Guide for Transcoding Settings?

[Codyksp]

Hi,

I've recently run into some problems with my new TV (Panasonic Viera TX-50CX680) where I was unable to skip or pause because every time I tried to do that the audio would disappear.
After this happens I would be unable to even start the file from the beginning and would have to restart my TV. Needless to say it's quite an annoying issue to have to deal with...

Today I finally figured out the problem. Almost all of my files are .mkv and have subtitles (japanese spoken anime). After checking my Task Manager I noticed MEncoder was being used.
I went to the settings for FFmpeg and unchecked "Defer to MEncoder when transcoding problematic subtitles" (which is checked by default). After this I noticed that FFmpeg was being used instead.
And voila! I can now pause and skip without any issues, the audio stays and doesn't go out of sync either. I don't see any subtitle issues either, so I wonder why this behaviour was being exhibited.

This makes me wonder about all the other settings in UMS, specifically under Transcoding Settings. Which other optimizations can I make? A lot of options have no details and I'm not well versed in media.
For example I always check the option "Enable GPU acceleration" because I have an NVIDIA GTX980, I assume this somehow helps the transcoding of files? I would like more details on these settings...

I also trust in the Automatic settings for MPEG-2 and H.264 transcoding quality, but I wonder if it really gives me the best results. Is there any kind of guide for what each setting does?

[parallax1]

I don't know of any guides, except some of the parameters have mouse-over tips. Enabling GPU acceleration does speed up the encoding process. I've just made sure over the years that particularly Audio/Subtitles settings match my needs. Other than that I've left "maximum transcode buffer size" and "number of cores" to default. "Transcoding quality" I have set to wired for best quality, despite that I use wireless (5ghz / 300mbps) - no issues though.

Anyway I wanted to thank you for the pause/resume tip. I had the same issues after switching to a new Panasonic DX750 - disabling that option as well as MEncoder did the trick

[SubJunk]

Can you please give us logs for after you play that file? That way we can fix the bug so you can leave the default settings

[Madoka]

I thought GPU acceleration only works with AviSynth?

[Codyksp]

I re-enabled MEncoder and played one of the files with TRACE logging active. I tried going forward once and backwards once, but both times the audio was gone. The logs are attached.
At first when I enabled the engine I only got "Cannot read file" on my TV, I think this was logged as well. Eventually after re-opening UMS on my TV it seemed to work again.

For now I only have FFMpeg enabled and so far I haven't run into any issues with the files I use. Not sure about Audio High Fidelity vs FFmpeg Audio though, both are enabled for now.
I also noticed that AviSynth/FFMpeg and AviSynth/MEncoder are disabled by default, is there a reason for this? Also is the VLC engine worth anything?

[SubJunk]

Ah I see why MEncoder is being used - because there are custom fonts in the video and FFmpeg doesn't support them. I'll have a think about the best way to resolve this

[SubJunk]

I think your TV probably supports the raw file anyway, can you check that by going into the #-TRANSCODE-# folder (you'll need to enable it) and selecting [No Transcoding] for that file? Then there should be an "Options" button on your remote to toggle the subtitles

[Madoka]

Ah I see why MEncoder is being used - because there are custom fonts in the video and FFmpeg doesn't support them. I'll have a think about the best way to resolve this

I think the newer FFmpegs may actually support custom embedded fonts, as I've been using it for all my anime lately. It also plays .ass files with complex overlays correctly as well. The only subtitles that FFmpeg doesn't do are vobsubs, in my recent experience.

[SubJunk]

That's great news, Madoka. Can you please double check that? For a while it has supported playing the subtitles if there was a custom font, but it played it with a default font instead of the custom one. If you can confirm it uses the custom one now, I'll change that condition in the code

[Madoka]

That's great news, Madoka. Can you please double check that? For a while it has supported playing the subtitles if there was a custom font, but it played it with a default font instead of the custom one. If you can confirm it uses the custom one now, I'll change that condition in the code

I believe it is using the correct custom font as it looks the same as the subtitles on the PC played version with MPC-HC. In fact there is one anime series where FFmpeg plays it like the PC, while MEncoder uses the wrong font.