BD Ripper (3D Plus) mp4 encodes are missing about half the frames.

[lalittle]

When I make an h264 mkv file from a Blu-ray, it plays fine at 23.98fps using Windows Media Player or Media Player Classic. When I make an mp4 of the same movie using the exact same h.264 settings as I did with the mkv file, it drops about half the frames and only plays about 16 of the 23.98 frames in each second. The sound is normal, but it constantly drops frames. I tried the same encode at a relatively low bitrate (under 3K), but it didn't make any difference -- it still only plays about 16 frames in each second.

Just out of curiosity, I imported the mp4 into Avid, which re-encodes it to DNxHD. As before, the sound was normal, but only about 16 frames of video played for each second. It appears that the video itself only contains 16 frames for each second, which results in choppy playback.

Any ideas why this is happening? I don't see any reason for an mp4 file to drop so many frames when an mkv file using the same encode settings plays fine. Note that I can make mp4s in other encoders and they play fine. It's only the mp4s I make in DVDFab BD Ripper that have problems.

I can use mkv files as a workaround, but I'd like to use mp4 files for wider software compatibility.

Thanks,

Larry

[Wilson.Wang]

Please post your log file.
Which version that you are used?

Wilson

[lalittle]

Please post your log file.
Which version that you are used?

Wilson

I'm using the latest version of the "8" series -- i.e. 8.2.2.8 Qt.

Regarding the log file, could you tell me which one you need? Also, do you want me to cut/paste it, or attach it, or cut just a certain section and paste it?

I did some more tests, and I cannot get an mp4 created in DVDFab to play correctly. It seems as if the encoder is intentionally dropping 1 out of every 3 frames and encoding it that way. I don't see this problem with other wrappers, including AVI, mkv, or m2ts files. This only happens when using the mp4 wrapper.

On a related note, I'm noticing other anomalies with DVDFab h.264 encodes regardless of the wrapper (I've tried AVI, mp4, mkv, and m2ts.) When I bring these into other programs to edit, encode, or even just view, they respond VERY slowly when I try to navigate them. I don't get this problem when navigating the original Blu-rays, which are also encoded with h.264. I only see problems with DVDFab h.264 encodes.

Thanks for your help,

Larry

[lalittle]

I tried a test (using just a single chapter from a Blu-ray) where I changed the "Default framerate" setting in the DVDFab Blu-ray Ripper preferences from "Same as source" to "Specified in profile." When I set up the Ripper settings again, the "framerate" option still didn't offer any settings other than "Same as source," and the resulting rip had the same playback issue where it dropped lots of frames.

I then changed all the decode and encode settings to "Software" (they were previously "CUDA" and "Software + CUDA.") This increased the process time quite noticeably, but it did not fix the playback issue either.

I believe that this is the relevant part (i.e. the most recent rip/encode) of the log:


DVDFab 8.2.2.8 (2013/03/06 19:08:58)

0m 00.68s: Start preload dll...
0m 00.72s: Load dll successful.
0m 00.72s: Start load fabplay dll...
0m 00.78s: Load fabplay dll successful.
0m 00.78s: Windows os type is: 13.
0m 00.78s: Transfer settings successful.
0m 00.90s: GPUAccelerate: 12351
0m 00.90s: CUDA cap: 1
0m 00.90s: Support coreavc decode: 0
0m 00.90s: Graphics info: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti : 5.0 : 3.0
0m 00.90s: Qt Translator file load success
0m 00.94s: Load config successful.
0m 00.98s: Init profile data driver sucessful.
0m 02.74s: Init GPU settings sucessful.
0m 02.74s: option dvd2dvd 1 dvd2mobile 1 bluray2bluray 1 bd2mobile 1 bd23d 1 bd2dvd 1 file2dvd 1 file2bluray 1 file2mobile 1 filemover 1
0m 02.75s: dvd2dvd:dvd2mobile:blu-ray2blu-ray:blu-ray2mobile:blu-ray23d:blu-ray2dvd:file2mobile:file2dvd:file2bluray:
0m 02.95s: Config ExBar successful.
0m 02.95s: dvd2dvd have 8 elements.
0m 03.07s: dvd2mobile have 31 elements.
0m 03.77s: blu-ray2blu-ray have 4 elements.
0m 03.80s: blu-ray2mobile have 21 elements.
0m 04.27s: blu-ray23d have 7 elements.
0m 04.40s: blu-ray2dvd have 1 elements.
0m 04.43s: file2mobile have 30 elements.
0m 05.10s: file2dvd have 1 elements.
0m 05.12s: file2bluray have 1 elements.
0m 05.43s: Config work ui controls successful.
0m 05.52s: Init burn engine successful.
0m 05.69s: StartNotify successful.
0m 05.69s: opening drive Z
0m 05.70s: opened i/o
0m 05.71s: got media type 15
0m 06.17s: got max lba 19700575
0m 07.11s: got disc type 20
0m 07.11s: type Blu-ray BDMV
0m 07.11s: volume label I_AM_LEGEND_NA
0m 07.15s: internal path Z:/BDMV/
0m 07.16s: aacs 1 bd+ 0
0m 07.62s: got bdmv
0m 07.64s: Vendor: PIONEER
0m 07.64s: Product: BD-RW BDR-205
0m 07.65s: Revision: 1.11
0m 07.65s: Vendor specific: 10/12/01 PIONEER
0m 07.65s: AACS version: 1
0m 07.66s: Number of concurrent AGIDs: 1
0m 07.66s: Supports bus encryption: NO
0m 07.66s: Supports binding nonce generation: YES
0m 07.66s: Supports Hybrid discs: NO
0m 07.71s: got agid 0
0m 07.78s: sent host cert chal
0m 07.80s: got drive cert chal
0m 07.80s: BEC 0
0m 07.80s: DRIVE_VENDOR 0x0103
0m 07.86s: got drive key
0m 08.20s: got host key signature
0m 08.20s: verified drive signature
0m 08.20s: verified host signature
0m 08.26s: sent host signature and key point
0m 08.26s: got bus key
0m 08.29s: got agid 0
0m 08.36s: sent host cert chal
0m 08.38s: got drive cert chal
0m 08.38s: BEC 0
0m 08.38s: DRIVE_VENDOR 0x0103
0m 08.44s: got drive key
0m 08.44s: got host key signature
0m 08.45s: verified drive signature
0m 08.45s: verified host signature
0m 08.51s: sent host signature and key point
0m 08.51s: got bus key
0m 09.15s: got volume id
0m 09.16s: got volume id mac
0m 09.16s: volume id is correct
0m 09.17s: got vid
0m 09.33s: blu-ray 796CCD33543790F7FEBD09EB49F439A44D71A6F2
0m 09.92s: cert BEE=0x00 same
0m 11.43s: D 1A298932
0m 11.45s: got vuk
0m 11.78s: got unit key 1
0m 29.33s: got discinfo
0m 29.40s: got bdmv
0m 39.02s: got extended bdinfo
0m 39.02s: opened blu-ray
0m 43.49s: WorkAttr::Init Start
0m 43.53s: WorkAttr::Init OK: xbox360.mp4.hd
1m 42.23s: WorkAttr::Init Start
1m 42.29s: WorkAttr::Init OK: mp4.h264.aac
2m 12.14s:


------ begin mobile work(1/1) ------


2m 12.14s: info: create config(5)
2m 12.15s: info: convert profile(mp4.h264.aac)
2m 12.15s: info: bluray playlist(6),angle(0),chapter(9->9),3D(0)
2m 12.15s: info: streams((4113.2)(4353.2))
2m 13.31s: info: not set correct fourcc for video(28)
2m 13.32s: info: set output video frame_rate(24000/1001)
2m 13.32s: info: enable multi-thread software decoder
2m 14.36s: info: h264_encode: encode param profile(2) level(41) bitrate(15000)
2m 18.38s: info: processing source(00006.m2ts)
4m 14.64s: info: enable multi-thread software decoder
4m 14.65s: info: h264_encode: encode param profile(2) level(41) bitrate(15000)
4m 18.68s: info: processing source(00006.m2ts)
6m 05.20s:


------ finish mobile work ------



Is this the part of the log that you're looking for?

Thanks again for looking into this,

Larry

[lalittle]

I did some searching on these forums, and I found several other threads describing what appears to be the same problem -- choppy mp4 video playback even though the audio plays fine. I even see mentions of mkv files playing smoothly when using the same encode settings, which is the exactly the same behavior I'm seeing. These posts go back over a year and a half, and I saw mentions of some sort of "variable framerate" issue that suddenly showed up with the "Qt" builds.

Here are just a few examples of other threads talking about this issue:

http://forum.dvdfab.com/showthread.p...ghlight=choppy

http://forum.dvdfab.com/showthread.p...ghlight=choppy

http://forum.dvdfab.com/showthread.p...ghlight=choppy

I don't appear to be the only one seeing this, but unfortunately, none of the threads I've read so far indicate a fix. Was a fix or even a workaround ever found for this? I'm hoping that I just haven't found the relevant post yet.

Thanks,

Larry

[Wilson.Wang]

Hi,

Please try the latest build 9028. As you said, you could convert one chapter and see the result.
Download from here http://www.dvdfab.com/download.htm

Thanks!

Wilson

[lalittle]

Hi,

Please try the latest build 9028. As you said, you could convert one chapter and see the result.
Download from here http://www.dvdfab.com/download.htm

Thanks!

Wilson

The short response: Version 9028 fixed these issues.

Okay -- I tested this with version 9028 and I'm happy to day that it DID indeed solve the problem! Thank you for suggesting I try the beta. I was able to make an mp4 using the h.264 encoder in DVDFab that plays normally and does not drop frames.

On top of this, version 9028 also solved a couple other issues that I had not mentioned yet. With DVDFab 8228Qt, when I imported the exported mp4 file of the whole film into TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works 5, it asked if I wanted to import the chapter information into the timeline. If I said "yes" to this, the import would stop at 18% and TVMW5 would stop responding. I had to answer "no" to the question in order to get the import to finish. This, however, resulted in choppy playback in TVMW5 and the subsequent encodes made with it. Also, navigation in the TVMW5 timeline was EXTREMELY slow. Simply moving to another point in the timeline would take almost 60 seconds to finally update the screen, which was NOT a problem with h.264 encodes of similar lengths and sizes made in other programs.

With DVDFab version 9028, however, these problems no longer happen. I can say "yes" to importing the chapter info, and it imports without any problems. The film then plays normally without dropping or missing frames, and navigation has normal response, taking only a few seconds at most to update the screen.

Note that I had the same issues with other file types (like mkv files) made with the h.264 encoder in DVDFab 8228Qt as well. It appears that the bugs are related to the h.264 encoder in version 8228Qt. I have no idea what the pattern is to get it to happen since I used the same encode settings for all my tests, but whatever the bug is, it's fixed in DVDFab 9028.

I do have some feedback a bug report for version 9028. I'm wasn't sure of the correct forum to post them, however, so I'll quickly put them here. First, when 9028 crashed while setting up a Blu-ray Rip, the error logs in the report (at least some of them) appeared to be from my version 8 history rather than a newer version 9 log.

Regarding the layout/workflow in 9028, I understand that a "cleaner" approach is being attempted, but the end result has become much more complex to actually use because it takes so many more button clicks to change or even view the various settings. The audio setting on a BD Copy, for example, shows "EN, EN, EN, EN" for the audio of the selected title. By clicking this spot it then shows "English AC-3/5.1." By dropping down the arrow it finally shows me the specific information for all the tracks that are available, and which are actually checked. Note that the "Summary" page to the right requires me to click the "Details" dropdown first, and then shows me only a partial list of audio tracks followed by "...." This makes the summary a bit useless since it's not complete, and even if it WAS complete, it's complicated to have to CHECK the settings in one spot and CHANGE them in another. Compare this to version 8, where the exact same place you check settings is used to change them as well. It may "look" less clean, but it's ACTUALLY more streamlined and easier to use.

The bottom line is that unlike version 8, where ALL of the information of a given category is easily viewable on one page without requiring ANY clicks (and can be edited on this same page), version 9 requires numerous clicks to do the same actions, and often necessitates clicking the same dropdown arrows multiple times in order to re-confirm the settings that aren't always visible. I understand that version 8 may not "look" as clean (although I never heard any complaints about this), but it's simply MUCH easier to use because it offers highly visible information that's easily edited and even easier to check.

I've used numerous programs in this arena (i.e. programs like encoders that require lots of settings to be checked and edited), and my honest reaction to version 9 in it's current implementation is that it's not very easy to use, and will likely confuse new users.

I'll see if I can find a better forum to post these comments, but I wanted to get my reactions posted while they were fresh in my mind.

The good news, however, is that I'm able to keep working due to the fixed h.264 encoding in version 9. Thank you for getting me back on track with that.

Thanks for your help,

Larry

[lalittle]

I did notice an issue with the h.264 mp4 encodes from 9028, which is that the encode has an average bitrate that is nowhere near the bitrate value that I set in the advanced encoder settings. Even though I set the value at 15,000, the actual average bitrate for the resulting encode I just did is only around 8,850 (reported by both MediaInfo and Bitrate Viewer.) Also, the max bitrate is 84,235, which seems way too high for a file with an average of only 8,850.

I did not see this with DVDFab 8228, where the average bitrate came out VERY close to the setting I used in the options.

A little off is no big deal, but when the result (8,850) is only about half of the intended value (15,000), it becomes a problem.

Larry

[lalittle]

I ripped/encoded another BD, only this time I raised the h.264 bitrate to 20,000 Kbps (instead of 15,000.) The average bitrate of the resulting mp4 was 9,445, only slightly more than my previous encode at 15,000. DVDFab is clearly not obeying the bitrate setting.

Note that the file size is also MUCH lower (nearly half) than the encode setting said it would be.

I'll start a new thread with this info.

Larry