WMV conversion

[Wolfen]

OK, I don't believe it, a Microsoft program that doesn't accept wmv maybe you should check that out for sure even test it I really don't believe it.

[radji]

...Say again?

[jagabo]

poisondeathray is correct, the MPG file has the last frame of the WMV repeated many times. Using ffVideoSource() in AviSynth and encoding with HcGUI gives a file with 375 frames that loops properly. (if your player can handle it).

[radji]

PERFECT!!!

No stutter, no hesitation. You gotta step me thru how to do that. I am an encoding idiot after all.

[poisondeathray]

I don't know what settings he used for HCEnc (because it doesn't use strict CBR), but I can get you started with the avisynth steps

1) Install avisynth, 32bit

2) Download ffms2 plugin package, unzip, place the .dll and .avsi in the avisynth plugins directory
https://code.google.com/p/ffmpegsource/downloads/detail?name=ffms-2.17.7z

3) Open a file in notepad. All you need to do is change the paths/filenames to match yours, save it, rename the .txt extension to .avs e.g. "myscript.avs"

FFVideoSource("PATH\video.wmv")

You need 1 script for each video. There are batch scripting tools available . You can preview .avs scripts in vdub


4) HCEnc accepts .avs scripts as input . We have to wait until jagabo replies to see what settings he used

El Heggunte also use HCenc (probably with ffms2) in post #9 and I verified frames were correct - but he muxed it. I bet if you demuxed it , it would play ok too

[jagabo]

I didn't do anything special in HcGUI. I just set the average bitrate to 8000 kbps, the max bitrate to 16000 kbps, made sure it was set to encode progressive with 16:9 DAR, and encoded.

[Wolfen]

...Say again?

I'm saying Microsoft promoted wmv with a big fan fair, when they released it. Do you think they wouldn't accept it in one of their own products ???

Right from Microsoft's web site

"What else should I know about Windows DreamScene?

Here are some things that you should know before you start using Windows DreamScene.

Windows DreamScene supports only WMV and MPG video file formats."

http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows-vista/About-Windows-DreamScene

[poisondeathray]

"Windows DreamScene supports only WMV and MPG video file formats."

http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows-vista/About-Windows-DreamScene

LOL so all that was for nothing

[radji]

"Windows DreamScene supports only WMV and MPG video file formats."

http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows-vista/About-Windows-DreamScene

LOL so all that was for nothing

Of course not. I wouldn't put all of you thru this for nothing. I knew dreamscene supports WMV. BUT, the reason I want to convert to MPEG is because the WMV video loops use about 8%-10% CPU usage at idle, whereas the MPEG only 1%-3%. Maybe I should have led with that statement. Most of my current video loops are in WMV and loop perfectly, but I want to recode them to MPEG so they're not such a CPU hog.

[radji]

Update:

So far, so good. 4 WMV's converted. No stutters or jumps. On a couple of them, I had to manually calculate the total number of frames and enter them into HcGUI. Otherwise it would leave a few frames off the end. But they run great. Only 2% CPU usage on one, compared to the 12% usage it was pulling with the WMV version.

[radji]

So, small issue. Some of my video loops are 1280x720. So when they play on my 1920x1200 screen, Dreamscene will just zoom and fille. But when the recode is done, they will play with a green stripe on the bottom of the screen. Doesn't happen with the original WMV. Is there some setting to not force the converted MPEG2 into the 16:9 aspect ratio?

[jagabo]

Are you sure the videos are 1280x720? The green line at the bottom usually happens when the video isn't a mod 16 size (an integer multiple of 16). For example, if the video was 1280x716 you might see that problem. In that case the solution is to crop or resize the source to make it a mod 16 height -- 1280x704 or 1280x720.

[radji]

It says 1280x720 in MediaInfo. And in the HCGui. I will try it again with a different aspect ratio and see if it is indeed the video loop's frame size, or something else (and I'll post a screenshot).

[radji]

No dice. Not sure if it's an issue with the video loop's aspect ratio, resolution, or just a dreamscene bug. But I do have 1280x720 mpg video loops and they don't have the green stripe. I must be doing something wrong...

[jagabo]

There's no green line at the bottom on my computer, windowed of full screen (2560x1440). The problem is either your MPEG decoder or graphics driver.

<edit>

I tried several different players and saw problems similar to yours on one of them. MPCHC, WMP, SMPlayer, and PotPlayer had no problems. VLC showed a flickering green bar at the top of the window/screen. Turning off Ffmpeg's Hardware Decoding fixed the problem.

[radji]

How might I go about doing that? I don't see a config panel for DXVA in the start menu. I know it was there some time back.

[jagabo]

How might I go about doing that?

What? Turn off ffmpeg's hardware decoding in VLC? Tools -> Preferences -> (show settings -- all) -> Input/Codecs -> FFmpeg -> Hardware Decoding (off).

[radji]

Ah, I don't think that will be it then. I went and used Adobe ME with the 1280x720 video loop and the result was no green line on the bottom. So, now I'm all confused. Could it be an aspect problem with avisynth/HCGui?

[jagabo]

I can't say for sure, but it does appear to be a problem with HcEnc. Changing the frame size to mod32 (1280x736 or 1280x704) instead of mod16 fixed the problem for me. Encodings at 1280x720 with TMPGEenc Plus don't show the same problem.

[radji]

Can the frame size be changed within HCgui?

[jagabo]

No. Change the frame size with your AviSynth script.

[radji]

What's the command for that?

[jagabo]

Any of the resize filters will work. Like Spline36Resize(1280x704). Or you can crop 8 lines off the video: Crop(0,-4,-0,-4) -- that's four lines off the top, 4 lines off the bottom.

[radji]

Alright. That got rid of the green bar at the bottom.

One more question (well, two more )

First, I've got a few loops which are oddball size (864x486, 1680x1050) or weird framerate (50fps). Do I need to have AVIsynth resize or change the framerate before HCGui will encode them?

[El Heggunte]

First, I've got a few loops which are oddball size (864x486, 1680x1050) or weird framerate (50fps). Do I need to have AVIsynth resize or change the framerate before HCGui will encode them?

Framerate: no, because 50fps is a valid framerate for MPEG-1 and MPEG-2.

Frame dimensions: yes, because the width and the height must be divisible by 8.

[radji]

Thanks for all of your help so far. I've been able to convert the bulk of my video loops without incident.

There are only a couple of problem childs. There are 5 like I said with weird frame dimensions. But I will leave those as is for now.

The ones I'm concerned with had source errors when encoding thru the second pass. Is that most likely a bad video file, or something in the header cause these loops do play fine in wmv format.

[jagabo]

The ones I'm concerned with had source errors when encoding thru the second pass.

Try a different source filter. Or a different encoder.

[radji]

What would you recommend other than ffms2?