AVStoDVD Support Thread

[ChickenMan]

Originally Posted by MrC

Which kind and release of codec are you using for DivX/XviD? If you are using ffdshow, I have faced a lot of problems with latest "nightly" builds and quartz.dll library (DX DirectShow library I use for AVStoDVD preview). Everything is ok with "official beta4"

I dont run with ffdshow, in the past it was always a nightmare and screwed every system I and others had, so I simply do not ever install. I use only 3 codec,

1. Official DivX codec 6.8.2.8
2. For Xvid I use XviD.cvs.head.MTKVAQ.exe from http://celticdruid.no-ip.com/xvid/
3. For ac3 playback I use ac3filter_1_10b.exe as later ones are also problematic I had found.

[MrC]

Got it.

A question: does XviD.cvs.head.MTKVAQ decode both DivX and XviD or not?

Bye

[ChickenMan]

For de-coding, DivX does divx 3, 4, 5 & 6 and Xvid does xvid of all known forms. But for playback of an avi in WMP, DivX plays them all, Xvids included.

[MrC]

Originally Posted by wg

I have had 2 separate failures at the authoring stage in Muxman, the AVStoDVD log file makes no mention of any failure. The Video TS IFO file is 0kb, the other files in the Video TS folder seem to be of the correct size. Both encodes were NTSC, 1 using HCEnc OPV, the other Quenc CBR. The video was Xvid 23.976fps 940kbps, with mp3 cbr 32kb audio. I am using the No Install version of the latest version. Thanks in advance for any advice.

@wg

may I ask you some help in understading that problem? If you still have that xvid file, could you replace latest MuxMan version (0.16.6) with MuxMan shipped with AVStoDVD (0.15R) and try again to convert it?

Thanks in advance



Bye

[wg]

Originally Posted by MrC

@wg

may I ask you some help in understading that problem? If you still have that xvid file, could you replace latest MuxMan version (0.16.6) with MuxMan shipped with AVStoDVD (0.15R) and try again to convert it?

Thanks in advance



Bye

Sorry MrC, but I have since deleted the log , & no longer know which file it was.

[MrC]

Ok. Let me know if it happens again.

Next AVStoDVD release will contain MuxMan's newest release (0.16.6), and I would like to know if it can help to fix problems like your (authoring process not finalized).



Bye

[Sir Didymus]

Hi wg and MrC!

I am doubtful that the new release on MuxMan could be helpful for solving this type of troubles. The previous version of the authoring engine was already very stable.

The reported issue is similar to the ones already discussed elsewere in this forum, and it is most probably related to the assets given in input to MuxMan. These assets should be as much "clean" as possible.

Single pass OPV encodes may easily suffer from troubles in keeping the instantaneous video bitrate under control; also the audio (and the subpictures, if present) should be not affected by glitches...

Cheers,
SD

[MrC]

Originally Posted by Sir Didymus

Hi wg and MrC!

I am doubtful that the new release on MuxMan could be helpful for solving this type of troubles. The previous version of the authoring engine was already very stable.

The reported issue is similar to the ones already discussed elsewere in this forum, and it is most probably related to the assets given in input to MuxMan. These assets should be as much "clean" as possible.

Single pass OPV encodes may easily suffer from troubles in keeping the instantaneous video bitrate under control; also the audio (and the subpictures, if present) should be not affected by glitches...

Cheers,
SD

Thanks for the input, Sir Didymus

One question: could the chapter file format AVStoDVD uses ("celltc timecode_file" vs "cellfr celltimes_file") be the problem source? In other words, what format type would you suggest?



Bye

[Sir Didymus]

Hem...
the printout of the log file generated by MuxMan (it is usually C:\MuxMan.log) could be very helpful for going a little bit deeper in the analysis.

A timestamp file containing references to non existing scenes may produce very bad results. That's for sure.

The cell_timecodes or cell_framecount files should be considered as important additional assets for the authoring; again, in case some errors are present in the timestamps of the chapter point file, the MuxMan log would report the problem in very clear terms...

The two formats for the timestamps, e.g. the NDTC format hh:mm:ss:ff and in the framecount format (classical ifoedit or PgcDemux format) are both supported by BatchMux - which is the application preparing the mxp script for MuxMan.

I would say that the first format is more general and easier to produce in case you are dealing with fixed time chapters; in addition it is independent from the TV system (PAL, NTSC) and from the pulldown presence in the video, since the time is measured in absolute, non drop time code terms.

The framecount format is measuring the time in terms of number of pictures in the video stream, but this makes the format depending on the TV system and on the presence of pulldown in the video. The single advantage is that it is very popular (IfoEdit and PgcDemux adopt this format).

The GUI of MuxMan 0.16.6 accepts the framecount format, but the internal representation is in the NDTC format. You can easily see this by saving a MuxMan project which includes some chapters; in the generated mxp script the scene times are reported always in the NDTC format.

Originally Posted by wg

Sorry, I did not. But will if it occurs again.

And please, if it will occur again, do not forget to find also the MuxMan.log file and to post it!

Cheers,
SD

[ChickenMan]

I see this same problem using Muxman with DVD2SVCD. I've found high bitrate spikes to be the cause (as also suggested by SirD). I originally had Max Bitrates set to 9300 and would get about 2 out of 3 with no VIDEO_TS folder re-built properly. Changed to 9000, and error rate dropped to 1 in 2, dropped to 8500 and now get only 1 in 10 with the problem. That I can handle and with the problem ones, I just manually author in TDA and it will re-encode the high bitrate spike down to dvd standards automatically while authoring.

[MrC]

Originally Posted by ChickenMan

I see this same problem using Muxman with DVD2SVCD. I've found high bitrate spikes to be the cause (as also suggested by SirD). I originally had Max Bitrates set to 9300 and would get about 2 out of 3 with no VIDEO_TS folder re-built properly. Changed to 9000, and error rate dropped to 1 in 2, dropped to 8500 and now get only 1 in 10 with the problem. That I can handle and with the problem ones, I just manually author in TDA and it will re-encode the high bitrate spike down to dvd standards automatically while authoring.

Which encoder are you using when getting bitrate spikes? Have you seen the problem both with CBR and VBR encoding or only with VBR?

Using HCenc (OPV and VBR 2p) and QuEnc (CBR), and setting 9000 as max bitrate, never had any issue...

Btw, MuxMan should catch spikes and report them into MuxMan.log, doesn't it? Ok, I will try to simulate the error going to 10000 max bitrate, and then handle it.



Bye



Bye

[manolito]

From my experience the 1-pass VBR modes are most prone to these problems. For CCE SP 2.67 and 2.70 and for QuEnc I have to set max bitrate to 8000. HC CQ_MAXBITRATE overshoots a lot less than the other encoders, so I never had problems with max bitrate set to 8500 (probably even 9000 will be ok for HC).

And I am absolutely sure that this is not a problem with MuxMan. For me MuxMan has become the ultimate tool to check if a conversion is DVD compliant or not. Other muxing / authoring tools (like mplex / dvdauthor) are a lot less picky than MuxMan, but you might end up with a DVD which stutters in some standalone players (software players mostly don't stutter even with problematic encodes).

Cheers
manolito

[ChickenMan]

Same as manolito, mostly with 1-pass VBR (using D2SRoba) and CCE 2.50/2.70. I have not used enough of HCenc to see if its any better or worse, to be honest.

[MrC]

Thanks manolito and ChickenMan for your experience.

From my error simulation (max bitrate set to 15000 to HCenc OPV), MuxMan does not allow to finalize the authouring process and write in MuxMan.log about excessive bitrate.

Give me a pair of weeks and I will kick out a new AVStoDVD release with an improved MuxMan error management (along with DVD menu creation and editing.... ssshh, don't say anything!)



Bye

[Sir Didymus]

Originally Posted by MrC

...
(along with DVD menu creation and editing.... ssshh, don't say anything!)

...

Mhhh! That sounds VERY INTERESTING...

Thank you for working and continuously improving AVStoDVD!

Cheers,
SD

[rendez2k]

Yup menu editing if true sounds very interesting! Some of the better apps which offered menus haven't been updated much recently so hopefully we'll have a decent converter with killer features and active updates!

[rendez2k]

I have HCEnc OPV 1-pass setup in the options (I assume the higlighted one is the default?), but when I start encoding QUEnc is being used. Clicking on Edit Title shows that QuEnc is being used in the Auto Video Setup options. Can you force HCEnc to be used as default?

Also, I notice if I change the DVD Size and Output setup that these values aren't being remembered when I quit the program? Is there away to do this?

[rendez2k]

Sorry, another issue/question. I've added subtitles to my movie - and selected to hard-code them. However, when I test playback in PowerDVD, I end up with two subtitles - 1 hard-coded and 1 which is user selectable (which I can turn off) over the top (slightly out of time to the other). Any ideas?

[MrC]

Originally Posted by rendez2k

Yup menu editing if true sounds very interesting! Some of the better apps which offered menus haven't been updated much recently so hopefully we'll have a decent converter with killer features and active updates!

It's true, it's true. Optimizations are ongoing, but if you "cannot wait", I can publish a alpha release.



Bye

[MrC]

Originally Posted by rendez2k

I have HCEnc OPV 1-pass setup in the options (I assume the higlighted one is the default?), but when I start encoding QUEnc is being used. Clicking on Edit Title shows that QuEnc is being used in the Auto Video Setup options. Can you force HCEnc to be used as default?

Yes you can. By toggling off "Auto Video Setup" in Edit Title and selecting video profile you prefer.
AVStoDVD selects the best profile looking at the bitrate. In 'Settings'/'Video' you can customize the (3) bitrate levels for the (3) video profile.

For more explanations, see the Help section (press F1) or read this post in AVStoDVD forum @Sourceforge

Originally Posted by rendez2k

Also, I notice if I change the DVD Size and Output setup that these values aren't being remembered when I quit the program? Is there away to do this?

Good suggestion for next release improvements! Thanks!



Bye