VidCoder: Alternative HandBrake GUI for Windows

[JohnAStebbins]

Thanks so much for the info...so if converting audio to FLAC16 or FLAC24 (or any other audio like AC3_5.1_640) from any DTSHDMA source...it will actually be converting from the DTS core, not the HD codec. Thus making all conversions rather pointless?
Pointless from the perspective of preserving the dtshdma stream. But there are other use cases where core dts to flac might be useful. For example, someone wishing to convert to a fully freetard format would have to ditch the dts for something "free" and flac would be a good choise for that.:stupid:

[bmcelvan]

Truhd yes
dtshdma not yet. There is a decoder in progress. But progress is slow.

I have the arcsoft dts decoder that I use with eac3to...is there any way to incorporate that in vidcoder?


Thanks

[bmcelvan]

Pointless from the perspective of preserving the dtshdma stream. But there are other use cases where core dts to flac might be useful. For example, someone wishing to convert to a fully freetard format would have to ditch the dts for something "free" and flac would be a good choise for that.:stupid:

Yeah, that makes sense. I was thinking only of keeping the lossless high quality audio data, I really am amazed at how bad (compression) both DTS and Dolby are...compared to a free codec.

[8ternity]

Does we need to install both? VidCoder + Handbrake?

[therube]

Does we need to install both? VidCoder + Handbrake?
No. VidCoder is self contained (& includes the necessary Handbrake files, like hb.dll).

[8ternity]

No. VidCoder is self contained (& includes the necessary Handbrake files, like hb.dll).

OK Thanks. :)

[bmcelvan]

I've been converting my movie files with TrueHD to FLAC16 using vidcoder and want to verify the channel maps are correct. I've noticed when analyzing FLAC files with mediainfo, it simply says:

Channel(s) : 8 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits

Where the original files with TrueHD say:

Channel(s) : 8 channels / 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, Back: L R, LFE / Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits

Is it safe to assume they are mapped properly and/or is there a way to check?

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 2.0 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/611363):

The Beta train continues! I've switched to a different versioning scheme: The major number increases for each stable HandBrake version and the minor number increases for each Beta release and bugfix release.

* Added pickers! Pickers let you automatically choose titles, audio, subtitles and destination, as well as automatically queue or start encodes when a source is loaded. While encoding presets customize how a file is encoded, pickers control what is included in the file and where it goes. Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see added to the Picker window.
* Added a collapsible left panel to the Encoding Preset window, to switch presets quickly.
* Changed window placement to open new windows dynamically in open areas rather than in preset locations.

[loninappleton]

I lurk at the Vidcoder site and have it installed. Recently I saw some tips (2013 I guess) on the secrets of making small encodes to Handbrake.

The how-to includes some codecs to load via a Handbrake option. How is that handled in the Vidcoder releases?

Please explain how to open those installation options in Vidcoder.

Also if you could critique the article for accuracy, it would help this novice avoid useless techniques:

https://ericolon.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/the-secrets-of-yify-and-high-quality-and-small-file-sizes-are-not-so-secret-after-all-encoding-high-quality-low-bitrate-videos-in-handbrake-for-any-device/

[Honeyko]

Any chance you could raid the powerful filter set from the discontinued AutoMKV?

In particular I'm looking for MVDegrain3 and FRFun7 (those two are an awesome tag-team combo on grainbomb films, though I would of course not be adverse to anything newer).

[Asmodian]

Those are both Avisynth filters so one can use them anywhere that supports Avisynth (they are not unique to AutoMKV).

FRFun7 (http://avisynth.nl/index.php/Frfun7)
MVTools (http://avisynth.org.ru/mvtools/mvtools.html)

[Honeyko]

Those are both Avisynth filters so one can use them anywhere that supports AvisynthWhich currently-maintained GUIs do?

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 2.1 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/611756):

* Fixed handling of old NlMeans denoise, resolving a launch crash for some users.

[bmcelvan]

Question about 3D, does vidcoder by default convert 3D to 2D. I loaded up my Shrek 1 3D Bluray and converted it the way I always do using a constant quality of 16. The resulting video looks excellent and is in 2D. Well on a 2D monitor and TV looks like 2D and neither player is a 3D player. The mediainfo for the mkv file has only one video source and says all the normal stuff whereas the mediainfo for the 3D stream off the bluray is definitely different. multiple video sources with the word "stereo" in there. I'm assuming the first video source is a 2D video souce (the second stereo is what makes it 3D) and therefore vidcoder just copies the first source?
mkv file
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 30mn
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Title : H.264_CQ16_1080p

Bluray m2ts file
Video #1
ID : 4113 (0x1011)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : 27
Duration : 1s 1ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Maximum bit rate : 40.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Color range : Limited

Video #2
ID : 4114 (0x1012)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Stereo High@L4.1
MultiView_Count : 2
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : 32
Duration : 1s 1ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Maximum bit rate : 40.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Color range : Limited

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 2.2 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/614798):

Updated HandBrake SVN to 7149, which uses the new JSON API. This changes the way every encode setting is sent to the HandBrake core, so please kick the tires on this one!

[Loomes]

I'd like to use Vidcoder to burn subtitles to a MP4 by NOT converting the video and audio tracks. Ofc the video track needs to be modified but I dont want it to be more compressed or converted in any way because it is as good as it is.
Is this possible with Vidcoder? I did not find any option just to copy the video and audio tracks. Thanks.

[detmek]

You can not "burn" (hardsub) subtitles without recompressing video. You can mux subtitle (softsub) without recompressing video. But for that you will need mp4box, not VidCoder as VidCoder (or HandBrake) does not support video passthrough.

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 2.3 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/615110):

* Scan progress now shows up on the taskbar icon.
* Added ability to hibernate when completing an encode.
* Preview encode progress bar now correctly reflects total progress and does not reset when doing a subtitle scan or a 2-pass encode.
* Updated HandBrake core to SVN 7170.

* Fixed a bunch of things broken in the JSON API conversion
** Fixed bitrate, quality and compression picking for audio tracks.
** Fixed automatic subtitle selection.
** Fixed reported crash on encode progress update.
** Fixed DXVA decoding.
** Fixed crash when batch-encoding with an audio picker.
** Fixed odd progress reporting for encodes with foreign audio search.
** Fixed the "fast decode" checkbox not getting persisted.
** Fixed the encoding preset for QSV not getting persisted.
* Fixed crash on stable -> beta upgrade when there are no sub-directories in the stable app folder.

[soneca]

Thank's! :rolleyes:

[Honeyko]

A new feature suggestion: Add PAL<>NTSC (25fps<>23/976fps) retiming options with two checkboxes (for video and audio). This will re-encode audio to the new time and re-stream video (if also checked) to the desired frame-rate. (Including video-restreaming would save users an additional step with MKV Merge.)

[den78]

Thanks, RandomEngy.
But betas are buggy for me. Sometimes the "options" reset to default & preview encode doesn't work on more than 10 "number of picture previews to scan."

[RandomEngy]

den78: Yeah there was a big change to everything when I converted to HandBrake's new JSON API. I'm still cleaning up some bugs. I'll look into the problems with preview with more than 10 pictures to scan. Can you let me know what options are resetting? In 2.3 I fixed that for the Fast Decode checkbox and the preset slider on Intel QSV.

[den78]

^ Everything that i set: Prefered player, default output folder, output to source directory, pictures to scan & automatic updates.
No problem with custom presets though.

[RandomEngy]

Okay I found the issue with the picture previews. It turns out their API is now doing their own scan, so we were double-scanning in most cases, with the first set of previews getting thrown out. I've got a fix ready for the next beta.

Though I can't reproduce your issue with the preferred player, automatic updates, etc. resetting. When does this happen, exactly? When you close and re-open the window? Do you need to exit the app for it to get reset?

[den78]

^ Yes, it happens randomly when i close & re-open the app.

[RandomEngy]

That is really odd. Does it come back sometimes on a re-launch, or has it changed permanently? And are you sure you're launching the same track each time (Stable vs Beta?) If it happens again can you send me your %appdata%\VidCoder-Beta\VidCoder.sqlite file?

[den78]

It doesn't come back, it's permanent.
I tested it again, clean un/install. It seems that the problem lies in the preview. All was ok when i was closing & re-opening the app, but when i inputted the file, clicked preview & again closed & re-opened the app, the settings were back to default.

I've sent you the VidCoder.sqlite file.

Btw, restoring the backed up VidCoder.sqlite doesn't help.

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 2.4 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/615456):

* Added CPU throttling option. This can limit the number of processor cores available to VidCoder for encoding.
* Changed the way the portable version locates the database file. It will now favor using the database file beside the portable executable rather than the one in %appdata%.
* Updated HandBrake core to SVN 7252, which resolves an issue where we would always scan twice before encoding.

* Removed old config code and config migration code. Had reports that it was unintentionally firing for a user.
* Fixed behavior for >10 picture previews.
* Fixed issue where custom detelecine and denoise filters values would apply even if another option was selected.
* Fixed crash on opening audio tab with certain passthrough encoders.
* Fixed blank entries on the passthrough scope dropdown.

[BZeeme]

Is there a way to set VidCoder so it will produce a .mkv with a variable bitrate? I believe it use to but now all I can get with it is constant bitrate videos?

[RandomEngy]

Yes. The default setting is Constant Quality, which will produce a variable bitrate in order to maintain a consistent quality. Many of the audio encoders also have Quality target options, so yes you can do that.

[detmek]

Hi RandomEngy. It seams that audio resampling does not work in latest beta. It won't resample 44.1 kHz audio. I didn't try other source samplerates.

[RandomEngy]

Thanks for the report. This will be fixed in the next Beta.

[BZeeme]

Yes. The default setting is Constant Quality, which will produce a variable bitrate in order to maintain a consistent quality.

So no way to get a variable bitrate and set a target file size?

[detmek]

So no way to get a variable bitrate and set a target file size?

http://fotkica.com/thumbs3/1_tmb_204798183_VidCoder%202pass.png (http://fotkica.com/slike.php?slika=1_204798183_VidCoder%202pass.png)

[BZeeme]

I'll double check on my next encode. I believe that is what I used last time (except for Turbo first pass). I also just use the Basic Encoder settings and encodes are to mkv's rather than mp4's.

[detmek]

Containter (MKV or MP4) is irrelevant for VBR encoding, as are Basic encoder settings and Turbo first pass. Turbo first pass just saves time with less then 1% quality loss. If you use preset veryslow it will save you A LOT of time without visual quality loss.

[RandomEngy]

Released VidCoder 2.5 Beta (https://vidcoder.codeplex.com/releases/view/615616):

* Made log output to the window appear drastically faster.
* Added JSON encode object to the log.

* Fixed audio sample rate (broken in JSON conversion).

[detmek]

Hi RandomEngy. I noticed that, if you select a picker, load a file and then change preset in main window VidCoder will still use settings from Picker and not from preset in main window. Is that intentional?

[RandomEngy]

When you say "VidCoder will still use settings from Picker", what do you mean? Do you mean it still uses the preset override you specified on the Picker?

[detmek]

Yes, it still uses preset override specified on the Picker. Not a problem if it is intentional but can create a confusion when someone doesn't notice that Picker is selected and changes preset in main window.

BTW, it seams that 2-pass mode is broken. It always encodes in ABR mode.

[RandomEngy]

Yeah, that's intentional for the picker to override the main window choice. The idea is that the picker has the master control over everything, so if you had a preset you liked to use for ripping a certain TV show, you could include that in the picker (that also sets output location) and you'd only need to select the right picker to have all your encoding settings the way you want them. I'll add a tooltip explaining the behavior a bit better so people aren't as surprised.

I'll check 2-pass mode when I get home, though encode logs are always helpful.

[detmek]

Here is log for problem with 2-pass encoding.
http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=qfLBy9ta

[RandomEngy]

I can't reproduce the problem. Are you sure that you don't have a different preset selected in the Picker? Can you make sure that "Use preset" is blank on the Picker window and try clicking back to Constant Quality then to Avg bitrate, unchecking and re-checking 2-pass encoding?

[detmek]

Its not a problem when you select Average Bitrate. It doesn't work when you select Target Size.

[RandomEngy]

Its not a problem when you select Average Bitrate. It doesn't work when you select Target Size.

Ahh, right you are. I'll fix in the next Beta.

[DJ-1]

Hi, sorry for what's maybe a dumb question, but in win8 how do I backup my custom presets, is it an .XML ? Where?....cheers.

[RandomEngy]

Two options: %appdata%\VidCoder-Beta\VidCoder.sqlite has everything in it. You can also export individual presets as XML files with Tools -> Export preset.

[DJ-1]

Cheers.

[travex]

Is there anybody show me how to use vidcoder with lucidlogix (intel quicksync) please ? Everytime I try to use H264 Intel QSV, it just does not work and only use CPU only, however everything works fine with handbreak.

[jouchan]

hi randomengy, sometimes, i get thi error while encoding:

http://paste2.org/WytLtymv


i use latest version, my server windows 2012..