EclPRO v0.52 - ProCoder support in DVD-RB (now v1.10)

[robot1]

EclPro v1.01

Sorry for my english... it's not my mother language.

Here is the last release.
EclPRO v1.01

Older versions:
EclPRO v0.52 Beta
EclPRO v0.42 BETA
EclPRO v0.27 BETA
EclPRO v0.08 BETA (right click -> save target as)


Please, consider it's in beta stage, so it could have bugs.
Report any bugs in this thread, and don't blame DVD-RB!
Before sending a bug report in general DVD-RB threads, be sure the bug is present also using another encoder (CCE).

WARNING:
EclPro uses keyinputs to send command to ProCoder1.5 and ProCoder Express. CURSOR keys, HOME, END, DEL, SPACE are used.
Be sure you don't have any programs in background checking for these keys (ex. Winamp or Quintessential Player) when running EclPro.
Input is locked for about 10 seconds every time an encode starts, when launching ProCoder
It's the only way I've found to deal with older versions of ProCoder.
[Edit]
Since EclPRO v0.20, ProCoder2.0 is now well supported, and keyinputs are not needed.
[/Edit]


Here is an extract from the readme file.


SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Windows XP/2k/NT sp6


SUPPORTED ENCODERS (tested, could work with other versions)
ProCoder 2.0
ProCoder 1.5
ProCoder Express 1.12


BACKGROUND
Canopus ProCoder (in various versions) is one of the best encoders available in the market. One major drawback is the proprietary format of the file used to save the projects, which makes difficult (or impossible) to integrate it with other tools. On the other side, CCE with .ecl (a plain text) is widely used from all the DVD encoding tools.


OVERVIEW
EclPro allows to use ProCoder in DVD-RB: just select its path in "Path to EclPRO (ProCoder)" in the setup dialog, and select "ProCoder (EclPRO)" in the "Mode" menu.
When DVD-RB runs EclPro, it loads the .ecl project, feeding it in ProCoder: interaction is simulated using keystrokes, so while EclPro sets the encoding parameters in ProCoder, any user input is locked. This is the only way to deal with ProCoder, so, if you don't like this, you can't use ProCoder.
[Edit]
Since EclPRO v0.20 ProCoder 2.0 is fully supported without input locking.
[/Edit]


USAGE
Before using EclPRO, be sure Procoder is installed and working, (it's better to have a test encode). When the encoder is set up correctly, launch EclPro.

The first time it will ask the path of ProCoder, and save this setting in the EclPro.ini file. If you want to change it, simply delete the line in the .ini file (or delete the whole file), and run EclPro again. You can also set quality preferences, or leave the default ones.
Usually, when launched without parameters, EclPro asks for a .ecl to load, then open ProCoder setting the job parameters, but the main usage is in batch mode, when it tries to emulate CCE behaviour.

See readme.txt for additional info and issues.


EDIT
Changelog for 1.00RC1
Support for dual encoder processes
fixed "settings of this preset are invalid" for filenames with "&" char.
fixed a bug with dots (".") in the filename.
preview always starts disabled while encoding for ProCoder2



Changelog for 0.52
Fixed support for 704x480 and 704x576 - valid DVD resolutions - in ProCoder2.
Changed licence type to LGPL

Changelog for 0.50
Rewritten (again) routines to support various ProCoder Express versions.
Removed ProCoder 2.0 legacy mode (it's not needed, as the original mode works fine)

Changelog for 0.42
Fixed a bug with national characters (èéò...)
AlwaysGOP15 now overrides Autoparameters

Changelog for 0.40
Changed temp file name, to solve problems with NuMenu and short cells to encode. Thanks to D3s7 for testing.
Rewritten code for ProCoder Express to support v1.12.

Changelog for 0.27
Changed behaviour for files with no frames to encode, to reflect CCE's one.

Changelog for 0.26
Fixed tff/bff behaviour
Improved seq_endcode=0 handling.

Changelog for 0.25a
Some parameters were not correctly set from the setup.
Fixed a bug in seq_encode=0 handling.
Could solve stuttering and Error 5 situations in DVD-RB
(Thanks again to borgraf for testing and reporting)
Added support for SVCD resolutions in non-legacy mode.

Changelog for 0.24:
- fixed a bug in legacy mode (Procoder wasn't shut down after encoding)
- Added support for seq_endcode=0 (Should solve most stuttering problems reported at chapter breaks)
- Added a new entry in the .ini files: AutoParameters

If enabled AutoParameters, ECLPro changes these parameters, according to bitrate used:
- bitrate < 1800: DC Precision 8 - GopLength 15
- 1800 < bitrate < 2500: DC Precision 9 - GopLength 15
- 2500 < bitrate < 3500: DC Precision 10 - GopLength 15
- bitrate > 3500: DC Precision 10 - GopLength 12
For interlaced sources, bitrate limits are raised.
To enable, insert the line AutoParameters=1 under [Quality] section in ECLPro.ini.
Default is off.

If you want the maximum control of the encoding, use
Alwaysgop15=0
and
AutoParameters=0

[hobyho]

Thanx for a great tool robot1, testing it atm on a dvd (Van Helsing R4).

One suggestion I would like to make, so far from using it, is can you disable preview? As I would think that will slow it down a bit when encoding.

Update: After disabling 'Preview' once during the first encode it does not occur, or reactivate, again.

[DMagic1]

I just tried it and Procoder 2 was just sitting there asking me to push the convert button.

[hobyho]

Its working fine for me.

Though it made it crash and said that 2 instances were running when it was trying to do the 2nd segment. Might be because I was using the computer at the time.

Any way of fixing this robot1?

Update: Retried the segment that failed, and it seems to process fine again, though Procoder seems to crash after encoding each segment. I'm using 2.0 btw.

[DMagic1]

Yet another problem. My output in RB was E:\New Folder.
RB is putting the files in the right place but Procoder is putting the encoded files in the root of E:\.
On the next segment to encode it did the same thing that I said earlier. Procoder wait for me to push convert.

[wmansir]

Just wanted to bump this and encourage people to try it out. I've done 3 or 4 encodes without any major issues. Those with interlaced material should be especially happy with ProCoder's output. It's also very good with low bitrate, and even medium bitrate stuff. Though it does have a slight loss of detail, which prefectionists might want to keep an eye on.

FYI, ProCoder is much (2 or 3x) slower than DVD-RB, but it only does 2 passes. Also, unlike CCE, ProCoder's 'Realtime' speed is based on the TOTAL time it takes to encode the segment, not just that perticular pass. So for a normal 2 pass encode, ProCoder's realtime speed X 2 = equivilant CCE's realtime speed.

It's rate control is slightly different from CCE. It really doesn't matter who's is right, but you should be aware that EclPro may give you a slightly larger output with DVD-RB. It's not enough to cause a problem at DVD-RB's default settings, but if you have DVD-RB setup to come within 5-15MB of a full DVD-R with CCE you might get an oversized image with EclPro.

[robot1]

Originally posted by DMagic1
Yet another problem. My output in RB was E:\New Folder.
RB is putting the files in the right place but Procoder is putting the encoded files in the root of E:\.
On the next segment to encode it did the same thing that I said earlier. Procoder wait for me to push convert.

The output is always temporanely placed in the root folder, then moved to the right one at the end of the encoding process.
The problem is that automation doesn't work (you said ProCoder doesn't start encoding). I'm sending you a PM.

[robot1]

Originally posted by hobyho
Update: Retried the segment that failed, and it seems to process fine again, though Procoder seems to crash after encoding each segment. I'm using 2.0 btw.

What is the output folder full path?
I'll send you a modified version to check if we can solve.

[hobyho]

Originally posted by robot1
What is the output folder full path?
I'll send you a modified version to check if we can solve.

Well I let it run, and when the segment is nearly finished I just stopped all my computer activity and minimised all my windows and it seemed to not crash.

My output full path is: "D:\DVDs\D2VAVS"

[robot1]

Here is the fix for the hobyho problem:

EclPRO v0.08 BETA (as always, right click-> save target as in explorer)

[Pabloz]

nice, next dvd i will use it with eclpro and procoder

[Sir Didymus]

BIG COMPLIMENTS ROBOT1!!!

I only did a single reencode using ECLPRO, with Procoder 2.0, and everything went out perfect to me...

Guaranteed I will use and test your excellent program more in the future and report to you my impressions (that are, for the moment, very, very positive...)...

All the best,
SD

[KiwiKid]

I'm curious about Procoder. How does it compare to CCE-quality,speed etc? When is it a better choice than CCE? I've read some people prefer v1.5 than v2.0 - any more opinions? Most of my backups are PAL if that makes a difference. I realise some of these questions have been touched upon in some of the posts above but I'm interested in some more feedback. Thanks

[Boulder]

ProCoder is considered better for interlaced material. The downside is that you can't use custom quantization matrices. I requested this from them and they agreed to add it to the wishlist for future versions so there's hope that it will be supported one day.

I also requested an improved CQ method, possibly including internal prediction, which also was added to the list The problem with ProCoder's CQ is that it's too rough, one notch can mean a huge change in the average bitrate which makes it useless at the moment. If that is corrected, it will make the encoder a very good choice since it would only take half the time of a 2-pass.

[robot1]

Originally posted by DMagic1
I just tried it and Procoder 2 was just sitting there asking me to push the convert button.

For these kind of error, open EclPRO.ini and look at the value
Pause=10
It's a timeout value, and should be set higher for slower computer.
Good values could be 20 or 30.
In next version I could change the default, if other users experience problems.

[DMagic1]

Originally posted by robot1
For these kind of error, open EclPRO.ini and look at the value
Pause=10
It's a timeout value, and should be set higher for slower computer.
Good values could be 20 or 30.
In next version I could change the default, if other users experience problems.

HEY!!
My pc isn't slow. Its 2.8mhzP4 800fsb 512mbDDR400 SATA160g HD + some other junk inside.

[robot1]

It's definitively faster then mine
Do you have a lot of task running, or hard disk very fragmented?

[DMagic1]

Not many task but the drive could probably use a defragment.

[survivant]

thank you... I ask so much for RB to be able to encode with ProCoder.

[Redbacks]

Thanks for the great little app robot1 to run with jdobbs magical piece of software. I ran Die another day through it yesterday using Procoder 2, and all went off without a hitch. Now all I have to do is view it and see how it turned out. Just flicking through it using Power DVD and all seems fine. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers...