one question about dvd author 3 and can you place an introduction video before the menu

Yes, you can.

In the Source Stage, click on the right side of the "Add a track" button, the part with a downward arrow. In the dropdown menu, select "Add a firstplay track".
This adds a firstplay track which will play before your main menu when you first load the DVD.

I am recording from a satellite and only want to watch the programs on computer. I need to put in chapters, though. What's the easiest, fastest way to do that without creating a dvd?

Thanks

You have a couple of options.

If you have PowerDVD, you can output your programs as the dvd files, but just don't burn them to disc.
In PowerDVD, click on the Select Source button, and select "Open DVD file on hard disk drive." Then simply select your VIDEO_TS folder. Power DVD should load the contents of the folder and will play it like a normal DVD with menus and all.
This is probably the fastest method I can think of.

Or you can create a disc image using the Disc Writing Tool in the Start stage of DVD Author 3 and then you can mount the image with a program like DAEMON Tools (http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/).
Of course, you'd still need PowerDVD or other DVD playing software to actually play the emulated DVD, but it's an option if you'd rather have an iso file.

Another option is to create a DivX Ultra DVD and then play the output file with DivX Player. The problem with this option is that if you ever decide to burn the project, you'll need a DivX Ultra certified DVD player to see the menus.

One last option is to use TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress instead of DVD Author 3. Of course, with 4.0 XPress, you won't be able to output a DVD or even an .iso file, but you can add keyframes to your programs which can later be imported as chapters in DVD Author 3. You can then output them in DVD-compliant MPEG and simply watch the outputted MPEG files in Windows Media Player or something. I don't think players with recognize the keyframes though, so if you wanted to utilize the chapter marks during playback on your computer, then this is not a good option.

This is my problem:

When I make a MPEG-1 from a QuickTime Movie the result is a freezes and jerking
/ bucking .mpg File. Especially at the beginning and End of the movie the picture seems to hang behind the sound and then jumps forward to the correct position. I tried everyting to get rid of the Problem, disabled MultiThreading, tried different resolutions, changed the VBV-Buffer Settings (0/48/64...), tried constant and variable Bitrate, tried every possible Options at GOP Settings, I tried almost everything. But the movie is always stuttering at some positions.
If I use for example WindowsMediaPlayer or QuickTime Player and jump forward in time (push the slider to the right) the player needs 2-3 sec. to continue playing without stuttering.
I use TMPG for a long time now and always had this problem making MPEG-1.
By the way a college of mine had the same problem. And we have nearly the same system, a dual-Xeon HT System with 7525 Chipset/ Serverboard.

So please is anybody out there who has any Idea how to fix my problem???

Sorry, haven't had this problem with any of the QuickTime movies I have.
I have a completely different problem on one of my .mov files where the image is misaligned so you can only see 1/4 of the video. Plays at normal speed though with no jerkiness.

Do you have the latest version of TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress?

Hello,

I make some tests to see if tmpenc xpress 4.5 can make stream for blu-ray. I use scenarist for authoring.

Mpeg2 preset seem to work.

But i want to finc AVC preset, is somebody working on it?

Thx for the help

Philippe PERQUIN

Not sure if they're working on it, but you can always make your own AVC preset if you know the specifications required. Just select MPEG-4 file output, alter your output settings, and save the preset so you can use it again later.

hello,

It seem to be a little bit complicated.

I make a lot of test but each were impossible to import in scenarist HDMV.

Philippe

I was looking at the specs for Blu-ray today and it seems that AAC audio is not in the official specs. 4.0 xpress only allows AAC audio with the MPEG-4 AVC format, so that may be why it isn't importing into scenarist.

Acceptable Audio streams:
Linear PCM audio stream
Dolby Digital audio stream
Dolby Digital Plus audio stream
Dolby Lossless audio stream
DTS digital surround audio stream
DTS-HD audio stream

Video-wise, Blu-ray specs for MPEG-4 AVC are:
High profile at level 4.1/4.0
or Main profile at level 4.1/4.0/3.2/3.1/3.0

Max. bitrate: 40Mbps

HD resolutions:
1920x1080x59.94-i, 50-i (16:9)
1920x1080x24-p, 23.976-p (16:9)
1440x1080x59.94-i, 50-i (16:9) MPEG-4 AVC / SMPTE VC-1 only
1440x1080x24-p, 23.976-p (16:9) MPEG-4 AVC / SMPTE VC-1 only
1280x720x59.94-p, 50-p (16:9)
1280x720x24-p, 23.976-p (16:9)

SD resolutions:
720x480x59.94-i (4:3/16:9)
720x576x50-i (4:3/16:9)

Hello i'm ok with the blu-ray encoding, i have a sonic cinevision.

I only encode elementary video but when i try to import the file i have this error message:

Error : Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

And scenarist not take the file.

Philippe

Sorry, not familiar with scenarist errors. You might want to try Doom9 forum or a scenarist forum.

Here's a post about a similar error:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=128631

Hello,

It's seem like a problem with the file header when you encode it in normal, video only.

A stream analyer like elecard streamAnalyzer can't open it also.

Maybe header are not well written?

philippe

I'm looking for a DVD video editing progam that will let me create a DVD that will loop back on itself, so it can play continuously at trade shows. Does anyone know if DVD Author 3 has this ability.

Thanks in advance

Yes, this is possible as long as you don't need to see the menus between tracks.

You can set it so that when one track finishes playing, it will automatically start playing the next track. You can also set it to loop so that when the last track finishes playing, it will loop back to the first track and continuously play.

You can try downloading the trial to test it out yourself. These settings can be set when you set up the menu through the Menu Wizard, or via the Global DVD Menu Settings. Just look for the "Track playback end action setting".

Thanks for your help. It's been surprising that this isn't a standard feature on many video editing software packages. I'll give it a try.

Hello,

I just downloaded TMPGE-XP4 and imported my first video file (a .TS file captured from DVB-C). The import is quite long (11 minutes for a 2h30' movie) but this is not the problem. The problem is that the display does not give the right video frames. It displays a queer abstract colored picture. If I call for the cut editor, it is the same.
I searched in the help manual for an action to be taken, but I did not find any. Is the preview and cutting not possible for all formats ?

:) Gabier

Can you play it in Windows Media Player?
Maybe it's a codec problem.

I can play it with VLC.
I made another test with a short clip. In fact I suspect TMPG4XP does not import TS files from DVB-T/C/S source. If the input is the raw TS file, I have the problem described above. If I convert this TS file to m2p file with ProjectX, then I can input this file in TM4XP and the frame previews is correct.
The content is not quite the same because when converting from TS to m2p, ProjectX strips off all stuff but video and audio (for instance subtitles). But I suspect that this is not the problem. Rather, TM4XP does not understand the TS structure (188 bytes packets, etc...). It is advertised that TS files inputs are OK, but in the help the TS files are not in the list of input files. It is said that only TS files from HDTV camcorders are possible.

If this is confirmed, I have wasted my money because I bought TM4XP in order to convert TS files from DVB-C to compliant MPEG2.

Gabier

Hm looks like you're right. 4.0 Xpress can only import the MPEG-2 transport streams .mpg, .m2t, m2ts, and .mts.
Sorry, I haven't worked with .ts files but I thought it was possible too.

Hi,
I'm trying to convert my newly bought course from Lynda.com. so I can play them on my Ipod. The file is a .mov file and I can add the file to the source window in TMPGEnc, but can't preview (prelisten) to the sound of the file. When I go and do the encoding itself I get an error... does any one have an idea on this? Is it a bug in TMPGEnc? I asking if it is a bug simply beacuse when I tried a software called Mediacoder it will convert the .mov file just fine... but TMPGEnc will not...

Best Regards
Jerry

To answer my own question, hehe, is an answer I read from other answer on other topics, but to resolve my problem only do this:
If I turn off the Quicktime plugin and let DirectX handle the files things are OK.
And that's all!

/JJ

Not an issue but more of a complaint/comment: I had TMPGEnc setup and working on my old computer but when I installed on my new computer, audio wasn't present in any of the converted clips. It took me a little while to realize that I needed AC3Filter in order to make it work.

I'm not very knowledgeable about video encoding/decoding/editing but I consider myself very proficient with technical issues with computers. I'm wondering how the general population buying an HD camcorder would realize what the problem was and fix it?? Maybe the answer is that the average HD camcorder buyer wouldn't be buying TMPGEnc XPress. I could've missed it, but is there any concise documentation detailing the additional components needed in order to perform general tasks? I'm not saying to call out specific products, just to say what types of plugins/utilities will be required. In my case, it's a simple task converting the very large .mts files to Divx (I archive the .mts files).

TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress uses the codecs installed on your computer. If you can play your movie files outside of 4.0 XPress, then in most cases you shouldn't have a problem using them in 4.0 XPress. It was even possible to import AVCHD files before they were officially supported because of this flexibility.

It's possible that AC3Filter installed some codecs that you needed.

Can anyone advise how to have a smooth or fade in transition between chapters using DVD Author 3

Transition effects aren't possible in DVD Author 3. You'd have to add the transition effects in TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress or some other program.

I use TMPG for encoding DVD movies but for 'home video' where I have shortish clips that would benefit from fades to avoid frequent scene jumps, I use Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD. www.womble.com Don't let the silly name fool you. It's very competent. Tony.

Wouldn't TMPGEnc MPEG Editor 3 be the way to go for these clip transitions like fades, etc? Or even the 4.0 XPress product?

That's true. MPEG Editor 3 has much better and more varied transition effects than 4.0 XPress.
With 4.0 XPress, you'd only be able to do fade-in/fade-out, but with MPEG Editor 3, there's a ton of different types of fade and wipe effects.

I'm gonna have to check out this Womble thing too. Sounds interesting.

I am burning a collection disk of music videos that I recorded off the air, and transferred from vhs. Unfortunately, the sound level for each of the videos varies, so I need to make the sound levels consistent, without "squashing" the sound with over-compression. In addition to a simple volume adjustment for each file, TMPGenc Author 3 offers 2 options for adjusting the sound level for multiple files on the same track [in the Source - Clip Editor - Cut-edit - Audio filters - Volume Adjustment tab]: These options are Normalization and Uniformization. Unfortunately, the manual does not describe clearly what the difference between them is, and how to adjust the parameters. Can anyone help? Thanks.

Doesn't anyone have any idea or specs about this?

I am having problems getting my mpeg-2 files (converted to mpeg-4) using the latest version of Xpress and play correctly on my Apple iTouch.

I use the ISO MPEG-4 template and select the output container ipod video (assuming that means itouch video will play or accept that format).

I used iTunes (latest version) to transfer files from my harddrive to the iTouch.

Symptoms range from audio loss (good video and audio for the first 28 minutes of a 30 minute video, but no audio the remaining 2 minutes, only silent video).

This looks like an XPress encoding problem as I can play the mpeg-4 file correctly from my desktop.

I run Windows Vista/64 with 8GB of RAM, and twin 500GB SATA drives. All updates to software and drivers are current.

Wait, so you can play the MPEG-4 file from your desktop with no problems, but playing it through your iTouch, it loses audio in the last 2 minutes?

Or do you mean that the MPEG-2 files are fine, but after you convert them to MPEG-4 with XPress, the problems arise?

Does this happen to all of your MPEG-2 files? Is audio loss the only problem?

I tried converting a DVD compliant MPEG-2 file to MPEG-4 with the ipod video container and my results were fine. What are the specifications of the MPEG-2 file?

TPMG DVD Author 2

When I choose my own background image (a jpg 100% for exemple, size 768x576), the quality is really poor, worse than the background given with the software. It seems to be very compressed.

How to make a clean background image ?