megui - using it's File Indexer

[pooksahib]

Hi. When making edits of videos, I almost always use megui. I'll open it's File Indexer, load my video, resize & crop etc then save the script. So that the final video is in synch, I'll have added something like this to the script:
a=FFVideoSource("E:\...")
b=FFAudioSource("E:\...")
audiodub(a,b)

I've just tried to edit a WMV movie using this method and it failed dismally – the first Indexer created grey blocks on the image and the alternative indexer put the audio out of synch. Then I had an idea – I used AvsPmod to create the script, like so:
DirectShowSource("E:\...", fps=25) #(I had to google that bit about inserting the fps)
Spline64Resize(800,448)
c=trim(0,652).fin(20).fadeout0(20)
c+trim(0,3971).fadein0(20).fadeout0(20)+trim(3972, 0).fadein0(20)

I ran the script with megui and the result was perfect.

Out of curiosity, then, is there any useful purpose to using File Indexer?

[sneaker]

DirectShowSource() relies on system codecs a user might not have installed or badly configured. And it is not always "frame accurate".

FFVideoSource(), LWLibavvideosource() and lsmashvideosource() have "fpsnum" and "fpsden" parameters to convert VFR to CFR like DirectShowSource()'s "fps"+"convertfps" parameters do. If only "fps" (without "convertfps=true") is used the same can be achieved by putting AssumeFPS().

If you have grey blocks with FFVideoSource but not with ffmpeg or other ffmpeg based source filter report to FFVideoSource developer.

[LigH.de]

Use the FFAudioSource first if you want to process audio too. This way you can be sure that the indexer will index both video and audio tracks of the source media. If you use the FFVideoSource first, it may happen that it indexes only the video track first for a smaller index, and when the audio track is read later, it has to index the whole media file again, this time including audio tracks.

I believe the LwLibav*Source indexer indexes all tracks anyway. And LSMASH*Source does not write an index, it relies on existing index chunks in the source, but it can only handle ISO Media file types (MP4, MOV, 3GP...).

[hello_hello]

You can open files via DirectShowSource with MeGUI, although for the reasons previously mentioned it's better kept as a "nothing else worked" method.

Open the Script Creator, click the button to the right of the Video Input section and select your source video. MeGUI should ask how you want to open the video. One of the choices is DirectShowSource, unless you select an AVI, in which case it'll be AVISource. MeGUI will automatically add frame rate conversion to the script for DirectShowSource. There's even a section under the Script Creator/Filters tab for adjusting it.

You can also use that method to open a video after it's been indexed by selecting the index file as the Video Input. For ffmsindex, the index file has to be in the same folder as the source file.

If you click on the Config button next to the Avisynth profile drop down box in the Script Creator, there's an option to use DSS2 rather than DirectShowSource. It probably requires the Haali Media Splitter to be installed but should be more from accurate.

[pooksahib]

Thanks guys. I'm happy to know that the method I've been using to date is the preferred one and that I have an option should I ever encounter a stubborn file.