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  1. I recently started using MeGui to encode my DVD rips into MKV files, but I've encountered a problem where the episodes on the disc are ripped as one big file (that's just how the DVD is structured) and I can't split the MKV file at the times that I want to. I researched this a bit and I understand that it has something to do with I-frames and how certain frames rely on data from other frames and that I would need to use MeGui to encode my files again and somehow change some kind of option to allow me to cut where I want to. Can somebody please tell me how to set up MeGui so that I can finally be able to trim my files?

    Thanks in advance.
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  2. The easy way is to edit the filtering script using Trim()

    e.g. Trim(0,1000) would return frames 0-1000

    Megui has an avs cutter in the tools menu (tools=> avs cutter) , you can use that as well

    Or you can rip them as single episodes in the first place instead of 1 big file
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  3. Originally Posted by poisondeathray View Post
    The easy way is to edit the filtering script using Trim()

    e.g. Trim(0,1000) would return frames 0-1000

    Megui has an avs cutter in the tools menu (tools=> avs cutter) , you can use that as well

    Or you can rip them as single episodes in the first place instead of 1 big file
    The files that I get after ripping are about 1.2 gb a piece and last about 18-20 minutes. What I meant by "one big mkv" was that when I select the first file to encode MeGui automatically selects all relevant files and encodes them into one large mkv.

    I'll try the Trim option later. Thanks for the advice.
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  4. Oh , do you mean you did rip as individual episodes, but for some reason megui joins them together ?

    By the way, if it's not clear, you are specifying the cuts in the script before encoding. This is much better than after encoding and you will have fewer problems

    If for whatever reason you needed to cut afterwards, you can specify IDR frames using a qpfile . This way you can cut after it's encoded with other programs in precise locations specfied (this is also the same way you make chapter points)
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  5. Originally Posted by poisondeathray View Post
    Oh , do you mean you did rip as individual episodes, but for some reason megui joins them together ?

    By the way, if it's not clear, you are specifying the cuts in the script before encoding. This is much better than after encoding and you will have fewer problems

    If for whatever reason you needed to cut afterwards, you can specify IDR frames using a qpfile . This way you can cut after it's encoded with other programs in precise locations specfied (this is also the way you make chapter points)
    I mean that the way the DVD is structured is that the episodes aren't individual (as in 1 file = 1 episode). Instead they're a series of files about 18-20 minutes long and about 1.2 gigs large. When I select one of these ripped files in MeGui it automatically selects ALL of them and encodes them into one big MKV.

    Yeah, I know that I would tell it to Trim before I start encoding. I understand that cutting afterwards tends to be much harder.

    I do have a lot of encodes I've done already that resulted in the one big file. I'll use the trim option in the future, but how do I use a qpfile? If it's a lot of trouble I can just re-encode, but I'd like to know if I can trim what I've got.
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  6. With most software, you can only cut on an IDR frame . So the precision can be anywhere from 1-250 frames (if you used default or similar settings) . That's usually not good enough.

    With your existing encodes, you can use videoredo or solveigMM video splitter, which do smart rendering. This means they re-encode only the frames within the GOP of the cutsite affected instead of the whole video (the rest is passed through untouched) . Unfortunately there is no free alternative that does "smart rendering" yet. Also they can have problems with certain types of encoded files and some settings (it's not perfect, but when they work, they work great) . Also when they re-encode you do lose some quality within that affected GOP - Those are reasons why it's better to cut it the first place

    A qpfile is a text file that specifies a list of frames that overrides what x264 normally would choose , specifying where to place certain frametypes like an IDR frame . This is done before encoding
    http://mewiki.project357.com/wiki/X264_Settings#qpfile
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  7. Originally Posted by poisondeathray View Post
    With most software, you can only cut on an IDR frame . So the precision can be anywhere from 1-250 frames (if you used default or similar settings) . That's usually not good enough.

    With your existing encodes, you can use videoredo or solveigMM video splitter, which do smart rendering. This means they re-encode only the frames within the GOP of the cutsite affected instead of the whole video (the rest is passed through untouched) . Unfortunately there is no free alternative that does "smart rendering" yet. Also they can have problems with certain types of encoded files and some settings (it's not perfect, but when they work, they work great)

    A qpfile is a text file that specifies a list of frames that overrides what x264 normally would choose , specifying where to place certain frametypes like an IDR frame . This is done before encoding
    http://mewiki.project357.com/wiki/X264_Settings#qpfile
    Alright then, I'll get started on my encodes again. Thank you for the help, and I'll return if something else gets in my way.
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  8. It's easier to "prepare" the DVD correctly for encoding than it is to mess around with trying to split the encoded video later on.

    Open the ripped DVD files using DVD Shrink. Use it's re-author mode (the button in the top menu). In the right hand pane there'll be a bunch of titles. One (or more) will correspond to an individual episode. You may need to also open the ripped DVD files or the original DVD with a media player such as MPC-HC to confirm which is the correct title for each episode. When you play an individual episode, the episode title will display in the status bar. Anyway....

    Using DVD Shrink drag each episode's title from the right pane to the left pane. When they're all done save the re-authored DVD to your hard drive using the backup function. Before you do, go into DVD Shrink's options and make sure the target output size is set to DVD-9 or something larger so DVD Shrink won't try to shrink the video during the backup process.

    When DVD Shrink is done (it should only take a few minutes), the newly backed-up DVD will have a different set of vob files for each episode. Just open each set with MeGUI individually and encode them individually that way.

    Very rarely, an episodic DVD will only use one title while the episodes will be contained within DVD chapters. If that's the case you can still use DVD Shrink the same way, but you'd drag the single title from the right pane to the left pane and then use DVD Shrink's edit function to edit the single title down to one episode using the DVD chapters. Then you'd drag the same title from right to left again, and use the edit function again to make it episode two, then again as epsiode three etc, finally using the backup function to save the DVD as before. By far the majority of DVDs use individual titles for each episode though.

    What are you using to rip the DVDs? Ideally, you'd want to rip them correctly in the first place, although I often rip episodic DVDs using RipIt4Me and then re-auther them with DVD Shrink for encoding. However with something like DVDFab running in the background (DVDFab may rip the DVDs correctly by itself) you could open the disc directly using DVD Shrink, use it's re-author function as I described, then backup the DVD to your hard drive while splitting the DVD into individual episodes at the same time.

    Whichever way, just ensure DVD Shrink's target output size is set to something large. You don't want DVD Shrink re-encoding the video to fit on a single layer disc (as it the default setting) when you use the backup function. As long as the target output size exceeds the total size of the files you're backing up, DVD Shrink will just copy the existing video and audio etc.
    Last edited by hello_hello; 14th Jul 2012 at 13:16.
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  9. Originally Posted by hello_hello View Post
    It's easier to "prepare" the DVD correctly for encoding than it is to mess around with trying to split the encoded video later on.

    Open the ripped DVD files using DVD Shrink. Use it's re-author mode (the button in the top menu). In the right hand pane there'll be a bunch of titles. One (or more) will correspond to an individual episode. You may need to also open the ripped DVD files or the original DVD with a media player such as MPC-HC to confirm which is the correct title for each episode. When you play an individual episode, the episode title will display in the status bar. Anyway....

    Using DVD Shrink drag each episode's title from the right pane to the left pane. When they're all done save the re-authored DVD to your hard drive using the backup function. Before you do, go into DVD Shrink's options and make sure the target output size is set to DVD-9 or something larger so DVD Shrink won't try to shrink the video during the backup process.

    When DVD Shrink is done (it should only take a few minutes), the newly backed-up DVD will have a different set of vob files for each episode. Just open each set with MeGUI individually and encode them individually that way.

    Very rarely, an episodic DVD will only use one title while the episodes will be contained within DVD chapters. If that's the case you can still use DVD Shrink the same way, but you'd drag the single title from the right pane to the left pane and then use DVD Shrink's edit function to edit the single title down to one episode using the DVD chapters. Then you'd drag the same title from right to left again, and use the edit function again to make it episode two, then again as epsiode three etc, finally using the backup function to save the DVD as before. By far the majority of DVDs use individual titles for each episode though.

    What are you using to rip the DVDs? Ideally, you'd want to rip them correctly in the first place, although I often rip episodic DVDs using RipIt4Me and then re-auther them with DVD Shrink for encoding. However with something like DVDFab running in the background (DVDFab may rip the DVDs correctly by itself) you could open the disc directly using DVD Shrink, use it's re-author function as I described, then backup the DVD to your hard drive while splitting the DVD into individual episodes at the same time.

    Whichever way, just ensure DVD Shrink's target output size is set to something large. You don't want DVD Shrink re-encoding the video to fit on a single layer disc (as it the default setting) when you use the backup function. As long as the target output size exceeds the total size of the files you're backing up, DVD Shrink will just copy the existing video and audio etc.
    I figured out that I could use DVDShrink to reauthor my dvds so that they rip episode by episode before I read this, but thank you for the tip. I had forgotten about DVDShrink; I had used it long ago when trying to make a compilation of my favorite moments from this anime I watched a long time ago. Funny thing is I got tired of the anime.

    Thanks for the info,

    ZBeast
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