MeGUI is one of the newer tools that has been designed with H.264 encoding in mind, while supporting other types of conversion, such as XviD. This guide shows you how to encode a H.264 (MP4) using MeGUI from a DVD as the primary example (instructions for converting other types of video files are also included).
This guide is aimed at intermediate users, basically users that are familiar with DVD conversion/backup and want to experiment with H.264 and MeGUI. As such, basic knowledge of DVD ripping and conversion is required, although brief instructions will be provided in any case.
Software you'll need (all freeware):
Step 1: Installation
Step 2: DVD Ripping
This step will rip (copy) the DVD files from the DVD disc to your hard drive, for further processing or burning straight to a DVD recordable. This step uses RipIt4Me (which will control and use DVD Decrypter, FixVTS as needed). Before you run RipIt4Me, make sure you don't have any other DVD decrypting/ripping tools running (like DVD43, AnyDVD, DVD Region+CSS Free) and also close any
conflicting programs. The instructions here are for you typical movie DVD - for episodic DVDs (eg. TV shows), please refer to
this RipIt4Me FAQ entry.
There are some running tips/notices for RipIt4Me in the
official guide (just below the table of contents).
This guide will not cover all aspects of RipIt4Me operation. If you run into problems or see error messages in this step, or simply want to read a more detailed guide on RipIt4Me, please refer to the
official RipIt4Me guide. There is also a
frequently asked questions document.
Pop the source DVD disc into your DVD drive.
Start RipIt4Me. From the "Logs/Settings" menu, select "Preferences" and uncheck the "Run DVD Shrink after rip" option under the "1-click" mode section. Press the "OK" button to save the changes.
Click on the
button. The following screen should come up:
Check to make sure the selected DVD drive letter is the correct one. The default output directory is based on the DVD's title, and this should be fine. Change the ripping setting to "Movie only" (again, if your DVD is an episodic one, please refer to
this RipIt4Me FAQ entry). The available audio and subtitle streams should now be shown down the bottom - you don't need to change anything, but you need to note down the stream number (eg. 0x80 => 1st stream, 0x81 => 2nd stream) for the audio, which you'll need to know for MeGUI. Press "Next" to continue.
RipIt4Me will now automatically start and operate all the required programs for ripping. When ripping has been finished, you will get a dialog box notifying you that the logs have been moved to another directory. You can view previously saved logs by using the "Log/Settings" -> "View saved logs" function (log files are needed when you run into a problem and want to get help in our (official)
RipIt4Me forum.
The DVD has now been ripped. You can now close RipIt4Me.
Step 3: D2V Creator
Step 4: AviSynth Script Creator
This step will use MeGUI's AviSynth Script Creator tool to create an AviSynth script. If you followed Step 3,
the AviSynth Script Creator tool should already be started with the D2V file created loaded. Otherwise, you'll need to load the media file you want to convert into the "Video Input" section.
AviSynth is able to open almost any video file that you are able to play with a Directshow based multimedia player, such as Media Player Classic or Windows Media Player. You may need to select the "All Files" option when opening the file to be able to see it (eg. FLV files). In most cases, you'll need to install a video codec, an audio codec and a splitter filter for the format you wish to convert.
For example, if you want to convert FLV files using MeGUI, you will first need to make sure you have the required video, audio and splitter filters to make FLV files playable in Windows Media Player. Instructions on how to do this can be found in the
FLV playback section of our
YouTube, Google Video Download and DivX Conversion Guide.
The "Input DAR" is the aspect ratio of the input video. In most circumstances, it should be automatically set for you. Anamorphic DVDs will be set to "ITU 16:9", for example.
Press the "Auto Crop" button to remove the black bars from the input video if it has any (most widescreen DVDs will).
Next,
check the "Suggested Resolution" checkbox and change the resolution to one that you require. For DVD conversion onto a single CD (700 MB) using H.264, you can get away with using the maximum resolution (720x***). If you have specific requirements, such as conversion to iPod/PSP compatible files, please make sure the resolution you select matches your playback device's capabilities.
Click on the "Filters" tab. For films on DVDs, you usually do not need to run a deinterlacing analysis. If the content you have is TV based, then you might need to
click on the "Analysis" button to see if the video requires de-interlacing.
Select "Source is Anime" if that's what you have.
Again, if you followed my advice for keeping the resolution for DVD sources, then you don't need either the resize of the noise filters. Otherwise, if you chose to reduce the resolution, then you can choose how the
resize will look like
("Bicubic (Neutral)" is recommended as a middle of the road choice). If the source has lots of noise, you can choose to enable the
noise filter and choose how much noise is present in your source. The other options can be left alone ("Colour Correction" is automatically checked for D2V input sources).
If your source is not DVD, then you can click on the "Edit" tab and edit the AviSynth script manually to enable audio (you don't need to do this with DVD sources if you have followed this guide, since we have already demuxed the audio using D2V Creator). Simply change the "audio=false" entry to "audio=true".
Make sure the
"On save close and load to be encoded" option and press the "Save" button to save the AviSynth script (by default, in the same directory as the D2V file, the filename is not important). Don't worry too much about the AviSynth Script Creator tool's preview window - it can be a little buggy where cropping and resizing and concerned. After saving, the AviSynth file should be
loaded automatically into MeGUI - MeGUI's preview window does work fine and please make sure the video looks alright, especially for DVD sources with cropping/resize.
Step 5a: Video Encoding Options MP4
Step 5b: Video Encoding Options XVID
After the AviSynth Script Creator window closes, it will be entered in the AviSynth Script box on the Input tab. Below that is the output file. Click the button to the right of it to change the location or name. Select the dropdown menu next to Codec and set it to XviD. File Format should be set to AVI, MKV, or RAWASP (MP4). To select a Video Profile, determine what percentage of original DVD's bitrate will be used for the XviD encode. If you're not sure, compare the combined size of the VOB files to the intended final size of the XviD. The profiles are named by what amount of compression they're designed for. For example, XviD '>90% comp. check' means it's for encodes that are 90% as big as the original or more. Find the largest percentage that's smaller than or equal to the amount of compression your encode will have. Each compression level will have a fast and HQ option. As the names suggest, one will give you faster encodes, and the other a little higher quality.
Step 6: Audio Encoding Options
Step 7: AutoEncode and starting the encoding
MeGUI Custom x264/AVC video profiles. (Updated: 2006-12-21)
Instructions
Install
MeGUI and let the autoupdate run, it will automatically fetch the profiles from the autoupdate server or if you prefer get the profiles archive (below) and use the MeGUI Import Profiles option to import them.
Once imported you will find the profiles in the "Video Profiles" drop down list.
Before starting encoding set the bitrate or quantizer (manually or thru the calculator) and adjust the inloop filter accordingly to your needs/taste: keep it 1;1 or higher for anime/toons (max 3;3) and not higher than x264 defaults (0;0) for movies.
Profiles for maximizing Quality and hit a desired bitrate/filesize (2 or more passes, SLOW encoding, High Profile)
HQ-Slow: Pretty slow but not much. Quality is near the best.
HQ-Slower: Slower than HQ-Slow but it tries to squeeze some more compression thru the use of more reference frames.
HQ-Slowest: Same as HQ-Slower with more reference frames.
HQ-Insane: All settings maxed out.
Profiles for Common Encoding (2-passes)
CE-Highprofile: Common settings using high profile options (not compatible with QuickTime)
CE-Mainprofile: Common settings using main profile options (not compatible with QuickTime)
CE-QuickTime: Common settings for QuickTime 7 compatibility.
CE-Baseline: Common settings using baseline profile options (100% compatible with QuickTime 7)
Profiles for maximizing Speed and hit a desired bitrate/filesize (1-pass)
1P-Maxspeed: Everything disabled for max encoding speed (good for live capturing).
1P-Intermediate: Intermediate settings for average speed and final quality.
1P-Goodquality: Settings for good quality with 1 pass.
Profiles for constant Quality/Quantizer (1-pass)
CQ-Lossless: Lossless encoding.
CQ-ASP_Q2_equiv: Almost the equivalent of MPEG-4 ASP Q2 encoding.
CQ-ASP_Q2_eq(crf): Same as above but with "constant quality" (constant rate factor).
Profiles for Anime/Toons (2 passes)
AE-Standard: 2 passes, Main Profile, standard quality.
AE-Goodquality: Slower than AE-Standard, High Profile, higher quality.
AE-Maxquality: Slowest mode with maxed out settings, best quality.
Profiles for Consoles and Portable Devices
PD-PSP: Profile for Sony PSP playback.
PD-Xbox_Hires: Profile for MS XBOX and higher than 512pixels resolution (latest XBMC is needed).
PD-Xbox_LoRes: Profile for MS XBOX and lower than 512pixels resolutions (latest XBMC is needed).
PD-iPod: Profile for iPod Video based on
Arstechnica settings.
PD-iPod 5.5G: Profile for the new iPod 5.5G.
Profiles for HD-DVDs
SA-HD-DVD: First EXPERIMENTAL Profile for HD-DVD.
Url to this pages:
http://nade.dk/web/nade/site.nsf/FramesetHP?readform&wmain=files/Megui