Possible to use new DVD2AVI w/ GKnot?

[colordog]

Foremost: Kudos to TheWEF for taking time to build and deal with GKnot - it rocks!

I've seen that for a while there's been a new DVD2AVI out that takes advantage of P4 optimizations, and have been wanting to use it -- I also know that it's incompatible with GKnot because the .d2v files it outputs is incompatible with the mpeg2dec library.

And now for the stupid question - is there a new(er) version of mpeg2dec that can deal with the new .d2vs that would still be compatible with GKnot?

Thanks!

[leevi]

Yes, I think it´s this one

http://www.trbarry.com/MPEG2DEC2.zip

To use it, ecxtract it in your GKnot folder (or the folder with mpeg2dec.dll)and modify your whatevermovie.avs like this: instead of LoadPlugin("D:\PROGRA~1\GORDIA~1\mpeg2dec.dll")use LoadPlugin("D:\PROGRA~1\GORDIA~1\mpeg2dec2.dll") and thats it. If it wont work, search the dvd2avi forum and try to find the right one.

Good luck:devil:

[manono]

Hi-

Yes, that's correct, but you still can't replace the version of DVD2AVI that comes with GKnot. But you can do something that takes advantage of the P4 optimizations available through MPEG2DEC2. Open the .d2v and in the line:

iDCT_Algorithm=2,

change the 2 to 5. Then the encoding speed will get a noticeable boost. However, if you need to see the .d2v in GKnot, you have to change the 5 back to 2 because otherwise you'll see a garbled grey mess. So, I usually change it to 5 just before running the 2 passes (that is, after doing the Compress Test).

[colordog]

Hey, thanks to both of you for the input. I tried encoding a short anime episode (the horribly made Record of Lodoss series), and was surprised that I didn't get a better speed boost with the P4 instructions.

I'm using a P4 2.4GHz with 533MHz FSB, and 512MB of 1,066MHz RIMM RAM. For encoding, I'm using GKnot 0.26.1b, with DivX 5.0.2 two-pass mode, with bi-di encoding, GMC, normal pysc enhance, but no quarterpels. Using neutral bicubic, and field deinterlace. The episode is about 25 min.

Encoding "normally" the entire time start to finish (with audio) was 49'38".

Then I downloaded the newer DLL (thanks for that link) and placed it into my GKnot folder. Next, I edited the original .d2v file to change "2" to "5". Finally, I edited both the normal and credit .AVSs to change MPEG2DEC to MPEG2DEC2.DLL

Ran the encoder again, and ended up with a total time of 48'40". This represents a total savings of 58 seconds, which is a hair under 2%. Yikes! Not sure that's worth manually editing the files for. Sure, if I don't take the couple minutes of audio into account, it's a little more, but I was hoping for something around 15% or more in time savings.

To summarize:

Original MPEG2DEC2
Sound 4'11" 4'12"
Credits 3'34" 3'38"
Pass 1 23'49" 23'15"
Pass 2 17'35" 17'13"
TOTAL 49'38" 48'40"


Anyone else had better luck with P4 optimizations - or is this just 'the breaks' and I outta just shut up and be happy with this speed? Other other 'tricks' to speed up encoding? P4-specific or otherwise?

[manono]

Hi-

I just did a short test doing the same as you, and got a similar 2% gain. It's not as much as I had thought or hoped for, but every bit helps, I guess.

Those Lodoss DVDs are a mess, aren't they?

[colordog]

Hey, cool of you to try it out as well. Yeah, like you said, every little bit does help. I _just_ bought a new P4 system, and so I was kinda hoping for a larger SSE2 gain because of it! Of course, going from my older system (Athlon 1900+) to this newer one (P4 2.4GHz with 533FSB) gave me about a 30% speed boost. I've also been reading that the future P4s with hyperthreading are really supposed to give a big boost for encoding, better than a dual AMD board - I'll have to wait to read the 'real' reviews though.

Yeah, as far as Lodoss is concerned, I don't know what was being smoked during its production. (Different areas of one scene have different interlacing rates?!?!? aarrrgh!!!) I've given up on trying to make a great backup - I'm settling for "okay" copies for now... too much frustration already.

[colordog]

Anyone else happen to know of any other P4-specific enhancements that can be used in the GKnot encoding chain?

For instance, has anyone tried the Pentium-optimized deinterlacer (QS Deinterlace by Pavel Kuznetsov)? If so, how well does it work? And how do I make sure that VirtualDub makes use of that plugin when I encode with GKnot. That is, I have to do more than just dropping it in the plugins folder, right?