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  1. Member
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    Hi,

    I'm having trouble correctly viewing the output pane AFTER compression/codec conversion. I'm trying to convert my source video (xvid) to h264 using x264vfw, but I can't preview the output correctly.

    For my test, I just took a video of a game recording and tried setting it to the lowest quality possible. My settings: http://puu.sh/9ufE8/458a78b9b4.png

    As you can see in the background, the quality is at the level of the input video, and my video settings are definitely set to "Full processing mode" and not "Direct stream copy" as seen here: http://puu.sh/9ufJU/b8102d108e.png

    The resulting output file renders out to be low quality, though (as intended): http://puu.sh/9ufNo/dedbd73b74.png

    Any ideas on why my output/preview pane isn't actually previewing the "output" video?
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  2. Originally Posted by anonymousthing View Post
    Any ideas on why my output/preview pane isn't actually previewing the "output" video?
    Did you check to see if they had been reversed?
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  3. Member
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    Originally Posted by manono View Post
    Originally Posted by anonymousthing View Post
    Any ideas on why my output/preview pane isn't actually previewing the "output" video?
    Did you check to see if they had been reversed?
    As in the input and output panes? Yeah, I'm definitely looking at the output pane, but I can just view both and they seem to be playing the same video.
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  4. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    The output pane would be previewing the output of the FILTERS that are applied to it. It DOES NOT EVER show output AFTER compression encoding (at least not in Virtualdub).

    So, to repeat - make sure you:
    1. Have the [View | Input Video pane] checked
    2. Have the [View | Output Video pane] checked
    3. Have the [View | Swap input/output panes] UNCHECKED
    4. Have the [View | Pane Layout | Both panes] checked

    And I just confirmed, if you have a null transform filter in line, your videos WILL and SHOULD look identical.

    The output pane is NOT meant to be a "compression" preview window.

    Scott
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  5. Member
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    The output pane only shows the effects or filters applied to the original video.
    It doesn't show what the encoded video will look like, for that you have to encode a sample and open it in another video program.
    Last edited by gregalan; 15th Jun 2014 at 03:34. Reason: Too late
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  6. Experimental Koti's Avatar
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    Click image for larger version

Name:	Untitled.jpg
Views:	758
Size:	23.4 KB
ID:	25730 Maybe the swap panes tab got checked ?
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  7. Member
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    Originally Posted by Cornucopia View Post
    The output pane would be previewing the output of the FILTERS that are applied to it. It DOES NOT EVER show output AFTER compression encoding.

    The output pane is NOT meant to be a "compression" preview window.

    Scott
    I see, thanks. So I guess the fastest way to view how bitrate/quality settings in the codec affect the video quality is to simply export a small bit, abort, then view it manually?
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  8. Member
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    Originally Posted by anonymousthing View Post

    I see, thanks. So I guess the fastest way to view how bitrate/quality settings in the codec affect the video quality is to simply export a small bit, abort, then view it manually?
    You could select a small portion of the video to encode.

    Also, you mentioned using x264vfw in the first post. I would recommend using the command line encoder instead with the external encoder feature.
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  9. Member
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    VirtualDubMod has an option "Show decompressed video - Shift+F10". But I doubt that it will work as expected with modern video formats with complex dependencies (B frames, multiple references, etc.). It relies a lot on the specific VfW codec as both encoder and decoder. Intra-frame only codecs (MJPG, DV) may work quite reliably. But in general, it may only display it during a dubbing in progress, not suitable for framewise previews.
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  10. Originally Posted by LigH.de View Post
    VirtualDubMod has an option "Show decompressed video - Shift+F10". But I doubt that it will work as expected with modern video formats with complex dependencies (B frames, multiple references, etc.). It relies a lot on the specific VfW codec as both encoder and decoder. Intra-frame only codecs (MJPG, DV) may work quite reliably. But in general, it may only display it during a dubbing in progress, not suitable for framewise previews.
    Exactly. VirtualDub has this option too. On the View menu.
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