GPL command line M2V transcoder

[vhelp]

Hi guys..

sorry I'm late inside the picture here.. thanks to bb posting
this under the DV section :) ..speaking of.. ..

I just done a re-stream I mean, a nic-stream :) of a DV encode that
I had just finished (took some home footage this morning w/ my TRV22)
and after I encoded it regularly my usual way, and in 16:9 AR and also
throw in KVCD.NET tweaks and things (k-matrix), my:

* 4m:19s, 85mb .mpg file and turned it into a
* wapping 54.5mb size .m2v file :D

Note 1.. I encoded the orginal source .mpg w/out audio, however. There may
be approx +/- 10mb of "emtpy" bagage of space in this original file.
Note 2.. when I use TMPG's MPEG-TOOLS to de-mux, my .m2v final size was 75.5mb
vs. nic-stream's 54.5mb ... hope this made some sense.

I used the default 70% as my base param, inside the GUI (nice work)
though, please add in a drag-n drop feature in your next update :)

I'm liking (i mean) loving this util even more.

side note...
This is the answer to prayers for those that use CQ in their encodeing
processes. ie, that 15mb-30mb overfilled cd can now be tweaked (I think)
by a few mb's.

Well, to all.. please keep up the good work here.
-vhelp

[DVDRFreak]

It takes a genius to notice one :D

Anyway here come my test result from ReJig 0.2b

Bug that where fixed and features that where added that I did test and seem to be Ok.

Percentage can be added with decimals.
Arrow keys do cause list views to remove files.
Refresh button seems to work properly now.

New bugs detected:

1) When I add jobs to the left listview and the ry to delete them I get a program crash.
2) When using VOB files I cannot set the output path. This is a big problem if your files are a mounted iso image.
3) When I add multiple VOB's of the same title only one shows up in the list view this is Ok but it also transcodes only this VOB. It should in fact transcode the combination of all VOBS for that set to one M2V file.

Request:
1) Could you somehow add some shroll bars to the leftveiw. I have now the problem that I only see the first part of the complete path.
edit1:
2) Indication that a job has been processed in the LeftView would be nice to have. A white/red/green dot would be nice. Red something went wrong. Green processed ok. white new ready for processing.

Will do some more testing on the new 0.2c version.

Edit2:
p.s. forwarded the mail to the new address hope it will arive now.

[vhelp]

.
.

Some thoughts on this util.

I haven't done any extensive testing, but after additional viewing of
the ReJig's .m2v file, I found that the dark scenes were not effected.
I don't know if this is a Nic thing, or the design of the orig
developer, but I felt like sharing that. I did not see any blocks or
DCT's or what-have you in these dark scenes.

Perhaps when using this util for DV source projects, when the source
is home footage shoot w/ a DV cam, this util does a great job.

I have not tested "dark scenes" under other source projects ie, cable
or satellite capture (Analog and DV devices) So, perhaps there may be
a difference in how dark scenes are handled.. yet to be descovered.
.
.
Something to think about maybe :rolleyes:

-vhelp

[unixfs]

Hi,
Nic ReJig is excellent!

I wonder if it's possible and if it makes sense to turn it into a fast 2-pass requantizer?
Would it improve quality?

Thanks.

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by vhelp
.
.

Some thoughts on this util.

I haven't done any extensive testing, but after additional viewing of
the ReJig's .m2v file, I found that the dark scenes were not effected.
I don't know if this is a Nic thing, or the design of the orig
developer, but I felt like sharing that. I did not see any blocks or
DCT's or what-have you in these dark scenes.

Perhaps when using this util for DV source projects, when the source
is home footage shoot w/ a DV cam, this util does a great job.

I have not tested "dark scenes" under other source projects ie, cable
or satellite capture (Analog and DV devices) So, perhaps there may be
a difference in how dark scenes are handled.. yet to be descovered.
.
.
Something to think about maybe :rolleyes:

-vhelp

Nic did not change the transcoding engine yet. Only the way it reads the input file has been changed so it can also process directly VOB files.

This tool gives imho the best result of all transcoders I did test sofar (speed/quality). Almost no visible blocking or other attributes esspecially hard to encode scenes like the beginning of NARC or very DARK scenes like in the MATRIX is done without any problem or anoying quality loss.

But this is my personal opinion. You should decide for yourself of course.

[Nic]

@unixfs: I was thinking the same thing :) It should be quite easy, will need time to do it though (after this weekend, im gonna be busy with work & social life.. :( But ill do what I can)

@vhelp: Im not sure I quite understand. Dark scenes not being effected is a good thing?

@DVDRFreak: Here's the new version:
http://nic.dnsalias.com/ReJig.zip (0.2d)

I've only just read your email about 0.2b so I haven't fixed everything yet. CCEData.txt support should be in there. Please test and let me know (it's untested as yet)

in response to your bugs:

1) Ill check that...don't know why that is
2) Why can't you set the output path? What stops you? can you not just type in another name or use the "..." browse button?
3) How are you adding the multiple vobs in...one at a time or do you select them all in the file dialog box so it becomes one job. When you say the same title, do you mean DVD Title or filename?

Requests:
1) Already in 0.2d ;)
2) Hmmm, yup, got to remind myself of how to do that easily in MFC now :)

-Nic

[m1482]

Nic: After using your program, what multiplexer do you recomend to multiplex new m2v file with AC3 streams ?

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by Nic

1) Ill check that...don't know why that is
2) Why can't you set the output path? What stops you? can you not just type in another name or use the "..." browse button?
3) How are you adding the multiple vobs in...one at a time or do you select them all in the file dialog box so it becomes one job. When you say the same title, do you mean DVD Title or filename?

Requests:
1) Already in 0.2d ;)
2) Hmmm, yup, got to remind myself of how to do that easily in MFC now :)

-Nic

2) When I type a new path or select a path using the brows button it just defaults back to the old patc ( in my case the Daemon tools image drive).

3) I select them all at once in the open file windows. I mean of course DVD title if it would be file it would combine all streams in the VOB if I understand correctly.

Requests:
1) thanks !

Ok will test the CCEData.txt feature now.

[vhelp]

nic wrote..

@vhelp: Im not sure I quite understand. Dark scenes not being effected is a good thing?

Abolutely.., it's a great thing :)
I was on about how the util does a great job under these "dark" conditions.. as tested using home footage shot by my TRV22 cam, but
that I haven't tested it under regular source like cable or satellite
(the dark scenes) to see how they hold up to a re-streaming process.
My experience w/ DV footage was a positive one.

-vhelp

[int 21h]

Originally posted by m1482
Nic: After using your program, what multiplexer do you recomend to multiplex new m2v file with AC3 streams ?

IfoEdit 0.6 worked when I tested its output. If you use it, you get the bonus that you can handle Multi-PGC titles...

[DVDRFreak]

Hi Nic.

Tested the new version to work with the CCEdat.txt that is output by DoItFast4U.

I just can say one thing FANTASTIC ! works like a charm.:)

Some Bug's:
Concerning the bug I reported that I could not change the output path. For M2V files it works Ok but when the refresh button is pressed all data is reset to the defaults this is not Ok I think.

When adding VOB files it realy get's strange. I add a VOB set from my ISO image that I did mout in a virtual drive. I set the path and compression ratio. So far so good. Then I add a second VOB set. Then it happens. Path values are being reset to the defaults including the just entered data for the first VOB set. Also the percentage specified sometimes is not correct anymore.

When I add VOB files using the open dialog for one title set (e.g. VTS_02_* then this version will dispaly in the JOB window H:\VTS02_04.VOB+H:\VTS02_03.VOB+H:\VTS02_02.VOB+H:\VTS02_01.VOB
+H:\VTS02_05.VOB. So you see the order is not Ok. It should have been
H:\VTS02_01.VOB+H:\VTS02_02.VOB+H:\VTS02_03.VOB+H:\VTS02_04.VOB
+H:\VTS02_05.VOB. Did not try to transcode but I think this is a sequence problem.
edit3:
When trying to transcode this the program crashes.

edit2:
The percentage in this version can be bigger then 100. This is not Ok it should be < 100 i think.

Question
What is the program supposed to do when I add a VTS01* set with mutiple mpegstreams in it ? Did not test this yet but it will be my next test.

edit1:
tested this with a multiple PGC VOB. It seems to transcode just the first PGC. It should (at least I think so) transcode all video streams or even better let me select which streams to transcode and which streams not.

[int 21h]

I've only tested the multiple PGC idea on the original Requant program btw, not Nic's changed version.

[Nic]

Ahh, that makes more sense now. Must be not saving the data typed in all the right places, hence you loose your destination name, ill fix that.

With the multiple Vobs...instead of the FileDialog, ill add a dialog box like DVD2AVI has for adding in files. That way you'll be able to order them as you wish, before making them a "job".

The percentage 100 thing should be impossible...weird. MFC should be forcing that, ill force it myself.

The crash I don't understand...Hmmm. And i've already fixed the Del button problem (stupid mistake on my part, will be fixed in next version)

With multiple PGC's it will just transcode everything in there (and therefore all the PGCs at once). It doesn't work from an IFO so it can't actually tell what PGC's exist if any.

-Nic

[DMagic1]

So does everyone that has tested this feel its better than all the other transcoders? How close does it come to CCE in your opinion?

[mrbass]

Not sure about how good it is quite yet quality wise (very good though, my initial impressions). It is extremely fast though...will say that. I flipped through it, frame by frame, and this was 50% compression and it wasn't too shabby. Remember I'd never do 50% compression anyways with a transcoder but was just testing it. Also did 70% and looks pretty awesome.

[DMagic1]

I just had some problems with Minority Report. I did it twice at 62% and both times the resulting m2v was unplayable when finished. I did only a little and it played, but if I do the entire movie the file will not play. I'm trying again for the third time.

[zeus163]

This worked great for me. I had some encoded files that weren't going to fit on an authored DVD. I ran ReJig on them and dropped them all about 10%. Well, one I did about 15%. I'm wrapping up the project and it looks like this is all going to fit and I can't notice any quality drop. It was fast, efficient, and easy to use.

I did have two mishaps with it. One is the delete button that appears to be fixed in the next version and one of my files simply would not encode for me. I would load the file and nothing would happen at all. I gave up on that particular file as it wasn't that big of a deal for me.

Great work! I can't wait to see the direction this goes.

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by DMagic1
I just had some problems with Minority Report. I did it twice at 62% and both times the resulting m2v was unplayable when finished. I did only a little and it played, but if I do the entire movie the file will not play. I'm trying again for the third time.

Can you run a test with the original Requant (command line version) that is available on mrbass site to see if it is a ReJig problem or a Requant.

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by zeus163
I did have two mishaps with it. One is the delete button that appears to be fixed in the next version and one of my files simply would not encode for me. I would load the file and nothing would happen at all. I gave up on that particular file as it wasn't that big of a deal for me.

Great work! I can't wait to see the direction this goes.

The second problem I also noticed. It happens I think when the destination file you select is already there. If this happens it would be nice to see somewhere what went wrong (maybe Nic can implement a log window or file with some messages like succesfull or failed with a reason and some statistics.

[zeus163]

That's what I thought at first that the destination file was already in existance. But generally when I've loaded a file, I've just allowed it to default to whatever ReJig names it (the file name with a rejig added on). This one wouldn't do that. I'd load the file and no file would pop up. So, I'd navigate to where I wanted the file to go, click save, and then try it and it was still a no go.

Still, I cannot complain as it did exactly what I wanted it to do. My wife, however, simply could not understand my excitement!

[DMagic1]

Same problem the third time with ReJig. I'm testing with Requant now and will report back.

update*
Same problem. Strange??
I'll rerip the movie and try it again.

[TheUnforgiven]

nice work nic,
i tested 0.2d and it gave me very good impression in speed and quality.
-small thing, when the file name u specify for the output is already there nothing happens when u push the go button. (it should confirm the overwrite and do the job but it does not)
-is it possible to add an option to half the horizontal resolution?

[DMagic1]

Ok, it seems my problem is in the original m2v creation. The original m2v from dvd decrypter isnt even playing. I don't know whats wrong. I just did The World Is Not Enough right before Minority Report and didnt have these problems.:confused:

[thop]

DVDFREAK: I don't get your compile to work properly. It produces 25% smaller file than the compile by RB and has big macroblocks popping up in it :confused:

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by thop
DVDFREAK: I don't get your compile to work properly. It produces 25% smaller file than the compile by RB and has big macroblocks popping up in it :confused:

Mmm, could have something to do with the P6 optimize option. On my Athlon XP it produces exactly the same file as the original Requant.exe posted by RB.

[thop]

I got an Athlon XP 2700+. I just tried with two other DVDs, same result. I also compiled my own .exe using cygwin and it gives the same size as RB's, only yours doesn't want to play along but why when it works for everyone else? :confused:

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by thop
I got an Athlon XP 2700+. I just tried with two other DVDs, same result. I also compiled my own .exe using cygwin and it gives the same size as RB's, only yours doesn't want to play along but why when it works for everyone else? :confused:

Beats me. I just changed the source that it excepts a percentage and the recompiled it with VC7 optimized for speed and pentium pro (P6). Works for me on a AthlonXP 1900+.

You can of course use ReJig now. It accepts M2V in batch and the speed is asome.

[thop]

Originally posted by DVDRFreak
Beats me. I just changed the source that it excepts a percentage and the recompiled it with VC7 optimized for speed and pentium pro (P6).

I used requant.exe 2.0 a.m2v b.m2v on all tests :D That should be 50.0 on your compile then.

And does ReJig use your compiles or Nics?

[Nic]

ReJig has the code built in and is compiled with Intel C++ 7.1 (still the fastest normally, although differences will be tiny)

http://nic.dnsalias.com/ReJig.zip

Ok, bugs should be fixed and it's easier to add files. Also, it can take a commandline, if it does work for you well DVDRFreak with CCEData.txt maybe Eyes' only could be persuaded to add it to autorun from DoIt4U.

Let me know how you get on :)

Cheers,
-Nic

[thop]

I made some speed tests with my cygwin compiles and the gcc 3.3.1 i686 (P6) compile is about 5-10% faster than DVDFREAKS one. Not really worth the hassle though because of the whooping 900kb cygwin1.dll that accompanies the exe :p

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by Nic
Let me know how you get on :)

Cheers,
-Nic

Wanted to go to bed and then I saw a new version couldn't help myself I had to do some quick tests.:D

Results old bugs:

Del button is fixed and works in my quick test.

The exception I had when I try to transcode from image drive is fixed and works in my quick test.

The lost of setup when entering more jons (based on vob)data seems to be working also.


New functionality:
The new add window is works Ok. Only have a few remarks.

When I press the add button and the press cancel the dialog also pops up. This is strange I think.

When I select in the open file window multiple vobs of the same VTS the add job window will show me all files of the DVD multiple times. This is logical of course but very confusing for a normal user. Maybe it is even more logical to just show the add job window when add is pressed.

The new window does not have shroll bars so I cannot realy see what files I did add.

The new window does not have a cancel button. Would be nice if it had one. I noticed I could cancel by not adding any files or deleting them all but a cancel button would be better.

Suggestion:
Maybe it is a good idea that the new job window also enters the setting for percentage and output file. It is more logical I think. I'm working on composing a JOB add the files set the compression and output file and then press Ok.

Bug:
Had a crash while I was playing around with the new add job window. Will try to recreate it tommorow and let you know what I did do.

Will do some more thorough testing tommorow. Thanks for the quick bug fixes.

[jsoto]

Hi Nic,
Not sure if you are just addressing ac3 delay correction or still not.
You can take a VC++ (in fact only 'C') code from http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45504 (sources included).
Sorry if it is a little dirty, but I am very newbie in programming...
BTW, "delayac3" also fix ac3 common errors

PS: BeSweet is also able to fix ac3 delay in -payload mode.

jsoto

[vhelp]

@ Nic my friend..

Originally posted by Nic
ReJig has the code built in and is compiled with Intel C++ 7.1 (still the fastest normally, although differences will be tiny)

http://nic.dnsalias.com/ReJig.zip

Ok, bugs should be fixed and it's easier to add files. Also, it can take a commandline, if it does work for you well DVDRFreak with CCEData.txt maybe Eyes' only could be persuaded to add it to autorun from DoIt4U.

Let me know how you get on :)

Cheers,
-Nic

Hay.., commandline sounds fantasic.. only I have to figure out what I would
have a need for it for :rolleyes: ..but good inclusion none the less :p

Thank you for the constant acceptance of nags and plentiful of updates :)

-vhelp

[Nic]

@vhelp: I'm sure it will come in useful (mainly made it so I can test groups of files with a batch file for testing the ReQuant engine ;) )

@jsoto: Excellent work, really was not looking forward to porting AC3 Delay corrector, your code's great and will be included in the next release :)

@DVDRFreak: Excellent testing as always :) Ill fix all that and release it (the only bit i'm not sure about is having the compression level in the add box, not sure if it belongs there....hmmm)

Cheers,
-Nic

[m1482]

@Nic:

Thank you for this excellent tool!

Is there any way to add the size (in Mb) of each stream that appears at the "Stream List & Demuxing" window? This may come very handy for determining re-compression factor...

[Nic]

@m1482: Theres no exact way of doing it with out demuxing the whole file. Which is a slow process. There is no quick way unfortunately.

[m1482]

@Nic:
Theres no exact way of doing it with out demuxing the whole file. Which is a slow process. There is no quick way unfortunately. Are you sure? DVDShrink does it, just analyzing content (in about 30 seconds)...:)

[Nic]

Then it's very clever ;) Ill have to have a think...can't see how it could do that, maybe it guestimates it from a portion of the file?
(if anyone can guess let me know, maybe because it knows the exact length of the audio from the IFO it can just get the bitrate of the AC3?)

-Nic

[mikegun]

maybe it's enough to know the bitrate and the lenght to calculate ?!

mikegun

[Nic]

Yup it is, but of course, I don't use the IFO, so there is no way I can do the same...yet.

[DVDRFreak]

Okee testing continues.

test1: the command line options.

Initaily I could not get he -o option to work. I used the following command line:
C:\TEST_DATA>rejig -level 70.0 -i "Charlies Angels - Blowing up the ofice.M2V" -o "test.m2v"

Figured out that placing the -o before the -i option makes it work. So the command line is order sensitive.

This command line works:
C:\TEST_DATA>rejig -level 70.0 -o "test.m2v" -i "Charlies Angels - Blowing up the ofice.M2V" -o "test.m2v"

The -quit -close and -auto options work. The can be placed as the first parameter or the last without any problem.

The combining of m2v files has a problem with spaces.
C:\TEST_DATA>rejig -level 68.4 -o "test.m2v" -i "Charlies Angels - Blowing up the ofice.M2V"+"Charlies ANgels - Opening.M2V" works
but
C:\TEST_DATA>rejig -level 68.4 -o "test.m2v" -i "Charlies Angels - Blowing up the ofice.M2V" + "Charlies ANgels - Opening.M2V" does not work. The last one only will add the first m2v to the job.

test 2: Transcoder engine:
Run rejig on several m2v files at 70% the run the original requant on the same files. Byte compare rejig files with the requant files and they are indentical. So the integrity of the engine is till in tact.

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by m1482
@Nic:

Thank you for this excellent tool!

Is there any way to add the size (in Mb) of each stream that appears at the "Stream List & Demuxing" window? This may come very handy for determining re-compression factor...

If Nic will make the VOB function also to work multi PGC VOB files there is no longer the need to demux first. Just set the compression and transcode directly from VOB. For single PGC vobs this works already.

Idea:
Add an option to let you set the final output filesize that the transcoder engine would except. Did this already in the original requant command line tool and it works like a charm.

Would this be helpfull ?

[vidcel]

Is there anyway to get this to work with AVI files to convert to MPEG2
:D :D

[int 21h]

Originally posted by vidcel
Is there anyway to get this to work with AVI files to convert to MPEG2
:D :D

No.

[Rombaldi]

Originally posted by DVDRFreak
Idea:
Add an option to let you set the final output filesize that the transcoder engine would except. Did this already in the original requant command line tool and it works like a charm.

Would this be helpfull ?

If you mean set the output filesize and then let ReJig calculate the percentage, then yes, I would love that...

Case in point. Archiving episodes to fit on DVD, right now they are coming out (varying) between 1.48 and 1.55gb, I would love to be able to stack up several eps, tell it to make them all 1.38 gb (three per disc) and let it rock.

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by Rombaldi
If you mean set the output filesize and then let ReJig calculate the percentage, then yes, I would love that...

Case in point. Archiving episodes to fit on DVD, right now they are coming out (varying) between 1.48 and 1.55gb, I would love to be able to stack up several eps, tell it to make them all 1.38 gb (three per disc) and let it rock.

Jup that's what I meaan. In the commandline version I made it so that I can enter the size in MB (example 1024.8 MB) (think GB is not accurate enough) and the program calculates the exact compression factor (fact_x internally) and percentage.

Tested it on a few files and it works perfectly.

Nic could you also do this in the ReJig tool ?

[Prysme]

Hi all,

I got a question, someone has already try to recompress a menu, as I understand about this prog it preserve the cell id, so i make a test with a menu, recompress ok, remux m2v with vobedit, and the menu navigation is wrong, any idea ?

Prysme.

[echooff]

Did a simple test with a rip of City Slickers 2 last night. I say simple because complicated is still beyound my limited capabilities at this point;).I used the newest version Dvd Decrypter to rip to 1 large m2v and 1 ac3. The object was to see how small I could get the video before artifacts became noticeable. There is not a lot of fast motion in this movie. I managed to go down to 40% before anything was visible and then only on the few fast motion scenes. At 42% there was none. Man was this fast. It was so fast I was able to decrease in 1% increments without my hair turning white with old age. Nics Gui was easy to use and self explanatory. Since it is so easy to use I think maybe a sticky on this little proggie is warrented for the newbies. To be honest I had more trouble with Dvd Decrypter than ReJig. Nothing wrong with Dvd Decrypter. Just a case of stupid in, stupid out.:confused: Congradulations guys.

[resonator]

Originally posted by Prysme
Hi all,

I got a question, someone has already try to recompress a menu, as I understand about this prog it preserve the cell id, so i make a test with a menu, recompress ok, remux m2v with vobedit, and the menu navigation is wrong, any idea ?

Prysme.

Haven't tried it, but my guess is - forgot to update the vts sectors with IFOEdit?

[Rombaldi]

The more I use this, the more I become amazed at the speed and quality that can be stuffed in a smaller space...

(chuckle) maybe the name needs to be changed...

TARDIS - it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside (grin).