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

[hech54]

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.

You mean "software" like Handbrake? I have and use Handbrake quite often. Thank you for making my point.

[hech54]

OK....we are all adults here....and I will (and often) admit that the majority of you know MUCH more about video than me so I will ask this.
None of us are idiots....and most of us TRY to NOT confuse newbies. Here is what I ask.

I want someone to make a screen capture video showing you clicking(or double clicking) on x264.exe - then encoding a video with it. Nothing else....just the x264.exe icon. The next time a newbie asks what is The Best Encoder or The Best Encoding Software...we can point them to this thread the next time another newbie blurts out "X264" as an answer to that question. Can we do that or no?

[Farscape1]

OK....we are all adults here....and I will (and often) admit that the majority of you know MUCH more about video than me so I will ask this.
None of us are idiots....and most of us TRY to NOT confuse newbies.

and yet you spent considerable time and effort insulting the OP's intelligence who was correct while you were wrong.

[hech54]

OK....we are all adults here....and I will (and often) admit that the majority of you know MUCH more about video than me so I will ask this.
None of us are idiots....and most of us TRY to NOT confuse newbies.

and yet you spent considerable time and effort insulting the OP's intelligence who was correct while you were wrong.

Are you making the instructional video for us?

[jagabo]

I want someone to make a screen capture video showing you clicking(or double clicking) on x264.exe - then encoding a video with it. Nothing else....just the x264.exe icon.

To qualify as "software" a program has to have a GUI? x264.exe is a CLI program so you can't effectively run it by clicking on the icon. You must run it with command line arguments:

[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.

You mean "software" like Handbrake? I have and use Handbrake quite often. Thank you for making my point.

Handbrake uses components of the x264.exe encoder, not x264.exe itself. I did a search of Handbrake's website and confirmed it uses libx264, not x264.exe itself. There is a conversation about it here https://services.handbrake.fr/irclogs/handbrake/handbrake20111012_pg3.html. So, you don't have software installed that uses x264.exe itself, but what you have shares code with it. However, there are other programs that use x264.exe directly.

[hech54]

I want someone to make a screen capture video showing you clicking(or double clicking) on x264.exe - then encoding a video with it. Nothing else....just the x264.exe icon.

To qualify as "software" a program has to have a GUI? x264.exe is a CLI program so you can't effectively run it by clicking on the icon. You must run it with command line arguments:

Oh that is PERFECT for a Newbie...
How do you adjust the parameters for different playback devices?
What happens to the audio? Does it pass-thru?

[usually_quiet]

OK....we are all adults here....and I will (and often) admit that the majority of you know MUCH more about video than me so I will ask this.
None of us are idiots....and most of us TRY to NOT confuse newbies. Here is what I ask.

I want someone to make a screen capture video showing you clicking(or double clicking) on x264.exe - then encoding a video with it. Nothing else....just the x264.exe icon. The next time a newbie asks what is The Best Encoder or The Best Encoding Software...we can point them to this thread the next time another newbie blurts out "X264" as an answer to that question. Can we do that or no?

x264.exe has a command line interface and it is not a good tool for a beginner, but encoders with GUIs like HCEnc are not good tools for beginners either.

However, epsilonalpha was still correct that x264.exe can be used as a video converter (at least if someone is using certain versions) and you were wrong.

It has been determined is that H.264 is a video format/standard, and x264 is not, and never was. x264.exe and libx264 are software. So you were wrong about x264 being a standard too.

[jagabo]

Oh that is PERFECT for a Newbie...

So now, to quality as "software" a program has to have a GUI and be easy to use? So Microsoft Excel no longer qualifies as software? Sony Vegas? Neither of those is easy to use if you've never used a spreadsheet or video editor before.

How do you adjust the parameters for different playback devices?

And "software" has to support a wide variety editing and output features? You specify properties of the encoding by using different command line parameters:

http://mewiki.project357.com/wiki/X264_Settings

What happens to the audio? Does it pass-thru?

And now "software" has to support both video and audio? Audacity doesn't qualify as "software" because it doesn't support video?

[hech54]

Oh that is PERFECT for a Newbie...

So now, to quality as "software" a program has to have a GUI and be easy to use? So Microsoft Excel no longer qualifies as software? Sony Vegas? Neither of those is easy to use if you've never used a spreadsheet or video editor before.

If you had to type in DOS commands by the thousand to run Vegas or Excel...NOBODY would use it now would they? As a matter of fact I dare to say they would not even call it "software".

How do you adjust the parameters for different playback devices?

And "software" has to support a wide variety editing and output features? You specify properties of the encoding by using different command line parameters:

Is that how you run Vegas or Excel....with just DOS commands?

What happens to the audio? Does it pass-thru?

And now "software" has to support both video and audio? Audacity doesn't qualify as "software" because it doesn't support video?

So if Excel only accepts every other letter/character that you type...that would be perfectly OK with you? How about if Vegas happily accepts a video file containing audio and it gives you only the video after you are done with all of your work....is that "software" worth the time and effort to you?


I'm also confused....x264.exe HAS a command line interface or IS a command line interface?

[usually_quiet]

Oh that is PERFECT for a Newbie...

So now, to quality as "software" a program has to have a GUI and be easy to use? So Microsoft Excel no longer qualifies as software? Sony Vegas? Neither of those is easy to use if you've never used a spreadsheet or video editor before.

If you had to type in DOS commands by the thousand to run Vegas or Excel...NOBODY would use it now would they? As a matter of fact I dare to say they would not even call it "software".

How do you adjust the parameters for different playback devices?

And "software" has to support a wide variety editing and output features? You specify properties of the encoding by using different command line parameters:

Is that how you run Vegas or Excel....with just DOS commands?

What happens to the audio? Does it pass-thru?

And now "software" has to support both video and audio? Audacity doesn't qualify as "software" because it doesn't support video?

So if Excel only accepts every other letter/character that you type...that would be perfectly OK with you? How about if Vegas happily accepts a video file containing audio and it gives you only the video after you are done with all of your work....is that "software" worth the time and effort to you?


I'm also confused....x264.exe HAS a command line interface or IS a command line interface?

The version of x264.exe I downloaded has a command line interface. It is a self-contained application. It doesn't call on a .dll installed somewhere else on the computer.

It looks like you don't have a clue as to what qualifies as software. The OS itself is software, video and audio decoders are software, video and audio encoders are software. A text file or video file is not software. They are data.

[Cornucopia]

I'm also confused....x264.exe HAS a command line interface or IS a command line interface?

Well, I think it's pretty clear to everyone here that you're confused...

Do a Wikipedia lookup on "software" and you'll find that it follows exactly what we've been trying to explain here (and that without needing to change it to suit our needs...)

Scott

[_Al_]

I was one of those who downloaded x264.exe and try to start it years back, at least in Windows. It is irrelevant if it software or not. It just real world out there, nobody lives by definition like in encyclopedia, sometimes questions are wrong and categories good for law and lawyers only.
For beginner it is not a software but a mess that needs something else (GUI) in the package to be more friendly.

[usually_quiet]

It is irrelevant if it software or not. It just real world out there, nobody lives by definition like in encyclopedia, sometimes questions are wrong and categories good for law and lawyers only.

Not in my real world. In my world words have clear meaning attached to them. In your world it becomes impossible to communicate effectively.

[hech54]

The version of x264.exe I downloaded has a command line interface. It is a self-contained application. It doesn't call on a .dll installed somewhere else on the computer.

Ahhh...It appears I've struck a nerve. I now suspect you now know exactly where I am coming from and the point I am trying to make here.....or you have known all along and you are just being a.....oh never mind.
When a relative newbie asks the newbie-ish question "What is the best converter software?"....people will line up to make their voices heard as to their favorite "software". I myself would say WinFF or Handbrake....while others may come up with something that has the ability to do a bit more than just convert....like say....AviDemux:

The best free multi-format converter I have tried is Avidemux.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/341760-The-best-converter-software?p=2129256&viewfu...=1#post2129256
...."software" that you yourself recommended in the very same thread that this one was spun off from.
Some other newbie blurting out X264 as an answer to this question technically may not be a wrong answer....but almost everyone will agree that it is a very, very, very BAD answer that will most likely not help the situation....it will probably confuse the situation even more while the original newbie searches for "software" called x264.

It looks like you don't have a clue as to what qualifies as software. The OS itself is software, video and audio decoders are software, video and audio encoders are software.

To me and 95%(a guestimate) of the world:
DOS is known as an Operating System

DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS
Windows is known as an Operating System

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows
Mac OS(?) is known as an Operating System

Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS
Linux is known as an Operating System

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
DivX is known as a Codec

There are two DivX codecs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DivX
Xvid is known as a Codec

Xvid (formerly "XviD") is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xvid
X264 is known as a Codec

x264 is an open source H264/AVC based video codec

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/x264-Encoder

Komisar's unoffical x264 VFW Codec

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/x264-VFW
etc etc etc.
Again....you yourself just recently referred to DivX, Xvid, and H.264 as "codecs"...never mentioning "software" or getting into a CLEAR MEANING of any of those three terms.

DivX, Xvid, and H.264 are fine as end formats but not desirable for archiving. They will be harder to edit and will loose the most quality if converted to another codec.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/341481-VHS-Hi8-to-digital-using-ADVC110-Some-questi...=1#post2126060

So let's stop kidding ourselves here. My response to epsilonalpha's X264 reply was clarity-based meaning that this reply would not help the situation and most likely has done more harm than good and will continue to do more harm than good in the furure.
Question: What is the best way to attach this plywood to the roof joists?
Answer: A Hammer.

Your reply to mine and the rest of your replies are ego-based. "That tree isn't made of wood....it's made of molecules - see how smart I am?"

[usually_quiet]

I have a BS in computer science, so I have some reason to believe that I have a pretty good understanding of what qualifies as software. Operating systems are software. They just aren't application software. The more you write on the subject of software the more apparent it becomes that your definition of the word is too narrow. Look it up in Wikipedia as Cornucopia suggested and you will find that the word "software" covers much more territory than you think it does.

Actually, I have a clear understanding of what divx and xvid are, but since most people here don't, I have to adopt their usage of those names to be understood. If you want proof, look here https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/341897-Is-x264-a-codec-or-encoder-or-converter-or-f...=1#post2129251 I also wrote this

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".

As for the rest of your retort, now you have really made a fool of yourself.

[Gavino]

hech, the best thing to do when you find yourself in a hole is - stop digging.

All your other points are valid, but you made the simple mistake of saying "x264 is not software", which is patently false.
That's all we're saying - accept it and move on.

[_Al_]

Not in my real world. In my world words have clear meaning attached to them. In your world it becomes impossible to communicate effectively.

What ?
Every kid learns to talk about 10 years. You miss this opportunity and you don't talk effectively even if you try later.

[lordsmurf]

This is one of the most asinine threads I've ever seen on videohelp.com.

x264 is a software encoding library that encodes H.264 format video. The end.
I don't understand the controversy.

(I'd consider Hech54 an online friend, so don't consider me part of the anti-Hech session.
I'll have no part of it. Even if I don't understand the point he's trying to make.)

I know this used to be part of another thread. I think we're missing context at this point in time.

[jagabo]

x264 is a software encoding library that encodes H.264 format video. The end.

The current build of x264.exe also includes the ffmpeg front end so it can convert video directly from most containers and codecs to h.264 elementary streams, MP4 and MKV.

So whether it's an encoder or converter depends on your definition of "x264". If you are talking about only the encoder library -- it's just and encoder. If you're talking about current builds of x264.exe it's a converter program with the encoder.

And yes, this is a stupid thread.

[usually_quiet]

Not in my real world. In my world words have clear meaning attached to them. In your world it becomes impossible to communicate effectively.

What ?
Every kid learns to talk about 10 years. You miss this opportunity and you don't talk effectively even if you try later.

Much or this discussion is related to the definitions of a couple of words as used in the English language. Since you do not speak English very well, perhaps you should not participate in this discussion at all.

[usually_quiet]

Agreed, this is a stupid thread.

[_Al_]

Much or this discussion is related to the definitions of a couple of words as used in the English language. Since you do not speak English very well, perhaps you should not participate in this discussion at all.

wooow, big boy talking .... and a bit lame on the brain side ....
You might have some basic English skills to know what is going on here. Is it a software ? Of course it is.Is it en encoder? Of course it is. It is a kid topic not even academic discussion. But that "software" is unusable for anybody who do not want to spend couple of days looking and searching how to use a command line for specific situations. You master it, come back in a couple of years and you have to study this again because you forget.

I admire any free source codes creator that help others, do not take me wrong, there is a ton of work and knowledge behind it how they build up from each others work , complex softwares at the end, but this has nothing to do with it.

[usually_quiet]

Much or this discussion is related to the definitions of a couple of words as used in the English language. Since you do not speak English very well, perhaps you should not participate in this discussion at all.

wooow, big boy talking .... and a bit lame on the brain side ....
You might have some basic English skills to know what is going on here. Is it a software ? Of course it is.Is it en encoder? Of course it is. It is a kid topic not even academic discussion. But that "software" is unusable for anybody who do not want to spend couple of days looking and searching how to use a command line for specific situations. You master it, come back in a couple of years and you have to study this again because you forget.

I admire any free source codes creator that help others, do not take me wrong, there is a ton of work and knowledge behind it how they build up from each others work , complex softwares at the end, but this has nothing to do with it.

At least what you wrote this time is comprehensible... This discussion was not originally about whether x264 is easy to use. It was about whether or not it is software, and whether or not it is a video converter. (hech54 apparently still thinks it is not software.)

Nobody here has said that command line programs are easy for beginners to use. I would be the last one to claim they were, even though GUIs did not exist when I began writing computer programs.

[deadrats]

well i'm late to this party but after reading almost all of the responses in this thread i have decided to give you all a christmas present and pretend that none of you knows jack about computers and give an explanation as if i was talking to a 5th grader. this should not be construed as an insult towards anyone just a desire to clear up the confusion that seems to exist with some posters, so forgive me if this comes off as needlessly simplified.

software refers to any program/application/app and in a more formal sense refers to the instructions that a programmer writes that causes a piece of hardware to perform some action. software can refer to something as complicated as an operating system to as simple as a script that shuts down a computer at a given time. the instructions that comprise a piece of software are written in standardized fashions as defined by a programming language.

CLI literally means command line interface and GUI literally means graphical user interface. an interface is defined as the method by which an end user interacts with a program. unless a program is coded using an event driven language (such as visual basic), the default method of interaction/use is via a command line. if a programmer so desires he can write the instructions needed so that his program is used via a graphical user interface.

here's where it gets a bit technical, when you code a program without a gui, depending on how you set up the main function (in the C family of languages, the most widely used programming family), it may be possible to double click on the executable and get a command line prompt where you start typing in commands to use the program. x264 is coded so that parameters must be passed to it from a command prompt so that it knows what it has to do, as such double clicking on the x264 executable does not (or at least should not) have any effect.

with regards to what x264 is, codec is an acronym from COmpressor/DECompressor, x264 does not in and of itself have a decompressor portion thus it's technically a compressor or encoder. since x264, like all encoders, only accepts uncompressed frames, a previously compressed video must be decompressed with a decompressor or decoder. commonly used decoders include libraries from the ffmpeg project as well as libraries from the mencoder project.

libraries are specialized pieces of software designed to be used by other pieces of software in order to make a programmers life easier. for instance, assume you had to right a number of pieces of software that do various tasks but they all need to print a summary of the days tasks to a piece of paper. you could sit there and write the instructions for doing this over and over again or you could simply use an existing library and link your programs against that library and save yourself a bunch of coding.

i think that should be nice and easy for everyone to understand, now my question is this: is it ok to wish everyone a merry christmas or would that run foul of the prohibition against discussing religion?

[usually_quiet]

Merry Chrismas to you too.

[hech54]

wwith regards to what x264 is, codec is an acronym from COmpressor/DECompressor, x264 does not in and of itself have a decompressor portion thus it's technically a compressor or encoder. since x264, like all encoders, only accepts uncompressed frames, a previously compressed video must be decompressed with a decompressor or decoder. commonly used decoders include libraries from the ffmpeg project as well as libraries from the mencoder project.

Are you sure that is correct? This video shows x264(.exe) opening a VOB file/trailer.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/341897-Is-x264-a-codec-or-encoder-or-converter-or-f...=1#post2129480

[hech54]

(hech54 apparently still thinks it is not software.)

Not exactly true. I just don't buy the "everything is software" argument. It's an easy way out like the "it's made of molecules" statement I made that you completely ignored.

[_Al_]

usually_quiet
Stop insulting people for supposedly not understanding them, will you ? For example we do just right, problem is on your side here. We learn to speak and talk for years, and we do not have that time to learn and master one line command encoder, that I was trying to say, I completely ignored that first insult of yours at first.

[jagabo]

Once again: at it's core x264 is a library for h.264 encoding. The library is provided to developers for inclusion in other products. The encoder library accepts only uncompressed frames. x264 is provided to end users as a CLI executable, x264.exe. That exe now has ffmpeg built in as a front end. So x264.exe has the ability parse many different containers and decompress several different video codecs. So x264.exe is a standalone video converter.