AVANTI - FFmpeg/Avisynth GUI (support thread).

[Chris K]

Hi,

I know FFmpeg is successfully used for conversion to DNxHD from the Avid forum but personally I have no experience with HDV footage. Also as living in a PAL country, I have little practical experience with NTSC.

http://community.avid.com/forums/p/60895/341626.aspx

However: when I enabled the Avanti Color Correction tab and made some contrast adjustments, the resulting import into my avid no longer worked to drop the added frames and accomplish the reverse pulldown. Nuts. I need to get this function working.

It seems that FFmpeg itself removes the pulldown when it decodes the m2t file (or more likely simply ignores the flags) ?
Problem is that the color correction is done by Avisynth that uses whatever DirectShow decoder is on you system, capable of decoding the m2t file. But Avisynth delivers uncompressed video as input for FFmpeg. So at that stage FFmpeg probably gets the stream delivered as if hardcoded 29.97 fps.

I would try the Avid forum and ask "Malefunction" if he has any Avanti/Avisynth experience.

Chris

[Chris K]

The point I'm making is that things rendered correctly when I took Avisynth out of the equation -- as observed in the flow chart that graphs at the start of every render in the log window -- and rendered incorrectly when Avisynth was engaged in some way, either at the script window or via the auto scripts generated from the color correction tools. Maybe Chris can comment on why this should be so, whether it's a bug in Avanti or some incompatibility not fully documented.

When Avisynth is active in Avanti (both in AUTO or USER mode) the chain is;

Source --> DirectShow decoder --> Avisynth --> FFmpeg --> destination.

In your particular case of slow-motion and repeating sections; If this really only happens when Avisynth is active, you should already be able to see it happen when you do a script preview. If so, the problem must be found in the DirectShow decoder. Avanti (i.e. Avisynth/FFmpeg) just processes what it gets delivered.

A simple check. Play the clip in WMP (DirectShow player) and if it already fails, it will also fail with Avisynth.

I think you're over-rating GUI's. They simply connect things the proper way (hopefully), to make life easier. They don't rebuild the applications they connect with clever tricks or something.

Chris

[Maks]

Thanks Elizabeth and Chris, for your input. I will follow up if I learn more. I sometimes need to shoot the Canon in very low light and in that case, there's a way to trick this little consumer camera into NOT adding gain/noise, so that it can be done selectively with software later in post-production. That's why I feel I need to add back brightness & contrast. We'll get there! Best wishes,
Maks

[Chris K]

@Maks

Although I cannot give a ready to use solution, I still like to point out a workflow for your case that shows how Avanti can be setup with small Avisynth USER scripts.

The scripts that Avanti creates in Avisynth AUTO mode (e.g. color correction) can be copied to a USER script, including their actual settings. The procedure to use in your case then would be;

1. Use the settings for DNxHD like you already do without using Avisynth.
2. Set Avisynth AUTO mode and adjust the color correction.
3. Change Avisynth mode to USER and open the Avisynth editor.
4. Use the "Insert AUTO script" option to copy the script.
5. Add the required commands to perform inverse telecine.
6. Go to the main page and process.

At the Avisynth editor the script finally could look like;

DirectShowSource("@source1_path")

# added commands for inverse telecine
AssumeTFF()
Telecide(guide=1)
Decimate()

ConvertToYV12()
Tweak( 0,0.73,13,0.87) # the color correction

@preview ConvertToRGB() # added for preview

The Telecide() and Decimate() commands, require the "Decomb.dll" in your Avisynth plugins folder.
You may need to set AssumeTFF() to AssumeBFF() depending on the field order of your m2t footage.
The inverse telecine commands are taken from a example. Not sure if it is properly configured.

Note that it's just to give a impression on how things can be done.

Chris

[Maks]

Thanks, Chris. I've been off the grid for a few days- I'll try to digest your suggestion in time. Seems like you are pointing me to a solution, and I need to concentrate to grasp. Be well,
maks

[wiltonp]

I just installed Avanti v 0.3.8 a few hours ago on a computer that's running Windows 2000 Pro SP4. I've tried several ffmpeg builds and every time I start Avanti, I receive a ffmp_avanti.exe application error. The Avanti program message screen states that the ffmpeg engine is initializing, and ffmpeg commands are being extracted. Then the application erro message appears (see image below) and the program crashes. Could it be possible I need an older ffmpeg build? I've been copying the corresponding ffmpeg presets with the latest build into the correct folders of the Avanti ffmpeg directory. When I used an older build, I deleted those presets and copied those with the older build. Any suggestions?









Update:

I just copied an older version of ffmpeg (dated May, 2007) that was included with Winff 0.4 and Avanti didn't crash!
Does anyone know if the later builds of ffmpeg are problematic when run with a Windows 2000 OS?

Will this older version of ffmpeg cause problems for Avanti v 0.3.8 and is the ffplay.exe file needed?

[Chris K]

I just installed Avanti v 0.3.8 a few hours ago on a computer that's running Windows 2000 Pro SP4.

Basically, I develop Avanti in Windows 2000 with SP4. Then when it's ready I step over to XP for additional testing.
"ffmp_avanti.exe" is indeed a copy of the FFmpeg version you use.
I never had issues with FFmpeg versions up to now. Also never seen the "Illegal instruction" error message.
There are some builds that crash on my machine but that has to do with the CPU (old Athlon in my case).
Some FFmpeg Win32 build providers compile different versions for Intel and AMD.

Could it be possible I need an older ffmpeg build?

I regularly check Avanti with the latest autobuilds and they all do fine. http://ffmpeg.arrozcru.org/autobuilds
Did you try the official FFmpeg 0.5 release? http://videohelp.com/tools/ffmpeg (the direct link).

I just copied an older version of ffmpeg (dated May, 2007) that was included with Winff 0.4 and Avanti didn't crash!
Does anyone know if the later builds of ffmpeg are problematic when run with a Windows 2000 OS?
Will this older version of ffmpeg cause problems for Avanti v 0.3.8 and is the ffplay.exe file needed?

No, it should not cause problems. WinFF uses a generic build. Some other GUI's use special builds.
You don't need to install ffplay.exe in the avanti/ffmpeg folder.

[Information]

heres what you would think is a very simple question but apparently not so simple or even easy to find the files for windows use ....in a single simple download.

the question:
id like to have an upto date fully working FFmpeg install that will work with this command line.

"ffmpeg -i INFILE -acodec libfaac -ab 192k -vcodec libx264 -vpre hq -crf 22 -threads 0 OUTPUT.mp4"

easy you might think and say, just go to somewere like http://ffmpeg.arrozcru.org/autobuilds/ download the latest file and uncompress it to a dir, open a cli and type the above line.....replacing the INFILE and OUTPUT with whatever names you want.

NOT SO....,
why ,
because NO ONE iv found (after lots of looking) are making current windows FFmpeg compiles, seems to actually think about the whole package and actually include the generic "preset" files that are required for the line to actually work , not even AVANTI seems willing to include and install these basic files in windows,supplying ONLY two basic files i assume are not from the genric linux code, WHY is that ?

tryig to run the above line in FFmpeg will stop and complain about that -vpre hq
i assume because it cant find the generic "hq" preset text file its been told to use, as it doesnt actually exist never mind get installed in any binary windows files iv tryed to get it from so far....

can someone PLEASE make a full current windows FFmpeg binary and all related files including these preset files , make sure it runs the above command line and put it somewere obvious for people to get and use as their basic install, then we can presumably use the above auto compiled single FFmpeg any time by overwriting the base file but keeping the presets intact....

i also assume then that AVANTI will be perfectly usable if you choose to use -vpre hq -crf 22 refs 3 in your GUI...

[Information]

ok , so now i have finally found these "preset" text files in the https://www.videohelp.com/download/ffmpeg-0.5.7z download so thanks to videohelp once again

however it seems im doing something wrong here?

inside that 7z is the 0.5 binary, inside that same dir there is the ffpresets dir, and inside that dir there is i assume the required libx264-hq.ffpreset text file...

running the stated "ffmpeg -i 'c:/bigbuckbunny.mkv' -acodec libfaac -ab 192k -vcodec libx264 -vpre hq -crf 22 -threads 0 OUTPUT.mp4" from the FFmpeg dir its still coming back

"Input #0, matroska, from 'c:/bigbuckbunny.mkv'
:
Duration: 00:23:23.72, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0.0(eng): Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 516x570 [PAR 190:129 DAR 4:3], 25 tbr, 1k tbn, 25 tbc
Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: vorbis, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16
File for preset 'hq' not found"

iv tryed replacing -vpre hq with -vpre libx264-hq.ffpreset,
iv also tryed copying that hq file to the same dir as the FFmpeg binary and using both -vpre hq and -vpre libx264-hq.ffpreset there too, always the same error as above.....

what is this simple thing im overlooking, and doing wrong!
any idea's for a full cli command line, and were i should be placing these preset files to make it Just work!

or is it not me, and infact these "preset" files need to be compiled in to another form to make them actually useable on the windows compiles ? and the FFmpeg to parse the line and find them by their short name?

i find this mad, FFmpeg wont use seperate external codecs and insists they get compiled in, and thats a good thing in some ways, as you always know everythings in there, BUT now you need external text preset files that noone seems to include by default (excluding the ONE exception above) and FFmpeg doesnt seem to be able to find in relative to the dir FFmpeg's in, it should never be this hard just to run a cli command and make it just work inside windows

all i want is a short version cli command that works almost the same as current x264 but capable of parsing and auto importing many more input types, processing these, then muxing to the given output file type container producing nothing less than a High quality H@L3.0 through H@L4.1 refs3 mpeg4 for batch processing a lot of files in a set dir...

if i remove the offending -vpre hq entry it will work but not output the required H@L4.0, so -vpre hq is required and should be working anyway i assume.

[Chris K]

"ffmpeg -i INFILE -acodec libfaac -ab 192k -vcodec libx264 -vpre hq -crf 22 -threads 0 OUTPUT.mp4".

-vpre hq doesn't work. FFmpeg presets are text files named e.g. "libx264-hq-pass2.ffpreset". If you use FFmpeg from the command line you have to give the full path to the preset file. If you use Avanti and copy the presets to the right place, you need to only give the preset name.

FFmpeg presets are included in the official 0.5 release (folder named "ffpresets") and in the autobuilds (folder "share/ffmpeg").
The way to use them in Avanti can be found in the "avanti-help.chm" manual at "Command lines (FFmpeg)/FFmpeg presets".
Also read the Avanti help at the how to "How to set up" section about threads and the "Preferences" (you don't need to add threads to the command line yourself).
The reason why there currently is no fully working FFmpeg version is because of several license issues. libaac and libamr are taken off because of that.

About libx264 ...

http://ffmpeg.arrozcru.org/autobuilds/blog/2009/07/17/x264-updated-to-f21daff-with-patch/

This is how FFmpeg development works. You have to simply stick to the latest older FFmpeg revision that appears to be useful to you.

You could try SVN-r18709 from here http://ffmpeg.arrozcru.org/autobuilds/ffmpeg/mingw32/static/

This is the last (more or less) complete revision and has also readable versions of the official FFmpeg docs included where you can find out more about the FFmpeg presets.

EDIT: Note that the path syntax examples given in the docs like putting them in the folder where you have FFmpeg, doesn't work in Windows. FFmpeg is a Linux project and everything about paths in the docs concerns Linux.

Chris.

[Chris K]

A general note to those who download and comment FFmpeg Win32 builds.

As said, FFmpeg is a Linux project and it's thanks to people like; Ramiro Polla, 45tripp, celtic_druid, Dirk Paehl, Gianluigi Tiesi and others who are spending a lot of time on porting it to the Windows OS and make it available FOR FREE, that we can use it in Windows.

These builds are "snapshots" of the actual FFmpeg development stage and not intend to be approved final releases.

Also note that I am not involved in FFmpeg development and can only give as much information as available to me.

Simply said... I'm the GUI not FFmpeg!

Chris

[jloucky]

Hi,
I've got problem encoding to Flash. I use Avanti right-from-the-box for encoding to mpeg4 without problems, but encoding to Flash always fails with message:

Error while opening codec for output stream #0.0 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height

All the settings on the main screen were "default"/"source", changing those didn't help.
I've attached snapshots of Codec Wizard and FFDShow settings. Note that I can play FLV files in WMP and any other player as well.

Am I missing something? Do I need to register something more than I already have?

shots.png

[Chris K]

Hi,

Error while opening codec for output stream #0.0 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height

I don't know of any restrictions with flash for frame size and bitrate.
What audio codec do you use? You can use mp3 and aac but not ac3.

All the settings on the main screen were "default"/"source", changing those didn't help.

Did you try the FLASH template from the UNI tab at the template load dialog?
Please post some details of the source and the FFmpeg Input #0 ect. info from the log window.

Chris

[KevinSartori]

Hey, Chris.

I noticed a funny bug today that caused Avanti to crash. While Avanti was running and converting a file, I popped in my USB drive to copy some files over. There was no problem with this, but when I disconnected the drive with XP's Safely Remove Hardware icon in the system tray, Avanti crashed with a "Avanti-GUI.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close" dialogue. Weird. This was repeatable with both 0.3.8 and 0.3.9. Not really a big deal, as I can remember to not do that again, but I figured you'd want to know about it.

Thanks again for an awesome GUI!

[Chris K]

Hi Kevin,

It's a known bug in the Gui4Cli interpreter on which Avanti runs.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/gui4cli/message/5161

It only seems hard to trace as you can read.

Fortunately it does no harm to the USB but when you're in the middle of a encoding process,
you have to start all over again. So here's a official warning to all users...

Don't pull out a usb stick or anything else from a usb port while Avanti is running.

Thanks for and please keep on reporting bugs or suggestions for changes.

Chris

[jloucky]

I don't know of any restrictions with flash for frame size and bitrate.
What audio codec do you use? You can use mp3 and aac but not ac3.

I always use "mp3 (Lib)", because some other common choices (mp3, aac, aac (Lib)) cause error f.e. "Unknown encoder 'mp3'"

Did you try the FLASH template from the UNI tab at the template load dialog?
Please post some details of the source and the FFmpeg Input #0 ect. info from the log window.

Yes, here is the log report after loading Flash template and starting the job.

10:55:55 - Process started using FFmpeg SVN-r18866-Sherpya [ffmpeg-18866].
======================================================================================

Input #0, asf,
      from 'D:/Filmy/avc.siliconhill.cz-2006_12_14-FC-Pavel_Kubes-Jsme_ve_Vesmiru_sami_lq.wmv':
  Duration: 00:58:00.97, start: 5.000000, bitrate: 408 kb/s
    Stream #0.0(cze): Audio: wmav2, 44100 Hz, mono, s16, 48 kb/s
    Stream #0.1(cze): Video: vc1, yuv420p, 480x384, 350 kb/s,
      PAR 16:15 DAR 4:3, 25 tbr, 1k tbn, 1k tbc
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Output #0, flv, to 'D:/Work/test.flv':
    Stream #0.0(cze): Video: flv (hq), yuv420p, 320x240 [PAR 1:1 DAR 4:3],
      q=2-31, 500 kb/s, 90k tbn, 25 tbc
    Stream #0.1(cze): Audio: libmp3lame, 22050 Hz, mono, s16, 64 kb/s
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0.1 -> #0.0
  Stream #0.0 -> #0.1

======================================================================================
                               +--------------------+
                               |                    |
                Source [1] --> | FFmpeg + user opts | --> Destination [1]
                               |                    |
                               +--------------------+
======================================================================================

10:55:56 - FFmpeg user VIDEO option(s) included.
10:55:56 - Free space on destination disk at start 64,909 Mb.

FFmpeg messages/warnings:

Seems stream 1 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate:
  ... 1000.00 (1000/1) -> 25.00 (25/1)

[NULL @ 0x2e7df0]Unknown option 'sws_flags'

[flv @ 0x12e34f0]multi threaded encoding not supported by codec

Error while opening codec for output stream #0.0 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height

10:55:57 - Process canceled by FFmpeg with messages/warnings.

I believe that it's not dependent on input file, right now I have tried several input files (mpeg4/mp3; h264/dca; h264/aac) adn the result is the same.

You can also notice Unknown option 'sws_flags' (loaded by the template), is it because of old FFmpeg or old template?

[Chris K]

I always use "mp3 (Lib)", because some other common choices (mp3, aac, aac (Lib)) cause error f.e. "Unknown encoder 'mp3'"

Yeah! The FFmpeg build you use is not the latest but it isn't old. It probably has all the known FFmpeg bugs and issues of the latest builds in it. Libfaac is taken off because of a license issue and replaced by a experimental aac encoder. With Avanti you need to use "aac" instead of "aac (Lib)" from the audio codecs list.

I believe that it's not dependent on input file, right now I have tried several input files (mpeg4/mp3; h264/dca; h264/aac) adn the result is the same.

You're probably right. I don't see anything in the log that could cause the error message. I'm beginning to suspect the FFmpeg version you use.

You can also notice Unknown option 'sws_flags' (loaded by the template), is it because of old FFmpeg or old template?

It's a bug in the latest FFmpeg builds but not fatal. It actually only displays messages on errors that are not there. There could show up a few others too. Real errors are reported as "Unrecognized option" and FFmpeg will cancel on them, but on this ones it happily continues. It is reported at the FFmpeg devel list but it may take a while before it is removed.

You could try the official FFmpeg 0.5 version which has libfaac still in it and doesn't show these annoying messages.

http://videohelp.com/tools/ffmpeg (at the direct link).

About the threads. You probably have set it at the preferences? If so, set it to zero which means "auto" for FFmpeg. It will probably suppress the flv threads message. Also useful to find out if the "incorrect parameters" error has something to do with it.

Keep me informed,
Chris

[jloucky]

2 Chris K:
Finally we're getting somewhere...

I've downloaded todays version "ffmpeg-r19689-swscale-r29548-mingw32-static" as well as official 0.5. Both gave me same results as my previous one.

About the threads: warnings don't bother me much as far as encoding continues. And yes, I have set number of threads to 2 because I have dual-core, some combinations of decoders and coders work in more threads, so it's worth those innocent warnings in other cases threading doesn't work. I guess it's this case:

[h264 @ 0x2d3c960]
  ... Cannot parallelize deblocking type 1, decoding such frames in sequential order

As you wrote, I tried to set # of threads to 0, but suddenly EVERY encoding (not only to FLV) fails with Windows message "ffmp_avanti.exe stopped working, blah blah". This happens with all my current versions of FFmpeg.

And now we're getting to the happy-end... So I tried to set # of threads to 1; and here we go - encoding to FLV works like a mirracle. But why does 2-threads-setting cancel the process while encoding to FLV and why does it only throw warning while encoding to mpeg4 - god knows.
Or maybe it's like this: when decoding can't be parallelized, warning is reported, but when encoding can't be parallelized, process is canceled. Am I right? This would explain why all worked for me so far; I decode nearly everything, but encode it to only one format - mpeg4. Just recently I have started experimenting with FLV again...

And here is one last question: Is this crash-causing 0-threads-setting a FFmpeg-only bug or could this be fixed in Avanti? Or does it do this only to me with my combination of HW, SW, birthsign and other constellation?

[Chris K]

As you wrote, I tried to set # of threads to 0, but suddenly EVERY encoding (not only to FLV) fails with Windows message "ffmp_avanti.exe stopped working, blah blah". This happens with all my current versions of FFmpeg.

"ffmp_avanti.exe" is a copy of the FFmpeg version you use, not the Avanti program.

You could try the following to check. Set threads to 1 at the preferences. This means that Avanti doesn't add any threads command to the command line. You then probably have no problems. Now add "-threads 0" to the user command line and see what happens. When I do this, FFmpeg crashes which probably means that "-threads 0" = "auto" simply doesn't work or is broken. When you set it to 2 with a codec that supports it (I believe xvid does), you could check if FFmpeg really use them.

And here is one last question: Is this crash-causing 0-threads-setting a FFmpeg-only bug or could this be fixed in Avanti? Or does it do this only to me with my combination of HW, SW, birthsign and other constellation?

LOL! Not that I know as you can read above, unless I've also been born under a bad sign.

Chris

[jloucky]

"ffmp_avanti.exe" is a copy of the FFmpeg version you use, not the Avanti program.

You bet I knew that, I just didn't want to write it, the sencences could get too hard to understand. If it would be Avanti application file, Avanti would most likely die and wouldn't report "Process canceled...". My idea of fixing that was not fixing bug in ffmp_avanti.exe (which has nothing to do with you obviously), but some kind of conditional passing of parameters to FFmpeg.

You could try the following to check. Set threads to 1 at the preferences. This means that Avanti doesn't add any threads command to the command line. You then probably have no problems. Now add "-threads 0" to the user command line and see what happens. When I do this, FFmpeg crashes which probably means that "-threads 0" = "auto" simply doesn't work or is broken. When you set it to 2 with a codec that supports it (I believe xvid does), you could check if FFmpeg really use them.

Well, it's exactly as you say.

Setting number of threads in preferences to 2 and adding "-threads 1" to FLASH template seems to fix the problem. Too bad that error report in Avanti log (probably fed by FFmpeg error report) says the problem is in width/height or rate.

Thanks for advice.

[Chris K]

Too bad that error report in Avanti log (probably fed by FFmpeg error report) says the problem is in width/height or rate.

Everything in red after "FFmpeg messages/warnings:" is original output from FFmpeg. Avanti only formats it to make it more readable.

The message says "maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height".
Maybe... but it's kind of a "one to catch them all" message.

Chris

[Chris K]

Recent FFmpeg builds display metadata.

Since about a week or two, FFmpeg builds show metadata from the source file at the console.
I'm not sure if we ought to be happy with this. I tried it with some of my test files where
FFmpeg throwed up to 70+ metadata lines between the more useful info stuff. Some files pack
a whole novel in the metadata area.

Current Avanti versions are not metadata "aware" although they separate it from the main data.
It's just displayed unformatted and spaced with blank lines at the log window.

I'm working on metadata formatting but it will take a while because I also want to make the
display of what I call "non-error" messages optional. This means that you can choose at
the preferences to whether or not display the general x264 and/or metadata info.
If disabled, the log window will only show "real" error messages and warnings.

If you use Avanti with recent FFmpeg builds, please try to live with the inconvenience for
a week or two untill version 0.4.0 is ready.

Cheers,
Chris

[pgriffet]

Hi all, this is Pierre from Belgium.
I'm using Avanti 0.40 since a few days, it works fine for some encoding but if try "xivd (lib)" for an .avi, I get an error message,
here is the appcompat.txt file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<DATABASE>
<EXE NAME="ffmp_avanti.exe" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_PRIVACY">
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="ffmp_avanti.exe" SIZE="8799232" CHECKSUM="0x637DD74" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x86DA66" LINKER_VERSION="0x10000" LINK_DATE="03/16/2009 15:09:25" UPTO_LINK_DATE="03/16/2009 15:09:25" />
</EXE>
<EXE NAME="kernel32.dll" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_THISFILEONLY">
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="kernel32.dll" SIZE="995328" CHECKSUM="0x2F94FA32" BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.1106" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.1106" PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.1106" FILE_DESCRIPTION="DLL du client API BASE Windows NT" COMPANY_NAME="Microsoft Corporation" PRODUCT_NAME="Système d'exploitation Microsoft® Windows®" FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920)" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="kernel32" INTERNAL_NAME="kernel32" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="© Microsoft Corporation. Tous droits réservés." VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x40004" VERFILETYPE="0x2" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0xF9EA2" LINKER_VERSION="0x50001" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.1106" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.1106" LINK_DATE="08/29/2002 18:44:41" UPTO_LINK_DATE="08/29/2002 18:44:41" VER_LANGUAGE="Français (France) [0x40c]" />
</EXE>
</DATABASE>

Am I missing something ?

[Chris K]

Hi,

"ffmp_avanti.exe" in the windows error log is a copy of the FFmpeg version you use.

Do you use the official FFmpeg 0.5 release?

It doesn't crash for me but I can't encode to xvid/mp3 with that version. Probably caused by a muxing bug of mp3 in avi. When I disable audio everything goes fine.

If so, try another version, e.g. the latest autobuild from here http://ffmpeg.arrozcru.org/autobuilds

Chris

[pgriffet]

Yes I use the 0.5 release. I get an error message but I don't have the right one and I'm note on the PC where the problem occurs.
If I choose mpg4 instead of xvid (lib), it works !
So I dont' think it's a problem with the input file (I've tested input files as flv, avi and mpg)

[Chris K]

Weird!

The FFmpeg 0.5 version also fails for me with mpeg4/mp3 in avi. It just won't play and MediaInfo sees only the container without any contents. When I change the container to mkv, both xvid/mp3 and mpeg4/mp3 works fine.

But nothing crashes in my case so it looks like there is another problem.

[pgriffet]

Hi Chris, this is the message I got from the status window

"FFmpeg canceled or finished process unexpectedly"

But Avanti is not responsible as when I try with the command line ffmpeg, I get the same error
On the print screen here, you can see what happens :



Where can I post my problem ? Elsewhere on this forum ? On another forum ?
Some questions now.
- I would like to encode a flv file. But flv does not appear in the drop-down list of the codec. What do I need to encode ? A special codec ?
- Xvid appears in this drop-down list but when I select it, I get "no xvid codec found". I use also Vdub and I can encode Xvid with it. What's the point ?
- Why can't I copy the text from the status window ? I can select it with the mouse but CTRL+C does not work.

[Chris K]

If you stiil use the FFmpeg 0.5 version, I would try the latest autobuild as mentioned in my earlier reply.

The offical FFmpeg 0.5 release is nothing more then a development snapshot at the time it was released but there are bugs in it that are fixed in later "unoffical" builds. FFmpeg development goes on and on so 0.5 is already quite outdated.

Some questions now.
- I would like to encode a flv file. But flv does not appear in the drop-down list of the codec. What do I need to encode ? A special codec ?
- Xvid appears in this drop-down list but when I select it, I get "no xvid codec found".

At the top left button is a menu where you can load templates for xvid (PAL tab) and FLV (UNI tab). These do the setup and the FLV template "registers" the codec (adds it to the list). You must always re-load a template if you want to encode to a particular format. Selecting a codec at the dropdown list isn't enough because templates also do the command line tweaking.

EDIT: Codecs and all other options at the dropdown lists are only basic settings. A template can be compared with a "profile" in other applications. But it can contain more then a profile only, like e.g. dedicated Avisynth scripts etc.

On the dropdown lists are entries for old and new FFmpeg versions. E.g. "xvid (Lib)" is for new versions, "xvid" for old ones. This is also applicable on e.g. "mp3 (Lib)" vs. "mp3".
There's a editor available (<Ctrl><D>) to modify the drowdown lists with the option to remove items if you don't expect to use very old FFmpeg versions.

Why can't I copy the text from the status window ? I can select it with the mouse but CTRL+C does not work.

For me it does! I can paste it in Notepad or even directly in the reply window here at the forum.

[pgriffet]

Thanks Chris, I've downloaded the latest build and I will try at home.
BTW, my hardware config is old (AMD 400 with 192 MB RAM) but your program works fine. I mention it because there is a minimum hardware requirement in your help file which is much higher than my PC.

[Chris K]

Just a note to those who use the "Avisynth USER mode" to insert their own scripts.

I found that after version 0.3.8 the support for "SegmentedAVISource()" and "SegmentedDirectShowSource()" is broken.

This option should modify the filename of the first segment given at "Source 1" but after a change in the source code, I overlooked it. It will be fixed in the next version.

Chris