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  1. Member
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    Overall goal: cropping, StackHorizontal...resulting in an avi that will run when I click on it (I don't want to deal with weird codecs if I don't have to, can't I just use whatever the Windows default is?)

    Problems: My file.AVI always plays in Media Player, but when I pipe it thru AviSynth (file.avs), sometimes it works, and sometimes the file with no changes says I need a fourcc codec, I don't remember which one.

    BTW, I'm using DirectShowSource, as the main one (avishowsource or whatever it is) never works at all. I'm using .wmv's...tried converting to .avi to make AviSynth happy and that just made things worse.

    Question 1: Isn't avisynth outputting uncompressed? Therefore the avi player would never say it needs a codec right? It should read standard raw input, and output whatever codec it likes, right?

    When it works in Media Player, I can't save it, it just saves the .avs text file, not the video.

    Q2: I don't suppose I can save the new stacked avi from MP can I? I want to save what I am seeing, not the stupid input file.

    Problem: file.avs NEVER works in either VirtualDub or VirtualDubMod. Main problem is I hear the soundtrack, but I only see the first frame. When I click on the frame bar all frames look like the first one.

    If I could get it to play in VD or VDM maybe I could save it, but I can't.

    Googling these things leads to pages that require a PhD in video engineering to understand. I had no idea this world existed. Just want it to work.

    Here is my entire .avs code, see if you can wade thru it all:
    DirectShowSource("C:\file.wmv")

    When I feel overconfident, sometimes I go crazy with:
    a=DirectShowSource("C:\file.wmv")
    StackHorizontal(a,a)

    Usually the output works in Media Player, never gets past the first frame in VirtualDub or Mod. So how do I save the output?

    Any help appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Random
    Last edited by RandomGrin; 8th Jul 2014 at 20:30. Reason: Forgot to say I'm in Win7 64 bit. Dunno if AviSynth is 32 or 64, it won't say.
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  2. Member turk690's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by RandomGrin View Post
    [B]Overall goal:Problems: My file.AVI always plays in Media Player, but when I pipe it thru AviSynth (file.avs), sometimes it works, and sometimes the file with no changes says I need a fourcc codec, I don't remember which one.
    When avisynth is first installed it mostly works as expected. Over time, as new programs, updates, drivers, codecs, and codec packs are installed, some of which are aware of avisynth, they introduce their own *.dlls, *.avs, and *.avsi into the avisynth pugins folder, as well as alter registry settings that involve avisynth. This can make avisynth become gradually flaky.
    The first thing to do is uninstall avisynth completely. Then delete the avisynth folder in program files (x86). If you can, remove all traces and references to avisynth in the registry (this step may not be necessary as uninstall should take care of it). Shut down the computer, power completely off for 5mins (don't merely reboot). Turn it back on again, download avisynth 2.58 (not 2.60, avoid 64bit for now) if you haven't done so. Install avisynth. What happens here is that the significance of avisynth is bumped up again, and trashy *.dlls in the plug-ins folder that interfere with it removed.
    For the nth time, with the possible exception of certain Intel processors, I don't have/ever owned anything whose name starts with "i".
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  3. Originally Posted by RandomGrin View Post
    Question 1: Isn't avisynth outputting uncompressed?
    Yes.
    Therefore the avi player would never say it needs a codec right?
    Wrong. It has to decode it before it can play it. FFmpegSource2 can read WMV, along with some other source readers.
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  4. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    You are stringing together a bunch of separate assumptions that don't add up in actuality to your resultant combined premise.

    1. AVISynth is a frameserver that needs an source filter to work with certain file/container and codec types. This could be AVISource, DirectshowSource, etc. You must read up and only use the correct one. Sorry, no cutting corners here trying to avoid understanding about codecs & containers. You lost that battle as soon as you decided to use AVISynth. "piping it through AVISynth" can be done in a number of ways, some which will work correctly for you (and your specific file) and some which won't.

    2. AVISynth is a frameserver that provides uncompressed output TO APPS THAT UNDERSTAND AVISynth (and the .avs placeholder format). Let me make this clear: AVISynth DOES NOT DIRECTLY OUTPUT ANYTHING on its own! It frameserves (uncompressed video and/or audio) through a placeholder (like a call & response thing).

    3. If an app doesn't fully understand AVISynth, it just sees a text file. Can your media player "play" a text file? Mine doesn't.

    4. Even if it can play an .avs, it is basically like a live stream, NOT a file that it's seeing, so a standard player cannot "save" anything but the text file. An app that captures/converts live streams or "frames-on-demand" can. That's what you want. Not WMP.

    5. You never specify just exactly what container & codec you're working with here (or - more likely - more than one), yet that is the crux of what you're doing wrong. ALWAYS START WITH UNDERSTANDING YOUR SOURCE -> MediaInfo.

    6. AVISynth doesn't take a PhD degree, but it does take some in-depth learning. Seems like you aren't willing to invest in this basic first step. IIWY, I'd skip AVISynth for now and just use a standard file in a standard Media Player and/or Editor. If you want to do more than that, you'll have to work a little harder at it than just assuming that "it all just works". Those days went out with CRTs, VCRs & and Analog SD. Modern digital video is CIF/SD/HD/2k/4k/8k, 8/10/12/16bit, RGB4:4:4/YUV4:2:2/YUV4:2:0, OnDisc/OnDemand/OnOTA/OnSAT/OnStreamingNet - Lots of choices, but lots of accompanying complexity which you have to deal with.

    Scott
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  5. The way I read what you're doing it appears you might be putting the avs script in an AVI which you then use for frameserving. Any program capable of opening AVIs should be able to open it as though it's opening the script directly. Although you also mentioned opening avs scripts directly. Putting a script inside an AVI for frameserving should work if the script is outputting video correctly in the first place, but it does involve an additional codec.

    If that's not what you're doing it seems like mostly a missing codec problem. AVI/WMV can contain different types of video so maybe sometimes you have the codec, and sometimes not. If you're decoding via DirectShow having ffdshow installed is a good idea as it'll decode all the usual suspects, but all codecs are not enabled by default, so if there's an error a codec is missing, it pays to check if it's enabled in the ffdshow video decoder configuration.

    The script opening in a media player but not VirtualDub. That seems very unusual. I can't think of a reason for that one. Are both the Input and Output panes checked under the View menu? Can you enable full processing mode for video compression. You probably won't be able to if VD can't recognise the video. If it can't I think it tells you only direct stream copy can be used when you open a file.
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  6. Member
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    Thanks guys, lots to digest there.

    Yah, I am stringing together a lot of assumptions. That's why I'm in the newbie forum. Until I know what I'm talking about, I have to make guesses.

    So I can try to sort all that out, or....

    I basically just want cropping and the equivalent of StackHorizontal. I'm pretty sure WMP won't do that.

    Is there a 'simple' program out there for people who don't want to study all these codecs/frameservers/hoohahs?

    I have programs that let me splice and merge without studying all this stuff.... any one know of some freeware that does crop and Stack?

    If I have to, I'll figure out AviSynth eventually, but simple would be nice.

    Thanks again,
    Random
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    As Cornucopia pointed out, when you decided to use AviSynth you basically committed yourself to a course of action that absolutely requires you to learn what you don't want to learn.

    Why do you think you must have StackHorizontal anyway? Maybe there is a good reason, but I'd like to know why it's so important to you. jagabo taught me how to use it for a very specific before and after comparison on a video that was being filtered but if you're just interested in cropping and editing (cutting and pasting or "splice and merge" as you call it) I am really struggling to understand how you can't live without out it.

    Xvid4PSP uses AviSynth internally to do its operations and you can use it to crop for sure, producing whatever output you like, but you can't do StackHorizontal with it as far as I know and I am not sure about using it to edit. But it could at least do your crops without forcing you to learn anything.
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  8. Member
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    I do get that AviSynth requires learning, and I'm sure it's for good reason.

    I used to be extremely knowledgeable with Unix, so I get the idea of, 'complex and powerful'.

    I'm sure people who take the time to learn it love it, just as UNIX people love UNIX.

    My main goal was stackhorizontal, just wanted to so some cool simultaneous videos, my boy running the Bolder Boulder on the left, another race on the right, that kind of thing.

    AviSynth was just the only program I could quickly find that does that. Maybe there are no, 'simple, friendly' programs that will do that in a button click like they will do a split/join.

    I had no idea there were all these levels of script to uncompressed-but-coded-output to compressed/coded, to whatever. I assumed there was one default .avi coding method and one wmv method for example, because I've never double clicked on an avi or wmv that didn't just open up and play until I tried to play with avisynth. So my reaction was, 'every other avi/wmv in the universe, 'just plays', why the heck are you telling me I need a special codec/translator/hohah now?' Just save it to the default format so I can use it with all the normal video players that have always worked for me in the past. I still don't really get it, but I'm sure there is a reason for it.

    Sorry to get into all that, but you seemed to wonder about my grumpy old man state of mind. Maybe I should have just said, "I am a grumpy old man".

    You should see my once-a-year bitching on FaceBook. They say my company doesn't exist, so I must be unemployed!

    To respond to Turk...its been the opposite for me. It took several hours of work just to get AviSynth to do anything at all. Now it mostly works in WMP, almost but-not-quite works in VD/VDM. But just saving the output seems to require multiple programs. I only tried to install one new codec (XDiv) and I have no idea if AviSynth even knows I installed it, or if it is just sitting uselessly on my HD.

    Plus, one article said AS 2.5.8 had similar problems but AS 2.5.7 worked....I couldn't find 2.5.7 anywhere, so I ended up reinstalling 2.5.8 the day before I asked this question. Didn't help.

    I have never seen something on my computer that was not easily saved before. If you can show me a movie, just save the dang output. If it is a stream, then save the dang stream. If a second program converts the stream data to AVI, just like some convert WMV->AVI, then fine. Maybe a stream capture as suggested above will help. It occurs to me there are video screen capture programs out there, maybe that's the same thing.

    It's frustrating to get the output I want, then find I have to learn several more programs that I never heard of just so I can save what I am already looking at.

    Anyway, thanks much all, if no one knows of a program for dumb end users that does stack/crop I'll have to either figure out AS and the many supporting programs and levels of processing, or I'll give up.


    Thanks again, I do appreciate your time and effort to educate the lazy stupid guy. (Oh to be in college again, so I could devote dozens of hours to learning this and not even notice the time is gone! Those were the days.)
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