Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 10:44 pm Post subject:
VQA Encoder v0.3
New in this version is support for AVI input (yay ), though only the video stream. You still need to extract the sound to a WAV file and use UGM2VQA to link the two. I don't think that's very bad, it gives you flexibility to change the soundtrack after the long and tedious video compression process is over.
The encoder should be a bit faster now, too.
Previous versions of UGM2VQA had a very, very stupid bug which would mess everything up if you passed the input UGM file with the full extension, like "c:\test.ugm". If you only wrote "c:\test", it worked. This is hopefully fixed now.
I've also included a version of the encoder that runs in a dos box so you can minimize it and let it run in the background. I remind you the graphics version DOES NOT run in the background!
Awesome! This should speed things up considerably.
Edit: Oh... You wouldn't happen to have a VQA encoder that supports C&C and RA1 would you?
This encoder is actually based on my old VQA encoder for C&C and RA1 movies. The VQAs I put on http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/samples/game-formats/vqa/custom%20VQAs/ were in fact made with the same encoder. It was even more difficult to work with due to the fact the input images are palettized and palette changes had to be constrained to specific frames. It still worked in combination with RAD Game Tools' very good color reduction algorithms, though.
BTW, is anone of you actually trying to produce a working VQA? I need some feedback from you guys, I don't want to think I'm doing all this for nothing... There's probably loads of bugs I haven't identified yet!
So far I haven't seen any mention of anyone producing their own VQA!?
The only one who's obviously actively trying to produce a VQA is TShyper, who in the process helped me identify a very stoopid bug...
Also, a question for you, modders:
Are you alright with the current concept of encoding the video separately from the audio track, which gives you flexibility to change the audio stream w/out recompressing the video
... or ...
Would you rather like the entire thing to be done with a single program that would read both the video and audio from an AVI and immediately spit out a VQA?
Finally, I'm posting the newest version tonight which fixes one bug and provides another noticeable speed improvement, stay tuned... QUICK_EDIT
About the sound, why does it stop halfway through the movie?
Also, you left the audio at 44100 Hz, you should downsample it to 22050 Hz so it doesn't use too much space. That's the way the TS ingame movies are set.
I think I'll write a short guide to creating VQAs and setting the options to produce good and reasonably small output files. You have to remember VQAs are an inferior and old compression format and can produce very large files, yet with poor quality so setting the options just right is pretty important.... QUICK_EDIT
well i have encoded it a few times now and the sound always cuts out, i have also put the sound rate down to 22050Hz. i also tryed it in TS and that also worked (witch i am happy about) my only problem is the sound now QUICK_EDIT
Did you encode it directly from the AVI or from an image sequence? If you used the image sequence, you probably set the wrong framerate, your VQA has 15 fps, and it most likely should be 30... QUICK_EDIT
Well, what you had there is a typical beginner's error. When I said VQAs for the game should be at 15 frames/sec, I meant converting them to 15 fps, that is dropping every second frame if the original material is at 30 fps.
Setting the framerate to 15 in the config file will only slow down the movie to twice the length so the sound runs out in the middle of the movie
When you use the AVI input, you don't have this problem because the encoder takes the value the movie plays at.
Which, again, means you'll get a 30 fps VQA as this is what your sample video obviously runs at - good for testing purposes, but if you're to make mods and create movies for TS, the files would be too large this way.
Modders, create and render your movies at 15 frames/second and with a resolution no greater than 640x400! An even better option would be a wide screen format like in C&C - 640x312 or something like that... QUICK_EDIT
ahh i see, well now i no i can do it i am happy i think i will go for the wide screen option then, as it would look better i think , so did the VQA come out ok your end? QUICK_EDIT
Yes, it's a perfectly normal VQA, it'll play back fine in TS, but like I said once you start making real movies for the game, if you want reasonable file sizes, you'll have to keep the framerate at 15 fps and audio at 22050 Hz.
Currently this little VQA's at 30 fps and 44100 Hz, which is fine. The two VQAs I uploaded before also are not "standard", they play fine, but are pretty huge because of the larger framerate... QUICK_EDIT
In ugm2vqa, do you have to type the entire address out, and do you need to put in the format (ugm, wav)? Because I think I've tried everything and yet it still doesn't go any further than writing those in and pressing enter. When I do that it exits. _________________
It would be best if you opened a comand prompt and run it from there so you can see the error message.
If UGM2VQA isn't in the same folder as the UGM file, then you need to write the entire path to the UGM file. You don't need to write the extension, it will automatically append it (in fact, earlier versions of UGM2VQA would mess everything up if you DID include the extension, it messed the original UGM so you had to re-encode the video...).
Note that if your path to the file contains spaces, such as "Program Files", you need to enclose the whole thing with quotation marks.
Have you tried downloading the latest version? QUICK_EDIT
I just got the new version and reencoded it (I'd put the extension) Now, however, it messed up the video, its all blue. Also, when trying to play it in [url=http://xccu.sf.net">XCC AV player[/url] it gave me the error 'DD Blt failed' _________________
Scratch the XCC Av Player, it crashes on me too. Install the Game Formats Package that enables you to play the VQAs in Media Player. I posted a link to it in I believe Tiberian Sun forum in the VQA Enc 0.2 thread. It's much more convenient than XCC and also supports a wide range of VQAs (as well as some other formats).
If it still turns out blue, try using the image sequence method, I'm aware AVI input is far from fullproof...
BTW, it would help if I knew your encoding settings and AVI file info, codec, resolution and so forth... QUICK_EDIT
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