I thoroughly enjoyed my holidays, and did not have enough time to get stuff done.
For OP, I will batch release the episodes I have missed out. So keep watch.
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I will be moving on to x265 for HQ Video encoding & He-AACv2 for Superior Audio.
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What is x265?
It is something which gives you upto 50% better compression when compared to x264 at the same bitrates.
But, there is still a lot of optimizing left to do for x265 devs. Many features which are available in x264 are not yet available in x265 not to mention the ridiculous ETA for each encode.
A while ago when I tried x265 it had so many glitches that encoding it became pointless.
CBR was the only available option at that time. But since then, a lot of improvements started showing up. Now CQ & CRF are available, and it won't be long before 2 pass and other features of x264 start showing up.
Currently the downside to encoders is that it takes up a lot more time than x264 since x265 is much more CPU intensive.
That said, I am still sold on x265; the detail it can retain at nominal bit rates is great. After doing a few high resolution tests, I was convinced about the capabilities of x265.
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I have improved on my Audio workflow too, and now it will be better than my usual encodes. Improvements in Bass & Surround Sound are included with audio encode with very high transparency. Audio will now be encoded using HE-AACv2.
What is HE-AACv2?
It has a high compressibility and retains much more detail than AAC. It is an upgrade over many popular formats like MP3, AAC, AC3, etc.
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Playback notes:
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Tested with MPC(HC & BE) v1.7.1 [32 & 64 bit] (K-lite & CCCP) and VLC 2.1.1 and 2.1.2.
Configs tested:
~i7 2600 + GTX 540
~core 2 Quad + AMD Radeon 5850
Cpu usage for 1080p playback>> ~50-85% in Quad core, 20-50% in i7
Cpu usage for 720p playback>> ~25-65% in Quad core, 10-30% in i7
I'm guessing that it will not playback fluently on anything lower than quadcore due to the CPU usage level in quad core itself.
So if you've got anything lower than a quad core, or an i5 system, then it would be wise to skip all x265-1080p rips for now.
-CCCP flawless playback, no issues with the 27th Nov release.
-K-lite codec pack seems to be dropping frames but it can be re-configured.
-64 bit version of MPC-HC needs to be configured correctly for flawless playback.
-VLC may have issues with seeking; other than that, playback itself is flawless.
So all things considered I would recommend CCCP's configuration atm.
Combined Community Codec Pack + Media Player - Classic Home Cinema Link:
http://www.cccp-project.net/
VLC media player link:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
File info:
----------
General
Unique ID : 249879218362498979784777670242670068939 (0xBBFCFCA64B33AAC59665CC9DE8DDC4CB)
Complete name : Opening 16 - Kota Shinzato - Hands Up! [720p] [x265.HE-AACv2].mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 4 / Version 2
File size : 54.0 MiB
Duration : 2mn 29s
Overall bit rate : 3 021 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2014-01-08 00:23:47
Writing application : mkvmerge v6.2.0 ('Promised Land Rovi v1.0.4') built on Aug 29 2013 13:59:38
Writing library : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.0
Video
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Codec ID : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration : 2mn 29s
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Title : x265 encoded by jnx_r
Default : Yes
Forced : Yes
-------------
Audio General
Complete name : Opening 16 - Kota Shinzato - Hands Up!.m4a
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 4.59 MiB
Duration : 2mn 29s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 257 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2014-01-07 23:40:19
Tagged date : UTC 2014-01-07 23:40:25
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 2mn 29s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 255 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 279 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Title : HE-AACv2 encoded by jnx_r
Language : Japanese
Default : Yes
Forced : Yes
Stream size : 4.56 MiB (99%)
Writing library : Nero AAC codec 1.5.4.0
Encoding settings : -br 256000
Encoded date : UTC 2014-01-07 23:40:19
Tagged date : UTC 2014-01-07 23:40:25
Text
ID : 3
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode : Lossless
Title : English Subs
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : Yes
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~~Thank you for downloading!~~
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PS: Seed, rate, comment, and share!
regards,
-jnx_r