Frameserving using Avisynth

[Roveer]

For DVD's that need to be encoded (because they are to big), I usually use DVD2AVI then VFAPI into CCE (frameserving). Recently I was told that Avisynth would be much faster than VFAPI. I've had a pretty tough time finding a good explanation of how to do this easily.

What I normally do is this:

DVD2AVI a movie into a .D2V file (audio seperatly into .AC3)
Then I use the VFAPI reader codec to create a avi file that I then load into CCE.

Can someone tell me how to substitute Avisynth in place of VFAPI (or whether I should be doing something else). I'm trying to improve my CCE encoding times.

Thanks,

Roveer

[matrix]

You have to create an avs script (I assume you know how to do that), something like this:
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\DVD2SVCD\MPEG2Dec\mpeg2dec.dll")
mpeg2source("C:\DOCUME~1\Ioan\MYDOCU~1\THESUM~1\Chapter\DVD2AV~1.D2V")
LoadPlugin("C:\Documents and Settings\Ioan\My Documents\New Folder\UnFilter.dll")
UNFILTER(40,40)
BicubicResize(480,480,0.0,0.6)
AddBorders(0,0,0,0)
ResampleAudio(44100)
This is without audio, but the last line is to make CCE take the script.
Of course, you have to change the paths and filenames, resize it for your own needs and also if you don't need any filter, then don't load any.
That's about it.
I never use wfapi, but with avisynth if you don't have any filters,(some of them are fast, they are OK) yes, CCE can be very fast.
You can give it a try anyway, see how it works.

[Roveer]

I was able to get your sample script to work, but I removed all but the first two lines, and the audio line (I read about needing that so you don't crash CCE).

Now, a question about filters and resizing. Will I need to do resizing/cropping/boarders if I just want to encode this for use in DVDMaestro? Also what other filters would I use and why? I really don't want to screw with the stream that much, and for VFAPI I dont' use any kind of resizing or filtering. I'm prepping this for straight DVD authoring.

Roveer

[matrix]

I'm prepping this for straight DVD authoring
Then I guess you don't need any resize.
About filters, it depends on the source. Some of them make it look better, some make it more compressibile (you probbably don't need that). If you want to experiment with them, there are lots you can find here in avisynth forum. Just use the search function. Many of them are built into the lattest version of avisynth. It all depends on your taste and the material you are encoding.
Then again if you're happy with what you get without any filter, then don't use any of them.
You can allways try different filters on a small part using trim like this:
LoadPlugin("C:\Movie\Mpeg2Dec.dll")
mpeg2source("C:\Movie\DVD2AVI_PROJECT_FILE.D2V")
Trim(100,1000) or whatever # of frames you want, to cut the part you want to try them on.
I do SVCD and use different combination of filters acording to the source. On a clean dvd I don't use any of them. Sometimes the Unfilter wich makes the image sharper.(but that's how I like it to be). As I said, it all depends on the source and of course on your taste.
But be aware. Some have a big impact on the speed, and from your main post I belive you don't want that. In fact, most of them have "some" impact on speed. Some slow cce to a crawl.
My advice, do a search, see what you can find (lots of info in this forum about all the filters) and before you commit to encode a full movie, try some filters on a small part.

[Roveer]

I tried the Avisynth on my other machine (the 1.6ghz P4), and for some reason I can't get it to work. I got Avisynth and installed it (2.06), then I got mpeg2dec.dll and put it into a dir of it's own. I used the same script that I'm using on my other machine (3 liner, a loadplugin, a mpeg2source & a resampleaudio), I adjusted for differences in drive letters and directories and tried to feed it to CCE 2.5 (same version that I have on the other machine), and it crashes CCE right off the bat.

Any ideas on what's going on?

Roveer

[matrix]

I really don't know what's going on. It works here, but I'm using avisynth 2.03, because of some problems I have with the latest one.
For some reason nothing after 2.04 works on my machine, even after reformating my HD. But I'm happy with 2.03.
The only time CCE crashes is if I don't use the resampleaudio line.

You can try another mpeg2dec, there's mpeg2dec2 and 3, but I don't really think it will fix the problem.

Maby somebody else have any idea?

[rkorkie]

I am having a similar issue with CCE crashing using avisynth, so I posted a new thread with a more comprehensive description of everything I have tried and used and what my configuration is. The thread is "Crashes w/ any version of CCE, avisynth, and mpeg2dec".

I hope we can get this resolved. This is frustrating. It seems like it should be so simple, given all the different combinations I have tried.

Ryan