BD Rebuilder (BD-RB) Frequently Asked Questions

[jdobbs]

I've created this thread to answer the most commonly submitted questions concerning BD Rebuilder. Over time I will add to the list.

[jdobbs]

QUESTION: The Audio checkboxes under SETUP are a little confusing. Can you explain them?

ANSWER:

The switches have a different impact depending upon your output selection. You also have to remember that because of its huge size, LPCM is treated differently

If rebuilding output greater than BD-9 (e.g. BD-25):

1. Default (all audio options unchecked)
---- All audio is converted to DD AC3. Bitrate is 640Kbs for 5.1 and 224Kbs for 2.0.
---- All 7.1 sources are down-converted to 5.1
1.1 448Kbs selected -- 5.1 = 448Kbs, 2.0 = 224Kbs
1.2 192Kbs selected, all sources down-converted to 2.0 @ 192Kbs

2. "Keep HD" overrides all other audio settings. If selected:
---- DTS HD keeps a bit-for-bit copy of the original audio
---- DD HD keeps a bit-for-bit copy of the original audio
---- LPCM keeps a bit-for-bit copy of the original audio
---- You may get failure due to inadequate target space if much LPCM is used

2.1. If you use "Keep HD" and also add "KEEP_HD_LPCM=0" as a hidden option:
---- LPCM is converted to AC3 at a bitrate determined by other audio selections
---- Other audio tracks are bit-for-bit copies of the original

3. "Do not convert DTS" checked: When the source is DTS, DTS core is extracted and used intact (bit-for-bit).

4. "Do not reencode AC3" checked: When the source is Dolby, the Dolby core is extracted and used intact.

If doing BD-5 or BD-9:

1. Default (all audio options unchecked)
---- All audio is converted to DD AC3. Bitrate is 640Kbs for 5.1 and 224Kbs for 2.0.
---- All 7.1 sources are down-converted to 5.1

1.1 448Kbs selected -- 5.1 = 448Kbs, 2.0 = 224Kbs
1.2 192Kbs selected, all sources down-converted to 2.0 @ 192Kbs

2. "Do not convert DTS" checked and full-backup, or movie-only and "Strict AVCHD" is not checked: When the source is DTS, the DTS core is extracted and used intact (bit-for-bit).

3. "Do not reencode AC3" checked and full-backup, or movie-only and "Strict AVCHD" is not checked: When the source is Dolby, the Dolby core is extracted and used intact.

4. LPCM is always converted to AC3.

5. Keep HD is always ignored.

6. Setting "OVERRIDE_AVCHD_AUDIO_LIMIT=1" in the INI will allow strict AVCHD to also use DTS.

Important note: Choosing to keep DTS on AVCHD output violates the AVCHD standard and can result in a disc that will not play on some players. It is highly recommended that DTS is converted to AC3 for BD-5/9 movie-only encodes.

[jdobbs]

QUESTION: What is "Automatic Quality Settings" -- and should I use it?

ANSWER:

X264 (the encoder used by BD Rebuilder) includes many settings that can improve encoder quality. In most cases, the improvement in quality (at a given bitrate) is implemented at the expense of encoder speed. BD Rebuilder's quality selection takes advantage of these settings. Selecting "High Quality (default)" will include many more of these "bells and whistles" than, for example, "Good (Very Fast)". As a result though, "High Quality" is also quite a bit slower.

One might say "Then why don't I always choose the higher setting?" That's a good strategy if encode time is never of any concern to you. But often, especially when using higher bitrates (like when you are outputting to BD-25), the difference between the settings isn't even visible... so why not just use the one that gives you the best bang for the time involved? Of course that would imply you somehow had a way of estimating what quality you would get for a given source.

When you select "Automatic Quality Settings" BD-RB chooses a quality level (Good, Better, High.. etc) and also whether to do one or two passes based upon several factors including source frame count and target size. In other words it does the estimating for you and chooses the settings.

There is one more consideration: Would you like the "Automatic" setting to be tweaked a little more to your taste? If so, then you can also set it's "BIAS" toward either speed or quality by adding a hidden value to the "[Options]" area of the configuration (INI) file:

AUTO_BIAS=n

You replace the "n" with one of 4 values: 0, 1, 2, or 3. "0" tells the quality selection to have a bias toward speed, "1" (the default) balances speed and quality, and "2" or "3" tells the quality selection algorithim to have a bias toward progressively higher quality.

So should you use "Automatic"? My recommendation in most cases is to set "Automatic" and forget it. That way BD Rebuilder can adjust for difficult sources and "ease up" for those that aren't. But, if you're the type of person who would rather waste a little time to ensure you are getting the best output (rather than worry about speed)... just select "High Quality (Default)" for all encodes -- and you can always be sure you're getting the most out of every bit available.

[jdobbs]

QUESTION: Why is it that my encode is failing and I get "isn't recommended version" as a part of the output? Example:

- BD-Rebuilder v0.35.01 (beta)
- Windows Version: 6.1 [7600]
- AVISYNTH Version: 2.5.8.0, Ok
- HAALI Splitter: Isn't recommended version
- FFDSHOW: , not recommended version
- WIN7 preferred AVC CODEC: Ok
- WIN7 preferred VC-1 CODEC: Ok
- WIN7 preferred MPEG2 CODEC: Ok
- FFDSHOW VC-1 set to "wmv9", Ok
- FFDSHOW MPEG2 set to "libavcodec": Ok
- FFDSHOW AVC set to "libavcodec": Ok
- X264: Ok
- AFTEN: Ok
- FAAC: Ok
- MP4BOX: Ok
- WAVI: Ok
- TSMUXER: Ok

ANSWER:

Simple. There are new releases and changes made to these packages all the time. Often the releases include changes that cause certain parts of the package to stop working. When using BD Rebuider, it is highly recommended that you only use the version linked in the BD Rebuilder bug reporting thread.

Please note:
If you receive an error report like this -- do NOT report any bugs until you have changed to the recommended versions of ALL packages, the problem is almost always NOT related to BD Rebuilder but to the incorrect supporting software

[jdobbs]

QUESTION: I installed the version of HAALI that is linked in the first post of the bug thread, but INSPECT.EXE still says it isn't the recommended version. What's up with that?

ANSWER:

Some HAALI versions fail to remove content from the "C:\Program Files\HAALI\MatroskaSplitter" folder when they are uninstalled, and it shows to BD-RB as the wrong version. You need to uninstall HAALI, manually delete that folder, and then install the one from the first post of the Bug Reporting thread.

Note: If using a 64 bit version of Windows, you will find the folder here: "C:\Program Files (x86)\HAALI\MatroskaSplitter"

[jdobbs]

QUESTION: BD Rebuilder used to work fine, but today I got an error saying "Encode failed. Aborting" when I started a new encode. What's up with that?

ANSWER:

BD Rebuilder relies on three other applications to supplement Microsoft's Directshow for frame-serving of the source video to X264 (the H.264 encoder used by BD Rebuilder). Those programs are HAALI, AVISYNTH, and FFDSHOW.

There are some "inconsiderate" programs out there that will intercept or interfere with the Directshow stream of events by making changes without even having the common courtesy of letting you know they've done so. When they do that -- they sometimes cause the BD-RB required AVISYNTH directshow frame-serving to fail.

The solution is simple. Just uninstall and reinstall HAALI, AVISYNTH, and either FFDSHOW or LAVFilters. That will correct the changes made by the interloping application and essentially do a "reset". Take warning, though, that if you are still running the offending program it may well interfere again... the best advice is to get rid of "codec packs" or other similar packages that seem to be the worst offenders. Either of FFDSHOW or LAVFilters includes pretty much every CODEC your system will ever need -- so those other "packs" aren't really providing you with anything useful anyway.

[jdobbs]

QUESTION: I want to keep a disc's video in it's original state without re-encoding. Can I do that?

ANSWER:

Yes. You can set the hidden option "FORCE_NOENCODE=1" (see HIDDENOPTS.TXT). Also, if you select an output size that is larger than the source data -- BD-RB will not re-encode.

But, you have to be careful with when selecting larger sizes in order to force BD-RB to keep original video intact. If your intent is to output to BD-5/9 -- the VIDEO HAS TO BE RE-ENCODED and it should NEVER be forced to be kept intact by setting a larger size or asserting the FORCE_NOENCODE hidden option. This is because the maximum bitrate for BD-5/9 is much, much lower than BD-25/50. Forcing BD-RB to keep something intact that is destined for BD-5/9 will likely result in severe playback issues. The disc transfer rate of the DVD media will not be able to keep up with the original bitrate.

If left to it's own devices, BD-RB will never keep video destined for BD-5/9 intact. So anyone who decides to "get-around" this should be warned that they are creating a self-inflicted-wound that is NOT the fault of the software.