Is x264 a codec or encoder or converter or format or what?

[hech54]

x264 bar none.

Except that it's not converter software.....what is your point?

[epsilonalpha]

@hech54
You seem mad.

x264 bar none.

Except that it's not converter software.....what is your point?

Except that it is, it accept most today's popular format and encode to the best video compression format that could be played by virtually anything on the maket today.

[hech54]

@hech54
You seem mad.
Except that it is, it accept most today's popular format and encode to the best video compression format that could be played by virtually anything on the maket today.

X264 isn't software or converter software.
MPEG1 isn't software or converter software.
MPEG2 isn't software or converter software.
AC3 isn't software or converter software.
MP3 isn't software or converter software.
etc etc etc
They are codecs or "compression formats"....not software.
If you don't know what you are talking about, or if the only thing you know in English is X264...please
shut up and stop confusing newbies.

[chowmein]

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[El Heggunte]

placeholder for ugly pic

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There is no such thing as a meme.

[Gavino]

X264 isn't software or converter software.

X264 certainly is software, and depending on definition, could even be considered as a form of 'converter software'.

Perhaps you were thinking of H.264?

[hech54]

X264 isn't software or converter software.

X264 certainly is software, and depending on definition, could even be considered as a form of 'converter software'.

Perhaps you were thinking of H.264?

No....I was thinking of X264 alright. Just as a computer scientists think of Xvid in relation to Divx. Without proper software to do it...you don't get an Xvid or X264 "file" by downloading a codec alone.
Nice try though.

[usually_quiet]

X264 isn't software or converter software.

X264 certainly is software, and depending on definition, could even be considered as a form of 'converter software'.

Perhaps you were thinking of H.264?

No....I was thinking of X264 alright. Just as a computer scientists think of Xvid in relation to Divx. Without proper software to do it...you don't get an Xvid or X264 "file" by downloading a codec alone.
Nice try though.

There is a free software library and related application software that goes by the name "x264" available from the VideoLAN group. http://www.videolan.org/developers/x264.html The application is an H.264/MPEG-4 AVC encoder. I wouldn't call it a converter myself, but it is not simply a codec** either, anymore than HCEnc is is codec.

**codec meaning a formal standard describing a video or audio format, as the term is generally used here on this website.

[Heywould3]

Codec: COmpressDECompress. as pointed out X264 is a format that needs a Codec to be played. Therefore X264 is not an encoder...

[usually_quiet]

Codec: COmpressDECompress. as pointed out X264 is a format that needs a Codec to be played. Therefore X264 is not an encoder...

The VideoLAN group says the following at http://www.videolan.org/developers/x264.html :

x264 is a free software library and application for encoding video streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format, and is released under the terms of the GNU GPL.

I presume they know the proper terminology for describing the application they wrote. If you disagree with their description, I suggest that you take it up with them. I have tried running the thing and, as far as I can tell, it is an H.264 encoder with a command line interface.

[Gavino]

Exactly, that's what I was getting at in post #14.

[usually_quiet]

Exactly, that's what I was getting at in post #14.

Since some people (not you Gavino) can't be bothered read about the software they use... x264.exe is the H.264 encoder used by a long list of video conversion applications. Among them: Avidemux, ffmpeg, and Handbrake.

[hech54]

x264 is an open source H264/AVC based video codec. The x264 CLI is a command line x264 encoder tool and is used in several converters like Handbrake, Xvid4PSP, StaxRip, RipBot264, FairUse Wizard, MEGUI.
https://www.videohelp.com/tools/x264-Encoder

Keep digging guys.....and I'll keep looking for those elusive x264.exe, mp3.exe, mpeg2.exe files. Haven't found a single one yet.

[usually_quiet]

x264 is an open source H264/AVC based video codec. The x264 CLI is a command line x264 encoder tool and is used in several converters like Handbrake, Xvid4PSP, StaxRip, RipBot264, FairUse Wizard, MEGUI.
https://www.videohelp.com/tools/x264-Encoder

Keep digging guys.....and I'll keep looking for those elusive x264.exe, mp3.exe, mpeg2.exe files. Haven't found a single one yet.

You don't need to look....
http://x264.nl has links for downloading x264.exe under the heading "encoder (x264.exe):"
A guide to using it can be found here http://mewiki.project357.com/wiki/X264_Settings
x264.exe is strictly an encoder for the H264 format. Other software must be used to decode.

[Cornucopia]

Maybe this will bridge the gap...

x264 IS an encoder software - it does the encoding to h.264 (the codec standard). It can do it via CLI or as a DLL.
but
x264 ISN'T a converter software - it has NO feature for decoding ANY other codec, only uncompressed/raw video. All those frontend GUI's include a separate decoder section (utilizing other tools).

Converters have to CONVERT from one compressed codec standard, through decompression, and to a new/different compressed codec standard. So they incorporate 2 stages (edit: this is also known as TRANSCODING). The x264 encoder is only 1 stage.

It may sound like I'm 100% behind what hech54 said, but I'm not...
x264 certainly IS software. And all those other things you mentioned, which in a narrow sense are codecs, DO have software - just not the ones you mentioned.

Mp3 is a codec standard. IOW, If you follow the standard, you take an uncompressed bitstream and USE AN ENCODER SOFTWARE to create a new, compressed bitstream that is (hopefully) compliant with that standard, where a compliant DECODER SOFTWARE can decompress it back to an uncompressed bitstream (for playing or editing/mixing). MP3 is a codec standard. Lame is an MP3 codec (actually mainly encoding) software. BTW, the compressed bitstream IS NOT the codec, it just USES the codec (software) or COMPLIES WITH the codec (standard).

x264 IS the encoder software - the codec standard is h.264 (aka AVC or JVT or MPEG4 Part 10) there are many other h.264-compliant encoders and decoders...
(This was pointed out to me in the past - to my embarrassment - by Gavino, who knows what he's talking about)

So, can we get back OnTopic now?

I've liked: MediaCoder, Handbrake, Super, Procoder, Squeeze, Digital Rapids, Telestream Episode (you didn't say what the $$$ limit was...), among many others.

Scott

[usually_quiet]

Thanks, Corucopia. Exactly. As I said, x264.exe is an H.264 encoder, not a video standard (or format) itself, and not a converter. It is easy to confuse "codec" (encoding and decoding software) with the "format" (standard), being encoded or decoded.

[hech54]

x264 is an open source H264/AVC based video codec. The x264 CLI is a command line x264 encoder tool and is used in several converters like Handbrake, Xvid4PSP, StaxRip, RipBot264, FairUse Wizard, MEGUI.
https://www.videohelp.com/tools/x264-Encoder

Keep digging guys.....and I'll keep looking for those elusive x264.exe, mp3.exe, mpeg2.exe files. Haven't found a single one yet.

You don't need to look....
http://x264.nl has links for downloading x264.exe under the heading "encoder (x264.exe):"
A guide to using it can be found here http://mewiki.project357.com/wiki/X264_Settings
x264.exe is strictly an encoder for the H264 format. Other software must be used to decode.

I encode to x264/H264 all of the time just like I used to encode to Xvid/Divx before that....it is now my preferred video codec as well(I have over 150 videos on my YouTube channel). I don't need to learn how to use it....I use it almost on a weekly basis. I use software which I then direct to call up the video codec I need (Xvid, X264, HuffyUV, etc etc etc). There is no x264.exe anywhere on my system/computer....just like there is no xvid.exe....because they are codecs.

[usually_quiet]

I encode to x264/H264 all of the time just like I used to encode to Xvid/Divx before that....it is now my preferred video codec as well(I have over 150 videos on my YouTube channel). I don't need to learn how to use it....I use it almost on a weekly basis. I use software which I then direct to call up the video codec I need (Xvid, X264, HuffyUV, etc etc etc). There is no x264.exe anywhere on my system/computer....just like there is no xvid.exe....because they are codecs.

Like almost everyone at videohelp you confuse the codec (encoding and decoding software) with the format (standard) and use them interchangeably. There are codecs available for them, but MPEG2 and MP3 are not actually codecs. They are formats (standards).

If someone wants to adhere to the formal definition of the word "codec" (not as you tend to misuse it) x264 is a part of a codec (it is encoding software) for the H.264 format (standard), but it is not a format (standard). There is no x264 format (standard) there is only an H.264 format (standard).

I showed you exactly where I found the x264.exe encoder, which should be enough to prove it exists. There is also an unofficial VFW version, which may be what you have.

[hech54]

I showed you exactly where I found the x264.exe encoder

And you keep ignoring the fact that I've stated several times that is does not exist anywhere on my system/computer.....yet here I am creating videos that contain the X264/H264 codec.
I am FAR from an expert on this subject, but telling someone new to all of this that x264 is "software" is absurd, and telling them that it is "an encoder" is at LEAST very confusing. You need something else in order to create a video file that contains x264/h264.

[davexnet]

I checked my install of Staxrip (a popular MKV/H.264 creation program)
- there certainly is an x264.exe present.

It's my understanding x264.exe is an H.264 encoder, a free encoder known for it's quality.
It certainly isn't the only H.264 encoder.

[jagabo]

x264... You need something else in order to create a video file that contains x264/h264.

No you don't. x264.exe now includes ffmpeg's front end. It can read many different file types, decompress the video, then encode as h.264.

[hech54]

I don't have Staxrip, I don't have ffmpeg....and I don't have an x264.exe anywhere on my computer:

[Gavino]

What you have on your computer is irrelevant, and doesn't alter the fact that x264 is software.
Even if you are talking about the codec rather than the x264.exe program (which certainly exists), it's still 'software'.

Recently, I said this:

hech54 can be blunt at times, but he's usually right ...

But not this time.
What you said about MPEG1, MPEG2, AC3 and MP3 was correct, and also applies to H.264, but not to x264.

[usually_quiet]

Some programs may just use x264.exe's functions in dll libraries. Handbrake looks like it installs several dlls in its program folder. So it probably keeps x264.exe's functions and associated variables in one of them to make calls as needed.

However, there are programs that do call x264.exe itself. I did a search of one of my boot drives for programs that installed x264.exe, and I found Multiavchd did.

There is definitely no x264 format/standard. I looked for evidence of one, but it does not exist. Only H.264 exists as a format.

When I downloaded x264. exe, there was no installer, and no dlls or associated exe's, just a single bare executable. The encoder itself is self-contained.

[usually_quiet]

x264... You need something else in order to create a video file that contains x264/h264.

No you don't. x264.exe now includes ffmpeg's front end. It can read many different file types, decompress the video, then encode as h.264.

If that is true, then x264.exe would qualify as a converter. Some of the documentation I saw seemed to indicate that x264.exe used uncompressed video as input, but if that is not required, then it does convert.

[poisondeathray]

x264... You need something else in order to create a video file that contains x264/h264.

No you don't. x264.exe now includes ffmpeg's front end. It can read many different file types, decompress the video, then encode as h.264.

If that is true, then x264.exe would qualify as a converter. Some of the documentation I saw seemed to indicate that x264.exe used uncompressed video as input, but if that is not required, then it does convert.

It can be true, if it's compiled with support. If you notice the "vanilla" exe build from x264.nl is now >6 MB (used to be ~1 MB before ffms/lavf was added) . You might consider this the "official" build

There are many branches and patches available for x264. If you compile it it yourself, you can customize different functions. For example, there is an audio encoding patch, filtering patch (resizing, padding), film grain optimization patch, fade compensation patch , 10-bit support, 422 and 444 support, many more... Sometimes once, patches are used & tested , they make it into the main branch if they are deemed useful and stable enough

[jagabo]

And I consider anything that contains executable code to be "software", whether it's a standalone application or not.

[usually_quiet]

If someone sticks to the formal definition of the word, a codec is always software, even if it is installed in a system folder. Although "divx" and "Xvid" are often used as if they were formats, they are really software too. The actual standards associated with them are MPEG-4 Part 2 ASP, and sometimes H.264. The problem is that almost nobody would understand what was meant if someone used "MPEG-4 Part 2 ASP" instead of "divx" or "Xvid".

[Heywould3]

Exactly, that's what I was getting at in post #14.

Since some people (not you Gavino) can't be bothered read about the software they use... x264.exe is the H.264 encoder used by a long list of video conversion applications. Among them: Avidemux, ffmpeg, and Handbrake.

Also, I made my post as a poke to the others not bothering to say that there is ALSO a program called X264... instead of offering the information in their post they found it necessary to only say that it was a program. I know its a program, I have it, but seriously, why not just point out that its both.

Sure my post is hypocritical but I don't care, if it weren't for the debate I would have stayed out of it all.. lol.

PS, would a DLL also be considered "software" in this debate? or would it be better defined as a part of a software package or program to aide in the execution of code? in this example a codec would fall into the part of a program or software.. but hey.. we could go on about this for years, no one wants to be wrong and any self proclaimed expert will not believe something they have believed for years is wrong..

[usually_quiet]

Exactly, that's what I was getting at in post #14.

Since some people (not you Gavino) can't be bothered read about the software they use... x264.exe is the H.264 encoder used by a long list of video conversion applications. Among them: Avidemux, ffmpeg, and Handbrake.

Also, I made my post as a poke to the others not bothering to say that there is ALSO a program called X264... instead of offering the information in their post they found it necessary to only say that it was a program. I know its a program, I have it, but seriously, why not just point out that its both.

Sure my post is hypocritical but I don't care, if it weren't for the debate I would have stayed out of it all.. lol.

PS, would a DLL also be considered "software" in this debate? or would it be better defined as a part of a software package or program to aide in the execution of code? in this example a codec would fall into the part of a program or software.. but hey.. we could go on about this for years, no one wants to be wrong and any self proclaimed expert will not believe something they have believed for years is wrong..

The formal and correct definition of codec is software that compresses (encodes) and/or decompresses a particular video or audio format. You wrote words to that effect yourself. It doesn't seem to matter matter how it is executed, or what form it takes (.exe, .dll or perhaps something else in the case of a non-MS OS) a codec is still considered software. Once it is understood that x264 is not itself a video format, it should be clear that x264 can only refer to software.