Making MP4 Files From MPG Files Using MCEBuddy

[BTJustice]

IF YOU TRY ANY OF THIS YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK! I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST RECORDINGS, ETC...

I really like MCEBuddy. It is well-written and works pretty well for making MP4 files from MPG files on a dual core CPU, but it works really fast and well on a quad core CPU.

Now on my MP4 files, I like to use 160 bit rate for the AAC audio and 1000 average bit rate for video. My converted MPG files look GREAT and are a lot smaller in file size with almost unnoticeable loss of quality.

To set up MCEBuddy...

1. Download MCEBuddy from http://www.mcebuddy.com/ and install it. There are both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
   
2. Go to "C:\Program Files\Tyrell\MCEBuddy\mplayer".
   
3. Open "mencoder.conf" with Notepad.
   
4. Add the code below to the top of "mencoder.conf" and re-save the file.
   
5. Open MCEBuddy.
   
6. Select "H.264 MP4 1000/160 TV (No Resize, 2 Pass)" from the drop-down list.
   
7. Check the boxes in front of DELETE ORIGINAL (at your own risk and only if you no longer want the original MPG file), SORT BY SERIES, and SUB DIRECTORIES.
   
8. Change FILE SELECTION to *.mpg and change the VIDEO PATHS SOURCE and DESTINATION to where GBPVR saves recordings to.
   
9. Click START to start the MCEBuddy service.
   

Here is the code for "mencoder.conf"...

Code:

[H264MP42P-1-1]
profile-desc="H.264 MP4 1000/160 TV (No Resize, 2 Pass)"
vf=pullup,softskip,pp=fd,hqdn3d,harddup
lavdopts=threads=2
ovc=x264=yes
x264encopts=bitrate=1000:subq=6:frameref=6:qcomp=0.8:b_pyramid=yes:weight_b=yes:me=umh:partitions=p8x8,i4x4:bime=yes:brdo=yes:nodct_decimate=yes:trellis=1:direct_pred=auto:level_idc=30:nocabac=yes:threads=auto:pass=1
oac=faac=yes
faacopts=br=160:raw=yes:mpeg=4:tns=yes:object=2
of=lavf=yes
lavfopts=format=mp4
sws=9
#FileExtension=mp4
#Remux=yes
#Pass2=H264MP42P-2-1

[H264MP42P-2-1]
profile-desc="H.264 MP4 1000/160 TV (No Resize, 2 Pass)"
vf=pullup,softskip,pp=fd,hqdn3d,harddup
lavdopts=threads=2
ovc=x264=yes
x264encopts=bitrate=1000:subq=6:frameref=6:qcomp=0.8:b_pyramid=yes:weight_b=yes:me=umh:partitions=p8x8,i4x4:bime=yes:brdo=yes:nodct_decimate=yes:trellis=1:direct_pred=auto:level_idc=30:nocabac=yes:threads=auto:pass=2
oac=faac=yes
faacopts=br=160:raw=yes:mpeg=4:tns=yes:object=2
of=lavf=yes
lavfopts=format=mp4
sws=9
#FileExtension=mp4
#Remux=yes

ONE LAST NOTE

When I first started doing this, none of my MP4 files would play in GBPVR. I had to do a Windows reinstall anyway and after doing that and reinstalling GBPVR, all my latest recordings play fine in GBPVR.

[pcostanza]

I played with it during testing for almost 2 years and found it good but very slow. Haven't used it in over 6 months as VideoReDo has a new version with H.264 support that works very well.
On average, how long does the recode take for you? I understand this will depend on the system you have but I am curious if it's gotten faster as it's matured.

[hoborg]

Stupid question, but what about deinterlacing?

[BTJustice]

I played with it during testing for almost 2 years and found it good but very slow. Haven't used it in over 6 months as VideoReDo has a new version with H.264 support that works very well.
On average, how long does the recode take for you? I understand this will depend on the system you have but I am curious if it's gotten faster as it's matured.

Earlier today on the Documentary Channel, I recorded a boxing match story called "The Last Round Chuvalo vs. Ali". I started the recording 1 minute early and gave it an extra minute past. The recording on GBPVR's HIGH setting came out as an MPG of 6.04 GB 2:31:59 at 29 fps. Recording started at 8:59 AM and ended at 11:31 AM. After the recording finished, MCEBuddy kicked in automatically and started converting it. I do 2-pass encoding with MCEBuddy. According to file properties, the MP4 video started to be created at 12:50 PM which would have been the end of the first pass and was finished at 2:07 PM with a resulting file size of 1.23 GB!!!

My system uses 4 GB of DDR3 RAM and an AMD Phenom II 3.0 GHz quad core CPU. I was browsing the Internet and checking e-mail while it was doing the encoding.

[BTJustice]

Stupid question, but what about deinterlacig?

Not a stupid question at all. I cannot fully explain it, but the code in my first post here does it. There are no lines or anything in the resulting MP4 files.

[BTJustice]

I just recorded a 1 hour episode of "MythBusters" with an extra minute before and after. It started at 5:59 PM and ended at 7:01 PM. The original 1:01:59 MPG video was 2.46 GBs using the HIGH setting in GBPVR. MCEBuddy started up automatically about 2 minutes or so after the recording finished so I will say sometime during 7:03 PM. First pass ended and second pass started during 7:35 PM. The second pass ended and MP4 remuxing started early in 8:07 PM. Remuxing ended almost at the end of 8:07 PM. So about 1:05 from start to finish. The resulting MP4 video is 516 MBs without any noticeable loss of quality.

[pcostanza]

I took a 1 hour tv recording, cut out the commercials and got it down to 42 minutes and used the profile in post one and started at 7:28 and it completed at 9:35. In my humble opinion, that's too long. The quality wasn't bad especially since It went from over 1.6 GB down to 335 MB. However, Handbrake is faster and does as good a job. VideoReDo is not as fast as Handbrake but faster than MCEBuddy but isn't free.
Finally, AVIVO (ATI's program) takes advantage of STREAM and is super fast. You don't have as many choices and the low bitrate quality is not as good but if you don't mind file sizes a bit larger, it's pretty good too.
Even thought MCEBuddy didn't seem to zap my system of resources, if I used it, I'd let it run overnight. I do appreciate you sharing your h.264 profile....it's very good.

[BTJustice]

Yeah it took a lot of time to get that code just right. The thing I like about MCEBuddy is that it runs as a service and monitors the recordings folder for new MPG files and starts converting them when it finds new files without the user needing to do anything. I run it while I am in bed and at work.

EDIT: OH! Don't forget my code uses 2-pass encoding. I think this is essential to get the video quality the code above gets.

[carpeVideo]

Looks like it is just a shell around mencoder and ffmpeg and the included versions are from 2007 - so you might get a speedup replacing those with newer versions. The functionality seems cool.