AMV Encoders - A/V Sync Test

[Quu]

I am not sure if i want to test mpeg-2 anymore... nor mpeg-4 ASP, as they both don't scale the way mpeg-4 AVC does.

audio, audio has its own set of issues, and at least now I know what I can focus on...

my options for con distribution are
x264-JEEB+QTAAC+MP4
x264-JEEB+LAME+MP4
x264+FLAC+MKV

the first two have the advantage of being all within the MPEG specs, and the latter has the advantage of lossless audio

[Mister Hatt]

Not using JEEB's builds for the FLAC+MKV version? Also which version of MP4 are you using? There are several. How about vorbis audio? If a user cares enough to use x264 they probably don't want crappy MP3, and AAC isn't always the best choice. Why not NeroAacEnc? But after reading your little writeup on tools I can assume the answers for most of these questions.

However, the issues you've reported re sync sound strange, and I think you should report them to the appropriate people. If you are having sync issues, then generally something is VERY wrong with your muxing or playback and you need to find out what, because this should not be happening. Additionally, I would really suggest against using internal audio muxing in x264 as it is fairly experimental. The only reason QTAAC is used over Nero is that Nero's license and packaging makes it impossible to use.

[Quu]

not using JEEB's version in the FLAC+MKV was mainly an trying to avoid assumptions... Once all of this sync issue is done, then a focus on quality can be made. by just saying x264, it could be any of the builders... that is something for a later discussion. The specific requirement of JEEB's builds on the first two is because that is the only one that produced i sync audio.

I could add vorbis audio to the next round of my testing... I was just trying to stick with MPEG as much as possible, thought I might need to get over it. The FLAC and MKV was only thrown in as suggestion from others, and I do like both formats. MP3 is not crappy, it has its advantages and dis advantages. If i add vorbis, should I add anything else?

I posted my findings on doom9, and zarxrax has sent a note to one of the Nero developers about the issue, I am sure Zax can provide more details if he wants. I have been very open with the tools I am using, and the command lines I have run, so that the interested parties could provide advice and suggestions on if I am doing anything wrong.

[Mister Hatt]

If using vorbis, you only need to find a good encoder (personally I like aotuv.) There are no advantages of MP3 over AAC that I can think of. As far as media playback goes, AAC is the most common and widely supported format. It generally compresses better than vorbis even. I would say just stick to FLAC (-8, but be weary of channel ordering issues in libflac, and reordering in ffflac) and AAC (-q 0.5 in nero.) The only time I can see MP3 being useful is if the source audio is in that format and one doesn't want to encode to lossy from lossy, but really everyone should rip their own CD/vinyl's or at least use FLAC.

Due to issues with MP4, I would STRONGLY suggest using only MKV. Unless you know exactly what the muxer AND demuxer are doing, it just isn't worth it. Another thing is to try and avoid internal audio encoding. It really is best done separately.

Nice to see how far this has come along, and how reasonable you're being on playback at least. I personally don't agree with ever using VLC (and I'm a long time MPlayer user) but it seems you've mostly got things working. My only worry would be what happens when you get The Unexpected.