Avisynth question

[Mr_Flintstone]

I've used avisynth a few times in the past; but it's been a while. I have some old DVDs recorded years back that I want to convert to MP4. Handbrake will do the conversion, but I don't really like the resultant video. Without getting into all the conversions that need to be made, can I load the video directly from the ISOs using avisynth?

[Baldrick]

You can try MeGUI(frontend for avisynth, x264, etc) and see how it handles DVD ISOs. But I guess you have extract the video_ts/vob files or mount the iso as a virtual dvd first.

But avisynth is not any video encoder...but you are maybe looking to add some filters?

[Budman1]

NOt sure what you mean by (to player, to handbrake to another converter?)

can I load the video directly from the ISOs using avisynth

but you might try this thread https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/331480-Batch-Convert-ISO-DVD-to-MP4 Which talks about using vidcoder (which uses Handbrake as its engine) for using iso file as input and the tweaks to make good output.

[Mr_Flintstone]

I guess I should explain a little further. I have a few old b&w movies recorded on an old Pioneer DVD recorder. They are interlaced at 29.97 fps, but they should be 23.976. I realized I could use MakeMKV to save as a single file and I can use avisynth to de-interlace, select the even frames, and tdecimate to achieve the desired results for the video. What I'd like to do next is to open the avs file in handbrake (because I'm familiar with it) or another such program to convert to MP4 or m4v to use with Emby.

[Budman1]

I do not believe vidcoder or handbrake will accept Avisynth files but will take VOB files (at least Vidcoder does) and FFmpeg will take Avisynth files. The VOB files can be joined with the DOS copy binary format such as copy /b video1 + video2 Joined_Video1 format.

BTW, I don't usually use Vidcoder but it does have Several filters including deinterlace and detelecine so you might want to check it out. I believe it is a front end for Handbrake also.

[jagabo]

I realized I could use MakeMKV to save as a single file and I can use avisynth to de-interlace, select the even frames, and tdecimate to achieve the desired results for the video.

More likely you should field match, then decimate:

Mpeg2Source("filename.d2v")
TFM()
TDecimate()

You can mount ISO images as if they are DVD drives using WinCDEmu then build an index (d2v file) with DgIndex.

But if you're not happy with what Handbrake did the video may need more than that.

[LigH.de]

@ Mr_Flintstone:

Your first misunderstanding is probably that "a DVD Video" is not one file; instead, it is a medium with a potentially complex structure. An ISO image is a copy of a whole DVD disk, not "a video file". It is in general not possible to convert a whole complex DVD Video structure to an MP4 copy because different movies could have been in authored a different structure, and each main movie to be converted could be spread across different parts of the DVD Video content.

To be sure to extract the correct part, it is necessary to analyze many files. And access to many files at once is only possible if the ISO image is mounted as a whole medium, in a "Virtual CD/DVD" device (e.g. "Daemon Tools").

If your video was recorded in a camera burning recordable DVDs, or a DVD recorder converting analogue video sources into DVDs, then they are certainly not copy-protected, and then you may not need a full-featured "ripper"; in this case, PGCDemux will be suitable to extract the main movie PGC. "Finalizing" the disk will have generated the ISO 9660 filesystem from the original UDF filesystem which got a second version, to create the logical DVD structure with 1 GB VOB segments out of previously recorded snippets with different sizes.

[Mr_Flintstone]

I realized I could use MakeMKV to save as a single file and I can use avisynth to de-interlace, select the even frames, and tdecimate to achieve the desired results for the video.

More likely you should field match, then decimate:

Mpeg2Source("filename.d2v")
TFM()
TDecimate()

You can mount ISO images as if they are DVD drives using WinCDEmu then build an index (d2v file) with DgIndex.

But if you're not happy with what Handbrake did the video may need more than that.

Field match probably is a better option. I'll change my script. Now, moving on...

I'm good with using the MKV file as an input for avisynth and with the output from avisynth. What I'm looking for now is a way to use the avs as an input to create a single MP4 file approximately 1.5 GB for a 2 hr video. I could do this on the quality slider in handbrake, but it won't open the avs file. I also tried frame serving it through virtual dub. No luck. Will any software mentioned earlier do this? If not, then I could use some recommendations.

[jagabo]

What I'm looking for now is a way to use the avs as an input to create a single MP4 file

Why don't you just use the x264 command line encoder via a batch file? You can drag/drop an AVS script onto it. This script starts the encoder at low priority and encodes at the slow preset.

start /b /low x264.exe --preset=slow --crf=18 --sar=1:1 --output %1.mp4 %1
@pause >nul

You can easily edit it and use whatever settings you want. You'll have to mux the audio separately later though.

[manono]

I'm good with using the MKV file as an input for avisynth and with the output from avisynth.

I wouldn't be, especially if you intend to index the file using DGIndex. 'Normal' people put the VOBs onto the hard drive and then use DGIndex on them followed by opening the video using MPEG2Source in the AviSynth script.

I could do this on the quality slider in handbrake, but it won't open the avs file.

It doesn't use AviSynth.

If not, then I could use some recommendations.

I open my AviSynth scripts and then encode to x264/MP4/MKV using RipBot264. XviD4PSP can also do it, and others as well.

[Mr_Flintstone]

What I'm looking for now is a way to use the avs as an input to create a single MP4 file

Why don't you just use the x264 command line encoder via a batch file? You can drag/drop an AVS script onto it. This script starts the encoder at low priority and encodes at the slow preset.

start /b /low x264.exe --preset=slow --crf=18 --sar=1:1 --output %1.mp4 %1
@pause >nul

You can easily edit it and use whatever settings you want. You'll have to mux the audio separately later though.

I tried x264. I get the following error... x264 [error]: not compiled with MP4 output support

I am also having trouble processing with ffmpeg. I get the error... Invalid data found when processing input.

It opens and plays fine in virtualdub though.

[jagabo]

What I'm looking for now is a way to use the avs as an input to create a single MP4 file

Why don't you just use the x264 command line encoder via a batch file? You can drag/drop an AVS script onto it. This script starts the encoder at low priority and encodes at the slow preset.

start /b /low x264.exe --preset=slow --crf=18 --sar=1:1 --output %1.mp4 %1
@pause >nul

You can easily edit it and use whatever settings you want. You'll have to mux the audio separately later though.

I tried x264. I get the following error... x264 [error]: not compiled with MP4 output support

Since you will be muxing with audio later just output a raw h.264 stream. In the batch file replace the ".mp4" with ".h264". Or you can find a version of x264 built with support for mp4 output.

I am also having trouble processing with ffmpeg. I get the error... Invalid data found when processing input.

It opens and plays fine in virtualdub though.

32 bit vs 64 bit? 32 bit ffmpeg requires 32 bit AviSynth; 64 bit ffmpeg requires 64 bit AviSynth. Otherwise I'm stumped.

[Mr_Flintstone]

What I'm looking for now is a way to use the avs as an input to create a single MP4 file

Why don't you just use the x264 command line encoder via a batch file? You can drag/drop an AVS script onto it. This script starts the encoder at low priority and encodes at the slow preset.

start /b /low x264.exe --preset=slow --crf=18 --sar=1:1 --output %1.mp4 %1
@pause >nul

You can easily edit it and use whatever settings you want. You'll have to mux the audio separately later though.

I tried x264. I get the following error... x264 [error]: not compiled with MP4 output support

Since you will be muxing with audio later just output a raw h.264 stream. In the batch file replace the ".mp4" with ".h264". Or you can find a version of x264 built with support for mp4 output.

I am also having trouble processing with ffmpeg. I get the error... Invalid data found when processing input.

It opens and plays fine in virtualdub though.

32 bit vs 64 bit? 32 bit ffmpeg requires 32 bit AviSynth; 64 bit ffmpeg requires 64 bit AviSynth. Otherwise I'm stumped.

I'm using 32-bit for both. Never had any problem with avisynth and ffmpeg before.

[jagabo]

I'd try some simple scripts. Like just Version(), ColorBars(), or BlankClip() to make sure basic functionality is there. Then work you way up from there.

[Mr_Flintstone]

Thanks for all of the help guys.

I finally got it working. I originally had the ffmpeg batch file

ffmpeg -i "C:\Users\User\Desktop\Best Years of Our Lives.avs" -ss 00:01:40.184 -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 18 -c:a aac "C:\Users\User\Desktop\Made\The Best Years of Our Lives.mp4"

I started with just ffmpeg -i "C:\Users\User\Desktop\Best Years of Our Lives.avs" "C:\Users\User\Desktop\Made\The Best Years of Our Lives.mp4" and it worked. I walked through it, and the -preset slow was what caused the error.

I ended up with ffmpeg -i "C:\Users\User\Desktop\Best Years of Our Lives.avs" -ss 00:01:40.184 -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -c:a aac "C:\Users\User\Desktop\Made\The Best Years of Our Lives.mp4" and its encoding right now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the final result.

I started to put in -r 23.976 but I forgot. If the input is 23.976, do I need to specify that for the output?

[jagabo]

Does "-preset medium" give you problems? Ie, is the problem the difference between the medium (the default) and slow presets, or in specifying a preset on the command line?

You don't need to specify the frame rate if your video already has the right frame rate.