28 January 2009 24 Comments

EncodeHD 0.96 beta released

Update: Woops. Quick version bump to 0.96 to correct an automatic updating bug. Sorry about that.

It’s taken a while longer than I had hoped, but I’ve finally gotten most of the outstanding issues resolved – thanks to a wonderful group of testers (special mention to David, Keith, Zach and Alan for all the work done!).

Download is available in the EncodeHD section of the site, and here’s what’s new since the last release:

  • NEW: Apple iPod Touch, iPod Classic, iPod 5G, and Sony PSP support
  • NEW: Output for TV option on all iPods will optimise video for display on TV, instead of the iPod screen
  • NEW: Command-line options /LOWPRIORITY and /HIGHPRIORITY changes the encoding process priority
  • NEW: RM filetype added to filemask
  • CHANGE: Removed Quality slider. EncHD now chooses the best quality / size based on the input file and target profile
  • CHANGE: Huge overhaul of the device filtering framework. Thresholds should be properly limited across all files now, so no more unsupported file messages (hopefully!)
  • CHANGE: Massive internal code restructure and refactoring
  • CHANGE: Disabled Bug Reporting for the moment until I can figure out a better way of doing this
  • CHANGE: First run of every version will display the About Box
  • CHANGE: Improved debugging info
  • CHANGE: UI Cleanup
  • CHANGE: Updated FFmpeg to SVN Build 16573
  • CHANGE: Updated MedaInfo to 0.7.9
  • CHANGE: If bitrate detection fails, fall back on the nominal and then overall bitrates. This should a number of issues with file detection
  • FIX: Advanced flags like ”-map” failed, due to a parameter sequencing issue
  • FIX: Aspect Ratio was not being maintained if the output device was restricting the resolution
  • FIX: 4GB+ File Splitting 4GB sometimes didn’t work or could create thousands of video segments
  • FIX: 4GB+ File Splitting wasn’t cleaning up temporary files
  • FIX: Cancelling the encode wouldn’t cancel subsequent actions
  • FIX: During encoding, the ListView wasn’t scrollable
  • FIX: UI drawing on startup wasn’t very smooth

I’ve put a lot of work into this – so if you feel it’s a worthy app, please consider donating to keep the project alive! I know I know, it’s a recession and all that – but I do have hosting costs to be covered :(

Dan

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24 Responses to “EncodeHD 0.96 beta released”

  1. Danny 28 January 2009 at 9:31 pm #
    First of all I want to say thank you!! This is an excellent app and I use it a lot. I can’t donate right now but I will when I can, you are on my “list”.

    Anyhow, keep up the excellent work!! Your work is very appreciated.

    Reply
  2. Stiggs 29 January 2009 at 6:23 am #
    Dan, great work as usual. I previously asked how to transcode a specific audio track from a MKV file that contained multiple audio tracks. You suggested using an advanced flag with the
    “-map” command . I tried to find out more info on how to accomplish this but I could not get it to work properly. Do you know how to do this specifically and will it work properly in this version?
    Thanks again
    Reply
    • Dan Cunningham 29 January 2009 at 1:30 pm #
      Hey Stiggs,

      Yep, there was actually a problem with the earlier version but we’ve since resolved this. So if you know the order of the streams in the file, this is quite easy. Generally the video stream is the first, and for this example, let’s say Japanese audio is 2nd, with English audio as 3rd. Now the streams would be identified as #0.0 – Video, #0.1 – Audio (JPN), #0.2 – Audio (ENG). So you’re advanced FFmpeg flags would be:

      -map 0:0 -map 0:2.0:1

      This retains the video as the first stream, and remaps the 3rd stream to being the second.

      Hope this helps, Dan

      Reply
      • Brian 30 January 2009 at 3:59 am #
        I just used the new release to encode an anime episode from streaming over the 360. It made the resolution 1706×1280. I fired up the 360 and attempted to play the file, after a minute or 2 the audio began playing. After a few more minutes the video still haden’t started playing.
        I think it’s due to the resolution being so high. Is there a flag for resolution?
        Also, looking at your reply for mapping audio, can you map subtitle streams from an mkv?

        Thank you for all your hard work on this awesome program.

        Reply
        • Dan Cunningham 5 February 2009 at 1:30 pm #
          Hi Brian,

          The resolution is too high. I’m not sure why exactly – it’d help if you could email me the log file.

          On subs mapping – no, this isn’t possible as subtitle streams don’t get transferred over to the MP4.

          Reply
  3. Raymond 30 January 2009 at 4:53 pm #
    I did notice that with the new version encode time took 3 times longer but my file was larger and the bit rate was higher which would account for this. which brings me to my first question. Is there a list of flags that can be used. I tried using some flags on the .86 version but they did not seem to work (Here is what I have been using ffMpeg flags: -deinterlace -aspect 1.7777 -b 4000k -minrate 4000k -maxrate 4000k)

    A user interface note. I like the simple user interface (Not much can go wrong, some programs just have too many options) But I do have one issue when I click on “Advanced Flags” is it possible for the text box to keep my last settings even if I don’t have the “Advanced Flags” selected. It is a pain to re-enter the flags when I just want to change the aspect ratio or turn off the flags for one video and back on again for another (which would require me to re-enter the flags). One other thought about “Advanced Flags”, what if you put the “Advanced Flags” check box next to each file in the video list box so I can have different flags for each video? What might be also good is to allow users to create a text files with the flags that we place in a directory and you can populate a drop-down list from the files. So I can have Flags that are HQ 16:9, HQ 4:3, HQ deinterlace 16:9, etc… This would also allow users to share the best settings for encoding videos.

    This is a great program!!

    Raymond

    Reply
    • Dan Cunningham 10 February 2009 at 11:30 am #
      Hey Raymond,

      FFmpeg flags had some issues which have been fixed up so your additions should work fine in the next issue. Add to that, I’ve taken your suggestion regarding Advanced Flags retention and that’s now possible.

      A simple checkbox isn’t as easy as it sounds I’m afraid, from a development perspective. I’ll keep it on the radar though.

      Re text files – hmmm, kinda negates the purpose of the UI completely then doesn’t it? Would be simpler to just do this using FFmpeg presets I suspect.

      Dan

      Reply
  4. Luan 1 February 2009 at 10:28 pm #
    Hi,

    Does the H.264 encoding flag not work for the iPod Touch ? If I have this flag enable I got a “This video is not compatible” or something like that when I try to copy to my iPod Touch.

    Thanks.

    Reply
  5. Raymond 3 February 2009 at 8:41 pm #
    Just notice a problem. I used the new version without any “Advanced Flags” It create a file that works on the computer but not on the Xbox 360. I get nothing just a black screen.

    Raymond

    Reply
  6. New Duke 3 February 2009 at 9:36 pm #
    Raymond, sorry I can’t post a solution to your problem but I can confirm that I have never enabled an Advanced Flag and the new version output still works on my xbox… gloriously.

    I’ve only been converting .h264 mkv files and mpeg2 files to the ’360′ setting so I can’t speak for all formats tho.

    Reply
  7. PheNiX 5 February 2009 at 12:51 am #
    Hi!

    Firts of all… GREAT JOB!! Simple, quick and it’s working great!

    I just want to let you know a little bug. If you set you regional settings to french, with the “,” for decimal separator instead of “.”, an error occured on startup and when we try to start the conversion. The error is about Double type conversion. If i change the regionnal settings to use “.”, everything working great.

    Thanks for all man. :)

    PheNiX

    Reply
    • Dan Cunningham 5 February 2009 at 1:12 pm #
      Heh, yeah thanks. I already have it fixed in the next beta – which will be a few days, if I can get some free time!
      Reply
      • PheNiX 5 February 2009 at 4:19 pm #
        Quick job! :)

        Thank you!

        Reply
  8. Jason 5 February 2009 at 2:36 pm #
    Hey Dan first Thank you.

    Can you paste here the advance flag for someone who is using a xbox360 so that time does not matter and I just get the absolute best video results with encoding.

    thanks for you effort

    Reply
  9. Steven D 6 February 2009 at 7:11 pm #
    I tried Encode HD and set it for Xbox 360 H.264. The output file is .mp4 and apparently the Xbox 360 does not like this file extension. When I change it to WMV it can read it. Is this normal?

    Also is there a way to enable 5.1 AC3? The AC3 passthrough was not an option when set to Xbox360.

    By the way I was converting a .MKV file.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Dan Cunningham 8 February 2009 at 1:05 pm #
      Steven,

      Sometimes the X360 doesn’t recognise the MP4 file extension. It’s not normal, but everyone has the same problem as far as I know!

      5.1 AC3 Passthrough isn’t available on the X360. Complain to Microsoft! :)

      Dan

      Reply
  10. v_lestat 10 February 2009 at 4:44 am #
    dan 5.1 works for WMV…. im osrry if MS purposely went with WMV but you had a program that used WMV w/ 5.1 AND subtitles and you thru it away to design a program that cna do NEITHER.

    put WMV back into the EncodeHD program as an option for Xbox360,,, its that simple…
    as for bitrates,,, just make the WMV bitrate around 400 higher than the mkv file input.
    thats what i find is a good level.

    frankly i havent found a use for encode HD dan
    i came to your site because of encode 360 and by god i love it and am using it right this very second,,,, i cant stand and anyone who uses encode360 knows this is true, that your pushing EncodeHD instead of encode360… i like both but for HD content there is no substitude for WMV if only for the 5.1 audio….

    Reply
    • Dan Cunningham 10 February 2009 at 12:06 pm #
      I won’t be repeating myself any further on this to you – you’ve nagged, complained and berated me numerous times and you refuse to listen to me. This is the final word on the matter:

      EncodeHD, is an entirely different program, with a different target audience. It is not meant to substitute or replace Encode360. You are perfectly entitled to continue using Encode360. If you haven’t found a use for EncodeHD, so be it – you aren’t the target audience. Accept it and move on.

      WMV was never in EncodeHD, and there’s no plans to do so. You have no idea what’s involved in do so, so please, don’t tell me ‘it’s that simple’. It’s not.

      There’s a variety of tools out there that you can pay for and I urge you to try them out. Microsoft Expression Encoder is probably exactly what you’re looking for.

      However, I develop all of my applications for free. In two years I’ve gotten just short over €100 in donations, about half the cost of an Expression Encoder license. Pretty meagre when you consider the amount of people who download them.

      I develop these apps for free because I enjoy it, and it’s rewarding to be able to help out other people. I *don’t* however, enjoy someone coming onto my blog and berating me constantly, when I devote a lot of my personal time to this.

      Dan

      Reply
    • Schlicky 10 February 2009 at 12:17 pm #
      V_LeFlap,

      FFS give it a fucking rest… Use Encode360 as that does what you want it to do. We all use EHD for what we want to do.

      If you are unhappy, develop something yourself.

      Reply
  11. Marcus 10 February 2009 at 6:50 pm #
    It says that the 4GB-split problem was fixed, but unfortunately I’m experiencing this particular problem every time I try to encode a 11GB .mkv file into .mp4. The last time I ended up having 170 000 parts of the movie! Do you know what can be causing this problem?
    Reply
    • Dan Cunningham 10 February 2009 at 7:09 pm #
      Marcus, you’re right – it’s not even though I thought it was! I’m looking into it. Seems to be a known issue with MP4Box (or at least a reported one!), and it’s already been reported.

      Cheers, Dan

      Reply
  12. Marcus 10 February 2009 at 7:59 pm #
    Thank you for the quick reply! Will it work if I try to encode it to wmv instead? Or is there anything else I can do to get it work? Your program is the only one that can satisfy my desires, so it’s a pity it won’t work properly for me. :(

    Thanks in advance.

    Reply
    • Dan Cunningham 10 February 2009 at 8:03 pm #
      WMV will work, if you can get Encode360 working – but I don’t support it any more, so if it doesn’t work you’re on your own I’m afraid. It’s rather buggy :(

      However, I understand that if you stream MP4 rather than play directly, that removes the 4GB limitation.

      Cheers, Dan.

      Reply
  13. Marcus 10 February 2009 at 8:31 pm #
    Yes, but the thing is I actually want to play directly from a harddrive, so I will give wmv a try. Thanks again.
    Reply

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