AutoAC - one-click MP4 (AVC/AAC) encoding GUI

[mezzanine]

This must be some sort of bug - I get this even *after* selecting an IFO for an Asian DVD. Works fine for other DVDs:

http://img178.echo.cx/img178/6501/clipboard012vr.png

http://img178.echo.cx/img178/439/clipboard020ef.png

Any ideas? I am using AutoAC v0.1 b110605. Please ask if you need more info.

P.S: And of course..mezzanine, thanks for your great work on this.

Is there something strange in the folder/file structure in there? A quick solution is to run the dvd through DVDShrink (no compression) and then use autoAC.

Thanks.

[unskinnyboy]

Is there something strange in the folder/file structure in there? A quick solution is to run the dvd through DVDShrink (no compression) and then use autoAC.I will try with DVDShrink, but exactly did you mean by strange folder/file structure? Looks normal to me (AutoGK picks it up fine), anything specific I should be looking at or any naming conventions AutoAC doesn't support? Thanks.

[mezzanine]

Sorry, I have no idea what went wrong there, I need to make a log to trace such bugs..
thanks for the feedback

[mezzanine]

New build. Version 0.11 Build 040705

- Better bitrate calculation
- New cropping technique (4-point search)
- Default priority level set to Idle

http://rapidshare.de/files/2802382/AutoAC_Setup.exe.html

[Mutant_Fruit]

2MB upload, so it should be plenty fast.
Mirrorfor AutoAC_Setup 0.11 (ftp://62.231.38.73/AutoAC_Setup_0.11_B040705.exe)

[unskinnyboy]

Thanks, will fiddle around.

@mezzanine, I suggest you put the version and build name also in the filename instead of just AutoAC_Setup.exe. e.g: AutoAC_v0.11b040705_Setup.exe. It will be much easier for people like me who like to keep the setup.exe of multiple builds on their harddrive to downgrade if the latest version proves to be unstable for any reason. I know I can rename the files myself, but still...

[Sharktooth]

What about using CLI instead of VFW?
VFW build has some limits...

[Doom9]

What about using CLI instead of VFW?
VFW build has some limits...MeGUI 0.2.0.9 has a full fledged one click mode.. and yes it does use x264.exe ;)

[Sharktooth]

oh... i missed the new version.
time to test it... :)

[mezzanine]

What about using CLI instead of VFW?
VFW build has some limits...

That is the plan but i haven't had the time to do it yet.
Is the cli a bit slower ?

[Doom9]

oh... i missed the new version.I'm sorry, it's not quite out yet.. I'm currently refactoring the code.. the one click window will not be a lot more than many GUI elements reusing all the existing code from the other windows (notably autoencode and d2v creator). I hope to finish it tonight (I had a running version yesterday but it was based on old code and didn't offer all the existing functionality on other modes and naturally I'd like this thing to be as complete and based on code for which there hasn't been a bugreport yet).

[Sharktooth]

That is the plan but i haven't had the time to do it yet.
Is the cli a bit slower ?
No, the cli is as fast as vfw... same code, same C and ASM flags for compilation.

[mezzanine]

Good, if i switch to cli i can dump avi2raw and avs2avi. I hope i don't have to make changes to the bitrate calculation because in the last build it's very accurate.

[Sharktooth]

no but mp4 has a different overhead than avi. so it should be taken into account if you plan to mux into mp4. however why dont you join megui development too?

[mezzanine]

no but mp4 has a different overhead than avi. so it should be taken into account if you plan to mux into mp4. however why dont you join megui development too?

I would if i had free time. Updating AutoAC every now and then takes less time.

[Doom9]

Updating AutoAC every now and then takes less time.well.. you're looking at some potentially significant changes if you change the whole framework ;) And there's no binding commitment.. people come and go and I can just take over work that was once started. E.g. a lot of the redesign was done as a non functional prototype and I integrated it.. or the new mp4box muxer was delivered as a self contained prototype that I adapted. Either way I'm happy for any help that I can get.. be it code, design or whatnot. E.g. you've been doing one click from the getgo so you might've made some experience that berrinam and me are about to make with the new release, etc.

[mezzanine]

well.. you're looking at some potentially significant changes if you change the whole framework ;) And there's no binding commitment.. people come and go and I can just take over work that was once started. E.g. a lot of the redesign was done as a non functional prototype and I integrated it.. or the new mp4box muxer was delivered as a self contained prototype that I adapted. Either way I'm happy for any help that I can get.. be it code, design or whatnot. E.g. you've been doing one click from the getgo so you might've made some experience that berrinam and me are about to make with the new release, etc.

Ok, i will go through the development thread tomorow and see how i can help. If you have used AutoAC and found anything that could be used in MeGUI one-click release we could port it.

[mezzanine]

Still having problems with cropping! Next release will crop before resizing and pass aspect ratio settings to x264 for anamorphic encodings.

[Sharktooth]

EDIT: LOL. Sorry, wrong thread.

[Doom9]

If you have used AutoAC and found anything that could be used in MeGUI one-click release we could port it.I'm afraid I haven't used it before.. been too busy coding MeGUI to do any serious encoding.

[mezzanine]

New build. Version 0.12

- Anamorphic encoding with automatic SAR setting

http://rapidshare.de/files/2989945/AutoAC_0.12.exe.html

[mezzanine]

New XP look for next build.

[Doom9]

If you have used AutoAC and found anything that could be used in MeGUI one-click release we could port it.Looking at the screenshot, how do you decide whether to deinterlace or not in the auto deinterlace setting?

And considering your question in the MeGUI development thread I presume you use vstrip to parse the IFO to get the movie's length, AR and such. Is that correct?

[mezzanine]

Looking at the screenshot, how do you decide whether to deinterlace or not in the auto deinterlace setting?

And considering your question in the MeGUI development thread I presume you use vstrip to parse the IFO to get the movie's length, AR and such. Is that correct?

Auto deinterlace is using decomb to distinguish progressive and interlaced frames and apply field-deinterlace respectively.
4:3 sources and NTSC sources with 29.97 fps, have auto-deinterlace selected.

Yes vstrip is used to parse movie info.

[wisedesi]

Thanks for the utiltiy, I am finally done installing all stuff and now want to use.

Is there any how to guide for this utility. Like I was trying to use first DVD Decreptor ISO, then IFO and last File mode worked for this one. If somewhere we have a how to guide it will be easier. Also Explanation of modes or selection will be reall helpful.

Now I know movie is 16X9 so, what should I select 16X9 or "1:1 with SAR"

Thanks for greatwork again and please take it as constructive comments.

[JoeBG]

New XP look for next build.

looks sexy ;)

Hope it will come soon :)

[wisedesi]

Sorry for asking so may question. What is the best setting for "AAC Q Level" ?
I noticed choice is from up to 200. Is higher is better. ie. 200 will be the best sound possible?

[mezzanine]

Thanks for the utiltiy, I am finally done installing all stuff and now want to use.

Is there any how to guide for this utility. Like I was trying to use first DVD Decreptor ISO, then IFO and last File mode worked for this one. If somewhere we have a how to guide it will be easier. Also Explanation of modes or selection will be reall helpful.

Now I know movie is 16X9 so, what should I select 16X9 or "1:1 with SAR"

Thanks for greatwork again and please take it as constructive comments.

There is no guide, sorry. Just use file mode and it should work. If you want to resize the movie to widescreen/letterbox (e.g. 640:272) before encoding you should choose 16:9, 1:1 keeps the resolution of the dvd (720:576 for pal) and the resizing is done in playback.
thanks for testing

[mezzanine]

looks sexy ;)

Hope it will come soon :)

I am currently working on a new GUI with jobs and video preview (something like FilmShrink). It should take a while.

[mezzanine]

Sorry for asking so may question. What is the best setting for "AAC Q Level" ?
I noticed choice is from up to 200. Is higher is better. ie. 200 will be the best sound possible?

Higher value higher quality. Anything above 65 sounds good to me.

[mezzanine]

New build. Version 0.15

- New skin
- Cropping issues finally fixed
- Predefined target sizes + custom
- Language-id's
- Now using SKAL's idct algo
- Many bugfixes



AutoAC Version 0.15 Build 090805 (http://rapidshare.de/files/3805391/AutoAC_0.15.exe.html)
(Scroll to the bottom of the page and hit "Free")

[ArcticFox]

Any chance of supporting HDTV ts files?

[Doom9]

@mezzanine: I wanted to check if you've already implemented your new GUI with the preview (it's something I've been thinking about myself, if you havn't already perhaps we could work on this together), but it seems the installer is missing some files as I get an IOException right out of the box. All the debugger can tell me in the absence of the source code is:

File or assembly name Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility, or one of its dependencies, was not found. I do have VS.NET installed including the SDK so I presume I would be more likely to have everything needed to run a .NET app, but I guess this will only run if I installed VB.NET into my VS as well.

[mezzanine]

@mezzanine: I wanted to check if you've already implemented your new GUI with the preview (it's something I've been thinking about myself, if you havn't already perhaps we could work on this together), but it seems the installer is missing some files as I get an IOException right out of the box. All the debugger can tell me in the absence of the source code is:

File or assembly name Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility, or one of its dependencies, was not found. I do have VS.NET installed including the SDK so I presume I would be more likely to have everything needed to run a .NET app, but I guess this will only run if I installed VB.NET into my VS as well.

Thanks for letting me know.
Will update the download link when it's fixed.
No the preview has not been implemented yet, i thought meGui already has preview of d2v files.

[ArcticFox]

I just downloaded Version 0.15 and when i run it i get the following error:

"AutoAC.exe - Common Language Runtime Debugging Services

Process id=0x600 (1536), Thread id=0x804 (2052).

Click OK to terminate the application
Click CANCEL to debug the application"

I have .NET Framework 1.1 installed on Windows XP SP2

[mezzanine]

I just downloaded Version 0.15 and when i run it i get the following error:

"AutoAC.exe - Common Language Runtime Debugging Services

Process id=0x600 (1536), Thread id=0x804 (2052).

Click OK to terminate the application
Click CANCEL to debug the application"

I have .NET Framework 1.1 installed on Windows XP SP2

Something has not been included in this latest build. Until i find what's wrong please use the previous build.
I will update the links and post a new message as soon as it's fixed.
thanks

[Doom9]

thought meGui already has preview of d2v files.Yes it does.. but I was thinking more along the lines of DVD Shrink or Recode that can preview PGCs.

[mezzanine]

Yes it does.. but I was thinking more along the lines of DVD Shrink or Recode that can preview PGCs.

That's what i had in mind too.. Only way i can think of now is demuxing a small part of each pgc (say 50 mb) with vstrip and creating a d2v project and avs script respectively. Then using the windows media player component on a form do the preview.
I've already done vb code (using vstrip) to analyze all the vts's and pgc's of a disc and put them in a treeview.

[Doom9]

I've been thinking about something different: Use DirectShow to create a very simple DVD player that can jump to a PGC when it's being selected in the treeview (or whatever other graphical display is going to be used in the end). Then only if the user decides he wants a certain PGC, will a DGIndex project be created - and only for the VOB IDs in question. And depending on how flexible vobinput.dll is, audio demuxing might not even be necessary, thus allowing the output creation without any intermediate files on the input end. I don't much like demuxing just for preview purposes so I'd like to avoid that. I realize that this would make things somewhat more complex, but on the upside, I'd know how to handle DirectShow afterwards so I think it would be a good learning experience.

[mezzanine]

I've been thinking about something different: Use DirectShow to create a very simple DVD player that can jump to a PGC when it's being selected in the treeview (or whatever other graphical display is going to be used in the end). Then only if the user decides he wants a certain PGC, will a DGIndex project be created - and only for the VOB IDs in question. And depending on how flexible vobinput.dll is, audio demuxing might not even be necessary, thus allowing the output creation without any intermediate files on the input end. I don't much like demuxing just for preview purposes so I'd like to avoid that. I realize that this would make things somewhat more complex, but on the upside, I'd know how to handle DirectShow afterwards so I think it would be a good learning experience.

There is the MsVidWebDVD object, but i couldn't make it play certain pgc's. Only basic functions seem to work (play, stop, chapters etc).
I wonder how FilmShrink previews pgc's....(probably d2v)

[Doom9]

FilmShrink uses a special version of DGIndex.. it also indexes first before preview. But considering DVD Shrink and Recode can do it without, and considering all the software DVD players that allow you to select a PGC to be played, it should be doable. I'm going to open a thread in the dev forum to see if somebody has done this before.

[mezzanine]

Bug fixed.

AutoAC Version 0.15 Build 090805 (http://rapidshare.de/files/3805391/AutoAC_0.15.exe.html)
(Scroll to the bottom of the page and hit "Free")

[mezzanine]

Version 0.16

- Added XViD Codec

AutoAC Version 0.16 Download (http://rapidshare.de/files/3884267/AutoAC_0.16.exe.html)

[riggits]

Problem: still can't specify where my IFO file is! Am I missing a file? When I go to the "Specify program paths" it says I have to download AVS2AVI v1.39x from the website listed, but when I do that and extract it to the AutoAC directory (then browse for it in AutoAC) it says that file is still lacking.

[mezzanine]

Problem: still can't specify where my IFO file is! Am I missing a file? When I go to the "Specify program paths" it says I have to download AVS2AVI v1.39x from the website listed, but when I do that and extract it to the AutoAC directory (then browse for it in AutoAC) it says that file is still lacking.

Have you done a complete rip ? in the open file dialog you can change from video_ts.ifo to *.ifo and select any ifo you want.
Let me see what's going on with avs2avi. try uninstalling deleting the autoac folder and re-installing.

thanks for testing

[Synergy37]

Whenever I change the x264 settings to like the Q scale or lower the bitrate I click ok and everything is fine, but then it goes back to normal when I encode. Any ideas?

[mezzanine]

Whenever I change the x264 settings to like the Q scale or lower the bitrate I click ok and everything is fine, but then it goes back to normal when I encode. Any ideas?

Setting quantizer in autoac is useless because it can only do two-pass encodes. The bitrate is controlled by autoac. Just set the output size you want.
Thanks for testing.

[Synergy37]

Yeah I figured it out. I was only doing a test of a small 1:40 minute chapter. When I did the whole movie it went down to like 350 kbps from 650. So is do you even have to change settings in x264?

[mgillespie]

Tried AutoAC to convert movies for use on my PSP, but it seems to be badly broken (0.16).

It keeps saying "No DVD found in drive". when I start the process... I am loading the IFO from HDD, and I want the encoded AVC movie on mu HDD, so I can tranfer it to the PSP.

Is AutoAC forcing me me to burn this to disk? If so. that sucks pretty bad...

[Synergy37]

No I had this problem too. It seems sometimes AutoAC deletes the vob file. I have no idea why. The error message is its way of saying "File Not Found".