MeGUI: General Questions and Troubleshooting Thread

[Avish]

Originally Posted by berrinam

No extra dlls are required. Mpeg2 deblocking uses dgdecode.dll, which should already be in your plugins directory, and I believe that Colour Correction is part of AviSynth, but I've never actually tried it.

Thanks for the reply berrinam, but still the basic question is unanswered... For what purpose they are there...especially Colour Correction? When should I enable them? on what kind of source? are there any set rules for when to enable them?

[ChronoCross]

Avish to answer your question about color correction go here
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.ph...ht=ColorMatrix

Mpeg2Deblocking enables the psot-processing functions of DGDecode. They are relatively fast and in my opinion should always be enabled as DgDecode has access to special information straight fromt he source that allows for accurate deblocking.

[Gusar]

Originally Posted by Inc

I remember when I just added --enable-largefiles to my ./configure line when compiling mencoder (even under MinGW) mencoder resulted encodings with filesizes bigger than 2GB played back properly. Ok, these where mpeg2 encodes, but it really seems that largefiles enabling could be the cure (imho).
EDIT: I also remember of an direct avi (xvid/mp3)mencoder encode I did which resulted in 3GB - no problems.

This got me interested, so I did a MinGW compile of mplayer with --enable-largefiles and did some tests. First I created two files with a little over 2GB with mencoder, one with odml and one without. MPlayer can play both files but can't seek in them (not even with -forceidx) and I'm not sure if it would play the file to the end. Media Player Classic can play the no-odml file normally and crashes on the odml file.

Then I again created two files (one odml and one no-odml) but this time with over 4GB size. MPlayer behaves the same as before. MPC again crashes on the odml file, but on the no-odml file, it only plays a few seconds.

So the limit where MinGW starts to fail is 4GB and --enable-largefiles doesn't have any effect. There's also other interesting stuff, like, when filesize goes over 2GB mencoder starts showing negative projected filesize and negative bitrate.
This is the mencoder output wint MinGW:

ODML: Starting new RIFF chunk at 1023MB.  19min 6460mb  A-V:0.064 [22609:127]
ODML: Starting new RIFF chunk at 2047MB.  15min 6388mb  A-V:0.064 [23155:128]
ODML: Starting new RIFF chunk at -1024MB. 11min -2098mb  A-V:0.064 [-7609:128]
ODML: Starting new RIFF chunk at 0MB.em:   8min   0mb  A-V:0.064 [-131:128]

Then I did the same tests with a cygwin compile. No problems with the odml files, they play perfectly. The no-odml 4GB file, MPC just plays the first seconds, mplayer creates an index with -forceidx then plays the file ok.
Mencoder output with cygwin:

ODML: Starting new RIFF chunk at 1023MB.  19min 6460mb  A-V:0.064 [22609:127]
ODML: Starting new RIFF chunk at 2047MB.  15min 6388mb  A-V:0.064 [23155:128]
ODML: Starting new RIFF chunk at 3071MB.  11min 6295mb  A-V:0.064 [22302:128]
ODML: Starting new RIFF chunk at 4095MB.   8min 6281mb  A-V:0.064 [22167:128]

Bottom line: cygwin mplayer/mencoder with odml and everything is perfect.

For anyone interested, get the compiles here: mingw, cygwin

Two notes about the cygwin version: a) it looks for the mplayer config files in c:\Documents and Settings\<username>\.mplayer (it will create the folder if it doesn't exist) b) I had problems with xvid and x264 so this version doesn't support them. If there's interest in a fully working cygwin compile I might dig into the problem.

[ChronoCross]

@Everyone
I'm also working on a mencoder version from MingW. I'll let you know how things turn out.

[Inc]

Originally Posted by berrinam

I used celtic_druid's builds of mencoder, and I came across some problems with large files (in particular, ffvhuff ones, for the prerender jobs). I got around these problems by adding --no-odml --forceidx to the commandline, but perhaps your approach is the proper way. Could you either try the prerender job to see whether it works and then try it without those tags, or else could you post your build so that I could have a go with it? Thanks

Here I compiled you an CPU-generic-all-included binary of mencoder out of the latest mencoder and libavcodec CVS snapshots (Feb/02/2006) via MinGW32.
Its a 3.6MB 7z file where the extracted size is 10.7MB, so many stuff is included in that build.
I DO hope that avisynth demuxing is included while compiling, so do a test as Im here at work and have no opportunities to test it right now..

The included common additional libs also used for compiling where taken from here:
http://oss.netfarm.it/mplayer-win32.php
(like the x264, faac, xvidcore etc)

... compiled using:

./configure --enable-runtime-cpudetection --enable-largefiles --enable-static --confdir=mplayer --enable-win32 > configure_output.txt
make

The 7z link above also includes a detailed list "configure_output.txt" where you can see what has been detected&included.

As said the last time I used mencoder where files over 2Gigs resulted is almost 1 year ago when I ued mencoder for mpeg2 encoding tests.
There I used the same configure line for compiling, means including --enable-largefiles and the resulted 2.5-3GB m2v encoded and played back properly.



EDIT: Uops. Gusar seems now finally I saw your post
And yes now I remember at that time beside MinGW ones I also tested on CygWin builds!
Could you please also post your encoding commandline.

I had problems with xvid and x264 so this version doesn't support them

Did you also build these LIBs under CygWin from the latest x264/xvid source snapshots or did you take ready builded ones?

[Schnoodledorfer]

Originally Posted by berrinam

Per the MeGUI Guide,
"'avisynth plugins' is no longer used."
I think that pretty much answers your question.

The version at http://megui.sourceforge.net/megui-guide.html
doesn't have that. That's what I was going by and ran into the same problem (with dcomb.dll).

If I understand what you're saying (I'm not sure I do), MeGUI will use the plugins directory that's referenced by plugindir2_5 in the HKLM\SOFTWARE\AviSynth registry key (which is probably = "C:\Program Files\GordianKnot\AviSynthPlugins" for most people), with one exception. The exception is that dcomb.dll must be in the plugins subdirectory of the AviSynth install location (normally C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins) for the (optional) purpose of checking for interlacing. Whatever is specified in the avisyth plugins entry of Program Path tab (under Tools/Settings) is completely ignored. (MeGUI just assumes AviSynth has been installed properly and can find its own plugins.) Is that what you mean? And when you say "avisynth plugins" you always mean the the AviSynth 2.5\plugins\ folder, not the GordianKnot\AviSynthPlugins\ folder, right?

If that's true, then unfortunately, it didn't work for me because the noise filters were in the GordianKnot\AviSynthPlugins\ folder, but plugindir2_5 was pointing at the AviSynth 2.5\plugins\ folder. (This in addition to my original problem with the decomb filter.) I suppose this is more of a Gordian Knot / AviSynth setup issue, though.

It probabably would be a good idea to keep the guide at http://megui.sourceforge.net/megui-guide.html
up to date. I don't know if you have access to it or not. I'm not sure the one inside the forum is of much value, especially since the forum search engine is so bad. (I only found the one inside the forum by using Google.) It might help if it was made sticky. Perhaps you could ask Doom9 or a moderator to do that for you.

[berrinam]

Originally Posted by Schnoodledorfer

The version at http://megui.sourceforge.net/megui-guide.html
doesn't have that. That's what I was going by and ran into the same problem (with dcomb.dll).

Weird.... I knew it was out of date, but I didn't realise I had deleted that.

If I understand what you're saying (I'm not sure I do), MeGUI will use the plugins directory that's referenced by plugindir2_5 in the HKLM\SOFTWARE\AviSynth registry key

Yes, that is the registry key. However, it is not used by MeGUI, but it is actually used by AviSynth. That key defines the folder that AviSynth will look in to autoload plugins, which means that the plugins in that fo.der do not need to be loaded with loadplugin(). THAT is why MeGUI encourages users to use it, because it simplifies the AviSynth scripts.

(which is probably = "C:\Program Files\GordianKnot\AviSynthPlugins" for most people)

From where did you draw that conclusion? AviSynth sets it up as "C:\Program Files\AviSynth\plugins" and I Gordian Knot doesn't change it. I have Gordian Knot installed, yet it still shows as "C:\Program Files\AviSynth\plugins"
Also, why would MeGUI rely on the Gordian Knot plugins folder when Gordian Knot isn't used by MeGUI? The purpose of MeGUI is to replace Gordian Knot.

, with one exception. The exception is that dcomb.dll must be in the plugins subdirectory of the AviSynth install location (normally C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins) for the (optional) purpose of checking for interlacing.

I hope you see now, that this is not an exception.

Whatever is specified in the avisyth plugins entry of Program Path tab (under Tools/Settings) is completely ignored. (MeGUI just assumes AviSynth has been installed properly and can find its own plugins.) Is that what you mean?

Yep, but not that 'it can find its own plugins', but that the user has put the plugins in the right place.

And when you say "avisynth plugins" you always mean the the AviSynth 2.5\plugins\ folder, not the GordianKnot\AviSynthPlugins\ folder, right?

Yes. Once again, why would MeGUI use GK's plugins folder? It really has caused a fair bit of confusion with GK having its own plugins folder. It would have been much easier if GK just dumped all of its plugins in the AviSynth plugins folder, and then no LoadPlugin() calls would have to be made. However, the devs probably did it that way so that they could avoid any problems with version clashes between plugins.

I suppose this is more of a Gordian Knot / AviSynth setup issue, though.

It's not an issue. Leave GK out of the equation, put the plugins in the right place, as directed by my guide, and you have no problems at all.

It probabably would be a good idea to keep the guide at http://megui.sourceforge.net/megui-guide.html
up to date. I don't know if you have access to it or not.

Well, I'm actually planning to take it back down. It is much easier to edit forum code than html, and there's no point in trying to keep both up-to-date. I only set up the web one because the forum guide didn't hold enough, but that issue is now fixed.

I'm not sure the one inside the forum is of much value, especially since the forum search engine is so bad. (I only found the one inside the forum by using Google.) It might help if it was made sticky. Perhaps you could ask Doom9 or a moderator to do that for you.

The guide has been a sticky from the day after I wrote it. If someone not on Doom9's forum wants to access it, then they would use Google anyway, and anyone on Doom9's forum should know to look at the stickies.

[ChronoCross]

God damnit. Compiling mencoder in cygwin is like trying to push a 2 ton rock. Of course I can compile it with all the custom options that I want. cept the one I really need doesn't fricken work. for some reason it doesn't understand pathnames. When compiling for mencoder you need xvid(done) x264(done) libavcodec(done) and support for win32 dll's(fails). It just cannot fidn those dll's even though the pathname I'm suing is the default one. it seems as though the only way to get lossless to work in mencoder is to use cygwin but you can't pass avisynth scripts through it unless you have win32 dll's enabled. A never ending problem. after 4 hours of google searches to no avail I am giving up for the time being. if anyone has any ideas say so in this thread or pm me.

[Negi]

In MeGui settings in the latest dev build, there is a box that says AVISynth Plugins, but the guide says the box is non-functional. Does it actually do anything? Also, in the Dev Build, you get a lot of (command not found) errors whenever you use the audio encoding dialog box and the oneClick encoding box, and the (mux audio and subtitle box).

[Doom9]

but the guide says the box is non-functional.

The guide is right.. it does nothing. /me makes a mental note to remove it...

[stax76]

Well, I'm actually planning to take it back down. It is much easier to edit forum code than html, and there's no point in trying to keep both up-to-date. I only set up the web one because the forum guide didn't hold enough, but that issue is now fixed.

I'm using this code in my productivity scripts and utils:

PHP Code:

Public Class Scripting
    Public Function GetVBBCode(ByVal htmlcode As String) As String
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("<p>", "")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("</p>", "")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("<ul>", "[list]")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("</ul>", "[/list]")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("<li>", "[*]")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("</li>", "")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("<b>", "[b]")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("</b>", "[/b]")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("<strong>", "[b]")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("</strong>", "[/b]")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("&quot;", """")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("&nbsp;", " ")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("<h1>", vbCrLf + "[size=+2]")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("</h1>", "[/size]" + vbCrLf)
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("<h2>", vbCrLf + "[size=+1]")
        htmlcode = htmlcode.Replace("</h2>", "[/size]" + vbCrLf)

        Return htmlcode
    End Function
End Class 


[dimzon]

Originally Posted by Doom9

The guide is right.. it does nothing. /me makes a mental note to remove it...

let's keep this textbox as readonly (we can show actual AviSynth plugin folder here from registry) for information puposes

[Avish]

Originally Posted by ChronoCross

Avish to answer your question about color correction go here
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.ph...ht=ColorMatrix

Mpeg2Deblocking enables the psot-processing functions of DGDecode. They are relatively fast and in my opinion should always be enabled as DgDecode has access to special information straight fromt he source that allows for accurate deblocking.

Thanks ChronoCross for the reply

BTW I just installed the x264 revision 423 & found out that it contains MeGUI version 0.2.3.2068. I wanted to ask Devs that is this version usable for us normal users or is it another one of "only for Devs" version?

[Schnoodledorfer]

Originally Posted by berrinam

[I thought that plugindir2_5 in the HKLM\SOFTWARE\AviSynth registry key pointed to "C:\Program Files\GordianKnot\AviSynthPlugins" for most people.]

From where did you draw that conclusion? AviSynth sets it up as "C:\Program Files\AviSynth\plugins" and I Gordian Knot doesn't change it.

I assumed that because I thought GordianKnot\AviSynthPlugins\ was where the plugins were autoloaded from. I assumed GK included that folder so that the plugins in it would automatically be available. I checked the registry later and yes, it points to AviSynth\plugins\ instead. I really wish GK called AviSynthPlugins something like AviSynth_plugin_repository or _vault or something like that. It would make the intent more clear.

Originally Posted by berrinam

It would have been much easier if GK just dumped all of its plugins in the AviSynth plugins folder, and then no LoadPlugin() calls would have to be made. However, the devs probably did it that way so that they could avoid any problems with version clashes between plugins.

This is from http://www.avisynth.org/AviSynthPlugins:

It is possible to put all plugins and script files with user-defined functions or (global) variables in a directory from where all files with the extension .AVS and .DLL are loaded at startup, unloaded and then loaded dynamically as the script needs them.

I guess you wouldn't want dlls you didn't normally use to be loaded and unloaded each time AviSynth starts. (But maybe programs normally do this and it's no big deal - I'm not a professional programmer, so I don't know.) In any case, it makes AviSynth crash. (I tried it.) That's a pretty good reason.

Originally Posted by Me

And when you say "avisynth plugins" you always mean the the AviSynth 2.5\plugins\ folder, not the GordianKnot\AviSynthPlugins\ folder, right?

Originally Posted by berrinam

Yes.

Wrong! I finally figured out what you meant by: "'avisynth plugins' is no longer used" in the guide. In that case you were referring to the entry on the "Program Paths" tab of MeGUI's settings, not any particular folder. See below for a suggestion on how to clarify that.

Thanks for fixing up the guide at sourceforge. It's best that there is only one version.

I don't know how I missed the MeGUI guide being a sticky. I was probably looking in the wrong forum.

Because of the confusion over the meaning of "avisynth plugin", which seems to have affected more than just me, I would recommend making these changes to the guide:

Remove "avisynth plugins' is no longer used." Then add (near the bottom of your first post, just above "Pre-rendering of AviSynth scripts..." the following paragraph:

These dlls will automatically be loaded by avisynth if they are placed in the folder that contains the plugins that AviSynth autoloads (normally C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins). If you wish to use a plugin stored elsewhere (such as in the "AviSynthPlugins" folder created by GordianKnot), it is necessary to include a call to the LoadPlugin() function inside the script. This can be added to the script by using the "Load dll" feature on the Edit tab of the AviSynth Script Creator tool. The script can be manually edited before saving as well. See the "AviSynth templates" section in the next post for a way to automate the creation of customized scripts.

(Edited to fix minor typo)

Also, I suggest changing: "You also need NicAudio.dll and mpasource.dll in your AviSynth plugins folder. " to "You also need to place NicAudio.dll and mpasource.dll into the folder that contains the plugins that AviSynth autoloads (normally C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins)." From then on changing "avisynth plugins folder" to "the folder that contains the plugins that avisynth autoloads". That's more verbose, but it's closer to the way it is said on avisynth.org.

One final thing I would perfer would be to change every use of "the AviSynth script creator" to "the AviSynth Script Creator tool". That to me sounds much more like a tool that would be inside MeGUI, rather than some external thing. I know I was confused at one point yesterday on this issue, but that may have been triggered by another post elsewhere. (I was confused about plenty of things yesterday!)

Originally Posted by Doom9 (RE: Specifying AviSynth plugin directory)

The guide is right.. it does nothing. /me makes a mental note to remove it...

Actually, it does do something, just not much. It provides the default location to find the dlls if the user uses the Load DLL function on the AviSynth Script Generator. (I just figured that out!) If you disable this, it would be nice if MeGUI would at least remember where a user loaded an external plugin from and use that the next time as the default.

Originally Posted by dimzon

let's keep this textbox as readonly (we can show actual AviSynth plugin folder here from registry) for information puposes

I think that would still create confusion, unless you label it "Autoloaded AviSynth plugins" or something like that. As it is now, it points elsewhere -- to the default location for external non-autoloaded plugins.

How about also moving up the "Load DLL" row on the Edit tab of the AviSynth Script Generator, or better yet, display something more descriptive. If you don't know what's going on, "Load DLL" won't mean anything to you. Perhaps something like "Manually load dlls for external AviSynth plugins". Perhaps you could draw an option group (that's what it's called in VBA, anyway) around it and use that as the label.

This is nitpicky perhaps, but the actual window has the title "AviSynth Script Generator", but the menu item says "AviSynth Script Creator". That could cause confusion in a discussion over whether someone meant an external tool vs. MeGUIs tool, I suppose.

I don't know if this qualifies as a "feature request" or not. I can say something in the right place, if it would help.

[Morte66]

I encoded/muxed some mp4 files using my special "user is sleepwalking" profile, and somehow ended up with the wrong aspect ratio so they play at about 2:1 instead of 16:9.

So, um, what do you guys use when you want to change the SAR of an existing mp4 file with minimal fuss?

[Richard Berg]

mp4box can change the SAR in-place.

[nufan292]

I'm hoping someone can help this newb that is me, with MeGUI. I have everything installed and I believe in the right places as well. And all the files are pointing to the right locations in the setup. The problem is that after ripping a dvd, and doing the d2v creation and avs creation steps, the encode part seems to fail. Here's a log from MeGUI:

Starting job job1 at 12:31:05 AM
Job is a dgindex job. dgindex commandline:
"C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\DGIndex.exe" -AIF=[E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\VTS_01_1.VOB] -OF=[E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\VTS_01_1] -exit -OM=1 -TN=1
successfully set up dgindex
Processing ended at 12:33:53 AM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Log for job job1


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Generating jobs. Desired size: 1153433600 bytes
Setting desired size of video to 1153433600 bytes
Starting job job2-1 at 12:36:52 AM
Job is an audio job. Commandline:
-core( -input "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\VTS_01_1 T01 3_2ch 448Kbps DELAY 0ms.ac3" -output "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\VTS_01_1 T01 3_2ch 448Kbps DELAY 0ms.mp4" -logfile "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\VTS_01_1 T01 3_2ch 448Kbps DELAY 0ms.besweet.log" ) -azid( -q 100 ) -ota( -g max )
successfully started encoding
Processing ended at 1:07:40 AM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Log for job job2-1

Channels=6, BitsPerSample=16, SampleRate=48000Hz
C:\Program Files\MeGUI-0.2.3.2089-Dev\faac\faac.exe -q 100 -o "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\VTS_01_1 T01 3_2ch 448Kbps DELAY 0ms.mp4" -P -X -R 48000 -B 16 -C 6 --mpeg-vers 4 -Freeware Advanced Audio Coder
FAAC 1.24.1 (May 17 2005) UNSTABLE

Remapping input channels: Center=3, LFE=4
Quantization quality: 100
Bandwidth: 16000 Hz
Object type: Low Complexity(MPEG-4) + M/S
Container format: MPEG-4 File Format (MP4)
Encoding - to E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\VTS_01_1 T01 3_2ch 448Kbps DELAY 0ms.mp4
frame | elapsed | play/CPU
334810 | 1845.8 | 3.87x



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
job job2-1 has been processed. This job is linked to the next job: job2-2
this series of jobs starts with an audio job and is followed by regular twopass video jobs
The audio job is named job2-1 the first pass job2-2 and the second pass job2-3
The second pass job has a desired final output size of 1153433600 bytes and video bitrate of 700 kbit/s
The size of the first audio track is 273216042 bytes
Desired video size after substracting audio size is 859587Setting the desired bitrate of the subsequent video jobs to -2147483648 kbit/s
Starting job job2-2 at 1:07:41 AM
Job is a video job. encoder commandline:
--pass 1 --bitrate -2147483648 --stats "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\Serenity.stats" --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4 --progress --no-psnr --output NUL "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\Serenity.avs"
successfully started encoding
Processing ended at 1:07:43 AM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Log for job job2-2


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
job job2-2 has been processed. This job is linked to the next job: job2-3
Starting job job2-3 at 1:07:43 AM
Job is a video job. encoder commandline:
--pass 2 --bitrate -2147483648 --stats "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\Serenity.stats" --analyse p8x8,b8x8,i4x4 --progress --no-psnr --output "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\Serenity.mp4" "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\Serenity.avs"
successfully started encoding
Processing ended at 1:07:43 AM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Log for job job2-3

desired video bitrate of this job: -2147483648 kbit/s - obtained video bitrate: NaN kbit/s
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
job job2-3 has been processed. This job is linked to the next job: job2-4
Starting job job2-4 at 1:07:43 AM
Job is a mux job. Commandline:
-add "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\Serenity.mp4" -add "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\VTS_01_1 T01 3_2ch 448Kbps DELAY 0ms.mp4" -new "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\Serenity-muxed.mp4"
calling setup failed with error Could not find mp4box.exe in the path specified: mp4box.exe Please specify the proper path in the settings
Starting job job2-4 at 7:26:58 AM
Job is a mux job. Commandline:
-add "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\Serenity.mp4" -add "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\VTS_01_1 T01 3_2ch 448Kbps DELAY 0ms.mp4" -new "E:\SERENITY\AUDIO_TS\Serenity-muxed.mp4"
calling setup failed with error Could not find mp4box.exe in the path specified: mp4box.exe Please specify the proper path in the settings

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[Sharktooth]

ensure you have properly set the path to needed programs in the megui settings (expecially x264 and mp4box)...

[nufan292]

Yup mp4box.exe was pointing wrong. Shold I kick myself now, or later.

[nufan292]

Ok, I just tried encoding the video only and this is what the log says:

Log for job job1

desired video bitrate of this job: 700 kbit/s - obtained video bitrate: NaN kbit/s

And I triple checked that x264 was pointing correctly. In the queue it shows up as done. Being a newb sucks.