MPEG conversion with FFMPEG and fit to disc

[spapakons]

Hello!
I already use AVS video converter and AVStoDVD to convert my AVI or MKV videos to MPEG. However I noticed that FFMPEG is much faster, so I tried converting a video to MPEG using the Axiom GUI since I am not familiar with the FFMPEG commands. I calculated the appropriate bitrate in order to make the movie fit a DVD-R disc, that is 4480MB. The average bitrate is 8100K. I put this value at the appropriate field in Axiom and started the conversion. However the MPEG file was much smaller and MediaInfo reported a bitrate of 6050K or something. What happened? Why my specific bitrate was ignored? How can I force that bitrate so the final MPEG file is close to the target size of 4480MB?

Thanks in advance.

[4kblurayguru]

How can I force that bitrate so the final MPEG file is close to the target size of 4480MB?

Thanks in advance.

set minimum, average and maximum bitrate the same

I wouldn't set bitrate so high, it might choke on playback.

4500 mbps VBR, 2 pass, 80 minutes

[spapakons]

Wouldn't set them all at the same value be CBR? Don't worry about the bitrate. For an hour or smaller duration you can set the maximum DVD compatible 9500K and audio up to 256K and it is still compliant. I have tried it on my standalone DVD player and a couple more.

[pandy]

How can I force that bitrate so the final MPEG file is close to the target size of 4480MB?

Provide your commandline.

[Alwyn]

Pandy:

However I noticed that FFMPEG is much faster, so I tried converting a video to MPEG using the Axiom GUI since I am not familiar with the FFMPEG commands.

[spapakons]

I hardly managed to use FFMPEG in command line to create AVS or HEVC video. I don't have the time and patience to try all the possible parameters, so I downloaded a GUI called Axiom which looks very good. I selected MPEG video and set the average bitrate. Either leaving the minimum/maximum bitrates blank or setting them to specific values makes no difference. Axiom just ignores the values and converts the video with much lower average bitrate, as reported by MediaInfo. I will try to set all the values to the average bitrate, essentially forcing CBR and see if this is respected.

PS: Before you say the average bitrate is ignored because it is too high, the same happened with another video and average bitrate 6500

[Alwyn]

https://www.videohelp.com/software/clever-FFmpeg-GUI, developed by user @ProWo, could be for you.

[lollo]

Stop using useless GUIs (where you have no control anyhow, as you experienced) and learn ffmpeg command line and its options to have full control of what you want to do!

[spapakons]

Stop using useless GUIs (where you have no control anyhow, as you experienced) and learn ffmpeg command line and its options to have full control of what you want to do!

Like I said I don't have the time nor patience to do that. "The tough men do it with keyboard" is an old '80s motto and greatly obsolete as is Bill Gates "640KB RAM should be enough for everyone". As a Windows user since Windows 3.0 I prefer GUI and wizards. I hate that Linux force you use the Terminal even for the simplest configuration. No thanks!

[spapakons]

It worked! I set all the bitrates to the average bitrate and created, according to MediaInfo, an MPEG file with CBR and that bitrate. This is a minor inconvenience considering FFMPEG converts the file in 1/3 the time of AVS Video Converter or AVStoDVD. I will try the other GUI you suggested in case it is better than Axiom. Million thanks.

[lollo]

Stop using useless GUIs (where you have no control anyhow, as you experienced) and learn ffmpeg command line and its options to have full control of what you want to do!

Like I said I don't have the time nor patience to do that. "The tough men do it with keyboard" is an old '80s motto and greatly obsolete as is Bill Gates "640KB RAM should be enough for everyone". As a Windows user since Windows 3.0 I prefer GUI and wizards. I hate that Linux force you use the Terminal even for the simplest configuration. No thanks!

Complete non sense. Stay in your little world asking basic/stupid questions then. BTW glad you solved!

[spapakons]

That's your opinion. When someone asks for a specific way to do his job on a forum and you suggest something completely different, who is in topic and who isn't? It is like having a Windows issue and you suggest "Don't bother, just backup your data, format the disk and do a clean install". The whole point is to AVOID if possible the format. Similarly in my case the whole point is to AVOID doing it in command prompt. I already have alternative applications to do it in GUI, but I asked about FFMPEG solely out of curiosity and because it is many times faster than the others. "Use command prompt" is far from useful comment. I already know this option, thanks.

[lollo]

It is like having a Windows issue and you suggest "Don't bother, just backup your data, format the disk and do a clean install". The whole point is to AVOID if possible the format.

Another complete non sense of yours.

Similarly in my case the whole point is to AVOID doing it in command prompt. I already have alternative applications to do it in GUI, but I asked about FFMPEG solely out of curiosity and because it is many times faster than the others. "Use command prompt" is far from useful comment. I already know this option, thanks.

As I said, as you prefer, it's your respectable choice. I do not care about what you do and you do not, just showing the (better and proper) way to other readers.

P.S. this reminds me a thread where you trust more the (useless) video analyzers than the real video data https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/410359-Help-with-VHS-deinterlace#post2697316

[spapakons]

My first attempt with Clever FFMPEG GUI did not convert the whole movie (over 90 minutes), it converted about 45min. Now I try again. Am I missing something? It looks like a full version, not trial.

[Alwyn]

Yes, it's free, so no trial. Send a private message to user ProWo. He is the author of the program and will get you going.

[jagabo]

It worked! I set all the bitrates to the average bitrate and created, according to MediaInfo, an MPEG file with CBR and that bitrate.

CBR delivers the lowest quality per bitrate. For the best quality (if putting more than an hour on a single layer disc) you want to use 2-pass VBR.

[davexnet]

It worked! I set all the bitrates to the average bitrate and created, according to MediaInfo, an MPEG file with CBR and that bitrate.

CBR delivers the lowest quality per bitrate. For the best quality (if putting more than an hour on a single layer disc) you want to use 2-pass VBR.

Agreed. AVStoDVD will only choose it in it's "smart" selection (FFmpeg or HCEnc) if the runtime of the video(s) in the project
is relatively short, yielding CBR above 8000kbps, otherwise it picks HCEnc, 1 or 2 pass (VBR encoding).
This can all be overridden in the project settings.

[pandy]

Pandy:

However I noticed that FFMPEG is much faster, so I tried converting a video to MPEG using the Axiom GUI since I am not familiar with the FFMPEG commands.

And?

Commandline can be provided in GUI (usually it is possible to add something to commandline) but even if GUI not provide commandline then it can be revealed in process explorer...

there is few threads on this forum with ffmpeg and DVD oriented encoding but also i can strongly recommend:
https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=174620 (particularly manolito scripts)

[pandy]

Stop using useless GUIs (where you have no control anyhow, as you experienced) and learn ffmpeg command line and its options to have full control of what you want to do!

Like I said I don't have the time nor patience to do that. "The tough men do it with keyboard" is an old '80s motto and greatly obsolete as is Bill Gates "640KB RAM should be enough for everyone". As a Windows user since Windows 3.0 I prefer GUI and wizards. I hate that Linux force you use the Terminal even for the simplest configuration. No thanks!

And this is issue as many ffmpeg GUI's will not adapt quickly enough or not expose many features for example custom quantization matrices and this is one of dew quite important things to get maximum quality at given bitrate in MPEG-2...
ffmpeg is worth time spent to learn about it - i've had many years ago similar approach - no GUI no fun but know prefer scripts as easier to customize and get repeatable result - write once use man time even directly from GUI by using drag&drop feature...
and as you see - using GUI without possibility to export ffmpeg commandline prevent to help you - simply no clue how ffmpeg is guided to encode your source...

How difficult is to create text file in notepad with extension cmd or bat and copy+paste by ctrl+ ctrl+v bellow script (made by manolito)? , then modify few values and save and after this simply use it on your source even by simple drag&drop....

@ECHO off

====================================================
SET aspect=16:9
SET size=720x480
REM SET vfilter=-vf scale=718:480,pad=720:480:1:0
SET framerate=29.97
SET VBitrate=8000k
SET logfile=%temp%\ffmpeg
SET ABitrate=192k
SET AChannels=2
====================================================






SET FF_DRIVE=%~d0
SET FF_PATH=%~p0
%FF_DRIVE%
CD "%FF_PATH%"
SET in="%~1"
SET in_path=%~dp1
SET in_name=%~n1
SET Vout="%in_path%%in_name%.m2v"
SET Aout="%in_path%%in_name%.ac3"


ffmpeg.exe -i %in% -f mpeg2video -c:v:0 mpeg2video -b_strategy 2 -brd_scale 2 -profile:v 4 -intra_matrix "8,8,9,9,10,10,11,11,8,9,9,10,10,11,11,12,9,9,10,10,11,11,12,12,9,10,10,11,11,12,13,13,10,10,11,11,12,13,13,14,10,11,11,12,13,13,14,15,11,11,12,13,13,14,15,15,11,12,12,13,14,15,15,16" -inter_matrix "8,8,9,9,10,10,11,11,8,9,9,10,10,11,11,12,9,9,10,10,11,11,12,12,9,10,10,11,11,12,13,13,10,10,11,11,12,13,13,14,10,11,11,12,13,13,14,15,11,11,12,13,13,14,15,15,11,12,12,13,14,15,15,16" -aspect %aspect% -s %size% -r %framerate% -g 12 -pix_fmt yuv420p -b:v:0 %VBitrate% -maxrate:v:0 8500000 -dc 10 -bf 2 -q:v 2 -bufsize:v:0 1835008 -packetsize 2048 -muxrate 10080000 %vfilter% -map 0:v:0 -an -passlogfile "%logfile%" -pass 1 -y "NUL.avi"


ffmpeg.exe -i %in% -f mpeg2video -c:v:0 mpeg2video -pre_dia_size 5 -dia_size 5 -qcomp 0.7 -qblur 0 -preme 2 -me_method dia -sc_threshold 0 -sc_factor 4 -bidir_refine 4 -profile:v 4 -mbd rd -mbcmp satd -precmp satd -cmp satd -subcmp satd -skipcmp satd -intra_matrix "8,8,9,9,10,10,11,11,8,9,9,10,10,11,11,12,9,9,10,10,11,11,12,12,9,10,10,11,11,12,13,13,10,10,11,11,12,13,13,14,10,11,11,12,13,13,14,15,11,11,12,13,13,14,15,15,11,12,12,13,14,15,15,16" -inter_matrix "8,8,9,9,10,10,11,11,8,9,9,10,10,11,11,12,9,9,10,10,11,11,12,12,9,10,10,11,11,12,13,13,10,10,11,11,12,13,13,14,10,11,11,12,13,13,14,15,11,11,12,13,13,14,15,15,11,12,12,13,14,15,15,16" -aspect %aspect% -s %size% -r %framerate% -g 12 -pix_fmt yuv420p -b:v:0 %VBitrate% -maxrate:v:0 8500000 -dc 10 -bf 2 -lmin 0.75 -mblmin 50 -qmin 1 -bufsize:v:0 1835008 -packetsize 2048 -muxrate 10080000 %vfilter% -map 0:v:0 -passlogfile "%logfile%" -pass 2 %Vout% -f ac3 -b:a %Abitrate% -ar 48000 -ac %AChannels% -c:a:0 ac3 -map 0:a:0 %Aout%

IF EXIST "%logfile%*.log" DEL "%logfile%*.log"

[Alwyn]

@Spapakons, AVIDemux has a "set video size" option:


[Attachment 80876 - Click to enlarge]

Hybrid, another (more complicated) GUI, also has the "set video size" option.

[spapakons]

@Spapakons, AVIDemux has a "set video size" option:


[Attachment 80876 - Click to enlarge]

Hybrid, another (more complicated) GUI, also has the "set video size" option.

I will try downsizing a 720p movie to 576p and set the target size to 4480MB. I am curious if it works. If it produces an MPEG file as close to 4480MB as possible, I will admit that this is a good solution and FFMPEG is not that bad at MPEG2 encoding, if you set the correct parameters. If the size is nowhere near 4480MB, I will post it here to let you know.

Thanks in advance.

[spapakons]

Well I tried to encode in MPEG 2 with fixed size at 4480MB in Avidemux (FFMPEG encoder) and it completely ignored my settings. 2210Kbit/sec bitrate is ridiculously low for MPEG 2. The image quality is crap. At least 3500-4000Kbit/sec is needed to avoid artifacts, let alone be DVD compliant. See MediaInfo data here:

General
Complete name : J:\VIDEOS\Unmontaged\Στο Τέλος Ξυρίζουν Τον Γαμπρό SD-DVD (Avidemux MPEG2 Target Video Size 4480 test) (Greek Movies).mpg
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 1.53 GiB
Duration : 1 h 29 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 2 451 kb/s
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS

Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings : BVOP
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=18
Duration : 1 h 29 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 2 210 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 9 000 kb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.213
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:00
Time code source : Group of pictures header
GOP, Open/Closed : Open
GOP, Open/Closed of first f : Closed
Stream size : 1.38 GiB (90%)

Audio
ID : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Duration : 1 h 29 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 123 MiB (8%)
Service kind : Complete Main
Dialog Normalization : -31 dB
compr : -0.28 dB
mixlevel : 284 dB
roomtyp : 3
ltrtcmixlev : -3.0 dB
ltrtsurmixlev : -3.0 dB
lorocmixlev : -3.0 dB
lorosurmixlev : -3.0 dB
dialnorm_Average : -31 dB
dialnorm_Minimum : -31 dB
dialnorm_Maximum : -31 dB

Menu
Format : DVD-Video

It is not Avidemux, any GUI I have tried and even command prompt completely ignores my settings with either specific average bitrate or specific file size in MPEG 2 encoding. Only CBR worked by setting minimum, average and maximum bitrates to the same value. This is not very helpful. Thankfully other applications such as AVStoDVD don't rely solely on FFMPEG for MPEG 2 encoding but also support the much more reliable and accurate HC Encoder which ALWAYS respects the set bitrate and the file size becomes as calculated. So not more experiments with FFMPEG for MPEG 2, it's complete useless for this format.

[pandy]

So not more experiments with FFMPEG for MPEG 2, it's complete useless for this format.

As you not providing your script (ffmpeg command line) then it is impossible to help you - ffmpeg is OK for MPEG-2 but you need to use it - so don't blame ffmpeg but only your self.

[spapakons]

I cannot provide the script. No GUI gives you that except Fastflix (doesn't have an MPEG 2 preset, only a VAAPI that doesn't work for me) and probably Axiom. Other applications don't reveal the FFMPEG parameters they use (probably in the log, but I' m done with experiments). Even if I gave you the script, I seriously doubt there are appropriate parameters to make it work. Even if they are, if that means I am stuck with command prompt, no thanks, it's not worth it.

My best solution so far is to use AVS Video converter if I only need to convert the video to MPEG or VirtualDub 2 to edit the video and then frame serve to AVStoDVD to save directly to DVD folder without creating an indermediate master file. AVStoDVD is configured to use HC Encoder of course, not FFMPEG, so the result will be exactly the set bitrate and the calculated size.

As I said no more experiments.

[lollo]

So not more experiments with FFMPEG for MPEG 2, it's complete useless for this format.

Even if I gave you the script, I seriously doubt there are appropriate parameters to make it work.

As pandy said, the problem is you

[pandy]

I cannot provide the script. No GUI gives you that

.
.
.
As I said no more experiments.

First - don't blame ffmpeg for GUI limitations, secondly i already wrote you how to reveal command line used to call ffmpeg even if GUI hide this (i have no explanation why GUI's hide ffmpeg command line syntax).

You don't like command line - fine for me - but simply don't blame ffmpeg - i observe (and use) ffmpeg from many years and ffmpeg team do really hard work and ffmpeg is jewel in open source crown - workhorse for many multimedia projects also commercial one's - many top companies using ffmpeg and they are happy with ffmpeg so problem is not in ffmpeg but in user...

[spapakons]

So not more experiments with FFMPEG for MPEG 2, it's complete useless for this format.

Even if I gave you the script, I seriously doubt there are appropriate parameters to make it work.

As pandy said, the problem is you

Say whatever you like. You won't change my mind.

[spapakons]

I cannot provide the script. No GUI gives you that

.
.
.
As I said no more experiments.

First - don't blame ffmpeg for GUI limitations, secondly i already wrote you how to reveal command line used to call ffmpeg even if GUI hide this (i have no explanation why GUI's hide ffmpeg command line syntax).

You don't like command line - fine for me - but simply don't blame ffmpeg - i observe (and use) ffmpeg from many years and ffmpeg team do really hard work and ffmpeg is jewel in open source crown - workhorse for many multimedia projects also commercial one's - many top companies using ffmpeg and they are happy with ffmpeg so problem is not in ffmpeg but in user...

You use FFMPEG a lot for what? AVC and HEVC? I have used it too for these formats and it is quite powerful, I don't deny it. Have you ever tried to create an MPEG 2 file with specific VBR bitrate or specific target size? If you did and it worked for you, please give an example of the syntax, so I can at least copy-paste and use it without guesswork. What codec did you use? mpeg2video? What parameters. Give an example if the source is already at the appropriate specifications, such as 720x576 at 25fps RGB24 or YUV 8bit. Then give an example if I need to change the video size from 720p or 1080p to 720x576 and if I need to convert the fps from 23.976fps to 25fps. This would be much more helpful reply and I would appreciate it. I aim for either 4480MB target size or for a specific average bitrate in order to achieve that. The bitrate would be precalculated using another application, I need only to set it with the appropriate parameter.

[pandy]

You use FFMPEG a lot for what? AVC and HEVC? I have used it too for these formats and it is quite powerful, I don't deny it. Have you ever tried to create an MPEG 2 file with specific VBR bitrate or specific target size? If you did and it worked for you, please give an example of the syntax, so I can at least copy-paste and use it without guesswork. What codec did you use? mpeg2video? What parameters. Give an example if the source is already at the appropriate specifications, such as 720x576 at 25fps RGB24 or YUV 8bit. Then give an example if I need to change the video size from 720p or 1080p to 720x576 and if I need to convert the fps from 23.976fps to 25fps. This would be much more helpful reply and I would appreciate it. I aim for either 4480MB target size or for a specific average bitrate in order to achieve that. The bitrate would be precalculated using another application, I need only to set it with the appropriate parameter.

I used ffmpeg also for h.262 encoding in live broadcast scenario (ip cast to tandberg multiplexer and later to DVB-C modulator) - did you tried to read this (already provided) thread https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=174620 - there are examples and feedback from people - why ffmpeg works for them?

[lollo]

Say whatever you like.

I do not say what I like, I say what is true.

You won't change my mind.

I do not wish to