Comparing 2 video files on screen (divx, avi, etc..)

[Alacard]

Could someone recommend a good way to watch two video files on the screen at once? Recently I started opening 2 media player classic windows and putting the divx files, xvid, or whatever I was comparing in the two. Then I'd get the videos as syncd' up as possible and see which one looked the best. Watching the two files on the screen is a much better way to compare for me. However, I noticed that the file I opened first always looked the best. The file opened 2nd always seemed to have a slightly darker look. For example, if I opened the episode encoded with divx first, the divx version looked better than the xvid version, but if I open the xvid version first, then the xvid version looked better. Not sure if this is because Media player is locking itself to using the codec I opened first to play back both files? But it seems to even do it when I'm comparing divx version to divx version.

Could anyone advise me on the best way to go about this? What's the best program(s) to use to compare two video files on the screen?

[snoofyx]

I noticed that too with MPC.
You can try to open both files with VirtualDub (it will be easier to choose the same frame too).

[manono]

Hi-

The 2 look different because the first one opened uses the overlay, and any subsequent ones don't.

Are you handy with AviSynth? Here's a way to open them side-by-side:

A=AviSource("C:\Path\To\Movie1.avi")
B=AviSource("C:\Path\To\Movie2.avi")
StackHorizontal(A,B)
#StackVertical(A,B) #if you want one on top of the other.

Adjust the paths for your movies.

I did some quick testing with some players. You'll have to go Files->All Files, rather than just Media Files for most of them. It works with BS Player, Media Player Classic, Zoom Player, and WMP 6.4. It didn't work with VLC, PowerDVD and some newer WMP.

[Alacard]

I'm glad that I know now why the 2nd vidoe always looks worse. But unfortunately I'm not familiar with Avisynth. Is what you typed a script that I would open with Media Player classic that would show both movies at once?

[manono]

Yes. As I said above, I tested with Media Player Classic among others. It opens them both side by side within one big screen. The frames shown by both AVIs are the same.

If you want to use your current method, then open Media Player Classic three times, and use the 2nd and 3rd instances to compare your 2 different AVIs.

This is pretty much an AviSynth site. It's in your best interests to learn it.

[setarip_old]

This is pretty much an AviSynth site.

?Please explain?

[Alacard]

Yes. As I said above, I tested with Media Player Classic among others. It opens them both side by side within one big screen. The frames shown by both AVIs are the same.

If you want to use your current method, then open Media Player Classic three times, and use the 2nd and 3rd instances to compare your 2 different AVIs.

This is pretty much an AviSynth site. It's in your best interests to learn it.

Thank you for your help. I will dip into AviSynth and try to get familiar with it. Until I do, I will do the 3 window trick with Mediaplayer classic.

[manono]

?Please explain?

Well, I don't mean you'll get penalized or anything like that if you don't use it. But you may be hurting yourself in different ways. It has a bit of a learning curve, but it's well worth the time it takes to learn, in my opinion.

Of course, nothing prevents you from using any method you wish for making your video format conversions and backups. But compare Doom9 to, for example, Videohelp.com, where many of the most frequent posters are still promoting such obsolete methods as frameserving with a VFAPI.

Here we have 2 forums devoted to AviSynth. Most of the AviSynth developers and filter writers are here. The developers of such well known and widely used programs as Gordian Knot, AutoGK, DVD2SVCD, DVD-Rebuilder, and others are here, and they all use AviSynth. The best people for helping others get started with AviSynth are here.

If you use other methods, you will often get inferior results. For example, just the other day a guy was frameserving a DivX5 AVI using a VFAPI, into CCE for converting to MPEG2, on the way to making a DVD, and he was getting strange blocks in his output. The CCE color conversion was messing it up. I taught him how to frameserve it with AviSynth, doing the color conversion to YUY2 within AviSynth before the frameserving, and his problem was solved. AviSynth is simply the best, as well as being the fastest, method for accomplishing many of the things we like to do on this site. Sure, it's not suitable for everything, but for the things that many, if not most, of us here like to do, backing up our DVDs to AVI, SVCD, or DVD, or converting from one format to another, AviSynth is preferred. Just my two cents.

[setarip_old]

Sorry, I guess I didn't express myself clearly. I was just questioning why you were making that (perfectly valid) statement in response to a thread in the "DivX Encoding" sub-forum.

Thanks for explaining your position ;>}

By the way, it's a pleasure to be posting at a well-controlled forum...

[jggimi]

This thread shouldn't really be in this forum. I'm moving it to S/W Players.

[manono]

I was just questioning why you were making that (perfectly valid) statement in response to a thread in the "DivX Encoding" sub-forum.

Geez, so I wasted all those words for nothing? :)

I made those statements because Alacard said that he didn't yet know much about AviSynth, and I was trying to encourge him to get started. He was having trouble getting his 2 DivX backups to play right so that he could compare 2 different encodes, and I gave him one pretty easy way to get the job done, if he had some basic AviSynth knowledge.

It seems appropriate to me to discuss AviSynth in this forum, since many of the people visiting this forum are creating their DivX AVIs using AutoGK, GKnot, or directly in VDub(Mod), and one way or the other, are also using AviSynth. Besides, I'm just an AviSynth fanboy. :)

[Alacard]

Just in case anyone else is or was having the same problem I was having, what manono said about opening 3 media player classic windows and using the 2nd two for doing the compare does work. I did notice tho that you have to open a file in the first window and pause it (or whatever) and THEN open your two files in the 2nd two windows. If you just minimize the first window without opening anything, the 2nd window get's the overlay.(at least it did for me)

[videomixer9]

One major drawback on overlay mixer is only one player can use it at once, so for comparisions just use VMR9 which can accelerate more than just one player window, however may have a different color impression as also drawn directly to your screen, if it's plain comparing two single frames plain GDI rendering may also work. Last one is usually the fallback solution if not specified in another way like WMP (WMP10 falls back to VMR if overlay is already used).

There may be different opinions on VMR9 but it provides full acceleration for multiple videos at the same time and it gives you the same looking output on any of them.

So, switch MPC to VMR9 for the comparisions which gives multiple instances full acceleration and same looking result, or go with the AviSynth Solution :)

[Deckerr]

Is there a script or another option I can use to do this with a DVD? I have backed up an ILVU movie and would like to double check that it is correct. I would also like to increase playback speed if possible.

Thank you

[Deckerr]

anyone?

[movax]

If they are just 2 DVD sources, you could rip, make d2vs, and use StackHorizontal/Vertical with 2 clips sourced from mpeg2dec3.