One last question,

Is it right that it's not enough to rely on the VideoCD template, or on the wizard, to convert DV-AVI to VideoCD-MPEG?

If the source video is 720x480, the source aspect ratio is in fact 704x480. In order to convert it properly to 352x240 and preserve the aspect ratio, the source frame must be clipped by 8 pixels from the left, and by 8 pixels from the right: 720-8-8=704.

It's the same in PAL conversions, from 720x576 to 352x288.

Those 8 pixels in the left and in the right wouldn't show on the TV, anyway. It's more important to have a video in the right aspect ratio; or, it shouldn't be converted to a 4:3 format.

Shouldn't the default settings do this clipping, if the video is 720x480, but the source ratio is 4:3 <-> 704x408? Ditto about PAL/576.

Best regards,
Cosmin

That's right. To convert 720 -> 352 you have to clip 16 Pixels. An other Way is to resize 720x576 -> 352x280 without cropping, letterboxing to 352x288.
In NTSC-World, you can do it this Way: Resize to 352x236 without cropping, letterbox to 352x240. But this isn't realy good, because of the strange Resizing. The best Way is to clip always to 704.

Thanks for confirmation.

This is another suggestion for Mr. Hori - that 720x480/720x576 video should be clipped by 8+8 pixels by default, when converted to any format that maintains the same pixel aspect ratio, and the frame fills a 4:3 rectangle (such as VideoCD, or 640x480, or 320x240, etc.)

I've seen a couple of VideoCDs, converted from VHS or TV capture, that have black vertical margins and an incorrect pixel aspect ratio (i.e. people appear "too tall".) I believe the users of TMPGEnc who did the conversion didn't know that they were doing it wrong.

I don't know if my suggestion is better handled in the program, or in a template.

That's incorrect. Well for your information the authors of TMPG have already compensated for this.
TMPG automatically adjusts the aspect ratio to acount for the difference in pixels.
You will notice that when resizing from 720x480 to 720x240 that image is not only compressed by 8 pixels either side vertically, but TMPG also compresses the image horizontally by the right amount of pixels regarding the aspect ratio to compensate and just fills the rest in with black.

If you clip 8 pixels either side your image will infact have the wrong aspect ratio or if you resize the image vertically so it's a few pixels short.

If you don't believe it just play the original in media player and put your thumbnail on the top or bottom edge of the image then without removing your thumb play your resized clip. You will noticed the image is also compressed a few pixels horizontally to compensate and maintain the correct aspect ratio.

>You will notice that when resizing from 720x480 to 720x240 that image is not >only compressed by 8 pixels either side vertically
Sorry this should read: You will notice that when resizing from 720x480 to 352x240 that image is not only compressed by 8 pixels either side vertically

>That's incorrect. Well for your information the authors of TMPG have already compensated for this.
>TMPG automatically adjusts the aspect ratio to acount for the difference in pixels.

I am glad to know this, although it doesn't happen in my version of TMPGEnc (2.59.47.155). I am sure about it, because I tested it with a 720x480 video that has 8-pixel-wide black margins on the left and on the right. If I don't clip anything, those margins appear (albeit narrower) in the encoded video (they shouldn't).

Maybe a newer version of TMPGEnc does it properly. When I'll have time, I will download the latest version and test it.

Huh, what Ashy said is right, but, there's a big reason, NOT to use this Resizing-Feature in TMPGEnc (and other Programs): It is called the Nyquist-Effekt. It's a theorem about Resizing and it is exactly what i meant with "Strange Resizing".
I must appologize, but my english is not good enough to give you an Explanation about the Nyquist-Effekt, but it exist and can be noticed. It results in unsharp mixing of Pixels, and it does not happen, if you do the Cropping to 704.

704 / 2 = 352
480 / 2 = 240

If you use the Resizing-Feature for the 720 Format, the division Factor is not 2, it is a foating-Point Opperation.

Sorry, that's al i can "stutter" about that in english. :(

About Aspect Ratios: 720 and 704 do have exactly the same ASR, that's because the 720 Format do use an Motion Area of 704.

I still don't understand this statement of Ashy:

>If you clip 8 pixels either side your image will infact have the wrong aspect ratio or if you resize the image vertically so it's a few pixels short.

Say I have to convert from 720x480 to 352x240.
The 720x480 source has 704x480 of its pixels to fill in a 4:3 rectangle (this is why the "source aspect ratio" is called "704x480 4:3"). Therefore, the entire source frame is actually wider: it's not 4:3 = 1.3333..., but it's (4:3)*(720/704) = (4:3)*(45/44) = 1.3636...

For example, if you play a 720x480 video in full screen, you will see thin, horizontal black bars at the top and at the bottom. If you play a 352x240 video or a 704x480 video in full screen, that occupies indeed the entire screen. The video looks higher, but also wider, by the proper amount necessary to preserve the aspect ratio.

Therefore, if you clip 8 pixels on the left and 8 on the right, you will get a narrower video, which occupies a full 4:3 rectangle, and preserves the correct aspect ratio at the same time.

Ditto with 720x576 --> 704x576 / 352x288 in PAL/SECAM countries.

Cosmin

It's me again,

The "No motion search for still picture part by half pixel" option is on by default in the VideoCD templates. However, I noticed in other MPEG encoders that they enable motion search by half pixel by default, and recommend using it because they claim it's better. In fact, the MPEG committe included half motion in the standard in order to increase quality.

My very subjective impression with TMPGEnc is that half-pixel motion search gives slightly better results, either if it is a movie shot with a camcorder in the hand (which has fast and slow motion, but almost no stills), or on a tripod (which has also stills, at least in parts of the image).

Am I right, or is the template right, or is it simply the fact that "you can't tell"?
It's true that I didn't have frames with "complete stills", only "still background, moving subject". But even in this case, half-pixel motion search was better, so I had to override the TMPGEnc template.

I am using TMPGEnc version 2.59.47.155

Best regards,
Cosmin

Half PEL search is good if you have good Source (sharp, clear, less Noise). You should aktivate it.
But if you have Captures from older Tapes with flickering Object-Borders, it's better to deaktivate Half PEL Search. That's because the encoder gives the Borders too much Bitrate and too less on now motion Parts into a picture which results in strange Effekts.

Thanks, Kika, for the answer. Yes, my source is Digital Video, which has some noise indeed, but it's very little. It's good to know that this kind of video is better compressed with HalfPel search enabled.

As a suggestion: I think that many people convert their digital videos (or other kinds of high-quality video) to MPEG, and I doubt that they know HalfPel search is better the source is DV; probably, they will just use the defaults. It would be a good idea to mention this in the "tooltip" message associated to the HalfPel checkbox setting.

Hi,

I am using TMPGEnc to convert DV-AVI to VideoCD. On DV-AVI, the YUV data is already in the CCIR601 format, so there is no need to convert it again (in the box MPEG Settings/Quantize Matrix/Special Settings/Output YUV...). I am checking on this box, assuming that the YUV data remains unaltered. I assume that every conversion to CCIR601 loses some data (Y is squeezed from 0-255 to 8-235).

My observation is exactly the opposite: the "conversion to CCIR601" preserves the data, while the "conversion to YCbCr" alters it (maybe Y is expanded from 8-235 to 0-255).

I noticed this by repeatedly compressing a MPEG file. If I use "output as CCIR601" repeatedly, the pixels' intensity is preserved. If I use "output as YCbCr" repeatedly, the intensity is expanded to "too much white" or "too much black".

Is this the right behavior? If yes, then the recommendation written in the yellow box that appears as a tooltip is wrong (and my first assumptions are also wrong). If not, then I think there's a bug in this conversion.

I am using TMPGEnc version 2.59.47.155. I am willing to upgrade to the latest version, if this problem is already solved.

Thank you very much for giving us TMPGEnc!
Cosmin

I've used VirtualDub to strip the uncompressed sound out of an avi i've got. I then use tmpgenc to encode but every time I try the sound doesn't come out. It doesn't complain about the wav file i give it - the sound just doesn't come out of the resulting mpg. I keep trying just 300 frames to check but to no avail.

I'm pretty new to this and it's my first time so please help.

Have you checked the Wav file to see if it has sound?? If all else fails you can take the Wav file (If it has sound) and use a Totally seperate audio encoder to Encode it to Mpeg 1 layer 2 audio then use Tmpgenc"s "Simple Multiplex" in the Mpeg tools to Join the Mpeg audio to the Video...There are a Few Freeware Mpeg audio encoders like "Headac3he" and even "DB Power AMP" can do it....

I am very new to 'Encoding' video files. I have used the free version to encode an AVI file to MPEG1 no problems the first time, but the second time I tried to encode an AVI file to MPEG1 for VCD PAL, I get an error saying 'cannot open file or unsupported'. What do I need to do?

Because you sucessfully encoded an avi file doesn't mean you will always have the same success with every avi file, as Avi files are encoded by different means, you need to find out what the encoding of the source is, by using a program called GSpot or the like, then in TMPGEnc go to Options,Environmental Settings, VFAPI -plugins and raise the priority level of the codec decompressor to match the encoder that GSpot showed the original source to have been. The error message that you gave appears to be this problem (The VFAPI-plugin needs to be prioritized correctly or it won't recognise (unsupported) the source.

Because you sucessfully encoded an avi file doesn't mean you will always have the same success with every avi file, as Avi files are encoded by different means, you need to find out what the encoding of the source is, by using a program called GSpot or the like, then in TMPGEnc go to Options,Environmental Settings, VFAPI -plugins and raise the priority level of the codec decompressor to match the encoder that GSpot showed the original source to have been. The error message that you gave appears to be this problem (The VFAPI-plugin needs to be prioritized correctly or it won't recognise (unsupported) the source.

I'm converting an avi file into mpeg2 and the final mpeg file is just a little to big (5 GB) to burn to a dvd.

How can I set a limit on the file size?

If I use the project wizard then I can set 'Make file size xx % of disk capacity' but since I have made my own template I'm not using the wizard and I don't see this possibility anywhere in the main window.

Can anybody help?

Cheers

If you reduce the bitrate in the settings one notch, it'll decrease the output size.

Okay - but can I see the expected file size like in the project wizard or do I have to guess how much I need to reduce the bitate by?

If you use a "Bitrate Calculator" you can use to to figure out the Bitrate you would have to use for the length of the movie you are encodeing so it fits on a DVD..

I'm using cladDVD XP 1.32 which creates VOB, WAV and D2V files. My understanding is that TMPGenc ver 2.57 would be able to read the D2V file as the fie to use to encode along with the VOB files the WAV file of course would be audio.

First the D2V file doesn't appear as a valid file to use and when I try to use the D2V file to encode from the error cannot open or is unsupported pops up. Others I know use this same combination of software and have had no problems with it.

What's up?

For Tmpgenc to accept D2V files the "DVD2AVI.vfp" Plugin has to be installed, you install it by Downloading DVD2AVI and takeing the "DVD2AVI.VFP" file from the DVD2AVI folder and Copy and Pasteing it into the Tmpgenc folder...But it is Best NOT to use the D2V files created By CladDVD XP or DVD Decrypter or Smartripper and use DVD2AVI to make the D2V file, Cuz DVD2AVI has options that effect the Quality and the way the Image looks which your DVD Ripper doesn"t have, Plus the D2V files from DVD2AVI are more compatible.....

Admin I tried to delete the second post that is timed 16:40 but I could not, I am not sure how this happened I must have done something wrong, please delete the post with the time 16:40 ( The one about asking King John) for me, thank you, and again my apologies.

What exactly is JUNK frames? And if it effects TMPGEnc, and causes it to crash midway or at some point of the encoding process, how can one solve the problem?

I guess there can be a Few things that can be considered Junk frames,But most of it has to do with Files that have been captured and the Only Kind of frames that can cause Tmpgenc to crash are Corrupted frames which are Very common with Downloaded files...

I think it's something different, based on what I saw in Gspot, there is a reference to JUNK as code under "comments and metadata" section ,also shows JUNK as (ASCII in Junk Chunk)under the RIFF info field. So I think it's some type of encoding done to the source, I also see that vdub was was used.

You can use Virtualdub to remove junk chunks. Just simply use the directcopy option for the Video and Audio and it should remove any junk chunks.

Hi, im very very new to this so u can say im a newbie. I came across this software from Techtv broadcast and i cant seem to figure out how to make a MPEG movie into somehing that can be played on a home DVD player.

CD: Does a regular Writable CD and a CD drive enough?
How do i make it playable on a home DVD player. My Player is Panasonic DVD-CV51

Well you need to have a Movie to encode, and you need a Program that is For Burning VCD"s...Go here and Read a LOT!! http://www.dvdrhelp.com/

I'm trying to encode and burn a .asf file. It's longer than 80-minutes, so I need to set an end point, and I'd hoped to be able to view it and chop the video in two between songs. But when I try to set that end point, the machine freezes up. I'm on a Pentium III with 264K RAM, so there should be plenty of memory.

Well you can allways cut it after encodeing with the Merge & Cut feature...

can TMPgenc could convert from PAL to NTSC?

thanks

D

Not realy. Search the Board, there are several solutions for Konverting PAL->NTSC or NTSC->PAL.

Yes it can, you have to use the settings when you rencode and change it to NTSC.

Use the Extra/Unlock MCF. First then proceed to the re-encode process.

@MenderOne

No, it can't do it propperly! What you will get is a bad looking Video.

And there's no need to use the unlock MCF. You can change the Settings directly. Just click on "Frame rate", "Size" or something else (click on the word, not onto the Box), the you can Lock/Unlock single settings.

@ KIKA

I've converted at least 13 of 15 files from PAL to NTSC using TMPGEnc with no problems, the videos looked fine.What I failed to mention is that when I encountered a problem ( with 2 of those 15 files) what I did was Framserved the video with Vdub and the audio that was extracted from the original)But the remaining thirteen files I did it with TMPGEnc alone with no problems.If you are referring that when you play it on the computer it shows green or not at all, then that's a codec issue on the player used, and if you try it on a standalone it will show just fine.

I know your Way, and it works, that's right, but TMPGEnc does not do a propper Framerate-Conversion. What you can do is a PAL-SpeedUp (23.976 -> 25 FpS) or a NTSC-SlowDown (25 -> 23.976 FpS). But than you only can convert progressive Video, you must use the Option "Do not convert Frame rate" and you have to use a Tool like BeSweet to SpeedUp/SlowDown the Audio-Part.
If you need 25 -> 29.97 FpS or 29.97 -> 25 FpS, you have to use AVISynth to get realy smooth Motion and you don't need BeSweet.

Nope, I used it standalone and set it at 29.97 fps, I wish there were a way for me to send you a vid I converted so you could see for yourself, it handled it quite well with without a really noticable change in video quality. I Use Goldwave 5 (EXCELLENT audio tool) and extract the audio with believe it or not, no sync issues whatsoever when I use Vdub and set it to frameserve, Then in TMPGEnc for the source video I set it to use the .vbs that I created from the frameserve in vdub, and for the audio source I load the wave that goldwave decompresed, the framerate is set at standard 29.97 NTSC, and the result has no sync sync issues at all. The reason I use the unlock .mcf is it unlocks everything on the source and not just a single aspect, who knows, maybe that's why it's working for me. ;)

It is a VERY Well Known fact that Tmpgenc does not do Correct Frame tate conversions, What Tmpgenc does Is use Frame Duplication and Decimation which is the "Incorrect" way to Convert Framerates, the Correct way is to use Field Interpolation, with Files converted from or to Pal/NTSC with Tmpgenc will have Repeated Frames which will give a Start stop sort of effect in High motion areas..Because you can not see it just means that you do not have an eye for it I guess and doesn"t mean that the effect is not there because it is ..I have answered Many posts over the last year about this very Problem with Tmpgenc and most poeple notice the stuttering effect and come here and ask why they can"t convert from or to Pal/NTSC without this effect even though it is subtle at times..Hori the author of Tmpgenc says that he has plans to add correct Frame rate conversion to Tmpgenc 3.0 and him just saying this Proves that tmpgenc does not do it correctly at this time..But if you don"t notice the effect then well I guess that is good so you don"t have to use seperate tool to do it Properly....Cheers

I agree with Kika and Minion.
TMPG cannot do proper frame rate conversion.
MenderOne you are obviously a novice encoder or you would have realised this and noticed the problem. ANY conversion of frame rates in TMPG will cause playback artifacts. These artifacts are a sort of regular stuttering every second or so or a slight pause every second.

If you haven't noticed this when watching a movie then you can't be very observant.
It's best seen on moving parts of the image, say when a car goes from left to right. It will semm like the car is stuttering.

Take it from me it is there you just haven't noticed it yet. Once you do it's annoying. There are correct ways to do frame rate conversions however.

>Guy's , My vision is a perfect 20/20, I just checked the converted files VERY closely, I've been tinkering quite exhaustively with TMPGEnc settings for quite some time, have read many posts and suggestions regarding conversion in King Johns Guides, VCD help, Kwags KVCD , Doom 9 and the like for hours on end , trying and retrying till the results end up acceptable, and TRUST me, I was VERY observant as I strive for the best possible results I can get from a given source, the start stop effects (even in high motion areas)were NOT present,nor in NO way would it have been acceptable for me to even burn, maybe it's because I adjust and readjust and explore with many different settings dependant on each individual source that I work with, and that's why it's working for me.I don't know what else to say other than to try exhaustively as I have and you too will see that albieght it may not "correctly" convert Pal to NTSC as has been stated, it's working just fine with me without any of the afforementioned start stops, and many of the source vids I have used have fast scenes and the like.

I am one of the most PATIENT guys you could ever run into when it comes to getting things done right, I stop at nothing and continue for hours till I get the desired results and it is in that manner that many veteran encoders have learned new tricks with programs that others have yet to discover.
:)

>I agree with Kika and Minion.
>TMPG cannot do proper frame rate conversion.
>MenderOne you are obviously a novice encoder or you would have realised this and noticed the problem. ANY conversion of frame rates in TMPG will cause playback artifacts. These artifacts are a sort of regular stuttering every second or so or a slight pause every second.
>
>If you haven't noticed this when watching a movie then you can't be very observant.
>It's best seen on moving parts of the image, say when a car goes from left to right. It will semm like the car is stuttering.
>
>Take it from me it is there you just haven't noticed it yet. Once you do it's annoying. There are correct ways to do frame rate conversions however.

>Guy's , My vision is a perfect 20/20, I just checked the converted files VERY closely, I've been tinkering quite exhaustively with TMPGEnc settings for quite some time, have read many posts and suggestions regarding conversion in King Johns Guides, VCD help, Kwags KVCD , Doom 9 and the like for hours on end , trying and retrying till the results end up acceptable, and TRUST me, I was VERY observant as I strive for the best possible results I can get from a given source, the start stop effects (even in high motion areas)were NOT present,nor in NO way would it have been acceptable for me to even burn, maybe it's because I adjust and readjust and explore with many different settings dependant on each individual source that I work with, and that's why it's working for me.I don't know what else to say other than to try exhaustively as I have and you too will see that albieght it may not "correctly" convert Pal to NTSC as has been stated, it's working just fine with me without any of the afforementioned start stops, and many of the source vids I have used have fast scenes and the like.

I am one of the most PATIENT guys you could ever run into when it comes to getting things done right, I stop at nothing and continue for hours till I get the desired results and it is in that manner that many veteran encoders have learned new tricks with programs that others have yet to discover.
:)

>I agree with Kika and Minion.
>TMPG cannot do proper frame rate conversion.
>MenderOne you are obviously a novice encoder or you would have realised this and noticed the problem. ANY conversion of frame rates in TMPG will cause playback artifacts. These artifacts are a sort of regular stuttering every second or so or a slight pause every second.
>
>If you haven't noticed this when watching a movie then you can't be very observant.
>It's best seen on moving parts of the image, say when a car goes from left to right. It will semm like the car is stuttering.
>
>Take it from me it is there you just haven't noticed it yet. Once you do it's annoying. There are correct ways to do frame rate conversions however.

Look if you are happy with the way your movie looks then fine, but I can guarantee you that the artifact is there, it's only slight but it's there and there are many many others that will confirm this, even the author admits it. You don't have some special technique that no of us know about. Many of us have been using TMPG exhastively too over the years and would know if there was some magic setting to get correct frame rate conversion.
It's simply a matter of you not knowing what you are looking for.

Ashy, have you exhaustively tinkered with the latest version?, It hasn't been out for all that long.I have been, since it came out. Every new version opens doors to new possibilities. I will always exhaustive search for them. Don't get me wrong now, but possibilities do exist. No matter HOW much experience one may have, no matter HOW many years one has encoding or in whatever field one may be in, there will always be a door open to new ideas, techniques, and the like. Hell, I have seen some bright individuals (Even Novices at that)come up with ideas and find new ways to doing things that have left EXPERTS astounded. When a technical mind gets TOO technical, sometimes even the obvious has been overlooked, some will admit it, others DARE not to for sake of saving face or ego. I have an EXTREMELY open mind and will never say that an individual does "not have some special technique that others don't know about" I on the other hand would probably say something to the effect of "Hmmm it's possible,one never knows" But you are entitled to your opinion, and I respect that. You feel one way about things as others feel differently. To each's own I guess. ;) Peace

Well, just did a PAL to NTSC conversion and an NTSC to PAL conversion with the latest version and yes, the artifact is still there. But like I say if it doesn't bother you then there is no problem. :]