Zarx264gui3 beta test

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Zarxrax
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Zarx264gui3 beta test

Post by Zarxrax » Wed May 15, 2013 4:30 pm

I have a new version of Zarx264gui ready for testing, and it has some big changes under the hood.

First of all you can download it from here:
http://www.amvhell.com/stuff/zarx264gui ... 20beta1.7z

As this is a beta version, it is only intended for testing, and could generate files that are broken (it probably won't, but it hasn't been tested that well yet...)

The big change here is that it is now using FFMPEG for the encoding, rather than x264.exe.
This has a number of cool benefits, like allowing you to import practically any kind of video or audio file, and the inclusion of various video filters, like resizing, and gradfun2db for dithering.
There are some new settings, like "Fast Start" which lets you make streaming-enabled mp4 files.
It is also not reliant on any external dependencies, like quicktime.
This version also has integrated help when you press F1.

I should also be able to easily make 64bit versions, or one that supports 10-bit encoding, but I just haven't done so yet.

Please try it out and let me know of any problems you encounter.

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Zarxrax
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Re: Zarx264gui3 beta test

Post by Zarxrax » Wed May 15, 2013 4:32 pm

Oh yea, there is currently one fairly bit limitation: It does not work with Avisynth version 2.5.8.
If you upgrade to Avisynth 2.6.0 alpha version, it should work.
I have filed a bug report with ffmpeg to get this fixed.

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l33tmeatwad
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Re: Zarx264gui3 beta test

Post by l33tmeatwad » Mon May 20, 2013 11:23 am

Awesome, I always loved the simplicity of Zarx264GUI, however have you ever considered adding a few compatibility options for users to select from? Doesn't need to be anything extravagant, but I know some users might be interested in encoding videos compatible to playback on their hardware devices that support MP4 (h264/AAC) without the need to manually adjust some of the settings. I know you have avoided listing all the levels most likely to prevent confusion with too many options, but I feel that have a few options such as iPad/iPhone, Android, and/or PS3/XBOX360 type options that adjust the settings for compatibility would be awesome. Just something to consider as I know some users would be grateful for these options, and programs like MeGUI that have these options tend to have some very poorly implemented audio/video delay handling built in which makes them annoying to use.
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Zarxrax
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Re: Zarx264gui3 beta test

Post by Zarxrax » Mon May 20, 2013 5:32 pm

Well the problem with that is: what options are needed?
For instance you give android as a target. Which version of android? Which hardware? I'm sure there is a whole host of different android devices which have totally different compatibility. Same with iphone, some of the older iphones can't play stuff the newer ones can.

Level 4.1 should give compatibility with xbox 360 and ps3, while I intended the baseline option as more of a catch-all for any other devices that can't handle level 4.1 stuff.

If you have a good idea for implementing this which doesn't add lots of complexity, I'm all ears.

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Re: Zarx264gui3 beta test

Post by ngsilver » Mon May 20, 2013 5:33 pm

I will be happy to start testing just as soon as I can actually DL the file. Seems hosting bandwidth is at it's limit ^^()

I can mirror the DL on my server as well if ya'd like :D
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Zarxrax
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Re: Zarx264gui3 beta test

Post by Zarxrax » Mon May 20, 2013 5:45 pm

Wow... that ain't good.
I've posted it on dropbox as well:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/106 ... 20beta1.7z

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Re: Zarx264gui3 beta test

Post by l33tmeatwad » Mon May 20, 2013 7:05 pm

Zarxrax wrote:Well the problem with that is: what options are needed?
For instance you give android as a target. Which version of android? Which hardware? I'm sure there is a whole host of different android devices which have totally different compatibility. Same with iphone, some of the older iphones can't play stuff the newer ones can.

Level 4.1 should give compatibility with xbox 360 and ps3, while I intended the baseline option as more of a catch-all for any other devices that can't handle level 4.1 stuff.

If you have a good idea for implementing this which doesn't add lots of complexity, I'm all ears.
Most older android and iOS devices that are still floating around would be about the same, I would say perhaps a "older device" setting of HP 3.1 would be safe for most devices (with a notation to use Baseline 3.0 if it does not work). Most devices made in the past 2 years will support HP 4.1 so it technically should work okay for most devices, but including HP 3.1 would be nice for some of those legacy devices that are most likely still floating around. As for PS3/360 support, yes setting it to 4.1 should suffice, but not everyone knows that much so having a simple "compatibility option" could make it simpler for some that don't know as much about encoding.

Now with that said, your encoding software does not take into consideration hardware support for the h264 level and allows for high numbers of b-frames and ref-frames to be used when encoding to level 4.1 which breaks support for devices such as the PS3. Considering the Animation tune is the default, the resulting encode will not play back properly (and will just show a black screen) on the PS3 and the XBOX 360. There are a few settings to consider for the compatibility, but having a cap of 3 b-frames and 6 ref-frames when implementing hard device support would be enough to cover most devices. If you would be interested in adding a few options I wouldn't mind looking into it a bit more and doing some testing to get you the setting limitations needed for this.

Again, just a suggestion :sorcerer:
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Zarxrax
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Re: Zarx264gui3 beta test

Post by Zarxrax » Mon May 20, 2013 7:26 pm

So the level in x264 doesn't actually limit all of the options like refs and bframes? I thought it did. I will have to check into that some more then. I guess adding an extra setting for level 3.1 will be ok too.

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Re: Zarx264gui3 beta test

Post by l33tmeatwad » Mon May 20, 2013 7:41 pm

Zarxrax wrote:So the level in x264 doesn't actually limit all of the options like refs and bframes? I thought it did. I will have to check into that some more then. I guess adding an extra setting for level 3.1 will be ok too.
It's probably because the bframe and ref limitations are based on resolution and aren't hard limits like bitrate. From what I gathered from most x264 settings guides, they expect the end user to know these and adhere to them if they care to make files to spec.
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Re: Zarx264gui3 beta test

Post by Mister Hatt » Tue May 21, 2013 3:09 am

Yes, that is correct: x264 does not enforce limits for the profiles, it just manually flags it if you specify. There was talk of a --device setting a few years ago but we ran into the same problem as Zarx mentioned above; namely lack of compatibility information.

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