221 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
221 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
Simple x264 Launcher - use 64-Bit x264 with 32-Bit Avisynth
|
||
Copyright (C) 2004-2012 LoRd_MuldeR <MuldeR2@GMX.de>
|
||
|
||
|
||
1. Introduction
|
||
---------------
|
||
|
||
This program is a simple GUI front-end for the x264 H.264/AVC encoder.
|
||
Thanks to Avs2YUV, this program can use the 64-Bit version of x264 with
|
||
the 32-Bit version of Avisynth. This way you can keep on using your
|
||
favorite 32-Bit Avisynth plug-ins (e.g. DGDecodeNV) and still benefit
|
||
from the speed improvements of 64-Bit x264. Of course you can also use
|
||
64-Bit Avisynth, which is still considered experimental, if desired.
|
||
And of course you can use x264's built-in LAVF/FFMS input instead of
|
||
Avisynth just as well. Moreover this program provides full batch
|
||
encoding support. This means that you can run several encoding jobs in
|
||
parallel. Or you can let them run in sequence - one by one.
|
||
|
||
|
||
2. System Requirements
|
||
----------------------
|
||
|
||
This program runs on Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and later.
|
||
64-Bit Windows is highly recommended, but 32-Bit Windows works as well.
|
||
The CPU should support at least the MMX and SSE1 instruction sets.
|
||
Avisynth 2.5.x must be installed in order to use Avisynth (.avs) input.
|
||
YV16/YV24 color spaces only supported by Avisynth 2.6 [see section 9].
|
||
Audio encoding NOT officially supported by x264 yet [see section 10].
|
||
|
||
|
||
3. Anti-Virus Warning
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
Occasionally your Antivirus program may mistakenly detect "malware"
|
||
(virus, trojan, worm, etc.) in some of the files here. This is called a
|
||
"False Positive" and the files are actually innocent/clean. It´s an
|
||
error in your specific Antivirus software.
|
||
|
||
In case you encounter such problems, go to http://www.virustotal.com/
|
||
and check the file again with multiple Antivirus engines! And take care
|
||
with results like "suspicious" , "generic" or "packed". Those are *not*
|
||
real hits, they are just wild speculation.
|
||
|
||
Apparently Antivirus programs tend to suspect installers/uninstaller
|
||
created with NSIS. Furthermore some Antivirus programs blindly suspect
|
||
all UPX´d (packed) executables of being malware. Obviously this is a
|
||
stupid generalization, so you can safely ignore those warnings!
|
||
|
||
Last but not least: Always keep in mind that this is OpenSource
|
||
software! If you don´t trust the people providing the pre-compiled
|
||
binaries, download the source codes and compile them yourself.
|
||
|
||
DON´T SUBMIT ANY VIRUS/TROJAN REPORTS, UNLESS YOU HAVE VERIFIED THE
|
||
INFECTION WITH MULTIPLE ANTIVIRUS ENGNINES. THANKS!
|
||
|
||
|
||
4. License
|
||
----------
|
||
|
||
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
|
||
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
|
||
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
|
||
(at your option) any later version.
|
||
|
||
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
|
||
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
|
||
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
|
||
GNU General Public License for more details.
|
||
|
||
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
|
||
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
|
||
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
|
||
|
||
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.txt
|
||
|
||
|
||
5. Portable Mode
|
||
----------------
|
||
|
||
This application can be run in "portable" mode. Just rename the EXE
|
||
file to 'x264_launcher_portable.exe' in order to trigger portable mode.
|
||
In that mode all configuration files will be saved in the same folder
|
||
where the EXE file resides. This may be helpful, if you want to run the
|
||
application directly from your USB stick on different computers. Note,
|
||
however, that in portable mode the install folder must be writable!
|
||
|
||
|
||
6. Updating Your x264 Binaries
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
This application works best with the x264 binaries that are included in
|
||
the distribution package. That's because these binaries have been
|
||
tested to work properly with the GUI. Nonetheless in some cases you may
|
||
want to replace the included binaries with a newer version of x264 or
|
||
with an alternative build of the same version. Generally newer versions
|
||
of x264 should work with the GUI too, though there is NO guarantee. In
|
||
rare cases the CLI syntax (or console output) of x264 may change in a
|
||
way that breaks the compatibility and therefore will require an update
|
||
of the GUI itself. Furthermore this application does NOT provide any
|
||
support for unofficial x264 patches. Usually x264 builds that contain
|
||
unofficial patches will work anyway, but again there is NO guarantee.
|
||
Using old/outdated x264 binaries with this application is NOT supported
|
||
or intended. Report bugs rather than reverting to an old version!
|
||
|
||
|
||
7. Timeout Warning
|
||
------------------
|
||
|
||
This application provides "deadlock" prevention. This means that if an
|
||
encoder process (x264 or Avisynth) stops responding, it will be
|
||
terminated. This is done in order to ensure that the main program as
|
||
well as the other encoder processes can continue properly. More
|
||
specifically, a warning will be raised if the process does not respond
|
||
for one minute. If the process still didn't respond after five minutes,
|
||
it will be terminated and consequently the encoding job is aborted. In
|
||
some rare cases, your Avisynth script may take a very long time to
|
||
initialize and thus the process will be aborted before the encoding can
|
||
start. For example, this can happen if FFMS2/FFVideoSource takes a very
|
||
long time to index the source file. In that case, we recommend to index
|
||
the source file beforehand, e.g. by using the 'ffmsindex' tool.
|
||
|
||
|
||
8. Custom Parameters
|
||
--------------------
|
||
|
||
This application provides a "Custom Parameters" edit box. All command-
|
||
line parameters you enter there will be passed to x264 unmodified. This
|
||
way you can send arbitrary parameters to x264 - even such ones that are
|
||
only available in patched builds of x264. See the x264 Wiki or the Help
|
||
Screen for a list of available parameters. However be aware that the
|
||
GUI will not check your parameters at all! Thus using an unknown or
|
||
unsupported parameter will cause your encode to fail. Using an existing
|
||
parameter in the wrong way will cause your encode to fail too. Last but
|
||
not least, some parameters are forbidden by the GUI. If some parameter
|
||
is forbidden, that's because the GUI will set that parameter for you
|
||
(if required) or because that parameter is NOT compatible with the GUI.
|
||
|
||
Hint: Occasionally your custom parameters string may become very long,
|
||
especially when working with zones. In that case you can right-click on
|
||
the "Custom Parameters" edit box and choose "Open the Text-Editor".
|
||
This will open a multi-line text editor for easier parameter handling.
|
||
|
||
|
||
9. Color Spaces / Chroma Subsampling
|
||
------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Avs2YUV converts the output of your Avisynth script to the YV12 format,
|
||
i.e. YUV data with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling and 8-Bit precision.
|
||
Usually this is exactly what you want/need. If, however, your Avisynth
|
||
script outputs image data with a higher chroma resolution, e.g. YUY2
|
||
(4:2:2), then the conversion to YV12 (4:2:0) will discard some of the
|
||
information. In that case, and if you want/need to keep the full chroma
|
||
resolution of your Avisynth script's output, you will have to pass the
|
||
"-csp" switch to Avs2YUV as a custom parameter! Use "-csp I422" for
|
||
YUV 4:2:2 (YV16) and use "-csp I444" for YUV 4:4:4 (YV24). Please note
|
||
that Avs2YUV can NOT pass through the "packed" YUY2 format. Thus it has
|
||
to be converted to the "planar" YV16 format. As both, YUY2 and YV16,
|
||
are YUV 4:2:2 formats, converting from YUY2 to YV16 is a lossless
|
||
operation. Note, however, that Avisynth 2.5 did NOT support YV16/YV24,
|
||
so you need to use Avisynth 2.6; otherwise Avs2YUV will fail to do the
|
||
conversion! Also be aware that the x264 encoder itself will convert any
|
||
YV16 or YV24 input back to the YV12 format, if you don't pass the
|
||
suitable "--output-csp i422/i444" switch to x264 as a custom parameter!
|
||
In short, to encode YUY2 from Avisynth, you have to pass "-csp I422" to
|
||
Avs2YUV and "--output-csp i422" to x264 to avoid 4:2:0 downsampling.
|
||
|
||
|
||
10. Audio Processing/Encoding
|
||
-----------------------------
|
||
|
||
This application is a front-end to the x264 encoder. And, as x264 does
|
||
NOT support audio processing/encoding yet, there is NO explicit support
|
||
for audio encoding in this application. Thus, if you want to create a
|
||
video file *with* audio, you will have to add the audio stream to the
|
||
encoded video file afterwards. This process is called 'multiplexing' or
|
||
just 'muxing'. In case you are dealing with Matroska (MKV) files, then
|
||
"MKVMerge GUI" from the "MKVToolNix" package is the right tool for this
|
||
task. If, instead, you are dealing with MP4 files, then you may use
|
||
"MP4Box" or the "YAMB" front-end for muxing the audio stream.
|
||
|
||
Having said all that, there now is an unofficial "Audio" branch of x264
|
||
available. If you are using one of the modified x264 builds with "audio
|
||
support" patch (e.g. those provided by JEEB), then you can process the
|
||
audio with x264 and skip the additional muxing step. Basically the
|
||
audio patch adds a new "--acodec" switch, which you can pass to x264 as
|
||
a custom parameter. For example, you can pass "--acodec aac" for
|
||
encoding the audio to the AAC format (recommended for MP4 files). Or
|
||
you can pass "--acodec vorbis" for encoding the audio to the Ogg/Vorbis
|
||
format (recommended for MKV files). Please be aware that audio encoding
|
||
will work only, if your input file contains an audio stream! When using
|
||
the built-in LAVF/FFMS input of x264, the audio can be encoded straight
|
||
from the input file. This does NOT work with Avisynth input! Instead,
|
||
if you want to encode audio from an Avisynth script, you must pass the
|
||
"--audiofile <path_to_avs_file>" switch to x264 as a custom parameter.
|
||
For convenience, the string "--audiofile $(INPUT)" may be used.
|
||
|
||
|
||
11. Command-line Syntax
|
||
-----------------------
|
||
|
||
The following command-line switches are available:
|
||
|
||
--add <file> [<file>] ... Create new job(s) from files(s)
|
||
--console ............... Show the "debug" console
|
||
--no-console ............ Don't show the "debug" console
|
||
--no-style .............. Don't use the Qt "Plastique" style
|
||
--skip-avisynth-check ... Skip Avisynth check (not recommended!)
|
||
--force-cpu-no-64bit .... Forcefully disable 64-Bit support
|
||
|
||
|
||
12. Help & Support
|
||
------------------
|
||
|
||
For help and support, please join the discussion at:
|
||
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=144140
|
||
|
||
Please do NOT send me e-mail with support requests. Thanks!
|
||
|
||
|
||
e.o.f.
|