2024-10-24p:
- added option to "AVConvert - global settings ..." sub-menu, accessible via desktop or folder background, to use either H.264 or H.265 as the video compression codec; default codec is H.264; the currently active CRF value is always increased by 3 when switching to H.265 codec since H.265 yields similar results to H.264 at higher CRF values.
- added entry in "AVConvert - show current settings ..." sub-menu to show the currently active video compression codec
- fixed minor resizing issue with horizontal video stacking option (hstk2)
- fixed minor inconsistencies with the ffmpeg commands of video rotation and slowmo video creation options


2024-10-19p:
- MKV overlay video over video context-menu reorganized
- added option to MKV video-over-video context menu to stack 3 videos horizontally and have the background padded in a customizable colour
- added option to MKV video-over-video context menu to stack 3 videos horizontally and put a blurred, custom background image behind them
- added option to MKV video-over-video context menu to stack 3 center-cropped videos horizontally and have the background padded in a customizable colour
- added option to MKV video-over-video context menu to stack 3 center-cropped videos horizontally and put a blurred, custom background image behind them
- added option to MKV video-over-video context menu to place 1 larger video on the left and two vertically stacked videos with the same combined height next to it on its right
- removed options in MKV video-over-video context menu to specify the start and end time of the overlaid video; trim video before overlaying it
- fixed issues with MKV video conversion option to zoom into video footage and also added option to include title and logo overlays while zooming
- moved option to set customizable colour for video backgrounds from MKV video-over-video sub-menu into "AVConvert - global settings ..." context-menu accessible via desktop/folder background
- provided 2160p-resolution solid black and solid white still images that can be used to fade to black or white in slideshows and for other purposes
- fixed an issue with MP3 concatenation (ffmpeg comlaining that concat_list_MP3.txt does not exist)


2024-09-24p:
- CRF video conversion and video file creation method optimized (default CRF value: 30)
- changed AVI video to MKV conversion to CRF method
- "-" character omitted in most video output file names in order to keep file names shorter
- removed redundant video conversion options in MOV and MP4 context-menu
- removed 2-pass video encoding options in MKV, MOV and MP4 context-menu; video conversions are now carried out in CRF (constant rate factor) mode which is faster and more efficient than 2-pass encoding
- output file name suffixes shortened


2024-05-15p:
- added "AVConvert - context menu configuration ..." sub-menu to folder/desktop background context menu which includes the following options:
				1. temporarily disable non-essential "gadget" video context-menus for MKV, MOV and MP4 files (in order to de-clutter the video file context-menus)
				2. temporarily disable all AVConvert context menu entries (except for the one to re-enable them again)
- added new options in MKV context-menu to convert videos using the CRF (constant rate factor) compression method which yields smaller output file sizes for a given video quality compared to using the bit rate to control video compression
- added option to WV audio conversion context menu to convert to WAV (16 bit)
- when converting an MKV video, multiple audio streams present in the source video will be retained in the converted file (except when using 2-pass conversion)
- creation speed of a 1-JPG video incl. background music has been increased
- conversion of portrait-oriented smart phone videos now uses crf instead of pre-definced bit rate


2024-05-05p:
- added context menu entries to M4V video files to losslessly transcode to MKV video container
- added context menu entries to M4V video files to losslessly transcode to MKV video container while simultaneously converting audio to AAC
- added context menu entries to M4V video files to mux M4V video with memorized audio file, adding the new audio stream to existing one(s) or replacing existing audio stream(s) in the video with the memorized one
- new "AVConvert - global application settings" context menu in folder/desktop background merging app-related options
- added option to new "AVConvert - global application settings" context menu to open AVConvert narrated help playlist
- shortened "AVConvert - global settings" menu
- replaced the term "custom audio" in all muxing context menu entries by "memorized audio"
- PDF and plain text help files have been updated
(- ffmpeg v. 5.1.2)


2024-04-22p:
- added option to MXF context menu to convert up to 2 audio streams in the MXF video separately to WAV
- added option to MXF context menu to losslessly transcode MXF files to MKV retaining all audio streams
- added option to MKV context menu to losslessly transcode MKV files to MXF retaining all audio streams
- changed MOV-to-MKV transcode batch file to retain all existing audio streams when transcoding MOV to MKV
(- ffmpeg v. 5.1.2)


2024-02-06p:
- added option to MP3 context menu to losslessly concatenate multiple MP3 files that have matching media file properties
- added AVConvert context menu entry to MOD files to transcode MOD video to MKV while converting original AC3 audio to AAC
- added option to WMV video context menu to convert audio from video to WAV
- added option to WMV video context menu to losslessly transcode video to MKV
(- ffmpeg v. 5.1.2)


2023-12-21p:
- added option to WAV audio conversion sub-menu to aggregate the audio channels of two WAV files into a single one
- added option to WAV audio conversion sub-menu to extract 8 stereo signals from an 8-channel source file into separate stereo files
- fixed error in file naming while extracting still images from a video
(- ffmpeg v. 5.1.2)


2023-11-12p:
- added option to MKV audio conversion context menu to convert audio in video to AAC while simultaneously increasing or decreasing audio level by a customizable amount of dB
- added option to folder/desktop background context menu (AVConvert - set A/V resolution/encoding quality) to specify the amount of positive or negative volume change applied when triggering the aforementioned conversion process
(- ffmpeg v. 5.1.2)


2023-08-29p:
- removed redundant code from batch files intended to insert key-frames
- i-frames now get inserted by AVConvert into videos during encoding every 25 frames (= every second with video files that have 25 fps; appr. 1 sec. for videos using other frame rates); i-frames will also get inserted at scene changes
- slightly reduced bit rate of AVConvert screen videos
- ffmpeg.exe reverted to v. 5.1.2 due to issues with slideshow video creation in v. 6.0


2023-08-17p:
- added options to MKV, MOV and MP4 video conversion context menu to convert videos using 2-pass encoding while either copying the audio or converting it to AAC. 2-pass encoding yields better image quality compared to single-pass encoding for the same video output files size but encoding takes appr. 50% longer
- added option to MKV, MOV and MP4 context menus to convert to DNxHR (LB)
- removed "-threads 2" command from batch files (supposedly speeds up encoding)
(- ffmpeg v. 6.0)


2023-07-04p:
- "+" behind encoding quality modes listed in AVConvert a/v encoding quality sub-menu allows for immediate recognition of the currently active modes
- "°" in video rotation context sub-menu entries replaced by "deg." to avoid display glitches
- added option to "AVConvert - global settings" context sub-menu to display FFmpeg version currently used by AVConvert
- fixed regression bug in several .bat files introduced in v. 2023-07-03p that could mess up order of entries in "AVConvert - show current setting" sub-menu
- PDF help file updated
- all menus overview PDF file updated
- data streams in MOV files will be ignored when losslessly trimming MOV files
(- ffmpeg v. 6.0)


2023-07-03p:
- added menu entry in "AVConvert - show current settings" context sub-menu to show currently active a/v encoding quality mode (f.i. "V: HiQ, A: LoQ")
- video conversion settings templates deprecated
(- ffmpeg v. 6.0)


2023-06-24p:
- added option to MKV and MP4 video file audio conversion context menu to extract up to 6 stereo audio streams as separate WAV files
- fixed transcoding from MKV to MP4 and vice-versa to retain all present audio streams in transcoded video
(- ffmpeg v. 6.0)


2023-06-23p:
- added option to AVConvert global settings context menu (desktop/folder background) to open AVConvert web page in default browser
(- ffmpeg v. 6.0)


2023-06-22p:
- added options to FLAC audio conversion sub-menu to directly convert to MP3 and to M4A format
(- ffmpeg v. 6.0)


2023-06-11p:
- AVConvert can now be extracted to and registered in the system from any user-defined folder. Requirements:
		- path must not include non-ascii characters!
		- don't go more that one sub-folder deep: "D:\AVConvert" and "D:\portable Programs\AVConvert" are both fine but not "D:\first sub-folder\second sub-folder\AVConvert" or deeper.
- ffmpeg.exe updated to v. 6.0


2023-05-20p:
- "out time" values of several AVConvert video overlay options and video trimming now represent the length of a section instead; the length of the section a process is supposed to get applied to is likely to remain the same while start time (in point) often changes -> less need to adjust length value as opposed to out point value
- added entries in "AVConvert - show current settings" sub-menu showing current title and logo overlay file names
- gamma and saturation default values of "cinema effect" have been changed to 0.9 and 0.4
- still images extracted from videos are now extracted into "extracted stills" sub-folder
- default still image extraction length now set to 4 (seconds)
- lossless audio extraction context menu for MKV video files now split into two separate menus (for lossy audio formats and for WAV)
- AVConvert can now extract up to 3 WAV audio streams from MKV container file that has no video stream in it
- slightly increased bit rate in several video stacking batch files
- AVConvert output file names shortened
- removed all leading AVConvert context menu entries' spaces
- fixed current frame rate not being updated in "AVConvert - show current settings" sub-menu after the user changed it
- added option to folder/desktop background context menu to open AVConvert PDF help file


2023-05-16p:
- added option to MKV video context menu to convert user-definable section of video into an animated GIF (default start time: 0s into the video; length: 9 s)
- updated JPG2MKV_CONCAT.bat to match internal version
- commented out unfinished options in JPG video creation sub-menu to create video from currently selected JPG still images
- slightly lowered bit rate of JPG concatenation video
- added option to specify image overlay start time and length in "overlay image over video" sub-menu


2023-05-11p:
- added option to title/logo overlay config sub-menu to set title and logo overlay images to "blank"
- slightly lowered bit rate for slideshow video creation (supplementary quality addend 11 -> 8)
- lossless video trimming options now preserve multiple audio streams
- added option to losslessly transcode MTS to MKV with no audio stream conversion
- changed context menu order: 80AVConvertOVL became 80bAVConvertOVL
- re-labeled "view currently set overlay images" context menu entry to "open currently set overlay images"
- re-labeled "show current settings, overlay images" context menu entry to "show current settings"


2023-05-06p:
- ffmpeg.exe reverted back to v 5.1.1 due to issues with slideshow video creation
- added option to WebM video conversion context menu to losslessly transcode WebM to MKV
- added two missing batch files to mux MP4 video with custom audio file (add and replace audio)
- updated wrong AVConvert version txt file in the AVConvert folder


2023-04-22p:
- ffmpeg.exe updated to v. 6.0
- videos created via MKV video over video overlay option now also include permanent logo overlay
- videos created via MOV and MP4 context menu now incl. title, text and logo overlay
- removed separate text overlay and logo overlay menus in MOV and MP4 context menus; all overlays are now managed in a single (re-labelled) menu
- added option to video crop context menu to losslessly crop taskbar from bottom of video (default: 62 px, adjustable)
- added options to
              - temporarily disable all AVConvert menus from media file context menus
			  - re-enable all AVConvert context menus
			  - entirely un-register ("uninstall") AVConvert
- added option to AVConvert global settings context menu to specify taskbar height
- added option to blur background video while overlaying a still image over video
- added option to MP4 muxing sub-menu to mux MP4 video with a custom audio file
- added option to MP4 audio conversion sub-menu to convert the video's audio directly to WV
- blank default overlay images now labeled "insert_blank.png" and "logo_blank.png"
- fixed wrong reset command for title overlay image in "AVC_RESET_CONV.bat"
- fixed wrong batch files used in MOV video conversion incl. title/text/logo overlay
- fixed wrong commands in "disable image overlay" bat files (was using old, blank image file names with "0" in name)
- fixed PNG context menu entry removal when temporarily disabling or permanently unregistering AVConvert
- re-labeled menu entry in PNG context menu
- re-labeled all AVConvert main context menu entires for consistency
- help file updated


2023-04-21p:
- added option to TXT file context menu to memorize a file as cropping template file
- added option to MKV, MOV and MP4 video file context menu to use memorized txt file as cropping template
- fixed typo in folder/desktop background context menu (screen video sub-menu numbering)


2023-03-14p:
- German AVConvert version discontinued
- registering and un-registering process for AVConvert has changed and is now even faster: just double-click "register_AVConvert.bat" or "unregister_AVConvert.bat" respectively
- added "AVConvert - show current settings, overlay files ..." sub-menu in folder background context menu. It ...
       - shows current video output resolution
	   - shows global video output frame rate
	   - allows to highlight currently active overlay images, currently memorized audio files and currently set video overlay files in Windows Explorer
	   - allows to open screen video recording directory in Windows Explorer
- fixed sub-menu entry numbering order in MP4 video file audio extraction context menu
- added option to M4B audio file context menu to convert M4B audio to WAV, to extract the raw AAC audio data and to losslessly transcode M4B to M4A
- fixed typo in JPG "change aspect ration" sub-menu


2023-01-26p:
- added /w switch to start command in all batch files to improve Win11 compatibility
- added option to MKV, MOV and MP4 context menu (in ProRes conversion sub-menu) to convert to DNxHD
- fixed wrong batch file calls for screen video recordings in English batch files
- fixed missing DOS window formatting in VID2MKV.bat (plus EXIT command) and INS_TEXT_LOGO_AAC.bat
- modified video conversion batch files to retain all audio streams in the output video


2022-11-27p:
- added option to record 4k screen in 2160p/12 fps incl. title, text and/or logo overlay
- provided *.reg file to allow batch conversions when more than 15 files are selected simultaneously (15 files = Windows default limit); new limit is 500 files
- true-stereo IR files now have 24 bit resolution (was 16 bit)


2022-11-17:
- added option to MKV video context menu to stack centered portion of 3 videos horizontally in one output video
- added option to MKV, MOV and MP4 video file context menu to memorize right-clicked file as the third video in horizontally stacked output video


2022-11-10:
- moved insert and logo overlay restore option into title/logo overlay menu
- renamed "RESET_OVRL.bat" to "DISABLE_OVRL.bat"
- title image and logo image overlay selection now only possible by right-clicking the desired file and choosing "AVConvert - memorize this file's name"
- added "AVConvert - memorize this file's name" to FLAC and WV file context menus
- fixed wrong batch file call when re-enabling disabled overlay image files
- base video conversion quality -crf value is now 29 (was 30)


2022-11-06:
- added option to PNG context menu to pick insert and logo overlay images by right-clicking a PNG image
- added option to view currently set insert, logo overlay and background images in an image viewer
- added option to restore last used insert and logo overlay images
- AVConvert file name suffixes shortened


2022-11-04:
- added option to various image, audio and video file's context menus to memorize the right-clicked file's path and file name for convenient use in AVConvert; avoids the need to type in paths and file names; the following file names are memorized: 1. video overlay (foreground) file name, 2. bg audio file name (for JPG still videos and for custom muxing), 3. image file name (overlay/bg image)
- reduced number of some context sub-menus (thanks to the new, aforementioned feature)


2022-11-03:
- added option to MKV context menu to overlay a still image over a video (similar to video-over-video overlay); still image zooms in slowly; overlay image's appearance timings and size are customizable via the respective video-over-video overlay sub-menu entries; choice of adding a black border/shadow to the overlayed image or not


2022-10-27:
- improved video quality when creating videos from animated GIFs (output videos are now padded and scaled to 16:9 aspect ratio and to the current video output resolution); also adjusted color space and output frame rate
- videos created from animated GIFs now include a title image and/or a permanent logo, if the corresponding overlay files have been specified accordingly
- improved video quality of videos generated from JPG still images (slideshows, time-lapses, etc.) by adjusting color space and output frame rate
- added option to insert text overlay to JPG slideshow videos
- fixed issue with converting wide-format JPG image to 16:9 format incl. scaling to currently set output resolution


2022-10-25:
- added 2 options to combine two videos in split-screen mode:
     1. left half of right-clicked video on the left, right half of overlay video on the right ("compare" mode)
	 2. both video are cropped to show their center content before they get combined ("talking heads" mode)
   (overlay video will get scaled to match the resolution of right-clicked video)
   
- option to stack 2 videos horizontally either using a custom solid background (color customizable via hex color code) or a user-definable, blurred background image; audio level of stacked videos can be adjusted separately for both videos
- video-over-video overlay option should now handle audio correctly; audio of overlaid video is only audible while it is visible; audio levels can be adjusted separately for both videos

Notice:
known issue: video creation process doesn't stop automatically when eof is reached for any of the videos involved when using the video-over-video overlay or split-screen features; render process has to be stopped manually, else, output video will fill up entire drive

2022-10-19:
- fixed issues with JPG aspect ratio and resizing options
- added option to apply cinematic movie look effect to MKV videos; video effect's gamma and saturation values are customizable


2022-10-13:
- AVConvert text overlay settings moved into separate text overlay settings menu in folder background context menu
- added option to logo overlay settings menu to set logo overlay opacity (between 0 (full transparency = invisible logo) and 1 (no transparency))
- added option to MTS video file context menu to losslessly transcode video to MKV while converting first audio stream to AAC


2022-10-07:
- added timecode overlay option to special video effects sub-menu (MKV); start time is customizable
- MKV video conversion and overlay menus have been stripped of numerous redundant entries and combined into one
- JPG slide-show videos can now include title image and/or logo overlays
- JPG-related title images can appear with or without fading effect
- fixed source file's path name and processing order issues with 1-JPG- and JPG-slideshow-video creation incl. title insert, logo and background music
- increased consistency: all JPG-related overlay files now have to be specified in source video resolution like in every other overlay situation (previously, overlay files (to be overlaid over JPGs) had to be specified in output video resolution)
- internal -preset:v parameters now set to "faster" in all batch files
- internal -profile:v parameters now set to "high" in all batch files
- added option to overlay settings menu to disable all overlays at once
- AVConvert basic video quality setting set to 30 (better quality; was 33 previously)


2022-10-03:
- fixed encoding quality menu entries in English version (removed JPG-related stuff in video resize section)


2022-10-02:
- ffmpeg updated to v. 5.1.1 (from 5.0)
- folder "C:\AVConvert\USER" now stores personal preferences such as screen video recording path, preferred font for text inserts, preferred frame rate and also the user templates for cropping and video conversion; simply don't delete or overwrite this folder during an AVConvert update to keep your settings; also don't delete or overwrite the LOGOS subfolder during updating to keep your logos and insert files
- run "show ffmpeg version.bat" in C:\AVConvert\QMODE to reveal current ffmpeg version
- fixed issue with saving, editing and loading video conversion templates
- fixed wrong batch file call in English MKV video resizing context menu (would always resize video to 720p regardless the output video resolution set)
- fixed wrong batch file that specifies AVConvert output video resolution
- made font size of text insertions adjustable via AVConvert overlay settings sub-menu in folder background context menu
- switching video output resolution doesn't change JPG image aspect ratio any more


2022-09-30:
- added option to have title insert overlays fade in/out
- added option to MKV video de-muxing context menu to de-mux MKV video containing AC3 audio
- tried to fix issues with text insertions into videos when text contains special (European) characters
- fixed bug in "zoom into video" option (video was slowed down even if AVConvert was set to match input video's frame rate); AVConvert's FPS setting must always match the source video's FPS for the zoom effect to work
- improved playback smoothness of VFR-to-CFR output video; conversion now also includes possible video resizing
- some menu entry re-labeling
- fixed wrong entry in MP4 video context menu (insert image + logo), introduced in v. 2022-09-28 (testing version only), where options would only trigger commands for regular video resizing and no insert image was added
- fixed missing translation of some English sub-menu entries
- note that due to the large amount of changes that have been made to AVConvert in the last two versions the help files do not yet reflect all those changes


2022-09-28 (no release, internal testing version only):
- fixed issue with video file names containing special characters when overlaying one video file over another video
- fixed a few issues with text insertions into videos and also simplified the process of text insertion
- audio- and video-related context menu entries are now grouped/ordered more consistently
- added new global AVConvert settings sub-menu to folder background context menu
- moved video quality settings sub-menu to folder background context menu
- moved video conversion templates sub-menu to folder background context menu
- moved overlay insertion settings parametrization (title insert, text and logo) to folder background context menu
- removed redundant video conversion/resizing/overlay parametrization context menu entries in JPG, MKV, MOV and MP4 context menus
- extra-high quality video conversion options removed
- AVConvert version number is now shown in folder background context menu (right-clicking into the empty space of a folder)
- fixed issue where clicking on some context menu entries would not trigger anything (alleged "Windows blocking batch file execution" issue)


2022-09-25:
- added option to MKV context menu to de-mux videos into separate video-only and audio-only files


2022-09-24:
- added option to MKV context menu to overlay video over another video; overlay location, size and duration are customizable
- added option to MKV context menu to slowly zoom into video footage; title, text and/or logo can be included during the conversion process (see help file)


2022-09-23:
- added option to FLAC context menu to convert to 16 bit WAV
- text file that provides text insertion into videos is now empty by default (avoiding getting dummy text insertions like "text text text text")


2022-09-14:
- added option to screen recording context sub-menu to incl. currently set insert title image and/or currently set permanent logo into screen video already while it's being recorded! Insert image and logo have to be specified in one of the other insert-/logo-related menus or by editing and then activating the current video conversion template; using insert/logo no. "0" doesn't include the insert or the logo respectively; use either 1080p- or 720p-sized insert image/logo
- default insert title image and logo image set to "0" in AVConvert's video conversion template to prevent unintentional insertion of title insert and logo into screen recording videos
- all AVConvert re-compression processes now insert i-frames every 0.3 sec. and also at scene changes which increases lossless trimming/cutting accuracy to 0.3 sec. or less


2022-09-13:
- added 1920x1080 pix FullHD screen recording options to folder background right-click context menu in Windows Explorer; one option allows full screen recording on 1080p devices, the other option allows to record a 1920x1080 pix section in the center of 4k screens; user can choose to either include mouse pointer into video or not; i-frames are inserted into the screen video every 0.3 s and on scene changes while it's being recorded allowing for very precise lossless splitting/trimming of the screen video later on
- excluded video frame rate setting and user-definable screen video recording folder from being reset when triggering AVConvert factory reset option


2022-09-12:
- added option in JPG "change aspect ratio" context menu to crop images wider than 16:9 to 16:9, either incl. scaling them to currently set output height or not


2022-09-10:
- fixed wrong horizontal logo insertion location occurring when overlaying logos over videos with aspect ratio other than 16:9
- horizontal logo position (left or right) now has to be confirmed in the resp. logo insertion sub-menus or by activating a template prior to launch the logo insertion process
- horizontal logo position (left or right) has been added to the video conversion template management


2022-09-09:
- removed text insertion-related parameters from video conversion template management due to a glitch in DOS batch language; text insertion parameters are now managed exclusively via the resp. context sub-menu
- fixed issue with conversion template loading batch file
- modified help files for FFmpeg legal compliance


2022-09-08:
- standard video frame rate can now be set in video encoding quality settings menu (MKV context menu only); default is 25 (fps) for Europe
- added GOP=12 and b-frames=0 commands to all video conversion batch files
- compacted code/lines in template-related batch files


2022-09-06:
- added option to MKV video conversion context menu to reverse video footage (output video plays backwards)


2022-09-04:
- portrait-orientation smart phone video effect (making it look 16:9 landscape with blurred background) can now be applied to portrait-orientation JPG still images either keeping the original image size or by resizing the image to the size currently set in AVConvert


2022-09-02:
- added new menu item to JPG context menu that allows to convert JPG images' aspect ratio to 16:9


2022-09-01:
- added option to MKV video conversion context menu to convert portrait-orientation smart phone videos into 16:9 videos with blurred self-background footage 


2022-08-30:
- added option to WV audio format conversion context menu to convert directly to M4A and MP3
- added option to MKV video file context menu to extract first MP2 audio stream


2022-08-27:
- added option to GIF image context menu to convert animated GIF files to MKV video files with silence audio (AAC)


2022-08-25:
- added option to TS (MPEG transport stream) file's context menu to losslessly transcode TS files to MKV retaining all audio streams
- added option to TS (MPEG transport stream) file's context menu to losslessly transcode TS files to MKV while only retaining the first audio stream and converting that one to AAC 


2022-08-22:
- all video conversion options now produce videos consisting of only i- and p-frames (no b-frames) resulting in smoother transitions when concatenating videos, especially when those videos had been trimmed beforehand
- fixed issue with text insertion (text insertion script was not merged correctly)
- in lossless video trimming, VID_LENGTH value now specifies the cut-out time (=end) of a trimmed section (previously specified length of video)
- fixed issues with editing and activating settings and settings templates
- fixed possible issue with MOV-to-MKV transcoding


2022-08-16:
- added option to MOV video conversion context menu to transcode video to MKV and simultaneously convert audio to AAC
- added option to MKV and MOV trim video context menu to convert audio to AAC while trimming the video
- added option to 1-JPG video creation context menu allowing to specify zoom duration (until zoom starts over) and zoom speed
- added 1-JPG video zoom duration and zoom speed parameters to AVConvert template management
- conversion template editing and activation now properly reflects changes in the text insert file


2022-08-15:
- added option to M4A, MP3 and OPUS conversion context menu to convert directly to WV


2022-08-10:
- added option to MKV video convext menu to losslessly transcode video to MP4 video 


2022-08-08:
- added option to MKV context menu to save user-definable section of video file as sequence of still images; number of images to be extracted per second can also be specified
- conversion templates management now includes all AVConvert parameters in MKV and JPG context menu
- added option to MP4 video context menu to losslessly transcode MP4 video to MKV video 
- fixed minor issue with audio stream replacement muxing option (AAC, M4A, MP3, OPUS and WAV)


2022-08-06:
- conversion templates management now includes more parameters: slide time for slide-shows and images per second (ips) in JPG time-lapses
- conversion templates management now also available in JPG context menu. Important: If you wanna keep your existing conversion templates compatible with the new extended template format, open them in a plain text editor and add the following 4 values to the end of those files (one line each):

4
0.25
mp3
0.0

Those 4 values are the default slide time in JPG slide-show videos, the default image per second value in JPG time-lapses, the default audio format used to create 1-JPG-videos and the audio delay used in the lip-sync correction menu. Sorry for the inconvenience.


2022-08-05:
- added basic conversion settings templates management to MKV context menu (allows saving, loading, editing and viewing of AVConvert video conversion settings)


2022-08-04:
- added logo and title insert functionality to JPG still image context menu (= add a logo and/or title insert image to lots of still images)
- added option to JPG context menu to create video by concatenating still images (amount of images shown per second is user-definable); can be used to create a time-lapse or the effect of quickly browsing through an album
- restructured cropping template menus for MKV, MP3 and MOV files (move your existing cropping templates to the new sub-folder AVConvert\Templates\Crop) 


2022-08-02:
- added option to MKV, MP4, WAV and JPG encoding quality context menu to display all current AVConvert settings


2022-08-01:
- added option to 1-JPG video creation menu to have a constant smooth zoom effect applied to the still image during the video (resets every 3 mins.)


2022-07-31:
- removed old removal commands for wrong AAC registry entries from the German and English add context menu reg files
- added option to JPG context menu to create a video from a single JPG image (1-JPG video) incl. background music, permanent logo and temporary title insert (requires 16:9 image format!)
- added option to WAV lossless conversion context menu to convert LR stereo files to MS and vice-versa
- updated English and German help files


2022-07-25:
- added option to the "decrease frame rate" context menu of MKV and MP4 files to convert variable frame rate (VFR) videos of smart phones to constant frame rate (CFR) 
- JPG context menu to create video file from single JPG image incl. background music now allows to use WAV audio as background music in addition to M4A, MP3 and OPUS
- updated English and German help files


2022-06-18:
- added option in MOV video context menu to losslessly transcode MOV to MKV


2022-05-04:
- maintainence release
- fixed sub 10 Hz content @ -30 dB in AAC silence audio of JPG slideshow videos (ffmpeg bug?) - no changes made to English/German reg files besides updating AVConvert version number


2022-04-12:
- added option to super slowmo menu of MKV, MOV and MP4 files to insert a logo while creating slowmo video; can take some time to render!
- fixed sample rate conversion issue with WAV files (44.1k <-> 48k)
- bit rate shown for audio quality in encoding quality sub-menu


2022-04-09:
- added super slowmo option to MKV, MOV and MP4 context menu (producing smooth, interpolated x1.5, x2, x3 and x4 slowmo videos); can take some time to render!


2022-03-31:
- added option to MKV, MOV and MP4 video context menu to offset audio by a user-definable amount of seconds


2022-03-23:
- added option to increase framerate from 25 fps to 100 fps in MKV, MOV and MP4 frame rate context menu


2022-03-22:
- added option to JPG image context menu to create video from a single JPG image incl. M4a, MP3 or OPUS audio placed in the same directory with an identically file name


2022-03-20:
- added option to MKV, MOV and MP4 context menus to save, load and edit video cropping settings via template files (x offset, y offset, width, height, input video width, input video height)
- moved option to re-use current cropping settings to new template management context menu (MKV, MOV, Mp4)
- added option to MP4 muxing context menu to add silent AAC audio to MP4 video


2022-03-18:
- added option to MKV, MOV and MP4 video context menu to losslessly crop video footage by arbitrary amounts of pixels in any dimension (includes option for user input of cropping settings and convenient re-use of previous settings) 
- added option to confirm input/source video resolution for MKV, MOV and MP4 video files in cropping context menu (as cropping requires AVConvert to consider the source video's resolution)


2022-03-15:
- added option to M4A audio file context menu to extract raw AAC from M4A files
- re-organized AAC context menu for consistency (moved transcoding option for AAC to M4A from conversion menu into extraction/transcoding menu)
- added option to MKV, MOV and MP4 video file context menu to extract 1st or 2nd AAC audio stream as raw AAC


2022-03-09:
- all AVConvert video conversion options now add key frames @ scene changes
- removed all video conversion options that add contrast to video (MKV, MOV, MP4, AVI, FLV, VOB)
- some housekeeping with regard to registry entry numbering
- German and English help files entirely rewritten, now including detailed explanations of every AVConvert option


2022-03-08:
- complemented option to create video with text insert only (but no logo) in "add text (+ logo) to video" context submenu for MKV and MOV files
- AVConvert parameter reset option defaults all relevant parameters to 2160p (4k) video size and 16:9 video and JPG image aspect ratio; default logo no. is 01 (=2160p (4k) logo for top left corner)
- re-arranged entry order in video conversion submenu (video + inset + logo) in MKV and MOV context menu for consistency (now same order as in "video + text + logo" submenu)


2022-03-06:
- added option to MKV and MOV video context menu to insert user-customizable text as sub-title/text insert for a user-definable amount of time and, optionally, also insert permanent logo into video at the same time


2022-02-03:
- added video rotation option to MKV and MP4 context menus (90°, 180°, 270°, 0° flipped, 90° flipped, 180° flipped and 270° flipped); rotation may not always yield expected results depending on input video's header properties
- re-organized/simplified JPG slideshow video creation context menu
- JPG slideshow videos now automatically get silent AAC audio stream added during creation
- global video dimension (720p, 1080p, 1440p or 2160p) can now be set in the AVConvert Quality settings menu. This considerably reduces menu entry redundancy for every possible video resolution in MKV, MOV and MP4 context menus.
- re-organized/simplified video conversion + logo context menu (MKV, MOV and MP4)
- AVConvert parameter reset option defaults all relevant parameters to 1080p video size and 16:9 video and JPG image aspect ratio; default logo no. is 09 (=1080 logo for top left corner)
- removed all video conversion options for conversion to 480p (AVI, FLV, MKV, MOV, MP4, VOB, WebM)


2022-02-24:
- added option to convert mono WAV file to stereo WAV file


2022-02-22:
- added option in JPG slideshow menu to set custom image display time
- re-organized JPG slideshow menu
- lossless cutting: cut_in point and length of new video are now shown in output file name
- amount of pixels cropped via cropping feature now shown in output file name


2022-02-20:
- added option to losslessly cut/trim MKV, MOV and MP4 video files (lossless cutting accuracy is determined by key frame frequency in the source video)
- added option to specify the (approximate) start point and the (approximate) length of the video section that is kept. Since AVConvert inserts key frames every 0.5 sec. and on scene changes when it re-encodes video, cutting accuracy is high.
- added option to open list of AVConvert default values accessible in MKV and WAV context menu (for reference only)


2022-02-18:
- added option to overlay image (title/logo/lower thirds) over MOV and MKV files (4k, 2k, 1080, 720); title insert start time is 2 (sec.) and end time is 7 (sec.) which results in 5 sec. of title display time; display time can be adjusted by the user (see below)
- same option as before but incl. permanent logo overlay
- added option to select title image number as well as overlaid logo file number via txt file
- added option to confirm whether title image and logo appear at top or bottom of video frame (important when inserting title image and/or logo overlay in cropped (widened) videos)
- added option to set start and end time of inserted title image (in seconds)
- re-organized logo overlay menus (reducing length of sub-menu lists)
- added option to convert PCM audio to AAC in MKV and MOV video files without re-encoding the video
- added option to MKV, MP4 and WAV context menu to reset all customizable AVConvert parameters (stored in txt files) to their default values


2022-02-14:
- re-labeled video quality variable from qv to vq for consistency in all batch files
- re-labeled audio quality variable from qa to aq for consistency in all batch files
- video base quality now determined via dedicated txt file
- added option to create slideshow video from JPG images in either 16:9 or 4:3 format (consistent aspect ratio required for all images to avoid distortion)
- logo overlay options now properly overlay full size across video image
- new logo overlay parameters properly work with cropped (widened) videos


2022-02-13:
- increased video base quality value a notch, affecting low and high video quality mode


2022-02-06:
- added extra high quality conversion mode option (XHQ, virtually lossless) for MOV and MP4 video files (with and without adding logo) in order to get videos from different sources to a common format for concatenation offering sufficient bit rate for upload to Youtube
- removed options to resize MOV files to 480p


2022-01-25:
- files created by muxing video with audio now have more meaningful suffices added to their names 


2022-01-19:
- added option to add silent AAC audio to MKV video in MKV muxing menu (in order to add dummy audio to JPG slideshow video)
- added option to JPG context menu to set duration of images shown in slideshow to 4, 5 or 6 seconds


2022-01-17:
- added option in JPG context menu to quickly create slideshow video from all or selected JPG files in a folder, selectable output video resolution 1080, 2k or 4k
- added option to switch AVConvert's video/audio quality modes to JPG context menu (only video quality is relevant for creation of JPG slideshows)
- updated ffmpeg to v 5.0


2022-01-14:
- fixed English and German removal reg files to properly remove AVConvert quality menu from WAV context menu
- partitioned WAV format conversion context menu into lossy and lossless conversion options; this unsheathed several options that were formerly not displayed due to the Windows context menu entry limitation to 16 entries
- ProRes video conversion options of MKV and MOV files are now in a dedicated menus; ProRes conversion options were formerly not displayed properly due to the Windows context menu entry limitation to 16 entries


2022-01-09:
- video conversion re-compression quality optimized by changing batch commands from -b:v to -crf
- redesigned AVConvert quality settings menu to allow for quicker changes
- zip file's name changed to "SonicAxioms AVConvert.zip" (apostrophe omitted)


2022-01-07:
- options to set AVConvert's video and audio re-compression quality to high or low independently are now implemented and accessible in MKV, MOV, MP4 and WAV context menu
- logo overlay option re-designed: logo is now overlaid over the entire frame, thus, placement is up to how a user lays out his logo; still 4 different logos can be overlaid per video dimension to be able to easily overlay a logo in all four corners: top left (TL, 1), TR (2), BR (3) and BL (4)


2022-01-05a:
- fixed error in english "add AVConvert" reg file that prevented the creation of MOV and MP4 video file list using the concat feature (feature always created MKV video file list regardless the right-clicked video format)


2022-01-05:
- added option to losslessly crop top and bottom of videos by 284 px, 220 px, 164 px, 140 px, 124 px, 100 px, 80 px or 60 px to achieve various wide, cinematic looks
- logo overlay batch files changed to make logo overlay positions relative to video size


2022-01-03:
- in process of adding option to set AVConvert to high video bit rate (default) or low video bit rate. This affects the video quality during processes that require video re-compression (not yet fully implemented):
		- high setting 4k: 19-36 Mbits/s
		- high setting 2k: 11-16 Mbit/s
		- high setting 1080: 5.8-9 Mbit/s
		- high setting 720: 2.8-5.3 Mbit/s
		- low setting 4k: 9.5-18 Mbits/s
		- low setting 2k: 5.5-8 Mbit/s
		- low setting 1080: 2.8-5 Mbit/s
		- low setting 720: 1.8-3 Mbit/s

- added option to losslessly concatenate multiple video files (MKV, MOV or  MP4) which feature the exact same media properties (frame rate, width, height, ect.)
- added option to losslessly speed up / slow down MKV, MOV and MP4 video (any frame rate pull-up / pull-down conversion between 23.976 fps, 24 fps, 25 fps, 29,97 fps, 30 fps and 50 fps). Some of the resulting files may not play back perfectly smooth depending on the amount of frame rate change
- fixed minor error in muxing batch file that prevented a WebM audio file from being added to a video as an additional audio stream in AVConvert muxing menu


2021-12-25:
- added conversion of MOV video files to MKV 1080p, AAC audio; creates key frames every half a second and on scene changes in the output video file; this allows you to make lossless edits on the resulting video with 0.5 s precision and also on scene changes


2021-12-19:
- added option to (batch-)mux MOV video files with AAC, MP3, or WAV audio files of the same file name; new audio can either replace existing audio in video file or be added as an additional stream


2021-12-18:
- ffmpeg x64 updated to version 4.4.1
- added video resizing options for MKV, MOV and MP4 files (to 720p, 1080p, 2k and 4k) which simultaneously add a custom logo and also add key frames every 0.5 seconds and at scene changes; Audio is converted to AAC at the same time. Note: The new 4k options cannot be used to upscale smaller videos to 4k! All other options do provide upscaling functionality
- video files of the same file type saved in the same folder can now be concatenated losslessly into a single video file with one click! This works for MKV, MOV and MP4 files separately (see help file in "standalone BATs" subfolder)
- AVConvert 32 bit version is no longer provided; for anyone continuing using AVConvert on 32 bit Windows, it is possible to manually replace the provided 64 bit ffmpeg.exe with the 32 bit version


2021-12-06a:
- added option to create 4-channel true-stereo impulse response files from regular stereo WAV impulse files (L-R channel layout -> L-R-R-L channel layout)
- help files updated


2021-12-06:
- added option to create 4-channel true-stereo impulse response files from regular stereo WAV impulse files (L-R channel layout -> L-R-L-R channel layout). This option creates new files containing the source file's original channel(s) plus a duplicate of them: Stereo source file -> 4-channel L-R-L-R file (true-stereo if the convolution plugin supports true-stereo mode). In case you run this option on a mono source file, you will get a stereo file with the original audio on both channels (still mono-sounding but now a 2-channel file)
- increased internal program version menu entry ranking no. in order to keep the version entry last in the WAV context menu
- menu entry icons of video processing options (conversion, muxing) now show AVConvert video icons, audio processing options show AVConvert audio icons


2021-11-11:
- ffmpeg processes will now be performed with lowest CPU priority keeping the computer more responsive during longer or multiple processes


2021-11-04:
- added option to (batch-)mux MKV videos with AAC, M4A, MP3, OPUS, WAV or WebM audio (of the same file name)
- added option to (batch-)mux MP4 videos with AAC, M4A, MP3, OPUS, WAV or WebM audio (of the same file name)
- added option to (batch-)mux WebM videos with M4A or OPUS audio (of the same file name)
   
   With all three muxing features you can choose between two variants:
      a) add new audio stream to existing audio stream(s) in the video ("add" feature)
   	  b) replace existing audio stream(s) with new audio ("replace" feature)
	
- added option to sample rate convert WV 44.1k to 48k and vice-versa
- added option to extract AC3 audio from MKV video
- added capability to retain BWF metadata when converting WV to WAV
- added capability to retain BWF metadata when changing bit depth of WAV files (16 bit <-> 24 bit)
- added option to re-order audio channels in multi-channel AC3 and WAV files (experimental)
- re-designed console windows which now show the current process in the window's title

Among other benefits, the new muxing options allow for fast batch re-muxing of separately downloaded video and audio files (from Youtube et al.). In contrast to other AVConvert conversion/extraction options, the (batch-)muxing options will be performed on ALL videos of the right-clicked video's file type in a folder regardless how many of them had actually been highlighted!


2021-09-15:
- added conversion of MOV and MKV video files to MKV 1440p (2k), AAC audio; creates key frames every half a second and on scene changes in the output video file; this allows you to make lossless edits on the resulting video with 0.5 s precision and also on scene changes
(see 2021-08-31 update for more details on this feature)


2021-08-31:
- added conversion of MOV and MKV video files to MKV 2160p (4k), AAC audio; creates key frames every half a second and on scene changes in the output video file; this allows you to make lossless edits on the resulting video with 0.5 s precision and also on scene changes

A bit of context regarding this new feature:
When I copy the original 4k video files from my camera they are obviously very large due to the high resolution and also due to the PCM audio stream which is the only available audio format. To avoid re-compression of the video footage, which will degrade image quality, I tend to use Avidemux to cut out scenes I don't like because Avidemux is capable of doing these edits losslessly provided they are made on key frames. Those key frames usually occur every 2 seconds which restricts editing precision to two seconds which is a bit too coarse. Therefore, I decided to convert the video once using a special AVConvert conversion profile that will insert key frames every 0.5 s and also on every scene change. I'm basically sacrificing a bit of image quality as a result of a single conversion process but I'm gaining lossless editing precision for all future edits in return. Key frames now occur often enough to make precise (lossless) edits. Also, during the same conversion process, the PCM audio is converted to M4A (encapsulated AAC) which makes the resulting audio stream 10 times smaller.

Video bit rate is reduced by 1/3 (from 100 MBit to 36 MBit) so the resulting video stream is 1/3 of the original video's size with only minimal loss in image quality.


2021-08-22:
- AVConvert Quick Start video made public on Youtube
- added conversion of MKV video to MKV 1440p (2k), audio copied
- added conversion of MOV video to MKV 1440p (2k), audio copied
- added conversion of MOV video to MKV 2160p (4k), audio copied


2021-08-18:
- AVConvert Youtube video made public
- added option to extract 3rd WAV audio stream from 6-channel MKV
- added conversion of MKV video to MKV 2160p (4k), AAC audio


2021-08-14:
- current version info moved to bottom of AVConvert wave context menu root
- English and German help files updated


2021-08-12:
- added conversion of MKV video to MKV 2160p (4k), audio copied
- added conversion of MP4 video to MKV 2160p (4k), audio copied


2021-07-28:
- added conversion of MKV video to MKV 1440p (2k), AAC audio
- added conversion of MP4 video to MKV 1440p (2k), AAC audio


2021-07-15:
- added conversion for AMR files to WAV 16 bit


2021-06-04:
- added conversion of MKV video to MKV 1080 + added contrast, AAC audio
- bitrate of all 1080 video converters now set  to 5600 kbps
- bitrate of all 720 video converters now set  to 2600 kbps


2021-04-17:
- added option to convert MOV to MKV 2k (2560x1440), AAC audio
- added option to convert MOV to MKV 4k (3840x2160), AAC audio


2021-01-25:
- added conversion from MP4 audio in MP4 video directly to Wave - left/right channel only
- added extraction of M4A 3rd and 4th audio stream from MP4


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