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Not yet. I have some ideas in mind for improving it, but not enough time at the moment.
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Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
So I ran some tests regarding multipliers for conversion.
When testing, it's important to use actual YouTube upscaling parameters, so tests can be representative of real world scenarios. It's also important to tweak the parameters to match each case (including multiplier), so useless steps aren't performed (something which MediaSynth contains the logic for).
For tests to be statistically correct, they really need to be run multiple times and averaged. But I only ran these once and in a VM with a dedicated CPU assigned to it.
Going for a multiple of 8 as opposed to 6 offers a tremendous speed boost, not to mention space savings. Really, it's logical, as x6, x10, and x14 don't allow for proper blocking. Turns out x12 is really good (x8+x4). One might think x16 would be better than x12 based on H.264 characteristics, but there is also a significant jump in the amount of blocks per frame which seems to outweigh the simpler partitioning possible.
Looks like I need to update the above algorithm, and also add some more heuristics to MediaSynth's parameter generation.
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Are there any cases that need to be handled that may not be handled here?
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Joined: 3/9/2004
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Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
Hello LIMO,
Is there any reason this run starts from a snapshot instead of power on?
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Joined: 3/9/2004
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Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
I think we should test then if x4 is better than by x2, and if x16 is better than x10, x12, x14.
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Joined: 3/9/2004
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Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
Ilari wrote:
Nach wrote:
Are there cases where a larger even factor is preferable to a smaller even factor, even though they both exceed the needed resolution?
Factor of 8x usually gives smaller files (albeit with longer encode time) than 6x.
Is there a known reason for this? Perhaps solid color 8x8 macro blocks? Does it depend on the resolution of the input to be true?
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Joined: 3/9/2004
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Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
Ilari wrote:
Youtube needs at least 1922 width OR 1082 height (or native 1080p). The upscaling SHOULD be point upscaling (Nearest Neighbor) by even factor.
Are there cases where a larger even factor is preferable to a smaller even factor, even though they both exceed the needed resolution?
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Joined: 3/9/2004
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Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
MediaSynth v1.1 is now available.
What's New:
Windows' exec*(), spawn*(), and system() now completely replaced with custom versions. The replacements should now properly handle files and paths that contain spaces and other interesting characters. "run.exe" should no longer pause on occasion upon completion.
Windows' temporary file generator replaced with a custom version. This custom version now creates files in the current directory, instead of some random location which you might not even have write access to. The custom version also has better conflict management, and ensure many temporary files can be created without issues. Temporary files now also bear the correct extensions.
Encoding options changed. Now there's many more presets to choose from.
Existing encoding presets tweaked for better compression and higher quality.
If the specified input file is inaccessible, you'll now be told immediately.
Improved self contained input support for MP4 and MKV.
Inability to create MKVs with certain audio outputs from FLAC and raw PCM fixed.
You are now told if you use a bogus "type".
An improved implementation of the above sizing algorithm now utilized for automatic downscaling of MP4 videos intended for streaming.
I want to thank Spikestuff for a lot of testing, and Ilari and turska for video encoding information.
Current options:
MediaSynth Video Encoder v1.1 Copyright (C) Nach 2013
Usage: mediasynth <input> [options...]
Options: [type 0] <output 0> [type 1] <output 1> ... [type N] <output N>
Types:
youtube MKV container with YouTube optimized H.264 video and Vorbis audio
mp4_cmax MP4 container with maximum compatible H.264 video and AAC audio
mp4_ch MP4 container with highly compatible H.264 video and AAC audio
mp4_cb MP4 container with broadly compatible H.264 video and AAC audio
mp4_std MP4 container with standard H.264 video and AAC audio
hq_opus MKV container with 10-bit 4:4:4 H.264 video and Opus audio
hq_vorbis MKV container with 10-bit 4:4:4 H.264 video and Vorbis audio
hq_aac MKV container with 10-bit 4:4:4 H.264 video and AAC audio
hq_flac MKV container with 10-bit 4:4:4 H.264 video and FLAC audio
hq_wav MKV container with 10-bit 4:4:4 H.264 video and PCM audio
std_opus MKV container with standard H.264 video and Opus audio
std_vorbis MKV container with standard H.264 video and Vorbis audio
std_aac MKV container with standard H.264 video and AAC audio
std_flac MKV container with standard H.264 video and FLAC audio
std_wav MKV container with standard H.264 video and PCM audio
Example:
mediasynth video.avi mp4_cb video.mp4 youtube video_yt.mkv
This would use video.avi as input, and output two files
Regarding the various MP4 options, mp4_cmax creates a 512 KB bitstream akin to what Archive.org automatically creates (with hopefully significantly better quality). This output option has also improved since v1.0 (named simply "mp4" there).
mp4_std is sort of like the compatibility MP4 we currently put out.
mp4_cb is a more compatible option than std, with downscaling, and even did a decent job on Braid.
mp4_ch is an in between for cmax and cb, where the former is too low quality, and the latter not compatible enough.
Essentially, mp4_cmax should work just about everywhere. mp4_ch should work almost everywhere, but very old toys, or highly constrained internet connections will have issues. mp4_cb should work on everything modern, or high-end toys from previous years.
Please test, report, and discuss!
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Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
Okay, I made a program to figure out what to downscale a large resolution to. Thoughts on the algorithm? Suggestions? Improvement ideas?
Download adjust.c
Language: c
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
static const unsigned int target_size = 331776;
static unsigned int round_to(unsigned int x, unsigned int scale)
{
return(((x+scale-1)/scale)*scale);
}
static bool is_mult_of(unsigned int x, unsigned int mult)
{
unsigned int x2 = round_to(x, mult);
return(x == x2);
}
static inline void shrink(unsigned int *w, unsigned int *h, float ratio, unsigned int multiple)
{
for (*w = 800; *w; *w -= multiple)
{
float height = *w / ratio;
*h = round_to(height, multiple);
if ((height == *h) && (*w * *h <= target_size)) { break; }
}
}
static inline void shrinkwrap(unsigned int *w, unsigned int *h)
{
float ratio = (float)*w / (float)*h;
shrink(w, h, ratio, 16);
if (!*w) { shrink(w, h, ratio, 4); }
}
static void adjust(unsigned int width, unsigned int height)
{
unsigned int w = width, h = height;
if (width*height > target_size)
{
shrinkwrap(&w, &h);
if (!w)
{
printf("!!!");
if (!is_mult_of(width, 4)){ w = round_to(width, 4); h = height; }
else if (!is_mult_of(height, 4)) { w = width; h = round_to(height, 4); }
shrinkwrap(&w, &h);
if (!w)
{
printf("!!");
if (!is_mult_of(width, 4)){ w = round_to(width, 16); h = height; }
else if (!is_mult_of(height, 4)) { w = width; h = round_to(height, 16); }
shrinkwrap(&w, &h);
}
}
}
printf("In: %ux%u Out: %ux%u = %u 16: %d\n", width, height, w, h, w*h, is_mult_of(w, 16) && is_mult_of(h, 16));
}
int main()
{
adjust(640, 480);
adjust(800, 600);
adjust(1024, 768);
adjust(1280, 1024);
adjust(720, 404);
adjust(1280, 800);
adjust(1024, 1024);
adjust(1920, 1080);
adjust(1440, 1050);
adjust(1440, 900);
adjust(1440, 960);
adjust(1440, 1024);
adjust(1440, 1080);
adjust(1366, 768);
adjust(1024, 770);
return(0);
}
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Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
feos wrote:
If you want to obsolete manually specifying handheld/TV console, I don't think you will succeed, because it can only be done so that you list resolutions and it knows which is for what console type, but Windows, Arcade, and maybe some Computer games may have resolution matching the ones listed as TV consoles, but you don't want to apply aspect ratio correction to those. Is there any other way to automate detection of ARC need? Or did you mean something different at all?
I'm currently not at the stage of looking into aspect ratios and per system needs. I'm still at the purely generic stage. I must understand the requirements of the different domains and how to best meet them. Only once all the generic pieces are developed as best as they can will I look into specialty needs. I want to start from a clean base, not the muddled state things are in.
Ilari, you said downscaling works best with Lanczos and two taps. Is there any important algorithms to use in figuring out how much to downscale? Should it always be a whole number? An even number? Should width or height be preferred when maximizing the the area of the video?
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In some cases, it seems to be point resizing, in some Lanczos resizing. Why the difference?
Also, can someone clarify what sizes are actually needed for various cases?
At what point does a video need to be downscaled?
What sizes are we looking at for 512kb?
What kind of up-scaling is needed for YouTube? When is upscaling not needed?
I'm looking to understand what width and height number are important. I want to create an algorithm that solely works with width and heights, not concepts of handhelds and approximations.
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Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
Introducing one of my new projects MediaSynth!
The goal of this project is to create a very capable encoding program which can facilitate all of TASVideos' encoding needs.
Right now it doesn't feature some TASVideos requirements like a logo and subtitles, but it can generate every kind of video needed. At this stage, it's good for testing, or if you want a personal encode. I do need feedback to ensure this is on the right track. Once I know that the videos being generated are meeting expectations, I'll add on more features.
Some nice things about this application:
If you have a 64-bit OS, video encoding and various audio encoding tools will automatically become 64-bit, which may run faster, and allows much larger RAM usage.
Color matrices which differ on video resolution are properly selected. No more needing to fiddle these between different consoles.
Supports AVI input and more.
All-in-one, you don't need to download anything else to encode, not even AVISynth (although having the right video codecs and filters installed is important).
The MP4 "Compatible" option was highly tested for embedded video, flash, Android, IOS, and more, to ensure it really is compatible all over the place.
MediaSynth Video Encoder v1.0 Copyright (C) Nach 2013
Usage: mediasynth <input> [options...]
Options: [type 0] <output 0> [type 1] <output 1> ... [type N] <output N>
Types:
mp4 MP4 container with broadly compatible AVC video and AAC audio
youtube MKV container with YouTube compatible H.264 video and Vorbis audio
hq_opus MKV container with 10-bit 4:4:4 H.264 video and Opus audio
hq_vorbis MKV container with 10-bit 4:4:4 H.264 video and Vorbis audio
hq_aac MKV container with 10-bit 4:4:4 H.264 video and AAC audio
hq_flac MKV container with 10-bit 4:4:4 H.264 video and FLAC audio
hq_wav MKV container with 10-bit 4:4:4 H.264 video and PCM audio
std_opus MKV container with standard H.264 video and Opus audio
std_vorbis MKV container with standard H.264 video and Vorbis audio
std_aac MKV container with standard H.264 video and AAC audio
std_flac MKV container with standard H.264 video and FLAC audio
std_wav MKV container with standard H.264 video and PCM audio
Example:
mediasynth video.avi mp4 video.mp4 youtube video_yt.mkv
This would use video.avi as input, and output two files
If you have a video.wmv which you'd like to convert to our standard encodes, you'd run: "mediasynth video.wmv mp4 video.mp4 youtube video_yt.mkv hq_opus video.mkv". Now, video.mp4 would be the "compatible" video and can be placed on Archive.org as _512kb.mp4, video.mkv would be the standard 10-bit 4:4:4 to upload, and video_yt.mkv should work nicely for YouTube.
So please test, share results, and thoughts. Thanks!
Edit:
Spikestuff discovered there's some issues with Windows 8. I don't have Windows 8 handy, so it's hard to debug. Please test on other versions of Windows (or inform if it happens to work on Windows 8 by you).
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Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
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Wow, I'm surprised you completed this so quickly.
Nice job! :)
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
Warepire wrote:
I had only ever seen the Win95 version of C&C.
C&C was originally released for DOS. C&C Gold/95 came out a little while later.
It had a Covert Operations add-on for either version.
Warepire wrote:
C&C Counterstrike is a Red Alert add-on, which again I had only ever seen a Win95 version of.
Red Alert came out for both DOS and Windows 95 at the same time, and shipped on the same CDs.
It has two add-ons, Counterstrike and Aftermath, again which works with both.
Warepire wrote:
Also only mentioning Counterstrike without the C&C tag, makes you think of the FPS first.
This is a Command & Conquer thread...
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Joined: 3/9/2004
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Right that was what I was getting at. Essentially there is no long term planning required in Jetpack, it's just extreme short term planning.
Most other games, there's both long and short term planning, and the emphasis is generally on the former. It's rare for games where short term planning makes a huge difference, and ends up being the primary focus of all TASing effort.
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DRybes wrote:
50-things-to-consider-every-damn-frame type games
That's the part that is rare. Sure there's a lot of things to consider in various games, but few games have an overload of things to consider at once, which is maintained throughout the run. We do have other games with a ton at once like Lemmings, WarCraft 2, and to a lesser extent, various action adventure games, but it is rare.
Another difference, which in fact makes games like this easier in the consideration department is that each level doesn't affect any other (and same with Lemmings and so on). With the other games, many earlier changes will drastically effect the game later.
So essentially, games like this allow for a level of micro optimizations rarely found in most games. While other, and generally the big well known games allow for macro optimizations in the things-to-consider department.
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We had a few words about this on IRC:
<bobotheking> I assume RetroArch doesn't support re-recording, but does anyone here have any experience with it? What are some of its major downsides?
<Nach> More to the point, libretro
<Nach> libretro powers RetroArch, and could in theory be placed in BizHawk or a custom RR wrapper or whatever
<bobotheking> Okay. What are some of the major downsides of Libretro?
<Ilari> Nach: IIRC, libretro doesn't support some operations that would be almost mandatory in any serious rr emulator. Like reading/writing emulated system memory.
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Joined: 3/9/2004
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You're right that level 25 is indeed hard. In my opinion, it should've appeared later in the game difficulty-wise. For a regular player, practically anywhere you go, a steel ball randomly appears in your path, or above you, and kills you before you get a chance to realize what just happened.
What's happening in this level in the TAS is twofold.
1) The teleporter randomness is being manipulated. The teleporters randomly decide where to send the marbles. However, using the phaser changes the random numbers in use, and will make the teleporters end up teleporting their users elsewhere. Essentially, slamo is controlling all the teleporters, and by extension the path of each marble, and ensures that they're sent on a path which does not interfere with the one he is taking or about to take. This does require quite a bit of planning.
2) When using a teleporter, instead of being immediately transported, our hero is temporarily invincible, yet still in the starting position momentarily, where he is still able to phase bricks and collect gems. So slamo begins teleporting to where he wants to go (again, manipulating the randomness), and while still in the old position, phases bricks and collects gems in the moments before he jumps to the new position. This is done in a very precise manner.
Regarding notes, we have a ton on the wiki and a lot of discussion about the game in its thread. Regarding this level in particular (and several others), slamo and I also had long discussions over IRC, so not every insight and how it developed is listed, but enough of the summary should be, in the various aforementioned locations. We also hope to put together some commentary when we get a chance.
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Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
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If you mean why is the slow YouTube version at 43% speed, it's because that's exactly 30 frames per second, which is the most amount of frames YouTube can display a second.
If you instead had a question about level 43, you'll need to be more specific.
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Joined: 3/9/2004
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Okay, in this one, slamo visits the right half only twice. Not sure where you got three from.
In order to complete the right part fully, the blue barrier needs to be deactivated, as it protects the gems at the top of the screen. He visits it one time to flip the greenish switch, which protects the blue switch. After deactivating the blue barrier he then visits the right half a second time and completes it.
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Joined: 3/9/2004
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gamer1989 wrote:
hello, great movie. in the labrinth why go back to the right half 3x?
The game has four Labyrinth levels. To which are you referring?
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Going for a multiple of 8 as opposed to 6 offers a tremendous speed boost, not to mention space savings. Really, it's logical, as x6, x10, and x14 don't allow for proper blocking. Turns out x12 is really good (x8+x4). One might think x16 would be better than x12 based on H.264 characteristics, but there is also a significant jump in the amount of blocks per frame which seems to outweigh the simpler partitioning possible.
Looks like I need to update the above algorithm, and also add some more heuristics to MediaSynth's parameter generation.
Okay, in this one, slamo visits the right half only twice. Not sure where you got three from.
In order to complete the right part fully, the blue barrier needs to be deactivated, as it protects the gems at the top of the screen. He visits it one time to flip the greenish switch, which protects the blue switch. After deactivating the blue barrier he then visits the right half a second time and completes it.