Virtualdub / Avisynth problem - stumbling between joined clips

[Sebastian2011]

Hello everyone,

I've done a lot of avi editing with VirtualDub and Avisynth recently, mostly just cutting videos to shorter versions, fading in and out and filling the space between clips with BlankClip. The problem I have is that often in the resulting avi the point where one clip ends and the next one starts is not clean. Tiny fragments of the video are inserted randomly at the junctions, sometimes at the very beginning of the resulting avi. Sometimes it does not happen, I don't see a pattern. My Avisynth scripts usually look something like this:

clip1=AviSource("video.avi").Trim(0,733).FadeOut(2 5)
clip2=AviSource("video.avi").Trim(16775,17060).Fad eIn(25).FadeOut(25)
clip3=AviSource("video.avi").Trim(17875,18237).Fad eIn(25).FadeOut(25)
BlankClip(clip1,25)+clip1+BlankClip(clip1,5)+clip2 +BlankClip(clip2,5)+clip3+BlankClip(clip3,100)

Does anyone have an idea what could cause this? Any help would be greatly appreciated since this issue costs me a lot of time and nerves.

[gadgetguy]

Try using ++ (aligned splice) instead of + (unaligned splice).

[Sebastian2011]

Try using ++ (aligned splice) instead of + (unaligned splice).

Thank you, doesn't help though

Could it have something to do with the frame numbers? With the video I'm editing right now, the transition between clip1 and clip2 is super smooth every time I play it in Virtualdub, but between 2 and 3 it always stumbles. Same source video.

[jagabo]

Remux the clips with packed bitstream using Mpeg4Modifier.

[Sebastian2011]

Remux the clips with packed bitstream using Mpeg4Modifier.

The "Pack" option is greyed out ...

[gadgetguy]

What type of avi is your source?

[Sebastian2011]

What type of avi is your source?

Avi 2.0 Xvid

[gadgetguy]

Instead of loading it 3 times, load it once and trim the segments.
ie:
Source=AVISource("Video.avi")
clip1=Trim(Source,0,733)
clip2=Trim(Source,16775,17060)
clip3=Trim(Source,17875,18237)

[gadgetguy]

Also try using Dissolve instead of FadeIn and FadeOut
ie:

Source=AVISource("Video.avi")
clip1=Trim(Source,0,733)
clip2=Trim(Source,16775,17060)
clip3=Trim(Source,17875,18237)
Space=Blankclip(Source,56)
Dissolve(Space,clip1,Space,clip2,Space,clip3,Space ,25)

[Sebastian2011]

Also try using Dissolve instead of FadeIn and FadeOut
ie:

Source=AVISource("Video.avi")
clip1=Trim(Source,0,733)
clip2=Trim(Source,16775,17060)
clip3=Trim(Source,17875,18237)
Space=Blankclip(Source,56)
Dissolve(Space,clip1,Space,clip2,Space,clip3,Space ,25)

I think we're getting somewhere! Haven't encoded yet, but in VD it looks good. I'll try. Thanks a lot!
What do the numbers 56 and 25 in the last two lines mean?

[gadgetguy]

56 is the length of the Blank Clip, 25 is the number of frames to overlap each clip with the next.

[Sebastian2011]

56 is the length of the Blank Clip, 25 is the number of frames to overlap each clip with the next.

Works like a charm, thank you very much!

[Sebastian2011]

... I had to dig this up - it turns out it's not entirely solved. Your code works much better and I always use something like it now. However, there still is one glitch after the first BlankClip. One frame (or a couple) that belong somewhere later in the video get(s) inserted. This is the script I'm working with:

Source=DirectShowSource("grace.mp4", convertfps = true)
clip1=Trim(Source,28693,40947)
clip2=Trim(Source,51000,56740)
clip3=Trim(Source,63174,68187)
Space1=BlankClip(Source,125)
Space2=BlankClip(Source,70)
Dissolve(Space1,clip1,Space2,clip2,Space2,clip3,Sp ace1,25)

Any ideas? Thank you!

[jagabo]

DirectShowSource() is known not to be frame accurate. Use ffmpegSource() instead.

http://code.google.com/p/ffmpegsource/

Or Convert the video to a lossless intermediate like huffyuv or lagarith. Then perform all the editing and final encode with that lossless intermediate.

[Sebastian2011]

DirectShowSource() is known not to be frame accurate. Use ffmpegSource() instead.

http://code.google.com/p/ffmpegsource/

Or Convert the video to a lossless intermediate like huffyuv or lagarith. Then perform all the editing and final encode with that lossless intermediate.

Thanks, but I can't get it to work I copied ffms2.dll, ffms2.avsi and ffmsindex.exe to the Avisynth plugin folder and ran the .exe, but VirtualDub keeps saying "Script error: there is no function named "ffmpegSource"". Can you tell me how to properly install it? The documentation doesn't say so much about that.

And just out of interest, how would a conversion to HuffYUV solve this? Do you know what causes the problem?

[manono]

I copied ffms2.dll, ffms2.avsi and ffmsindex.exe to the Avisynth plugin folder and ran the .exe, but VirtualDub keeps saying "Script error: there is no function named "ffmpegSource"".

Maybe you should be trying 'FFVideoSource' instead? Or 'FFmpegSource2', if wanting to include the audio and video together in one line?

And just out of interest, how would a conversion to HuffYUV solve this?

Then you can use AVISource on the resulting AVI. It'll be frame accurate and the filtering can be done without worries. If it were I, I'd say don't ever use DirectShowSource if you can possibly avoid it.

[jagabo]

I should have been more clear. After installing the ffmpegsource plugins use:

aud=ffAudioSource("filename.ext")
vid=ffVideoSource("filename.ext")
AudioDub(vid,aud)
TheRestOfYourFilters()

Or:

FFMpegSource2("video.ext", atrack=-1)
TheRestOfYourFilters()

[Sebastian2011]

Thanks, I'll try that out later and report back.

[Sebastian2011]

Hm ... VirtualDub still gives me the "Script error: there is no function named "ffmpegSource"" message. I tried both variants.

[jagabo]

It ffmpegsource2(). Note the "2".

[Sebastian2011]

It ffmpegsource2(). Note the "2".

Same error, only with a "2" added.

[jagabo]

Did you put ffms2.dll ffmsindex.exe and ffms2.avsi in your avisynth plugins folder? You might as well put ffms2.html there too for easy access.

[Sebastian2011]

Did you put ffms2.dll ffmsindex.exe and ffms2.avsi in your avisynth plugins folder? You might as well put ffms2.html there too for easy access.

Yes, it's all there!

[jagabo]

Are you running 64 bit Windows? 64 bit programs require 64 bit components (readers, splitters, codecs, filters), 32 bit programs require 32 bit components. Ie, if you're running 64 bit VirtualDub you need 64 bit AviSynth and 64 bit filters.

[Sebastian2011]

Are you running 64 bit Windows? 64 bit programs require 64 bit components (readers, splitters, codecs, filters), 32 bit programs require 32 bit components. Ie, if you're running 64 bit VirtualDub you need 64 bit AviSynth and 64 bit filters.

No, it's all 32. Just downloaded the latest (newer) ffmpegsource version and made sure it wasn't the 64 one. Same problem. Weird. DirectShowSource.dll is in the same plugins folder and that one works.

[jagabo]

I don't know what the problem is at this point. It sounds like you have everything set up properly. Try using ffvideosource("filename.ext") and see if that works just to get the video.

[Sebastian2011]

I don't know what the problem is at this point. It sounds like you have everything set up properly. Try using ffvideosource("filename.ext") and see if that works just to get the video.

Didn't work, but I googled around and found a script that used a line like

LoadPlugin("D:\path\ffms2.dll")

at the beginning, tried it, and now it works! I'm very sorry if it was stupid of me not to put that in, but I never needed something like it before. Thanks for all your effort!

[jagabo]

Weird, dll plugins in the plugins folder are suppose to load automatically.

[Gavino]

Are you sure you are putting the plugins in the right folder?
Avisynth gets the plugin folder name from registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avisynth\plugindir2_5

You can use RegEdit to check if this folder matches what you expect.

[Sebastian2011]

Are you sure you are putting the plugins in the right folder?
Avisynth gets the plugin folder name from registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avisynth\plugindir2_5

You can use RegEdit to check if this folder matches what you expect.

This is it. I installed AviSynth on partition D but it still put the plugins folder in C:\program files\Avisynth. I got fooled because there is a plugins folder in the AviSynth directory on D as well. Not sure how DirectShow made it into the right one, but whatever ...

Thanks a bunch!