The AVStoMPEG User’s Guide

June 26, 2009

ii
Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Installation and the first Start 2

2.1. Installation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2. The First Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3. A Demo Project 7
3.1. Add a Source to your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2. Add Scenes and Transitions to your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3. The Scenes List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.4. Assign Filter Chains and Transition Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.5. Moving of Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.6. Filter Chain Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.7. Previews of Scenes and Filter Chain Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.8. Compare Filter Chain Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.9. The Bitrate Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.10. The Video Encoders: CCE, HC-Encoder and x264 . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.11. SoundOut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4. Miscellaneous Features 26
4.1. The Project Notice Dialog Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.2. The Encoded Scenes Overview Dialog Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.3. The Encoded Project Filter Chain Presets Overview Dialog Window . . 28
4.4. Preview Encoded Project Filter Chain Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

A. Internet Addresses 31

B. Main Window Toolbar Reference 33

Bibliography 35

Index 36

List of Figures 38

List of Tables 39

iii
1. Introduction
This guide doesn’t cover all aspects of AVStoMPEG. It should only give you a first
aid, how to use this software.
AVStoMPEG is a tool for video cutting, filtering and encoding. It uses Avisynth for
the cutting and filtering part and HC-Encoder 1 , CCE 2 and x264 3 for the encoding
part. It provides a graphical user interface for many Avisynth Plugins4 as well as
versatile video previews with the possibility to compare a filtered or encoded video
with the original video. More details will be described in the following chapters.

1
A free MPEG-2 video encoder. The use of HC-Encoder is optional, but recommended.
2
CCE is an abbreviation for CINEMA CRAFT® Encoder, a commercial MPEG-2 video encoder.
The use of CCE is optional.
3
An open source MPEG-4 AVC video encoder. The use of x264 is optional, but recommended.
4
The user can insert his own Avisynth scripts or some lines of Avisynth script code in a filter chain,
too.

1
2. Installation and the first Start
2.1. Installation Process
Start the AVStoMPEG\v13.xxxx.xxxx.xxxx_Complete_Setup.exe. You will see the
Welcome dialog window (Figure 2.1 on page 3). Click the Next button. The following
dialog window shows you the readme text (Figure 2.2 on page 3). You should read
this text before you check the radiobutton to accept the license agreement and click
the Next button. On the next dialog window (Figure 2.3 on page 4) you can choose
which components you want to install:

AVStoMPEG The main program (mandatory).

HC-Encoder A free high quality MPEG-2 video encoder1 . Install this, if you want
to encode your videos as MPEG-2 files and it isn’t already installed on your
system.

x264 A free open source high quality MPEG-4 AVC video encoder2 . Install this,
if you want to encode your videos as MPEG-4 AVC files and it isn’t already
installed on your system.

DGIndex Necessary to prepare3 MPEG-2 source files4 . Install this, if you have
MPEG-2 source files and it isn’t already installed on your system.

DGAVCIndex Necessary to prepare5 MPEG-4 source files6 . Install this, if you have
MPEG-4 source files and it isn’t already installed on your system.

Avisynth A very powerful tool for video post-production7 . You need this, if it isn’t al-
ready installed on your system! I recommend, to read the article on Wikipedia8
to get an overview of Avisynth.

1
Homepage HC-Encoder http://www.bitburners.com/HC_Encoder/
2
Homepage x264 http://x264.nl/
3
DGIndex generates index files (used for previews) and optionally demultiplexes MPEG-2 encoded
files.
4
Homepage DGIndex http://neuron2.net/dgmpgdec/dgmpgdec.html
5
DGAVCIndex generates index files (used for previews) and optionally demultiplexes MPEG-4
encoded files.
6
Homepage DGAVCIndex http://neuron2.net/dgavcdec/dgavcdec.html
7
Homepage Avisynth http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Main_Page
8
Avisynth article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AviSynth

2
 2. Installation and the first Start

Figure 2.1.: Setup: Welcome Dialog Window

Figure 2.2.: Setup: Read me Dialog Window

3
 2. Installation and the first Start

Figure 2.3.: Setup: Choose Components to Install

All supported Avisynth Plugins All needed Avisynth Plugins. You need these Plug-
ins. If you don’t want to install them now: AVStoMPEG’s about dialog window
shows you which Avisynth Plugins (and which versions of them) are supported.

Helix YUV-Codecs You need this codec, if you want to preview videos in YV12
color space and you don’t have already an appropriate codec installed on your
system.

Make your decision, then click the Next button. This dialog window (Figure 2.4 on
page 5) allows you to choose an install directory. AVStoMPEG, HC-Encoder, x264 ,
DGIndex and DGAVCIndex will be installed in that directory, whereas Avisynth
and the Helix YUV-Codecs have separate installers that allow you to choose other
directories. Click the Install button, to start the installation process.

2.2. The First Start

At the first start AVStoMPEG will show the Options dialog window (Figure 2.5 on
page 6). Here you can select which tools you want to use and assign their paths.
If you installed these tools with the setup described in Section 2.1 on page 2, all of
them should be in the same directory as AVStoMPEG. If you plan to encode your
videos as MPEG-2 files, you should check use CCE or use HC-Encoder. If you want
your videos encoded as MPEG-4 AVC files, check use x264 . If your sources include

4
 2. Installation and the first Start

Figure 2.4.: Setup: Choose Installation Directory

Table 2.1.: Overview of needed Components for different MPEG Source Types
Source Type Needed Software Component
MPEG-2 DGIndex
MPEG-4 AVC DGAVCIndex

MPEG-2 videos, you should check use DGIndex. If your sources include MPEG-4
AVC videos, you should check use DGAVCIndex. Check use Media Player 9 , if you
want to preview and play encoded scenes. The AVStoMPEG projects directory will
be the directory in which AVStoMPEG saves your projects. Encoded files will be
saved in the subdirectory Output. Restart AVStoMPEG after you changed one or
more paths in this dialog window. For an overview of needed software components
see tables 2.1 and 2.2.

9
The selected Media Player must be able to play MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files. I recommend
SMPlayerhttp://smplayer.sourceforge.net/.

Table 2.2.: Overview of needed Components for different MPEG output File Types
Output Type Needed Software Component
MPEG-2 HC-Encoder (or CCE)
MPEG-4 AVC x264

5
 2. Installation and the first Start

Figure 2.5.: AVStoMPEG Options Dialog Window

6
3. A Demo Project

Start AVStoMPEG. In the toolbar click the button New Project . In the following
dialog window (Figure 3.1 on page 7) type a name for your project1 and click OK.
Now you will see some information about your new project on the Project tab: the
name of your project, the directory where it is saved, the frame count and the scene
count. Until now you have no scenes added to your project, so your frame count is
0. But this will soon change!

3.1. Add a Source to your Project

To add scenes to your project you first need to add a source. To do this, change to the
Sources tab. All controls on this tab are disabled but the button Add New Source.
Click this button. The Source Types groupbox above the button will be enabled. In
this groupbox several source types are listed. Which source to select depends on your
video input file. See table 3.1 on the next page for a list of supported file types.
Table 3.2 on the following page shows some Source Filter use redommendations.
Let’s assume you have an avi source file. Set AVISource checked (with a double
click). The AVISource tab on the right side is now selected and enabled. Now click
the button AVI File... on that tab. An open file dialog will appear. Now select your
avi file and click the button Open. You will recognize, that some information about
your file is now displayed on the right side of the AVISource tab (Figure 3.2 on page
10). AVStoMPEG uses MediaInfo8 to get this information. The file MediaInfo.dll
has been installed in the AVStoMPEG directory. You can check the version of the

1
A project name must be a valid filename.
8
Homepage MediaInfo http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en

Figure 3.1.: New Project Dialog Window

7
 3. A Demo Project

Table 3.1.: Supported File Types for the Avisynth Source Filters
Source Filter Source File Types
AVISource *.avi
AVCSource *.264, *.H264, *.avc, *.m2t, *.m2ts, *.mts, *.tp, *.ts, *.trp
DirectShowSource2 *.3gp, *.avi, *.m2ts, *.m2v, *.mkv, *.mov, *.mp4, *.mpg,
*.mpv, *.vob, *.wmv
MPEG2Source *.vob, *.mpg, *.mpeg, *.m1v, *.m2v, *.mpv
FFVideoSource3 *.avi, *.flv, *.m4v, *.mkv, *.mov, *.mp4, *.mpg, *.vob,
*.wmv
QTInput4 *.m4v, *.mov, *.mp4
bassAudioSource5 *.aac, *.ac3, *.aiff, *.ape, *.flac, *.m4a, *.mp2, *.mp3,
*.ogg, *.wav, *.wma, *.wv
NicAudio *.ac3, *.aiff, *.au, *.bwf, *.caf, *.dts, *.mpa, *.mp1, *.mp2,
*.mp3, *.lpcm, *.raw, *.rf64, *.wav, *.w64
6
FFAudioSource *.ac3, *.avi, *.flv, *.m4a, *.mov, *.mp2, *.mp3, *.mp4,
*.mpg, *.wmv
WAVSource *.wav
7
ImageSource *.bmp, *.jpg, *.png, *.tif, *.tiff

Table 3.2.: Source Filter use Recommendations

Source File Types Source Filter
*.avi AVISource
*.wmv DirectShowSource
*.wav WAVSource
*.mov QTInput
*.vob, *.mpg, *.mpeg, *.m1v, *.m2v, *.mpv MPEG2Source

8
 3. A Demo Project

installed MediaInfo.dll 9 in the AVStoMPEG About dialog window.

3.2. Add Scenes and Transitions to your Project

Now you are ready to add the first scene to your project. To do this, click the Add
Scene(s) splitbutton in the toolbar and select and click Add new Scene to Scenes
List. A preview dialog window will appear (Figure 3.3 on page 11). This is a preview
of your source video. The controls at the bottom of this window are explained in
Figure 3.4 on page 12. Now use the trackbar to search for some interesting contents
in your video. If you see some interesting pictures, use the <20 and >20 buttons
and finally the <1 and >1 buttons to find a frame to set as the first frame of your
first scene. Then click the button In. AVStoMPEG will automatically add a new
scene to the Scenes List on the Project tab. Now search for a frame to set as the
last frame of this scene. Then click the button Out. That’s it! You have added your
first scene. I suggest, you to add some more scenes to your project. You can do this
in the same way. When done, close the preview dialog window by clicking the Close
button. If you would like to have a transition effect between two scenes, select a cell
in the first row of the scenes list. Then click the Add Scene(s) splitbutton in the
toolbar and click Insert Transition to Scenes List. This will insert a transition with
assigned transition effect between the selected scene and the succeeding scene. You
can change the assigned transition effect later at any time.

3.3. The Scenes List

AVStoMPEG has updated the project information and the Scenes List (Figure 3.5
on page 13). If you take a closer look at the Scenes List, you will find the column
Avisynth Script. If you click one of the buttons of this column, the Avisynth script
viewer (Figure 3.6 on page 14) opens. This will show you the Avisynth script, that is
assigned to the selected scene 10 . You can export this script by clicking the button
Export this Script. The Filter Chain column should contain a check mark. This
means, that a filter chain has been assigned to this scene or, a transition effect has
been assigned to a scene transition. If you see a red cross, no filter chain or transition
effect has been assigned. Before you can encode such a scene or transition, you
have to assign a filter chain or transition effect. When you add a new scene to your
project, AVStoMPEG will always automatically assign a default filter chain without
filters but the source filter to this scene. You can edit and assign a new filter chain
later at any time by clicking the Assign Filter Chain to Scene or Transition Effect to
Transition splitbutton in the toolbar. Apparently you can use this splitbutton
9
You can replace the installed version with a newer version, if available. Every version above v0.7
should work.
10
You can also use the Scenes List’s context menu to show the Avisynth script viewer.

9
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.2.: Main Window Sources Tab

10
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.3.: Add Scene(s) Dialog Window

11
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.4.: Add Scene(s) Dialog Window Controls

12
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.5.: Main Window Project Tab

13
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.6.: Avisynth Script Viewer

to assign transition effects, too. More details about filter chains and transition effects
are described in Section 3.4. Another interesting column in the Scenes List is the
Notice column. This column is editable. So you can insert a descriptive text that lets
you easily identify a scene later. The Info column informs you, when a filter chain or
transition effect has been assigned. The Source Type and Source File columns inform
you about the source file, from which you cut a scene and which source filter you use.
The Dest. Properties and Source Properties columns show some important properties
of your scenes. If you want to assign a transition between two scenes, or if you later
want to concatenate two encoded scenes, you can immediately decide, if two scenes
fit together. If some properties of a scene have to be adjusted, you can adjust the
assigned filter chain.

3.4. Assign Filter Chains and Transition Effects

Let’s assume, you are not satisfied with the picture quality of the first scene of your
project and you would like to adjust it. To do this, you can assign a new filter chain
to this scene. First select the scene by selecting a cell of the scene’s row in the Scenes
List. The assigned filter chain will be loaded immediately11 . Then set the Scenes List
column Apply of the scene checked. This activates the button Assign Filter Chain to
Scene or Transition Effect to Transition splitbutton in the toolbar. This button
assigns the current filter chain to all checked scenes in the Scenes List. Now we build

11
The same applies to transition effects of scene transitions.

14
 3. A Demo Project

and assign a new filter chain to the first scene. Select the tab Filter Chain (Figure
3.7 on page 16) . On the left side of this tab is a groupbox with two controls:

Available Filters treeview This is a virtual stock of filters.

Active Filter Chain listview This is a list of filters of the current filter chain.

Double click on Avisynth Functions and Plugins in the Available Filters treeview
to expand the list of available filter categories. Then double click on Denoisers.
This will show the available denoising filters. All entries of this category are blue
colored and end with (Plugin). This means, that these filters are available through
Avisynth Plugins. Avisynth built-in filters are simply green colored. You may expand
the category Color Space Conversions to check this. Now double click the entry
FFT3DFilter (Plugin). The entry will immediately be added to the Active Filter
Chain list and dissapears from the Available Filters treeview. The parameters tab
of FFT3DFilter will be activated and shown. You can adjust them, until you are
satisfied with the result. Don’t forget to save your filter chain, before you preview
your video! I suggest, you save it as a Project Filter Chain Preset. Later, when you
are satisfied with the result, you can assign it to the checked scene(s) of the Scenes
List. If you created a filter chain, from which you think it might be useful for your
later projects, you can save it as a Global Filter Chain Preset or copy it to the Global
Filter Chain Presets, too. For more details see Section 3.6.

3.5. Moving of Scenes

To move a scene, just click the button Move selected Scene.... I strongly recommend
to move scenes before you encode them, because under certain conditions, the assign-
ment of encoded files will be mixed up after a scene has been moved. That means,
encoded files will be displayed incorrectly in the Encoded Scenes - Overview dialog
window and in the Encoded Project Filter Chain Presets - Overview dialog window!
Before this happens, AVStoMPEG shows you a MessageBox. This MessageBox lets
you decide, if you want to move the scene or if you want to cancel this operation. If
you move the scene, you will have to rename or delete unused files later by hand.

3.6. Filter Chain Presets

Now we will save your filter chain as a Project Filter Chain Preset. Make sure that the
first scene is selected. Now select the Filter Chain tab. On the bottom of the right
side you see two groupboxes (Figure 3.8 on page 17). The right one is to save Project
Filter Chain Presets. Click the button New in this groupbox. A dialog window will
appear (Figure 3.9 on page 17). Now type a name for your assigned filter chain12 ,
e.g. My first filter chain and if you wish, a description. Then click the Save button.
12
This must be a valid filename.

15
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.7.: Main Window Filter Chain Tab

16
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.8.: Filter Chain Presets

Figure 3.9.: Save Filter Chain Preset Dialog Window

17
 3. A Demo Project

This will close this dialog window. The preset list should now contain your preset
as a new entry. If you wish, you can change the name of a preset later by clicking
on it with the right mouse button. A context menu will appear (Figure 3.10 on page
19). Click Edit selected Filter Chain Preset Name and Description. With the context
menu you can also copy or move a selected filter chain preset from one list to another
and your can view an Avisynth script of a selected filter chain preset. Beside this,
you can encode Project Filter Chain Presets with CCE or HC-Encoder as a MPEG-2
file or with x264 as a MPEG-4 AVC file. The column Encoder shows you, if a preset
has already been encoded. This option enables you to show a preview of an encoded
filter chain before you assign it to a scene. If you are satisfied with the result of your
filtered scene, you can directly assign an encoded preset to the scene, to which it
belongs via the context menu.

3.7. Previews of Scenes and Filter Chain Presets

To show a preview of a scene, select the Project tab, then select a scene of the Scenes
List. Then click the toolbar button . This will open the preview dialog window
(Figure 3.11 on page 20). If you want to compare a filtered video with its source
video, click the toolbar button . A preview dialog window with two video screens
will appear (Figure 3.12 on page 21). The left frame shows the filtered video, the right
frame shows the unfiltered. On the title bar of this dialog window the scene Index
and the Dest. In and Dest. Out frame numbers are shown. This should help you
to identify a shown scene, if more than one preview dialog window is opened. The
status bar of a preview dialog window shows information about the current frame
number, the resolution and the duration of a scene. You can use the trackbar to
navigate through the scene and decide, if you are satisfied with the assigned filter
chain. The assigned filter chain is probably not perfectly filtering your scene, so you
might want to play around with it. Try some more (or some other) filters and tweak
some filter parameters. If you want to know more about a filter’s parameters and
how to use them, you should read the filter’s documentation. You can find them in
your Avisynth Plugin directory. If you want to show a preview of a Project Filter
Chain Preset, click the toolbar button . For a preview of a Global Filter Chain
Preset click the toolbar button .

3.8. Compare Filter Chain Presets

Now select the Filter Chain tab. Then double click on the Project Filter Chain
Preset with name “Source”. This preset contains no filters, so you can easily compare
another preset with the unfiltered source. Now insert the filter Tweak 13 to the Active
13
This filter is arranged under Colors.

18
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.10.: Project Filter Chain Presets Context Menu

19
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.11.: Preview selected Scene

20
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.12.: Compare Filtered Video with Source Video

21
 3. A Demo Project

Filter Chain. Then adjust its parameter Saturation to the value 9 and click the New
button in the Project Filter Chain Presets groupbox. Give it a meaningful name,
e.g. My Tweak filter chain and save it. Now we will compare this filter chain with
the filter chain preset that we created in chapter Section 3.6 on page 15. Set the
checkboxes in the first column of the Project Filter Chain Presets list checked for
the two preset rows My Tweak filter chain and My first filter chain 14 . The second
column now should contain two new entries: Left Side15 and Right Side 16 . You will
recognize, that the toolbar button is enabled now. Click this button now to show
the preview dialog window. This window is very similar to the window we saw, when
we compared our assigned filter chain to the unfiltered source video. There are no
new controls on it, so you should be familiar with it.
Project Filter Chain Preset files are saved in a project’s directory, are only visible
when the project is loaded and can be encoded. Global Filter Chain Preset files are
available for every project, but before you can encode a Global Filter Chain Preset,
you will have to copy it to the Project Filter Chain Presets datagrid. This is the
difference between the Global Filter Chain Presets and Project Filter Chain Presets.
A comparison of two Global Filter Chain Presets works in the same way as to compare
two Project Filter Chain Presets.

3.9. The Bitrate Calculator

Before you encode your scenes as MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 files, you might want to know
the maximum video bitrate to ensure that your encoded file will fit on the disc type17
of your choice. Click the toolbar button . The Bitrate Calculator appears (Figure
3.13 on page 23). You will recognize, that the Number of Frames textbox already
contains the frame count of your project. Now select your disc type and the audio
bitrate. You might also adjust the values for Frames per Second and the Additional
Contents (in MB). If you are done click the Calculate button. A click on the Accept
button sets the bitrate values on the Video Encoder tab to the calculated value and
closes the Bitrate Calculator.

3.10. The Video Encoders: CCE, HC-Encoder and

x264
Now select the MPEG-2 Video Encoder tab (Figure 3.14 on page 24). This tab
shows two MPEG-2 encoder interfaces: CCE and HC-Encoder. CCE is a commercial

14
This works apparently for every other Project Filter Chain Preset.
15
The scene filtered by this filter chain will be shown in the left frame in the preview dialog window.
16
The scene filtered by this filter chain will be shown in the right frame in the preview dialog
window.
17
DVD 5, DVD 9...

22
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.13.: Bitrate Calculator

software, whereas HC-Encoder is free. Both encoders are able to produce videos of
very high quality. HC-Encoder has the limitation that it only supports YV12 color
space videos as input but has the advantage that it allows the output of videos with
HD resolution up to 1080p and it supports bitrates up to 35 Mbit/s. If you decide to
encode a scene with HC-Encoder, you have to make sure, that it is in YV12 color space
after it passes the last filter of its assigned filter chain. If you have CCE installed, and
an assigned filter chain allows a fast processing, you might decide to use CCE, because
it is significantly faster than HC-Encoder. If you need extremely low bitrates, you
might want to use the x264 encoder. This encoder is much slower than the MPEG-2
encoders, but produces very good video quality, even for extremely low bitrates. x264
encodes videos as MPEG-418 H.26419 raw bytestream files. These files are not DVD
compatible, but to encode your videos as a MPEG-4 files might be a good choice, if
you want to upload them to the Internet. The encoder settings depend on your filtered
video and the later usage of your video. You may save some filter chains as Project
Filter Chain Presets and encode them with different parameter settings20 before you
assign a preset ultimately to a scene. After adjusting the encoding parameters, you
can start the encoding process. There are three splitbuttons in the toolbar. One
for CCE , one for HC-Encoder and one for the x264 encoder. All of
them allow you to encode the checked scene(s) as single videos. If you checked e.g. 6
scenes, you will get 6 videos. This enables you to do batch encoding, e.g. if you have
several completely different videos and all must be encoded as MPEG-2 or MPEG-4

18
For more information about MPEG-4 see [2].
19
For further information about the H.264/AVC Advanced Video Coding Standard see [7] and [3].
20
If you need some good advice, there is a good forum on Doom 9 http://www.doom9.org. The
developer of HC-Encoder (Doom 9 forum member name: hank315 ) uses this forum, too.

23
 3. A Demo Project

Figure 3.14.: The Video Encoder tab

24
 3. A Demo Project

videos.

3.11. SoundOut
If SoundOut is activated for a scene of your Scenes List and this scene is selected, the
SoundOut tab is activated. This allows you to specify the audio output format and to
adjust the available parameters for the audio track of this scene. If you encode a scene
as described in Section 3.10 on page 22, the audio part of the scene will be encoded
automatically. But in some cases it might be useful to encode the audio part of a
scene separately. To export the audio part of a scene, click the toolbar button ,
this will save the audio output in the in the project’s subdirectory Output. SoundOut
is not available for Project Filter Chain Presets. That means, if you encode a Project
Filter Chain Preset for a preview and later decide to assign this filter chain to a
scene, you will have to export the audio part separately.

25
4. Miscellaneous Features
4.1. The Project Notice Dialog Window
Especially for large projects, you may want to save some general notices about your
project. You can do this by clicking the toolbar button . This will show the Project
Notice dialog window , which enables you to save some plain text. This dialog window
is non-modal dialog window, that means you can leave this window open during you
work on your project.

4.2. The Encoded Scenes Overview Dialog Window

To show an overview of already encoded scenes, click the toolbar splitbutton .
In the menu (Figure 4.2 on page 28) click on Show overview of encoded Scenes and
Transitions. This will show the Encoded Scenes Overview dialog window (Figure 4.1
on page 27). On the left side there is a graphical overview of all supported video
and audio formats. The Video Encoder groupbox shows encoded scenes and encoded
frames1 . This gives you a better overview of encoded video parts, if your scenes
have different frame counts. On the right side of the dialog window the Overview
groupbox is shown. The datagrid in it contains only the necessary columns. If no
scenes are encoded, there are only two columns shown: the Scenes column and the
Frames column. The frame counts shown in the Frames column can differ2 from
the frame counts shown in the main window’s Scenes List, because in the Scenes
List the full frame counts of scenes and transitions are shown and in the Encoded
Scenes Overview dialog window only the frames to encode for a scene are shown.
The columns for encoded video and audio contains red colored drop down lists for
encoded scenes. You can switch between “Scene encoded” or “-”. You can preview
your encoded scenes with a media player3 by clicking with the right mouse button
on one of the red cells that are switched to “Scene encoded”. This will open a
context menu, that enables you to play the selected scene or to delete the encoded
file. Scenes that are switched to “Scene encoded” will be concatenated when you click
the button Concatenate checked Scene(s).... An important notice: A concatenated
MPEG-2 video file is not necessarily DVD compatible, but it should be playable in

1
For audio parts this should not be necessary, because audio encoding is much faster than video
encoding.
2
The frame counts are not equal, if transitions are in use.
3
A media player must have been configured in the AVStoMPEG Options dialog window.

26
 4. Miscellaneous Features

Figure 4.1.: Encoded Scenes Overview Dialog Window

27
 4. Miscellaneous Features

Figure 4.2.: Show Overview Dialog Windows Menu

your software media player4 .

4.3. The Encoded Project Filter Chain Presets

Overview Dialog Window
To show an overview of encoded Project Filter Chain Presets, click the toolbar split-
button . In the menu (Figure 4.2 on page 28) click on Show overview of encoded
Project Filter Chain Presets . This will show the Encoded Project Filter Chain Presets
- Overview dialog window (Figure 4.3 on page 29). You can preview your encoded
presets with a media player5 by clicking with the right mouse button on one of the
red cells6 in the Overview table of this window. This will open a context menu, that
enables you to play the selected preset or to delete the encoded file7 .

4.4. Preview Encoded Project Filter Chain Presets

If a Project Filter Chain Preset for a scene is encoded and you select it, the toolbar
splitbutton will be enabled. Click this button to show the menu shown in Figure
4.4 on page 30. Click Preview Scene with selected Project Filter Chain Preset applied
and encoded by selected Encoder to show a preview of the selected scene, encoded
with the selected Project Filter Chain Preset. This will show the scene as it would
show in your finished video project. If you set two encoded Project Filter Chain
Presets checked, the menu entry Compare Scene (two selected Project Filter Chain
Presets) encoded by selected Encoders will be enabled. Click this to compare the two
checked presets, that are encoded. Click Compare Scene (selected Project Filter Chain
Preset applied and encoded by selected Encoder) with Scene (selected Project Filter
Chain Preset applied and not encoded) to compare the selected preset encoded with
the same preset not encoded. To adjust the available MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 decoding

4
The following players have been tested: VLC Media Player, MPlayer, Media Player Classic -
Home Cinema, Windows Media Player with NVIDIA DVD Decoder. I recommend MPlayer
with SMPlayer GUI.
5
A media player must have been configured in the AVStoMPEG Options dialog window.
6
The entries of the red cells show the name(s) of the encoder(s) that encoded a preset.
7
This will delete the encoded file, but not the Project Filter Chain Preset.

28
 4. Miscellaneous Features

Figure 4.3.: Encoded Project Filter Chain Presets - Overview Dialog Window

29
 4. Miscellaneous Features

Figure 4.4.: Show Encoded Project Filter Chain Preset Menu

Figure 4.5.: Preview Encoded Scene - Options Dialog Window

options click Preview Options.... This will show the Preview Encoded Scene - Options
dialog window (Figure 4.5 on page 30).

30
A. Internet Addresses

31
 A. Internet Addresses

Table A.1.: Some Interesting Internet Sites

AVStoMPEG Blog http://avstompeg.spaces.live.com/
AVStoMPEG Homepage http://avstompeg.tripod.com/index.htm
Avisynth http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Main_Page
Avisynth Filter Collection http://avisynth.org/warpenterprises/
HC-Encoder http://www.bitburners.com/HC_Encoder/
DGIndex http://neuron2.net/dgmpgdec/dgmpgdec.html
x264 http://x264.nl/
DGAVCIndex http://neuron2.net/dgavcdec/dgavcdec.html
Doom9 http://www.doom9.org/
VideoHelp http://www.videohelp.com
Digital Digest http://www.digital-digest.com/index.php
MuxMan http://www.mpucoder.com/Muxman/
Muxxi http://sourceforge.net/projects/muxxi/
MP4Box http://kurtnoise.free.fr/
MPlayer for Windows https://sourceforge.net/projects/mplayer-win32/
SMPlayer https://sourceforge.net/projects/smplayer/
VLC Media Player http://www.videolan.org/
Media Player Classic - Home Cinema http://tibrium.neuf.fr/
Miro http://www.getmiro.com/

32
B. Main Window Toolbar Reference

33
B. Main Window Toolbar Reference

Figure B.1.: Toolbar Reference

34
Bibliography
[1] Mauricio Alvarez, Esther Salamí, Alex Ramirez, and Mateo Valero. A performance
characterization of high definition digital video decoding using H.264/AVC. IN
WORKLOAD CHARACTERIZATION SYMPOSIUM, 2005. PROCEEDINGS
OF THE IEEE INTERNATIONAL, 2005:24—33, 2005.

[2] Hari Kalva, Lai tee Cheok, and Alexandros Eleftheriadis. MPEG-4 systems and
applications. DEMONSTRATION, ACM MULTIMEDIA ’99, 1999.

[3] Maxine Lee and Alex Moore Group. 1 introduction h.264 encoder design. 2006.

[4] Olivia Nemethova and Michal Ries. Quality assessment for h.264 coded Low-Rate
and low-Resolution video sequences. PROC. OF CONFERENCE ON INTER-
NET AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES, pages 136—140, 2004.

[5] Thomas Stockhammer, Miska M Hannuksela, and Thomas Wieg. H.264/AVC in

wireless environments. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS
FOR VIDEO TECHNOLOGY, 13:657—673, 2003.

[6] Gary J Sullivan, Senior Member, Ieee, and Thomas Wiegand. Video compression
- from concepts to the H.264/AVC standard. PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE,
93:18—31, 2005.

[7] Gary J Sullivan, Pankaj Topiwala, and Ajay Luthra. The H.264/AVC advanced
video coding standard: Overview and introduction to the fidelity range extensions.
SPIE CONFERENCE ON APPLICATIONS OF DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESS-
ING XXVII, 5558:454—474, 2004.

[8] Xiaosong Zhou, Eric Q Li, and Yen kuang Chen. Implementation of h.264 decoder
on General-Purpose processors with media instructions. IN PROCEEDINGS OF
SPIE CONFERENCE ON IMAGE AND VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS AND
PROCESSING, 5022:224—235, 2003.

35
Index

1080p, 23 FFT3DFilter, 15
Filter, 7, 9, 15–19, 22, 23, 25, 28–30
AVC, 1, 2, 4, 5, 18, 23 filter, 9, 14, 15, 18, 22, 23
AVISource, 7 filter’s, 18
Avisynth, 1, 2, 4, 9, 15, 18 Filtered, 21
Avisynth, 4 filtered, 1, 18, 22, 23
batch, 23 filtering, 1, 18
Bitrate, 22, 23 filters, 9, 15
bitrate, 22, 23 Global, 22
bitrates, 23
H.264, 23
CCE, 1, 4, 5, 18, 22, 23 HC-Encoder, 1, 2, 4, 5, 18, 22, 23
Codec HD, 23
codec, 4
Codecs, 4 Internet, 23
Color Space, 15
Concatenate, 26 Left Side, 22
concatenated, 26 Media Player, 5, 28
Decoder, 28 media player, 26, 28
decoding, 28 Media Player Classic, 28
demultiplex, 2 MPEG-2, 1, 2, 4, 5, 18, 22, 23, 26, 28
DGAVCIndex, 2, 4, 5 MPEG-4, 1, 2, 4, 5, 18, 22, 23, 28
DGIndex, 2, 4, 5 MPlayer, 28
disc, 22 Notice, 14, 26
DVD, 23, 26, 28 notices, 26
Encoder, 18, 22, 24, 26, 28 NVIDIA, 28
encode, 2, 18, 22, 23, 25, 26 Options, 4
Encoded, 5, 26–30 Output, 5, 25
encoded, 1, 2, 18, 23, 26, 28
encoder, 2, 22, 23, 28 Preset, 15, 17, 18, 22, 28, 30
Encoders, 28 Preset, 25
encoders, 23 preset, 18, 22, 28
encodes, 23 Presets, 15, 17–19, 22, 23, 28, 29
encoding, 1, 23, 26 presets, 28

36
 Index

Preview, 20, 28, 30

preview, 4, 5, 9, 15, 18, 22, 26, 28
previews, 1, 2
Project, 7, 9, 13, 15, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25,
26, 28–30
project, 7, 9, 14, 18, 22, 25, 26, 28
projects, 5, 26

Right Side, 22

Scenes List, 9, 14, 15, 18, 25, 26

Script, 9
script, 9, 18
SMPlayer, 28
SoundOut, 25
Source, 7, 14
source, 2, 7, 9, 14, 18, 22
Sources, 7

Transition, 9
transition, 9, 14
transition effect, 9, 14
transition effects, 14
Transitions, 26
transitions, 14, 26

VLC, 28

Wikipedia, 2
Windows Media Player, 28

x264, 2, 4, 5, 18, 23

YV12, 4, 23

37
List of Figures
2.1. Setup: Welcome Dialog Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2. Setup: Read me Dialog Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3. Setup: Choose Components to Install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.4. Setup: Choose Installation Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.5. AVStoMPEG Options Dialog Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3.1. New Project Dialog Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3.2. Main Window Sources Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3. Add Scene(s) Dialog Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.4. Add Scene(s) Dialog Window Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.5. Main Window Project Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.6. Avisynth Script Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.7. Main Window Filter Chain Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.8. Filter Chain Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.9. Save Filter Chain Preset Dialog Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.10. Project Filter Chain Presets Context Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.11. Preview selected Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.12. Compare Filtered Video with Source Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.13. Bitrate Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.14. The Video Encoder tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.1. Encoded Scenes Overview Dialog Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4.2. Show Overview Dialog Windows Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.3. Encoded Project Filter Chain Presets - Overview Dialog Window . . 29
4.4. Show Encoded Project Filter Chain Preset Menu . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.5. Preview Encoded Scene - Options Dialog Window . . . . . . . . . . . 30

B.1. Toolbar Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

38
List of Tables
2.1. Overview of needed Components for different MPEG Source Types . 5
2.2. Overview of needed Components for different MPEG output File Types 5

3.1. Supported File Types for the Avisynth Source Filters . . . . . . . . . 8

3.2. Source Filter use Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

A.1. Some Interesting Internet Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

39