Video buffer underflows. Grrrrr. Arrrrgh.

Sebaz wrote on 5/5/2010, 7:44 PM

I'm using x264 to produce h.264 blu-ray compliant files. Since build 1564 from a few days ago, the x264 reached compatibility with the blu-ray specification. The files I'm encoding are accepted without trouble in Encore CS4, and the project finishes building without errors, and the output plays just fine in my blu-ray player, even when I burn the tree to standard DVD media.

However, I can't seem to get any x264 files to finish the build with DVDA 5.0b. In the Optimize disc section it shows both video and audio as compatible, but when it starts preparing the project, I get this:

File name: STREAM/00000.m2ts
Status: TSWrapper.dll::CTSWrapper::ProcThreadMain::Video buffer underflows. -

Now, I've tried several different encoding parameters without success, so I'm going to copy the output from MediaInfo in here and if someone can spot what the problem is, please tell me:

Video
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 20.0 Mbps
Maximum bit rate : 20.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 8 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.402
Writing library : x264 core 94 r1570 d9db8b3
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:-2:-2 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / sliced_threads=0 / slices=4 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / wpredp=2 / keyint=24 / keyint_min=2 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=24 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=20000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=20000 / vbv_bufsize=14000 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00 / nal_hrd=vbr

Thanks

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 5/5/2010, 8:04 PM

try these for starters:

8x8dct=0
bframes=2
b_pyramid=0
b_adapt=0
deblock=1:-1:0
(-2,-2 is a bit blocky)

You might also try Main@L3.1 and bframes=0 just to see if it makes a difference.

Which x264 frontend are you using? I might have time to play with it and see what works best with DVDA.

Sebaz wrote on 5/6/2010, 8:20 AM

I tried these suggestions (except for profile 3.1, but I did try 4.0 with no slices), and nothing worked. It seems to me that DVDA is not picky, it's just that it's not made for the blu-ray specs. All the different tests that I did with MeGUI changing parameters were accepted and built with Encore CS4 with no problems whatsoever. I prefer DVDA's GUI to Encore's, but on the other hand I want to author discs that will be blu-ray compliant and DVDA doesn't seem to be.

Leopardman wrote on 5/10/2010, 2:45 PM

I've tried both AVC and mpg options in DVD Architect.

Too date I've found anything rendered above 18 Mbps (which is the default value in DVD Architect Pro) by any version of Vegas Pro 9 and wanting to create a Blu-ray disc on DVD5 (4.7) or DVD9 (8.5) discs using a Bit Rate value in the project properties value within DVD Architect Pro higher than 18 Mbps, results in the abovementioned video buffer underflow problem.

Rendering it at 35 Mbps within Vegas and creating a "standard" Blu-ray disc (i.e. 25 or 50) with the corresponding Bit Rate value selected in DVD Architect Pro works fine.

I have a Sony PMW-EX3 camera (HQ mode 35 Mbps, SP mode 25 Mbps) and a V1E HDV (25Mbps) and I often have footage between 25 to 50 min that I'd want to burn to a DVD5 or DVD9 disc and retain the high quality bit rate that it was filmed at.