ---> System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'HandBrake.Interop.HandBrakeUtils' threw an exception. ---> System.DllNotFoundException: Unable to load DLL 'hb.dll': The specified procedure could not be found. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007007F)
at HandBrake.Interop.HbLib.HBFunctions.hb_global_init()
at HandBrake.Interop.HandBrakeUtils..cctor() in d:\docs\projects\HandBrakeSVN\win\CS\HandBrake.Interop\HandBrakeInterop\HandBrakeUtils.cs:line 64
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at HandBrake.Interop.HandBrakeUtils.EnsureGlobalInit()
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at HandBrake.Interop.Model.Encoders.get_AudioEncoders()
at VidCoder.Model.Presets.UpgradeEncodingProfileTo19(VCProfile profile) in d:\docs\projects\VidCoder\VidCoder\Model\Presets.cs:line 397
at VidCoder.Model.Presets.UpgradeEncodingProfile(VCProfile profile, Int32 databaseVersion) in d:\docs\projects\VidCoder\VidCoder\Model\Presets.cs:line 242
at VidCoder.Model.Database..cctor() in d:\docs\projects\VidCoder\VidCoder\Model\Database.cs:line 43
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at VidCoder.Model.Database.get_Connection()
at VidCoder.App.OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e) in d:\docs\projects\VidCoder\VidCoder\App.xaml.cs:line 67
at System.Windows.Application.<.ctor>b__1(Object unused)
at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs)
at MS.Internal.Threading.ExceptionFilterHelper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate method, Object args, Int32 numArgs, Delegate catchHandler)

[RandomEngy]

@Ruriko That's odd. What does your install directory in Program Files look like? Is hb.dll in there? What happens if you try a fresh install?