MeGUI is often the final step in the movie-making process, but it shouldn't be the least important.
There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube for MeGUI, but I feel like they complicate what should be a relatively easy process. They also fail to explain to you the basics of an X264 profile, which would allow you to edit your own profile.
Firstly, let's download and install all of the files that we'll need to get the best quality possible. Note that I have created my own X264 profile, so if anything, the quality can be "improved" by editing a handful of settings. I have tested different profiles, and have found that my own gave me the best quality.
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Avisynth
sourceforge.net/projects/avisynth2/
Run the installer, accept the default installation settings.
DebugMode FrameServer
www.debugmode.com/frameserver/
Run the installer, (TICK)
Sony Vegas Plugin during installation. Accept the default installation settings.
MeGUI
sourceforge.net/projects/megui/
Unpack the contents to a folder such as
C:\Program Files\MeGUI\ Create a shortcut to the desktop by right clicking MeGUI.exe and choosing
Send to Desktop.
Next, run MeGUI.exe. Click
Yes to review the available updates. Select all and click
Update. Note that most of these files are not actually updates, but files that MeGUI requires to function. They shouldn't conflict with any other versions of the same files that you may have on your system.
MeGUI will prompt you to download the missing Nero AAC Encoder. Click
Yes and you should be directed to the download page for the codec. Minimize any open windows, and leave the
MeGUI - Updater window open.
Nero AAC Codec
www.nero.com/eng/downloads-nerodigital-nero-aac-codec.php
Download the Nero AAC Codec. Create a new folder called
C:\Program Files\MeGUI\tools\nero_aac\ and unpack the three files inside the win32 folder to it.
Now, go back to the
Preset Importer window and click
Import. I recommend importing all presets, as there is no harm in doing so, although you won't be needing any of them.
PROFILES
www.gamefront.com/files/21320828/ENOEWO_MEGUI+PROFILES!.zip
Download my profiles and install them by using
File > Import Presets.
X264 Presets
forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=139765
Download the X264 presets above and install them by using
File > Import Presets.
Now, we need to direct MeGUI to the Nero AAC encoder executable. In MeGUI, choose
Options > Settings > External Program Settings and navigate to
C:\Program Files\MeGUI\tools\nero_aac\ and save.
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DEBUGMODE FRAMESERVER
Now that we're done installing everything, let's get rendering. It is important to set the project properties I outline below, because
DebugMode FrameServer uses these as render settings.
Do not use
Sharpen in Sony Vegas.
Go into
Sony Vegas and go to
File > Project Properties.
Set them to the following:
(VIDEO)
Width: 1280
Height: 720
Frame rate: 29.970 (NTSC)
Field order: None (progressive scan)
Pixel aspect ratio: 1.0000 (Square)
Pixel format: 8-bit
Full-resolution rendering quality: Best
Motion blur type: Gaussian
Deinterlace method: None
(UNTICK) Adjust source media to better match project or render settings.
(AUDIO)
Master bus mode: Stereo
Number of stereo busses: 0
Sample rate (Hz): 44,100
Bit depth: 16
Resample and stretch quality: Best
When you are ready to render, choose
File > Render As.
Save as type: DebugMode FrameServer (*.avi)
When the
DebugMode FrameServer window pops up, choose
RGB24 and click next.
Minimize Sony Vegas.
DebugMode FrameServer will feed the video and audio from your
Sony Vegas project to
MeGUI as it calls for it, skipping the intermediate process of rendering uncompressed, and avoiding any quality loss caused by this.
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MeGUI
Now that you have frame served your project, let's open MeGUI.
(VIDEO)
Navigate to
Encoder settings in the
Video encoding section of the input tab, and choose one of the following presets from the drop down menu.
x264: ENOEWO_FAST! (OR)
x264: ENOEWO_SLOW!
The
(ENOEWO_FAST!) profile provides faster encoding times, and differs from the
(ENOEWO_SLOW!) profile only in its
M.E. Algorithm. This setting can be found in the
Analysis tab of the
x264 configuration dialog.
I recommend using the
(ENOEWO_SLOW!) profile, as it provides better quality.
(AUDIO)
Navigate to
Encoder settings in the
Audio section of the input tab, and choose the following preset from the drop down menu.
Nero AAC: ENOEWO!
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MEGUI
Now that you have your profiles, go to
Tools > AVS Script Creator.
Under
Input click
... in
Video Input. Choose the FrameServed file, (*.avi) MeGUI will ask you to choose your preferred way to open the file. Choose
AviSource. Close the video preview that appears.
(TICK) Clever (TM) anamorphic encoding.
Under
Avisynthprofile click
Config. Add this line to the profile as you'll be prompted to anyways.
ConvertToYV12()
Click
OK.
Click
Save at the bottom of the
AviSynth script creator window. Close the video preview that appears.
Under
Audio Input click
... and choose the FrameServed file, (*.avi)
Click
AutoEncode at the bottom of the MeGUI window.
(TICK)
No Target Size (use profile settings)
Navigate to the
Queue tab, and click
Start.
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CONFIG
The following explains some parts of my MeGUI profiles, and why I chose the values that I did for each setting. Although I do not recommend editing my profiles in any way, the initial purpose of this thread was to give you the information needed to edit an X264 profile.
Click
Config in the
Video encoding section to bring up the configuration window.
(TICK) Show Advanced Settings.
MAIN
- Under
Encoding Mode choose
Const. Quality. Set
Quality to
16.
A lower number for this setting increases quality. A value of 16 should give you near perfect quality. I do not recommend going below this value.
FRAME-TYPE
- Under
H.264 Features set
Deblocking Strength and
Deblocking Threshold to
0.
Negative numbers reduce deblocking and preserve more detail. A higher number for these settings reduces artifacting, while making the video "blurry." I find that the default values provide an ideal amount of sharpness. When experimenting with this setting, try to keep both numbers the same or within one value of each other. I recommend leaving both of these settings on their default value of
0.
RATE CONTROL
- Under
Quantizers set
Min to
0.
This value defines the lowest quantizer X264 will use. The lower the quantizer, the closer the output is to the input. This value is disregarded in my profile because it uses Const. Quality mode.
- Under
Adaptive Quantizers set
Strength to
1.
This reduces blocking and blurring in flat and textured areas. I recommend leaving this on it's default value of
1.
- Under
Rate Control set
Quantizer Compression to
1.
Setting this to
1 reduces provides better quality by eliminating quality fluctuation.
- Under
Rate Control set
Nb of Frames for Lookahead to
50.
Increasing the number of frames generates better results.
ANALYSIS
- Under
Motion Estimation set
M.E. Algorithm to
SATD Exhaustive.
Higher values for this should improve quality, but increase the encoding time significantly. For this reason, I've provided two X264 profiles. These profiles differ only in their
M.E. Algorithm mode.
- Under
Motion Estimation set
Subpixel Refinement to
11.
Higher values for this will improve quality.
- Under
Extra (TICK)
No Fast P-Skip.
Fast Skip detection provides a negligible increase in speed while increasing the chance of artifacting. Ticking this disables fast skip detection.
edited 2012-02-19 17:58:12 
ENOEWO on 2012-01-16 23:22:39
edited 2012-01-16 23:24:43
edited 2012-01-16 23:45:58
edited 2012-01-17 01:43:41
Be ready for longer render times. YouTube reduces the frame rate of your videos anyways.
Video showing the quality? :)
btw if you use fraps should you still use mp4 or rawavc or MKV????
Once you begin the job in MeGUI, after creating the AVI Synth Script and choosing the FrameServed (*.avi) as the audio input and auto encoding, the file starts to render.
this is what I came up with... It didn't make a whole lot of diffrence with some older render settings :(
Did you use constant quality? What did you use for the two deblocking settings?
nt-2559097
This is normal. I'll edit the OP to make it clearer.
Under Audio Input click ... and choose the FrameServed file, (*.avi)
I click the ... and the avi file isn't there?
edited 2012-02-01 03:37:54
MeGUI (2106)
sourceforge.net/projects/megui/
Pretty sick presets, deserved to be sticked. But my vlc player shows me an artificle storm, strength 12! With Media Player it works fine!
edited 2012-02-05 14:36:45
Feel free to add me on XF / enoewo
Thanks for the kind words.
MeGUI (2112)
sourceforge.net/projects/megui/
edited 2012-02-10 21:04:40
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxgc5Is6A34&hd=1
tweaked some settings but much better than my old quality
edited 2012-02-11 15:23:02
If you tell me what you changed, I can tell you whether or not you should have.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=khoACC2g1mc
www.youtube.com/watch?v=khoACC2g1mc
www.youtube.com/watch?v=khoACC2g1mc
www.youtube.com/watch?v=khoACC2g1mc
MeGUI provides more customization for X264 profiles. You should give it a try.
Thanks.
Edit: I find it in Vegas 10 64bit, but not in Vegas 10 32bit. Is it possible to fix it, because Magic Bullet Looks doens't work on Vegas 64bit? :(
edited 2012-02-11 20:18:19
Edit: It works! I install the plugin in "Program Files" and not "Program Files (x86)" :D
edited 2012-02-11 20:25:42
I think the quality is not very good :(
Render in mp4 2048x1154 14mb bitrate in vegas and I get this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8fjcke-ut0
And the file is 2 times smaller...
Reso: 1280x800 (1600x900 screen) with slow settings. Quality is still not good :(
quality is pretty shit imo. can it be coz i record/render in 1366x768 resolution? or just bad render settings?
edited 2012-02-19 18:03:42
You can add me on XF if you want help.
how to make DebugMode FrameServer working in Vegas 9.0 and higher (also helps if vegas isnt installed on C:\)
1) delete frameserver (if u have it)
2) download this archive http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7398230/FS.rar
3) open it :|
4) put "Frameserver.x86.fio2007-config" into the folder where Vegas is installed on your pc (for me it's "D:\sony\Vegas Pro 9.0")
5) open and apply both .reg files
6) install frameserver from this archive, the folder for Sony Vegas Plugin must be same as for "Frameserver.x86.fio2007-config"
7)have fun
AviSynth script error:
DirectShowSource: RenderFile, the filter graph manager won't talk to me
Nice tutorial, really helps :)
edited 2012-02-24 19:10:42
Try uninstalling/reinstalling Avisynth.*Thanks.
"RenderFile, the filter graph manager won't talk to me"
This is a common error that occurs when DirectShow isn't able to deliver any format that is readable to AviSynth. Try creating a filter graph manually and see if you are able to construct a filter graph that delivers any output AviSynth can open. If not, you might need to download additional DirectShow filters that can deliver correct material.
- avisynth.org.ru/docs/english/corefilters/directshowsource.htm
Try installing the latest revision of ffdshow:
sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow-tryout/files/SVN%20builds%20by%2
0clsid/generic%20builds/
ffdshow_rev4323_20120213_clsid.exe
I have this revision on my own computer.
edited 2012-02-25 01:53:06
The video does not begin encoding until MeGUI calls for it. DebugMode simply feeds it to MeGUI, it does not render the video itself.
edited 2012-03-18 17:15:16
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlD9u9CvcmI