Regardless of the explanations, elsewhere, of captured video and audio frame rate mismatch and which should be the "Standard" I believe that the methology used in TMPGEnc DVD Author is flawed. I captured 6 video tape segments using ADS Instant DVD 2.0 capture unit at 4000Kbs (Hardware compession/multipexing)creating 6 separate mpeg files. The total duration of these is 150 minutes. Each "clip" was added as a new track with main and track menus in DVD Author. After authoring there is an accumulated 1 second audio/video mismatch at the end of the last track. This tells me that there is a rate error, somewhere, of 1/9000, or .00011%! This is so close to perfection that nothing better should be expected in the real world and certainly not of my capture device! Since the original mpeg files are perfectly synchronized, and can be perfectly authored with programs from Ulead and Nero, there is pertinent audio/video synchronization information that is not being used by TMPGEnc DVD Author. It is also odd that the error accumulates over the total time of the 6 files and not each file individually?
Thanks Dieter

I tried an ADS USB capture box and it was rubbish. By capturing video through the box, and the sound through your sound card, you are absolutely asking for sync problems.

I sent mine back and got an ADS A/V Pyro that captures both sound and video locked together through one firewire connection without the sound card being involved at all. The result - it captures hour long (and more) files perfectly without a hint of any sync problems. The USB model couldn't even keep ten minute clips together. Utterly useless device, which ADS should drop from their product line and hang their head in shame over.

TMPGenc DVD Author makes perfectly synched DVDs from my A/V Pyro captures, no matter how long, how short, or how many there are. But no matter what I tried I couldn't get sound and video to sync with the USB model, which had nothing to do with TMPGenc DVD Author and everything to do with the useless ADS USB box.

Regards

Mark

>I tried an ADS USB capture box and it was rubbish. By capturing video through the box, and the sound through your sound card, you are absolutely asking for sync problems.


I really don't think that's the issue; if it were the user would realize it from the source file (!). I use a PVR-250; if you're unfamiliar, it's a hardware MPEG-2 encoding card, which is supplied both audio and video in perfect sync (necessarily from a coax feed), and produces MPEG-2 output. However, sync issues still occur, but only with TDA; by the end of 1 hour and 45 continuous minutes from one source MPEG-2 file, the sync is around three to four seconds (estimation) off. TDA just doesn't pay attention to the timestamps, I guess; I can play the video I record with WMP (for example) and sync is perfect all the way to the end of the video even when I skip ahead. I burn the DVD with TDA and I've just created a coaster; the sync is gradually lost through playback until it's terribly off at the end of the file.

I will state the following:

TMPGEnc itself doesn't accept the file, else I'd try transcoding it. Can't remember the error, TMPGEnc's MPEG-2 support expired and I still have about two weeks' trial left with TDA.

The source file was encoded VBR 6mbps low to 9mbps high with a hardware MPEG-2 encoding tuner card, the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250.

I used Nanocosmos' MPEG-2 editor to cut the commercials out.



But, again, WMP plays back the file perfectly; I have the Elecard MPEG-2 codec installed on this machine. As the only MPEG-2 codec installed, doubtless WMP is using this to decode the video.


And, again... Sync + TDA = suxx0rz! I just want a resolution.

Just to clarify and to add to "Nohbdy's" comments. I am using the ADS Instant DVD 2.0 capture unit that does not use the sound card for audio. It hardware multiplexes the audio/video to the USB2 (or 1) output. I can verify the manufacturers claim of "Perfect Lip Sync." even with very poor quality video input sources. In fact I, and at least one other user of this device, have never seen an audio/video mismatch in the resulting mpeg file. I also agree that the mpeg file must contain a continuous time stamp that "locks" the audio and video together. Otherwise we have a situation akin to projecting motion picture film with sound play-back from a reel-reel tape recorder and hoping, by some miracle, that the two will stay synchronized.

My apologies then. The model I tried used the sound card for sound and was dreadful at keeping sync.

Also, I use other programs to create the MPEG2 and WAV files from a DV source (the ADS Pyro A/V link in my case) such as TMPGenc or Procoder, and TDA seems to be able to keep these synced perfectly, even turning them into AC-3(2.0) whilst it does it, now that I have the AC-3 plug in. Never a hint of sync loss.

Perhaps feeding MPG files to TDA rather than MPEG2/WAV combos is the problem?
Though I'm sure I've tried a few experiments of reading DVDs and messing about with the files before re-authoring them and there was never any hint of sync loss there, either.

What hardware spec are you running? I'm using a 2.8 P4, 512Mb RAM, two 7200rpm
70Gb drives, Nvidia Ti4200 graphics card, Audigy 2 sound card, and a Sony 500 external firewire burner.

Regards

Mark

>Perhaps feeding MPG files to TDA rather than MPEG2/WAV combos is the problem?

This is how you attain perfect sync? To the best of my knowledge, TDA will only accept mpeg-2 files...

I'm using a Pinnacle PCTVSat card for capture of DVB-S streams. The captures are made with WinSTB in a very raw format (MPEG2 transport-stream) where sync is tracked every few frames (you may even cut out a piece of the file with a hex editor without loosing sync!) These files are demultiplexed with ProjectX which corrects eventual sync problems (i.e. caused by transmit errors) by adding or dropping audio 'frames'. The demultiplexed streams are then directly put into TDA which remultiplexes the video and audio streams to VOBs. The DVDs created this way had never any sync problems. Maybe you should try it with demultiplexed streams...

Hey,

I'm currently converting a few DivX files to MPEG using TMPGEnc. However, a lot of the source material contains color bleed where bright colors clash. Is there any filter or special setting I can apply in TMPGEnc to *attempt* to reduce the problem?

Thanks in advance :)

No, but you will find filters in Virtualdub that can help with this.

I created a DVD using TMPGenc, but found that my field order was reversed so i extracted the mpeg file from the Video TS back to Mpeg and tried to open it with TMPGenc. Now the file would not open (error message, unable to open file).

I was able to demux the file using Tools, but not open the file for encoding. I changed the priority of the Directshow to 2 as previous mail suggested, but no luck. Why is the programme not recognising a file which it created in the first place?

(btw I extracted the mpeg from the VOB using Ulead's import function, it's the only way I know how)

Rgs
Al

Like Media Player or other Tools, TMPGEnc needs an MPEG2-DirectShow-Filter to open MPEG2-Files. Windows does not include such a filter. You have to install a Software-DVD-Player or a Tool like ffdshow.

There's no need to re-encode your Video just for the reason of Field-Order-Changing. There are several Tools like ReStream or Project X, which are able to patch the File within seconds.

PULLDOWN.EXE and it's GUI will also reverse the field order.
As for extracting MPEGs from VOBS, you can use TMPG to do this with individual VOBS or to do it with a complete set you can use VOBEDIT.

An MPEG2 codec for TMPG can be obtained at the link below:
http://www.marumo.ne.jp/mpeg2/

Thks v much for tips, Ashy and folks. I have downloaded Pulldown and hope it works. Meanwhile, how do u extract the MPEG from VOB using TMPGENc? I tried looking once but couldnt figure it out.

Thks again!

>An MPEG2 codec for TMPG can be obtained at the link below:
>http://www.marumo.ne.jp/mpeg2/

To demux a VOB with TMPG you need to use the de-multiplexer in the MPEGtools.
However this only works for individual VOBS. To demux a set to a complete movie file you will need to use VOBEDIT.

Since the new dual-layer burners are coming out, please update TMPGENC Plus and TMPGENC DVD Author to support the new 9.4 Gb SS/DL recordable media, including the -R and +R varieties. Thanks.

I have converted avi to mpeg. But the audio didn't come out.
I've got information from Gspot
video codec: XviD
audio codec: ac3 (0x2000) Dolby Laboratories, Inc

I've installed ac3filter but it still doesn,t work.
Anyone know what the problem is?

Wrong filter, you need 'AC3 ACM decompressor'.

I've installed AC3 ACM decompressor but still doesn't work. Anymore suggestion?
TQ

If you have installed it correctly it should work.
Try raising the priority of the 'Directshow file reader' in the VFAPI plugins to 2 or 3.

To check for audio click the 'Setting' button under the 'Audio' tab and click 'Play'
If you don't hear audio here you won't have audio in the output MPEG.

If you still have problems then extract the AC3 to a wav with Virtualdub_ac3 and use that as the audio source for TMPG.

Okai, well I want to convert an .AVI file into a VCD-MPEG one, but I keep getting problems. First, I got the "WARNING : BFRAME LAG" error, but fixed it by reading a topic on the BBS. But now, after I finish encoding, I tried watching it, but the Video is very slow, while the Sound's normal. They don't synch with each others...

I don't understand, since it worked fine until yesterday. Anyone kows how to fix it ? I tried lots of things, but nothing seems to works...

When I run TMGEnc my computer SHUTS DOWN completely. No warning sign no crash it just turns off. This seems to happen when it encodes to about 10% and I cant figure it out what is going on and if you dont know pleas just tell me what you might think it is becuase I have no idea what to do. Thanks!

I was having similar problems today after changing my motherboard and CPU. I have temporarily solved it by changing the CPU settings in Option/Environment and unchecking everything.

I got a random selection of reboots, blue screen crashes and total lock ups so it seems that there is a problem with the way TMPGenc talks directly to the CPU.

Tomorrow I'll find out exactly what the problem was.

Bob.

I just encoded 30 mins of avi to vcd without a problem after unchecking 3DNow!

If you have an Athlon XP processor, that's your answer.

Bob.

Ok thanks I'll try doing what you said but I have an Intel processor but I'll see if it works regardless. Thanks.

Where is this 3DNow option?

Nevermind I found them.

Ok I tried what you said and no luck. It still shuts down. I'm completely stumped.

We have had stablity problems with an Athlon processor. Where is 3DNow and how do I uncheck it? Words of one syllable please!

3DNOW! is in the option menu under Environmental Setting.

My solution unchecking 3DNOW! was a temporary one and the PC still locks up occasionally in tmpgenc and anything else it feels like. I've just discovered that both my memory modules are corrupt and that I only get about 200MB out of 512. As soon as something hits the first corrupt bit the system does something peculiar. AMDs seem to be prone to problems and there are various solutions posted around the web. The most common problem, apparently, is overheating and I notice that the CPU temperature tends to rocket when doing a long encode at high priority on tmpgenc presumably because of the large amount of work it has to do (and it uses quite a bit of memory which is where my problem is). Make sure the CPU is a cool as possible. If it rises much above 60*c you are likely to suffer a crash.

Cheers,

Bob.

Thanks but I have an Intel. My computer must overheat fast cuz when i start it up cold in the morning it still crashes pretty quick.

I have solved all my crashing problems and to prove it have just encoded 2GBs worth of MPEG-2 in TMPGenc pretty fast without a hiccup.

I don't know exactly what the problem was. Either the memory was faulty or the wrong type of memory. My local guru reckons it was the wrong tye of memory which worked fine doing stuff like internet access, writing documents and so forth but couldn't deliver the goods when asked to do something more cpu and memory intensive like TMPGenc.

There is a free download available all over the web by the name of memtest-86. This requires you to create a bootable floppy which does nothing more than test the memory (and it's ability to function properly). This pointed me in the right direction and I have changed the old stuff for a different (slower, actually) type which now works perfectly.

Incidentally, to be on the safe side I have also installed a fairly powerful fan in the back of the box to keep the temperature down

Cheers,

Bob.

Thanks a lot. That all sounds pretty good but darn it, im not in the best spot money wise now to be buying new memory and such but we'll see. Thanks a ton for your help!

At least if you tested your memory with memtest-86 you'd know whether this was the problem and whether it was worth looking further into the problem.

Bob.

how fo you use the dvd writing software, without opening the project and having to rewrite it to the file. i just want to write the project and that is all

Hi, I am new to converting files to VCD but enjoying myself. I have several music videos that are very snowy when converted but perfect on the computer.
The files are all about 30mb each. I did some that were even smaller files and they came out perfectly. Not sure what settings to use on advanced.
I want to play them on a PAL TV . The source files are generally ripped from widescreen DVD. Sorry but instructions need to be for a total beginner. ]
Thanks carole

for some reason i keep losing my codecs
its kinda hard to explain,....but if i try and encode certain movie files
tmpg doesnt recognise them...were as before it did rcognise them.
as an example...if i open virtual dub...and choose video compression....most of my codecs are missing and now i only have 9 codecs to choose from were as before i had loads like.. divx codecs an such...which makes me think tmpg is looking for the ones that are now missing.
Also now if i try an encode with main concept ...it encodes half way then freezes

i had this problem before and i had to do a repair of windows to retreive the codecs which appeared back in virtual dub library.

is there something disabled thats not allowing me to use the codecs or has some software altered them

i have klite codec pack installed ...have tried reinstalling them but no joy.

any ideas appreciated.

Problem: klite codec pack

Solution: get rid of these ridiculous codec packs, which only cause nothing but problems, and only download and install each codec you need.

Since I'm thinking of converting an AVI movie to MPEG-2 for DVD, I was wondering what settings to use so that it can fit on a normal DVD-R (4.7GB; 120 minutes)? I am also thinking of including a still menu that I create in Photoshop, 4 small trailers in MPEG-1 format, 1 set of English subtitles, and chapter selections.

So what size should I set it to convert to so that it can fit on that DVD-R along with all of those other small things? By the way, I'm converting it to m2v because the audio is AC3.

And I forgot to add that the AVI file is in Xvid and the bitrate is 1468 kb/s. The movie is around 101 minutes long.

And why don't I ask this here too. For the subtitles, how do I make it so that they don't run off the screen (overscan)? They're currently in SSA format. When I made SVCDs with hard subs, I had to minus a 30 pixel border. So the SVCD size is 480x480 but I used a custom center size of 420x420. Now, what number should I position the removable subtitles for DVD so that they don't run off the screen? Thanks for any help!

To be on the safe side, use an Overscan-Area of 40 Pixels for the Subs.

For your Bitrate-Problem, don't use the Wizard, give Fit2Disc a try, the best Bitrate calculator for DVD and SVCD.

I have two MPEG-2 files created by TMPGenc at the same time and have identical size, aspect, bitrate and fps. The audio is identical. However merge/cut claims the videos are incompatible. Clearly something is wrong, any explanation?

Sorry, I should have added that I can't see a way to find out exactly what it thinks is different about the two files. Is there a way of logging what the problem is?

Maybe one is interlaced and one is progressive.

You can find out what the properties of each one is and therefore find what the difference is with 'Bitrate viewer'
http://www.tecoltd.com/bitratev.htm

Ashy, thanks.

That was exactly the difference. Now all I have to do is understand what that means and to find out how to ensure that TMPGenc is consistent.

Cheers,

Bob.

I see that different AVI codecs produce a different default MPEG encoding which is where my problem came from.

This begs two questions:

Question 1 is: How will it affect video quality if I choose a different encode mode and,
Question 2 is what is the best way of encoding, Interlace or Progressive?

Many Thanks,

Bob.