AutoGK undocumented feature/bug

[mats.hogberg]

Been on a DVD to AVI app hunt, and it seems like autoGK is my cup of tea - but was for a moment baffled with one thing:
I ripped the DVD to J:, so I had all files (ifo, VOBs and stream list) in the root of J:
Selecting source dir went fine, but autoGK refused to let me select output. No way.
So, I made a filder in J: (j:\x), and moved all my files into that. Selected folder x in J: as source dir - and now I had no probs selecting dest dir and file!
Am I missing something obvious?

/Mats

[TBoneit]

Maybe it was protecting you from having all the files in the root of J: deleted when it was done? Not sure, But I have heard of programs that when they clean up they delete all the files in that dir. Or it may not have wanted a destination directory below where the source was?

Did you try selecting another drive for destination?

Good Luck

[mats.hogberg]

Wouldn't think autoGK is that sloppy programmed - As for selecting target - I wasn't even allowed to select a target! No file selector showed up - the main UI just flashed briefly when trying to bring up the "Save as" dialog.

/Mats

[jimmalenko]

I don't know what version you're running, but in the latest beta you don't need the stream list. If you were to rip with file-splitting set to none, you probably don't need the IFO(s) either.

[mats.hogberg]

No, it's 1.96 or in that neighbourhood. Alas, as with all damned DVD to AVI apps, even in AutoGK, the achilles heel is subtitles handling. 3/4 of the lower subtitle row is outside the image area - when played on the computer! If I where to play it on a TV, you can imagine the rest...
So, in the end, it seems like back to the manual step by step methods...

/Mats

[manono]

Hi-

You're giving up too quickly, and your version is too old. Here's the changelog for ver 2.16:

2.16 beta

- improved "adjust subs" hidden option (no more cut off subs at the bottom)
- new XviD build included (03/08/05)
- DGMPGDec updated to version 1.4.1 RC1
- demuxing of two audio tracks is done in one go during indexing step (not for TS though)
- default target quality setting on main screen is changed to 60% for DivX6

Here's more info about the Hidden Options:

http://www.autogk.me.uk/modules.php?name=TutorialEN#6

[mats.hogberg]

Thanks Manono - I'll give it a try tonite! As my native lang isn't English I'm pretty much depending on good subtitles support - at least for part of my family.
Seems like most apps are developed in English speaking countries - and subtitles support becomes an exotic "extra" to be added last, if at all.

/Mats

[jimmalenko]

The latest beta from autoGK is pretty good - as I said earlier, no more stream list and IFOs from DVDDecrypter is pretty handy.

[mats.hogberg]

Call me oldfashioned, but if there's a stable and a beta version available, I tend to go for latest stable.
Obviously, this was a mistake in the AutoGK case.

I might be getting old...

/Mats

[jimmalenko]

With most other softwares, I'd tend to agree with you on that - Beta is normally for testing some revolutionary new feature normally. AutoGK just seems to keep improving with each beta though ...

[garrisonkw]

It might give a problem if your files are in root as the default output name is the containing folder name with a .avi appended onto the end. The root directory isn't quite a folder, so it could be freezing the app. I have a w:\autogk\ folder I do all my AutoGK work in.

[mats.hogberg]

... and I have a # of drive partitions for all my video related files. Which obviously isn't the general modus operandi... But I understand the theory behind the "auto naming" of the avi - good explanation!

/Mats

[mats.hogberg]

Yeah. Great. With latest beta, (2.16?) the subs aren't cut off at the bottom. They don't show at all! The sub and idx file is present in the temp dir, but the sub file is 0 bytes...

/Mats

[manono]

If it's not one thing, it's another, eh Mats? This is a different problem. First, when the subs are involved, it's usually a good idea to run the Preview after setting everything up. That way if no subs, you'll know right away, and won't waste the time emcoding only to be disappointed in the end.

It could be a number of things, I suppose. One explanation could be that you set it up for Forced Subs in the Advanced Settings. If they're not flagged as Forced, they won't show up. One way to check would be to open the IDX file and look for this:

# ON: displays only forced subtitles, OFF: shows everything
forced subs: ON

It could also be this. The AutoGK FAQ says:

3.4 Subtitles are out of synch/absent. What's wrong?

- Angle and PGC file naming probably was not used. AutoGK has no idea about what was ripped. Of course sometimes DVD can be badly mastered, in which case you have to manually deal with them. Also subs will not be shown properly if you selected only several chapters/cells from PGC as VobSub only works with the whole vobset. As of version 2.12 AutoGK presents a choice of PGCs/Angles to the user upon parsing of IFO file - make sure to select the correct ones. If you don't use subs then selection is not used and you don;t have to select the correct PGC/Angle.

So, go back into DVD Decrypter and up at the top go Tools->Settings->IFO Mode, and in the lower right corner, inside of the File Names box, make sure that you have both "Include PGC Number" and "Include Angle Number" checked.

[http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=72679

Subtitle support is very important to the developer (and to the users). The developer is a Russian living in the UK, and not some American that likes to watch only English language movies, and English dubs of "Foreign" movies. It's just that subs can sometimes be tricky. You might post the log, although in this case it may not help.

[mats.hogberg]

Thank's for being patient - But I find it hard to come to terms with that converting a strictly standared format to something else should be difficult...
Anyways, the log looks fine, there's a sub and idx file - but the sub is 0 byte, the idx only contains the comments at the start.
This is exactly the same source I used with 1.96, where I got the cut off subs. All settings are the same - I just used a little less dest width this time.
I'll have a look/see what happens if try to extract the subs by hand with VobSub...
Thanks for your help so far!

/Mats

[mats.hogberg]

Well, extracting the subs "by hand" with VobSub worked no prob...

/Mats

[Sylvain]

Call me oldfashioned, but if there's a stable and a beta version available, I tend to go for latest stable.
Obviously, this was a mistake in the AutoGK case.

I might be getting old...

/Mats

I made the same "mistake"; I could not even get AutoGK 1.96 to work but was able to convert a bunch of videos to DivX pretty easily with version 2.17 even if it is only beta.

That was until I started to get the following error message from VirtualDub (which is called by AutoGK): "The function SetMode was called on a stream [?] that hasn't been previously initialized with SetSource." I can no longer convert anything and don't know what's going on. Any idea?