codec options.

Edit history:

Apathy: 2006-01-22 10:17:16 am

2006-01-22 10:16:22 am

King n00b!

I noticed the runner of Red Faction used the H264 codec http://speeddemosarchive.com/demo.pl?RedFaction_10155
Is this an option that all speedrunners can use now? I'm thinking about re-doing the Doom3 speedrun to get rid of the little bit of mistakes I made, and to try out more rocket jumps.

(I believe I can kill almost another 10 minutes).
I was wondering if I was allowed to use the H264 codec along with Xvid?
The run will be on the same dificulty.
Nightmare is too damn hard. Segmented or not. 1 tiny mistakes really fucks you in the ass. I want a 1:30 run or less if I can pull it off.

I'll also be reding that RoE run, but I need either another ram stick, or just upgrade again. RoE is just going to have to wait.. I'm not going to suffer with headaches because I can't tell wtf is going on half the time.. The first run is the result of having a comp that can hardly keep up with everything.

Thread title:

Kibbo

Edit history:

Kibbo: 2006-01-22 10:35:29 am

2006-01-22 10:34:17 am

TIOLET!

As far as I know you are free to use any codec you like that use .avi as file format for the HQ video, I used h264 for my Q4 run and it got accepted. A 320x240 512kbps divx/xvid is required for the MQ though.

Apathy

2006-01-22 10:36:12 am

King n00b!

NQ is supposed to be at 550 Grin

Kibbo

Edit history:

Kibbo: 2006-01-22 11:08:46 am

2006-01-22 10:37:57 am

TIOLET!

512 for the video stream only, Radix was very specific on that point when I submitted. When I look through the other PC runs with Gspot it seems like they got away with a higher bitrate. He was after all headed for bed (and probably tired) when I got his attention so he might have given me the wrong info by accident Roll Eyes

Apathy

2006-01-22 11:07:53 am

King n00b!

I just read the faq for the 90th time... You're correct.. In a thread I made while testing dif codecs. Radix was specific about 550. I can't seem to find the thread.

Edit

Quote:

The max video bitrate that a normal quality should be is 550.

Ok, I have the memory spand of a goldfish.
It was the max I was allowed to use. I'd probably use 550 just to squeeze out the best quality possible.

ballofsnow

2006-01-22 01:30:47 pm

Also, I think HQ has become strictly no higher than 2000 kbps since we now have the insane option at 4000 kbps. Just more reason to use H264. 8)

Kibbo

2006-01-22 02:06:45 pm

TIOLET!

I wonder why my H264 movies got accepted then. They were meant to be HQ and some of them were around 4400kbps because I just set the quantizer at 20 and let the encoder do the rest, maybe because most of them were between 2000-3000kbps Roll Eyes

In the improved run I use single pass bitrate and set it to 2000, the result is almost identical but the bitrate is a hell of a lot lower. H264 FTW!

ballofsnow

2006-01-22 02:12:22 pm

Single pass bitrate? Eww.

Kibbo

2006-01-22 02:16:32 pm

TIOLET!

Well, if I use the quantizer the videos automatically rocket in bitrate (2500kbps or more) and since the current setting proved to generate almost identical results in terms of quality I see no problem with it.

ballofsnow

2006-01-22 02:24:48 pm

But you'll get even better results with multi-pass bitrate.

Kibbo

Edit history:

Kibbo: 2006-01-22 03:38:40 pm

2006-01-22 02:26:39 pm

TIOLET!

Quote:

But you'll get even better results with multi-pass bitrate.

Most likely, yes. But to be honest, as long as single pass generate good enough quality I see no reason to go through a second pass at 15 fps. I have other things I need to do with this computer, like school work.

darkwasabi

2006-01-22 03:23:41 pm

King of hearts

I stuck with Xvid for my HQ because it would've taken around 75 hours to encode HQ alone! 30 fps for h264 is fine, but who the hell is able to play 640 by 480 h264 at 60 fps?

I know the option is out there and h264 roxxors, but if you have an uber computer and are able to play it, doesn't mean 90% of others could. Just make sure you know who this is for, the fans. If they can't play it, what's the point.

Kibbo

2006-01-22 03:44:26 pm

TIOLET!

Many of the HQ PC runs are actually 30 fps movies, so there shouldn't be too much of a problem.

ballofsnow

Edit history:

ballofsnow: 2006-01-22 03:50:07 pm

2006-01-22 03:49:39 pm

I agree. That's why I plan to release my mohaa HQ run at 30 fps. Not just because 60 fps is crazy, but because 2000 kbps 60 fps would hurt the quality. If I encode an insane version, that will definitely be 60 fps H264.

Also, it depends on what you use to decode H264. FFDShow is actually slow compared to VLC. With FFDshow I can decode mohaa 1-2 at an average 70% cpu usage. With VLC it's 50%. And there is a new decoder by CoreAVC coming out that is even faster.

darkwasabi

Edit history:

darkwasabi: 2006-01-22 04:11:53 pm

2006-01-22 04:10:59 pm

King of hearts

Quote:

I agree. That's why I plan to release my mohaa HQ run at 30 fps. Not just because 60 fps is crazy, but because 2000 kbps 60 fps would hurt the quality. If I encode an insane version, that will definitely be 60 fps H264.

Also, it depends on what you use to decode H264. FFDShow is actually slow compared to VLC. With FFDshow I can decode mohaa 1-2 at an average 70% cpu usage. With VLC it's 50%. And there is a new decoder by CoreAVC coming out that is even faster.

If it gives me somewhere around 40% at 30 fps then I'll start using h264. 60 fps will double your cpu usage, so 50% is still not good.

nate

2006-01-22 04:15:52 pm

just in case anyone is still confused, h264 is fine for hq/iq. divx/xvid is only required for the medium and (if you would like to submit it) low quality. medium quality is minimum 512 kbps bitrate, although iirc radix is recommending 550 now. multipass encoding should be used 100% of the time. can set virtualdub to "idle" priority and use your computer for other things with no performance loss if necessary.