Ffmpeg Replacement for Favourite ACE Functions

0. Introduction

My normal SD project flow typically starts with either DV from my Sony VX2000 or video captured by that from either VHS or Hi8.
The VX2000 doesn't have a full frame TBC, but it does have line timebase correction with better line jitter removal than the ACE!

I use Premiere Elements 2023 to edit to another file with DV output at 100% quality. This preserves all unadjusted frames unchanged.
Next, I used to use VirtualDub with the Flaxen VHS filter to cure any colour bleed or colour droop, with Neatvideo for noise reduction,
which can also be used in Premiere. However, for all but lowest quality VHS sources NeatVideo is an overkill & Ffmpeg filters are fine.

In order to produce the final MPEG-2 file for a DVD, or an MP4 file for PC playback, I tried using Premiere Elements 2023 again.
The problem was that Premiere Elements gave ridiculously large MP4 files and there seemed no good way to change 25i video to 50p.
(Discussions with a friend convinced me that good de-interlacing gave much better results on a PC. Ffmpeg de-interlacing is excellent.)
The MPEG-2 files were correctly sized, using the same parameters as I use below with Ffmpeg, but the overall result was far too soft.

So, I researched and found Ffmpeg could do Colour Shift, all Colour Corrections and excellent encoding, both for MP4 and MPEG-2
using similar parameters to Fishman0919 & Manolito, given in the doom9 forum, with corroboration & adaptation from other sources.
The advantage of Ffmpeg is that you can combine colour correction with encoding, so don't need an intermediate file or compression.
The final Adjust_Correct_Encode file does everything apart from capture and editing, though the Cut and Join files can do simple edits.
If you prefer to try the VirtualDub route see Here and scroll down.

1. Ffmpeg Batch Files for Audio Delay, ALL ACE Video Functions & Encoding (MP4, MPEG-2)

Ffmpeg_Adjust-Correct-Encode now offers a Single File Mode or Looping Mode where all video files in a specific directory are processed.
Options include the ability to Add a Leader and/or Subtitles (.srt) as an introductory page, or for hard coded subtitling throughout the video.
The Leader can be a Video Clip, or Test Card image like Philips ones below, or from a business card or logo. PNG is lossless. Can use JPG:
4/3:Philips_PM5544_720x480.png, Philips_PM5544_720x576.png, 16/9:Philips_PM5644.png Standards to HD. UHD Get & Convert SVG.
To create a Leader from an image, use the 'Ffmpeg_LeaderCreationTool_SilentVideo.bat' batch file. Please see User Manual for full details.

First download the zip file or individual files here. The ZIP contains both Batch Files, Identical Text files for editing, and User Manual PDF.
NOTE: Version Control is based on zip file date shown at the end of this line and files inside the latest zip. Current file date 11th Mar 2026.
NEW: Cine Mode Converts Audio samples and Video frame rate of Cine Film captured to Video with one Video frame for each Film frame.
Record on a video camera at 24/25/30/50/60 frame rate progressive, or a Kodak Reels 8 mm and Super 8 Films Digitizer Converter at 20fps.
For simplicity put batch files in your "ffmpeg\bin" directory. To avoid running the batch files by mistake edit the *.txt file and save as *.bat.

Ffmpeg Batch Files Zipped (Ffmpeg_Adjust-Correct-Encode & Ffmpeg_LeaderCreationTool_SilentVideo plus User Manual PDF).
Or Download Single Files: Ffmpeg_Adjust-Correct-Encode.bat | Ffmpeg_LeaderCreationTool_SilentVideo.bat | User Manual PDF.

Now I suggest creating a shortcut on your desktop for the batch files. Just use a right click and select SendTo and Desktop (create shortcut).
Or the method I prefer, create a new "SendTo" link: Copy batch files to C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo.
This gives you three possible ways of using these batch files for Leader Creation or Single File Mode, but also for Looping Mode:

1. Drag a video or image file and Drop onto the appropriate batch file or shortcut on your desktop. (Images Only for Leader Creation Tool.)
2. Click on the video or image file and use right click "SendTo" to send to the appropriate batch file (i.e. Adjust-Correct-Encode, or Leader).
3. You can also use these batch files on the Command Line if you place a copy in the same directory as your video source file or image file.

4. IF you choose Looping Mode all you need to do is to double click on the FFmpeg_Adjust-Correct-Encode batch file. See Details Below:

The User Manual has all details of the various modes and functions, along with the files required, and the directories used for Looping Mode:
Leader file is Leader.mp4. Subtitle files and RGB Curves files to have Same Name as Video Source file but extensions '.srt' and '.acv' as usual.
Single File mode All files to be in Source File directory. Looping Mode Source to be in C:\VidSrc, Output to C:\VidOut. Both can be changed.
Looping Mode Leader.mp4 to be in C:\VidLdr with any Subtitle Files; RGB Curves Files to be in C:\VidAcv. Both directories can be changed.

This page now just lists Modes, Extra Options, Adjustments, Corrections and Encoding choices. Please see the User Manual for more details.
NOTE: In every case pressing Enter alone keeps the Default setting. Questions can be disabled and their Defaults can be set in the batch file.

1a. CHOOSE MODE. Default is Single File Mode but you can choose Looping Mode to process all files between two specified directories.

1b. CHOOSE OPTION. Choose whether to Add a Leader and/or Add Hard Coded Subtiltes, as a caption, or as subtitles throughout the film.

2. CHOOSE FUNCTIONS. Choose which Adjust/Correct Functions you require. By Default ALL are Disabled. Press 'Y' to Enable any one:
a. Chroma Shift. -- How many Lines Vertically DOWN - Negative for UP? --- and/or --- How many Pixels Horizontally - Negative for Left?
b. RGB Curves. --- Uses Adobe Curves File for correcting Brightness, Contrast, Gamma and Colour Balance/Temperature. See Note Below:
c. Chroma Saturation. -- Values from 0 (No Colour) to Maximum 3.0
d. Audio Timing. (IGNORED on Test Mode as Ffplay can’t do it) - Audio Delay SS.Milliseconds - Negative for Early? Seconds alone is OK.

3. ENCODE & TEST OPTIONS (Default Option is '1' but Can be Changed).
Option 1) 25i>25p, or 25p>25p, or 50p>50p (MP4) Encoding 25i or 25p to MP4 gives 25p Progressive. ALL outputs are Progressive.
Option 2) 25i Video IN to Progressive 50p (MP4) 25i>50p keeps smooth motion but loses interlace artifacts. Better on PC monitors.
Option 3) 25i Video BFF to Interlaced 25i (MP4) This leaves 25i Video Unchanged to 25i Output. BFF means Bottom Field First.
Option 4) 25i Video TFF to Interlaced 25i (MP4) This leaves 25i Video Unchanged to 25i Output. TFF means Top Field First.
Option 5) 25i Video to MPEG2 Std for DVDs (SD, not HD) Bit rate for 2 Hrs High Quality on DVD (Can be Changed). Standard Matrix.
Option 6) 25i Video to MPEG2 Fox for DVDs (SD, not HD) Bit rate for 2 Hrs High Quality on DVD (Can be Changed). "FoxNew" Matrix.
Option 7) Testing Proposed Chroma Setting (ALL) This just plays video/audio, to check Optimum Chroma adjustments & see Subtitles.
Option C) Cine Mode to convert Audio and Video frame rate of Cine Film captured to Video with one Video frame for each Film frame.

Codec Processing Parameters (Only Available for MP4 Output)
The default is preset to "slow", CRF=23 and Audio Bitrate 256kb/s (AAC). The BBC uses 128k for MP4 but 256k is better for music.

NOTE1: Using RGB Curves Function (If Required)
This uses a .acv file to offer an interesting and neat solution for correcting Brightness, Contrast, Gamma and Colour Balance/Temperature.
To use this, first play the video source to find a reference frame. This should have areas with the highest and lowest brightness in the video.
(If your sample doesn't cover the full brightness range then don't increase contrast/brightness too much, or make allowances for clipping.)
Most video players can save a "Snapshot" as the Videolan VLC Player calls it. VirtualDub2, calls it "Copy source frame to clipboard".

After Frame Capture, open the sample frame with Photoshop (V7 to CS+), or Free IrfanView which has an even smarter Curves function.
Next make your adjustments to this frame using ONLY the Curves function, available from the menu or using "CTRL M" for Photoshop,
or with IrfanView using the menu "Image/Adobe 8BF Plugins/SmartCurve". Ways to make adjustments are explained in the User Manual.
Save the resulting ACV file with the Same Filename as your video file, but with the ".acv" file extension, which is the Photoshop default.

NOTE2: Adding Hard Coded Subtitles (If Required)
This uses a .srt text file for hard coded text overlays, either over a Leader as an initial Caption, or for Subtitling throughout the video file.
The User Manual describes this in detail. Editing can be easily done using any text editor. The easiest way is to use the Free SubtitleEdit.
Save the resulting SRT file with the Same Filename as your video file, but with the ".srt" file extension, which is the Subtitles file default.
Default Subtitling settings are for Captions: Screen Centred & Outlined. For Subtitling use Boxed & Bottom Centred. Edit the Batch File.

Full documentation of all the filters used and the MPEG-2 encoding parameters are in the following zip file:

Ffmpeg_MPEG-2_Encoding_2HrsOnDVD.txt and FoxNew version

2. Ffmpeg Batch Files to Cut and Join Video and Audio Files

1. Ffmpeg Batch File for Cutting Video and Audio Files

When initiated, the batch file will ask for two parameters. First the Start Time of the wanted section and Secondly the Duration.
These are in the form HH:MM:SS.milliseconds, where HH (Hours), MM (Minutes) and SS (Seconds) can be single or double digits 0-9.
Milliseconds is optional and you can alternatively put all times in seconds (with optional milliseconds). There should be NO Spaces!
Valid numbers (omitting inverted commas) are: "55", "0.2", "23.189" (all in seconds), "200ms", "200000us" (both 0.2 seconds), "12:03:45"

NOTE: MP4 and MP3 results will be slightly longer than requested, but always have the required part. This is due to the Compression.
Uncompressed or Intra-Coded files (such as WAV, DV AVI etc.) will be accurately cut and could be re-combined exactly as the original.

Download Here (NOTEs: Source Files are Unaffected! The ZIP contains the Batch File *.bat and an Identical *.txt file for easy viewing):
Ffmpeg_CutVideoAudio.zip

2. Ffmpeg Batch File for Joining Video and Audio Files

This time the trigger is the list of files to be joined. ALL files must be the same type as the named batch file, same frame and sample rate.
Examples of the FileList.txt file are zipped with the batch files. This must be a simple text file with any name, e.g. matching your project.
The result "full_video.*"/"full_audio.*" is placed in the same directory as FileList.txt with correct file extension AVI, MP4, WAV or MP3.
The source files to be joined can be from any directory as their full filename and path is recorded in the FileList.txt file.

NOTE: The "Ffmpeg_JoinVideoAVI.bat" batch file is perfect for joining captured files which were segmented by software on a 32bit PC.
Because DV AVI files are Intra-Coded (i.e. each frame encoded separately) they can be joined seemlessly into one large file for a 64bit PC.

Download Here (NOTEs: Source Files are Unaffected! All ZIPs contain the Batch File *.bat and an Identical *.txt file for easy viewing):
Ffmpeg_JoinVideoAVI.zip , Ffmpeg_JoinVideoMP4.zip , Ffmpeg_JoinAudioWAV.zip , Ffmpeg_JoinAudioMP3.zip

3. How to Obtain and Install Ffmpeg

First you need to download Ffmpeg, currently version 8.0. Look on either of these sites:

Ffmpeg download page for 64bit Windows - Latest Full Release. Option 1
Ffmpeg download page for 64bit Windows - Latest Full Release. Option 2

4a. The Best Free DVD & Blu-Ray Creation Tool with Full Colour Subtitling

Want a way to create DVDs & Blu-Rays from already encoded files without re-compression? I finally chanced on this excellent software.

This is so comprehensive and versatile and can either use existing encoded files or re-encode as you wish to a variety of different formats.
It has a variety of static and moving menu options and you can add your own poster images, backgrounds, chapters and subtitles.

If you would like any help please email me as I have now used this very extensively - there are far too many options to explain them all!
However if you download my PDF in the next section 4b this gives most of the detail you will need, including ways to avoid some quirks.

Download Here multiAVCHD 4.1.771

4b. The Best Free DVD Disc Creation Tool. Can use multiAVCHD output

The Best DVD Creation Tool is DVDStyler

This will accept pre-prepared Mpeg-2 files or even VOBs from a DVD and video, audio and subtitles without re-encoding if required.
It can also encode video and audio and uses Ffmpeg with the Manolito parameters for High Quality. It's own subtitling however is poor.

My initial use for this was to recreate a copy of a DVD with translated subtitles by copying the multiAVCHD DVD output.
A full description of how to do this is shown below. Jump in at any point for simple DVDs!

HowToTranslateSubtitlesOnBluRayAndDVD.pdf

Sources for all possible required software is below:

IrfanView Can Create Photoshop Compatible .acv Files for Ffmpeg
VirtualDub2 A Free Video Editor and Versatile Player
Neatvideo The Perfect Video Noise Reducer
MakeMKV Extracts files in MKV format from a DVD
Mediainfo Reads All the Details of DVD and BluRay Encoded Files
SubtitleEdit Reads Subtitles from a DVD file and/or Creates New Subtitles
multiAVCHD Same Link as above. Check it is Final Version 4.1.771
K-Lite Codec Pack Basic Excludes a player - I use VLC (Next Link)
VLC Best Video Player Ever - Far superior to Windows Media Player!
pgcedit Allows you to adjust DVD startup parameters etc.
DVDSubEdit Useful to check through a DVD to see Subtitle colour details etc.

Keywords: free, software, Adjust, Correct, Encode, Subtitles, Colour, Color, Chroma, Shift, Noise, Reduction, AVI, WAV, MPEG, MPEG-2, MP4, Video, Encoding, Cut, Join, Filter, FFmpeg, DVDStyler, multiAVCHD, makeMKV, SubtitleEdit, K-Lite, Codec, pgcedit, DVDSubEdit, MediaInfo, cine, film, kodak, 8mm, super 8mm.