Encode to AVC1 in Virtualdub?

[ChasVideo]

I like Virtualdub for its feature to only recompress when absolutely necessary. I have some video in AVC1 codec that I can edit just fine in Virtualdub. But I do not see any way to keep the format in AVC1 when I have edits that must be recompressed.

Is there a AVC1 encoder that Virtualdub can use?

Or should I just shut up and reencode the whole thing to Xvid at a low (2) quantifier and I will never see any difference anyway?

[poisondeathray]

x264vfw can be set to AVC1 fourcc . But smart rendering doesn't work very well in vdub with h.264/AVC , it's very buggy compared to xvid smart rendering

[DarrellS]

There is a trick to get x264vfw to smart render correctly in Virtualdub. You need to set the x264vfw encoder to use the Virtualdub hack...

After saving as an avi, use mp4box or mkvmerge to mux the avi streams into mp4 or mkv container. avc1 video with aac audio is recommended for mp4. avc1 with ac3 audi would normally go in an mkv container.

[poisondeathray]

Vdub doesn't smart render AVC correctly, with or without the hack. I revisit this topic every few months to see if it has improved, under multiple test conditions/sources and decoders, on different computers. Unless something has drastically changed in the last month, you will still get mixed up frames, possibly green frames, black frames, glitches at the seams - even with a "normal" closed GOP input file. Just scrub back and forth a bit, and you will lose your place in vdub, frames will get mixed up. e.g Make some edits / apply some filters - and try to "smart render" - the same errors will propogate in the output file (ie. it's not just a bad preview, the errors are actually there, and when you examine in a stream analyzer). And if the input file has b-frames, or open GOP's - the probability of failure increases 10 fold. If it actually worked more than a few times by sheer luck, we wouldn't need to buy commercial smart renderers. But even commercial smart renderers can have problems with AVC , just not as often - there are just too many variations and complexities in AVC streams to be completely problem free . Believe me, I'll be the first on to scream from the rooftops when it actually works in vdub.

[DarrellS]

Well, I took an mp4 that I downloaded and made five or six cuts in it and tried smart rendering to avi and the first encode was messed up. Bits and pieces of scenes I had cut out were still there.

Then I changed the settings in the x264vfw encoder and encoded the same mp4 with the same cuts and it came out flawless. No bits from scene changes which were all smooth and the audio was perfect. I know it's not the recommended way to edit avc but...

I had started my post above with that statement and mentioned that the best way to edit avc was with VideoReDo TV Suite or similar programs but when I refreshed the page to check my gif, all that info was lost and I had to start over. The problem isn't just in Virtualdub though. Every software has trouble scrubbing back and forth though an mp4. I usually get better results just changing container from mp4 to mkv and surprisingly, flv probably gives the least problems. If I'm putting in transitions with the curve editor, I make sure I go back far enough to where it resets the correct position before slowly moving back forward again, insuring that I get frame. The key to editing avc is to not jump all over the place making your cuts and moving slowly through the file. Patience is the key.

AVC was meant for the final output and not meant for editing. Even VideoReDo has trouble with a lot of cuts on mp4 files and will crash. AVC was not meant to be stored in an avi container but for a quick and dirty job, it is worth a try if you don't have $100 to drop down on the right tool. If you are going to edit a lot of avc files then I would definitely recommend buying VideoReDo.

I would not recommend giving up and encoding to xvid though which is inferior to avc/264. IMO, the DivX mpeg4 encoder was much more efficient than the XviD encoder and the encraw command line xvid encoder is crap. Good riddance to that old format.