MeGUI - x264/XviD/lavc/Snow encoder with MP4/MKV/AVI output & audio

[alc0re]

some devices require some special muxing.
apple stuff has common settings, while PSP is different.
both apple (ipods/iphones... etc) and PSP wont accept normally muxed files.

Could you elaborate a little on this? I have been using MeGUI for about 6 months now (well before the device type option in the muxer, or at least well before I noticed it.)

I have been using a slightly modified version of the device - iphone profile for transcoding, and I have just muxed using the mp4 muxer. I sync the videos to my ipod touch and it has always worked just fine. I just muxed a few with device type = standard and they work fine. What are the benefits of using device type = iphone if device type = standard plays fine on the iphone?

EDIT : Could it have something to do with that fact that I never use the megui muxer to mux chapter files into my mp4 files? I usually mux audio+video to mp4 with megui, then I take that and mux the chapter information to that file with mp4creator. If that's one reason to select device type = iphone, are there other reasons?

EDIT 2 : Just tested muxing audio + video + chapters file to mp4 with MeGUI with option device type = iphone, and the chapters don't work (even after changing the extension to .m4v like what I have to do after using mp4creator to have chapters work.)

[Sharktooth]

alc0re: :search:

[alc0re]

@Sharktooth

I did search...I'm not an idiot. But all that I found regarding the question I posted were the release notes simply stating the feature was added to be able to force those different muxing types. My question is not as simple as what does it do...I'm asking what specifically the differences are between the standard device type for muxing and the iphone, since they both work on an iphone/ipod touch.

You took the time to answer the poster before the same question without putting in a :search:, you could just as easily responded to my question that is basically a continuation of the previous poster's question.

EDIT : I've also checked the documentation of mp4box.exe and all it said was that -ipod switch rewrites the file for ipod support...still not very clear on any advantages of using the -ipod switch in mp4box when ipod's with newest firmware can play regular muxed files just fine...would love to know if there were any benefits to using -ipod

[Kurtnoise]

may be interesting if you want to have subtitles...

[alc0re]

Last time I did research, iphone/ipod touch didn't support subtitles (that weren't burned into the movie.) When I use the slightly modified version of mp4creator to add chapters to my m4v files, they show up in mediainfo as timed text...but the ipod uses them as chapter markers. So I'm not sure if you could have chapters that used the timed text format as well as subs. I've searched around and I can't find anything saying there's real support for subs for iphone/ipod touch.

[GB]

I recently instaled Win7 x64 build 7127. When I encode the same material like I did before in Vista x64 ( h264 in ts to x264 in mkv), the speed in the 1st pass is slower with 40-45%. In the 2nd pass the speed is only slowed by maximum 10%. I can't find an explanation for it. I am encoding using "2pass unrestricted fast" preset.

[Kurtnoise]

Last time I did research, iphone/ipod touch didn't support subtitles (that weren't burned into the movie.) When I use the slightly modified version of mp4creator to add chapters to my m4v files, they show up in mediainfo as timed text...but the ipod uses them as chapter markers. So I'm not sure if you could have chapters that used the timed text format as well as subs. I've searched around and I can't find anything saying there's real support for subs for iphone/ipod touch.
Just give it a try...

I recently instaled Win7 x64 build 7127. When I encode the same material like I did before in Vista x64 ( h264 in ts to x264 in mkv), the speed in the 1st pass is slower with 40-45%. In the 2nd pass the speed is only slowed by maximum 10%. I can't find an explanation for it. I am encoding using "2pass unrestricted fast" preset.
using an OS not finished for regular stuff is insane...

[therealjoeblow]

When recompressing some of my existing H264 encodes, can someone please recommend the correct setting for FFDShow's H264 deblocking options in the Codec's page when using it as the decoder with DirectShowSource? Should either or both of the "skip deblocking when safe" or "skip deblocking always" be enabled or disabled?

Otherwise, I have the other settings all at default (eg, postprocessing, resize, sharpen, levels, overlay, etc. are all OFF/disabled.)

Also, on the Output & RGB Conversion tabs, should I make any changes or just leave those at default?

Many thanks
The REAL Joe

[GB]

using an OS not finished for regular stuff is insane...
Pointless answer. If I was a regular user wanting to do basic "regular stuff", I wouldn't have instaled a beta OS.
On-topic: I tryed using some lower quality settings for x264 than the ones I usually use, and the fps was did not got higher than 10-11 in the first pass. However in the second pass, the fps is like before, no drops in it.

[Kurtnoise]

Meaningless question I would say. Why you're posting in this thread then ? you think it's related to megui ? if yes, prove it otherwise create a new thread...

[Taddeusz]

MeGUI in combination with Avisynth and the CoreAVC decoder don't seem to play well together. I can get previews and everything just fine. When it comes time to transcode the video if I click on the progress window MeGUI stops responding. Once x264 is finished MeGUI comes back to life, at least on shorter videos. This doesn't seem to happen with any other dx filter. Just with CoreAVC. Any ideas?

[daWsOn_s]

delete

[alc0re]

MeGUI in combination with Avisynth and the CoreAVC decoder don't seem to play well together. I can get previews and everything just fine. When it comes time to transcode the video if I click on the progress window MeGUI stops responding. Once x264 is finished MeGUI comes back to life, at least on shorter videos. This doesn't seem to happen with any other dx filter. Just with CoreAVC. Any ideas?


They all worked just fine on my computer. I was using CoreAVC, MeGUI and Avisynth all just fine on both windows xp with sp2 and with sp3.

Although that was a few months ago when I was still using DirectShowSource for both h.264 and vc1 sources.

My recommendations are to make sure CoreAVC, MeGUI and Avisynth are all updated to newest available.

If that doesn't work I really don't recommend using DirectShowSource anyways. You should be indexing the h264 file with DGAVCDec from neuron2.net. If the source is VC1 though, you have to 1) have an nvidia video card that support CUDA and 2) you have to be a contributer on the website neuron2.net to be able to use the VC1 decoder/indexing programs. At least the h264 one is free.

Hope that helps

alcOre

[Adub]

DSS2 from Haali's splitter package is also a nice alternative when partnered with FFDShow-Tryouts. I use this all the time, as it's frame accurate and multi-threaded, since DGAVCDec is not multi-threaded.

[alc0re]

Oh...I didn't know there was another solution that was frame accurate....

Decodes VC1 also?


I'm not that worried about the decoder being multi-threaded since as far as I know, the decoding is hardly ever the bottleneck (as least with me dealing mostly with HD content.)

alcOre

[mencius]

I can't convert AAC to MP3. The error says "DirectShowSource: Could not open as video or audio." I am using latest version. I think I have done this before with no problem.

[Inspector.Gadget]

mencius, you need an AAC decoder. Install latest ffdshow-tryouts (if you haven't already) and make sure AAC decoding is enabled in the audio config.

[mencius]

Thanks Inspector.Gadget. I already had ffdshow installed. I tried installing the latest version and checked everything (avisynth serving and plugins, etc) and set it to decode aac. But still doesn't work in Megui.

[Inspector.Gadget]

Do you have an MP4 splitter installed? (File may not be "raw" AAC).

[mencius]

Yes I have Haali Media Splitter installed. I reinstalled it but still no go.

[Sharktooth]

if your avs doesnt play in a directshow media player, megui cant encode it.
fix your directshow filter chain until the avs script plays back in a DS media player.

[mencius]

Okay thanks, it works now. I installed "AAC parser filter for DirectShow".

[therealjoeblow]

When recompressing some of my existing H264 encodes, can someone please recommend the correct setting for FFDShow's H264 deblocking options in the Codec's page when using it as the decoder with DirectShowSource? Should either or both of the "skip deblocking when safe" or "skip deblocking always" be enabled or disabled?

Otherwise, I have the other settings all at default (eg, postprocessing, resize, sharpen, levels, overlay, etc. are all OFF/disabled.)

Also, on the Output & RGB Conversion tabs, should I make any changes or just leave those at default?

Many thanks
The REAL Joe

I posted the above question a while back, but didn't see any response, so I figured I'd try asking again.

Could someone who has some good experience or knowledge please recommend the appropriate settings to use for FFDShow's Deblocking option; and for Output Colorspace when used as a decoder with DirectShowSource? I'm assuming that using the wrong settings for those options would affect the quality of the encode to some extent?

Many thanks!

[Sharktooth]

ask in the appropriate place.

[therealjoeblow]

ask in the appropriate place.

Well, I know there are several different places where I could have asked, but really, what's inappropriate about here? Is there noone here who uses MeGUI as a frontend with ffdshow/directshowsource and have any advice to offer? There's all sorts of talk here about different ways to get the source video (and audio, as _you_ recently contributed to) into the encode process. I don't see anything inappropriate in asking for some advice from people who use a specific tool regularly.

And while I'm at it, if you were going to take the time to post a reply, if you thought I asked in the wrong place, could you not have maybe suggested what the appropriate place would be, rather than just post a snide, useless comment. Seriously, that was quite rude Sharktooth.

[alc0re]

@therealjoeblow

I can't answer the question you have about the settings to use (see my pm that I sent you)

But, I would suggest not using DirectShowSource for re-encoding your existing h.264 encodes. Head over to neuron2.net. Go to the section titled Mine, and download DGAVCDec AVC/H.264 Decoder and Frame Server. Trying using that to index your raw h264 file and then using that tool to decode frame accurate video to avisynth. Works just like DGMPGDec. Its a better solution than using DirectShowSource.

alcOre

[poisondeathray]

I posted the above question a while back, but didn't see any response, so I figured I'd try asking again.

Could someone who has some good experience or knowledge please recommend the appropriate settings to use for FFDShow's Deblocking option; and for Output Colorspace when used as a decoder with DirectShowSource? I'm assuming that using the wrong settings for those options would affect the quality of the encode to some extent?

Many thanks!

Leave everything as default (everything unchecked), if you change the settings, the output file will not match the input file (unless that's what you want to do). If you have any filters activated in ffdshow, they will pass through to the encode if you are using DirectShowSource() and ffdshow as the decoder (usually unwanted)

If you need to do a colorspace conversion, you can specify that in your script. Most sources (DVD, blu-ray) will be YV12 anyway, so you don't need to do anything. Avoid unecessary colorspace conversions, because they are lossy.

[simms]

Hi i wasnt sure where to post this but this seemed to most logical place at the moment. if its in the wrong place i do apologise. And please can someone notify me if it gets moved or such.

The problem i am posting about is a virus being downloaded with the MeGui updates. It is of the malware type and today is not the first time i found it. I found this previously but thought myself to have landed unlcuky. So after removing the previous completely and taking all neccisary precautions i re-installed MeGui from a fresh DL of the latest build and did the usual update to aquire the rest of the tools to go with the application. Then ran a virus check once again to be sure (AdAware) Againthis has come up with a virri is the DL'd files. And quite a serious one at that.

Here is the details -


C:\Program Files\megui\tools\eac3to\HookSurcode.dll
C:\Program Files\megui\update_cache\eac3to-316.zip:HookSurcode.dll

Win32BackDoor.Hupigon
also known as
Win32BackDoor.Graybird


As you can imagine i am finding this quite shocking as have used MeGui for quite some time and swear by the app.
If someone could please clear up whats happening here i would be most grateful. The virus is quite serious and i wish to continue using MeGui....

Thankyou for anyones time and look forward to reply's.

[Inspector.Gadget]

eac3to and its libraries do not contain viruses. That is a false positive. Check the eac3to thread for details.

[buzzqw]

just 2 words: "False Positive"

hooksurcode is a dll by eac3to use for commanding Surcode DTS Encoder.

It's safe software. You can check on eac3to thread. There are many antivirus that flag it as virus. BUT IS ALWAYS A FLASE POSITIVE.

you can report to your antivirus

BHH

[Taurus]

@simms
Trash your stupid VBA32 Virus Scanner - it's a false alarm.
Next time before insulting a honest source, upload the suspicious file to http://www.virustotal.com and see for yourself!

[simms]

@ Inspector Gadget, buzzqw

Thankyou for your reply's it is appreciated. I was hoping it was something like this but thought i would ask.

@ Taurus

From the look of my post did it seem i was trying to insult anything....? I came asking a question as anyone would under those circumstances, and got reply's to what i asked which is fair enough.
Using online scanners which if you checked dont always keep there db's up to date as they should do, to get more false readings would have done no one any good. It is better to just ask at the source and see if anyone else has had the issue or if its just a mistake.

Thankyou for your replys.

simms

[delanejenkins]

Is there any way to do a 2pass encode and use constant quality for the first pass instead of avg bitrate?

[Sharktooth]

yes, doing it manually. i mean, set you your own presets with NO automated 2 or 3 passes.

[delanejenkins]

Thanks sharktooth. So I should just run a CQ encode with minimal settings like that of a turbo pass then plug that resulting avg bitrate into a 1 pass abr?

Am I oversimplifying it or is this correct? I'm just not sure what info is passed in the .stats files from the first pass of a 2pass encode

[Sharktooth]

nope. 1st pass using CRF (ensure the stats are saved, if not, manually add the --stats ".stats" option in the custom commandline options field) and regular 2nd pass using the avg bitrate from the first pass.

[delanejenkins]

Ok thanks Sharktooth. Any chance there may ever be an automated 2pass with Crf?

[Sharktooth]

i think not since CRF bitrate is unpredictable.

[delanejenkins]

Yeah I'm sure it's not a commonly used method. The only reason I need to use it is because I want to get the optimal bitrate but still have to stay dxva compliant and use vbv

[nurbs]

You can have that with only one pass. x264 will write vbv violations in the log and quality should only be worse in 1pass + vbv if you encode close to the limits. You could always create a log and only do a second pass if problems show up.
It also depends on what you want to do. If for instance you encode 720p at level 4.1 you'll basically never run into problems at sane crf values.

[delanejenkins]

Nurbs, I usually do my sd to 3.1 and do all my bluray to 720p at level 4.1, all at crf 18. I actually was wondering if I would even need to worry about any bitrate spikes beyond those levels.

[delanejenkins]

Sharktooth, tried to get megui to save the .stats file by adding the --stats ".stats" into the custom command line and cannot get it to save a stats file. What am I doing wrong?

[Sharktooth]

also add "--pass 1"

[delanejenkins]

Sharktooth, I added the "--pass 1" command and I am now getting a stats file but when I try to run my second pass I just get an error. Am i doing something wrong? I keep the same file loaded up and switch my preset to 2pass 2nd pass and enqueue.

[Sharktooth]

what error?

[delanejenkins]

Under the queue tab, it immediately shows up as error and nothing is encoded

[Sharktooth]

well there is a Log tab for a reason... ;)

[delanejenkins]

[Error] Log
-[Information] Versions
--[NoImage] MeGUI Version : 0.3.1.1041
--[NoImage] OS : Windows XP Home Edition x86 SP3 (5.1.196608.2600)
--[NoImage] Framework used : 2.0 SP1 (2.0.50727.3082)
-[Information] Hardware
--[NoImage] CPU : AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 920 Processor
-[Error] Log for job9 (video, Test.avs -> Test.mkv)
--[Information] [6/13/2009 10:49:08 AM] Started handling job
--[Information] [6/13/2009 10:49:08 AM] Preprocessing
--[NoImage] Job commandline: "C:\Video Tools\megui\tools\x264\x264.exe" --pass 2 --bitrate 2800 --stats "G:\Video Workbench\DVD\Test.stats" --level 3.1 --ref 5 --mixed-refs --bframes 3 --b-adapt 2 --weightb --direct auto --subme 7 --trellis 2 --partitions p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,i8x8 --8x8dct --vbv-bufsize 14000 --vbv-maxrate 17500 --me umh --threads auto --thread-input --sar 638:525 --progress --no-psnr --no-ssim --output "G:\Video Workbench\DVD\Test.mkv" "G:\Video Workbench\DVD\Test.avs"
--[Information] [6/13/2009 10:49:08 AM] Encoding started
--[Error] An error occurred: x264 [error]: ratecontrol_init: can't open stats file
--[Error] An error occurred: x264 [error]: x264_encoder_open failed
--[NoImage] Standard output stream
--[NoImage] Standard error stream
---[NoImage] avis [info]: 720x352 @ 23.98 fps (5297 frames)
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: using SAR=638/525
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast FastShuffle SSEMisalign LZCNT
--[Information] [6/13/2009 10:49:09 AM] Job completed
-[Information] Log for job13 (video, Test.avs -> Test.mkv)
--[Information] [6/13/2009 11:47:42 AM] Started handling job
--[Information] [6/13/2009 11:47:44 AM] Preprocessing
--[NoImage] Job commandline: "C:\Video Tools\megui\tools\x264\x264.exe" --crf 18 --bframes 3 --b-adapt 2 --weightb --subme 2 --partitions none --threads auto --thread-input --sar 638:525 --progress --no-psnr --no-ssim --output "G:\Video Workbench\DVD\Test.mkv" "G:\Video Workbench\DVD\Test.avs" --pass 1 --stats "G:\Video Workbench\Megui\test.stats"
--[Information] [6/13/2009 11:47:44 AM] Encoding started
--[NoImage] Standard output stream
--[NoImage] Standard error stream
---[NoImage] avis [info]: 720x352 @ 23.98 fps (5297 frames)
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: using SAR=638/525
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast FastShuffle SSEMisalign LZCNT
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: profile Main, level 3.0
---[NoImage]
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: slice I:120 Avg QP:13.09 size: 34265
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: slice P:1834 Avg QP:14.95 size: 20939
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: slice B:3343 Avg QP:17.04 size: 10332
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: consecutive B-frames: 2.6% 14.7% 57.4% 25.3%
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: mb I I16..4: 34.4% 0.0% 65.6%
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: mb P I16..4: 50.4% 0.0% 0.0% P16..4: 49.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% skip: 0.5%
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: mb B I16..4: 31.9% 0.0% 0.0% B16..8: 34.1% 0.0% 0.0% direct:23.6% skip:10.4% L0:23.2% L1:33.7% BI:43.1%
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: coded y,uvDC,uvAC intra:93.5% 77.4% 43.6% inter:52.5% 40.3% 1.7%
---[NoImage] x264 [info]: kb/s:2790.1
---[NoImage] encoded 5297 frames, 66.08 fps, 2790.27 kb/s
--[Information] Final statistics
---[NoImage] Constant Quality Mode: Quality 18 computed...
---[NoImage] Video Bitrate Obtained (approximate): 2793 kbit/s
--[Information] [6/13/2009 11:49:05 AM] Postprocessing
---[Information] Deleting intermediate files
--[Information] [6/13/2009 11:49:05 AM] Job completed

[doveman]

First, thanks for a great tool. The only thing that bugs me is that the output filenames are all lower case, both for XviD and x264 encoding. Is there anything that can be done to preserve the case from the input filenames?

[tebasuna51]

@delanejenkins
If pass2 is executed before pass1 and with diferent stats filename:

--pass 2 --stats "G:\Video Workbench\DVD\Test.stats"
--pass 1 --stats "G:\Video Workbench\Megui\test.stats"

the pass2 never found the stats file:
--[Error] An error occurred: x264 [error]: ratecontrol_init: can't open stats file