Post subject: Discussion of 'new encode method' articles.
Player (83)
Joined: 8/18/2008
Posts: 80
For those of you who rarely check the articles section, there has been a major overhaul to the articles on encoding in Windows. Most of the information comes from a merging of adelikat and shinydoofy encode methods, and an addition of a custom x264cli recommended by johannes. This main article goes over the new recommended encoding method for beginners, with some advice for advanced users. http://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/MakingAVI/Common/Windows.html This article combines the old 'separate' emulator pages into one much cleaner one. It still needs some updating which I am working on. http://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/MakingAVI/EmulatorSettings/Windows.html This article goes over logos very briefly. I admit its not the greatest method but its fast and works well. http://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/MakingAvi/Logo/Windows.html Tests: adelikat and I decided to choose a game with a history of encode problems (gunstar heroes) to test this new method. This is a new encode of Gunstar Heroes that meets the sites 4:1 requirement. It followed the article exactly with a bitrate of 480. No other changes were made from the articles 'default' settings. http://www.teamspooky.com/TAS/gunstarheroes-tas-arkianduski-newencode.zip The old encode can be found on it's movie page here: http://tasvideos.org/945M.html at 6:1 ratio. Please compare the 2 and give your thoughts. It is subjective but I believe the new encode to be superior, not to mention smaller. (Day after edit: Or not, it is a close call in places, the higher bitrate really helped adelikat's encode while mine was restricted.) Please give any additional thoughts you have on encoding settings used or the method.
Player (120)
Joined: 2/11/2007
Posts: 1522
Wow, that's great! I might try my hand at this again sometime, the old info was a bit hard to follow...
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
Player (83)
Joined: 8/18/2008
Posts: 80
That was my goal. I was hoping to make things at least a little bit easier while also hopefully 'centralizing' video quality so we don't have things vary wildly between encoders. (Except the more experienced ones who will always find that way to squeeze in that last bit of quality, and have their own methods.)
arflech
He/Him
Joined: 5/3/2008
Posts: 1120
I wonder how useful this tutorial on AviSynth is...IMO it's mostly useful because of the tools it tells you about, because it only shows you how to make a cut that looks seamless, rather than, say, adding logos or watermarks: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/06/25/beginners_guide_avisynth/print.html
i imgur com/QiCaaH8 png
Player (83)
Joined: 8/18/2008
Posts: 80
Avisynth is definitely a great tool, but unfortunately im not familiar enough with it to make a seperate tutorial. It does make superior subtitles using vsfilter, is great for resizing/trimming, color conversion, and I'm sure does many other things that I don't know how to do with it yet.
Banned User
Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
Is there an equivalent page for Linux (or Unix in general)? I see that most of the programs and steps would be identical in Linux (as most of the programs are available for both systems). If there isn't a Linux-specific page, how hard would it be to add Linux-specific additions to that page (along the lines of "if you are using Linux, you'll have to do this instead")?
Player (83)
Joined: 8/18/2008
Posts: 80
I was hoping to port over Bisqwit's old pages into a similar 2 page version, but the problem is I don't have enough familiarity with Linux, and his pages are outdated. I would love if someone with Linux familiarity could help me port those pages over. This is his main page: http://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/MakingAVI/Common/Linux.html He then has emulator specific information separated into a bunch of multiple articles like how adelikat did before this overhaul. Here is an example one: http://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/MakingAVI/FCEUX/Linux.html
Player (120)
Joined: 2/11/2007
Posts: 1522
So I gave this a try ... and wow, I actually made something that works! Thanks. I added one thing to the instructions: you should pause the emulator before loading the movie file (before it just implied as much by saying you should unpause after starting to record avi). I made an encode of Donkey Kong (seemed like a perfect beginner movie) and it ended up the same size as the new publication (well I don't have a logo). Anyways, thanks Sp00ky and all for the new instructions! Edit: Here it is, guess I used a higher bitrate or something as it seems less blurry than the published one. Any comments/suggestions appreciated.
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
Player (83)
Joined: 8/18/2008
Posts: 80
I can't really tell the 2 apart, maybe I need glasses :P I may have introduced extra blurring converting the file to 4:3, I may rethink that in the future. From what I can tell otherwise you pretty much followed everything well.
Player (120)
Joined: 2/11/2007
Posts: 1522
No wait, my bad, YOURS looks less blurry. Which makes sense. Gotta stop smokin' so much crack :)
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
Player (83)
Joined: 8/18/2008
Posts: 80
Honestly they look nearly exactly the same to me either way, which is a good thing because it's what I was hopefully aiming for with the articles.