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tox|k
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Join Date: 1/22/2003
Posts: 49
Location: Canada... eh
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There's been a fair bit of talk about the new h.264 compression and how
it's supperior to so many others. most of you are probably familiar
with nero recode which is one compressor for h.264. But, there is a
better (and free) way to do it... with x264.
I've written a full guide of how to produce h.264 video with the x264
compressor as well as how to compress AAC audio to go with it. The
guide also includes all neccessary instructions for playback of any
MPEG4 h.264 video, be it nero's, x264, or any other mpeg4 compliant
stream.
You can check out the guide over at http://toxik.cacheflo.ws/x264/guide.html
Thanx to a buncha the guys over at Twilight Pictures for testing out my guide and helping me iron out all the details.
Thanx to own-age.com for the link :)
*Update*
v1.1 2005-09-23
-Using the FFDShow audio decoder now instead of CoreAAC (one less thing
to download & install). both use the FAAD2 decoder anyway.
-avisynth link points directly to v2.5 download now, less ambiguous.
-added link to Azaze1 amendment/enhancement of my batch file.
*Update* v2.0 2007-03-25
-Completely revamped the guide so everything is up to date.
-Everything done through a single GUI.
-Changed encoding path from 3pass automated to 2pass automated turbo (reason in the guide).
-Added a few notes about bitrate.
-Removed a bunch of outdated info.
Quake, Honoris Causa. |
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Posted: 9.20.05 @ 5:20 PM
Last modified: 4.5.07 @ 8:41 AM |
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[PT] TANIA
![[PT] TANIA](/avatars/useruploaded/[PT] TANIA604164proclamation_avatar.jpg)
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reflex-
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Join Date: 2/26/2004
Posts: 75
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
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| Time to remove quality from the ratings criteria. I think I was the first to test the guide, and with this codec no one should ever have a vid above 20mb/min that doesn't appear virtually lossless, maybe even lower than that. This should completely demystify any 'hidden art' there ever was to encoding. The days of XviD will soon be over :P |
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Posted: 9.20.05 @ 6:00 PM |
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Doug
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Just make sure EVERY editor for EVERY video includes the codec AND FDShow in their rar files so that n00bz can view it, as this codec doesnt work in WMP
I know Kung Fu |
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Posted: 9.20.05 @ 7:18 PM |
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tox|k
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Join Date: 1/22/2003
Posts: 49
Location: Canada... eh
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I can't make anyone include the decoders in their releases; that is entirely up to them.
There is a simple section in my guide dedicated to playback too. Anyone who wants to release their vid with x264 can copy that to the readme. it's all very simple.
The decoding filters WILL work in WMP. WMP is a directshow compatible player, all of the filters are directshow based, hence, it will work. This is all explained in the guide, all you have to do is read it.
Quake, Honoris Causa. |
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Posted: 9.20.05 @ 9:42 PM |
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cwitts
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You can't make everybody include the neccessary files for playback, but the movies that are worth it and made by people that care will definitely include it as it would be bad "PRESS" in a way!
"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them."
Aristotle (384-322 BC); Greek philosopher.
Current Project - Triratana -> Suspended due to time contraints
Refugee Prayer:
Until I attain Enlightenment,
I take refuge in the Three Jewels;
The Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. |
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Posted: 9.21.05 @ 1:10 AM |
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Azura
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Location: Pirating your ass
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[PT] TANIA
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Join Date: 12/11/2003
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| tox|k wrote: | I can't make anyone include the decoders in their releases; that is entirely up to them.
There is a simple section in my guide dedicated to playback too. Anyone who wants to release their vid with x264 can copy that to the readme. it's all very simple.
The decoding filters WILL work in WMP. WMP is a directshow compatible player, all of the filters are directshow based, hence, it will work. This is all explained in the guide, all you have to do is read it. |
Ok you conviced me :D i still have my premonition video uncompressed version! I will try to put it in x264 ;)
btw this movie uses it codename pentagram
Premonition (lame trailer)
Proclamation (lame thread)
Tania's tips for a top movie
FOREVER 3 |
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Posted: 9.21.05 @ 4:38 AM
Last modified: 9.21.05 @ 5:24 AM |
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-Max-
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Fragalishus
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Location: Dallas
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| [PT] TANIA wrote: | | tox|k wrote: | I can't make anyone include the decoders in their releases; that is entirely up to them.
There is a simple section in my guide dedicated to playback too. Anyone who wants to release their vid with x264 can copy that to the readme. it's all very simple.
The decoding filters WILL work in WMP. WMP is a directshow compatible player, all of the filters are directshow based, hence, it will work. This is all explained in the guide, all you have to do is read it. |
Ok you conviced me :D i still have my premonition video uncompressed version! I will try to put it in x264 ;)
btw this movie uses it codename pentagram |
hmm, i dunno. that movie was 640x480, and 22mb/min. xvid can easily give the same quality at those settings. or at least very close, without having to install 3 different things in order to view it.
so the jury's still out for me, but i'll play around with it.
FragTV |
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Posted: 9.22.05 @ 8:05 PM |
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fei
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Doug
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this still yields much better results irregardless - i think it will help this community a lot
they sure have improved this codec a lot over the last year, even with minimal staff. im impressed
I know Kung Fu |
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Posted: 9.23.05 @ 10:44 AM |
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v1ncent
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Join Date: 1/4/2004
Posts: 80
Location: Germany, Cologne
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Thank you sooo much for this tutorial. Man it is a long way till you get a nice result but it is worth to go it at all.
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Posted: 9.23.05 @ 11:29 AM |
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Voo
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Seems like an awful lot of work to compress a vid. but to each his own. Ill stick with vdub/xvid till they can package 264 more user freindly.
X The Movie |
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Posted: 9.23.05 @ 12:36 PM |
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Doug
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i really hope that this codec is adopted by a large portion of this community. i cant tell u how sea-sick i get when people abuse blurs, in an attempt to make xvid compress better.
bring on the crisp edges!
I know Kung Fu |
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Posted: 9.23.05 @ 12:57 PM |
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mOO
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Join Date: 6/20/2004
Posts: 62
Location: Iowa
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There is nothing stopping you from using vdub/x264. To be fair the b-frame hack in avi applies to xvid as well... Following the guide is still a better way of doing it and there is also a lot of useful information to learn in it.
Im not sure why the guide recommends installing coreaac for playback though? Ffdshow already supports decoding of aac audio. |
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Posted: 9.23.05 @ 4:15 PM |
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tox|k
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Join Date: 1/22/2003
Posts: 49
Location: Canada... eh
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| mOO wrote: |
Im not sure why the guide recommends installing coreaac for playback though? Ffdshow already supports decoding of aac audio. |
Ahh, missed that one!
I just had CoreAAC long before I touched x264, so it was my default AAC directshow decoder.
I've also had a few issues with the FFDShow audio codec manager, but i also seem to be the only person have the problem :\... and it's probably something in windows anyway. I've never used the FFDShow audio decoders; but, i'll give it a throw, and probably amend the guide to use the FFDShow decoder instead for simplicity and one less thing to download/install.
| Voo wrote: |
Seems like an awful lot of work to compress a vid. but to each his own. Ill stick with vdub/xvid till they can package 264 more user freindly. |
There are one-click solutions for x264 + aac encoding out there, but they are slightly more DVD-backup oriented. I also wrote this guide so those who want to be able to optimize, really can, at every step. With one-click stuff there's not as much room for tweaking and play. The is also the batch file i wrote which will pretty much do everything in one process; all the command line options are editable so the user can tweak them as well.
Azaze1 is also "setting up a wiki all about (hopefully) the art and technical aspects of movie making."
Looks pretty good so far, and he has also amended my batch file to make it abit better.
You can check it out here
Quake, Honoris Causa. |
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Posted: 9.23.05 @ 5:01 PM |
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v1ncent
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Posts: 80
Location: Germany, Cologne
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This goes basically out to those people who made their first experience with Teks x264 tutorial:
Afterseveral tries of x264encoding (almost) everything worked fine for me. Just my "target".avi
which has an 800x600 resolution and can't be encoded in the described way.
Thereupon I made several test runs with different resolutions, result:
640x480@25frames= working
768x576@25frames= working
720x400@30frames= working
720x560@25frames= error
800x600@30frames= error
Every avi was tested in compressed and uncompressed form which had no
influence whether it was encoded or not.
Is their any hope for a successfull 800x600 encoding? - maybe any additions
in the .avs scripttext or changes in the x264 menue? I would be unimaginable
helpfull for some help! (I can't resize because the premier-filters are
crashing at lower resolution)
This here is one of the error-Logfiles:
Log for job job1-1
avis [info]: 720x540 @ 25.00 fps (306 frames)
x264 [error]: width % 16 != 0 or height % 16 != 0 (720x540)
x264_encoder_open failed
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Posted: 9.23.05 @ 5:41 PM |
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tox|k
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Join Date: 1/22/2003
Posts: 49
Location: Canada... eh
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v1ncent, i have emailed you a response on how to fix your problem.
The problem is that x264 needs the width and height of the video to be perfectly divisible by 16, your tests that produced errors are not. I briefly went over this in my guide, but it's understandable to miss it.
Check the email for more detailed instructions on solutions.
Quake, Honoris Causa. |
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Posted: 9.23.05 @ 5:55 PM |
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[PT] TANIA
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Join Date: 12/11/2003
Posts: 4327
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| Doug wrote: | i really hope that this codec is adopted by a large portion of this community. i cant tell u how sea-sick i get when people abuse blurs, in an attempt to make xvid compress better.
bring on the crisp edges! |
it's a matter of habit... if i don't do blur, you can't tell from wich side the 180 turns i do, are!
Premonition (lame trailer)
Proclamation (lame thread)
Tania's tips for a top movie
FOREVER 3 |
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Posted: 9.23.05 @ 6:05 PM |
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