Requesting Help in creating - High Quality Small Encodes

[slick1109]

 

>Deleted. You must uninstall k-lite. Simply deleting files will not get the job done (codecs are registered with specific Windows services).

 

LOL..... Sorry JohnFlower, but I had to Laugh when reading this.  I really shouldnt be I realize that you dont know me, and have no idea if I am an I.T. Professional or a n00b that thinks deleting a shortcut off his desktop is how to uninstall a program, lol.  So just for a quick background on me, I have a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and have worked in both Systems Administration and Computer Repair, so for the record I know my way around a PC.  I even mentioned in my first post that I just build my new Desktop piece-by-piece.  I am certainly NOT telling you this to brag, especially since I will be the first to call myself a n00b when it comes to Encoding.  I have spend some time reseaching it and done hundreds of test encodes trying out different features, but still have not been able to get it right.  Thats why I am here looking for help.  I just wanted to clarify that when I said "delete" I was indeed implying that I "Uninstalled" the K-Lite Codec Pack.  However I have never tried a cleanup took like "Insurgent", so I will look into it.

 

Also, I use (and Install) the Full version of MediaInfo.  One of the features you can customize is to view some of the basic details of a video in the Status Bar, so you dont have to open the program itself every time you want to get the specs on a video file.  For some reason, the installation of CCCP crippled that feature, as well as automatic thumbnails.  I will have to look into how to fix that since I am used to the simplicity of K-Lite.

 

 

The tutorials on doom9 are still relevant, even today. Avisynth has been around since early 2004, back when everyone was encoding to AVI.

 

I can easily use Scripts that are already created, but since I still dont really understand the concept behind what I am actually doing when I use those Avisynth Scripts, I will go ahead and take some time to read through some tuts on Doom9.

 

 

 

I wouldn't worry about detail. You're aiming for minimkv's, so you're going to be doing very destructive things to your video.  ...... You must also keep in mind that minimkv encodes will always look like shit.

 

I see High Quality Encodes with small sizes from the well known online Encoders on a Daily-Basis, so I know its possible.  So since I know its possible, I just need to figure out how to so it myself.  I am a perfectionist so whenever I encode something, all I do is get disgusted with all the flaws and try and figure out how to fix them.

 

You seem like a very knowledgable person JohnFlower, but you also appear to be a Pessimist when it comes to mini-encodes.  You look at things Logically and say "if I lower the size, then I am taking away details, and therefore degrading the quality", and while you are exactly right, you should also realize that some people have found ways to encode well enough that the Human Eye does not notice those drastic changes and therefore the mini-encode can look Very Close to the original.  That is my ultimate goal, and since I have seen it first hand, I know for a fact that its possible.  Not only is it possible with x264 codec encoding, but I was just browing the x265 thread yesterday, and it seems like they are making great progress with that as well.  I am exciting about how things are progressing, and while I agree i should take the time to read up on the basics at the Doom9 forum, I would also like Tips, Pointers, or ideally a full tutorial from an experienced encoder that already has the ability to do exactly what I am striving for.

 

 

 

You need to install Avisynth 2.6 (the 2.6 ST link)

 

I have been using version 2.5.8 because it appears that 2.6 is still being tested as a Beta version.  Is it stable enough to use on a regular basis?

[JohnFlower]

I have been using version 2.5.8 because it appears that 2.6 is still being tested as a Beta version.  Is it stable enough to use on a regular basis?

It's in alpha, but you should be using it anyway. Avisynth 2.5.8 is no longer supported by a few things, including MT.

It is stable enough if you treat it right.

[† L4ugh]

 

I found and downloaded AvsProd and the two scripts you mentioned.  Not yet sure how to use any of it, so i will try and find some tutorials.

 

So you think I should use AvsProd instead of MeGUI?  I just feel like as soon as I start to learn one program, someone directs me to another.  Handbrake -> MeGUI -> AvsProd.  Not really sure what makes one better than another, although I am starting to see some benefits of MeGUI over handbrake.  The NERO Audio codec is MUCH better than the ones available in Handbrake, and I assume that the added benefits of Avisynth is also important, yet I still dont even completely understand what it is.

 

I did take a QUICK look at the Doom9 forum, and my first impression was a lot of the tutorials on there seemed rather out of date (several years old).  I agree that I should probably still read through them to learn some more of the basics, I just wonder if there are more updated (2013-2014) tutorials available somewhere, or how much the information has changed since its been posted.

 

If your scripts contain filters to help clear up my videos then that would be helpful.  I find that my main problems are the Older Media that I am trying to encode.  Even though I try to find the best possible source (Actual Retail DVDs), the original video is only Standard Defination and therefore not that great to begin with, while makes it hard to not ruin the quality even more while encoding it.  I feel that encoding Bluray movies would be MUCH easier since the quality is so high to begin with, that you have more room to work without losing quality.  However I prefer to start with my own personal collection of DVD's first.

 

The Animated Cartoons (like the duck dodgers images I uploaded) are, still not perfect, but easier to do than Film tv shows/movies.  For example, I am still getting nowhere trying to encode Saved-by-the-bell Tv show episodes direct from the Source DVD.  My encodes look rather pixelated and when i apply too many filters to clear it up then many parts look dull or even blurry.  Not sure if your scripts will help fix that or not.

 

 

EDIT:  I have read that the Avisynth Scripts you mentioned require the Unofficial Multi-Threaded version of Avisynth.  Is that true?  If so, does it matter if I use the version by SET and JoshyD OR Avisynth+ by Ultim?

 

Also, when trying to add the Scripts to MeGUI to test them, I noticed that the format is completely different.  The current Scripts are XML files whereas the new scripts you mentioned seem to come in HTML and AVSI files.  Do I simply copy them directly into the MeGUI/All Profiles/Avisynth folder without any modification needed?

 

 

I would like to say first that I decided to suspend encoding of my own videos a little over a year ago, so I'm sure the little knowledge I have is already outdated. I really should have mentioned that in my first post so I'm sorry for that. I've been waiting for x265, and avisynth replacements like vapoursynth to mature before I start back up. 

 

I'm not really sure which version of avisynth to use because the one by SET is the only one I remember besides the official versions, and they're the only version of Avisynth I ever used. Neither of the scripts I mentioned needed the MT version the last time I used them, but I do have MT_masktools-25.dll for both. I haven't encoded anything in a while, so they may have been updated since then. Both are really, really slow, so MT would defiantly be recommended. The avsi files are the scripts and the html files are either documentation or something having to do with the script. Put the scripts in megui's plugins folder if you intend to use them with it, but put them in avisynth's plugins folder if you intend to use them with AvsPmod. Some of avisynth's plugins don't cohabitate well, so for big scripts like AnimeIVTC and QTGMC you may want to put them inside their own folder. You can then load them into your scripts manually. This will also make it easier for you to keep track of them and archive them if you ever need to. 

 

The trick to getting the kind of encodes you want will probably come down to the settings you use in x264, and some very clever denoising. If you can use VFR (Variable Frame Rate) video on the device you want to watch these on. You could utilize filters like dup to replace duplicate frames with null frames and save even more space. AnimeIVTC supports doing this itself and also allows you to deinterlace the credits of hybrid video (like anime) while detelecining  the rest of it. This is really the only reason for using AnimeIVTC. So if you'll never encode hybrid, or can't use VFR then you probably won't have much use for it. QTGMC is just a really awesome really slow deinterlacer. The best thing about it is you really don't have to mess with all the parameters all the much. Just find a preset you like that has a speed you can live with and use it.

 

The filters that Megui comes with will do a good job as well. If you look at the filters needed to run AnimeIVTC and QTGMC. You'll likely see all the filters that MeGUI comes with. That's because their used by the scripts for the deinterlace/detelecine part of what they do. It's the rest of the goodies they offer that cause me to prefer them over the individual filters themselves.

 

The reason I recommended AvsPmod over MeGUI is due to the fact that AvsPmod makes the script the focal point, rather than hiding it behind a gui. It also supports more filters and scripts than MeGUI as well. I started with MeGUI, and it is a good program, but the only thing I remember learning from it was how to click buttons. Adding custom filters that weren't already supported was always a huge pain. The script it uses to tell you what kind of video you have is worth keeping it around though. It also has a really nice gui interface for your encoders. 

 

The reason all the tutorials about avisynth are old is because avisynth is badly outdated. A lot of stuff like 10bit video support is hacked together. Development stopped on the 3.0 version that was never finished and it's remained mostly the same ever since.  Vapoursynth the program I mentioned earlier is meant to be a "logical" replacement for avisynth, but it's still pretty new and lacks the native filter support that avisynth has. It is suppose to be capable of running avisynth scripts, but I haven't yet tried it.

 

Hope this clears up some of the questions you had about my post at least. As for what you should use, I'd use what you think will be easiest while giving you the result you want. I personally think that AvsPmod, AnimeIVTC, and QTGMC will help you the most, but everyone will give you their own preferred method. I'd just experiment until you find your own method and stick with it. Doom9 is a really good source of knowledge though. 

[slick1109]

 

I have been using version 2.5.8 because it appears that 2.6 is still being tested as a Beta version.  Is it stable enough to use on a regular basis?

It's in alpha, but you should be using it anyway. Avisynth 2.5.8 is no longer supported by a few things, including MT.

It is stable enough if you treat it right.

 

 

Thanks, thats good to know.  I will go ahead and update it to 2.6.

 

 

 

 

I found and downloaded AvsProd and the two scripts you mentioned.  Not yet sure how to use any of it, so i will try and find some tutorials.

 

So you think I should use AvsProd instead of MeGUI?  I just feel like as soon as I start to learn one program, someone directs me to another.  Handbrake -> MeGUI -> AvsProd.  Not really sure what makes one better than another, although I am starting to see some benefits of MeGUI over handbrake.  The NERO Audio codec is MUCH better than the ones available in Handbrake, and I assume that the added benefits of Avisynth is also important, yet I still dont even completely understand what it is.

 

I did take a QUICK look at the Doom9 forum, and my first impression was a lot of the tutorials on there seemed rather out of date (several years old).  I agree that I should probably still read through them to learn some more of the basics, I just wonder if there are more updated (2013-2014) tutorials available somewhere, or how much the information has changed since its been posted.

 

If your scripts contain filters to help clear up my videos then that would be helpful.  I find that my main problems are the Older Media that I am trying to encode.  Even though I try to find the best possible source (Actual Retail DVDs), the original video is only Standard Defination and therefore not that great to begin with, while makes it hard to not ruin the quality even more while encoding it.  I feel that encoding Bluray movies would be MUCH easier since the quality is so high to begin with, that you have more room to work without losing quality.  However I prefer to start with my own personal collection of DVD's first.

 

The Animated Cartoons (like the duck dodgers images I uploaded) are, still not perfect, but easier to do than Film tv shows/movies.  For example, I am still getting nowhere trying to encode Saved-by-the-bell Tv show episodes direct from the Source DVD.  My encodes look rather pixelated and when i apply too many filters to clear it up then many parts look dull or even blurry.  Not sure if your scripts will help fix that or not.

 

 

EDIT:  I have read that the Avisynth Scripts you mentioned require the Unofficial Multi-Threaded version of Avisynth.  Is that true?  If so, does it matter if I use the version by SET and JoshyD OR Avisynth+ by Ultim?

 

Also, when trying to add the Scripts to MeGUI to test them, I noticed that the format is completely different.  The current Scripts are XML files whereas the new scripts you mentioned seem to come in HTML and AVSI files.  Do I simply copy them directly into the MeGUI/All Profiles/Avisynth folder without any modification needed?

 

 

I would like to say first that I decided to suspend encoding of my own videos a little over a year ago, so I'm sure the little knowledge I have is already outdated. I really should have mentioned that in my first post so I'm sorry for that. I've been waiting for x265, and avisynth replacements like vapoursynth to mature before I start back up. 

 

I'm not really sure which version of avisynth to use because the one by SET is the only one I remember besides the official versions, and they're the only version of Avisynth I ever used. Neither of the scripts I mentioned needed the MT version the last time I used them, but I do have MT_masktools-25.dll for both. I haven't encoded anything in a while, so they may have been updated since then. Both are really, really slow, so MT would defiantly be recommended. The avsi files are the scripts and the html files are either documentation or something having to do with the script. Put the scripts in megui's plugins folder if you intend to use them with it, but put them in avisynth's plugins folder if you intend to use them with AvsPmod. Some of avisynth's plugins don't cohabitate well, so for big scripts like AnimeIVTC and QTGMC you may want to put them inside their own folder. You can then load them into your scripts manually. This will also make it easier for you to keep track of them and archive them if you ever need to. 

 

The trick to getting the kind of encodes you want will probably come down to the settings you use in x264, and some very clever denoising. If you can use VFR (Variable Frame Rate) video on the device you want to watch these on. You could utilize filters like dup to replace duplicate frames with null frames and save even more space. AnimeIVTC supports doing this itself and also allows you to deinterlace the credits of hybrid video (like anime) while detelecining  the rest of it. This is really the only reason for using AnimeIVTC. So if you'll never encode hybrid, or can't use VFR then you probably won't have much use for it. QTGMC is just a really awesome really slow deinterlacer. The best thing about it is you really don't have to mess with all the parameters all the much. Just find a preset you like that has a speed you can live with and use it.

 

The filters that Megui comes with will do a good job as well. If you look at the filters needed to run AnimeIVTC and QTGMC. You'll likely see all the filters that MeGUI comes with. That's because their used by the scripts for the deinterlace/detelecine part of what they do. It's the rest of the goodies they offer that cause me to prefer them over the individual filters themselves.

 

The reason I recommended AvsPmod over MeGUI is due to the fact that AvsPmod makes the script the focal point, rather than hiding it behind a gui. It also supports more filters and scripts than MeGUI as well. I started with MeGUI, and it is a good program, but the only thing I remember learning from it was how to click buttons. Adding custom filters that weren't already supported was always a huge pain. The script it uses to tell you what kind of video you have is worth keeping it around though. It also has a really nice gui interface for your encoders. 

 

The reason all the tutorials about avisynth are old is because avisynth is badly outdated. A lot of stuff like 10bit video support is hacked together. Development stopped on the 3.0 version that was never finished and it's remained mostly the same ever since.  Vapoursynth the program I mentioned earlier is meant to be a "logical" replacement for avisynth, but it's still pretty new and lacks the native filter support that avisynth has. It is suppose to be capable of running avisynth scripts, but I haven't yet tried it.

 

Hope this clears up some of the questions you had about my post at least. As for what you should use, I'd use what you think will be easiest while giving you the result you want. I personally think that AvsPmod, AnimeIVTC, and QTGMC will help you the most, but everyone will give you their own preferred method. I'd just experiment until you find your own method and stick with it. Doom9 is a really good source of knowledge though. 

 

 

Thats ok.  Even if you have not encoded in a while, the fact that you did it at all means you have some experience with it, and considering that I am being told that the years-old tutorials over at Doom9 are still valid and up-to-date, I would have to assume that your advise would be good as well.

 

JohnFlower just told me to update to Avisynth 2.6, so that is what I was going to do.  I wasnt sure about the "MT" releases and wasnt really going to use them unless they were "required" for the scripts you reccommended.  That is, unless of course the time required to use them becomes outrageous on the ST version.

 

I am excited about x265 as well.  Although from what I have read it is still VERY SLOW to encode with.  Dont get me wrong, I currently encode everything on "Very Slow" or "Placebo" settings because I dont mind waiting a little longer for better quality, but when the time starts getting into 20+ hours or even days for a single encoding, I am not sure I am willing to deal with that.  My new i7 Desktop is doing pretty well with encoding times so far, so I am very curious how x265 will fair.  My real concern is that I assume x265 with need completely different decoders to work, so that would mean no encodes would work on my Smart TV anymore, which is where I watch my movies.  That would be a major problem for a lot of people that dont like watching videos on their PC.

 

I am going to try and find some time this week to head over to Doom9 and spend a few hours reading some of the tutorials.  I am sure I will have some more questions when I am done, and its great to know there are friendly people here like you and JohnFlower (and everyone else that has responded so far) to help me answer them.

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------

Thanks 

[jessex1990]

If you insist on having uniform sizes - try increasing your file size expectation to:

30 Minute 720 x 480 TV Show/Cartoon - 250MB

30 Minute 720p TV Show/Cartoon - 500MB 

1 Hour 720p 1 Hour - 700MB 

2 Hour 720p 2 Hours - 1.5GB

[Koby]

Basically to create small encodes you'll want to denoise as much as possible, and use a high crf such as 23-26.

If you want even better compressibility use 10-bit h264 encoding.

[JohnFlower]

If you insist on having uniform sizes - try increasing your file size expectation to:

30 Minute 720 x 480 TV Show/Cartoon - 250MB

30 Minute 720p TV Show/Cartoon - 500MB 

1 Hour 720p 1 Hour - 700MB 

2 Hour 720p 2 Hours - 1.5GB

He's aiming for ~100mb for 480p TV shows.

I know I've said this before many times, but I'll repeat it again for this thread: the term 'quality' is subjective. What a minimkv encoder considers 'high quality' and what I consider 'high quality' are two completely different things.

[slick1109]

If you insist on having uniform sizes - try increasing your file size expectation to:

30 Minute 720 x 480 TV Show/Cartoon - 250MB

30 Minute 720p TV Show/Cartoon - 500MB 

1 Hour 720p 1 Hour - 700MB 

2 Hour 720p 2 Hours - 1.5GB

 

My sizes are not set in stone, but they are the approximate sizes I am aiming for based on Similar encodes I have seen and liked online.  An hour and a half to 2 hour 720p (Often 1280x536 - 1280x720) Movie should be around 500-800MB.  When I see a movie of the same length in 1080p (usually 1920x800 actually) then its at that 1.5GB size you mentioned.  Most 720p 1 hour TV Shows run at 275-300MB... etc.  I am consistenly seeing these exact same numbers on a daily basis from encoders and I am very happy with their work.  I just cant figure out how to duplicate it, and the Encoder I am most pleased with refuses to share his method and settings.

 

 

Basically to create small encodes you'll want to denoise as much as possible, and use a high crf such as 23-26.

If you want even better compressibility use 10-bit h264 encoding.

 

I keep hearing about 10-bit but never really understood it.  It appears that every encode I have attempted myself in both Handbrake and MeGUI are 8-bit (According to MediaInfo).  The Encoder who work I love all appears to encode in 8-Bit.

 

How would I go about using 10-bit instead, and would it cause any compatibility issues when viewing the encodes on a Smart TV?

 

 

 

If you insist on having uniform sizes - try increasing your file size expectation to:

30 Minute 720 x 480 TV Show/Cartoon - 250MB

30 Minute 720p TV Show/Cartoon - 500MB 

1 Hour 720p 1 Hour - 700MB 

2 Hour 720p 2 Hours - 1.5GB

He's aiming for ~100mb for 480p TV shows.

I know I've said this before many times, but I'll repeat it again for this thread: the term 'quality' is subjective. What a minimkv encoder considers 'high quality' and what I consider 'high quality' are two completely different things.

 

 

Here is the MediaInfo from the exact type of Encode I would like to replicate myself (Title name *DELETED*).  It is a 720p Movie that is 1hour and 53 minutes long with a file size of only 672MB and is EXCELLENT quality in my opinion.  The overall bitrate is listed as only 826 Kbps, but that is very deceiving because watching the movie it seems more like 8,000 Kbps.  (NOTE: I took the screenshots with MPC-HC (CCCP Build), but they still do not look as good as the actual video.)

 

 

Format                                   : Matroska

Format version                           : Version 4 / Version 2

File size                                : 672 MiB

Duration                                 : 1h 53mn

Overall bit rate                         : 826 Kbps

Encoded date                             : UTC 2014-01-30 08:01:44

Writing application                      : mkvmerge v6.7.0 ('Back to the Ground') 64bit built on Jan  8 2014 15:10:52

Writing library                          : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.1

Video

ID                                       : 1

Format                                   : AVC

Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec

Format profile                           : [email protected]

Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes

Format settings, ReFrames                : 5 frames

Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC

Duration                                 : 1h 53mn

Nominal bit rate                         : 761 Kbps

Width                                    : 1 280 pixels

Height                                   : 536 pixels

Display aspect ratio                     : 2.40:1

Frame rate mode                          : Constant

Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps

Color space                              : YUV

Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0

Bit depth                                : 8 bits

Scan type                                : Progressive

Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.046

Title                                    : *DELETED*

Writing library                          : x264 core 133 r2334 a3ac64b

Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=18 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=761 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Language                                 : English

Default                                  : Yes

Forced                                   : No

Audio

ID                                       : 2

Format                                   : AAC

Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec

Format profile                           : HE-AAC / LC

Codec ID                                 : A_AAC

Duration                                 : 1h 53mn

Channel(s)                               : 2 channels

Channel positions                        : Front: L R

Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz / 24.0 KHz

Compression mode                         : Lossy

Delay relative to video                  : 31ms

Title                                    : *DELETED*

Default                                  : Yes

Forced                                   : No

Text

ID                                       : 3

Format                                   : UTF-8

Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8

Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text

Title                                    : *DELETED*

Default                                  : Yes

Forced                                   : No

Menu

00:00:00.097                             : en:00:00:00.097

 

 

720p Screenshot:

 

---------------

 

Even Better, here is a 1080p Example.  The same movie in 1080p listed at 1hour 53min at 1.54GB with 1,942 overall bitrate.

 

 

Format                                   : Matroska

Format version                           : Version 4 / Version 2

File size                                : 1.54 GiB

Duration                                 : 1h 53mn

Overall bit rate                         : 1 942 Kbps

Encoded date                             : UTC 2014-01-30 17:36:44

Writing application                      : mkvmerge v6.7.0 ('Back to the Ground') 64bit built on Jan  8 2014 15:10:52

Writing library                          : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.1

Video

ID                                       : 1

Format                                   : AVC

Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec

Format profile                           : [email protected]

Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes

Format settings, ReFrames                : 5 frames

Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC

Duration                                 : 1h 53mn

Nominal bit rate                         : 1 753 Kbps

Width                                    : 1 920 pixels

Height                                   : 800 pixels

Display aspect ratio                     : 2.40:1

Frame rate mode                          : Constant

Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps

Color space                              : YUV

Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0

Bit depth                                : 8 bits

Scan type                                : Progressive

Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.048

Writing library                          : x264 core 133 r2334 a3ac64b

Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=18 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=1753 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Language                                 : English

Default                                  : Yes

Forced                                   : No

Audio

ID                                       : 2

Format                                   : AAC

Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec

Format profile                           : HE-AAC / LC

Codec ID                                 : A_AAC

Duration                                 : 1h 53mn

Channel(s)                               : 6 channels

Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE

Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz / 24.0 KHz

Compression mode                         : Lossy

Delay relative to video                  : 31ms

Default                                  : Yes

Forced                                   : No

Text

ID                                       : 3

Format                                   : UTF-8

Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8

Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text

Default                                  : Yes

Forced                                   : No

Menu

00:00:00.097                             : en:00:00:00.097

 

 

1080p Screenshot

Edited February 18, 2014 by slick1109

[chuck101]

^ It can't be that hard to mimic a release like nItRo's Enders Game, you should be able to get the same result if you insert the settings as displayed in the media info into Megui. The most important part is the source files, try using the same source and settings and see how it compares, nItRo is a mass encoder so I highly doubt he uses a lot of filters maybe just a few quick standard ones to drop a little file size like TemporalSoften etc. 

[slick1109]

^ It can't be that hard to mimic a release like nItRo's Enders Game, you should be able to get the same result if you insert the settings as displayed in the media info into Megui. The most important part is the source files, try using the same source and settings and see how it compares, nItRo is a mass encoder so I highly doubt he uses a lot of filters maybe just a few quick standard ones to drop a little file size like TemporalSoften etc. 

 

Obviously you recognize his work chuck101, so thats saying something right there.

 

I find nItRo to be a very talented encoder.  I prefer his work over YIFY's, PLAYNOW's, and the other well known persons/groups.  He offers both the quality and sizes I am looking for.  A few other encoders who do very well with tv shows are mRS and ShAaNiG.  I dont know if ShAaNiG even enodes much anymore, but his quality and sizes were on par with nItRo as well..... mRS is not quite as good.

 

I have copied every setting I can see from MediaInfo, but as you know, not ALL settings are displayed.  As a result, I have not been able to reproduce the size and quality together, even with the best possible source (retail discs).  At best, I get fairly good quality but at higher sizes and bitrates.

 

Although, nItRo primarily encodes BLURAY quality media, not typically DVD.  So the settings in MediaInfo are for his bluray releases.  While I play to encode bluray in the near future, I am focused on standard DVD's right now.  Considering the quality of the DVD is vastly different from a BLURAY to begin with, I am sure the settings should NOT be the same for both.  So I am trying to figure out what they should be.  Even when he releases a DVDRIP, the source material it still going to be better than the ones I am using, simply because of the older pre-HD media I am working with.  He does not seem to work with old media.  YIFY did work with old media (before he recently retired), but his quality was never as good and his sizes were always slightly bigger as well.

[chuck101]

That's why I said the source is the most important part, if you use sparks 720p (Enders Games) and use the above media info for you settings you should basically get the same result. The most important part is the bit-rate/crf you chose, that depends on the movie, example the amount of action scenes, duration of the film and the actual output file size you want. (Example look at nItRo's 720p re-encode of Pacific Rim, the video didn't nearly have enough bit rate for a movie like that)

The question is what do you want to encode, live-action shows or anime/cartoon? Older media is always problematic...Usually needs filters to make it look good, especially if you want to do mini encodes.

[slick1109]

That's why I said the source is the most important part, if you use sparks 720p (Enders Games) and use the above media info for you settings you should basically get the same result. The most important part is the bit-rate/crf you chose, that depends on the movie, example the amount of action scenes, duration of the film and the actual output file size you want. (Example look at nItRo's 720p re-encode of Pacific Rim, the video didn't nearly have enough bit rate for a movie like that)

The question is what do you want to encode, live-action shows or anime/cartoon? Older media is always problematic...Usually needs filters to make it look good, especially if you want to do mini encodes.

 

I want to be able to encode a Variety of different types of media.  For example, I posted earlier screenshots of an animated TV show that I am trying to encode.  I would also like to encode a live-action TV sitcom like saved by the bell, but the quality on the dvd's doesnt look that great to begin with since its SD, so I am having a problem encoding them to good quality without going crazy with the file size.  Eventually, I would like to try some bluray full length movies, as well as my old SD DVD Movies.  I would assume that I would want to use different settings and filters for each of them considering how drastically different they all are.  I would assume that the retail discs would always be the best source to work with, but I am not sure how much nItRo's settings would apply to my old SD Media.

[JohnFlower]

Filtering for minimkv's shouldn't change that much... Be it a Blu-Ray movie or anime off of a DVD, all you really need to do is what Koby says: denoise and smooth the shit out of the video. The rest is in your encoding settings.

As I said, you will be losing detail at such low bitrates anyway, so there's no point fretting about it. Denoising + smoothing is very destructive as is, but it is required to get your filesize:quality ratio.

[chuck101]

All in all encoding is a learning process,in time you should be able to know what each setting does there is no standard encode settings, practice makes perfect start by doing the same encode as someone else and see if  can better it. On the setting part start by learning how deblocking, aq, qcomp, psy_rd works. You might find some useful guides for mini encodes at www.minitheatre.org also try their vafe encoder (very nice for someone starting to use filters)  also a filters guide I found useful is http://www.aquilinestudios.org/avsfilters/index.html

[slick1109]

Filtering for minimkv's shouldn't change that much... Be it a Blu-Ray movie or anime off of a DVD, all you really need to do is what Koby says: denoise and smooth the shit out of the video. The rest is in your encoding settings.

As I said, you will be losing detail at such low bitrates anyway, so there's no point fretting about it. Denoising + smoothing is very destructive as is, but it is required to get your filesize:quality ratio.

 

 

All in all encoding is a learning process,in time you should be able to know what each setting does there is no standard encode settings, practice makes perfect start by doing the same encode as someone else and see if  can better it. On the setting part start by learning how deblocking, aq, qcomp, psy_rd works. You might find some useful guides for mini encodes at www.minitheatre.org also try their vafe encoder (very nice for someone starting to use filters)  also a filters guide I found useful is http://www.aquilinestudios.org/avsfilters/index.html

 

I seem to be having a problem understanding how to use Filters in MeGUI or more importantly, where to find them.  When I was using Handbrake, it was very simple.  There was an actual "Filters" Tab that listed:

 

-Detelecine

-Decomb

-Deinterlace

-Denoise

-Deblock

 

In MeGUI, there does not seem to be a section to find all these together.  From what I am understanding, Filters are related to Avisynth as apposed to MeGUI and you have to either find or create a script to use them.  However when I was viewing an Avisynth Template it would just say something like "<Deinterlace>" and that was it.  No specification of what level of the filter to use (Example Fast/Slow or Weak/Strong etc).  So how is that specified?.

 

Also, some of the filters mentioned here dont correlate to physical settings that I can find.

 

For example, JohnFlower just said to "denoise" and "smooth" a video.  Denoise is easy to understand since there is a specific filter setting for it and named approapiately, but what specific filter is related to "smoothing"?  "Anti-Aliasing" was also mentioned as a filter.  Is that something that is only available in Avisynth, or it is listed under some other name is the MeGUI settings?

 

Does MeGUI even allow the use of filters without using Avisynth (like handbrake does)?  The only video encoding setting I come across in MeGUI is when I go into a profile's "config" menu and edit the setting on the 5 tabs of the "x265 Configuration Dialog".  I know I have seen "deblocking" listed there under the "frame type" tab, but I dont recall seeing any of the others listed under their corresponding names.Obviously I am missing something here.

 

 

I am sure that spending some time at Doom9 with help clear some of this up, but I was hoping one of you could could help alieviate at least some of this confusion.

[JohnFlower]

The scripts and plugins are the filters that you call in your Avisynth script (AVS). You need to download and extract them into the 'plugins' directory.

Have a look here for some filters that are available. Some are scripts and require other plugins, but both are called the same way.

All plugins and scripts should come with documentation. Reading it would be beneficial >_>

Edit: Ninja edits

Edited February 20, 2014 by JohnFlower

[chuck101]

Just as john said, example when you opened a file in Megui the tab to the right says script, load a plugin, example unfilter.dll and then at the bottom type in unfilter(25,25) then preview the script, you should see the difference in the video sharpness.

Edited February 20, 2014 by chuck101

[† L4ugh]

Handbrake and MeGUI+Avisynth are to very different things. One is a gui driven encoder with some filtering support. The other is a gui used to simply the creation of scripts written in a language that is designed specifically for editing audio and video.

 

MeGUI doesn't have any filters that are exclusive to it. It also has little support for the hundreds of filters and scripts you can run in avisynth. You can still add them to the scripts megui helps you create, but once you get to that point AvsPmod would be the better option. It supports a lot more filters, and offers syntax highlighting.

 

The handbrake filters you're looking for in megui should be found in it's script creator tool. There should be a button that allows you to analyze the video. It will recommend you a method to deinterlace/detelecine once it finishes analyzing the video. The denoising filter should be around the analyze button somewhere (below it if I remember right). 

 

Edit: To help compress the video you could try using spresso. It doesn't require much in the way of plugins and what it does require are commonly used.

Edited February 22, 2014 by L4ugh

[pmfextreme]

I've read some of this thread, but I would like to know what video editing software that I can use to create great encodes, and of course to make the encodes of high quality.  I have used  MeGui, and AVISynth in the past, however, I find those encoding programs to be quite confusing for me to use....actually, I don't really know how I'm suppose to use them to do the encoding.  Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.  

[professa X]

Question. Do you guys enjoy this painful process. I mean most Bobby's can generate income so can your skills be used outside of the hobby range.