MPEG-2 codec? Audio-codecs?

[Indiana]

Hi,
is there any mpeg2 (non-realtime, with good quality) encoder available for free as a codec, e.g. for use in VirtualDub?

What about Audio-codecs? Any lossless compression Audio-codec, or an mp3-quality codec that doesn't desync audio+video?

[Sciascia]

TMPGEnc can receive a frameserved file from VDub to encode to MPEG2, it will also encode an AVI directly. As for a direct codec for Vdub, I'm going to say that there is definitely not one. 100% sure, No way!! (this is where I look back 2 days later and find out I was wrong, usually pointed out by someone with the initials Dr.M.). If there was the quality would probably not be worth the HD space it occupied. For cheap (Free) and good quality, it is hard to beat TMPGEnc. I would suggest looking for ver 12a as it was the last to support MPEG2 without a time limit and I've heard some not so rave reviews about the latest versions.

For audio, you can use the "toolame" encoder as a plugin for TMPGEnc. It is an MPEG audio codec with a little better quality than the stock TMPGEnc one. Take a look at http://www.doom9.org for the links to both (I believe).

[This message has been edited by Sciascia (edited 25 April 2001).]

[Dr Mordrid]

If you have segmented *.avi files, those which are sequentially numbered as AVI_IO captures, you can frameserve the files right off the hard drive and into TMPGEnc 12a without the intervention of a program like VirtualDUB.

To do this you just use an *.avs script with the proper command sequence;

SegmentedAVISource("filename.avi")

This command will parse into TMPGEnc 21a all files within the name sequence "filename.00.avi" to "filename.99.avi" for encoding into a single MPG file.

As noted by Sciascia there have been some problems with versions of TMPGEnc past 12a. Some versions have quality problems, some have issues with various presets and some just are buggy. I'm standing pat with 21a.

Dr. Mordrid

[Indiana]

Yes, but with VirtualDub I can edit the advertisement-spots (and other things) out of the avi-file very comfortably and then encode without having to save the edited avi (thus sparing MUCH HD-Space).
Three further questions:

1. Why do you dislike DivX ;-) that much? You can get better results with mpeg2 but then the files will be really large. If you want to fit a whole movie in e.g. 768x576 on 2CDs (everything more is just impractical) IMHO the best quality can be achieved with DivX ;-) set at 2500-3000Bps. Mpeg2 at a comparable bitrate does perform worse here.
Can you suggest some TMpeg Settings that are suitable for fitting a Full PAL interlaced movie on 2CDs with at least acceptable quality - cause I didn't manage, I got quality only roughly comparable to more like DivX ;-) 1000Bps when I tried. Not to speak about the time needed to encode...
O.K. that was two questions in one

2. What about audio? Any audio-codecs with lossless compression (such as in QT) out there?

3. What about using the lame mp3-encoder with TMpeg? Is it possible at all (IMO lame mp3@128Kbps is roughly equal to TMPegs Mpeg2@192Kbps)? And will there be problems with video-/audio desynchronizing?

[zeb7]

Sciascia, here is an mpeg2 codec

http://www.etymonix.com/

The Etymonix MPEG-2 (I-frame) video codec is a software video compressor/decompressor based on the standard Video for Windows (VfW) architecture. It can be used with a wide range of existing applications that support VfW codecs. ( virtualDub )

The best codec to use would be as Indiana pointed out a mpeg4 codec. (mpg4v1 dosn't have the macro block bug!)
mp3 de-sync but i have found these settings work for me.

mpeg4 codec ;
10 secs key/f
95 quality
4500kbs


mp3 ;
160kbs or 192kbs (stereo not M/S)
0 Pre load
Interleave audio every 3000 ms


zeb,

[Sciascia]

zeb7

Can you use it for realtime capture? And what is the quality like? I just downloaded the demo, but I'm heading out the door right now.

Thanks

[Indiana]

Zeb, many thanks. I will give these settings a try (though they're not that far from what I'm using right now).
Have you tried MP3 encoding with these values with long captures (2hours)? The desyncing problem is most apparent there.

And which one of the mpeg4 codecs is the best (I keep coming back to Divx fast-motion).
What macro-block bug?

And, last not least, what about lossless audio compression (e.g. a HuffYUV audio-pendant)?

[zeb7]

Sciascia
"Can you use it for realtime capture?"
Not with any CPU available today i think i got 2/3 fps last time i
tried this codec on a P300mhz


Indiana
yes i have tried 2 hour Divx/mp3 films using the settings above on a mjpeg AVI
704x576 pal 48khz audio file.
the film was 3.2 GIG and the audio maintain sync when you move the seekbar around.
the main setting are the ;
0 Pre load
Interleave audio every 3000 ms or it may have been 2000 ms

mpeg4v1
mpeg4v2 (fast)
mpeg4v3 (low)

mpeg4v3 has more filtering in its algorithm than v2,v1 this can make it look a little
blurred , also i have the playback filter (cpu quality slider) set to 0

mpeg4v1 looks good with cartoons like the Simpsons

i use divx 3.22b (its just low-motiom with auto keyframe Scene Detection)
Divx4Windows is great of short lowbitrate clips, but its slow to encode
hopefuly someone like ligos LSX or C-cube will release a true Mpeg4 encoder

"What macro-block bug?" you would notice this problem when there is lots of text on screen
one 8x8 pixel block just go crazy or it has negative brightness
It was not random, same frame different bitrates problem still their.

"lossless audio" Will somebody wright a ACM interface for ;
mpeg layer 2
Monkey's Audio (lossless)
Ogg Vorbis
WMA ver7
all the above would maintain sync

zeb,

[This message has been edited by zeb7 (edited 29 April 2001).]

[Indiana]

The audio-settings preload=0 and interleave=3000ms indeed did the trick - no significant audio/video-desyncing many thanks again .

Where to get DivX 3.22? I have 3.20, are there significant advantages to 3.22? And why only slow-motion, I liked the fast-motion a bit better (if discernible at all) since the slow-motion tends to be a bit "soft" or blurry as you described above.

I didn't like the DivX4 'cause the quality was not better at higher bitrates and besides the low speed the codec seems to have problems with interlaced sources and overlay doesn't seem to work (at least on the Radeon in Win2k).

[This message has been edited by Indiana (edited 29 April 2001).]