Concept for a very noob friendly half-automated filtering+encoding GUI:
What’s the main difference between a noob and a experienced user?
Ripping a DVD, creating a d2v project or resizing the video via AviSynth is relative easy to learn... But knowing about all the flaws n quirks a source can have n how to fix them needs some experience, same with the setup of codecs. So, my idea is basically to guide the user visually [sample images] n textually [questions the user has to answer] through the filter n encoder setup.
How would it work? The user opens his source with the program which will open up 2 windows... One window where the user can see his source [plus slider n buttons to jump through it n maybe a function to zoom in/out] and another window that will ask the user questions to collect information about the source and what the user want to do with it n which tradeoffs he’s willing to make... With this info the program can setup all needed filters + the encoder to get nearly optimal results without that the user needs much knowledge about the countless filters, their effects and their settings!
How would this work in detail? First it will ask the user what kind of content he has [Anime/Toon, CGI, Film, etc; each option with small sample image], then the user selects one of the options and has to answer more detailed question... Like, when he selected "film" the program asks the user if it’s black&white content, if it’s mainly dark, if it’s a fast paced action movie, whatever... Together with the info it can attain automatically [length, resolution, framerate etc.] and input it gets later [desired size etc.] the program already has most info it needs to configure the encoder... This leaves the filtering: Here the program will show the user images of common flaws n properties a source can have [interlacing, noise, halos, blurriness etc...] step by step, n tell him to check his source for occurrence and finally offer a solution [or multiple ones] for each problem/situation.
A random example? Ok... At some point the program will show you 3 small crop-outs of a noisy image [mild, medium and strong noise], then it tells you to check your source for noise [some scene with a flat mid-tone background] and to click the sample-image that comes closest to your situation... Then it will ask you if you prefer keeping the noise or if you want to remove it. Depending on your answer it will apply weak, medium, strong or none denosing n also tweak the encoder settings to match your preference... This way the program will lead you through all possible filter steps n source characteristics that could have influence on the encoder settings and collect enough information to pick a close to optimal composition of filters n settings.
Whats with lazy people? Not everyone is willing to answer 20, 30 or more questions! Well, some sort of "expertise/complexity level" could be added that the user can choose before he starts answering the questions... From low [3-5 most important questions] up to high [all questions].
Why did nobody write something like this yet? Maybe because pre-defining the right filters n settings for each situation needs hell a lot testing... Maybe because no one got this idea yet... Maybe it already exists but we dont know about it... Dunno... But imo it’s a good n innovative concept, much better than teh usual "Denoise: Yes/No" checkboxes we have in current GUIs, and that’s why I wrote this stuff down!
Why I don’t write this program? Well, I’m willing to do a big part of the necessary testing for the filtering etc. But as I can’t code, and even the testing alone will consume a lot time, I can’t do it alone... If you want to participate, you are welcome! :]