Is www.dvdrhelp.com still online? Their site has been down for several days now. Anyone know whats going on with them?

Yes...its just have server problems

I imported a VRO file from my Sharp DVD Recorder. It seemed to work fine, I edited out some scenes and created a final movie.
But I think there's a bug in the way it imports VRO files. First, its missing scenes!!! The total clip is only 47 minutes but I recorded 2 hours on that disk. 2nd, for the same timecode it shows different clips in the thumbnail window depending on if you get there using fast forward, or get there using play.

I have noticed this too. If there is only one clip on the VRO file, TDA works as expected - very well. But if there is more than clip recorded TDA goes berserk. It will show the length of the clip as only part of the total, and it will mix up the order of the clips, taking little bits from here and there.
This is a bug - not a possible bug! I am using a Pioneer DVR 7000 recorder.

I tried to convert a .mov file to a .mpg file in its original size (480x360). I had installed the QT Reader plugin and set the QT Movie Reader priority to 2 in Options|Environmental Setting. The resulting mpg file was poor in quality 9dropouts). When I converted the file to mpg using a 320x240 size,the conversion appeared to work well. Why is this? Can't I convert to a larger (ie. original) size using TMPGEnc?

I can"t tell you whay you are haveing the specific Problem that you are But I Can tell you that the TQ Reader Plugin for Tmpgenc isn"t really Usefull anymore as it doesn"t properly support Files Made with Quicktime 6, But you say that you have gotten it to work But the File was of Low Quality?? Well a Low Quality Mpeg File is usually due to a Low Quality source file or not a High enough Bitrate which I think is what your Problem is as you said that it looked OK when you Lowered the Resolution..For a File that is going to be encoded to a 480+360 Mpeg2 file you will need to use a Bitrate of at the very Least 2000-2500kbs to achieve any sort of Acceptable Quality and this is if the source file is of Very high Quality...What are you Planning to Do with a 480+360 Mpeg file?? cuz 480+360 does not conform to any standard for Video Resolution, the Closest it comes to is NTSC SVCD resolution which is 480+480..Good Luck

Hello.

There is a problem with the "Open sequence files as a movie" option in the
general settings.

I've named my files from Files-0001.avi to Files-0042.avi, but TMPEG
open only the first 20 files. It's seems that there is a bug in the program
which prevent TMPEG to get the 22 remaning files, making me unable to make
my encoding.

This is Not a Bug.This is a Limitation of the Feature..You can only Load 20 Files as a Sequence in tmpgenc, You can Load Multiple Files useing AVISynth or V-Dub and Frameserve the Files to Tmpgenc....

How do I set the file size to "100% of disc capacity. I can't get it unlocked in the wizard and I cant find it without using the wizard. I just want to burn my movies on 1 cd and not split them up and burn them on 2 cd's. Thanks....Steve

Well if you want to Make a Standard VCD then you Can"t...VCD has a Set Bitrate Standard so that Bitrate Has to be the Same if you want to Make a Standard Compliant VCD..Useing a Lower Than Standard Bitrate for VCD will Give you Really Low Quality VCD"s, VCD is allready Low Quality and Lowering the Bitrate will only make it worse But if you want to make Really Low Quality One CD VCD"s then you Have to Load the "Unlock.mfc" Template from the "Extra" folder, this will unlock all of the settings so you can lower the Bitrate, and you will have to change the "System" setting to "Video-CD Non-Standard" or the File size will not get smaller but the Quality will get lower....Well Good Luck But I would advise against lowering the Bitrate just so you can fit a Few extra Minutes ona CD-R....

The question that you're really asking is 'How can I make a crap quality MPEG which looks awful just for the sake of saving a cheap disk?'

The embarassment factor alone of showing these awful image quality disks to anyone else is enough to prevent me from putting it all on one disk.

Minion, thanks for the info. I understand your point about the quality but still have the need to burn certain vcds's on to just one disc. I can unlock it as you said from the main screen. But I cant get the bitrate to unlock in the wizard so that I can use the slide bar to set it to exactly 100%. I would prefer to do it that way to maximize the bitrate and still get it onto one disc. How do I get the bitrate unlocked in the wizard? Thanks Again..Steve

You Can"t Unlock the Bitrate from the WiZard, But you can make a VCD template without the Wizard that has a Really high/Low bitrate then you can then choose this template in the Wizard you should be able to Lower/Raise it, But your Best bet is just to get a Bitrate calculator then you don"t need the Wizard to tell you what bitrate you should use....Cheers

It can be done. I encode 120min movies on to one 80min cd at a low bitrate between 600/800kbps without any quality difference if i was to encode with a 1150kpbs standard bitrate. You need to encode as a non-standard vcd and also use the Constant Quality setting. You will have to play around with the minimun and maximum bitrates a bit untill you get the final enocde size right.

Yea Maybe no Quality differance in the Untrained eye, But anyone with any real experience in this area can Definately notice the differance between a File encoded at 1150kbs and at 700kbs that is about a 40% drop in Bitrate which meanse a 40% drop in Quality and if a Person can"t notice that then they need glasses..I can barely watch a Standard VCD much less a Below Standard VCD....Cheers

What if i wanna do opposite of what StevenGA is saying? can i make the quality of the VCD really really good by unlocking the settings? Would it still be recognized as a vcd in my dvd player?

The reason im asking is that when i convert a movie into a vcd its always around the 1gb mark and since im going to have to use 2 cd's any way i wont mind making the file size over 1.4gb

BTW my input source is usually a DVD rip or something thats why i want to make the vcd good quality.

Hi'm there,

I'm doing some work for a friend of mind (putting title's on his movies for him) which are compressed in mpeg-1 format, 352x240 size, 29.97 FPS, 88.79KB per second Average Data Rate(Properties form Premier)

One of the original Mpeg-1's that I have is 8 seconds and is about 900k in file size, and I took that MPG and I had to use Adobe Premier to add a Title, and I saved it as MPG with Cleaner 5 in Premier and the file size was about 1.5 megs.. I tried to put it through TMPGEnc to compress it more, and it came out with the same file size, and I tried saving the new movie with the title as an AVI in Premier, and using TMPGEnc to convert that AVI to mpeg-1 and it was stille 1.5 megs :(

How can I fix it so it's 900k? When I look at the properties of the new mpeg-1 with the title, the only thing different is the average data rate is 175.68kb per second, rather than the 89.79KB in the 900k original mpeg-1.

I tried to click the mpeg settings tab in TMPGEnc to change the bit rate to less (is this the same as the average data rate?) which is at 1150 - but it's greyed out and won't let me edit anything excpet Motion Search precision.

Arg... I'm a newbie as you can tell and I'm lost :(

PS: Can you add Title's(copyright/watermarks) in TMPGEnc ?

Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks everyone

You Should not recompress Mpeg files, every time to Compress it you will loose a LOT of Quality, What you should do is save the Title in premier as a Uncompressed AVI file then Encode it to Mpeg1 in Tmpgenc..With Mpeg the Files size has to do with the Bitrate and the Length of the file, so you have to set the Bitrate low enough to get a Small file But you have to make sure that you are encodeing a Mpeg1 file and Not a VCD file cuz there is a Differance, so you go to the "System" setting in tmpgenc ans set it to "Mpeg1" and Not "Video-CD" then the File size will go smaller than a standard VCD file...

Minion - Thanks for the response!

I originally tried to do this, and I just tried again and i'm having some trouble. I have the AVI file imported through TMGPEnc, and then i go to the systems tab like you say, it's Greyed out and won't let me change the Stream type. It's on "MPEG-1 Video-CD", and everything on the Video Tab (including bitrate, which I want to get at) is greyed out too... I have the trial version, could this be why?

I hope i'm not doing anything retarded here... Let me know what you think when you get the chance

To Unlock the settings you have to load the "Unlock.mfc" Template from the "Extra folder" or Just go to "Settings" under "Video" and click on "Bitrate" and Choose "Unlock" and this will unlock the Bitrate setting...

You got it !! thanks man that's just what i needed, works perfect now :)

Now I just gotta figure out how to Edit/Cut .WMV files without killing compression, my next tasks that i can't figure out.. lol

There are a Few Programs that edit WMV files, I think "ASF-Fix" does WMV/ASF Editing but not sure....Cheers

Hey i get an error message everytime i try to convert my matrix reloaded avi to MPEG-1 VCD at NTSC format. It says: Can't load: "P3Package.dll". I don't know maybe i did somthing wrong in the project wizard. Anyone's input would be greatly appreciated.

Search the board. It's been answered a million times already.

If you have the version of Matrix reloaded that is going around on the net then that version is in Pal 25fps Format and you can not use Tmpgenc to convert it to NTSC as Tmpgenc does not do proper Pal to NTSC Conversions, Plus that one uses AC3 audio which you will either need to extract or you will have to install a compatible VFW AC3 Decoder....Your error is because you Don"t have all of the Tmpgenc files in the same folder....

Uhh... I used GSpot to look at the properties of the movie and it does end up being the PAL version and the audio needs to be extracted as well because it's AC3 format. Is there another encoder out there that I could convert PAL to NTSC properly?

ok i down loaded tmpbenc no im trin to make a xvid [avi] in to mpeg i go throw the hole process an the last screan saya go or what ever it goes to the main screen with the start and stop then it stops error what am i doin wrong error says ataddr 77f5215c of module ntdll.dll with 00000000 please help

This error is usually caused by the XviD codec, you should get rid of the Xvid codec and install the "FFDshow Decoder" and configure it to decode XviD files then you should be able to encode the XviD to Mpeg in Tmpgenc...

Well speaking some sense might be a start to a solution to the problem. Come back when you can talk plain English.

Is there a plug-in or something that allows TmpgEnc to encode from an avi file with AC3 audio track directly? Without the need to first extract the Audio file as a .wav?

No there Isn"t...But there is an AC3 decoder for VirtualDub_Mpeg2_AC3 that will let you frame serve AVI files with AC3 audio to Tmpgenc, it also does Surround Down Mixing, You can download the the V-Dub_Mpeg2_AC3 and the AC3 Plugin here: http://fcchandler.home.comcast.net/ , and if you had a seperate AC3 file you could frame serve the AC3 audio with AVISynth useing the AC3Source.Dll Plugin, But becides this you have to extract the audio first, Supposedly the Tmpgenc Version 3.0 is supposed to have AC3 decodeing and Encodeing....

PS: after Installing the AC3 Plugin for V-Dub I can see the AC3 audio in Tmpgenc"s Source range but got an error about not haveing DirectX when I tried to Encode/Decode the audio, Maybe you might have better luck...

Yes, this plugin does actually work with TMPG, but only with AVI's.
This codec uses an ACM wrapper using VFW (Video for Windows) not Directshow therefore to enable the codec to work properly you must use VFW to decode your AVI's not directshow.
Simply make sure that VFW is set at a higher priority than Directshow in the VFAPI plugins or just disable Directshow altogether.

If you have any problems loading the AVI when disabling directshow then download and install FFVFW and configure it to decode all MPEG4 sources.

I just purchased the license for the TMPGenc, but the version keeps telling me I need a license. The email said click the License Button. I downloaded the latest version, but it still gives me that error. Help please, ...robbo

Are you sure you downloaded the Right Version??? You need to download the "Pluss" Version Not the Free Version..You can get the Pluss version by Clicking the Banner Below and going to the Download section and look for the Pluss version and install it and it will ask you to register when you start the Program or you can go to "Help" to "Register".....Cheers

I downloaded a 692mb DVD rip AVI movie file and converted it to a NTSC Film SVCD leaving the aspect ratio on 1:1 (VGA). After converting the file it turned from a 692mb AVI file to a 2.7gb MPEG file and I wasn't getting any audio even though the video was fine. I have a couple of questions:

1) Which option should I leave the aspect ratio on for the best quality and a widescreen view?

2) After converting the file and viewing it on Windows Media Player, WinDVD, etc. I noticed the file claimed to be about 270 mins long which is over 4 hours. The movie played fine from beginning till end for 1 hour and 40 mins which is the actual length of the movie but after that it played over 2 hours of nothing.

How do I delete the 2 hours of blank on the movie and keep the 1 hour and 40 mins of the actual movie?

How do I split the movie into parts for me to burn since I can't fit the whole file onto my 80min 700mb CD-R?

3) I noticed that TMPGEnc doesn't convert certain audio files such as AC3, etc. so I was wondering how I would be able to convert the audio files seperately into AC3 or WAV format?

It is greatly appreciated for your help. Thanks!

Your OutPut Aspect ratio should be 4:3 if you have a regular TV, if you have a Widescreen TV then use the 16:9 aspect..To cut the File into Parts you go to "File" to "mpeg Tools" to "Merge & Cut" and from here it is pretty easy to figure out how to cut the files, Just remember to choose "Super-Video-CD" from the Drop down menu and not plain "mpeg2" cuz SVCD and Mpeg2 are different..and yes Tmpgenc doesn"t like AC3 or VBR Mp3 audio in AVI files so you can use "Virtual dub" to extract the audio to WAC format and use the Wav audio as the audio source in Tmpgenc, You do not want to use AC3 for SVCD as it will Probably not play.....Cheers

Well you will have to use a different Mpeg editor, The only Freeware Mpeg editors I know of are Mpeg 2 editors, one is called "Mpeg2Cut" and the other is called "Chopper XP" ,For editing Mpeg1 files I don"t know of any freeware ones, The editor I usually use is called "Mpeg2VCR" But it isn"t freeware, Do a search on Google for Mpeg2Cut or Chopper XP and you should find a Download Link Pretty Easily..As for the Differance between VBR and CBR , Well CBR means "Constant Bitrate" and VBR is "Variable Bitrate" ...CBR keeps the same bitrate through the whole encodeing Proscess and VBR Bitrate varies depending on how much bitrate is needed to encode the Image and the Bitrate range that you set, you can expect the same or Better Quality useing VBR with a Smaller file size, Tmpgenc has a Few differant VBR Encodeing methods that you can choose from .....

>Thanks Minion, but apparently my "Merge & Cut" under MPEG Tools crashes everytime I try to edit a file so is there another way to cut the files and I was just wondering the difference between CBR & VBR.

This likely because you don't have a compatible MPEG2 codec installed to decode the file.
TMPG can encode to MPEG2, but it can't decode it unless you have the latest Plus version.
You need a compatible MPEG2 directshow codec.

Try installing the codec below, just extract and copy the files into your TMPG folder then follow the instructions to install.
http://www.marumo.ne.jp/mpeg2/m2v_vfp-0.6.38.lzh

If that doesn't work try the Cyberlink codec from Power DVD.

Also the M2v.vfp codec above comes with it's own MPEG cutting tool, so if you still have problems you can use this, which I find is actually better and faster than the Merge&Cut tool anyway.

I tried TMPGEnc a long time ago for something else and now have a TV Capture card, etc and am trying it again (most recent version). Unfortunately, the system has remembered I used it before and says MPEG2 support has expired (past 30 days).

I have my own MPEG-2 Codec on the machine and don't need to use the internal one, but no matter what I do, the program will not open my MPEG-2 files. I need to convert them down to MPEG-1 or just to a size/format VCD/SVCD can use.

How can I get this to use the external codec or reset my 30 day trial?

If you don't want to use TMPGEnc's built in MPEG-2 filter you can also use PowerDVD or WinDVD. Just raise the priority of the one you want to use.

If you can't get TMPGEnc to use your specific MPEG-2 decoder you can make a simple AVISynth script and feed it in that way. (I like Nic's plugin the best)

The only way you can get rid or the 30 day message is to purchase TMPGEnc which I would recommend as it very inexpensive considering all the great features it offers.

Video Guy

I don't think videoguy has quite explained what he means.
For starters you cannot use any WinDVD codec in TMPG for decoding MPEG2 files.
The MPEG2 expired message you get in TMPG has nothing to do with not being able to load your file. It only refers to encoding to MPEG2.

You need to install a compatible MPEG2 codec to decode any MPEG2 files. The ones required are listed on the TMPG features page.
If you have the free version the best one to use is this one particularly made for TMPG: http://www.marumo.ne.jp/mpeg2/m2v_vfp-0.6.38.lzh
Just extract the files then copy them to the TMPG folder then follow the instructions to install it.

If you buy the Plus version of TMPG it comes with it's own MPEG2 decoder.

Yes you can use WinDVD and PowerDVD to decode MPEG-2 in TMPGEnc. They install DirectShow filters that can be used in other programs. For instance install WinDVD, then play you MPEG-2 file back Windows Media Player 6.4. If you go to the menu and view the playback properties you will see that it uses the Intervideo DirectShow decoder. If you set the priority correcty in the settings in TMPGEnc and the WinDVD filter is properly registered in windows registry you can use WinDVD to decode in TMPGEnc. Same with PowerDVD. If you go to Environmental Settings -> VFAPI plugin you can set the priority of the "Cyberlink MPEG-2 Decoder". This is PowerDVD.

I also mentioned using AviSynth above. Let me explain better. IMHO this without a doubt will give you the best decode. I use Nic's MPEG2Dec3 in conjuction with DVD2AVI. MPEG2Dec3 has many advanced features that are not found in any decoder. For instance it has BlindPP which will totally remove any block noise you have in your source. Visit the forums at doom9.org for more info.

Video Guy

You seem to be under the misconception that TMPG can use any directshow filter that Mediaplayer can, this is not the case, if it was our lives would be a whole lot easier with TMPG.

The WinDVD filters are not one of the supported types which will work with the latest TMPG, you either have an older version of TMPG and/or the older WinDVD filters.
I have WinDVD correctly registered on my system the filters are used as the decoders in Mediaplayer, but it does not appear in the VFAPI plugins nor will it decode MPEG2 files in TMPG.
Which versions do you have out of interest?