AVStoDVD Support Thread

[manolito]

Sorry, I'm out of ideas...

[digicube]

No worries, thanks for helping me with a workaround solution.

[davexnet]

Hi MrC, in version 288,
If you add a source file without audio A2D does not generate an Avisynth script and of course it doesn't work. For files with audio, if you remove the audio from the project, the avisynth script is not updated
Worked OK in 287

[manolito]

Nice catch, I can confirm your findings..

It was probably caused by this change:

- Added management of 'Default=Yes/No' audio and subs tracks tags from MediaInfo, instead of assuming that 1st track is the default one

And the reason nobody caught it is probably that only very few people try to create DVD titles without any audio track...
(Do the DVD specs even allow it? )


But fortunately there is an easy workaround:

For files with audio, if you remove the audio from the project, the avisynth script is not updated

This is true, but it has no effect on the final conversion result. All audio related calls in the script are ignored if there is no source audio track, the result is a perfect DVD title without any audio,

So the workaround for source files without audio is straightforward:
1. Load the source file
2. Add any audio file on your HDD to the project
3. Remove the audio track right away just after adding it.

This will make A2D create an AVS script with the audio related calls. But during the conversion these audio calls will be ignored, giving you a perfect silent video only DVD title.


Cheers
manolito

[davexnet]

Manolito I'm just reporting it on the forum so _MrC_ can evaluate it, that's all - but thanks for the analysis

[_MrC_]

@davexnet

thanks for the bug report, the following hotfix should solve both the issues you have found

https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/AVStoDVD_288_Hotfix_190113.zip

Let me know

Bye

[davexnet]

Hi MrC
That was quick !

Thanks for the hotfix

[manolito]

That was quick indeed, but I believe it was a little too quick. Sorry to spoil the party...

Handling source titles without audio now works fine, but source titles with multiple audio tracks where the default audio track is not track #1 will not load any more. It works fine in the stable version 2.88.

I tried it with 2 source files, one in an MKV container, the other one was MP4. The source had AVC video and 3 AAC audio tracks. The third audio track was flagged as "Default". When I try to load theses sources into AVStoDVD I get an error popup telling me:

Error 9
Index outside of the valid range

Looks like the old thing: You fix one issue and break something else. Or you should have been a bit more superstitious and not published a hot fix on the 13th...


Cheers
manolito

[davexnet]

Diligent work manolito ...

[_MrC_]

Looks like a new hotfix is needed. Thanks guys for the reports.



Bye

[manolito]

Yes, and this new hotfix does it. Thanks very much...

In a couple of tests I did try to break it, but I couldn't. Everything works as expected, no problems here.


Cheers
manolito

[steptoe]

I tried lavs = "l0", lavd = "l0" and it still produces oversized DVD-5 albeit the smallest oversize of all the methods I've tried, 8MB oversized.

Try setting a custom sized DVD, slightly smaller than standard DVD-5 by say 50MB

That way if its oversized it should still fit a DVD-5 when burnt, if you understand my thinking ....

[IslandBoy]

Hi, I just downloaded AVStoDVD and thanks for a very useful program. I am using it to burn some DVDs of my own content just ripped from VHS. I am also remembering the joy of an afternoon making coasters! I also installed ImgBurn as required. On my very first test of trying to make a DVD with 3 videos and menu, AVStoDVD seemed to have an informative GUI replrting what it was doing - pass 1, pass2 and so on. Now - although it makes a burnable DVD iso OK - this GUI seems to have disappeared. When I click start, a cmd window opens and you can see the ffmpeg working, then another encoder cms window, then muxman and then, when finished, the main AVStoDVD reappears. Is this correct or have I clicked some setting in error? Also, when AVStoDVD starts up, right at the end it there's a quick error at the bottom - something about can't find java or javascript (too quick to write down). Is this important? Thanks, Mike

[davexnet]

Java is only needed if certain bit mapped subtitles are used ( BDSup2Subs need it)
It's possible everything ended OK, the ISO or video_ts folder will be in the output directory along with the associated log.
If it looks good you can manually burn it with IMGBURN

[IslandBoy]

Thanks for your reply. I tested again and found that authoring a DVD from 3 videos uses HCenc which has a GUI showing you what's going on. But if I use just one video (the same first one as before), it uses ffmpeg.exe which just shows in a cmd window. The different processes confused me as they looked different. Both worked, though.

[manolito]

The reason for this is that you use the default "Smart Mode" for encoder selection. For very high video bitrates ffmpeg will be used, for medium to lower bitrates A2D switches to HCenc. This default behavior can be changed either globally under "Preferences" or individually for each source file under "View/Edit Title Settings".

AVStoDVD is very user configurable. You should take the time to study the help file and go through all the options under "Preferences".


Cheers
manolito

[IslandBoy]

Hi manolito, thanks, will study. Just this time I needed a quick fix to test some VHS scanned by someone else. I don't recall changing any settings between the two tests. I only clicked the Start button. The test with 3 videos used video1, video2, video3. This chose HCenc. But when I used any of the 3 videos individually: video1 or video2 or video3, it then chose ffmpeg. I mention only for your info, from my side it worked and I think I know what to look for. Please give my regards to Big John and Victoria

Cheers, Mike

[boffee]

I am using the latest version 288 with hotfix. However I am having trouble editing the thumbnail in the title menu wizard as the video preview screen shows blank. The thumbnail is correctly shown from my video, it's just that without the preview screen it is difficult to change it to a new position.
I found that someone had the same problem in 2012:-

https://sourceforge.net/p/avstodvd/discussion/700795/thread/4a882027/

The response that time was that this was a ffdshow issue. But I don’t think that codec is on my PC. If I install it, then AVStoDVD shows a warning, so I have uninstalled it.

Thanks Boffee

[SF01]

Hello.

I encountered two problems with this software:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/392377-AVS2DVD-error-audio-duration-shorter-than-expected
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/392209-AVS2DVD-generating-bigger-ISO-than-DVD-Can-t-burn

The first one is more severe. Any insight?

[manolito]

The response that time was that this was a ffdshow issue. But I don’t think that codec is on my PC. If I install it, then AVStoDVD shows a warning, so I have uninstalled it.

AVStoDVD switched from ffdshow to LAVFilters a while ago, and only one of the two should be installed (this is the A2D warning).

If you have installed LAV this does not mean that Windows will actually use it. Starting with Win7 Microsoft determined that users are generally too stupid to let them decide which DirectShow source filters they want to use. Windows will use the Microsoft source filters (which are generally total crap) no matter if you have installed different filters.

What you need to do is switch the "Preferred DirectShow source filters" from Microsoft to LAV. You can either do this directly within AVStoDVD (Codecs -> Preferred DirectShow Codecs), or you can use the DS Filter Tweaker tool by CLSID. Bottom line is: DO NOT USE THE MICROSOFT FILTERS.

Cheers
manolito

[manolito]

Hello.

I encountered two problems with this software:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/392377-AVS2DVD-error-audio-duration-shorter-than-expected
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/392209-AVS2DVD-generating-bigger-ISO-than-DVD-Can-t-burn

The first one is more severe. Any insight?

Problem #1:
Your log shows that you use the Microsoft DirectShow Codecs. Didn't you see the warning issued by AVStoDVD during installation? You absolutely have to change the preferred DirectShow Codecs from Microsoft to LAV.
You also cannot upgrade FFmpeg to the latest version without changing some settings:

Starting with version 3.1.2 the FFmpeg AVS interface has changed. To work with A2D it is necessary to include the folder "...\AVStoDVD\Lib" in your "PATH" environment variable. It is also recommended to include the folder "...\AviSynth\Plugins" in the "PATH" variable.

For updating A2D helper software see this post:
https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1814958#post1814958

Problem #2:
Again change your preferred codecs to LAV before trying anything else.
Creating a full D1 DVD at a video bitrate below 1000 kbps is generally a waste of time. Unless your video consists only of still frames the video quality will be so bad that it will be painful to watch it. Why don't you at least convert the audio to AC3 at 320 kbps? The audio quality will be totally transparent, nobody will be able to hear the difference to the original PCM.

Your last log file said that the end result was 10% oversized. This is not much, instead of doing a new conversion you can use DVDShrink to shrink the video by10%. The quality degradation will be hardly visible at this reduction factor.


Good luck
manolito

[SF01]

OK, but what is the PATH variable?
And in there I should just copy the two directories mentioned above and in AVStoDVD\FFmpeg I replace old ffmpeg version with latest one?

[boffee]

If you have installed LAV this does not mean that Windows will actually use it. Starting with Win7 Microsoft determined that users are generally too stupid to let them decide which DirectShow source filters they want to use. Windows will use the Microsoft source filters (which are generally total crap) no matter if you have installed different filters.

I have changed from Microsoft to LAV filters as suggested, but the problem remains. If I right click the video, Preview Title Output is Blank. I have tried an avi and an mpg but makes no difference. Everything plays fine in Windows Media Player. If I change in Preferences, Paths to use External player, Virtualdub, it works. Went back to version 2.8.7 but same result.

[davexnet]

If you have installed LAV this does not mean that Windows will actually use it. Starting with Win7 Microsoft determined that users are generally too stupid to let them decide which DirectShow source filters they want to use. Windows will use the Microsoft source filters (which are generally total crap) no matter if you have installed different filters.

I have changed from Microsoft to LAV filters as suggested, but the problem remains. If I right click the video, Preview Title Output is Blank. I have tried an avi and an mpg but makes no difference. Everything plays fine in Windows Media Player. If I change in Preferences, Paths to use External player, Virtualdub, it works. Went back to version 2.8.7 but same result.

There is a tool, codecs/display directshow filter graph. Load your project and use that tool. Take note of the filters in use and whether thr file plays successfully when you use the play button

[boffee]

There is a tool, codecs/display directshow filter graph. Load your project and use that tool. Take note of the filters in use and whether the file plays successfully when you use the play button

Thanks davexnet for that. Yes it plays fine using something called Video Renderer in Graph Studio, shows LAV Filter also. Wonder why it does not work in Preview Title Output.

[davexnet]

Open your source file with mediainfo, put it in text view, and put the info here.

[manolito]

OK, but what is the PATH variable?
And in there I should just copy the two directories mentioned above and in AVStoDVD\FFmpeg I replace old ffmpeg version with latest one?

You can edit your Path under Control Panel / System / Advanced. But I wouldn't even go through the trouble. The FFmpeg MPEG2 encoder has not improved for some time, the devs have other priorities now. I would update FFmpeg to this version:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/ffmpegwindowsbi/files/2016-07-18/ffmpeg.static.2016-0...e.zip/download

It does not require a modification of your path, and it is very stable. You just need to extract ffmpeg.exe into your "AVStoDVD\FFmpeg" folder overwriting the older version.

[boffee]

General
Complete name : D:\My Videos\Tulloch\tulloch cine edited 3 .avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 1.70 GiB
Duration : 8 min 25 s
Overall bit rate : 28.8 Mb/s
Writing library : VirtualDub2 build 43073/release

Video
ID : 0
Format : Lagarith
Codec ID : LAGS
Duration : 8 min 25 s
Bit rate : 28.8 Mb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 5:4
Frame rate : 16.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 4.343
Stream size : 1.70 GiB (100%)

[manolito]

The AVStoDVD preview function can be a little tricky, depends on many things.
When you start the preview and this empty window appears, please open your output folder (maybe it was the temp folder) and look for the file AviSynthP.avs. Copy it to a different location so A2D won't delete it. Does this file play in DirectShow based players like MPC-HC or WMP? The LAV video decoder does support Lagarith just fine, it should play.

Another old issue with the LAV installer is that it modifies the AviSynth registry entries if it gets installed after AviSynth. I am attaching a batch file which will repair those registry entries, it did fix problems many times. Just run it as an admin.


Good luck

[boffee]

Does this file play in DirectShow based players like MPC-HC or WMP? The LAV video decoder does support Lagarith just fine, it should play.

AvisynthP.avs fails in MPC-HC Unable to load C Plugin: "ffms2.dll", error= 0x7e. Batch file does not fix it unfortunately. Do i need to install this dll?