Done everything I can

DarkStar · Post by **DarkStar** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:30 am

Ok, so, I did a search and read through about 3 pages of the some 25 that popped up, and noticed they're all the same... but my problem's a little different.

I made about a 4 minute AMV in Premiere Elements 3.0. When I exported it with the default Cinepack codec and saw that it was 800 something mbs, I wasn't really all that surprised... I had to compress it. But this is where things get ugly.

-Exporting the file with Cinepack made it unrecognizable with VirtualDubMod. It refused to even attempt to open it, saying that it requires a Video for Windows compatible codec and can't use DirectShow codecs.
-Exporting the video in Huffyuv just doesn't work. 2gb file of un-sync'd trash with trashy pixels at the top, where VDM just crashes about 20 seconds into compressing the file.
-Exporting directly in XviD made APE3 crash before even rendering 1 frame.
-FFDShow (XviD) made a 750mb .avi that crashed VDM just by browsing to it. Trying to drag and drop the file crashed Windows Explorer every single time I opened the folder. Using the MPEG2 option made an AVI that played like a normal MP3 in WMP and wasn't recognized in VDM. Changing the extension to MPEG did absolutely nothing... it was still a 181mb MP3.

I've tried all of these methods with different settings at least 10 or 12 times. Every single time, the file is either unreadable, crashes VDM, or is horribly out of sync with the music. The only thing that's worked is exporting with the built-in Cinepak codec, but that isn't recognized in VDM or anything. It'll play just fine in WMV/zPlayer, but it's 800mbs, and I can't distribute that. The only things I haven't tried are exporting in FFDShow with MPEG4 filter (next thing I'm trying), using the Lagarith codec (attempt after that), and with the Cinepack codec using the Square Pixel aspect ratio (which I don't think will do a thing).

Honestly, I've just about given up on this. I've received lots of compliments on it (even if it is my first) from my friends when I tossed the DVD around so I want to share it with everyone, but I can't seem to compress it to post online or anything.

The clip is 3:36. I've tried the Microsoft AVI and DV AVI file types. Default FPS is 29.97, but I've tried encoding at 23.976 as well. I've tried resolutions of 720x480 (native) and 640x480. I use Square Pixels for the Aspect Ratio, though I tried a few times with D1/DV NTSC but I think it's a lost cause.

I've tried to follow the A&E Technical Guide up until the compressing stage, but it's rather out-dated, and I've had to experiment with the extra settings. Outside of APE3, I follow the guide's instructions to the letter, and the issues seem to be occurring between exporting and compressing. I know it's not hard drive space, because I have at least 50gbs on the drive, and another 200gbs for storage. I've un-installed and re-installed the AMVapp suite some 3 or 4 times.

While I'm not an idiot when it comes to computers, I'm extremely new at this, so if someone could give me some sort of a Reader's Digest step-by-step guide on how they get AMV's exported for distribution through APE3, I would be extremely grateful.

TIA

Dark Seraphim · Post by **Dark Seraphim** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:38 am

simple just export with lagarith codec

BauziOLD · Post by **BauziOLD** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:40 am

When I exported it with the default Cinepack codec and saw that it was 800 something mbs, I wasn't really all that surprised... I had to compress it. But this is where things get ugly.

Bad choice. Take the Lagarith or Huffy codec for looseless export. Than you start with compression.

-Exporting the video in Huffyuv just doesn't work. 2gb file of un-sync'd trash with trashy pixels at the top, where VDM just crashes about 20 seconds into compressing the file.

Aha... Try Lagarith.
http://lags.leetcode.net/codec.html

-Exporting directly in XviD made APE3 crash before even rendering 1 frame.

You can´t export into XviD with Premiere. It simply doesn´t work

I've tried to follow the A&E Technical Guide up until the compressing stage, but it's rather out-dated, and I've had to experiment with the extra settings.

The new guides aren´t outdated:
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtechbeta/

I recommend you: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... /xvid.html
XviD compression for your first time.

Purge · Post by **Purge** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:42 am

post your project settings, export settings and your source vid details (resolution, how they are compressed, etc.) if you still can't fix it.

DarkStar · Post by **DarkStar** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 4:22 am

Thanks. I shoulda gone with my gut after all.

I'll try those out now and toss more info if it doesn't work. Thanks!

DarkStar · Post by **DarkStar** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:12 am

The second try of Huffyuv got farther than the first, but still crashed VDM.

Lagarith crashed VDM upon loading.

I think the problem is that I'm using the AMVapp 2.0 pack instead of 3.0. I wasn't aware that there was a new tech guide and software (:oops:), so I'm downloading/reading that now and trying again.

BauziOLD · Post by **BauziOLD** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:28 am

Get a new verison of Lagarith and VDM. You can also try to convert it into mp4:
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... 64gui.html

My expierence said that I had less problems with x264 as I have/had with XviD.

Install the new AMVApp after your project is finished.

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 7:55 am

If you're having problems with VdubMod, your best bet is to try one of 2 (or maybe 2 of 2) things:

1) Uninstall and reinstall VdubMod.
2) Export from Premiere as uncompressed RGB.

Gepetto · Post by **Gepetto** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:25 am

Failed exports can be caused by lack of free RAM or too much stuff going through your CPU so you'd want to shut down all software that you aren't using while you export. And it would also be a good idea to export the video and audio separately.

IF AND ONLY IF all else fails, since at least Cinepak is working, you can load the cinepak-compressed video in VDM by using AviSynth. Just load it with the Directshowsource("path/filename.avi") command. However, it would be better if you managed to export well in Huffy or Lagarith, or ideally, uncompressed RGB although that would require a considerably larger ammount of HDD space.

DarkStar · Post by **DarkStar** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:26 pm

Should I be able to play the file between exporting and compressing?

If so, Lagarith isn't going to work. It'll play for about 5 seconds and then crash.

It can't be CPU, because nothing else is running. It can't be RAM, because I have 4 gigs of it (Corsair XMS DDR400).

Anyways, I tried Huffyuv but it has a few problems... one being that there's a rainbow-colored bar in the top 10 or so pixels that keeps flickering (happened before). The exported Huffyuv file is about 2 minutes longer than the original, so I'm wondering what's going on here.

I found out through digging that my video is interlaced, so I'm trying to de-interlace it, but I have some stuff that is tightly edited and has to be perfectly in time with the music, so I'm a little afraid of losing it. If need be, I suppose I could just redo the entire video, because the timing is more important to me than the extra work, provided this will solve the interlace issue.

I'm going to try another Huffyuv encoding and see if I can de-interlace using

Code: Select all

AVISource("")
ConvertToYV12(interlaced=true)
TDeint(order=1)
TomsMoComp(1,5,1)
SangNom(order=1,aa=32)