frustrated to no end with h.264 ipod conversion program choices (windows)

[rockstar]

On the mac i have been using VisualHub which is a fantastic program. On the PC it seems NOTHING works right.

due to the large volume of files i need to start converting, i am looking for something powerful and easy. I'm wondering if I have been missing the "magic" program that will answer my needs.

In visual hub i use the max res, 2 pass, h.264 settings with the best possible h.264 flags in the ffmpeg field.

No program that I have found will allow me to make ipod compliant HIGH quality h.264 files on the pc.

Super is a pain, unpolished and young
all of the imtoo, xillisoft, etc are all based on the same code using mpeg 4
nero recode would be ok, if it had an update anytime soon to support the new resolutions.

Help me guys, i'm going nuts trying to get this sorted out. I am going on a long trip and REALLY want to rip a load of videos (like 9 seasons of xfiles).

Thanks for all the help in advance.

[PuzZLeR]

I too am waiting for Nero Recode to come up with the latest iPod specs.

In the meantime, you can use Jesterware. It's simple, fast (for H.264) and does a good job and is the only one I know that does the iPod's 640x480 new resolution specifically.

It's not free, but if it solves your problem, the $25US shouldn't be a problem. You can try it out for free though. Go here.

http://www.jesterware.co.uk/

They also have a great support team.

I personally think it's a great package. I bought it already, but the only reason I don't use it more is because it's not as flexible as other apps. I'm personally picky about my specs. Nevertheless, but it's still a nice piece of software.

Then again, I may be doing you a disfavor by helping you watch 9 seasons of that awful show. Ok, just my opinion, LOL.

[Soopafresh]

Here you go, using X264 and Avisynth. Test it out. Rename a test file to Input.Avi and place in same folder as X264 and unzipped script below.

Example of output
ipod_vid.mp4

http://mirror05.x264.nl/Sharktooth/force.php?file=./x264/x264-CLI_r620.7z

Batch script for 2-pass Ipod compliant video and example .AVS included
ipod__enc.zip

Lemme know if you want the audio portion and muxer syntax.

[eon_designs]

I have to agree with PuzZLeR

I use Jesterware for converting to 640x480 H264 files and the quality is superb. The software is simple and works every time.

I have just been talking to their support team and they inform me that an update will be happening sometime this month. One of the new features that has me excited is the possibility of selecting a different encoder - one that is possibly faster

Rather interested in the method Soopafresh suggests. Tried his files, but unfortunately keep getting an error (error-2048 the file is not a movie file)

Would have been interested to try a comparison (for video and audio) Any suggestions Soopafresh?

thanks. eon

[rockstar]

Here you go, using X264 and Avisynth.

the quality of that video you posted is excellent, what was the source.. i am going to work thru your instructions now ans see what i can get... that's for the post.

as far as the xfiles go - i'm only on episode 2 - so far the only thing horrible about it is gillian andersons voice... it's like nails on a chalkboard... i pity her husband.

hmmm - when i run the batch i get

avis [error]: unsupported input format (DIB )
x264 [error]: could not open input file 'ipod.avs'
avis [error]: unsupported input format (DIB )
x264 [error]: could not open input file 'ipod.avs'
Press any key to continue . . .

the file i tested was a divx file - what are the valid inputs? how can i expand this to do a vob? can i convert from other formats?

i tried jesterware for about 3 minutes and received a strange output stretching, it was odd, i will try it again tho.

[Soopafresh]

That source was just a test avi of someone demonstrating the low depth of field on his camera adapter. The main reason it looks so good is the source was 960x528. Difficult to mess that one up

Perfect timing. Check out this thread, as I started a "How To" specifically for this subject. We're going to do this in steps, so everyone will understand the whole process. It's much, much easier than you might think.

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=321388

[PuzZLeR]

Didn't mean to insult the show. If you like it, by all means, I can relate. It's just being a Sci-Fi nut (books), I found it annoying that complex subjects would get compressed into a 40 minute show so average peeps can get a quick fix, and suddenly become Sci-Fi experts overnight to look good at parties. Yeah, just my opinion.

Ok, I've hijacked this topic. Nevertheless, hopefully you find your answer.

[Soopafresh]

At least it took that series a good 5-6 seasons before it went to s_ _t.

Someone explain what happened to LOST ? Never great plot wise, but now it is horrible on so many levels. Broke my heart when they bumped off the blonde babe in the tennis skirt after season 1

[PuzZLeR]

Someone explain what happened to LOST ? Never great plot wise, but now it is horrible on so many levels. Broke my heart when they bumped off the blonde babe in the tennis skirt after season 1

I don't know what happened either, but I agree the show went south. Not worth computational time to encode...

[Soopafresh]

Yeah, too bad. Such amazing scenery, all in 720p. It did a Twin Peaks

[rockstar]

agreed here - lost is just rubbish. it is very clear to me that one of two things happened

a) they had no idea of the overall plot
b) everyone on the internets guessed it was purgatory - and they figured they had to change it up.

either way, it's completely boring and nonsensical. Season 1 of the X-files is rocking tho - maybe it gives me flashbacks to high school

[Soopafresh]

How many episodes per DVD? What's the aspect ratio ?

[rockstar]

hi, sorry i've been sick for a couple of days... so here's my findings..

Jesterware isn't going to work. it's lacking a serious feature in cropping and is slow to boot. also there are some really strange false ceilings with it.. like confined aspect ration and bitrate limiting.. why can i only have 1500kbps at 640x480.. what if it's wide screen and i want to scale.

so far there are 4 eps per disc.. and it's 4x3... i saw your other post and also got xp up again - vista can live in a vm. I'll check out your process again soopa.. see what i can make of it.

Thanks for all your help. I am still amazed someone hasn't authored a simple to use gui solution yet that comes close to matching visualhub - guess i better get learning the programming. Also i need to compile xbmc to work with h.264 - bah.

[FallenAngelII]

You should use x264 itself. As I'm too lazy to learn the actual command line codes for x264, I just use Staxrip and meGui, two x264 Guis.

Don't use any of the pay-to-use programs. 95% of them just suck. A lot of them only encode in 1 pass, anyway.

[rockstar]

man i can't take it - i've tried effin everything -

i have so much to rip i really don't want to need a phd just to rip a gd dvd. I just can't fathom that nobody has replicated the functionality of the 3-4 really good programs on mac. I can't deal with a 5 step process for each rip, a lot of what i rip is series dvds.

Staxrip doesn' work for me (too complicated and fails)
Handbrake for windows stinks compared to the mac version
xvid4psp is the most promising one but has issues too - it's REALLY close though.
PQ is rubbish that doesn't do 2-pass
Jester's false limitations on res are weird
all the imtoo clones etc are all the same....
nothing does series dvd's well.

HELP!

Sorry this came off so negatively, i'm at my wit's end.

[Soopafresh]

x264....

I'll write you the avisynth script and the batch file to do the encode. It'll work, I use it for weekly TV shows.

[rockstar]

well i really appreciate the offer - the question i have is - will there be multiple avisynth scripts based on aspect ratio? or is there a cropping plugin. the reason i am resistant to avisynth is that i have absolutely NO CLUE what's going on with it - and to be frank, and i know this is going to be lame to you guys, i'm an IT manager, the last thing i want to do muck about with this at home. The xvid4psp is a great program it seems - def the best i have found by far - it shows this as the avs output.

===============

#Load plugins
loadplugin("C:\Program Files\Winnydows\XviD4PSP\apps\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.dll")
loadplugin("C:\Program Files\Winnydows\XviD4PSP\apps\AviSynthPlugins\NicA udio.dll")
loadplugin("C:\Program Files\Winnydows\XviD4PSP\apps\AviSynthPlugins\Toms MoComp.dll")

#Load video and audio
video = MPEG2Source("C:\Temp\Desktop.index\Desktop_T01.d2v ",cpu=0)
audio = NicAC3Source("C:\Temp\Desktop.index\Desktop_T01 T01 3_2ch 448Kbps DELAY -59ms.ac3")

#Detect audio channels
channels = Audiochannels(audio)

#Try apply DolbySurround Downmix II
daudio=ConvertAudioToFloat(audio)
fl = (channels>=1) ? GetChannel(daudio, 1) : 0
fr = (channels>=2) ? GetChannel(daudio, 2) : 0
c = (channels>=3) ? GetChannel(daudio, 3) : 0
sl = (channels>=5) ? GetChannel(daudio, 5) : 0
sr = (channels==6) ? GetChannel(daudio, 6) : 0
sr = (channels==5) ? GetChannel(daudio, 5) : sr
ssl = (channels>=5) ? MixAudio(sl, sr, 0.2818, 0.1627).Amplify(-1.0) : 0
fl_c = (channels>=5) ? MixAudio(fl, c, 0.3254, 0.2301) : 0
ssr = (channels>=5) ? MixAudio(sl, sr, 0.1627, 0.2818) : 0
fr_c = (channels>=5) ? MixAudio(fr, c, 0.3254, 0.2301) : 0
l = (channels>=5) ? MixAudio(ssl, fl_c, 1.0, 1.0) : 0
r = (channels>=5) ? MixAudio(ssr, fr_c, 1.0, 1.0) : 0
audio = (channels>=5) ? MergeChannels(l, r) : audio

#Remove possible LFE channel
l_ch = (channels==3) ? GetChannel(audio, 1) : 0
r_ch = (channels==3) ? GetChannel(audio, 2) : 0
audio = (channels==3) ? MergeChannels(l_ch, r_ch) : audio

#Correct audio bits
audio = (Audiobits(audio)==16) ? audio : audio.ConvertAudioTo16bit()

#Correct audio delay
audio = audio.DelayAudio(-0.059)

#Sample of correct resample
audio = (Audiorate(audio)==48000) ? audio : audio.SSRC(48000)

#Remove interlace effect
video = video.TomsMoComp(1,5,1)

#Sample of correct color conversion
video = (isYV12(video)==false) ? ConvertToYV12(video) : video

#Change movie resolution
video = video.Crop(0, 64, -0, -64)
video = video.Lanczos4Resize(640, 288)

#Mux video and audio
AudioDub(video, audio)

[PuzZLeR]

Hey rockstar, sorry to see you still struggling with this - even reviving this thread after a few months.

Alot has changed in the fast moving world of technology the last couple of months, especially when it comes to the iPod and H.264 support.

Since then though you may want to pick up Nero Recode again. The very latest version, 2.5.2.0, released only a few weeks ago, supports the latest iPod 5.5 specs and rez of 640x480. Under "Nero Digital Category" select "Unsorted" and under "Nero Digital Profile" select "iPod Video 5.5G - AVC". Enter your settings, bitrate, audio, rez, etc. and you're on your way.

Another way is from a member of this forum, ssj2_goha, who offers a hack of the 3GP Converter program. Make sure you get the latest *.ini file for it. You want easy and simple? You got it with this tool. Just rig the *.ini to your liking and drag and drop all your files into it. It's that easy.

Check this thread:
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=325220

As well, if StaxRip and MeGUI, and even AVISynth are too much, I understand. I feel the same way as you. There is however an app from buzzqw on Doom9 called AutoMKV, which is a nice, and much easier GUI for x264. Free and no-installation. One of the profiles is for the iPod 5.5.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=113811

I understand the Mac version of HandBrake is better, however I have recently fallen in love with it. I believe the only real thing missing is the queue feature on the Windows version, however an update is coming soon according to their forums. Give it another shot. It's a great tool, even for Windows.

I did suggest Jesterware, and I agree to its limitations. I suggested it because back then it was one of the only programs available for iPod 5.5 conversion on Windows. And I agree with FallenAngelII. Although Jesterware is a better one, stay away from all those other stupid, scammy iPod conversion programs advertised all over the Web, such as PQ, etc. They only do 1 pass, have crappy, limited features and just plain suck. Some of them don't even do H.264 either. I stopped wasting my time with those phonies who are looking to make a buck off the iPod wave.

Hopefully you find your answer soon.

[Soopafresh]

It would seem as though AutoGK could be modified to create Ipod Mp4. I wonder why it hasn't been done yet. That's a well seasoned app....

[Ai Haibara]

How about Videora iPod Converter? That worked well enough for me, at least it seemed to work better than the build of SUPER I'd been using at the time. I believe they also use ffmpeg, maybe mencoder.

I haven't tried the 2.x builds yet, though. But for the latest versions of the 5G firmware, they might be a better choice than the last 1.x version.

[Soopafresh]

AutoMKV seems to work pretty well. It certainly uses uses good apps to do the processing.

[rockstar]

thanks for the replies all. I have been keeping up with it as much as possible - and i got the email from nero - tried one conversion with it. I think it looks to be a good solution but I will have to find the speed vs quality trade offs. Videora had some limitations, cropping is a big one - the ui is very poorly designed.

Handbrake needs the cropping and the queue feature - i agree.. i really became dependent on it with my mac.. but it's also flaky - stack dumps, failure to read discs.. no doubt due to the translation layer. that program xvid4psp seems to be very good for converting everything but dvd's... hopefully nero will do the trick... i may actually have a reason to buy it now.

Thanks again for all the advice and help, i will certainly check them all out again!

[ssj2_goha]

Try my 3gp_converter hack

http://www.geocities.com/j.kint/

It works well

i'm just about done with iConverter witch will have more options and a better interface.

[greator]

My problem is vise versa. I want to play ipod h264 files in my psp (or at least my pc) coz i cant play those file smoothly.

I want to change them back to old ipod spec (320x240). fast and easy. anyone can help?

[tonydead]

Try my 3gp_converter hack

http://www.geocities.com/j.kint/

It works well

i'm just about done with iConverter witch will have more options and a better interface.

ssj2, geocities has suspended your account because of reaching the data transfer limit, just so you know.

Really interested in you app, thanks.

[ssj2_goha]

it's now hosted on my new site http://www.jkintproductions.com
iConverter will be on this same site once i get it done........... Stupid queue problems

[rockstar]

well, i've been playing around a bit with the new nero with 5.5g capable settings - very unimpressed to be honest. The macroblocking is horrible - even after adjusting the levels - and it's slow.as.hell.

bah.

I will check out the recommendations here - nero looks to be a bust... perhaps i am missing something though.