Video Quality in 7.0.1

How can I adjust my video quality in dolphin 7.0.1 so it does not change the video quality when I upload an HD video? When it converts it and I play it it all blury. I adjusted the settings for the video and the quality is a bit better, but I would like the file to be left alone and just played as original quality

7.0 used to have a "Retain original video quality" checkbox.  Now the best you can do is setting quality at 100% and search the recent forums for a video quality playback coding mod.  It makes a difference.  But forget about HD quality until Boonex resolves the h264/ffmpeg issue.  (Promised to be coming soon to a server near you!)  Don't bother checking the h264 option until then or your videos will fail to convert.

Check this link

http://www.boonex.com/unity/forums/?action=goto&search=1#topic/7-0-1-Video-Quality-Mod.htm

already had this mod from 7.0 days...still cant get that HD quality. I guess I'll have to wait untul 7.0.2 release. Thanks guy

Have a look at this ticket: http://www.boonex.com/trac/dolphin/ticket/2023

Thanks. If I download these files one-by-one and replace my current files, will it work? or I have to wait until official 7.0.2 release?

It will work.

I admire your confidence

I have some catching up to do. I can't even get a video to post to my wall.

I admire your beard.

I'm applying the latest patches onto our labs installation. I'll update you all on whether or not h264 is truly supported with the closure of the above ticket.

Thank You.

It would appear that the h264 video conversion is still not functioning properly. I'm looking more closely into it.

For some reason, the h264-converted videos are only around forty bytes (read that, bytes) in size, while non-h264-converted videos are around their proper size.

RE

I knew h.264 had some good compression algorithms, but 40 bytes is just plain awesome!  How's the video quality?

The h264-converted videos are not playing. I examined the m4v file of one upload and it would appear that there's no content in it. It just throws an error upon playing.

Yep, I concur..... (LOLOL)

Either BoonEx has discovered the secret to perfect video compression, so secret and perfect, in fact, that videos touched by this process cannot even play by normal means, or they need to work on the h264 support more.

And I just had my finger on my mouse ready to launch Filezilla!  Guess I better wait, huh?

It's definitely looking like the ffmpeg is configured incorrectly to me. It generates the thumbnail ok but fails to actually convert the file

Wonder if the Boonex fix isn't enough without the FFMPEG upgrade on the server too.

Ok, I unchecked the H264 and tried uploading the same HD movie again...

It works and it's lookin pretty damned HD to me.

You meant to say unchecked, right?

I take that back.

The H264 video upload will eventually play, it just takes FOREVER to start. On top of that, the second upload actually had less artifacts in it than the HD upload.

It plays but certainly isn't working correctly. I did notice that the progress bar on the HD version goes all the way across before it starts to play....

Yes, my second attempt was with the H264 unchecked

That dude needs a better vacumm or something..  a little to slow for my likeing..

LOL! He's not trying to KILL the bees. He wants the queen and the workers and drones alive so he can start a hive...

Now you want me to muck up the conversation? check this

The upload I did with a 143 MB HD.wmv movie (that I made) with H264 checked (enabled) produced the following files

97.m4v = 19.12 MB

97.mp4 = 38.95 MB

The 2nd upload I did with the H264 unchecked, (disabled) same movie, produced the following files

98.flv = 208.68 MB (which is higher than the original movei!)

98.mp4 = 38.59 MB

I think it works. I think it just needs to be adjusted a bit. It's compressing it too much (a typical BooNex setup). I would expect to see a 30 to 35 MB m4v file. But hey, what do I know....

I'm going to run some more tests. I have a feeling the recent quality setting changes made to the other files may be playing a role.

I am currently uploading a 90mb HD .mp4, I have h264 checked on. Will let you know results in 20 min. Slow upload speed :(

AHA! Does this look familiar?

"playX264" => $GLOBALS['sFfmpegPath'] . " -y -i #input# -r #fps# -vcodec libx264 -deblockalpha 0 -deblockbeta 0 -flags +loop -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me_method hex -me_range 16 -subq 6 -bf 16 -b_strategy 1 -bframebias 0 -trellis 2 -flags2 +bpyramid+wpred-fastpskip -coder 1 -refs 6 -g #fps# -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.60 -complexityblur 20.0 -qblur 0.5 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -i_qfactor 0.71 -b_qfactor 0.77 -s #size# #audio_options# #output#",
 

I'm starting to get DANGEROUS now.... Thios is in flash/modules/video/inc/header_inc.php

Ha ha.

also, there's this that I've never seen before

No luck :( This is cron output

FFmpeg version SVN-r19066, Copyright (c) 2000-2009 Fabrice Bellard, et al.

configuration: --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libxvid --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --enable-libvorbis --enable-libogg --enable-libtheora --enable-liba52 --enable-libamr-nb --enable-libamr-wb --enable-libfaad --enable-libfaac --enable-pthreads --disable-shared --enable-static --enable-avfilter --enable-nonfree --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --extra-ldflags='-L/usr/lib -static'

libavutil 50. 3. 0 / 50. 3. 0

libavcodec 52.30. 1 / 52.30. 1

libavformat 52.34. 0 / 52.34. 0

libavdevice 52. 2. 0 / 52. 2. 0

libavfilter 0. 5. 0 / 0. 5. 0

libswscale 0. 7. 1 / 0. 7. 1

built on Jul 1 2009 10:40:54, gcc: 4.1.2 (Gentoo 4.1.2 p1.0.2)

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=1502, dts=3003, size=1592

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=3003, dts=4504, size=2360

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=6006, dts=7507, size=1952

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=7508, dts=9009, size=2472

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=10511, dts=12012, size=1776

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=12012, dts=13513, size=2132

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=15015, dts=16516, size=2748

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=16517, dts=18018, size=3096

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=19520, dts=21021, size=1800

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=21021, dts=22522, size=1644

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=24024, dts=25525, size=1304

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=25526, dts=27027, size=1532

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xa99e380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=28529, dts=30030, size=1476

Seems stream 0 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate: 180000.00 (180000/1) -> 59.94 (60000/1001) Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/home/kartingc/public_html/flash/modules/video/files/204':

Duration: 00:01:57.29, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 6155 kb/s

Stream #0.0(eng): Video: h264, yuv420p, 1280x720, 59.94 tbr, 90k tbn, 180k tbc

Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: aac, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16 [ffmpeg_output @ 0xa9c5640]auto-inserting filter 'scale'

Output #0, image2, to '/home/kartingc/public_html/flash/modules/video/files/1274326201.jpg':

Stream #0.0(eng): Video: mjpeg, yuvj420p, 1280x720, q=2-31, 200 kb/s, 90k tbn, 59.94 tbc Stream mapping:

Stream #0.0 -> #0.0

Press [q] to stop encoding

frame= 1 fps= 0 q=0.0 Lsize= -0kB time=0.02 bitrate= -10.5kbits/s

video:170kB audio:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead -100.012639% FFmpeg version SVN-r19066, Copyright (c) 2000-2009 Fabrice Bellard, et al.

configuration: --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libxvid --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --enable-libvorbis --enable-libogg --enable-libtheora --enable-liba52 --enable-libamr-nb --enable-libamr-wb --enable-libfaad --enable-libfaac --enable-pthreads --disable-shared --enable-static --enable-avfilter --enable-nonfree --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --extra-ldflags='-L/usr/lib -static'

libavutil 50. 3. 0 / 50. 3. 0

libavcodec 52.30. 1 / 52.30. 1

libavformat 52.34. 0 / 52.34. 0

libavdevice 52. 2. 0 / 52. 2. 0

libavfilter 0. 5. 0 / 0. 5. 0

libswscale 0. 7. 1 / 0. 7. 1

built on Jul 1 2009 10:40:54, gcc: 4.1.2 (Gentoo 4.1.2 p1.0.2)

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=1502, dts=3003, size=1592

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=3003, dts=4504, size=2360

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=6006, dts=7507, size=1952

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=7508, dts=9009, size=2472

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=10511, dts=12012, size=1776

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=12012, dts=13513, size=2132

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=15015, dts=16516, size=2748

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=16517, dts=18018, size=3096

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=19520, dts=21021, size=1800

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=21021, dts=22522, size=1644

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=24024, dts=25525, size=1304

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=25526, dts=27027, size=1532

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x9a27380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=28529, dts=30030, size=1476

Seems stream 0 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate: 180000.00 (180000/1) -> 59.94 (60000/1001) Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/home/kartingc/public_html/flash/modules/video/files/204':

Duration: 00:01:57.29, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 6155 kb/s

Stream #0.0(eng): Video: h264, yuv420p, 1280x720, 59.94 tbr, 90k tbn, 180k tbc

Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: aac, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16 FFmpeg version SVN-r19066, Copyright (c) 2000-2009 Fabrice Bellard, et al.

configuration: --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libxvid --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --enable-libvorbis --enable-libogg --enable-libtheora --enable-liba52 --enable-libamr-nb --enable-libamr-wb --enable-libfaad --enable-libfaac --enable-pthreads --disable-shared --enable-static --enable-avfilter --enable-nonfree --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --extra-ldflags='-L/usr/lib -static'

libavutil 50. 3. 0 / 50. 3. 0

libavcodec 52.30. 1 / 52.30. 1

libavformat 52.34. 0 / 52.34. 0

libavdevice 52. 2. 0 / 52. 2. 0

libavfilter 0. 5. 0 / 0. 5. 0

libswscale 0. 7. 1 / 0. 7. 1

built on Jul 1 2009 10:40:54, gcc: 4.1.2 (Gentoo 4.1.2 p1.0.2)

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=1502, dts=3003, size=1592

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=3003, dts=4504, size=2360

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=6006, dts=7507, size=1952

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=7508, dts=9009, size=2472

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=10511, dts=12012, size=1776

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=12012, dts=13513, size=2132

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=15015, dts=16516, size=2748

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=16517, dts=18018, size=3096

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=19520, dts=21021, size=1800

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=21021, dts=22522, size=1644

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=24024, dts=25525, size=1304

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=25526, dts=27027, size=1532

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xab17380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=28529, dts=30030, size=1476

Seems stream 0 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate: 180000.00 (180000/1) -> 59.94 (60000/1001) Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/home/kartingc/public_html/flash/modules/video/files/204':

Duration: 00:01:57.29, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 6155 kb/s

Stream #0.0(eng): Video: h264, yuv420p, 1280x720, 59.94 tbr, 90k tbn, 180k tbc

Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: aac, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16 [ffmpeg_output @ 0xab3e640]auto-inserting filter 'scale'

Output #0, image2, to '/home/kartingc/public_html/flash/modules/video/files/1274326201.jpg':

Stream #0.0(eng): Video: mjpeg, yuvj420p, 1280x720, q=2-31, 200 kb/s, 90k tbn, 59.94 tbc Stream mapping:

Stream #0.0 -> #0.0

Press [q] to stop encoding

frame= 1 fps= 0 q=0.0 Lsize= -0kB time=0.02 bitrate= -10.5kbits/s

video:170kB audio:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead -100.012639% FFmpeg version SVN-r19066, Copyright (c) 2000-2009 Fabrice Bellard, et al.

configuration: --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libxvid --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --enable-libvorbis --enable-libogg --enable-libtheora --enable-liba52 --enable-libamr-nb --enable-libamr-wb --enable-libfaad --enable-libfaac --enable-pthreads --disable-shared --enable-static --enable-avfilter --enable-nonfree --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --extra-ldflags='-L/usr/lib -static'

libavutil 50. 3. 0 / 50. 3. 0

libavcodec 52.30. 1 / 52.30. 1

libavformat 52.34. 0 / 52.34. 0

libavdevice 52. 2. 0 / 52. 2. 0

libavfilter 0. 5. 0 / 0. 5. 0

libswscale 0. 7. 1 / 0. 7. 1

built on Jul 1 2009 10:40:54, gcc: 4.1.2 (Gentoo 4.1.2 p1.0.2)

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=1502, dts=3003, size=1592

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=3003, dts=4504, size=2360

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=6006, dts=7507, size=1952

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=7508, dts=9009, size=2472

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=10511, dts=12012, size=1776

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=12012, dts=13513, size=2132

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=15015, dts=16516, size=2748

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=16517, dts=18018, size=3096

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=19520, dts=21021, size=1800

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=21021, dts=22522, size=1644

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=24024, dts=25525, size=1304

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=25526, dts=27027, size=1532

[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0xaa08380]Invalid timestamps stream=0, pts=28529, dts=30030, size=1476

Seems stream 0 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate: 180000.00 (180000/1) -> 59.94 (60000/1001) Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/home/kartingc/public_html/flash/modules/video/files/204':

Duration: 00:01:57.29, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 6155 kb/s

Stream #0.0(eng): Video: h264, yuv420p, 1280x720, 59.94 tbr, 90k tbn, 180k tbc

Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: aac, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16

You're using the older ffmpeg binary. Please check the ticket posted above for the updated files pertaining to h264 support. They include a newer binary.

Ouch, that threw a roadblock in the sanctity of the thread, lol

This upload is taking FOREVER to process. We're at 15 minutes and still processing

Here's an exceptionally cool link...

http://www.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-doc.html#SEC10

Seen it already. :)

No, I am using the new one

I found this. A great description of qmin and qmax.

In general, think of the quantizer as how much detail is thrown away. For a given frame lower quantizers retain more detail, higher quantizers will throw away more detail. That's all those descriptions are telling you.

In multipass VBR encoding the codec will use different quantizers for different frames. I don't know exactly what strategy the codec uses to determine what quantizer to for a particular frame. Presumably it's some balance between the requested average bitrate and bitrate restrictions (some profiles limit the maximium bitrate), the amount of detail within the frame, whether it's an I, B, or P frame (by default B frames get higher quantizers), how much has changed since the prvious frame, and how many motion vectors are found.

The min and max quantizer settings allow you to place limits on the range of quantizers the codec will use. There is hardly any visible difference between a frame compressed with a quantizer 1 or 2. But a quantizer of 1 will require more bits. Some playback devices may have problems with bitrate spikes with low quantizers. At the high end you are telling the codec never to allow the quality to get worse than the max quantizer will give you.

So what I think I see here is it only applies to multipass encoding. This setting should have no effect because H264 is a single pass ?

Ok, it's been an hour and it's still processing...

Ok, things are very weird.

over 1 1/2 hrs and the file never finished processing. I went in and unchecked H264 (again), once I did that, movie finished processing about 5 minutes later. File won't play though. Going into file manager, I found file 99.m4v with a size of 581.41 MB!

Of course it won't mount at that size. WTF!

Ok, I got H264 working fairly well. I did make some changes however. I have a real bad stutter on playback. All I can attribute it to is my single CPU VPS setup. I did do a couple things that seemed to help.

In my header_inc.php file, I played with the -me_method a bit. I started at the top ('full') and went all the way to the bottom ('zero')

Set motion estimation method to method.

Available methods are (from lowest to best quality):

`zero' Try just the (0, 0) vector.

`phods'

`log'

`x1'

`hex'

`umh'

`epzs' (default method)

`full'

Full gave me a black screen, epzs gave me a really stuttery movie with no sound, as I went down, it got better. I finally settled on -me_method log

When converting video files, you can use the '-sameq' option which uses the same quality factor in the encoder as in the decoder. It allows almost lossless encoding. I tried it, it was fine with smaller files but larger files totally collapsed with that setting.

In the end, -me_method log, -qmin 7 -qmax 25 -qdiff 4  is where I called it a night.

Skyforum: are these still your settings?

I tried -qmin 7 -qmax 25  and my uploaded video's are still blurry.