QuEnc 0.51 (AVS->M2V/M1V Encoder)

[Nic]

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

Edit: Updated link to latest version.

This little (700kb) app can be used to encode from an Avisynth Script file to a raw MPEG-1/MPEG-2 video stream. I'm hoping it will be a free alternative to CCE. (it uses a built in FFMPEG library for the encoding)

I made it primarily for use with jdobbs Rebuilder app, so any testing or feedback is appreciated as then jdobbs can decide if it's worth including the support in rebuilder.

It supports command line control. Run it with /? as a parameter to see the command line options.

Let me know what you think,

-Nic

[Paced]

Hi Nic, I just tested out this neat little program, and it works great :) I compared it to my CCE (v2.50) encode (same video/bitrate), and I found the quality of this program to be better! CCE has more blocks (only noticeable when zooming) in some parts compared to QuEnc; also, QuEnc seems to keep more detail than CCE. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that CCE loves to add more noise to the video, and QuEnc doesn't? :cool:

Would it be too much if I asked you what you have planned in the future for this encoder? Also, these are a few things I'm wondering at the moment:

- how does the bitrate allocation work in the program's current state?
- can it handle interlaced video? (field order wise)

Thanks in advance, and great work so far Nic - I'm really looking forward to this encoder's future.

[DarkNite]

I can't help but wonder how long the idea to do this has been buried within those deep, dark, caffiene driven, mumbling encoder recesses of your mind just waiting for an excuse (or an updated build of ffmpeg) to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting masses.

Well, good timing, and good execution as well (disregarding the color choices for the GUI, but I'll only see those once). Just one comment: trellis quantization? I had a slight XviD flashback there. ;)

In 2 pass, ~3100kbps, high motion scenes, sans trellis, it looks great. Especially for something that's free. I'll get around to some different sources, and trellis inclusive testing tomorrow.

So far it seems a bit "smoother" than CCE. I certainly can't say softer, but it's almost like someone turned off the high frequency emphasis switch that sometimes seems to be cranked to maximum in CCE.

[Amnon82]

Hi Nic, I downloaded Your Encoder. I'll test it now.

Here my Results:

QuEnc:

1650 VBR Bitrate
HighQuality on
Trellis
Force closed GOB on
2Pass
SVCD Sample filesize: 7.25 MB
ca. 27 FPS at encoding

DRPEnc:

1650 VBR Bitrate
HighQuality off
Trellis on
nag on
2Pass
SVCD SAR16_9 Template
SVCD Sample filesize: 6.93 MB
ca. 34 FPS at encoding

Quality Result:

DRPEnc produces same Quality but less filesize.

[Asmodeus]

Short:
- looks great :D
- with simple test, speed and quality is the same as in ffvfw (while it's the same engine). More complex tests today evening :)

Only one sugestion: add "no b-frames" mode, pliiiiiizzzzz :)

[Paced]

After some more testing, I've found that QuEnc produces some pretty 'nasty' artifacts on the left + top borders of the screen, anyone else get this (the artifacts aren't evident on the original, or on the CCE output)?

[Amnon82]

Here we go:

DRPEnc Sample 4:3 SVCD VBR 1650 (6.99 MB) (Http://rj-elektronik.de/avideo/files/willarddrpenc.mpg) encoded with 34 FPS

QuEnc Sample 4:3 SVCD VBR 1650 (7.04 MB) (Http://rj-elektronik.de/avideo/files/willardquenc.mpg) encoded with 27 FPS

this time it was close. K, in DRPEnc I could add a deinterlance filter.
For the QuEnc I used only a resizefilter to get the same resolution.

@Nic: You can build in so many filter. So it will be faster. I use MEncoder for my GUI. This one has so many well known filter build in that I only have to set them to my gui. This can You also do with Your encoder.

In which language do You code QuEnc? I use Delphi for my GUI.

[vhelp]

Morning everyone :)

.
.
I heard of an new toy here (heard of it on kvcd) and came running here :)

Someone said that it might have done a little better then CCE ??

Well, I can't wait to test this out for myself. I'm curious.
-vhelp

[Nic]

@Amnon82: Please dont use this thread to advertise your GUI, as nice as it is. Mencoder uses libavcodec, so does QuEnc. So the quality will be the same, however the options im using may vary somewhat to MEncoders. i.e comparing the two is pointless, but if you have some nice options for to try/add, feel free to share them.

@Paced: Hmmm, concerning, I havent noticed these, might be how im outputing the frames to the encoder. (ill test here and check, thanks for the feedback). Oh, and with respect to field based encoding, it definitely has options I could use, not sure what will be best though. Ill test it out & get back to you. Oh, and I dont have any plans as yet for it, just whipped it up to offer it to jdobbs....
(Edit: Yup, just spotted it, something's not right, good eyes :) )

@Asmodeus: Yup should be the same as ffvfw, both use the same library. Yup, ill add an advanced options dialog to set the number of B-Frames (2), GOP Size (12), etc (brackets indictate what it is set to now)

@DarkNite: Yup trellis :) Helps alot too, but slows it down quite a bit.

@vhelp: Well dont expect too much, but for the price, it's hard to beat ;)

-Nic

[vhelp]

Thank you Nic.

I respect you and your work, and always look forward to it (and others
all around the many forums :)

And, please keep up the good work.
OH, yeah, not effense, that RED looks..hmm.. ahhh, it's not so bad hehe..

Be Good,
-vhelp

[Nic]

"OH, yeah, not effense, that RED looks..hmm.. ahhh, it's not so bad hehe"
lol...Ok, Im going to make it so you can change the colors from the advanced options too :P

[vmesquita]

Nic,

Congratulations for the great idea! I have found a workaround to use mencoder (which is also libavcodec based) with avisynth (http://kvcd.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9078), but doing this right easily with no makeavis in a 700 kb executable is really awesome. I was really looking for a free command-line encoding app with AVs support to integrate in my free tool DIKO as an alternative to CCE, and looks like you made my dream come true. :D
I can't wait to get home and test!

EDIT: I downloaded and run, altrought I don't have nothing to encode here at the university. :) The interface is very simple and functional! I only miss 2 things: use a custom matrix and define GOP lenght. Could this be implemented?

[vhelp]

Hi Nic,

I'm back already. Hope you don't mind my posting an issue w/ my
opening up an .AVS scrip.

Here is what I'm doing, and maybe you can help me ??

* plain .AVI file (dvd source: VFAPI'ed to vdub, saved as .AVI file)
* vdub opens this plain .AVI file and frameserve as .VDR file.
* my .AVS script opens it:
* 01.Film 23.976 fps.(convertTOyv12).avs

x="d:\01.00.vdr"
segmentedAVISource(x)
assumeFrameBased()
convertTOyv12()

* open in your app, QuEnc(01.Film 23.976 fps.(convertTOyv12).avs)

After performing the above steps, it issus an error:
-------------------
Error
[!] Could not open Video Codec
-------------------

Nic, I'm sorry, but there is a reason why I go this laborous route in
feeding my source files for a final encode. Please understand me for
this. But, I never have problems with color space or anything else,
and that's another reason I use this route.

Also, I'm using another frameserve alternative, "makeAVS" but it was
not used in the above process.

Can you help me out with the above error ?? thanks.
-vhelp
EDIT: this process (above) opens up fine when used w/ vdub, just
not w/ QuEnc yet.

[Nic]

@vhelp: ill check that it can read that FPS correctly, also what was the size of the video (resolution) ?

ps
EDIT: Just checked....If I do a AVS with AssumeFPS(23.976), it didnt like it. (dont have any MPEGs with that frame rate here, so had to use AssumeFPS). I've put in a hack to make it work. (I hope). The thing is the FPS is not really 23.976, it's 24000/1001 and if libavcodec doesnt get exactly that it crys...so ive got to detect it and force it.

-Nic

[vmesquita]

Nic,

Looks like you missed my question because I edited the message. :) Could you add custom matrix and GOP support in a future release? :confused:

[vhelp]

Nic,

ok, when I feed that same script into vdub, and check it's information,
it tells me that it is using the "ATI YUV12 format codec".

Thanks again,
-vhelp

[tyee]

Great app Nic! I'm trying to test it but am also getting this --

Error
[!] Could not open Video Codec

I'm just feeding a regular .avs with a 720*480 dvd source. VirtualDub cannot open the script either. I do have ConvertToYV12() at the end. Do I need to install a Divx or Xvid codec to make this work?

tyee

[Nic]

Ok here is 0.3:
http://nic.dnsalias.com/QuEnc.exe

This has an updated ffmpeg version, a fix for decimal framerates (such as NTSC), speed increase, file size decrease (now around 650kb), as well as minor bug fix.

New version will have the extra options...

-Nic

@tyee: No it doesn't require any codecs, it didn't work because of the framerate issue which is fixed in this release, please re-download and try again.

@vmesquita: Yes & Yes ;)

[vmesquita]

EDIT: Looks like Nic was faster and my FFVFW tip has nothing to do with your problem, so I removed. :)

@Nic
This is great news! Please keep the good work. :D

[vhelp]

Nic,

FYI and FWIW..
I got it to finally encode (was 720x480 source) but I added in a
* AssumeFPS(24)

..before the YV12 filters, and it encoded (3fps) but that's because of
my setup. Anyways, this was found before you updated your version.
I'll D/L it now :)

I'll let you know how v0.3 comes out w/ my give setup from my earlier
setup.

-vhelp

[Mr_Khyron]

Can you use QuEnc to make VCD mv1 streams not xVCD ?

[vhelp]

Nic,

Here is my latest update w/ my previous script problem and your v0.3

The good news is, it's working w/out the AssumeFPS(24) which is
great. Thanks for fixing that. Now, I hope you enclude a switch for
those 16:9 encodes, as these are what I always use.

Thanks again,
-vhelp

[Paced]

Nic, I just came back from testing .3, and I must say, the speed increase is quite impressive compared to the FPS I was originally getting. Now, regarding the artifacts I discovered earlier on: you must have fixed the "Trellis Quant" 'artifact' without even knowing it, because it's all good/normal now :D However, the artifacts on the top/left hand side of the screen are still there (although they don't appear to be as frequent anymore - maybe it's just me). Great work once again :cool:

[Nic]

Thanks for the praise, but it should really all go to the ffmpeg guys ( http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net/ffmpeg-doc.html ) Check there for other possible options I could include. (im only using libavcodec, so I can't do all of it yet, only the video codec side)

@Mr_Khyron: Please explain more, sadly I have no knowledge of VCDs, so I dont know the difference or what is needed...

@vhelp: Ahhh, good point, missing a AR switch. Ill add that for 0.4

-Nic

[Amnon82]

@Nic Please dont use this thread to advertise your GUI
Sorry I didn't ment it as a advertise. I only wanted to show You the quality with programs using libavcodec.

I'll try now Your new 0.3 version. Lets see what options do You have
added...

Here comes the help:

VCD:

PAL
video:
1150 kbit/sec MPEG-1 CBR
352 x 288 pixels
25 frames/second

Audio:
224 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2

NTSC
Video:
1150 kbit/sec MPEG-1 CBR
352 x 240 pixels
29,97 frames/second

Audio:
224 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2

XVCD:

PAL
video:
1250 kbit/sec MPEG-1 VBR (or higher)
704 x 576 pixels
25 frames/second

Audio:
192 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2

NTSC
Video:
1250 kbit/sec MPEG-1 VBR (or higher)
704 x 480 pixels
29,97 frames/second

Audio:
192 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2

But this is old. Today the guys (for example at Kvcd.net) uses the VCD resolution or one between VCD and XVCD and VBR. Most is TMPGEnc used for this Job. They use the CQ Option in TMPGEnc to get 120 Min on a VCD. Normaly only 80 Min will fit on a 700 MB disc.

So this can You do with Your Encoder to get him better:

libavcodec supports a resizing filter, so add it into Your Encoder.
Aspect Ratio should be avaible.
GOB Length should be also avaible.
Frame Rate Change as a Option.
Max B-Frames adjustable.
Add Quantizer Options.
Preprocessing Options will help also.
You can add Softpulldown for NTSC sources.
Dont forget a Deinterlance option.
Normaly the Codec supports Masking but with some test I found out that trellis alone will do the job better.
A Prediction option is also good. You can use Incs Slicer.avs to do this. Its include in my DRPEnc package or download it here (http://rj-elektronik.de/avideo/files/DRPEncPredictionPack.exe) seperatly if You want.
A Templatessupport will be also nice.
Add a custom Matrices Feature.

Then You can add some Tools to the Encoder (Only if You want):

Audio Encoder (MP2/AC3)
Bitrate Calculator
(S)VCD Author
DVD Author
Burnenergie


I hope I helped You with this Nic.
Go on with this work. If You need further help PM me.

[itcth]

@Mr_Khyron

For VCD,please try DRPENC latest version.After remultiplexing .m1v and .mp2 with TMPGenc.Your VCD is perfectly compatible and can be burnt with Nero with no complain at all.Belive me, i ruin more than 3 dozens of CDR lately before Amnon82 came to rescue.

Sorry for my broken English.

[Amnon82]

@itcth: Hey itcth. THX to hear about this, but this is the thread of QuEnc and not of my GUI. Here I want help Nic to add also a VCD Feature to his Encoder. I know that my GUI works for VCD. Now should also QuEnc work for this standart.

@Nic: Sorry that I started to check the Quality of Your encoder and my GUI. I hope You don't get this wrong. It seems that more and more coder change to libavcodec. This is realy nice. If You find the way, good, if I do, then I help You. This is not about who is the better app. This is how to get a better quality.

... I'll stay tuned and wait for Your next release.

[itcth]

@AMnon82,
I can use .avs directly in QuEnc 0.3 but when i try to put .avs for my input instead of .avi(C:\1.avi") in your bat file,encoding stop half way ,below are bat file ;

REM -----------------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO on
ECHO Batchfile created with DRPEnc 0.2.0.1 - by Avalon
ECHO Start encoding 1Pass
mencoder.exe -forceidx -of mpeg -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg1video:vqmin=2:vqmax=24:vmax_b_frames=2:mbd=0:keyint=15:vpass=1:aspect=4/3:vbitrate=950:vratetol=1000:vrc_maxrate=1150:vrc_buf_size=328:vb_qfactor=1.2:vi_qfactor=0.8:inter_matrix=16,20,24,28,32,36,40,44,20,24,28,32,36,40,44,48,24,28,32,36,40,44,48,52,28,32,36,40,44,48,52,56,32,36,40,44,48,52,56,58,36,40,44,48,52,56,58,60,40,44,48,52,56,58,60,62,44,48,52,56,58,60,62,62:intra_matrix=8,16,19,22,26,27,29,34,16,16,22,24,27,29,34,35,19,22,26,27,29,34,35,38,22,22,26,27,29,34,35,40,22,26,27,29,32,35,40,48,26,27,29,32,35,40,48,50,26,27,29,35,40,48,50,60,27,29,35,40,48,50,60,62 -vf crop=704:576,scale=352:288,expand=352:288 -ofps 25 -oac lavc -lavcopts acodec=mp2:abitrate=224 -srate 44100 "C:\1.avi" -o "C:\Temp\1.mpg"

ECHO Demuxing now M1V-file...
BBDMUX.EXE C:\Temp\1-2.mpg 0xe0 C:\Temp\1-2.m1v
BBDMUX.EXE C:\Temp\1-2.mpg 0xc0 C:\Temp\1-2.mp2
DEL C:\Temp\1-2.Mpg

pause
REM -----------------------------------------------------------------


Any suggestion.

Best regards,

@Nic...
Please apologize me for using your thread.(@Amnon82 is now logging on and i am now in a hurry)

[itcth]

@AMnon82

Just to correct demultiplex part only
-----------------------------------------------
ECHO Demuxing now M1V-file...
BBDMUX.EXE C:\Temp\1.mpg 0xe0 C:\Temp\1.m1v
BBDMUX.EXE C:\Temp\1.mpg 0xc0 C:\Temp\1.mp2
DEL C:\Temp\1.Mpg
-----------------------------------------------

[Nic]

@itcth: keep the discussion on QuEnc, not on other apps/uses/etc!
Ammon please reply to itcth's posts in a DRPEnc thread.

[Amnon82]

Sorry Nic! As You see I thougth I told him that this is Your thread. Can You forgive me once again?

I'm so sorry for this!

[DarkNite]

However, the artifacts on the top/left hand side of the screen are still there (although they don't appear to be as frequent anymore - maybe it's just me).

I have yet to see those artifacts in the 2 tests I've done with trellis (looking pretty good by the way). Could you post your script and source as well as usage info?

/me returns to watching job manager

[Paced]

Originally posted by DarkNite
I have yet to see those artifacts in the 2 tests I've done with trellis (looking pretty good by the way). Could you post your script and source as well as usage info?

/me returns to watching job manager

Hi, my script only contains two lines - one to load the .D2V file, and one to convert it to YV12. These artifacts only seem to appear on full DVD resolution (720x576) for me, I've also yet to come across them on lower resolutions. In order to notice them, scroll through the output in VirtualDub, you're bound to come across it.

Usage = default, but with the addition of 2 Pass Encoding.

[dragongodz]

Paced - try using Nics MPEG2Dec3

_http://nic.dnsalias.com/MPEG2Dec3v110.zip

you do not need to use the converttoyv12 with this as it outputs yv12 standard.

see if that makes any difference.

[Paced]

Originally posted by dragongodz
Paced - try using Nics MPEG2Dec3

_http://nic.dnsalias.com/MPEG2Dec3v110.zip

you do not need to use the converttoyv12 with this as it outputs yv12 standard.

see if that makes any difference.

Thanks for the reply dragongodz, but I still manage to get the same artifacts with Nic's version of Mpeg2dec3. Try encoding something that doesn't have too many dark scenes; these artifacts are most evident in 'brighter' scenes. I'll make a screenshot and show you what it looks like in about an hour or so (bit busy at the moment :().

[Paced]

Originally posted by Mr_Khyron
Can you use QuEnc to make VCD mv1 streams not xVCD ?

You should be able to make a valid VCD stream by setting the bitrate to 1150, and unticking "Use VBR."

[Nocturno]

Hi Nic / All

i did a test with a xvid 2 dvd conversion and my file came up 500mb short compared to the CCE encode i did earlier.
Hope i didn't make a mistake somewhere..

here goes:

Source AVS : QuEnc.avs
Destination M2V: moviep0.m2v

Running Commandline: QuEnc.exe -i "E:\test\Quenc.avs" -o "E:\test\moviep0.m2v" -2 -b 4684 -auto -close

avg 27.80 fps
Bitrate:4684
2pass
vbr
High Quality
Mpeg2
720x480
-----------------------AVS------------------------------------
LoadPlugin("D:\avi2dvd\filters\mpeg2dec3.dll")
LoadPlugin("D:\avi2dvd\filters\VSFilter.dll")
v1 = avisource("D:\Test\Test.avi",False)
v2 = Blankclip()
AudioDub(v1,v2)
LanczosResize(720,424,0.0,0.6)
AddBorders(0,28,0,28)
textsub("D:\Test\Test.srt")
#ResampleAudio(44100) - Original CCE Script.. Athlon Owner
#AssumeFPS(24) - QuEnc 0.3 .. Not Needed?
#ConvertToYV12() - using mpeg2dec3.dll
-----------------------AVS------------------------------------
Source: Xvid 576x304
Framerate 23,9
Length: 62 minutes 23 seconds = 3742 seconds
Frames: 89743
Aspect 1.89

Final Filesize QuEnc: 1,493,066,198 Bytes.
Filesize CCE 2.5 Encode (4-pass):2,101,766,688 Bytes. - 16:9 Encode / Pulldown 29fps
Difference : 608700490 Bytes.

--------------------------CCE ECL snippet-----------------
vmode=2
frame_rate_idx=3
cbr_brate=6000
opv_q_factor=30
opv_brate_min=2000
opv_brate_max=9000
vbr_brate_avg=4684 <---- this bitrate was used
vbr_brate_min=2000
vbr_brate_max=9000
vbr_bias=40
vbr_pass=4

--------------------------CCE ECL snippet-----------------

Pulldown on QuEnc file showed:
89741 frames
3191206 bits/sec average bitrate

difference:
1492794 bits/sec



Quality was nice, but not as good as 4pass CCE .

further more the CCE encode showed the correct time in media player classic,
The QuEnc encode showed 28 minutes as time but played correctly. both pulldown and non pulldown versions.

[lithoc]

Hi Nic,

What ffmpeg version you use for QuEnc?
As far as I know, ffmpeg update very frequently.

I try their ffmpeg cvs version. The quality is very good.

[Kika]

Hm, i've tried it. It's not faster than TMPGEnc and gave me an unsharp Picture. Maybe it's a good choice if your target is to put lots of Video onto one Disc, but it is not a solution for high quality encodings.

[yaz]

@nic
hey, man, a great tool again ! thx ! (so, that's why we don't see ya round xvid :-)
my quests :
- why do u compile libav into the exe ? would it be possible to keep it as dll (& upgrade it as development goes by ?)
- do u set any params different than the defaults ?
- would it be possible to include max/min bitrate control ?
- would it be possible to include b-frame tweaking (sg like in xvid) & switching (on/off) ?

thx for your worx
y

[Nic]

@Kika: Sorry, you had bad luck with it. It may well get better and the different settings can make quite a difference....So I wouldnt completely dismiss it.

@yaz: I dont like DLLs with apps. makes debugging a pain too ;) Also libavcodec has to be modified very slightly. Ill post the mods here soon (i.e. have aligned memory allocation, etc). I dont know what the best params are yet...Ill add better bitrate control in 0.5, just about to release 0.4. B-Frame control is in 0.4.

@Nocturno:
"Quality was nice, but not as good as 4pass CCE" ;) That's no surprise, CCE 4pass is about as good as your ever going to get :)
bitrate control might well be better in the next release (I've followed a suggstion from dragongodz which might help)
(AssumeFPS(24) is not needed, your right)

@lithoc:
I do use the latest CVS version. :)

[Matthaeus]

Simple & useful...and it's faaast. Thanks for this great app! Its color is cool, too! However it's not possible to make videos playable by standalones yet, because of the incorrect VBV size (36kB). It should be 23kB for VCD & 112kB for SVCD/DVD. Waiting for 0.4 !

[Nic]

Are you sure it's only 36kb ? It's set to 112kbps (ill make it goto 23 for MPEG-1) (Did you have VBR selected when you tried?)

[Nic]

Ok, new update.

http://nic.dnsalias.com/QuEnc.exe

* More options: Can control GOP Size, Can set number of B-Frames, Aspect Ratio, etc (new commandline options added)

* GUI Controls: You can now set the colours! ;) (Try Fore: 000000 Dark: AAAAAA Norm: BBBBBB Light: CCCCCC for people that dont like my garish red)

* Slightly changed bitrate control (now max_bitrate = bitrate+2000 and will not go above 9700kbps)

Cheers,
-Nic

[yaz]

Originally posted by Nic
Are you sure it's only 36kb ? It's set to 112kbps (ill make it goto 23 for MPEG-1) (Did you have VBR selected when you tried?) oops ... maybe that's why standalones here around refuses your m2v streams steadily :-(
( gone to test the new ver :-)
thx
y

[Nic]

yaz there are three reasons I can think why it didnt play (but they should be fixed with 0.4)
1) Bitrate too high (with 0.3 the bitrate could ballon past the DVD maximum)
2) VBV buffer is wrong (but I dont think it is. @Matthaeus: could you tell me what app you used to check the VBV?)
3) The aspect ratio in 0.3 is 1:1, which isn't good. Now you can set it to whatever and the default is 16:9

-Nic

[Paced]

Nic, great work once again, these regular updates are awesome :) One thing though, is it possible to add an "estimated time remaining" feature in the program?

[Nic]

You like regular updates? ;)
http://nic.dnsalias.com/QuEnc.exe (v0.41)
Now displays the Time Left for the current pass when encoding.

[Paced]

Originally posted by Nic
You like regular updates? ;)
http://nic.dnsalias.com/QuEnc.exe (v0.41)
Now displays the Time Left for the current pass when encoding.

Seriously Nic, you're a God :D Thanks very much for this feature, it may not be much, but it definitely comes in handy! Now I expect v0.5 to be out in 5 minutes... :devil:

[Kika]

@Nic

Don't missunderstand me, i didn't say it is bad. It is an easy to use Tool and the Quality is OK. But compared to my own settings in TMPGEnc, the resulting Picture is a bit more unsharp. In some cases, this may be an advantage (like i wrote: to put a lot of Video to a single Disc).
And the newer Versions have become more useful. ;)