Zarx264gui3 beta test

[Zarxrax]

Right. I was planning to limit to 3 reference frames and 3 bframes for the level 4.1 option.
For 3.0/baseline, bframes are not supported, and I have put 1 reference frame.

I'm not really sure what benefit there would be for a level 3.1 option. If I keep the references and bframes at 3, wouldn't this essentially be almost the same as the level 4.1 option?
I mean, I know the levels are quite different, but as long as x264 isn't strictly enforcing anything, then just so far as my own implementation goes I'm saying I dont think there would be any difference.

[l33tmeatwad]

I'm not really sure what benefit there would be for a level 3.1 option. If I keep the references and bframes at 3, wouldn't this essentially be almost the same as the level 4.1 option?

Devices read the level and won't play it if it is not flagged with the level "it supports", so adding 3.1 gives users the freedom to encode for devices such as the iPad 1/2, iPhone 4(S), and most older Android devices (for resolutions up to 1280x720). Level 4.1 added 1080p, that's the main difference between them (and also allows more reference frames and a higher framerate for 720p).

[Zarxrax]

Do you know if most of those devices support 3 references and bframes, or should I go with something more conservative?

[l33tmeatwad]

Do you know if most of those devices support 3 references and bframes, or should I go with something more conservative?

All of those support at LEAST that, so that would be a fairly safe setting (speaking generally, as I can't account for ALL andorid devices that support 3.1). It should also be noted, while some devices (such as the iPad 1 & iPhone 4) only mention supporting Main Profile in their specs list, they actually do support High Profile, so that should be safe to use as well.

[jakkor]

Does zeranoe version http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/ works with zarx

[l33tmeatwad]

Does zeranoe version http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/ works with zarx

No, zarxgui is setup to use libfdk_aac for encoding the audio and those builds do not include that.

[Qyot27]

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.

As of ~5 hours ago, this is now fixed. So even though the user should be using 2.6, they no longer are required to.

Does zeranoe version http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/ works with zarx

No, zarxgui is setup to use libfdk_aac for encoding the audio and those builds do not include that.

Create .BAT -> change libfdk_aac to libvo_aacenc (or others*) -> run the .BAT file

*libvorbis or libopus for MKV output, or libmp3lame for either MKV or MP4

Personally, I'd avoid the use of any of the non-libre AAC encoders (which are literally 3 out of the 4 things that even require passing --enable-nonfree to FFmpeg in the first place; the 4th is OpenSSL) because you're not supposed to distribute builds that include them. Either use alternate formats (Vorbis or Opus) that perform on an equal or better level, or make sure the bitrate given to the libre encoders (libvo_aacenc or the native encoder, or libmp3lame for MP3) is high enough that their quality issues don't come into play.