VOB Error With Avidemux

[Nitro89]

what is the difference between AAC-HE and AAC-LC?

Which is better?

Also,

the .VOB which I am converting it already 192kbps CBR, is it pointless converting the audio to 192kbps ABR, or should I convert to 128kbps?

[poisondeathray]

HE is more compressed , but less compliant with some devices - it's usually used for lower bitrates scenarios like streaming flash

You have the option of copying the audio stream , converting it will cause some quality loss. To save a tiny bit of space you can convert it if you want.

[Nitro89]

so am I right to say AAC-LC will give me higher quality bitrates then AAC-HE?

also, if I copy the stream (AC3), won't the .MP4 file not work? I've had a problem like this before when a codec is not compatible with the container.

[Nitro89]

even though I keep turning the aspect ratio to 4:3, xvid4psp keeps encoding it at 5:4, what's the problem here?
is 720x576 naturally 5:4?

also, on extreme Q18 my 30minute video takes 4hours+ on my dual core PC. is this normal?

[poisondeathray]

even though I keep turning the aspect ratio to 4:3, xvid4psp keeps encoding it at 5:4, what's the problem here?
is 720x576 naturally 5:4?

also, on extreme Q18 my 30minute video takes 4hours+ on my dual core PC. is this normal?

Did you set input & output to 1.3333 as in the screenshot? Can you post the logfile

How are you determining that it's 5:4 ? What media player? Try a different one, some don't acknowledge the aspect ratio correctly

Did you set the priority to "normal" instead of idle? I would say that's a bit slow if you are not filtering (straight encode)

EDIT: I see you are on a P4? that might be about right. Also your memory is dangerously low 256mb? , it might be bottlenecking your performace as you might be I/O limited from page file swapping

PS. you can test your encoding settings on a short clip, to get it correct before attempting to encode the whole thing

[Nitro89]

i can post a log file tommorrow

i use mediainfo to analyze all my videos and when i play it through vlc and set the aspect ratio to default, 5:4 is shown

i have set the priority to normal but its still the same problem, my video did turn out great, although there wasn`t much compression, the original .VOB was 1.2GB and the new .MP4 was 1.01GB

that was my old pc, my new one has a dual core processor, 2GB RAM and vista

i have done some small test clips, they result in 5:4 aspect ratio and long time converting, a 10 minute clip was converting for over an hour

[Nitro89]

This is a test clip I converted from the same DVD,

PLATFORM
------------------------------
OS: Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1
OEMCodePage: 850
Language: ENG
DecimalSeparator: .
Framework: 2.0.50727.1434
Processors: 2
Machine: WOLOSZCZUK-PC
UserName: Mateusz
SystemDrive: C:

XVID4PSP
------------------------------
Version: 5.036
Created: 18/10/2008 17:36:32
TempPath: C:\Temp
AppPath: C:\Program Files\Winnydows\XviD4PSP5

FILES
------------------------------
VTS_01_1.VOB >
Test 1.mp4

TASK
------------------------------
Format: MP4
Duration: 00:02:54:120 (4353)
VideoDecoder: MPEG2Source
Resolution: 720x576
VCodecPreset: x264 Q18 Extreme
VEncodingMode: Quality
VideoCodec: MPEG2 > x264
VideoBitrate: 5127 > Q18.0
Framerate: 25.000
SourceType: INTERLACED
FieldOrder: UNKNOWN
AudioDecoder: NicAC3Source
AEncodingPreset: AAC-LC ABR 192k
AudioCodec: AC3 > AAC
AudioBitrate: 192
Samplerate: 48000
Channels: 2
Normalize: 100%
Accurate: 3%
Gain: 7.263
Delay: 64 > 64

VIDEO ENCODING
------------------------------
Encoding video to: C:\Temp\0002.264
x264 Q18.0 720x576 25.000fps (4353 frames)
x264 [info]: cabac=1 ref=3 deblock=1:-2:-1 analyse=0x3:0x133 me=umh subme=7 psy_rd=1.0:0.0 mixed_ref=1 me_range=16 chroma_me=1 trellis=2 8x8dct=1 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 chroma_qp_offset=-2 threads=2 thread_queue=2 nr=0 decimate=0 mbaff=1 bframes=3 b_pyramid=1 b_adapt=1 b_bias=0 direct=1 wpredb=1 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=40(pre) rc=crf crf=18.0000 qcomp=0.60 qpmin=10 qpmax=51 qpstep=4 ip_ratio=1.40 pb_ratio=1.30 aq=1:1.00

AUDIO ENCODING
------------------------------
Encoding audio to: C:\Temp\0002.m4a
AAC 192kbps 2ch 16bit 48000khz

MUXING
------------------------------
Video file: C:\Temp\0002.264
Audio file: C:\Temp\0002.m4a
Muxing to: C:\Users\Mateusz\Videos\Test 1.mp4

TIME
------------------------------
Total encoding time: 16 min 7 sec
Out file size is: 69.79 mb


It is originally a 3min clip which took 16minutes to convert which is still a long time, consider the 30min clip I did earlier and the aspect ratio is has turned to 5:4 again. Also, the file size hasn't changed that much although in this case, it ain't bad, 118mb to 69.97mb.

[poisondeathray]

On that screenshot, how to fix aspect ratio difference, select sar instead of disabled

You are using 1 pass crf mode, so there is no way to tell the size , if you want more compression, worse quality, select higher values e.g. q22 or q20 instead of q18

You need to do 2pass for exact file size

Make sure you have no other unecessary processes running (e.g. virus scan), check your taskmanager. You shouldn't be taking that long if you are not filtering. Post the avisynth script (avisynth=>edit filtering script)

Also check your deinterlacing settings, your source is interlaced, but the automatic detection often makes poor choices . You can check what is it using by avisynth=>edit filtering script. Yadif is usually a good choice because it's fast and gives decent quality

To change the mode, video=>interlace/framerate

[Nitro89]

This is the text that appears when I edit the script:

import("C:\Program Files\Winnydows\XviD4PSP5\dlls\AviSynth\functions\AudioFunctions.avs")
import("C:\Program Files\Winnydows\XviD4PSP5\dlls\AviSynth\functions\ VideoFunctions.avs")
loadplugin("C:\Program Files\Winnydows\XviD4PSP5\apps\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.dll")
loadplugin("C:\Program Files\Winnydows\XviD4PSP5\dlls\AviSynth\plugins\Ni cAudio.dll")

video = MPEG2Source("C:\DVDVolume\VIDEO_TS\DVDVolume.index \DVDVolume_T01.d2v",cpu=0,info=3)
audio = NicAC3Source("C:\DVDVolume\VIDEO_TS\DVDVolume.inde x\DVDVolume_T01 T80 2_0ch 192Kbps DELAY 64ms.ac3")
AudioDub(video, audio)

DelayAudio(0.064)
AutoYV12()

SeparateFields()
Weave()


-----


How do I switch from 1pass to 2pass?
Is 2pass worth the extra time?

How do I know if my source is interlaced?
What settings do I change to make it "Yadif"?

[poisondeathray]

2pass is for exact bitrate/filesize. Only you can answer if it's worth it. Since
it seems to be slow on your pc, I would keep it, and maybe raise the quantizer value if it seems to be too big for your goals (remember lower is higher quality, bigger filesize)

You can tell it's interlaced by examining it. You have to do some reading :

http://www.100fps.com/
http://neuron2.net/faq.html#analysis

Mediainfo will report if it's interlaced, but it can be wrong because it just reads header information. If you go back to the log you posted it says: source type:interlaced

Separate Fields and Weave will give you lower quality results. You can't expect much from automated tools. If you learn to do it properly, you will get better results.

If you push the "e" button beside encoding options it will give you the option. Encoding mode is set to constant quality but the drop down menu has other options

You have to determine the field order (top field or bottom field first) read the 2nd link on how to do this properly. If you want a quick "cheat" method, mediainfo will report it (view=>text) but it isn't always correct, you should learn how to do it manually for best results

video=>interlace/framerate gives you the options to set various deinterlacers and their options

If you don't have the time to learn, or happy with the results, just leave it as is, that's the benefit of using simple GUI tools. I'm just suggesting other ways you can do it to get better results

[Nitro89]

i have noticed that the outputs of my videos in .MP4 all have combs.

so what exactly in interlacing settings do i need to change?

[poisondeathray]

i have noticed that the outputs of my videos in .MP4 all have combs.

so what exactly in interlacing settings do i need to change?

I can't tell from here, you have to go through the steps to determine field order e.g. bff or tff for each video manually. The 2nd link above tells you how to. The problem with the auto analyzers is they often get it wrong, as you can see the combing artifacts in your encodes. You should do every video manually because there are some patterns that are not so straightforward.

video=>interlace/framerate then, enter deinterlace=>yadif, field order=> enter tff or bff depending on your analysis. You can use the cheat method with mediainfo like I suggested earlier, but it might be wrong. It will report the field order, but that is just in the header (the actual content might be different)

My advice is to learn how to do it properly, instead of relying on these automated tools.

[Nitro89]

thank you very much for your help, everything is how it should be.

I changed "fix aspect ratio" to "SAR" and now my aspect ratio is 4:3 as it should be
I used mediainfo to analyze my source to see if it was TFF or BFF etc
I changed my interlace settings to match my findings, combing has gone!

if combing has gone, does that mean mediainfo was correct about the TFF and whether the source was interlaced or not?

[poisondeathray]

Yes, it means it was correct. If it was actually BFF, and you set yadif to TFF, you would get jerky playback (but I guess you have 50/50 chance at guessing anyway )

There are some trickier patterns (e.g. field blending, phase shifting) that need more complex solutions, but those you definitely have to do manually

Cheers

[Nitro89]

about these trickier patterns, do they occur on dvd source material?

[poisondeathray]

about these trickier patterns, do they occur on dvd source material?

I'm no expert, but I haven't see this too often on newer Hollywood retail DVD's , but you often see weird blending and hybrid patterns on anime and foreign DVD's.

[Nitro89]

is there an addon or anything for xvid4psp or anything that allows me to cut parts of the video out?

[poisondeathray]

is there an addon or anything for xvid4psp or anything that allows me to cut parts of the video out?

You can edit the avisynth script, and using the Trim() command you can cut ranges of frames e.g.:

Trim(100,200)++Trim(300,400)

This would retain frames 100 to 200 and join the segment from frames 300 to 400.

An easier approach would be to edit/cut the vob's first (e.g. videoredo, mpg2cut2, dvdshrink, dvdfab platinum, etc...)

[Nitro89]

if i want to use avisynthscript, where do i enter the trim command on xvid4psp?

do any of these programs reconvert the video?

are key frames important when doing this?

[poisondeathray]

You would use avisynth=>edit filtering script

But it's hard to preview in xvid4psp (i.e. you don't know what you are cutting.) It would be better to learn how to use avisynth properly and use a script editor such as AvsP to view/edit

videoredo is frame accurate and will only re-encode the few frames around the gop where the cut site is if not on a key frame. mpg2cut2 is free, but you can only cut on keyframes, no re-encoding on either. Cuttermaran is another option that is frame accurate (only re-encoding the few frames like videoredo), but only accepts elementary streams and is difficult to use at first.

[cephel]

Concerning the original problem, I got the same problem with one of my DVDs. I open the VOB file in avidemux and the output appears greyish.



But when I open it with an older version of avidemux (2.4.1), there's no problem.