DOCUMENTATION

• 2.9.1 transcode's filter concept
• 2.9.2 Available filters
• 2.9.3 Used filters
• 2.9.4 Filter information
• 2.9.5 Filter options
• 2.9.6 Preview control
• 2.9.7 Select areas in the preview window
• 2.9.8 Preview settings
• 2.9.8.1 Preview buffer size
• 2.9.8.2 Preview frame range

You open this dialog with the Configure filters & preview... button on the Transcode page. It uses transcode's powerful realtime configuration and remote control interface. You can select and configure all transcode filters supported by this interface. A preview window shows the result in realtime and you can reconfigure, disable and/or enable filters on-the-fly.

First some brief notes about the basic concept of transcode's filters.

This is a simplified diagram of transcode's processing chain:

If we focus on filters, the PRE, CORE and POST sections are of interest. Simplified, the CORE does the resizing, so filters in the PRE chain see the original unresized images, whereas POST filters work on the resized images. This distinction is important. E.g. it makes no sense to do deinterlacing on a resized image, where no distinctive interlaced lines are available anymore. On the other hand, adding a logo is useful in the POST chain, because we usually want it with its original size.

Most filters are either PRE or POST filters, but some support both chains. Also most filters can be used only once, but a few can be applied multiple times.

On the left all available filters are listed with their transcode name and description. You can select a filter by double clicking on it - it's added to the Selected filters list. If the filter can't be used more than one time, the entry will disappear from the Available filters list.

All selected filters are listed here. The list is divided into two parts: PRE and POST - they correspond to the filter chains, described above. A PRE filter will be added to the PRE section, accordingly for POST.

You can use drag'n drop to modify the order, by default a new filter is appended to the chain. If a filter supports both PRE and POST, you can drag 'n drop it between both chains.

To remove a filter, simply double click on it.

This box shows some generic information about the currently selected filter: a short description, version information and the author(s). The other info here is more technical:

Type is currently always Video. Color is either YUV, RGB or both. These are the two color models supported by transcode. YUV is suggested in general, because it's reasonably faster. dvd::rip enables it whenever possible.

Pre/Post lists the chains, where the filter can be used. If Multiple is Yes you can add the filter multiple times.

This box lists all options of the currently selected filter. The entries are activated only if you highlighted the filter in the Selected filters list.

All filters have the Enable filter checkbox, which is activated by default. You can use it to temporarily disable/enable a filter.

All other options are filter specific. Tooltips show you the default and valid values. Illegal values are rejected. Some filters have options for filenames. A button labeled [...] appears beside the entry, which opens a file dialog to select a filename from your harddisk.

Other options describe size and position of a rectangle in the frame - besides entering values by hand you can define them by clicking with the mouse on the preview window, described below.

If you need more help with a specific filter, you can try transcode's tcmodinfo command:

tcmodinfo -i filter_name

The most interesting thing in this dialog is to view your filter settings prior transcoding. The buttons in the Preview control frame are responsible for this:

	Ok, guess what ;) This button starts playing resp. the preview window is opened. The movie plays with maximal speed and without audio. You see the frames all filtered using the actual settings and as fast as transcode can process them.
	A stands for Apply. Once the playback has started you can hit this button to commit any changes, immediately viewing the effect in the running or paused preview window. You can change as many options you want, add, enable or disable filters. Only changing filter order isn't possible while playback is active.
	If you don't apply very complex filter operations, which slow down the proccess anyway, you can press this button. The preview speed does decrease a bit. Hit the button multiple times to strengthen the decelerating effect.
	Press this button to increase playback speed again. Note: you can't get more speed out of transcode than technically possible. The original playback speed, when preview was started, is the limit.
	This pauses the preview window and enables the navigation buttons right from it. Hit the pause button again to resume playback.
	In pause mode you can step one frame back in transcode's preview buffer. The current frame number is displayed in the upper-left of the preview window.
	The same in the forward direction.
	This steps back a few frames, depending on the size of your preview buffer. For a 20 frames buffer this steps back five frames.
	The same in the forward direction.
	This is the Stop button which closes the preview window.

Some filters expect a rectangular frame area or a position on the frame (e.g. the logo and logoaway filters). When the preview window is open you can specify these options by two clicks with your mouse: one click for each vertex. The coordinates are added automatically to the corresponding filter entries. Also these changes are applied, so you see the effect immediately - no need to hit the Apply button manually here.

Note: for PRE filters the coordinates may look wrong, but dvd::rip has to transform the values. PRE filters apply before resizing and thus need coordinates for the original image, but the preview shows the resized image.

This box has three entries to adjust some settings regarding the preview window:

By default 20 frames are kept in the preview buffer. In pause mode you can navigate through this buffer using the buttons described above. Increase the value here, if you want to have a bigger area to navigate through in pause mode.

If want to test your settings with a particular scene you can specify the corresponding frame range here. Once the preview window reaches the end of this range, it loops and starts playback at the start frame again.