Looking for an MPEG-2 Encoder like CCE and FFMPeg Questions

[Maikeru-sama]

First, I am currently trying to find an Encoder that is similar to CCE. CCE is the only encoder that I have used and I would like to have an alternative if CCE just can't handle a file, which seems to be the case lately.

I would like something that:
1) Accepts AVS files
2) Can do a pulldown
3) Does batch encoding


Today, I spent some time testing Avanti as it uses FFMpeg but I just couldn't get it to work.

Second, I just had some questions about FFMPeg.

Could someone provide me with a basic command line example that accepts an AVS file as input (video is MP4), has average or above average video quality and renders an MPEG-2 compliant file for DVD?

I have looked at the FFMPeg guides, but would like to get decent feedback from the forum.

I actually have more questions but I am in a hurry and will the others later .

[Soopafresh]

You can try WinFF which uses ffmpeg and can create DVD files. Also lets you save the command line to a batch file.

You should also try Quenc and HC . They're really good. There are batch processing front-end utilties for HC, and Quenc can be run from command line.

[freebird73717]

First, I am currently trying to find an Encoder that is similar to CCE. CCE is the only encoder that I have used and I would like to have an alternative if CCE just can't handle a file, which seems to be the case lately.

I would like something that:
1) Accepts AVS files
2) Can do a pulldown
3) Does batch encoding

You are probably going to get a lot of recommendations for HCenc. It can do everything in your list of wants. Batch encoding is accomplished via command line. If commandline does not suit you there are a some different gui that offer batch encoding through hcenc.

Small list
FAVC
avstodvd or is it avs2dvd (not sure)
hc_batch.exe by mikeytown2
or my very own HCbatchGUI

There may be others but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Try them all and see what works the best for you. They are all freeware. If you try my hcbatchgui and have any suggestions you can leave them on the development page in the programming forum here on videohelp. There is a link to it in the program itself.

[Maikeru-sama]

Thanks for the suggestions. I downloaded HC Encoder and HC BatchGui and I will be playing around with it for the next few days.

[Maikeru-sama]

In the HC BatchGui, is there a way to tell the program which file extensions to look for? It just has a Source Directory, so I am assuming it is going to process every valid video file in there correct?

[freebird73717]

It just looks for d2v, avi, and avs.

I basically made it to process DV avi's and downloaded xvid/divx avi files.

[FulciLives]

HCenc or just HC for short is a great encoder. In fact I would say that it is almost as good as CCE over all and in some instances even better. Only thing I don't like is that it cannot really do a true CBR encode.

Please note that in the past the auto GOP setting for NTSC didn't really work well so it was better to set it manually although I think that has since been sorted out.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[45tripp]

You can try WinFF which uses ffmpeg and can create DVD files.

or Avanti rather

i've already suggested HC, in a previous thread

tripp

[Maikeru-sama]

Freebird, quick couple of questions about the HC Batch Gui:

1) Is there a way to disable the audio? I am use to disabling the audio via Avisynth and then using FFMpeg to work on the audio. Obviously, I can change my mode of thinking but I wouldn't mind having that option.

2) How do you stop the program ? I got an error stating that the program could not handle parameter "-b" but it kept processing the audio and I couldn't stop it.

3) If I am loading AVS scripts, I am assuming the destination size has to be in the AVS script or I have to use the AVS generator in HC Batch Gui?

BTW, I am referencing your guide here:
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic337887.html

Edit:The error is: "can't process parameter -b"

[Maikeru-sama]

One other question, is there a way to change the names of the files rendered?

[Maikeru-sama]

Disregard all questions, as I think I have the hang of the program.

As far as the audio naming conventions, I will just go into the batch file and change that myself or something as I need it to be the same name as the m2v file.

[freebird73717]

Freebird, quick couple of questions about the HC Batch Gui:

1) Is there a way to disable the audio? I am use to disabling the audio via Avisynth and then using FFMpeg to work on the audio. Obviously, I can change my mode of thinking but I wouldn't mind having that option.

Actually I am going to add the ability to customize the avisynth script in the next windows release. I have already added those feature to my linux release.

The audio in hcbatchgui is processed by aften which is based on ffmpeg. If you really want to use ffmpeg to process audio just leave the audio tab blank.

2) How do you stop the program ? I got an error stating that the program could not handle parameter "-b" but it kept processing the audio and I couldn't stop it.

HCbatchgui uses an independent application called psshutdown to Abort the working processes. You will have to press "abort the process" at least once and accept the license agreement before it works. Just look at the bottom of the start process page for the Abort process button.

3) If I am loading AVS scripts, I am assuming the destination size has to be in the AVS script or I have to use the AVS generator in HC Batch Gui?

I'm assuming you mean the final video output size then no. You need to set the average and maximum bitrate on the first tab.

Edit:The error is: "can't process parameter -b"

You will get this error if you don't set the bitrate values.

One other question, is there a way to change the names of the files rendered?

I should probably change that so the audio should be the same as the video name by removing the HCaudio prefix.

This little proggy is really just a simple little gui that creates the batch script for you. You could alter the batch script by aborting the process then changing the batch file in a text editor.

edit- just saw that you figured things out. If you have any other questions or suggestions please let me know. I try to implement features and suggestions into the proggy if my "limited" programing skills will allow it.

Happy encoding.

[Maikeru-sama]

DOS question for everyone.

Problem - If I have a file called: "mymp4.mp4.avs", The command line below will render a file called: "mymp4.mp4.avs.m2v". I would like to remove the "avs" from the string before it is rendered.

<DOS>
for %%a in ("*.avs","*.d2v") do "C:\HCenc_023.exe" -i "%%a" -o "C:\%%a.m2v" -b 3000 -maxbitrate 8000 -ini "C:\HC.ini"
</DOS>

Is there a way to
1) Place %%a into a variable
2) Use a string manipulation function like replace to remove unwanted portions of the string and then call HCenc

I will continue to research the Internet but wanted to ask here as well.

[45tripp]

for %%a in ("*.avs","*.d2v") do "C:\HCenc_023.exe" -i "%%a" -o "C:\%%~na.m2v" -b 3000 -maxbitrate 8000 -ini "C:\HC.ini"

does what you want.

for 1) look at any recent soopafresh batch file
for 2) depends on what you want to do.


tripp

[Maikeru-sama]

for %%a in ("*.avs","*.d2v") do "C:\HCenc_023.exe" -i "%%a" -o "C:\%%~na.m2v" -b 3000 -maxbitrate 8000 -ini "C:\HC.ini"

does what you want.

for 1) look at any recent soopafresh batch file
for 2) depends on what you want to do.


tripp

Thanks Tripp, I will try this out.

The numbered list was just an extension of what I was asking at the beginning of my last post. I just don't want "avs" in the rendered file.

[Maikeru-sama]

45Tripp, it worked like a charm and you just saved me a ton of work as I was about to try and accomplish the same task through a VB.net form.

Thanks

[Midzuki]

Maikeru-sama wrote:

DOS question for everyone.

There is *no* actual DOS under any Win32-environment
(Windows 95/98/ME included).

[Maikeru-sama]

Maikeru-sama wrote:

DOS question for everyone.

There is *no* actual DOS under any Win32-environment
(Windows 95/98/ME included).

Thanks for that completely useless and condescending post .

[Maikeru-sama]

freebird73717 or anyone else with knowledge of the "wavi.exe", is there a way to map audio with this tool or would I have to do it in Avisynth?

For example, if I had an MKV file with dual-audio, is there a way to choose which audio I want the program to use, which would be similar to the "map" argument in FFMpeg.

I will continue to research if this could be done in Avisynth.

[freebird73717]

wavi only uses uncompressed audio from an avi or audio from an avs file (since avisynth decompresses the audio for you).

Not sure if you can do what you want in avisynth or not. I've never tried. You probably can though because avisynth is a very powerful tool.

Good luck!

[45tripp]

not unless you use ffmpegsource()
with atrack

so,

ffmpegsource("blah.mkv", atrack=?)

tripp

[Maikeru-sama]

not unless you use ffmpegsource()
with atrack

so,

ffmpegsource("blah.mkv", atrack=?)

tripp

Thanks as always, I will give this a try when I get a chance.

Edit:45Tripp, does this function assume that my encoder is going to be ffmpeg or would this work in CCE or some other encoder?

[45tripp]

it'll work with encoders that take avs input, like cce
and so on...

[Midzuki]

Maikeru-baka wrote:

Thanks for that completely useless and condescending post

I agree --- correct information is always "useless", "condescending" and
(more importantly) "irrelevant". On the other hand, the proud of remaining
uninformed and misinformed is always "cool".

[Maikeru-sama]

@freebird73717, any idea why HCenc crashes when I choose to place the "AVSReload" option in the INI file? Not sure what this does, but the tooltext says that it helps prevent "source mismatch errors", which I am getting alot of according to HCenc, but maybe that is normal?

@Everyone, I am getting what you call "flashy" (not jerky) video using HCenc through the command line using an INI file. My MP4 is "Progressive" and for the "Interlaced Options" I have chosen both "auto" and "progressive" and I am getting the same "flashy" type video.

Quenc rendered the same file perfectly although the output was way larger than what I expected, but that is for another day.

Here is some background info:

<AVISYNTH>
DirectShowSource("C:\myvideo.mp4", audio=false)
LanczosResize(640,440,4,0,1272,720)
AddBorders(40,16,40,24)
ConvertToYV12()
</AVISYNTH>

<INI>
*MATRIX mpeg
*BITRATE 3000
*MAXBITRATE 8000
*PROFILE best
*DC_PREC 10
*SMP
*PULLDOWN
*ASPECT 4:3
*PRIORITY normal
</INI>

<MEDIAINFO>
General #0
Complete name : C:\myvideo.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format/Info : ISO 14496-1 Base Media
Format/Family : MPEG-4
File size : 175 MiB
PlayTime : 23mn 24s
Bit rate : 1047 Kbps
StreamSize/String : 573 KiB
Encoded date : UTC 2008-03-09 08:49:28
Tagged date : UTC 2008-03-09 08:49:28

Video #0
Codec : AVC
Codec/Family : AVC
Codec/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Codec profile : High@L5.1
Codec settings, CABAC : Yes
Codec_Settings_RefFrames : 16
PlayTime : 23mn 24s
Bit rate mode : VBR
Bit rate : 926 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 6712 Kbps
Width : 1280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display Aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate mode : CFR
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Chroma : 4:2:0
Interlacement : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.042
StreamSize/String : 155 MiB
Encoded date : UTC 2008-03-09 04:53:53
Tagged date : UTC 2008-03-09 08:49:32

Audio #0
Codec : MPEG-1 Audio
Codec/Family : MPEG-A
PlayTime : 23mn 24s
Bit rate mode : VBR
Bit rate : 118 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 148 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits
StreamSize/String : 19.7 MiB
Encoded date : UTC 2008-03-09 08:49:31
Tagged date : UTC 2008-03-09 08:49:32
</MEDIAINFO>

[45tripp]

@freebird73717, any idea why HCenc crashes when I choose to place the "AVSReload" option in the INI file? Not sure what this does, but the tooltext says that it helps prevent "source mismatch errors", which I am getting alot of according to HCenc, but maybe that is normal?

no, it's not normal.
but people do have a problem with it.
personally i've not.

avsreload is an option to clear the memory of the avisynth script to avoid the mismatches, or potential crashes.

one solution to frame mismatches is to use the losseless inermediate file option in 0.23

<AVISYNTH>
DirectShowSource("C:\myvideo.mp4", audio=false)
LanczosResize(640,440,4,0,1272,720)
AddBorders(40,16,40,24)
ConvertToYV12()
</AVISYNTH>

that resize seems wrong.
post a screenshot of source.

@Everyone, I am getting what you call "flashy" (not jerky) video using HCenc through the command line using an INI file. My MP4 is "Progressive" and for the "Interlaced Options" I have chosen both "auto" and "progressive" and I am getting the same "flashy" type video.

meaning?
post a small sample clip exhibiting this 'flashy' behaviour.


tripp

[Maikeru-sama]

@45Tripp, I forgot to mention that when I do "lossless", HCenc crashes as well. Below is the error being reported when it crashes:

<HCENC LOSSLESS>
AppName: hcenc_023.exe AppVer: 0.23.0.0 ModName: hcenc_023.exe
ModVer: 0.23.0.0 Offset: 0001153c
</HCENC LOSSLESS>

I will upload some images of what I have described as "flashy" playback once I re-encode as I have already deleted the file. Also, "flashy" may be a bad term, when I look at the video in TMPGenc DVD Author one frame at a time, in blocks of the video, every other scence seems to have horizontal lines going through the video and of course when you play the video its seems like it is "flashy" because of the scenes with lines on them.

Also, the Avisynth script was generated through FitCD, which has always been accurate to my knowledge.

[manono]

FitCD is accurate for the way it's set up. If you set it up wrong it'll give you a screwy script. I agree with 45tripp that there may be something wrong with that script. And I guess you're adding a bunch of black around the video for your own reasons.

A GSpot pic of the source will do.

[Maikeru-sama]

@Everyone, yes I am adding blocks of black to prevent vertical and horizontal overscan and after doing literally hundreds of these, 640x440 in FitCD Resize has been the best option and I have never had any problems with it, but I am open to anything.

Here is the Gspot Information

[Maikeru-sama]

Here are the lines I was referring to when talking about flashy playback with HCenc:

Pic1
Pic2