Video encoding problems...

[Negative Sun]

When trying to encode a video file from .avi (Xvid MPEG-4 Codec) to an .mp4 using Any Video Converter the sound keeps f***ing up and it's really annoying me cause I've tried to tweak the settings a couple of times (resolution, fps, video bit rate, audio sample rate and bit rate) and nothing seems to work...

 

What's happening is that it makes the audio go out of sync with the rest of the video, it's lagging like 4-5 seconds behind the picture and it's obviously very annoying as you can't watch anything like that.

 

Any ideas? I'm totally lost here...

[Astrotoy7]

negsun, may I ask why you are attempting such an endeavor, mpeg4 and mp4 fall in the same umbrella of filters. The compression differences from a filesize point of view are not going to be staggering from what you have in the xvid -- unless you really need the mp4 format, you're better off just squeezing your xvid down, to reduce filesize

 

I guess you must want to squeeze it onto one of those infernal ipods ?? I also know that the *free* version of AVC only has mobilephone mp4 settings - unless thats what you are using it for - its not going to be optimised for another device

 

The sync issues are commonly accounted for by using a source file with compressed audio.

 

when peeps churn out a conversion, the most common settings they use options are 128kpbs/mp3/2channel/44100

 

where did your original source come from ?? DVD, or murky internet places ?

 

If you have the original discs, its silly to do a double convert and mangle the source through two filters to get to mp4. In that instance, you may as well go for the straight DVD>mp4(ipod?) which alot of converters can do

 

what audio bitrates codecs are you using >> analyse your original avi and make sure you match it

 

have you tried the alternate a\v sync option in AVC, unfortunately, as its the free version, it doesn't have tweakability like the full featured version if the 'default or basic' doesnt work. Im not sure what other freeware converters use. I dont do mp4 at all so have never had this issue.

 

tried another codec/format, x264, mpeg1/2 ? I guess it what the destination is that makes that most important.

 

anyway, if you let us know what the source is, and the destination device, we'll see if we can get it sorted

 

mtfbwya

[Negative Sun]

Sorry I should have mentioned, the source is just Le Internet I'm afraid, but it just seems to do it to this single file, so maybe the download is corrupt or something...I'm downloading it from a different source now so maybe that'll work better.

 

I've been using "basic" A/V sync, so maybe the "default" setting would make a difference?

 

I've got the trial version of AVC Pro as well but it's the same options on that, basic of default so I dunno if that would make any difference, besides support for more formats I haven't noticed any difference between the free version or the Pro version TBH...

 

The destination is indeed a portable device (Nokia N95 8GB) that has a version of RealPlayer (*shudders*) on it that only seems .mp4 files under a certain resolution.

It's not the phone that's causing the lag cause it does it on the PC as well when I play it after I've transcoded it...

 

The only thing that's different is the audio codec which is aac as it's the only thing AVC will let me select for that output video format...It plays ok though, it's just out of sync, poopy.

 

I'll try it with the "default" setting and see what that does, cause I've kept everything else the same (FPS, video bitrate, audio bitrate, etc...)

[Ray Jones]

avidemux.

[Negative Sun]

Thanks for the alternative Ray, it seems like it was just that file though...

It looks like it's a good proggie as well, so I'll probably just install it to add to my endless collection of several programs that do the same things but in a different way

[Ray Jones]

It runs on Linux.It superseded everything else I had concerning A/V editing/cutting/converting, mostly by "just doin' it by point'n'click" instead of fuzzy command line hacks, trial version restrictions, or a 300 Terabyte installation including MS SQL Express, Quicktime, Flash, and a colourful diversity of Malware and crap which doesn't work anyway. XD

[Astrotoy7]

It superseded everything else I had concerning A/V editing/cutting/converting, mostly by "just doin' it by point'n'click" instead of fuzzy command line hacks,

 

no command line! how dull for you Ray.

 

Do you know if avidemux does dvrms(recorded tv)? Thats the only filetype I have need of simple editing - to strip ads etc. I use videoredo, but its always good to know of any freeware options

 

mtfbwya

[Ray Jones]

no command line! how dull for you Ray.

Gee, Astro, what do you think? Console commands is one thing, video editing another. ^^

 

Do you know if avidemux does dvrms(recorded tv)? Thats the only filetype I have need of simple editing - to strip ads etc. I use videoredo, but its always good to know of any freeware options

Open source ware, not freeware.

 

However. Of course it does.

[Astrotoy7]

However. Of course it does.

 

*runs and tries*

 

ouch>> not too happy with dvrms at all. If you can manage to get a file open, then its extremely sensitive to sync errors(not uncommon in HDTV caps), requiring you to get another app to try fix... nope Even for those capturing straight mpeg2 straight from a tuner/STB/mediaportal will get the same thing with the capture sync errors.

 

good for standard filetypes though >> though similar can be argued of virtualdub.

 

Id steer clear if you happen to be a dvrms/topfield/tivo data hoarder. The nature of capturing HDTV and the propietary metadata mpeg2 'wrappers' make it a nightmare for most av proggies to break down. Videoredo is the quickest Ive come across, though free options like dvrms toolbox and mce buddy do exist as well

 

mtfbwya

[Ray Jones]

yap yap MS proprietary crap why not simply use stuff that's at least not tied to Microsoft only?

 

i'll check myself what's going on here laterz ;~~~~

[Astrotoy7]

yap yap MS proprietary crap why not simply use stuff that's at least not tied to Microsoft only?

 

i'll check myself what's going on here laterz ;~~~~

 

its not that crap actually - the xml wrapper serves a very handy purpose - its just annoying to post-process

 

Tivo(sony) and topfield, the other two chief PVR players also have their own version of it. It's plain ole mpeg2 wrapped with an xml that allows copius metadata to be added >> the metadata is quite useful especially when scanning your Guide to see what stuff to program(namely program specific data eg. a tv episode synopsis).

 

All this is lost immediately lost after stripping back to mpeg2, which only a handful of proggies can do safely(with either example). Their is an OS option called DVRMS Toolbox based on the work of a talented chap called babvgant, and various more UI friendly offshots like the awesome mcebuddy

 

many great minds have tried to find a way of accurately preserving all the metadata and stripping the file, but no one can get it right Theres some third party stuff that adds xmls to files later on, but nothing that can strip and keep it intact

 

mtfbwya

[Ray Jones]

All this is lost immediately lost after stripping back to mpeg2, which only a handful of proggies can do safely(with either example). Their is an OS option called DVRMS Toolbox based on the work of a talented chap called babvgant, and various more UI friendly offshots like the awesome mcebuddy

Avidemux is ought to work properly with MS's DVR format, or at least the A/V data. Having not many .msdvr files at hand I cannot say for sure what's going on (for me it just crashes), but I bet it's just HD related. Do you have any non-HD files at hand to check that out?

 

many great minds have tried to find a way of accurately preserving all the metadata and stripping the file, but no one can get it right Theres some third party stuff that adds xmls to files later on, but nothing that can strip and keep it intact

MS has given out quite some info on their format, so keeping and storing those informations shouldn't be all that difficult. However, it appears to be kind of useless regarding the fact that most windows users in that at all, because they tend to keep on using the msdvr format.

[Astrotoy7]

Avidemux is ought to work properly with MS's DVR format, or at least the A/V data. Having not many .msdvr files at hand I cannot say for sure what's going on (for me it just crashes), but I bet it's just HD related. Do you have any non-HD files at hand to check that out?

 

MS has given out quite some info on their format, so keeping and storing those informations shouldn't be all that difficult. However, it appears to be kind of useless regarding the fact that most windows users in that at all, because they tend to keep on using the msdvr format.

 

all Free to air DVB-T here in Oz broadcasts are in 720i at least - and we have two new channels that are 1080i out the box Theres no point getting an analogue tuner for my pretty 42" 1080p display - it looks like youtube at that size and rez display!

 

anyway, within media center its manageable, as there simply isnt a way to easily incorporate the huge amounts of a-v and xml data without it. It also preserves the integrity of the original broadcast(mpeg2) without putting it through compresson. If broadcasts were in H264, that would be nice, but they arent unfortunately

 

In the US and many places, the networks actually distibute their EPG data for use by tivo, mediacenter etc users, with EPG data also being in xml format > so the two marry together.

 

These xmls wrappers, like Tivo, dvrms and other propietary formats, allow for *very* fast search/skip/rewinds, time indexing and such, which you also lose by the time you get to your hyper-compressed avi So all that image fidelity, advanced xml and timecode data results in the large filesizes you get when you record HDTV > for 720i > just under 2gb for one hour. Hence for stuff you want to keep, running it through a post processing proggie can reduce its filesize by up to 90%, but you lose a that fidelity and functionality

 

no biggie Im happy with VideRedo, and didnt have to pay for it due to my affiliation with a mce system builders site, but Im always on the lookout for free options to recommend to users/friends/clients

 

btw, I did try super once, and it did accept dvrms but mangled its audio consistently. These converter proggies are *very* sensitive to even minor glitches of a-v sync, which you commonly get in HD broadcasts(due to signal strength and the like). The writers of VideoRedo have done alot of work to manage this, which is why they charge for their product, and deservedly so.

 

mtfbwya