Need your help with MeGUI

[DigitalDivide]

I'm going to aplogize up front for the questions I am about to ask... be kind..

I just installed meGui and all the assorted apps required. Now what? I have absolutely no idea who, what, when, where, or how to start. I usually use AutoGK or GK so this whole thing is pretty new to me. My requirements are pretty basic. I want to encode all my 2hr movies at the 3CD setting. Maximum quality with a reasonable encoding time. I must to keep my AC3 stream. That's it nothing else for now. I'd like to run some tests.

Also one other question. If I am encoding my movies as per above what am I looking for in regards to bits/pixels*frame or bitrate?

Would anyone be so kind as to provide me something to get going? I have my movies ripped using DVD Decyrpter in File mode already. But now what? I would greatly appreciate it. Again please be kind. I am a Canadian virgin after all... ;-)

[berrinam]

I'm going to aplogize up front for the questions I am about to ask... be kind..It's ok, there aren't really any guides for MeGUI (that I'm aware of). By the way, the name is MeGUI (Mencoder GUI).

My requirements are pretty basic. I want to encode all my 2hr movies at the 3CD setting. Maximum quality with a reasonable encoding time. I must to keep my AC3 stream. As you want to use the 3CD setting, I presume you want a bitrate calculator in use, and you MAY want file splitting. There are two main workflows for this: AutoEncode and OneClick, which vary by the level of human presence. OneClick is almost entirely automated, whereas AutoEncode provides the ability to customise the AviSynth scripts, set credits and starting points, customise zones and chapters. Here are guides for each:

OneClick (only the starred (*) steps are required):
[EDIT]Just a note about the OneClick window: it is designed so that jobs can be done very simply (select the input, then press go, is the minimum), yet is still customisable. This is achieved by using automatic values which can be overridden by the user if necessary.
Another note: Do NOT use the OneClick mode on interlaced material, or other material that needs special processing, because the OneClick mode does not yet handle this[/EDIT
*1. In the starting window, choose your codec, and press Config. This opens up the codec configuration window. Choose your settings (I'm not going to give a guide about these, as I don't know enough about what settings to choose), and create a new profile for these settings. Do the same for audio, if you want audio encoding.
2. Go to Tools->Settings. Here you can select the Default audio tracks 1 and 2, which will be used for the oneclick encoder.
*3. Go to Tools->One Click Encoder
*4. Select your video input.
5. Select audio tracks. If you want to keep your original audio, check "Don't encode audio".
6. If you have chapters, they may have already been selected if you use the DVDDecrypter defaults, otherwise you can select them, or leave it empty.
7. Choose the horizontal output resolution you want. The vertical resolution will be adjusted for the correct AR.
8. The AR should be automatically detected. If you think it is wrong, then select it yourself, but normally you should just leave it.
9. Select your video profile. If you don't do this, it will stay as the first one in the list.
10. Select your storage medium. This controls the output size.
11. Select your container (if you checked "don't encode audio" then this should be grayed out).
12. If you want file splitting, check the box and set the split size.
*13. Click Encode.

AutoEncode:
*1. Go to Tools-D2V creator. Select your input file and languages, check "on close load files", then press go.
*2. AviSynth creator window will open. Press autocrop, check suggest resolution, nothing else needs configuring. Check "on save load to be encoded", then press save.
*3. It goes back to the main window, where you can configure your settings (no need to configure audio if you want to keep original tracks), then press AutoEncode to open that window.
*4. Set your filesize the same way as in OneClick, and check add aditional content, which is where you select your original audio tracks. After that, you press Queue, and it is finished.

That's it nothing else for now. I'd like to run some tests.Is this a contradiction?

Also one other question. If I am encoding my movies as per above what am I looking for in regards to bits/pixels*frame or bitrate? No idea.

[Doom9]

have my movies ripped using DVD Decyrpter in File mode already.Not a good start.. you need IFO mode.

[DigitalDivide]

Thanks so much for the help. Much appreciated! As soon as I get home I'll give it a try. Sorry about the typo for MeGui. Just wasn't careful about spelling. Also my mistake my files are in IFO mode not File.

Quote:
That's it nothing else for now. I'd like to run some tests.

Is this a contradiction?

Hmm not sure what you mean. I just meant that those were my only questions and I'm ready to try out some files. When I get home from work, the proof reading seems to go out the door...

Anyhow thanks again

[DigitalDivide]

Okay I tried to encode my first movie using One Click and as soon as I clicked encode I received the following error

"
DGIndex project creation aborted with an error. The system cannot find the file specified at system.diagnostics.process.startwithshellexecuteex(processstartinfo startinfo) at system.diagnostics.process.start()
at MeGUI.videoutil.createdgindexproject()"

Also I noticed that when I select the Video Input, I select a vob file but it doesn't look like it is selecting any of the other vobs. The output file is the same name as the vob file selected for the Video Input.

I must be doing something wrong

Edit: I figured out why I was getting the error. I had to set the paths to the other apps in the xml config file. So I redid everything and it now seems to be encoding. I still have a question regarding the vob file. Will it automatically select all the other vobs?

[ChronoCross]

did you point the meGUI settings to all the appropriate programs such as DGINDEX and mencoder?

[berrinam]

The output file is the same name as the vob file selected for the Video Input.This is because it has no other easy way of coming up with a name. However, you can edit the 'Project name' textbox at the bottom, which will change all of the files and their names to whatever you choose. Added to that, you can specify a different output file by pressing the '...' button next to output file, which will change the output file location, but nothing else.

Will it automatically select all the other vobs?IIRC, at the moment it won't.

[Doom9]

IIRC, at the moment it won't.No it does.. I'm using the syntax where DGIndex automatically opens all subsequent VOB files.

did you point the meGUI settings to all the appropriate programs such as DGINDEX and mencoder?he most definitely didn't because that's just the error message you get if MeGUI cannot find dgindex.exe.

[berrinam]

IIRC, at the moment it won't.No it does.. I'm using the syntax where DGIndex automatically opens all subsequent VOB files.My mistake.

[DigitalDivide]

Okay now I'm confused. If I rip a dvd via DVD D in IFO mode, and have the vobs in the folder. Are you saying I have to encode each vob file separately? How do I get one .mkv file then? I had assumed I point to my vob files, audio files to encode etc and then encode to one mkv file. No so?

[Doom9]

Select youf first VOB or the IFO file and all subsequent VOBs will be taken care off.. but I think I already said that. I do think sometimes when I write code ;)

[DigitalDivide]

When I click AutoEncode using Method 2 Autoencode I get the following error


See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.ArgumentException: The path is not of a legal form.
at System.IO.Path.nGetFullPathHelper(String path, Char[] invalidPathChars, Char[] whitespaceChars, Char directorySeparator, Char altDirectorySeparator, Char volumeSeparator, Boolean fullCheck, String& newPath)
at System.IO.Path.FixupPath(String path)
at System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(String path)
at MeGUI.AutoEncodeWindow..ctor(VideoCodecSettings videoSettings, AudioStream[] audioStreams, Int32 videoLength, Double videoFramerate, MeGUI mainForm, Int32 outputType)
at MeGUI.MeGUI.autoEncodeButton_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/microsoft.net/framework/v1.1.4322/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
MeGUI
Assembly Version: 1.0.2044.22562
Win32 Version: 1.0.2044.22562
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/x264/MeGUI-0%5B1%5D.2.1.8a/MeGUI.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.windows.forms/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.windows.forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.drawing/1.0.5000.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/system.drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.xml/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.xml.dll
----------------------------------------
stpx0vl4
Assembly Version: 0.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.dll
----------------------------------------
yp7nw7yi
Assembly Version: 0.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.dll
----------------------------------------
ilkfc9he
Assembly Version: 0.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just in time (JIT) debugging, the config file for this
application or machine (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the machine
rather than being handled by this dialog.

**************
Edit: I think I found the problem. Looks like the output path didn't get filled in. Seems to be now processing

[DigitalDivide]

Well I tried encoding a move using the Autoencode method at the top of this thread and I ended up with a 0MB sized file. ????? I used AVC and container was MKV. I had the size set at 3cd and kept most of the default settings. Unfortunately I closed the program by accident before checking the log. I know it's not a lot to go on but is there anything I should be looking for that might have caused this? Right now I am retrying to encode the same movie with the same settings to get the log. I can see the current status as processing but when I look into the log I see the following
No audio encoding. Calculating desired video bitrate directly.
Setting video bitrate for the video jobs to 0 kbit/s
Next job job1-1 is a video job. encoder commandline:
"C:\Program Files\x264\X264CLI_rev284_mmx\x264.exe" --pass 1 --bitrate 0 --stats "2pass.log" --ref 8 --bframes 2 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4 --qpstep 1 --progress --no-psnr --output NUL "D:\Projects\Almost Famousx264.avs"
successfully set up video encoder and callbacks for job job1-1

Seems odd that it has the bit rate at 0???

[Doom9]

Unfortunately I closed the program by accident before checking the log.That's not a problem.. the log is automatically saved when you exit.. you'll find it in the logs subdirectory under the MeGUI directory. The bitrate is definitely not in order.. can you try to go for 2 CDs? A bug was recently discovered in the bitrate calculator that will lead to undesirable and wrong bitrate results starting at a certain size. 2 CDs ought to be okay, but I think 3 CDs might already trigger the problem (basically at some point bitrates turn negative, then if you bump up the size even more, the bitrate eventually turns positive again but is way too low).

Here's what you can do: click on the job in the queue, press load, go to the main tab, press config, enter the proper bitrate manually, press OK, go back to the queue tab, select the job again, and press update. Do that for the second pass job as well.

[DigitalDivide]

I looked in the log dir afterwards but I didn't see anything in there. I'll have to check again tonight to see if there's one after the second attempt...which failed. This morning I took a peak before heading to work. In the log managed to quickly copy and email myself the following.


Log for job job1-1
avis [info]: 640x352 @ 0.00 fps (177248 frames)
x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2
x264 [info]: slice I:821 Avg QP:47.97 Avg size: 1035
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
job job1-1 has been processed. This job is linked to the next job: job1-2
Next job job1-2 is a video job. encoder commandline:
"C:\Program Files\x264\X264CLI_rev284_mmx\x264.exe" --pass 2 --bitrate 0 --stats "2pass.log" --ref 8 --bframes 2 --subme 6 --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4 --qpstep 1 --progress --no-psnr --output "D:\Projects\Almost Famousx264.mkv" "D:\Projects\Almost Famousx264.avs"
successfully set up video encoder and callbacks for job job1-2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Log for job job1-2
avis [info]: 640x352 @ 0.00 fps (177251 frames)
x264 [error]: requested bitrate is too low. estimated minimum is 7 kbps
x264_encoder_open failed

Even though I selected 3cd I entered in a manual bitrate of 2000, I believe it was at 1,400 or something so I thought I'd see what happens if I bump it up. I'll have to try 2CD as you recommended and see what happens.

Thanks for the help! You know it was soooo much easier using GKNOT to encode to mkv. I still am not clear as to the difference between using the CLI version and the VFW and why is one preferred over the other? Would the quality of say a 2GB file encoded with the same settings, look pretty much the same with one or the other?

[Doom9]

You know it was soooo much easier using GKNOT to encode to mkv.How so? And if you feel that way, why not continue to use GKnot? After all it supports x264.
Personally I prefer MeGUI, it does what I used GKnot for with a lot less effort.
The API used for encoding has nothing to do with quality.

You didn't by any chance use autoshutdown did you? It could be that no longs are saved if you use that feature (see the other thread).

[DigitalDivide]

Nope didn't use AutoShutdown. I am trying once more. This time I chose 2CD but bumped up the file size a bit. I guess the reason GKNOT is a bit easier for me is because I'm probably more familiar with it. I've used it enough times. It's not really a matter of being more...say user friendly...although the numerous guides do make it a bit easier for a beginner. DIdn't mean to give the impression that one was better or worse than the other.

I guess I'll find out in the morning how this encode goes. Once again thanks a lot for all your help.

Oh almost forgot. I found a little problem. When I select my project on the main screen and then select the container and hit config for AVC, if I then go into the config make a change, sometimes the output file and path go blank. On a few occassions I didn't see this, so when I then click Encode, an exception error pops up. I found that before selecting the project and output path, if you go into the config for avc then back out, then open the project, the output path is automatically filled and clicking Encode does not cause the exception error.

[Doom9]

DIdn't mean to give the impression that one was better or worse than the other.I was more looking for something along the lines "if that and that were to be done, MeGUI would be even better". The workflow is mostly taylored around the way I use the program.

if I then go into the config make a change, sometimes the output file and path go blank.You didn't provide enough detail to reproduce this reliably (besides the log that's the one most important thing for any report), but I can make a guess: if you select a first pass mode, then press OK, the output file is cleared. This is because there is no output in first pass mode.