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General => Akihabara => Geek Guides => Topic started by: ebc on March 10, 2006, 06:20:03 PM

Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on March 10, 2006, 06:20:03 PM
Here is a simple guide written by me, showing how to encode an mpeg2 or vob into an avi (divx or xvid) using Gordian Knot. You can of course use AutoGK but this guide is for if you want to do something a bit more advanced with your encoding and AutoGK just isn't doing what you want it to do.

If you have any questions or problems you can write them in this thread and I'll do my best to help you with a solution.

Eventually I'll do some more advanced guides and get into more areas of Gordian Knot and encoder settings. Also a guide for converting TS files to Avi. But to start off with this is a basic guide on encoding something with Gordian Knot.

Download Gordian Knot from here (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=77391), you'll need both the Rip Pack and the Codec Pack so that you have all the right codecs for Gordian Knot to use.

I'm going to assume that you have already gotten the vobs or the mpeg that you want to encode already.
So I'll go straight in to the steps needed to encode the file.

First of all you gotta make sure you run both Nandub and VirtualDubMod before running Gordian Knot:
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2461/08iw.png)

This is to get rid of their annoying messages that come up on the first time you run them. Sorry I can't screenshot it but you'll see it if it's the first time you've run these programs. Close them both Once that's been taken care of and go ahead and open Gordian Knot.

The first screen:
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2264/15lk.png)
Click Step 1 to open DGindex, this program is used to prepare the VOBS and extract the audio from the video.

DGIndex
Go File>Open and choose the vob file you want to encode. If it's a DVD rip then it might be 2 or more vobs and you'll have to make sure they're all added in order like so:
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/3373/20om.png)

Skip through the video a bit to make sure it's all there then click File>Save
Project:
(http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/5733/47ps.png)

When you click Save Project, DGIndex will go ahead and extract the audio from the VOB file and save is as either a WAV or an AC3 file depending on the type of audio the VOB uses.

Once you've saved the .d2v project file in DGIndex, close DGIndex and then open the .d2v with Gordian Knot like so.
(http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/5859/52dv.png)

A window with the video will appear like so: (with or without the boobs depending on what you are encoding :P)
(http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/6229/64jw.png)
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on March 10, 2006, 06:36:49 PM
Then choose the next tab, Bitrate:
(http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/6250/73gc.png)

Now choose the type of file you want to encode to, Divx or Xvid:
(http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9229/80bx.png)

Then the total size of the file you want to create:
(http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2732/96gc.png)
The size you want to make it is all up to you. If it is just a 3-5min videoclip then I would choose a size from 60-100mb for the best quality.

Next, choose the bitrate of the audio:
(http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3252/108hu.png)
I'm just going to use 192k MP3 for mine and I advise on the same as it's simple and good quality.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on March 10, 2006, 06:55:52 PM
Next tab, Resolution:
(http://img477.imageshack.us/img477/3608/117nr.png)

Now hopefully you know what kind of format your video file is whether it's NTSC or PAL. Usually you can tell by the framerate down in the bottom left corner next to close. If it's 25fps then it is Pal, If it's 29.9 or 30 then it's NTSC.

Now in the video preview window you need to make sure that you tick view resized so that in the next step you can tell what the output resolution of the video will look like.
(http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6827/124sm.png)

Go through the following steps using this image as your guide:
(http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6555/142ps.png)

Step 1. Choose the type of video format; PAL or NTSC

Step 2. Choose the Aspect Ratio of the Original Video
This is whether or not the video is widescreen or just normal. Choose either one depending on what looks right in the video preview window.
If it's the wrong ratio it will look something like this:
(http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/7462/159yw.th.png) (http://img113.imageshack.us/my.php?image=159yw.png)

Step 3. Choose autocrop, this is the best way to get rid of the black borders if there are any.

Step 4. Use the slider to choose the resolution you want to make your avi.
The key things to note when using this slider are:
A. (the resolution of course)
B. The aspect error, you need to make this as close to 0.0 as possible + or - a bit. You can change this also by adjusting the cropping but try to make it as close to 0.0 as you can by using the resolution slider. Also the H-zoom and W-zoom must not go over 100% or you will be stretching the avi resolution bigger than the original res. These will go red if you've made them too high.
C. This determines how good a video will look when it's compressed. Just try to keep this out of the red or your encode will look like crap.
If it is in the red and you really want to use the resolution that you've selected then you might need to go back raise the file size of the output avi.

Before we go to the encoding step there's just one more consideration to make, the following screencap you can tell doesn't look right:
(http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/2185/36rc.png)
As you can see there's lots of lines in it. This means that the video is interlaced and it will need to be deinterlaced or otherwise when you play the video back you'll see these lines during playback. The next step will guide through what to do about this.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on March 10, 2006, 07:59:42 PM
Adding a job to the encoding queue
(http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/3288/168gt.png)

You'll see this window appear
(http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/9961/172nm.png)
Here you can usually leave everything as default unless, like myself you need to deinterlace the video. A popular deinterlace script is TomsMoComp and it comes with Gordian Knot so I've chosen it to deinterlace my video before it gets encoded by the xvid encoder.

Now choose save and encode:
(http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/3088/180ru.png)

You will now see this window:
(http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/3629/191fd.png)
Here is where you will choose the audio file that was earlier extracted by DGIndex, do so by clicking select.

Then choose the file, it will be in the same folder as where you saved the .d2v file:
(http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/2050/207as.png)
As you can see it's an AC3 file. This is the type you'll usually see otherwise it will be a wav file.

The next step is to choose the bitrate and type of mp3 you want to make. I've chosen to use 192k Variable (average) bitrate because I know that it's a long file and that some parts will be quiet and therefore can be encoded smaller. The good thing about Gordian Knot is that it takes care of everything so that even if you choose variable bitrate audio the output video file will always be the exact size you want it to be.
For things like PV's and short clips it might be better to use constant bitrate instead. Also if you want to, you can use Just Mux and instead of actually re-encoding the AC3 to mp3 it will just add the AC3 to the video.

Now choose the first tab this will be either Xvid or Divx depending on what codec you've chosen:
(http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/5827/220hd.png)
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on March 10, 2006, 08:33:57 PM
Setting up the video encoder
This step can be more complex but I'm just going to keep it simple.
I'm going to do a 2 pass encode because that's the best way to make sure your video looks good. It does of course take twice the time to encode as 1 pass but it's worth it for movies and such.
Choose the buttons in order as shown:
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/9308/244uy.png)

You can choose a different profile but I've just chosen Home Theatre:
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5166/256uv.png)

You have to click both the 1st pass and 2nd pass buttons so that Gordian Knot can save the settings that you've chosen for for each one. Even though you haven't really changed anything in this window (you can if you want to and know what you're doing but there's no need):
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5166/256uv.png)

Finally choose step 3: Add job to encoding queue
At this point you'll be asked if you want to start encoding or not, if you want you can add more jobs to the queue or start the encoding queue later but otherwise you can just click yes encode now.
The first part of the process is the audio encoding:
(http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/9404/270ag.png)

Once this has completed, VirtualDubMod will start encoding the video:
(http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/9169/285ue.png)

This will go through for both passes and after it is done then it will join the audio to the video and finally you are done.

You'll notice a lot of files in the project folder. The video file that you made will usually be the largest avi there. The other avi is just the video by itself with no audio. All the other files are just log and settings files created by Gordian Knot. If you're happy with your video you can just delete them.

If you have any problems or your video didn't turn out right or anything at all. Just write them in this thread and I'll try to help you out.  :)
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Happosai on March 10, 2006, 09:32:35 PM
That's exactly why i gave up on Gordian Knot a long time ago...  :cry:

Because even if you're lucky enough to find a "simple", detailed and yet clear tutorial like yours, THE WHOLE THING IS JUST TOO DAMN COMPLICATED !!!!  :evil:

It's a good tool, but it demands too much implication to obtain a decent looking video with a decent file size...
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: shirenuファクトリー on March 10, 2006, 09:44:23 PM
OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH, EBC!!!!!!!!! :w00t:  :w00t:

MY SAYAKA VID TURNED OUT AWESOME!!! NOW TO ENCODE THE REST ^________^

YOU ROCK, EBC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on March 11, 2006, 02:22:07 AM
Quote from: Happosai
That's exactly why i gave up on Gordian Knot a long time ago...  :cry:

Because even if you're lucky enough to find a "simple", detailed and yet clear tutorial like yours, THE WHOLE THING IS JUST TOO DAMN COMPLICATED !!!!  :evil:

It's a good tool, but it demands too much implication to obtain a decent looking video with a decent file size...

Like most things, to get good results with a powerful tool it takes practice, time and effort.
Anyone can go and use AutoGK but when you come along to a file that just won't encode propperly or just doesn't look right, then there's not much you can do with AutoGK to fix it.
By using this simple guide a few times, you'll get used to using GK and eventually once you get used to it you'll be able to benefit from the more advanced features it offers.
Actually GK really isn't that hard once you've used it a few times. You'll start to try different things yourself and work out what looks the best.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: frblckstr1 on March 11, 2006, 08:03:38 AM
I will save this guide for the 'just in case' time, but using AutoGK is just a tad simpler I think (only real thing to worry about is what output size to select)
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Lunar on March 25, 2006, 02:46:28 PM
thx  ebc  my hero :O  

i just got on prob i cant  select  Home theatre NTSC only some AL@5  

stuff or sumthing liek that
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Asmodai on March 25, 2006, 05:51:58 PM
Awesome guide, I've gotta try this.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on March 26, 2006, 01:28:26 AM
Quote from: Lunarr
thx  ebc  my hero :O  

i just got on prob i cant  select  Home theatre NTSC only some AL@5  

stuff or sumthing liek that

Hmmm, can you select any other profiles at all?
I'm not really sure what the problem could be other than that you might have a different version of Xvid encoder that doesn't have all those profiles to choose from.
Maybe try download and installing this one http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Koepi_XviD.htm

See if that lets you choose more profiles.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Lunar on March 26, 2006, 01:36:03 AM
Quote from: ebc
Quote from: Lunarr
thx  ebc  my hero :O  

i just got on prob i cant  select  Home theatre NTSC only some AL@5  

stuff or sumthing liek that

Hmmm, can you select any other profiles at all?
I'm not really sure what the problem could be other than that you might have a different version of Xvid encoder that doesn't have all those profiles to choose from.
Maybe try download and installing this one http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Koepi_XviD.htm

See if that lets you choose more profiles.


ty for the help ebc   worked anyways  =) everything i just perfect   luv ya for doin this tut XD
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Saburo on March 26, 2006, 04:02:13 AM
VERY interesting stuff here.  I've wanted to rip some of my DVDs to share but couldn't get other programs to output good-enuff avi files (missing frames, audio sync issues, etal).  I will reference this for future consideration.

Thanks!
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ohbahsan on April 03, 2006, 10:30:01 AM
woo i just encoded LCFA 3 using this guide, and it was  much easier than i thought!  thanks a lot ebc :heart: :heart:
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: romi on April 03, 2006, 06:55:44 PM
I stop using virtualdub/Nandub/DVD2AVI method after I found out about Xilisoft's  DVD Ripper...easy to use and give decent results. The best part is direct vob to avi that I use alot. (You can specify codecs and settings, so you can use DIVX etc.)

Gonna give this a try. This will certainly give better quality. Nice work, ebc! ^^
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: RionZ on April 09, 2006, 08:43:46 AM
this is the best tutorial i've ever seen, i need to try it out as soon as i can. ^_^
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: maliciel on April 09, 2006, 08:58:04 AM
I did my Mogwai encoding with this guide, pretty simple. I did fuck up on the 2nd pass settings once, and had to do it all over again though.

:lol:
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: aimaime on April 29, 2006, 10:36:26 AM
well written guide indeed. however i have to ask you how long does it normally take for virtualdub mod to encode movie to 700mb? is 14++ hours estimated time considered normal? or is my laptop too slow to encode stuff?
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on April 29, 2006, 11:04:16 AM
lol, what kind of laptop do you have?
 
but yeah encoding can take quite awhile depending a few things:
 
cpu speed
the resolution of the video being encoded (the higher the longer it takes)
the codec and it's settings.
 
DivX, Xvid, h264, blahblah, they all have different times they spend to encode and the different settings each one has can increase the time taken as well. I remember never upgrading my codec from DivX 5.0.5 at one time cause the next one up for some reason increased the encode time by 3 hours, that was awhile ago and I didn't really know much about it. But now I just use Xvid anyway.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: aimaime on April 29, 2006, 07:09:06 PM
the processor is centrino 1.6GHz. ram about 1.5GB.. when i first started the estimated time was 6hrs.. then around 16% i checked again it was 14hrs..

then now, 4 hours later at 40% look at this..

(http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8272/gs9jt.jpg)

omg it increased to one day!
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: frblckstr1 on April 29, 2006, 07:22:06 PM
^ on a laptop make sure you have 'performance' selected as option, although also make sure your laptop CPU fan can handle the extra heat generated...

Normally I have 'balance' selected even when I am connected to the wall outlet, but for video encoding I change the setting, then with AutoGK it takes about 3-4 times the length of the video to encode it using a 1.73GHz Pentium M (which is about twice as fast I think as a centrino) for the audio and two-pass Xvid.
So a 100min video (assuming 181320/30/60) would take me about 5-6 hours.

The change in calculated encoding length might have to do with differences in complexity of the video.
Also make sure your virus scanner is not trying to scan the resulting video file...
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ohbahsan on April 29, 2006, 07:33:22 PM
i think you're running something in the background like a screensaver or whatever that is competing with the encoding for CPU.  My laptop which also has a 1.6ghz pentium m cpu encodes a 90 min video in about 4 or 5 hours.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: aimaime on April 30, 2006, 03:08:43 PM
it is very weird because i'm not really running anything heavy in the background. the time just keeps on increasing.

i tried changing the processing thread priority to "highest" and the time finally starts to drop. now it's at the 6 hr mark. *phew* hope it doesn't cause any trouble to the processor though..
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: maliciel on May 16, 2006, 02:36:30 AM
Okay, just wondering if anyone can help me with this. I was encoding a 1h 42min length dvd. Ripped it fine, I checked the vobs too. Anyways, here's what happened. I used two-pass encoding, set size to 1400MB, and set it to split it into 2 files automatically. Encoded alright. But what happened is, the audio was de-synced. But I'm not talking about normal audio desync. The audio is fine in part1 of the output avi, and the first parts of part2, but it goes about half a second off in the later part of part2. And I don't know how to correct it. I'll try again later, but anyone have any idea what's going on?
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: aimaime on June 02, 2006, 06:57:57 PM
sorry maliciel.. lets wait for what the experts have to say..

anyway i've found the guide very useful, thanks a million! i've abandoned autogk now.

however i found that after ripping, some movies have a lot of noise (especially around the edges). hard to explain but here's a screenshot example..

(http://img275.imageshack.us/img275/234/tltr4wp.th.jpg) (http://img275.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tltr4wp.jpg)

if you look at the girl's hair you can see that there's some pixellation thingies there.. i've made the file to be 700mb and use TomsMoComp for deinterlacing. is there a way to do some more tweaking to make the quality better, or is 700mb just too small?
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ~Dan~ on June 02, 2006, 07:05:39 PM
Quote from: aimaime
if you look at the girl's hair you can see that there's some pixellation thingies there.. i've made the file to be 700mb and use TomsMoComp for deinterlacing. is there a way to do some more tweaking to make the quality better, or is 700mb just too small?

Not sure if it's this, but if you're doing any resizing make sure you select 'precise bilinear'.  When I've tried other choices I've seen the same sort of blockiness.

As for your problem Mal, maybe it went out of sync when it went from one vob to the next.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on June 08, 2006, 11:20:32 AM
What res are you encoding the video at aimaime?
From the screenshot it looks a little bit too stretched.
When you do the cropping and resizing watch to see that the aspect error is as close to 0 as you can get it.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Masabi on June 08, 2006, 02:47:53 PM
Thank you for this guide, I don't like VOBs much =_=
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: aimaime on June 08, 2006, 03:23:31 PM
Quote from: ebc
What res are you encoding the video at aimaime?
From the screenshot it looks a little bit too stretched.
When you do the cropping and resizing watch to see that the aspect error is as close to 0 as you can get it.


don't remember the exact res, but did try to make the aspect error as close to zero as possible, so usually i go -0.6 or somewhere around there.. but it does make the size become really small compared to the fullscreen size.. so maybe that's why when i watch it in fullscreen it becomes so blocky?

Quote from: ~Dan~
Not sure if it's this, but if you're doing any resizing make sure you select 'precise bilinear'.  When I've tried other choices I've seen the same sort of blockiness.


thanks for the advice. i'll try that next time i do more conversion. been kinda busy lately :doh:
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on June 08, 2006, 04:08:11 PM
Usually you get those blocks when the resolution has been stretched much further than it's original ratio.
How long is the movie? You should probably do 2cd encodes for movies around 2hours. Then you can use a higher resolution and try get your Bits/(Pixel*Frame) ratio around .3 . You should be able to get the res for 16:9 movies to around 512x288 or even 640x352 which is about the highest res you will want to use for a 16:9 DVD encode. Try adjusting the cropping as well to get your aspect ratio error about right.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: aimaime on June 08, 2006, 04:28:06 PM
will do. thanks again for the help
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Masda_P on June 12, 2006, 08:01:18 AM
Thank you very much!
i'll try to find suitable rippers for my dvd.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Saburo on July 19, 2006, 12:50:38 AM
btw...  I successfully created a playable avi file from an MPEG2 file (S-VHS to PC recording).  Thanks again for the cheat sheet, ebc!
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: LaJon on August 15, 2006, 09:28:20 PM
This video editing software that came with my video card, PowerDirector, can work with VOB files.  I just import and save as an uncompressed AVI file.  Open in VirtualDub, deinterlace, and compress.  ;D
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on August 16, 2006, 12:48:47 AM
^um, there's a version called virtualdubmod and it will open vobs for you :D so you really don't need to open them in PowerDirector and save as avi.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: LaJon on August 16, 2006, 02:28:51 AM
Quote from: ebc
^um, there's a version called virtualdubmod and it will open vobs for you :D so you really don't need to open them in PowerDirector and save as avi.


Hotness.  Just downloaded it.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: daigong on October 02, 2006, 07:28:46 PM
WOO HOO EBC!! Very nice, followed the guide to a tee and my encode came out great!!!

Any tips on making it sharper?? I didn't install the DivX 5.05 or 3.11 codec too, and had Xvid already. I have DivX 6 something.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Guchi_Jnr on October 05, 2006, 03:03:38 PM
Quote from: daigong
Any tips on making it sharper?? I didn't install the DivX 5.05 or 3.11 codec too, and had Xvid already. I have DivX 6 something.
A lot of it depends on the actual DVD quality. A good DVD should have a bitrate of 8000~9000, but some DVDs are as low as 2,500 (some sabras have been that low), and is friggin' impossible to get them shape.

You can increase the encode bitrate to get a better picture, but after a certain point, you won't notice any improvement, and will just be a waste of HDD space. I find around 2000 XviD to be near DVD quality.

Also, I have my settings a bit different to ebc's guide.
(http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1126/gkhe5.jpg)
For me, I thought they worked the best.

I suggest using a small 20sec clip (takes no time to encode), and just alter the setting to see which one looks the best.

20sec sabra clip (http://d.turboupload.com/d/1049584/sabra_SummerBest.VOB.html)  (looks tasty too)

And finally, forget DivX.. You need to really up the bitrate to get close to the same as XviD, and it still doesn't look as good.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Miwa ♥ on October 14, 2006, 09:29:18 PM
eeh~ this tutorial is really helpful. i think i'll try it. thank you so much, ne! =3.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: bolivar on October 18, 2006, 10:14:14 AM
Thank you for the guide!!! ebc. :D

I juz managed to rip GAM's ~Melodies~ vob into avi format & it plays perfectly & almost has the same quality as the vob format. The only downside is that the video resolution cannot be customised. My video is 640x464 but i wanted to encode it to 640x480(standard format) or 720x404. :( Is there a way to customise it?
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ohbahsan on October 18, 2006, 10:22:19 AM
^ you can change resolution in the resolution tab.  I think you used the wrong aspect ratio, hence the weird 640x464.  for dvd the aspect ratio is 0.889.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: bolivar on October 18, 2006, 10:29:59 AM
Thank you, Ohbhasan.
I juz managed to customise it to 640x480 :), however i encoded audio to 192kps but it gave me 120kps after encoding :confused:
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: bolivar on November 15, 2006, 03:34:02 PM
I noticed after i applied ebc's setting, the initial few mins of the video quality is ok but after that the picture starts to run blurry, What could have been wrong?
Title: ERROR!
Post by: Saburo on November 24, 2006, 11:15:23 AM
I tried to encode something tonight but after going through the same step-by-step procedure as outlined above and just as the video encoding process began, I got this error box:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v27/Saburo/Ancillary/7252f8be.jpg)

What the fuck?!!  Something changed between now and the last time I used the program but what?

Blah, blah......
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on November 24, 2006, 12:29:42 PM
Hmm it could be a few different problems, you'd have to try a few things.
 
Try downloading and reinstalling Avisynth
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=57023
 
Try reinstalling a new Virtualdubmod, make sure it's in the same path as the one that GordianKnot wants to use, usually it's in the GordianKnot folder in Program Files.
 
Try to think of any updates or new installs of video codecs.
 
Lastly all I can say is sometimes it's badluck with this kind of thing. It's just one of those things that can happen when all different kinds of free software try to work toghether. Sometimes one thing might be different and cause it all not to work and it's a matter of trial an error to fix the problem.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Saburo on November 24, 2006, 11:29:34 PM
Quote from: ebc;242539
Hmm it could be a few different problems, you'd have to try a few things.


Thanks for the response, ebc!

Boy, I got SO much crap installed on this old PC of mine, it's a challenge just sorting the codecs!  It's very possible I deleted some component of the food chain.

I'll try reinstalling everything later today or tomorrow.  Thanks again for helping.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: daigong on December 21, 2006, 08:49:25 PM
Hey ebc. I'll put these questions here with screen caps :P

I think I figured out my MPEG2 => AVI re-encode. I put in the wrong input resolution XD
(http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1153/vlcsnap1204257dp4.th.png) (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vlcsnap1204257dp4.png)

Kept getting confused with DGI's screen haha
(http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/7101/dgiev8.th.jpg) (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dgiev8.jpg)

my other questions were:

How do you take an AVI with wack codec encodes (like those 10__x7__ Hello Morning, the indivudal lives on Jpopsuki) and re-encode to XVid (or DivX)?

How do you take an ISO sitting on your hard drive and take out the VOBs? Some program like ISO buster?

You can answer when u get back!!! Get pimpin :pimp:
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Sukebei on December 22, 2006, 01:51:16 AM
I can help with the vob question daigong...to get out the invidual vobs from an iso, I use DVD Decrypter.  Youll first need to mount the ISO using daemon tools or alcohol 120%, then open the disc with DVD Decrypter.  I can't link directly to DVD Decrypter, but if you go to http://www.doom9.org/ and then to downloads, it's under descrambling/ripping tools.  I'll get a screen here:

(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c99/shin_sukebei/untitled.jpg)

So just choose the virtual drive as your source (or physical drive if you have a real DVD), then choose select vob files, and if you want deselect video_ts.vob and vts_1_0.vob as those are like menu crap that'll just give you empty files.  Then, go to settings under tools, and in the file mode tab, choose either file split by cell ID or vob ID.  Generally I'd keep it on vob ID, but sometimes like on concert dvd's and such, you go by cell ID they'll be split into songs etc.  Cell ID is sort of like split by chapters, vob ID is like split by major sections.  Basicall just do vob ID and if that doesn't get them split how you want try cell ID.  Anyway after you choose your split method just hit the big decrypt button in the lower left, then choose your output destination and ur done! Then wait and dance when the music plays :D

As far as the re-encoding goes, if the file is an AVI, you could just try opening it with virtualdub/mod, and assuming it's not some really retarded codec and it opens without error, you can re-encode with vdub.  Although I wouldn't recommend re-encoding unless the source AVI has an over-inflated bitrate and you want to lower it, or you need to convert it to make it compatible with stuff.  If you really need to convert it and vdub doesn't work, there are ghetto converting programs that would work but they'll generally jack the file up gud.  VLC can trasncode files if your desperate.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: daigong on December 26, 2006, 12:48:12 PM
Thanks Sukebei, I'll try to mess with the ISOs. I have DVD Decrypter from the Gordian Knot package :D I'll write my progress here!

I'm also wondering....about my encodes from an MPEG2 (dimensions above) ... it encodes smooth for the first 5 minutes then goes all choppy and fuzzy. I figured it was cuz I was running other shit but nah....:?
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Sukebei on December 29, 2006, 09:00:49 AM
By choppy and fuzzy what are you referring to, your encoding speed or the finished product's quality?  If you mean the video quality I'm not really sure, I'd double check all your settings.  If you mean your encoding speed, running other programs can slow your speed.  If you don't use your system at full capacity a lot, and you've only noticed this when encoding, you may have a system stability issue (overheating etc.).
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: nachdenki on February 02, 2007, 04:23:00 PM
when I encode something using this guide, it works quite good but the beginning  of what I am trying to encode turns out to be like this always:
(http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/6016/viderrvw2.th.jpg) (http://img45.imageshack.us/my.php?image=viderrvw2.jpg)
It's like two frames long and then everything looks tasty D:
anyone knows what I can do to get rid of that?
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on February 02, 2007, 05:01:42 PM
^Does that happen with all xvid files that you try to play back?
 
Try using Divx to encode with instead to see if it still does it or not.
 
I used to have a problem with xvid's doing that when I used a certain decoder to play them back. Try downloading and installing a new Xvid codec or try maybe using divx and see if that works.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: nachdenki on February 02, 2007, 09:01:15 PM
Thx for your help.
I tried to encode it with Divx and was having the same problem.
So I thought about it once again and noticed that the only thing that was different from the guide was, that I hadn't extracted the vobs using NFO mode (I didn't want to because of disk space usage :P ).
I did that now and everything works fine. :D
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: momo23 on March 23, 2007, 05:14:17 AM
does anyone know how to make a 59 FPS AVI file in Gordian Knot?
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on March 23, 2007, 05:36:43 AM
I use an avs script that looks like this:
 
Code: [Select]
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\GordianKnot\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\GordianKnot\kerneldeint140.dll")
mpeg2source("C:\Video Encoding Folder\Hello Morning 070318.d2v")
kernelbob(5)
 
function kernelbob(clip a, int th)
{ ord = getparity(a) ? 1 : 0
f=a.kerneldeint(order=ord, sharp=true, twoway=true, threshold=th)
e=a.separatefields.trim(1,0).weave.kerneldeint(order=1-ord, sharp=true, twoway=true, threshold=th)
interleave(f,e).assumeframebased
}

That might just fly straight over your head but otherwise the process is a little complicated.
The trick is to make the script first and then load it into gordianknot, then go through the steps as normal except when it asks you to choose the deinterlacing, you choose none cause you've already done that step with the script.
 
The script requires kerneldeint140.dll cause kernelbob only seems to support old versions of kerneldeint, for some reason the latest one doesn't work.
There are also other methods for outputting at doublerate. I've tried a couple but I've found this script to give nicer results.
There is a method that lajonski uses which does give the best results but it slows the encoding time down to barely 1fps hehe I'm just too impatient to wait 24hours for something to encode.
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: momo23 on March 23, 2007, 05:49:44 AM
how do I create an avs script?  and where can I find kerneldeint140.dll?
Title: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on March 23, 2007, 06:28:08 AM
Quote from: momo23;336045
how do I create an avs script?
Very simple, make a txt file in notepad, put in your script and then save it with the extension .avs (instead of .txt)
You can also get special avisynth editors to help make them if you search around. Otherwise notepad is fine.
 
You might need to start reading up about it further, here: http://avisynth.org/index.php?page=Avisynth
 
And also there's plenty of threads to read here: http://forum.doom9.org/
 
I uploaded the kerneldeint140 file here http://www.eyeballcancer.com/blah/
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: SacredCultivator on April 22, 2007, 04:04:00 PM
Hmm during the step you get to put the output resolution, it doens't show the res of the original video file which is 852x480.

And bleh hehe by instlaling GKnot it messed with my VDub settings and well can't seem to revert them back to what I had ><

Other than that nice guide and I hope that in combining the 4 .vobs I have it will work...

Oh and is it possible by chance to do something like this with vdub? In terms of combining multiple .vobs
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ebc on April 23, 2007, 01:01:25 PM
1 vob 2 vob, shouldn't make a difference. All handling of vob files is done with dgindex so as long as you've loaded the vobs into that in the right order and you've saved the d2v project file then that can be opened in gordian knot. Or in your case if you want to use virtualdub you can make an avs file with the following code in it:
Code: [Select]
LoadPlugin("C:\path to\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.dll")
mpeg2source("F:\blah\blahdvd.d2v")
usual path to dgmpg is C:\PROGRA~1\GORDIA~1\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.dll

The resolution of the original file is listed under input resolution. If it's a DVD then it'll either say PAL or NTSC depending on that type. If it's a custom resolution like 852x480 then it should automatically put itself in "other".
852x480 is a typical non-anamorphic res so where it says input pixel aspect ratio you'd tick 1:1 otherwise if your simply trying to rip a DVD your choices will be 16:9 or 4:3 depending on if it's widescreen or not.
(http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/705/inputreseq6.jpg)
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: SacredCultivator on April 23, 2007, 01:36:59 PM
Well with L-San's help I just went with the output they gave me but int he script changed it to 720x480... and later on today will try out another method... As yeah when I previewed things with MPC/Vdub it turned out to look okay but after encoding the audio was out of sync.

@Tiny: Trying your method, as hmm learned something new from it.. Except one thing confused me (Encoding at the moment) but when it said you can load the Audio witht he Encode... I tried to load it into VDub and it said it didn't know what 'Video' at the line 'audio=wavsource("d:\matrix\audio.wav")
audiodub(video,audio)'

I guess the 'Audiodub' is what I don't have or something....

Will post up the news when it finishes hoping it will by the tiem I get home from class... Also... Not too sure but yeah for Vdub anyone have any settigns/configurations that can be used ona  daily basis without having to tweak accordingly to like PV's/Drama/Movies/etc... As posted before lost mine ><
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: cool_kickin_dude on April 23, 2007, 06:53:01 PM
are there any other programs that will let me do it? I have some dvd's that are .vob's that won't play on my dvd player. is this the easiest program to do? I want to make sure it is so it won't screw up a concert that I've been wanting to see
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: SacredCultivator on April 23, 2007, 06:57:21 PM
well how many .vob's are there? I mean with 1 you can use Vdub and get it to sync easily... as I have never worked with multiple (4) I ad to resort to this guide but bleh didn't work for me =X
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: cool_kickin_dude on April 23, 2007, 07:01:52 PM
I have a two-part concert and I have a few episodes of H!M that are .vob's. any ideas?
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: SacredCultivator on April 23, 2007, 07:04:27 PM
Hmmm yeah I best let others tackle that one as I am having trouble myself getting this to work in terms of you know what =P. Just awaiting for other possible fixes/ other people who might be able to help as L-San + tiny's references didn't work for me.
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: daigong on September 27, 2008, 01:53:08 AM
What's the procedure to do subtitles?

I got a DVD and wanna hard encode some english subs onto a rip.


TIA!
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: ~Dan~ on September 27, 2008, 05:13:55 AM
Download and install a subtitle filter for virtualdub
http://www.virtualdub.org/virtualdub_filters.html

Then video - filters - add - subtitler - click the "..." button and find which folder your subtitle file is in (.ass or .ssa) and select it, then click ok

Then after you've set your other filters, audio and video encoding rates etc, start your video encoding and it'll be encoded with subtitles.

If your subtitle file is an .srt file you can convert it to an .ssa file with a prog called Subcreator.
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: daigong on September 27, 2008, 06:47:45 AM
Props brother!! Extracted the programs now. Been tinkering with the the subtitle file and let's see how this shit rolls. (I used VobSub and got me a sub)
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: WingZero84 on May 23, 2009, 09:19:18 AM
 This topic is very usefull for me. Thank you very much.
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: orac on February 06, 2010, 01:27:20 AM
Nice tutorial, but, I keep getting an error at the encoding stage, and nothing happen after this shows in log:

00:21:49: Audio Done.
00:21:49: Audio 1, determined:     34421 kb
00:21:49: Audio 1, calc:           53062 kb
00:21:49: New Bitrate for Movie = 2469 k(=1000)Bits/s
00:21:49: *************************************
00:21:49: EXCEPTION: Range check error
00:21:49: EXCEPTION: Encoder Thread Terminated.
00:21:49: *************************************
Total Encoding Time: 11 minutes, 36 seconds.
06/02/2010 00:21:49: Job " 1 - VTS_01_1.avi" finished.
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: orac on February 08, 2010, 03:26:38 AM
nvm, problem solved.  had to install the gordian knot codec pack.
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Saburo on March 04, 2010, 07:11:29 AM
Tried to encode a short 15-second VOB clip and I got a big fat error box for my efforts:

(http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9417/20100303error2.jpg)

This comes at the very end of the process; two times for both passes.  Never happened before: is the program just dead to me now?
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: maliciel on March 04, 2010, 01:24:54 PM
Seems it's one of those problems that doesn't really have a real solution, according to google, but do check this out:

http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/201121-virtualdub-problem-source-image-format-is-not-acceptable (http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/201121-virtualdub-problem-source-image-format-is-not-acceptable)

Quote
Turns out the real problem is DivX won't let you use 480X640 in most of the profiles. So switch to unconstrained and you'll be able to encode just fine.
Title: Re: ebc's MPG/VOB to AVI encoding guide using Gordian Knot
Post by: Saburo on March 04, 2010, 05:10:13 PM
Thanks mal, will try that out in the future!