Turning off B-Frame option in AutoGK

[jeromeof]

I am wondering if there is a way to turn off b-frames in the latest AutoGK. I have read the various discussions in this group about B-frame support and in general I agree with what has been said about them, which boils down to the following. They should be used because they:
1. B-Frames help the output.
It definitely creates better quality output with B-Frames on.
2. Most (if not all) DVD players support B-Frames

And I also agree that AutoGK should be kept as simple as possible and a wonderful job has been done to kept it simple (my Granny could us it), but in the latest beta(s) the main purpose of AutoGK has (in my opinion) been enhanced. Previously, I believe the main purpose to backup your DVD's to avi files, since the source of AutoGK was a VOB (or a DVD directory), so that you could watch these files on your Mpeg enabled DVD player, hence the special options for ESS/Sigma playback (or on via a home threatre PC).

With the latest beta, by allowing AVI as input means (in my opinion) that AutoGK has an alternative purpose: To convert your input AVI into smallers AVI for portable devices, as there is no real reason to convert an AVI to another AVI unless space is a consideration, therefore I believe this new support is really to allows those of us who already have a bunch of AVI to view them on portable devices.
I myself have an RCA Lyra (unfortunatly) and a iPAQ, both of these devices support MPEG4 playback (the iPAQ via some software) but neither of devices support playback that contains B-Frames. I did a little investigation and many of the existing portable devices on the market (e.g. Early Archos devices / Palm's) also don't support B-Frames, I do know that most of the new devices do (e.g. all the new Archos's) do support B-Frames but I believe that lots of people are still using older models (as new portal video players are very expensive).
So basically I was wondering if a new hidden option could be added to AutoGK to turn off B-Frames, to me this option would be similar in spirit to the ESS/Sigma option in the current hidden option. It obviously be turned on by default and only turned off via the hidden option therefore would not affect the existing simplicity of AutoGK.

Does anyone else agree?

Jerome O'Flaherty

[len0x]

This request rather fits here: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=97781 as I'm never gonna expose individual codec options.

[jeromeof]

Yes, a selection of different Profiles (including various Mobile Profiles) would be fantastic, but allot of work, I imagine. I just thought it would be easier for now to have a hidden option to turn off B-Frames

Jerome

[JohnMK]

This request rather fits here: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=97781 as I'm never gonna expose individual codec options.

One of the things I like about the DVX frontend so much, as opposed to Auto GK, is that it preserves the simplicity of Auto GK while allowing the user to tweak to their heart's content. Using Gordion Knot is not an option for many newbies who want to tweak. Auto Gordion Knot is great but more exposure to internals and xvid settings and such and soforth would be welcomed by many. I truly wish you'd change your mind.

[seehowyouare]

>> I truly wish you'd change your mind.

Provided you agree to answer and solve every post by n00bs (like me) who have changed their codec settings or whatever and now AutoGK doesn't work as expected. (SMILE) People who need a 1 click encoding solution shouldn't be playing around with top secret options. Most n00bs just can't help themselves when they see extra options. We change numbers, tick things on and off and generally play around to see what happens. Hey, it's how most of us learned to use a computer !
Exposing the options would create a flood of "issues" from end users and detract from the simplicity of AutoGK. If the end user really wants to get their hands dirty they can grab Gordian Knot. I think the price is the same :-)
Oh.. and adding just 1 more option would lead to further requests for just 1 more... Please sir, can I have another :-)

[riggits]

to avoid BVOPs just crank up the size, or else use the 1-pass mode.

EDIT: haha!! i found the program you need! http://divx.ppccool.com/
It's called Pocket Divx Encoder, you can choose what options you want, and it's a totally free program.
Enjoy!

[jeromeof]

I have used PocketDivxEncoder and it does a reasonable job but the quality of the output per MB is not nearly as good as AutoGK. A decent 320X240 resolution 2 hour movie encoded with PocketDivxEncoder would probably be 250MB while in AutoGk the equivalent quality would probably only be about 170MB. Now I know that the B-Frames are helping AutoGK do a good job but I know there is lots of other smarts in to AutoGK and I thought it would be interesting to see what job AutoGK could do with B-Frame turned off.

The idea of "crank up the size" would almost certainly work except that the files would be large and therefore would fill up a portable device very quickly. Using one pass (ie. a Target Quality) does produce B-frames, I didn't think it would but my mobile player complained about b-frames on movies encoded with a low Target Quality (I think I used 10), so I guess there is some advanced buffering going on in the encoder.

I have tried lots of other programs, everything from VirtualDub (fiddling with the encoder settings), Gordian Knot (too complicated for batch processing IMHO), DVX (couldn't get a valid combination of required tools to work together) and an Archos tool (Similar quality to PocketDivxEncoder but useless for Batch encoding).

So basically, I have tried lots of programs and lots of settings (I think I like fiddling more than I actually like looking at the result) and AutoGK produces the best "bang-per-buck" but with B-Frames the result cannot be use mobile devices which I think is a shame.

Jerome

[Backflip]

to avoid BVOPs just crank up the size, or else use the 1-pass mode.

File size to how high? Went to a file size which produced a file with 2000+ and output had B-VOP's. That was ages ago though.

Gordian Knot is a good option, it's not too complicated to set up.