Avisynth 2.07 and CCE 266.01.07

[Morbid]

Hello All,

I decided to try frameserving with Avisynth instead of using TemGenc --> VFAPI to see what all the fuss is about.

my source is Mpeg1 and here is my script

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth2\plugins\Decomb.dll")
DirectShowSource("L:\XVCD\GFWI3\WCGFWI3.mpg")
KillAudio()
Telecide(guide=1,gthresh=30)
Decimate(mode=1,threshold=1.0)
BicubicResize(704,448,0,0.6,0,0,352,240)
TemporalSoften(4,4,8)
AddBorders(8,16,8,16)

This works fine in CCE one pass, but whenever I try to do 2 or more passes I loose all video (monitor goes black, no signal) and the machine locks up. I have to cold boot the machine.

Any ideas

System Spec
Windows XP
running on a ABIT BH6 w/PIII 850MHZ (Overclocked to 896)
512MB of RAM
Matrox G550 AGP video card


TIA

Morbid

[Wilbert]

If your target is mpeg1 you don't need the AddBorders(8,16,8,16) line. Try this script:

DirectShowSource("L:\XVCD\GFWI3\WCGFWI3.mpg")
BicubicResize(704,448,0,0.6,0,0,352,240)

Do you still got the problem?

[Morbid]

Thanks I will give that a try, actually the source is Mpeg1 (a rip I Dl'ed off the web) and I want to recreate the DVD.

The Border part I got from FitCD. I am trying Nic's Mpegdecoder now instead of using directshow. Will see if that helps. I also took out the Decomb.dll and all of it's commands.

I average about 1.89 speed wise, so I'll know something in a couple of hours.

again thanks for your help and I'll keep the thread updated.

Morbid

[sh0dan]

Try running Prime95 to check if your system is stable. (you are after all running an OC'ed machine).

[Morbid]

Originally posted by sh0dan
Try running Prime95 to check if your system is stable. (you are after all running an OC'ed machine).

Where might one find that? Wilbert's trick did not work nor did the stuff I tried in my previous post.

I don't get it, I've been using this box with the TemGenc --> VFAPI --> CCE method for close to a year now without a hitch.

I'll do a search in google for that app. Till then I guess it's back to the same old.

TIA

Morbid

[Wilbert]

1) Don't overclock your machine, sorry didn't notice that the first time reading your post.

2) If that doesn't help try to lower your local bus speed in steps of 5 MHz. I also had the problem of those crashes during the second pass (not with v2.0x, but with v2.5x; not with Xvid but DivX5) and I lowered mine from 133 MHz to 125 MHz. The crashes dissappeared.

[Morbid]

Thanks again Wilbert, I'll give that a whack. Guess it's time for the Dual CPU encoding rig I've been promising myself.


Morbid

[sh0dan]

AviSynth is much more system instensive as compared to many other programs. It has quite heavy load on your system bus, and therefore even if other software works fine, it will fail.

Prime95 stresses the system even more than AviSynth. Unfortunately the main site (http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm) seems to be down ATM. I did however find a mirror (http://www.gamersunitednetwork.de/tools/tools.php?title=Tools+%40+GUN) (in german - just click the link at the bottom).

[Morbid]

Originally posted by sh0dan
AviSynth is much more system instensive as compared to many other programs. It has quite heavy load on your system bus, and therefore even if other software works fine, it will fail.

Prime95 stresses the system even more than AviSynth. Unfortunately the main site (http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm) seems to be down ATM. I did however find a mirror (http://www.gamersunitednetwork.de/tools/tools.php?title=Tools+%40+GUN) (in german - just click the link at the bottom).

Thanks for responding sh0dan, and having coded in C++ and VB I have to be fair and state that I tried it again this morning using the VFAPI method and CCE hosed again.

I'm not the type to blame someone else's software for bugs in my system and the best way to test that is to do what I just did.

So I'll look around in Winblows and see what the cause of me problems is and then if I can run CCE successfully, I'll get back to you guys.

As stated previously, I've been looking into a new system w/more processing power for sometime now. Guess there is no time like the present.


I really like the way you guys help each other out, if I had 5 more users like you on my network then my life would be soooooooooooooo much easier. Not to mention shorter days.

Hehe

Morbid

[frank]

Don't use DirectShowSource in multi-pass.
It's known that M$ DirectShow isn't able to jump and work frame precise.

Use DVD2AVI and make a project from your mpg.
Then use MPEG2DEC instead of DirectShowSource.

[Morbid]

Thanks Frank, but I tried using Nic's MpegDecoder.dll and got the same issue, which has now been identified as something outside of Avisynth.

Something I installed is causing either CCE or Winblows to hose. I just have to figure out what it is. Then I'll try Avisynth again.

Morbid

[cjv]

Originally posted by Morbid
...I loose all video (monitor goes black, no signal) and the machine locks up. I have to cold boot the machine.
I know how you feel, I had exactly the same problem a few months ago with Avisynth/CCE, and it's really weird and annoying. I feel it has something to do with the VIA chipset (I also have an ABIT mb), but was never able to trace it.

Anyways, I took a few months away from encoding. Just recently I did a fresh Win2k install and then installed the latest avisynth 2.5 (from March 10), and the exact same scripts that caused a freeze months before...now work perfectly. I just finished 3 6-pass encodes the past few days, with no problems at all.

cjv

[Morbid]

That's what it's looking like for me here, another rig on a clean OS that's only for encoding/ripping.

Just need to get this damn tax man off my back this month


I also want to stress here that we have come to the conclusion that Avisynth 2.07 is not the root of the matter.


I just reinstalled CCE and will see if the VFAPI method works again.

Morbid

[Morbid]

I wonder if there could be something with the mpeg file itself?
Not copy protection or region settings, just something someone can do to a mpeg file that doesn't allow you to re-encode it


Morbid

[sh0dan]

It is by 90% probability the hardware being overloaded. Have you tried running Prime95?

I thought I had a stable system, until I tried it, and it crashed my computer after about 5 minutes. :rolleyes:

[Morbid]

Epilouge

I did something that I was hoping to avoid and installed Avisynth and CCE on my server (Dual PIII 1Ghz Coppermine running on a supermicro P6DBE w/512MB SDRAM).

Frameserving went without a hitch. Speed is only about .78 and it takes about 5 hours per pass on this 2:18:46 length file.

I want to thank again all those who replied and helped again.



Morbid

[Morbid]

Sorry, I got the encode times wrong.

(1) pass VBR was about 2 and 1/2 hours
(2) pass VBR (Bias set to 5) 6 hours 17 min's

Scrpit

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth2\plugins\MPEGdecoder.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth2\plugins\Decomb.dll")
mpegsource("L:\XVCD\GFWI3\WCGFWI3.mpg",249480)
KillAudio()
Telecide(guide=1,gthresh=30)
Decimate(mode=1,threshold=1.0)
BicubicResize(704,448,0,0.6,0,0,352,240)
#TemporalSoften(4,4,8)
#AddBorders(8,16,8,16)

[maago]

I just wanted to add my similar experience for your troubleshooting purposes. Last year I had a problem where one day CCE and TMPGEnc worked fine for encoding SVCD's and then one day it just started crashing no matter what. These were software crashes rather than hardware crashes but it drove me nuts because it was just working fine. I noticed after I reformatted and installed windows (XP both times) sometime later, it worked fine. No idea why, but that's what fixed it.

good luck,
Maago

[Morbid]

Thanks Maggo.

As stated earlier on in this thread, I began having troubles with my system outside of encoding w/Avisynth so I did some basic Windows troubleshooting yesterday.

Removing all programs that automatically run when Windows starts, and then testing and adding them back one by one, I found the culprit to be Ad-Aware 6 from Lavasoft.

Removed that and walla, no more black screens w/system locking up.
I should have done that before starting this thread. Sorry for all the comotion.

I have learned alot though in all this. I have a SM 370DL3 Mobo fresh back from them and was wondering if a dual PIII-EB 1Ghz would do me any justice as a encoding box.

Based on the times I got from running avisynth on my Dual PIII-E 1Ghz P6DBE, I can do three passes in CCE in a little less than 9 hours.

But that box is a dedicated A/V,web, and file server with only IDE drives (very old ones at that). Maybe with SCSI 10K Drives configured on seperate channels, 1GB of SDRAM and the 133Mhz bus on a "clean" WinXp box I can get that down to maybe 6.

I usually set up my encodes to run overnight or while I'm at work, so even nine hours would not be bad, way better than 12 to 18 I was getting.

Lastly, I found out Cinemaster will not run in Maestro if you have any problems with your sound card.

Oh well, live and learn

Thanks all again

Morbid