avstodvd slows to crawl with avi-mp4 on same dvd

[dblake2]

i d/l a bunch of episodes in avi format.
made 1st dvd with 4 avi's no problem.
2nd dvd 1 of the episodes had to be edited to cut out 60sec commercial. i used videoredo & saved as mp4, avi format not available.
when i make 2nd dvd using 3 files, avi,mp4,avi, it does 1st avi fine but when it gets to mp4 it slows to a crawl
(20% complete in 2 1/2 hours on longest attempt).
funny thing is, i tried making dvd with just mp4 & it did it in ~5 min.
im using avstodvd 2.8.2, hcenc .28 & avisynth 2.6. i updated hcenc & avisynth to try & get around this problem but no help.
i attached the log but its not informative. i aborted the process after ~1 hour with the mp4 on this attempt & when i hit
exit it hung up but the log sez completed successfully!
any ideas whats going on? is it a no-no to mix files types with avs?

[_MrC_]

Hi dblake2

you should post the project .log file you find in the AVStoDVD output folder. You have instead saved the Operations Log report from the main AVStoDVD window.

Anyway, do uninstall either ffdshow or LAV Filters. The presence of both of them may cause a redundancy in directshow filters decoding chain.

You can mix sources, no barriers to do that.



Bye

[dblake2]

ok, getting a little lost.
i found no project.log, did you mean <dvdtitle>.log? if so, i uploaded that.

there are no discrete entires for lav or ffd but i found them both in the klite codec pack config menu entry.
i installed the klite pack a year ago or so, not sure what uses it, but seemed like a good idea at the time.
guess i could uninstall it & see what doesn't work, or is there a way to get rid of just ffd or lav?

maybe i should mention i got a good dvd with these exact same files using the old dvdflick v1.3.0.9.

[dblake2]

i solved the conflicting file problem by removing klite full & replacing witha newer klite standard which just has lav in it.

retried making the dvd & it was the same, it zips thru the 1st avi then bogs down to a crawl as soon as it gets to the mp4.

i redid the mp4 only test, it completed in ~15 min sucessfully. The only thing i saw was a ffmpeg window as it was processing & there was no menu/icons when i test played the dvd.

[DB83]

The project log is stored in the root directory of the HDD you save you files to (the one shown at the bottom of your screen).

It is named usually named 'DVD_x.log' where x is a consecutive number if you have created more than one dvd. You appear to have renamed that in creating your project.

I see a very odd frame rate in that mp4. Possibly badly created. Try redoing that avi/mp4 in avidemux using copy for video and audio streams.

[_MrC_]

In addition to DB83 hint, I would suggest to uninstall completely the klite codecs pack and install only LAV Filters.

Then, if you still have issues, switch from HCenc VBR 1-pass to FFmpeg CBR 1-pass in 'Edit Title'/'Video'.



Bye

[dblake2]

switching out ffmpeg for hcenc got me a good dvd with no other changes. took ~1/2 hour.

so would that work as a general fix for other problem video files?

i had noted when i made a sucessful dvd with just the one problem mp4 that all i saw was the ffmpeg window, no hcenc.

[_MrC_]

My guess is that HCenc is having hard time with the codecs currently installed in your system. FFmpeg may be a bit more tolerant. But the fact that HCenc is not working properly is just a symptom that there is a flaw in the decoding/frameserving chain.

If you are satisfied with the result using FFmpeg and/or you do not want to deepen the issue, than let HCenc go and use always FFmpeg CBR 1-pass profile with AVStoDVD. Otherwise you should investigate a bit more.



Bye

[DB83]

I still think the inherent issue was the variable frame rate in that mp4.

We know nothing about the video before you trimmed it. Whether that was originally vfr (you can check that with mediainfo if you still have the video) or that crept in during the videoredo process

[dblake2]

the original (avi) was constant, 23.976

i attached the media info for the 2 files.

as i recall, vredo initially complained about the frame rate for the avi files.

[DB83]

So, basically, it has changed a constant fps of 23.976 to a variable one of 24.xxx

Possibly, as you say, videoredo can not properly handle 23.976.

Do not know the in's and out's of Henc but it would not have any issue with 23.976 - with pulldown applied to achieve 29.97 - but it might well cough at a variable frame rate and an odd one at that.

[_MrC_]

Actually, in that case, the VFR mp4 is converted to CFR by AviSynth and HCenc/FFmpeg are frameserved by a pure CFR 29.97 fps stream.

Import("C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\Lib\A2DSource.avsi")
Import("C:\Program Files\AVStoDVD\Lib\MotionProtectedFPS.avsi")

Video = A2DVideoSource("J:\11\6-Human_Target_The_Other_Side_of_the_Mall.mp4", CacheFolder="C:\DOCUME~1\Dave\LOCALS~1\Temp", FrameRate=24.416, VFR=true)
Audio = A2DAudioSource("J:\11\6-Human_Target_The_Other_Side_of_the_Mall.mp4", CacheFolder="C:\DOCUME~1\Dave\LOCALS~1\Temp")

Video = Video.ConvertToYV12()
Video = Video.Lanczos4Resize(720,480)
Video = Video.MotionProtectedFPS(29.97)

Audio = Audio.SSRC(48000)

AudioDub(Video, Audio)

The VFR=true flag forces DirectShowSource to apply convertfps=true which output is CFR.

I'm more inclined to address the issue to some incompatibility between HCenc and the video decoding flow.

@dblake2

would you like to attach here the screenshot taken from 'Codecs'/'Build DirectShow Filters Graph' of that mp4?



Bye

[dblake2]

graph attached.

fyi, i tried uninstalling klite & redoing dvd & it made no difference.

i'll try some other video formats later

[davexnet]

Is it possible the more complicated script is slowing down the encode (eg. MotionProtectedFPS() ?)

[dblake2]

while creating more formats with videoredo for experimentation, I decided to try & use it to make a dvd with the same files as avs (3:avi-edited mp4-avi).

As soon as I tried to put the problem mp4 in the dvd que I got error msg from vredo itself: "the current frame rate of 24.41 FPS is not support on an NTSC DVD".

the fact vredo saved it with an illegal dvd frame rate is a little irritating. ill have to ask them about it, or maybe learn what the legal dvd frame ates are.

[DB83]

^^ Well they got that bit right

A better test would be to try the original avi (the one with 23.976 fps and before the edit)

You might also like to try that original avi in avstodvd. Maybe you already did. Just to see how 'fast' that is.

Clearly, as davexnet suggests, avisynth has a lot more processing to do to convert that vfr to cfr and change the frame rate to 29.97. Other factors such as cpu speed will also come in to the equation.

[dblake2]

all the avi's work, no problem. where i ran into trouble was i had to edit 1 episode & could not save in avi. vredo default saved to ts which i wasn't familiar with, so i resaved in the mp4.

turns out i was able to get a good dvd in the edited ts format but not the mp4.

[DB83]

Do you by chance still have the .ts file ?. A mediainfo report of that could be interesting.

[dblake2]

heres the media info for ts.

spoke too soon, i just discovered vredo produced a dvd with no audio with the ts files.

[DB83]

^^ The frame rate is still variable with the .ts.

No program worth its salt should change the frame rate type without user-interaction. Possibly there is a problem with that avi which is not obvious.

There does appear to be audio present. Possibly a codec/filter issue why you can not hear it. Not really important now.

[_MrC_]

@dblake2

the filters graph is OK, even if I would suggest to uninstall AC3Filter and use only LAV Filters. But if you have uninstalled KLite, probably AC3Filter has already gone as well.

@dave

for sure MotionProtectedFPS does not work "for free", but what is still puzzling is why FFmpeg (frameserved by AviSynth) does not slow down while HCenc (frameserved by the same AviSynth script) does.

@DB83

I don't know how VideoRedo works, but, I agree, a software should never change the framerate configuration without being forced by the user. Converting an already CFR stream to VFR is just a nonsense.

@dblake2 (part II)

If you are using VideoRedo to simply trim the source AVI, you can perform it directly with AVStoDVD: 'Edit Title' -> 'AviSynth' -> toggle off 'Auto AviSynth Script' -> then

A. Select 'Trim' -> manually insert the frames where to trim

or

B. Click on the 'Preview Title Output' icon (lower right), visually select the start-end frames, use the brackets to place the trim flags.



Bye

[davexnet]

@dave

for sure MotionProtectedFPS does not work "for free", but what is still puzzling is why FFmpeg (frameserved by AviSynth) does not slow down while HCenc (frameserved by the same AviSynth script) does.


Bye

I'll do some test and see if I can find anything.

EDIT - the combination of MotionProtectedFPS and FFmpegsource video filter when used with HCenc is the combination
that is troublesome. Why it does not occur when FFmpeg encoder is used, I've no idea. Using directshowsource
seems to work much better.

The following image shows that when the combination is as above, almost all of the cpu is used in FFMS2.DLL.

[hank315]

This test with HCenc, was it a 1 pass or a 2 pass encode?

[dblake2]

MrC:

editing the avi directly would greatly simplify things but i ran into problems.

step A: after selecting frames & press ok then what. if i preview file it plays the trimmed part. how to cut it out & save the rest? i need to remove, cut out, frames 8830 to 9150.

step B: i could not find the brackets.

also when i close the preview window, the whole program exits, how to close just the preview window & not the whole program?

[DB83]

^^ If you do not untick 'Auto avisynth script' (avisynth tab), you do not get the brackets.

[_MrC_]

@dave

very good investigation. Good job!

@hank

thanks for jumping in. It's actually the sampling phase of 1-pass encode that "slows to crawl".

The combination of HCenc 1-pass + FFMS2 + MotionProtectedFPS is somehow problematic. Some more tests:

HCenc 1p + FFMS2 + ChangeFPS -> OK
HCenc 1p + FFMS2 + ConvertFPS -> OK
HCenc 1p + DSS + MotionProtectedFPS -> OK
HCenc 2p + FFMS2 + MotionProtectedFPS -> OK

Using seekmode=1 instead of seekmode=0 (A2D default) in FFMS2 helps a bit.



Bye

[_MrC_]

step A: after selecting frames & press ok then what. if i preview file it plays the trimmed part. how to cut it out & save the rest? i need to remove, cut out, frames 8830 to 9150.

The cut option is not available, there is only a simple trim option. Anyway I you are willing to experiment, you can edit the AviSynth script. After unticking the 'Auto AviSynth Script' option, go to the last line, press return and add the following lines:

T1 = Trim(0,8829)
T2 = Trim(9151,NNN)
Last T1+T2

where NNN is the total frames count (e.g. 15000). Check the result with the 'Preview Output' option.

also when i close the preview window, the whole program exits, how to close just the preview window & not the whole program?

That's not good: A2D has crashed. 'Preferences' -> 'Misc' -> 'Unload DirectShow ActiveMovie Library at runtime' option OFF should mitigate this issue.



Bye

[dblake2]

thanks DB83, i found the trim flags & marked begin & end. how do i cut out the unwanted flagged section? i tried delete key & poking around menus but no luck.

also, i can't seem to find a way to close the preview window without closing the whole program, is that a bug?

[dblake2]

thanks MrC:

i made some progress, unchecking unload directshow... solved the exit problem.

i was able to sucessfully cut out the unwanted part using your script info.

is there a way to save the edited file or do you have to just do it on the fly & make the dvd right away?

[DB83]

^^ It worked for me. Went back to avisynth screen with a TRIM line added to the script

But Mr_C_ has now confirmed my suspicions about avisynth and TRIM. In its raw form it will do the reverse of what you require ie keep the commercial rather than cut it out. Read Mr_C_'s post above for a work-around.

BTW I suggested avidemux for the trimming. Actually that does exactly the same. Virtualdub will do both - TRIM and CUT.

When you think about it, that is what a trim does in the real world - cuts around the part you really want.