StaxRip

[Natty]

for all users who have problems in retaining templates and settings the fix can be easy sometimes and sometimes very hard. always extract staxrip into desktop under a folder, when a new version comes start stax and set directory to desktop/stax folder. copy old .srip to newer version's folder. and re start stax and select that .srip template. start both old stax and new stax side by side and compare app settings, encoding settings, filter settings etc and it can be sometimes same and sometimes not. lastly done forget to save encoding profiles and save template again in newer stax and select option of loading it on startup.

[Schattenspieler]

I understand that on some changes it's not advisable to just import older settings, but some warning, that my settings will be trashed and maybe I should do a backup before hand, just in case, would be helping. Because smth. is really messed up here:
I just checked my next run and while the manually checked setting for x265 was on crf25, the resulting file looked smth. like this:Video
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile : Main@L3.1@Main
Codec ID : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration : 51 min 45 s
Bit rate : 132 kb/s
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.006
Stream size : 48.8 MiB (51%)

…
reuse-mode=0 / no-lossless / cbqpoffs=0 / crqpoffs=0 / rc=crf / crf=25.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpstep=1 / stats-write=0
…That's should be impossible, right? And it's not even close to crf25. :confused:

x265 has now 10 bit as default, I thought it makes sense.Oh, it makes sense, if the expected source material is 10 bit. As I'm usually converting TV material, at least for me, it doesn't make sense. But that's not a problem, anyway, is it? I'll just change the preset. It just seemed peculiar to me. Allright, moving on …

About F12: Yes, I had/have to do it twice on every app, that needed "adjustment". I don't know about the "startup dir" (Ahw, well, still no striking bbcode? :( )
Nevermind, just cheked to find there is an actual setting for a startup dir. It is the install dir, which is on D:\ with most of my other programs and not write protected in any way. Also I don't have any AV programm installed/in use (just to rule that out).
Do different staxrip versions use a shared settings dir (bad idea)?I'm not sure, as to what you mean by that. I only have a single "installation" of StaxRip on my rig and when overwriting a previous version, I don't change the dirs. So there is sharing, but in a serial way, not parallel.

Having said all that, I'm going to completely wipe all residue of former StaxRip versions from my disk(s) and start all over again, see what happens then. Should be fine I guess, but magic and Murphy's law still apply. :scared:

[…] start both old stax and new stax side by side and compare app settings, encoding settings, filter settings etc […]No way! … computers were made for that and I'm using one right now. That could be automated and done by the program itself (not saying that it's needed, though, just saying).

[Magik Mark]

Stax

May we now the significance of this new feature:

"new: qaac has a new option to pipe from ffmpeg instead of converting to FLAC/W64/WAV"

Better quality perhaps? Or just faster?

[dvd_maniac]

I'm getting a crash using 1.5.0.0 when trying to use mp4 container:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Muxing using MP4Box 0.7.2-DEV-rev37 x64
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

C:\StaxRip\Apps\MP4Box\MP4Box.exe -add "I:\Torrents\Done\1_temp\1_out.hevc#video" -add "I:\Torrents\Done\1_temp\1 ID2_out1.m4a#audio:lang=eng:name=" -itags encoder="StaxRip 1.5.0.0" -new I:\Torrents\Done\1.mp4

HEVC import - frame size 752 x 416 at 29.970 FPS
HEVC Import results: 2100 samples (2104 NALUs) - Slices: 40 I 555 P 1505 B - 1 SEI - 1 IDR
Stream uses forward prediction - stream CTS offset: 2 frames
OpenGOP detected - adjusting file brand
IsoMedia import 1 ID2_out1.m4a - track ID 1 - HE-AAC (SR 24000 - SBR-SR 48000 - 2 channels)

Start: 9:17:08 AM
End: 9:17:11 AM
Duration: 00:00:02

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Exception
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception (0x80004005): The resource loader failed to find MUI file
at StaxRip.Proc.Start() in D:\Projekte\VS\VB\StaxRip\General\Proc.vb:line 208
at StaxRip.MP4Muxer.Mux() in D:\Projekte\VS\VB\StaxRip\General\Muxer.vb:line 293
at StaxRip.MainForm.Encode() in D:\Projekte\VS\VB\StaxRip\Forms\MainForm.vb:line 2192
at StaxRip.GlobalClass.RunJobRecursive() in D:\Projekte\VS\VB\StaxRip\General\GlobalClass.vb:line 36

[stax76]

@burfadel

I just checked my current build and it was OK here, if it's not soon getting better I'll add a debug logging feature. A lot of the difficulties have something to do with every job running in a new instance.


@wallander

StaxRip uses a dictionary in the registry to assign every startup folder (the location of StaxRip.exe) to a specific settings folder so you can use different builds with different settings side by side. There are different ways to work with it, like how Natty does. New builds try to be compatible with old settings but often it's very difficult to migrate everything.

I understand that on some changes it's not advisable to just import older settings, but some warning, that my settings will be trashed and maybe I should do a backup before hand, just in case, would be helping.


Making a automatic backup is something that might be simple enough to add.

To find a problem it's usually best to see a full log file.

To be sure about the 10 bit default I would have to ask somebody who knows better like sneaker or LigH.

May we now the significance of this new feature:

"new: qaac has a new option to pipe from ffmpeg instead of converting to FLAC/W64/WAV"

Better quality perhaps? Or just faster?

It's probably faster because you don't need to write a big temp file to disk, it depends on the source format, staxrip decodes it with ffmpeg without writing to disk to figure out the gain for normalizing, with fast encoders like qaac and nvenc and parallel processes disk IO can be a bottleneck, with nvenc, dgdecnv and ssd you can do a full hd blu-ray movie with encoding two audio streams in like 5-10 minutes I think.

[stax76]

@dvd_maniac

Better do search and replace your paths with a text editor, the mods will thank your for it, there are many good editors, I like sublime text.

The problem could be the old mp4box Build, the newest staxrip test builds has a newer mp4box build, the staxrip issue tracker has same solved items regarding mp4box.

[wallander]

@Natty
@stax76

Thank you for your statements.
When the next stable version is out, I will test your methods with the diffrent versions.
At the moment, the 1.5.0.0 is o.k. for me.

stax76,
thank you for you ongoing hard work.

Community,
thanks for testing.

[stax76]

@wallander

You're welcome, the whole processing thing was always staxrip's weakness, I hope someday it's on par with things that worked out better.


@burfadel

I thought about changing the design by not using a new instance for every job but only use a new instance if too much memory is consumed and also try to fix the memory management issues.

[dvd_maniac]

I'm trying to update my automated program to use with the new Staxrip (1.5.0.0) and I'm using the following code to encode all files in a particular folder

for /F "tokens=*" %%a in (I:files.txt) do (C:\StaxRip\StaxRip.exe -LoadTemplate:25 "I:\%%a" -StartEncoding -exit)

The problem is that it opens up a new Staxrip instance for every file and runs them all simultaneously instead of running them one at a time.

What am I doing wrong here?

[stax76]

@dvd_maniac

I think the problem was a design change that grandiosely failed from start to end, the new built reverts it.

#### Requirements

.NET 4.7 is required on systems prior Windows 10 Version 1703 (Creators Update)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55170

#### Download

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-gPKiJYuKuITld4dzhuTC1WWWM

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=604D4754F64B0ABC!4140&authkey=!ANUm9V3vTPmEFNI&ithint=folder%2c7z

#### 1.5.2.7 unstable test build

- fix: job processing is now done in the current instance like in the past
- fix: turned out staxrip never had a memory issue but the experimental ffms2 build was leaking memory

[Magik Mark]

Stax

Can you recommend the best way to convert HDR to HD


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[burfadel]

- fix: job processing is now done in the current instance like in the past
- fix: turned out staxrip never had a memory issue but the experimental ffms2 build was leaking memory

I'll try it out!

Since yesterday I was trying out 1.5.2.4. This build when you click in the system tray on subsequenty encodes it restores to the taskbar, it's just minimised. Once you click on it the window displays properly.

This almsot sounds obnoxious (not intending to be!), have you reported the memory leak to Myrsloik?

[Magik Mark]

Stax,

V1527, No shutdown option after encoding?

[stax76]

@burfadel

I've reported it now and hope it's easy to find.


@Mark

No shutdown like GUI controls being hidden or the shutdown not working? I tried standby a few times last night, that was OK.

[burfadel]

New bug in 1.5.2.7. If you cancel a job, for some reason the job list gets wiped. If you are encoding and it goes onto the job the list remains. On the plus side the window now restores properly!

I tried 1.5.2.6 and that doesn't have the issue.

[craigpro]

Oh, it makes sense, if the expected source material is 10 bit. As I'm usually converting TV material, at least for me, it doesn't make sense. But that's not a problem, anyway, is it? I'll just change the preset. It just seemed peculiar to me. Allright, moving on …


not quite true.. I also encode 8bit source, however by selecting 10bit in x265 the output file is a good 10% SMALLER than using 8bit.

I have done side by side comparisons of the same source file.

[stax76]

Requirements

.NET 4.7 is required on systems prior Windows 10 Version 1703 (Creators Update)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55170

Download

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-gPKiJYuKuITld4dzhuTC1WWWM

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=604D4754F64B0ABC!4140&authkey=!ANUm9V3vTPmEFNI&ithint=folder%2c7z

1.5.2.8 unstable test build


new: everytime the settings are saved there is also a backup of the settings saved in the settings folder



fix: in case of high memory usage like a avisynth filter leaking memory, if staxrip detects more then 1500 MB memory are consumed while jobs are processed it restarts
fix: job list got wiped when a job was aborted
fix: if an error happened in a job processing was aborted instead of continuing with other jobs

[Schattenspieler]

…, however by selecting 10bit in x265 the output file is a good 10% SMALLER than using 8bit.
Thank you for pointing that out. As said, I'm no pro in video encoding. It just didn't make much sense to me, to encode 8bit using 10bit, like putting a smaller package in a bigger one. And I'm not quite sure as to how many Displays actually support 10 or even 12bit color space.

BUT that may not have to do much or anything with that. I did some reading now and have to revise my opinion! Actually, it makes much sense to do 10bit encoding (or at least prefer it over 8bit). A short insight is given here for example: http://x264.nl/x264/10bit_02-ateme-why_does_10bit_save_bandwidth.pdf
When encoding with the 10-bit tool, the compression process is performed with at least 10-bit
accuracy compared to only 8-bit otherwise. So there is less truncation errors, especially in the motion
compensation stage, increasing the efficiency of compression tools. As a consequence, there is less
need to quantize to achieve a given bit-rate.
The net result is a better quality for the same bit-rate or conversely less bit-rate for the same quality:
between 5% and 20% on typical sources.Which makes total sense because the diff. between 8->10 bits is roughly 20%.

Now I'll try v1.5.2.8 and consult Murphy later. ^^

[stax76]

@Schattenspieler

I've added a feature to import a video encoder command line from the clipboard, if it's useful for you then you could post a command line so I can check if it works correctly, for simple numeric, boolean or option options it should work across all codecs but some special things like tune and deblock will need special handling, I can add some of these special things if it's simple enough, likely yes.

[sneaker_ger]

Which makes total sense because the diff. between 8->10 bits is roughly 20%.
Each bit doubles the amount of possible values. So by going from 8 bit to 10 bit calculations you reduce rounding errors by 75%. Of course it is more complicated because HEVC encoding is a composition of many different calculations.

[colinhunt]

Hi stax76, and thank you for an excellent program! I've been digging into it for a few days now, and I'm finally getting to grips with it. I'm using the official 1.5.0.0 release, so it could be later betas have already obsoleted my question (in which case sorry for wasting everyone's time).

I recently switched to VapourSynth filters and saw a remarkable increase in encoding speed, compared to using equivalent Avisynth filters and x265 settings. However, CPU usage hovers around 65-70% so there seems to be a bottleneck somewhere.

I went though Staxrip menus and googled for a while but could not find how to adjust MT mode, amount of memory and number of threads Vapoursynth is running under Staxrip. I thought that maybe fiddling with those could increase the encoding speed further since there's still some juice left in the CPU.

Thank you!

[Natty]

CPU usage hovers around 65-70% so there seems to be a bottleneck somewhere
maybe try to change process priority under staxrip settings ? and using avx2 build of x265

[stax76]

Hi colinhunt, I would guess the bottle neck is x265, sadly I don't encode much since some years and I'm more interested in nvenc and x264 so I don't have great experience with x265. Your best option might be to run two encodes and staxrip instances in parallel if you have the chance for it. VapourSynth does MT out of the box, there are some VapourSynth threading options but I don't remember details, sorry if this don't help much.

[Natty]

1. what is impact of piping on quality of final m4a qaac audio encoded from 7.1 atmos, and its difference vs converting to w64, apart from temp w64 file creation.

2. do we now have to overwrite .srip file and backup/settings.dat file in newer versions ? and what data does there 2 files store ?
:thanks::script::logfile:

[colinhunt]

VapourSynth does MT out of the box, there are some VapourSynth threading options but I don't remember details, sorry if this don't help much.
Staxrip has to set some values for VapourSynth, right? Are those values set somewhere I can access somehow? Thanks for taking the time to reply!

edit: Or am I simply barking up the wrong tree, i.e. there's no need (or way) to set the number of threads and amount of memory for VapourSynth like you can for Avisynth?

[Schattenspieler]

@sneaker_ger: I just quoted from the pdf and oversimplified.

@stax76: Sry, if this seems like a stupid question, but … is there a way to copy the logged "Encoding settings" from an x26?-stream (manually), as one can read from MediaInfo, and "import" them, use them as a preset to encode other files?
I converted seasons 1 and 2 of a series for private use, but didn't get to season 3 before my settings went "awol". Now I would like to use the same settings for the final season. I could probably go through each setting and check it against the MediaInfo, but as you may know well, those are a lot.
Though the format is a little bit different, "conversion" to command line style is easy and can be done in any text editor with a "find and replace" feature. But I don't know, how to get these into StaxRip. Is that what the new import feature could be used for? (And where do I find it?) If so, that would REALLY help! :D

[stax76]

what is impact of piping on quality of final m4a qaac audio encoded from 7.1 atmos

I don't think there is a difference if you pipe, use FLAC or W64. If you want to be sure the minimum you can do is compare the MediaInfo of the output. With piping normalization is handled different, if staxrip would let it handle qaac it would create a temp file. There would probably be a difference if you would let eac3to do the decoding, I can't tell you what is better, eac3to is surely much slower.

SettingsV2.dat is the settings, technically it uses binary serialization, same is true for srip which is used for templates/projects, with new builds and versions you can always load old settings, some settings will be recovered, others will be lost, I try to avoid resetting settings but when I make a bigger change like the new x264 GUI it's difficult to avoid resetting. Sometimes I write migration code so new things show up or work without a reset, I did this recently for the audio encoding profiles and the main menu.

Staxrip has to set some values for VapourSynth, right? Are those values set somewhere I can access somehow? Thanks for taking the time to reply!

It's mostly only editing the code, same for avisynth, you can open the code editor via context menu or with a double-click somewhere in the ListView control.

Sry, if this seems like a stupid question, but … is there a way to copy the logged "Encoding settings" from an x26?-stream (as one can read from MediaInfo, e.g.) and "import" them, use them as a preset to encode other files?

If the names would match the switches it could be done with advanced text editing, mostly regex and multi cursor, if it don't match it would require a script or program.

I converted seasons 1 and 2 of a series for private use, but didn't get to season 3 before my settings went "awol". Now I would like to use the same settings for the final season. I could probably go through each setting and check it against the MediaInfo, but as you may know well, those are a lot.

There is a log folder feature but it's relative new, files are at: Tools > Folders > Log Files, that would give you the command lines that you could import with the next build using the import feature I built this morning.

There are probably better diff tools but I don't need diff often so I use www.diffchecker.com, I've used that before to compare mediainfo and it was nice even for long lines like the encoding options.

The import feature should help but don't expect it to be 100% in the first release, it won't tell when it don't understand something and just ignores it, I'll just run my build/upload script:

#### Requirements

.NET 4.7 is required on systems prior Windows 10 Version 1703 (Creators Update)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55170

#### Download

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-gPKiJYuKuITld4dzhuTC1WWWM

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=604D4754F64B0ABC!4140&authkey=!ANUm9V3vTPmEFNI&ithint=folder%2c7z

#### 1.5.2.9 unstable test build

- new: at the bottom of the video encoder option dialogs there is a menu item to import a command line from the clipboard

[Magik Mark]

No shutdown like GUI controls being hidden or the shutdown not working? I tried standby a few times last night, that was OK.

NO GUI control for "Shutdown" or "Standby" Only one control is found "Suspend"

https://s24.postimg.org/durg4i7xd/No_Shutdown.png (https://postimg.org/image/durg4i7xd/)

[stax76]

NO GUI control for "Shutdown" or "Standby" Only one control is found "Suspend"

New build is out, I hope it's getting stable enough for a release this week.

[Magik Mark]

Stax

I noticed that watching videos in "Full Screen Exclusive Mode" (FSE) gets interrupted immediately after encoding. Video freezes and screen turns blank. I think you have a fix on this from previous versions.

[burfadel]

1.5.2.8 works great for me. It also restores properly etc now as well :).

[Natty]

NO GUI control for "Shutdown" or "Standby" Only one control is found "Suspend"
1.5.3.1 unstable test build
-> fix: shutdown/standby controls were not always visible when they should

[Natty]

I don't think there is a difference if you pipe, use FLAC or W64. If you want to be sure the minimum you can do is compare the MediaInfo of the output. With piping normalization is handled different, if staxrip would let it handle qaac it would create a temp file. There would probably be a difference if you would let eac3to do the decoding, I can't tell you what is better, eac3to is surely much slower.

SettingsV2.dat is the settings, technically it uses binary serialization, same is true for srip which is used for templates/projects, with new builds and versions you can always load old settings, some settings will be recovered, others will be lost, I try to avoid resetting settings but when I make a bigger change like the new x264 GUI it's difficult to avoid resetting. Sometimes I write migration code so new things show up or work without a reset, I did this recently for the audio encoding profiles and the main menu.
eac3to/nero is s#!t, i tested piping option last night and audio quality was awesome in 7.1 channel. i will test it with old w64 method also when i go home.:thanks:

[stax76]

Stax

I noticed that watching videos in "Full Screen Exclusive Mode" (FSE) gets interrupted immediately after encoding. Video freezes and screen turns blank. I think you have a fix on this from previous versions.

How exactly do I reproduce this?

[burfadel]

I don't see how video encoding could affect video playback unless one of the filters is GPU based, KNLMeansCL for example.

[Magik Mark]

How exactly do I reproduce this?

Make sure there are 2 or more jobs. Start encoding on "another desktop screen", lets call it "Desktop Screen 2". Set the window to "Do nothing" or "Standby". Do not minimize

Watch video in "FullScreen Exclusive Mode" in "Desktop Screen 1". Once the 1st encoding is done, Staxrip reactivates the encoding window and moves it on "Desktop Screen 1". This causes disruption on the screen display. If the display is disrupted, "FSE" is also disrupted

[stax76]

Guessing you were speaking about something like madvr I found and fixed a issue.

Requirements

.NET 4.7 is required on systems prior Windows 10 Version 1703 (Creators Update)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55170

Download

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-gPKiJYuKuITld4dzhuTC1WWWM

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=604D4754F64B0ABC!4140&authkey=!ANUm9V3vTPmEFNI&ithint=folder%2c7z

1.5.3.2 unstable test build


fix: log files are no longer saved in the target folder if the temp folder is deleted, they can be found at: Tools > Folders > Log Files
fix: when a job failed it's no longer removed from the joblist
fix: when job processing starts there is only one Window activation at the start and no subsequent window activations, this prevents to interupt other software like players

[Magik Mark]

Does somebody know why this is not working:

ConvertToYUV422P10

"ConvertoYV16" has no problem

[sneaker_ger]

Script, error message, log? Expectation, result? "not working" is a bad error description.

[Magik Mark]

Script Error: There is no function named 'ConvertToYUV422P10'

Accodring to Avisynth wiki it is available in Aysinth+

http://avisynth.nl/index.php/Convert

[sneaker_ger]

The wiki says the color format is available. Not a function of the same name.

Try:
ConvertBits(10) #if source depth != 10
ConvertToYUV422()

or maybe
ConvertBits(16) #if source depth != 16
ConvertToYUV422()
ConvertBits(10)

Not really sure what's better.

[Magik Mark]

Thanks will give it a try

[Magik Mark]

Tried:

ConvertToYV16(matrix="Rec709")
ConvertBits(10)

Video Greenish. Source is 4:2:0 8bit. what did I miss?

[sneaker_ger]

Log? Screenshot? In which software is it displayed green? The script or the encoded file?

[Natty]

Video Greenish. Source is 4:2:0 8bit. what did I miss?
source and encoded file?

[Patman]

Hi Stax,

1.5.3.4 unstable test build

fix: the main window stayed in the background instead of being activated to be top most


Problem still exists. When loading first file everything is ok, but when loading second file, window still stayed in background. Please check.

[stax76]

Hi Patman, I'll check it.

[stax76]

Patman, I've tried a couple of things but so far I'm not able to reproduce it.

[drizzit]

First of all thank you for the program!

Still really new to this program so I might be doing something wrong but I'm having trouble with warnings about 260 character limit.

No matter what I set the temp files folder as the initial check when I try to open a source file seem to assume the original file location as the temp files location and if that path is too long I get an error.

Example:
File located at d:/temp movies/test.series.season 01/file.mkv

Temp path set as d:/temp/%source_name%_temp\

When initially opening the file (please assume my path above is long enough to trigger the 260 char warning for the sake of the example) I get an error saying the temp path might be too long and it gives me the original path as such
d:/temp movies/test.series.season 01/test.series.season 01_temp/file.mkv

However if I shorten the path to the original file so I manage to open the file without triggering the above error as soon as the file is opened the temp path is now handled correctly as set in the settings.
My expectations would be that the set path is used for the inital check too but this doesnt seem to be the case unless I'm missing something?

Edited to add I'm using latest test build 1.5.3.4

[Schattenspieler]

Well, drizzit, the problem is probably -> obviously not the path to the temp-folder, but to the source. If either one is longer that 260 chars, you get an error. Or did I misunderstand you?