AutoFitCD optimized cropping & resizing plugin for D2S

[RB]

Hi,

I'm releasing AutoFitCD v1.0 to the public. This is a plugin for DVD2SVCD that will provide you with most accurate cropping and resizing, optionally (macro)block and TV overscan optimized. Saves bitrate and can speed up encoding.

Download here: http://64.33.11.249/files/autofitcd.zip
You'll also need the famous FitCD tool, get it here: http://shh.dvdboard.de/

Have fun!

[EDIT] New version and thread is at http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44445. Please don't post here anymore!

Here is the readme:


AutoFitCD Crop and Resize Plugin for DVD2SVCD v1.0 by RB
========================================================

Release : 1.0
Date : Friday, January 24, 2003


1. What's this?
2. How to install
3. Usage
4. Known issues
5. Help!
6. Freeware
7. Technical notes
8. History


1. What's this?
---------------

AutoFitCD is a plugin for DVD2SVCD (see
http://www.dvd2svcd.org) that (almost) seamlessly integrates
FitCD, the most powerful MPEG resizing and cropping utility
(see http://shh.dvdboard.de/) with DVD2SVCD. Black borders are
automatically cropped before resizing and you'll get all the
advantages of FitCD such as super accurate cropping and block
optimized resizing, optionally optimized for TV overscan,
without having to edit the AVISynth script in DVD2SVCD
manually. Overall, this will allocate more bitrate to the
actual motion area and can speed up encoding by as much as 10%.


2. How to install
-----------------

Simply run SetupAutoFitCD.exe and follow the instructions.
AutoFitCD requires FitCD, get it first from
http://shh.dvdboard.de/. The plugin, Readme and source code
will be installed to a AutoFitCD subdirectory in your DVD2SVCD
installation folder.


3. Usage
--------

Start DVD2SVCD, go to the Frameserver tab and select "AutoFitCD
Detect Borders" from the Avisynth Setup dropdown. Now go to the
Conversion tab, load the AVI/IFO/DVD and click "Go! - Preview
video". There will be lines indicating where AutoFitCD detected
black borders. Click "New Frame" until the motion area is
properly detected. If it is an overall very dark movie and the
motion area is not being well detected, click "Show DVD2SVCD",
go to the Frameserver tab (leave the preview window open!),
click on "..." to the right of the AutoFitCD() Avisynth command
and lower the Threshold value (0-255, default is 40).

Now click "Close" in the preview window and FitCD will be
launched with all the correct settings (motion area and borders
detected during the preview, source and target aspect ratio
etc.). If you are not an experienced FitCD user, simply click
the "Save to DVD2SVCD" button in the lower right corner,
otherwise you can fiddle with the settings first if you really
know what you are doing. BTW, we are only interested in the
settings in the lower "MPEG Resizing" part of the FitCD window,
the "Stream & Authoring" settings above don't affect the
AVISynth script.

OK, so when you click the button, the relevant parts of the
AVISynth script created by FitCD are now saved to the "FitCD"
Avisynth Setup on the Frameserver tab in DVD2SVCD and this
setup is automatically selected for you. Now click "Go! -
Preview video" again, verify the result and start your encode.


4. Known issues
---------------

- Requires DVD2SVCD 1.1.0 build 1 or later
- Tested with FitCD v1.1.2 only (the latest version as of
writing this), but should work with older/newer versions.


5. Help!
--------

For suggestions, bug reports and general discussion, please
register at http://forum.doom9.org and post to the following
thread: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43944

If you feel like you absolutely need to contact me directly,
again register at http://forum.doom9.org and send member RB
(me) a private message.


6. Freeware
-----------

AutoFitCD is freeware and source is released under GPL. It is
based on the AutoCrop AVISynth plugin by Glenn Bussell
available at http://www.videofringe.com/autocrop/. Thanks,
Glenn!


7. Technical notes
------------------

The "Save to DVD2SVCD" button in FitCD will only be present if
FitCD is run from the DVD2SVCD video preview by AutoFitCD. I'd
like to point out that I'm not hacking or in any other way
modifying the FitCD executable (see the sources), I'm just
using Windows UI programming techniques like hooking and
subclassing.

The AutoFitCD plugin uses an extended version of the original
AutoCrop plugin's parameter list, the first six parameters are
new so the original parameter list is shifted by six and I
modified a few defaults. You can still modify the original
AutoCrop parameters by editing DVD2SVCD.INI, see the Readme in
the download at http://www.videofringe.com/autocrop/.


8. History
----------

24/01/2002 v1.0

- First release

______________________________________________________________
Germany, January 2003

[winxi]

Sounds _very_ interesting. Will try as soon as possible.

Thanks, winxi

[onesoul]

Thank you RB for the tool :)
I would like to point a great tool which after I found it I use it all the time. It is useful for conversions between several formats (svcd, anamorphic, pal, ntsc, monitor pc) taking in account the different pixel ratios. The video size calculator can be found here (http://home.bip.net/gunnart/video/) , just scroll down. The author is Gunnar Thalin. Many thanks to him.

edit: I am pointing this great tool hoping one day to see another plugin release from you ;) Never the less it is a tool to keep at hand.

Cheers

[markrb]

You should change you Nic to ToolMan since you are very good at these plug-in things. You see something that might help and instead of bugging DVD2SVCD to make it, you do it yourself. We need more people like you around here.
First the image creation plug-in and now this. What is next?
I wait with jealous eyes as I can't program a lick.

Mark

[RB]

@onesoul:
Thanks for the link, but I think FitCD is much more powerful than this.

@markrb:
Thank you. I don't know what is next, right now I am very satisfied with my version of DVD2SVCD :).

Sorry for asking this, but since I don't have/want a web page for my plugins, what do you think about making this and the D2SCCD thread sticky? Or maybe open a new sticky thread for D2S user plugins like for the AVISynth scripts in the advanced forum? I really don't want to make this more important than it is, though...

[markrb]

Make a new post in the advanced forum with both your tools.
Make sure to have all the info linked, including any docs and I will stick that. No use sticking multiple posts for several tools from you.

Mark

[RB]

Thanks. I'm working on a new version of AutoFitCD that will be even easier to use. I'll post in the advanced forum as you suggested when it's finished.

[jorel]

thanks RB(toolman);)

AutofitCD and your tutor seems amazing :cool:

[VILLA21]

Usually, i open up DVD2SVCD and load my favorite settings eg for SVCD, My_SVCD-Settings.ini...
The problem is that AutoFitCD saves the Avisynth script to dvd2svcd.ini by default and i cannot load it from the Frameserver tab. Then i copy-paste it to my custom .ini file .
Is it possible to add an option(in the next version ) where to save the Avisynth script (Anisynth_FitCD), eg. when we click the "Save to DVD2SVCD" button, a browsing window opens and let us choose the .ini file we want...:)

[RB]

I think this problem is already solved. Go to the Frameserver tab, select the AutoFitCD Detect Borders script and click on the "..." Parameters button right to the third line (the one that starts with AutoFitCD(...). Modify DVD2SVCDIniPath to point to your INI file.

[dacow]

That sounds very interesting - something I wanted for a long time.

Also, I guess we will need a special forum for DVD2SVCD plugins soon ;)

--cya

[VILLA21]

Originally posted by RB
I think this problem is already solved. Go to the Frameserver tab, select the AutoFitCD Detect Borders script and click on the "..." Parameters button right to the third line (the one that starts with AutoFitCD(...). Modify DVD2SVCDIniPath to point to your INI file.

Forgot that!
Thanks...! :)

[winxi]

@RB:
Would be nice, if we could change b_value and c_value for Bicubic Resize also, using Auto FitCD Detect Borders.

greets, winxi

[RB]

Just edit the AVISynth script in FitCD.

[EntAlex]

@RB

great tool. Just ran a few tests and it works fine.
The only thing is that the encoding speed will not be
faster. In most cases it is much slower because the
TV-Overscan option requires to resize the picture in hight.
I'm not sure if it is better to resize the hight and to have
more bitrate for the picture or not to resize.

Alex

[onesoul]

@Alex
It's a matter of personal taste for you to decide :). Anyway the plugin of RB let you do certain things more easily.

Regards

[RB]

New version 1.1 with several improvements is out at http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44445.

@EntAlex:

It should only be slower for 4:3 movies with black borders that are cropped. In this case you are right because the standard D2S crop/resize resizes only horizontally and thus AVISynth can skip the vertical resize. But it should be actually a little faster for anamorphic, especially anamorphic 2.35:1 movies. Because black bars are cropped before the resize (smaller area to resize) which D2S doesn't do but still resizes in both directions.

@markrb:

As you suggested, I've opened a new thread for my plugins that you may want to make sticky in the advanced forum at http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44445. I think it would be best if we close this thread now, or, if possible, move existing replies to the new thread. Thanks.