MPEG4 Modifier v1.3.4 Released (Updated 2005-Dec-14)

[Moitah]

@Bear: There's not really anything you can do about it. I'll see if there's a better way to handle this for newer versions.

@altufaltu: The video is probably corrupt at that location. If you really need it unpacked, I think you're stuck with reencoding.

[altufaltu]

Thanks for the help. I ran it through AVIFixed 2.0 b1 and now I get another error:

Loading: 98.5%Error: Too many VOPs in a frame.

Please help.

[Bear]

I found the problem. I load the avi in virtualdub, I found some drop frame in the file, after I remove those drop frame, your program can pack the video without problem.

Is there any chance your program can handle drop frame as well?

[eXistenZ_69]

@Moitah

Hi,

I upgraded from MPEG4Modifier v1.3.4 to 1.4.2 a few days ago and noticed that unpacking the same avi in both versions results in files with different md5 checksums. The frame lists are identical though. Is this supposed to be like this? Has the non-OpenDML avi writing code been changed? Should I worry? :scared:

Kind regards,

eXistenZ_69

[Moitah]

@eXistenZ_69: The new AVI writing code is used all the time, not just for OpenDML, so it's normal for the files to be different than those written by previous versions. This is due to differences in the structure of the AVI files (padding or other small things) but the video/audio data are the same.

[eXistenZ_69]

Ah ok. Hopefully there are no new bugs or player compatibility problems then... ;)

Greetz,

eXistenZ_69

[jack3216]

could you give me the link please to download MPEG4 Modifier v1.3.4

[ReinerSchweinlin]

check moitah´s sig

[jack3216]

i have a video file which is not mpeg4 how can i convert it to use MPEG MODIFIER

[foxyshadis]

If it's not mpeg4 you can't use it at all. You just re-encode with divx or xvid, setting the options correctly so that you don't need mpeg4 modifier afterward.

[SnakEye]

I got a problem , maybe you can tell me what am I doing wrong.
I have a file (XviD) that is 960x544 and I want to resize it to a smaller ratio let say somthing like 720x408.
on "Aspect Ration" I choose 16:9 PAL and then press "Save"
but all I get is a new saved file that is exactly the save as the original file (no cahnge in Aspect ratio at all).
I tried also Custom inserting 720x408 and I got the same thing - The same File was saved not a resized file.
What am I doing wrong??
Please Help.

[olnima]

If it's not mpeg4 you can't use it at all...

...might have something to do with the name of the tool... :)


...You just re-encode with divx or xvid, setting the options correctly so that you don't need mpeg4 modifier afterward.

In divx You can't set the DAR/PAR-flag. In this case You have to use MPEG4Modifier.

@SnakEye: with MPEG4Modifier You can not resize. You only can set a flag that different soft/hardware can read and set the AR of Your monitoring hardware the right way. How do You watch the modifiered avi? SA-Player? PC? For example ffdshow is able to read out the AR-flag.

Olnima

[SeeMoreDigital]

I got a problem , maybe you can tell me what am I doing wrong.
I have a file (XviD) that is 960x544 and I want to resize it to a smaller ratio let say somthing like 720x408.MPEG4 Modifier does not alter output resolution of MPEG-4 sources. It adds "Aspect Ratio Signalling" (aka: PAR, DAR, SAR) to the MPEG-4 bit-stream to distort the shape of the existing pixels!

As your encoded MPEG-4 source contains a total resolution of (960x544 =) 522,240 pixels it will always contain a total resolution of 522,240 pixels - unless of-course, you re-encode it to a smaller resolution!


Cheers

[SnakEye]

@SnakEye: with MPEG4Modifier You can not resize. You only can set a flag that different soft/hardware can read and set the AR of Your monitoring hardware the right way. How do You watch the modifiered avi? SA-Player? PC? For example ffdshow is able to read out the AR-flag.
Olnima

I thought the program resize the video file , but I guess it doen't really.
any way I have a Hardware that plays the XviD file that doesn't support files larger then 720xPAL/NTSC
and I thought it could help me out.
here is the Haedware link that I use playback on my TV:

http://www.mvixusa.com/product.php?product=mv5000u

do you think the MPEG4 Modifier can help me in my case?
i need it to some how think it's a smaller (or play back it) resolution then 720x480 (etc).

[celtic_druid]

It can help in the fact that you could resize to 720x544 and set the DAR to 16:9. But with XviD you could do that during encoding anyway.

Really though you should stop downloading HR HDTVRips.

[olnima]

I thought the program resize the video file , but I guess it doen't really.
any way I have a Hardware that plays the XviD file that doesn't support files larger then 720xPAL/NTSC
and I thought it could help me out.
here is the Haedware link that I use playback on my TV:

http://www.mvixusa.com/product.php?product=mv5000u

do you think the MPEG4 Modifier can help me in my case?
i need it to some how think it's a smaller (or play back it) resolution then 720x480 (etc).



The way You need to change the video means reencode.

Olnima

[SnakEye]

It can help in the fact that you could resize to 720x544 and set the DAR to 16:9. But with XviD you could do that during encoding anyway.

Really though you should stop downloading HR HDTVRips.

The only reason why I still Insist on Finding a solution (resize) and D/L these files (HR.HDTV) files is only B/C HR.HDTV have 5.1Ch Dolby Sound , while the Regular HDTV has only 2Ch sound, if it wasn't for the sound I really wouldn't care.

any way what is the best solution I have with the minimum
Quality lose that I can resize these Files?

re-encodin XviD again to Xvid in my humble opinion is like taking a BMP file then save it as JPG file then edit the JPG file and saving it again as JPG , there is a big quality lose in this kind of action.
So what do you all think is my best option to resize it with minimum Quality lose?

[SeeMoreDigital]

The only reason why I still Insist on Finding a solution (resize) and D/L these files (HR.HDTV) files is only B/C HR.HDTV have 5.1Ch Dolby Sound , while the Regular HDTV has only 2Ch sound, if it wasn't for the sound I really wouldn't care.Then "de-mux" the 5.1 AC3 stream and "re-mux" it into your new 720x544 encode!

Okay... as it seems SnakeEye's source does not conform to this forums "fair-use" policy... I suggest no further help be offered in-accordance to the forum rules.....


Cheers

[olnima]

...any way what is the best solution I have...

I can't help but this reminds me of another rule...


Olnima

P.S.: Try it out and post your results. If You want to play it on a SA, You won't have too much codec-choices...

[eXistenZ_69]

@Moitah

Hi Moitah,
I upgraded from MPEG4Modifier v1.3.4 to the latest v1.4.2 a while ago and I'm experiencing audio sync issues after unpacking for some files :( The troubling source material are again TV shows. The packed original and the file unpacked with v1.3.4 don't have sync issues, the file unpacked with v1.4.2 does!

Do you have any idea what could be the cause? I thought unpacking behaviour hasn't changed anymore, only avi writing code :confused:

With kind regards,

eXistenZ_69

[Moitah]

I found the problem. The file contains delay frames (1 byte, 0x7F) which are supposed to be ignored by the encoding application and not written to the file. In MPEG4 Modifier 1.4.0 I added code to remove delay frames. Normally, doing this wouldn't affect synch negatively, but in this case the video was encoded in segments and joined together, so there are delay frames scattered throughout the video instead of just at the beginning. This causes every segment after the first to be shifted backwards a few frames, getting worse each segment. I'll fix this and release a new version soon.

[Moitah]

Fixed, and I made a few other small changes, 1.4.3 released!

[eXistenZ_69]

Thanks Moitah, you're fantastic!!! :). Your ongoing commitment is just marvelous :cool: The new version indeed fixed the sync issues I was experiencing. File lists for files unpacked with v1.3.4 & v1.4.3 appear to be identical again...

Just some more little questions:

1) Where do those delay frames come from? What is their purpose?
2) I noticed some skipping in frame numbering in the file lists of a file unpacked with v1.3.4 & v1.4.3, but not in v1.4.2. Are those skipped numbers the delay frames which were being removed in v1.4.2?

Regards,

eXistenZ_69

[Moitah]

VFW is relatively simple. A single frame is handed to the compressor at a time, and that one frame needs to be returned compressed before the next frame is given. When encoding a video with B-VOPs, XviD (DivX too) needs to know about future frames. So what does it do when it's supposed to compress frame 3, but it needs to know what frame 5 looks before that can happen? It can't output anything yet so it outputs delay frames until it gets the frame it needs. These delay frames aren't a useful part of the output, but just a side-effect of the work-around necessary to make B-VOPs work with VFW encoding. Some applications like VirtualDub and AVS2AVI recognize this and ignore the delay frames, so they're never written to the output (in addition, at the end of the encode, VirtualDub/AVS2AVI send a copy of the last frame to the compressor for every delay frame they received, for the purpose of flushing out the frames that the compressor has buffered).

Yes, the skipped frame numbers in the frame list that MPEG4 Modifier writes are either delay frames, or drop frames.

[_ck_]

1.4.3 is the first 1.4.x version I have tried but it won't run on my win2k setup. I installed the latest net 2.0 runtime (ugh) and all it's security patches - rebooted, and I still get

Microsoft Visually C++ Runtime Library
Runtime Error!
Program: MPEG4Modifier.exe

The application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.

[celtic_druid]

No such problems here (also running win2k) and I didn't update anything.

[_ck_]

Update: I moved the mpeg4modifer.exe to it's own folder, instead of my shared video tool folder and it now works. Apparently a local dll was conflicting with it, though I am uncertain as to which one.

Also I'd like to point out a growing problem with it not adapting to the use of large fonts:

http://xs108.xs.to/xs108/06452/mp4m.png

Now that it can actually reverse the pack/unpack, any chance we could get a better visual clue to it being packed, perhaps red vs green for the text color on YES or NO ?

ps. was the feature request to remove nvops from already non-packed bitstreams ever looked at? this is still a problem with dvp642 hardware dvd player and audio-sync Packed bitstream: No
QPel: No
GMC: No
Interlaced: No
Aspect ratio: Square pixels
Quant type: H.263
FourCC: XVID
User data: XviD0037

I-VOPs: 880 (0.60%)
P-VOPs: 145951 (99.02%)
B-VOPs: 0 (0.00%)
S-VOPs: 0 (0.00%)
N-VOPs: 560 (0.38%)

[eXistenZ_69]

@Moitah

Thanks for the explanation! :)

[SeeMoreDigital]

ps. was the feature request to remove nvops from already non-packed bitstreams ever looked at? this is still a problem with dvp642 hardware dvd player and audio-syncMP4Box offers an N-VOP drop option when muxing to MP4...

That said, N-VOPs are useful... Technically there should be no reason why chip-set and player manufacturers don't support them!

Besides if your player does not support N-VOPs, removing them from your stream will most probably result in a loss of A/V sync...


Cheers

[_ck_]

Besides if your player does not support N-VOPs, removing them from your stream will most probably result in a loss of A/V sync...

Thanks for the info about mp4box, that utility sure does alot!

I probably should have said "replace" instead of "remove" - perhaps the frame before or after an n-vop could be duplicated to replace it. Granted the dvp642 is one of the few hardware players that has this issue but there are a huge number of people with them (sadly).

I'm still waiting for the HD divx players to drop in price but it probably won't be until late next year given how the market works.

[SeeMoreDigital]

I'm still waiting for the HD divx players to drop in price but it probably won't be until late next year given how the market works.Indeed...

More competition between chip-set manufacturers would help push prices down.... Especially as Sigma have cornered this sector of the market for a couple of years now!

[_ck_]

Indeed...

More competition between chip-set manufacturers would help push prices down.... Especially as Sigma have cornered this sector of the market for a couple of years now!

Is that single sigma chip still the only HD game in town?
That would explain why HD divx players are still $250+
Maybe the others are focusing on developing AVC/h264 decoding hardware to grab some of the bluray/hddvd market.

Sort-of on topic for this thread, I take that it's impossible to do any kind of near-lossless conversion of h264 to mpeg4-part2, even if the more advanced options of part10 are not being used? I wonder if an optimized process could be written to keep the re-encoding as lossless as possible? What I mean is that an xvid/divx stream that is using qpel and gmc has to be fairly close to the spec of avc/h264, no? I guess I don't know enough to ask the question properly...

[foxyshadis]

The quantization step is totally incompatible, and that's where most of the quality gets lost. You might be able to reuse motion vectors, since they're post-quantization in AVC instead of pre (like other mpegs), which is good, a lot of time gets wasted there. Hmm, but AVC has more motion vector modes, some of which are incompatible, but at least it's a head start. And it would be quite complex, rearranging b-refs into... something. Overall it's not worth the effort.

[_ck_]

Ah I suspected my ignorance was making it sound too easy,
thanks for the clarification foxyshadis...

[SeeMoreDigital]

You know, I can't help feeling there are many members missing out on this great little application... with it being located in this section of the forum 'n all

[ReinerSchweinlin]

Yes, I agree. Sometimes I even get confused where to get the binaries, the PR-Part could be imrpoved to give this great Prog the attention it deserves.

[_ck_]

Anyone with a DVP642 should be aware of it.
Either that or they are cursing half of their disc burns that don't work or they are wastefully doing complete re-encodes.

[bond]

afaik mp4box also drops delay frames (its full of workarounds and fixes for avi and vfw)

[Moitah]

Also I'd like to point out a growing problem with it not adapting to the use of large fonts

You can try out this version (http://www.moitah.net/download/byversion/MPEG4Modifier-1_4_3-MonoFix.zip), it should look better. It looks ugly with normal size fonts though :(.

ps. was the feature request to remove nvops from already non-packed bitstreams ever looked at? this is still a problem with dvp642 hardware dvd player and audio-sync

I looked at it a bit but it seemed difficult. I might be able to figure it out if I focused on it enough, I don't know.

[_ck_]

You can try out this version (http://www.moitah.net/download/byversion/MPEG4Modifier-1_4_3-MonoFix.zip), it should look better. It looks ugly with normal size fonts though :(

Just wanted to let you know the normal fonts version does indeed solve the issue here. I've seen other apps that can adjust the window size automagically if the system is set to use large fonts but I couldn't begin to suggest how it's done.

Allowing the window to resize might be a workaround?

[dwallersv]

I screwed up and used a FourCC code that some of the Divx tools don't like. I need to change it without having to re-encode a bunch of files, if at all possible.

Thought this tool would do it, but I don't see any way to modify the FourCC code with it (can read it out in the Info screen, but that doesn't help).

Am I missing something with MPEG4Modifier, or is there a different tool that will do the trick?

[ReinerSchweinlin]

Try NIcs FourCC Changer, its inkluded in KOEPIs XVID Build an sure is available somewhere on the net, maybe dvdrhelp.com? doom9 download-sektion? google it :)

[dwallersv]

Try NIcs FourCC Changer, its inkluded in KOEPIs XVID Build an sure is available somewhere on the net, maybe dvdrhelp.com? doom9 download-sektion? google it :)
Thanks ;)

Now I just have to find the program... :D

[SeeMoreDigital]

Thanks ;)

Now I just have to find the program... :DHere you go (http://82.10.220.174/Uploaded_Files/Doom9_Forum_files/Nic's_AVI_4CC_Changer.zip)...

[Lord_KiRon]

Hi !
I have a lot of files that won't open in MPEG4-Modifier giving something like "This is not valid MPEG-4 video (startcode not found on the beginning of the frame). Codec DIV3" or "This is not valid MPEG-4 video (startcode not found on the beginning of the frame). CodecMP43".
However both WMP and other soft players as well as my hardware based players (one MTK and one Sigma EM8620 based) play the file fine.
No other utility gives an error ...
Can you please explain why it happens ? If needed I can provide samples ...

[foxyshadis]

Microsoft MPEG-4 and DivX ;-) 3.11 aren't actually MPEG-4, they're based on an early draft, so you'll always get that message. You have to translate them into real MPEG-4 with another tool to use this one. YAMB/MP4box might be able to do it, but then you don't have an avi anymore.

[Kurtnoise]

Nope MP4Box doesn't support that files but there is a ffmpeg build somewhere in this forum to convert this kind of files losslessly...

I can upload it if necessary.

[Lord_KiRon]

Well the tool that REALLY converts DivX 3.11 or old ASF to MPEG-4 compliant LOSSLESSLY would be really welcome , I never knew such tool exists.

About my post - I still think MPEG-4 Mod. should hand this files at least for changing AR.

[bond]

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=85229

[Moitah]

1.4.4 released. Fixes problem where DivX subtitles were broken after being run through MPEG4 Modifier, added *.divx extension to the file dialogs, and provides a default filename when saving (same as the source filename).