Important notes about Avanti version 0.9.3

This version is retracted because of a serious issue with a newly added option to the
"Job Control Manager" (batch job processing).

Please read this post at the Avanti support thread at VideoHelp.com forums for details.

Note that http://avanti.arrozcru.org and http://videohelp.com are the only official
sources to download Avanti.

The developer never offered Avanti for download at any other web site and is not responsible for the fact that this version may still be available elsewhere.


Changes in Avanti version 0.9.2

Many internal code optimizations and bug fixes this time. Also a automatic adaption on slow machines to leave some CPU headroom for Avanti to control FFmpeg. 

The
-new option allows to enter very complex FFmpeg operations at the script editor
in which Avanti sometimes mistakenly may see a error. To be able to continue, you now can add the
-no_check command to your script to bypass error checking.

All options at the "Protocols and Devices" menu can now be previewed with FFplay.

Processed clips can now also be viewed with FFplay instead of the internal DirectShow player. Just hold down the "Alt" key when you press the destination "Preview" button.

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.9.2 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.9.1

A lot of attention in this version to fix issues and improve FFmpeg log error reporting and the @path labels that can be used in FFmpeg and AviSynth scripts.

User additions to the dropdown boxes and supported FFmpeg formats are now stored separately to preserve them in case you have to restore the defaults at fatal errors.

The folder watch option now can save the process logs at the "source_clips_done" folder to check things out in case a process failed. There is also a option to remove all logs after inspection so you don't need to do that manually. You can set the file manager to the "source_clips_done" folder and double-click on the logs to open them in Notepad.

The context sensitive help is improved to better catch the related topic on messages
that suggest to "Press <F1> for help".

This version adds back support for vgtmpeg for which now is a 2015 version available. Vgtmpeg is based on FFmpeg and makes it easy to extract individual DVD titles from ISO and IFO structures (also handles bluray) http://godromo.com/gmt/vgtmpeg. Details can be found in the chm help at index "FFmpeg/Protocols and Devices/DVD protocol".

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.9.1 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.9.0

The folder watch option is much improved. It now also keeps track of clips that are
copied to the folder when the option is disabled and even when Avanti is not running. Read the details in the chm help at index "How to set up a watch folder".

The FFmpeg log "thin-out" option at the user preferences now also suppresses the huge amount of x264/x265/avs technical data and muxer details that show up at FFmpeg finish. This info is not very useful for most end users. Just as a reminder; to conveniently read the FFmpeg log, double-click on the window to expand it.

AviSynth script preview response is improved and there is a option added to change preview color space. Some decoders seems to do a extra conversion which could lead to choppy playback on relatively slow machines. Right-click on the editor for the menu.

Many internal optimizations in the way FFmpeg is launched and a fixed issue that made it hard to cancel a process when FFmpeg spits out a continuous range of messages.

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.9.0 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.8.9

If you upgrade to Avanti 0.8.9 from an older version and also plan to upgrade FFmpeg, please ensure that the FFmpeg and FFplay versions match. A recent change in FFmpeg
may cause the subtitle burn and preview options to fail. In that case also refresh the
fontconfig font cache which seems to became invalid (right-click on the "Start Process" button for the cache refresh option).

Recently FFmpeg ported the mplayer eq2 filter to a native libavfilter option. This filter is part of the Avanti color correction options which needed modifications. 

A change in the latest FFmpeg builds (no built date) caused a "Unsupported build" error message. Avanti now uses other criteria to check out if a FFmpeg build is supported.

Some error checking that restricted the use of the -dvs and -das labels with the -new option is now disabled when this option is in use.

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.8.9 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.8.8

This version fixes a few major bugs in the folder watch option that failed on 2-pass encoding and auto post processing. There are improvements on possible timing issues and empty destination files are deleted in case FFmpeg cancels a process.
There is also a option added to resume processing of jobs that were still in the queue at the time the watch option was switched off.

There's a new -minimize switch added to the option to launch Avanti with command line arguments. It will launch and keep Avanti minimized at the Windows taskbar.

Some bugs are fixed in FFmpeg script error reporting that could impede conversion when multiple output paths were used.

A bug is fixed at AviSynth script parsing where errors were reported that showed up in comments.

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.8.8 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.8.7

This version adds the option to let Avanti watch a user selectable folder and let it automatically process clips that are copied to that folder. You can find the details in
the chm help at index "How to set up a watch folder" (bottom right).

There's a protocol added for batch and watch job processing that automatically disables
audio or video when a clip doesn't contain any of these streams. This allows to process
a variaty of clips without error interruption or the need to process them separately.

There is a "@mxf_start" and "@frame_rate" label added that contains the start timecode and frame rate of MXF clips. It can be used with a "drawtext" filter chain to automate  the process of burning in MXF tmecode, starting at the reference from its metadata.

The auto chapter option at the "Metadata Manager" now already creates chapters
when you load a clip or re-read the source properties. This allows to "lock" the
metadata and edit the default chapter titles ("Chapter 1", "Chapter 2", and so on).

The by Avanti given pre-processing messages at the FFmpeg log window, are more logically re-ordered and separated.

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.8.7 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.8.6

Creating and running a batch job process at the "Job Control Manager" is much simplified.
You now only need to set a "default" destination path at first run. There is no need anymore to save paths and job lists for each batch process you prepare. There's a new column added that allows to set individual destination paths per job or group of jobs.
There's a updated help section that explains all the details.

The "lav* encoder" metadata messages are now suppressed at FFmpeg log reporting to improve readability. They are not very useful for end-users because they do not show
the actual version number of the used codecs. The metadata itself will still be written to the destination clip.

At the FFmpeg "Doc Viewer" you can now double-click on e.g. opened codec info to return to the codecs list. Formerly you could only do this with the "Home" button.
You can right-click to copy a line of text to the Windows clipboard.

Batch chapter and CD track extraction was broken because of a small change in the latest FFmpeg versions. This is fixed. Some broken templates are fixed too.

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.8.6 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.8.5

The "Source 1" and "Destination" fields can now be set to NULL to be able to use
FFmpeg options that generate a source internally or do not require a output path.

Added sub-menus to the save/load buttons of the FFmpeg and AviSynth script editors
to simplify loading vs. inserting scripts and saving selected parts of a script.

The 2-pass dual command line option didn't handle filter chains correctly. This is fixed.
A bug in the "Job Control Manager" that disabled subtitle muxing after a "audio only" job was processed is also fixed.

All supported text based subtitles can now be converted and muxed into the mp4, m4v
and mov containers in the "mov_text" format. Also added support for vobsub in mp4.

Many updates and corrections of outdated info at the chm context help.

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.8.5 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.8.4

A lot of attention again for the subtitle burn/mux options, as you can read in the
change log, but also some more general changes and bug fixes for those who are
not interrested in subtitles.

The option to insert user source paths at the [USER_SOURCE_PATHS] section and in
filter chains is simplified by adding a sub menu to the "Insert Source" button. Error
checking and reporting of invalid filter chain paths is also much improved.

A major bug is fixed in the "user tools" option where Avanti failed on command line arguments that use slash switches like e.g. the /k switch for cmd.exe. Thanks to the
user who reported this issue at the Avanti support thread at videohelp.com.

The command redirection option with <<-- is moved to a more logical location a the
[USER_SOURCE_PATHS] section. This option was already available long before the introduction of FFmpeg user scripts. The old location at the [USER_VIDEO_OPTIONS] section could lead to confusion about the actual command line position at where
redirected commands are inserted. The old location is still functional for backwards compatibility with saved templates.

Please re-read the related topics at the updated chm context help for all the details.

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.8.4 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.8.3

This version adds a few new subtitle burn/mux features and options. Avanti can now search for and use subtitle files at the "Source 1" path that are related to the given
video clip (equally named). This allows to batch process subtitle burning and muxing
at the "Job Control Manager".
    
Subtitles (srt, ssa, ass) can now be "muxed" into video clips with native language
support by using the options already available for burning. MPC-HC and FFdshow are
known for supporting this feature. Hardware players may fail on it.
    
Note that Avanti doesn't support UTF-8 and UNICODE subtitle files and that language support is based on the ANSI code page system. If it encounters unsupported subtitles
at batch processing, it will silently skip them and continue. The "Test Jobs" option
however will pop up a warning in such a case.
    
You can open the subtitle page and press <F1> for all the details.
     
This version fixes bugs in FFmpeg error reporting at the log window, especially when FFmpeg cancels a process. Previous versions reported that as "FFmpeg canceled or
finished process unexpectedly" while there actually were important details reported.
      
It also fixes an issue where Avanti failed to truncate the log when FFmpeg showed a huge amount of repeating messages.
     
The "Codec AVOption" messages are now suppressed when they are not relevant.

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.8.3 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.8.2

This version mainly fixes minor bugs and improves stability on Windows 7. We advice to upgrade if your current version basically works but shows issues on certain components like e.g. file load dialogs, video preview and batch job processing.

The fonts sub-folder for the subtitle option is now kept local at the Avanti ffmpeg folder,
even if you chose another location for FFmpeg. Formerly Avanti created a copy at the chosen location. FFplay can now also run from the user selected FFmpeg location.
Please read the "FFmpeg version limitations" section of the CHM context help.

The FFmpeg codecs and formats database is updated with the latest additions.

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.8.2 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.8.1

FFmpeg power users can now add input file related commands in front and in between paths at the [USER_SOURCE_PATHS] section of the "FFmpeg Script Editor".
There are more characters added at where you can break very long command lines like complex filter chains and file paths. FFmpeg script error checking for proper input path and filter chains is improved.

The syntax for command redirection is changed from the single < character to the <<-- sequence. This was needed to avoid conflicts with the FFmpeg option to use formulas.

Using protocols and devices like "Bluray", "Web url's", "Dshow", "CDIO" as source is now automated and can be selected from a right-click menu at the "Source 1" field. Enable a option, select the field and press <F1> for all the details.

There's a new option at the "Job Control Manager" right-click menu to easily create a FFmpeg input text file for the "Concat demuxer" protocol. Useful to chain e.g. clips from cameras that store shots in separate clips.

There's a new option at the "Metadata Manager" right-click menu to create a Job list for batch chapter and CD track extraction.

You can now re-read the source properties, e.g. for input stream mapping, by simply double-clicking on the "Source 1" or "Source 2" input fields.

There are new options for the FFmpeg rename conventions. Portable users and those who
make use of the ability to switch between FFmpeg versions should read the "FFmpeg version limitations" section of the CHM context help.

The CHM context help is restyled and a lot of items have been rewritten. The use of the command lines at the main page of the gui is dissuaded and all examples in the help now set focus on the use of the "FFmpeg Script Editor".

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.8.1 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.8.0

This version updates the example templates included in Avanti. Some of them used deprecated FFmpeg commands and generated errors.
From this version up Avanti stores templates in separate folders. If you upgrade to this version and do a overwrite install, your old templates are moved to a backup folder. You'll get the details on screen when you launch Avanti.

Avanti now automatically adds a template link when you load a template which refers to a codec that is not yet on the dropdown list. It also updates the links list when you deleted entries from the dropdown list at the "Options Editor".

The double-click to expand/contract feature is now also available at the file manager and FFmpeg/AviSynth editor windows.
  
For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.8.0 changelog.


Changes in Avanti version 0.7.9

First a important note for those who upgrade to Avanti 0.7.9 and saved their own custom templates. From this version up, Avanti always inserts a FFmpeg -tag:v command if the "Force FourCC" field (now "Set FourCC/tag") is set to other than the "Default" option. This allows to not only write custom FourCC's in containers but also tags in streams if desired.
Formerly any setting was ignored except for AVI destination containers. If you saved templates for other than AVI destinations and their FourCC field is not set to "Default", FFmpeg may generate a error or writes a undesired tag. Please check your templates for this and re-save them with the "Default" setting in such a case.

And then... too many additions and changes to add brief descriptions here while the
chm help is fully updated for them. Please click on the related boxes and dialogs and
press <F1> for all the details.

Also this... almost all AviSynth AUTO mode options now have their FFmpeg equivalent but that doesn't mean Avanti will drop AviSynth in the future. Some FFmpeg transforms have their limits and there is still the powerful AviSynth USER mode which is irreplaceable.    

For a brief overview on all changes and bug fixes read the 0.7.9 changelog.
v. 0.9.3 - (C) 2007-2015