I am having loads of trouble...
I will start from the beginning...
I have 20 little movies on a dvd that a friend of mine burned.
I tried to merge them together into one movie so I can durn a disk with chapters in dvditse but I have no audio..so...

I have de-multiplexed each movie and have a m2v and an ac3 for each one.
then I did simple multiplex and once again merged and got no audio...

Then I put the ac3 into besweet and made a .wav of the audio
put .wav into tmpge and made .wav into mp2

Went back to simple multiplex and got the error that this audio is not supported.

Then I changed the .wav into mpa and tried agaion and got the same problem.

I am new at this so hopefully I am just making some beginners mistake.
i appreciate the help in advance!!!!
My ultimate goal is to merge these 20 or so movies together and edit the one movie and put into dvditse to put chapter points.

Thank you

You can't use TMPG to merge movies with Ac3.
As you have discovered you will lose the audio.
If these movies are in VOB format all you need is a VOB merging program such as VOBMerge.
VOBMerge will also merge normal MPEGs.
http://www.angelfire.com/nc/evilmastr/vobmain.html

Thanks ashy but... I tried vobmerge.
Got the vob from my dvd and tried to input it but got the error message file denied. as a matter of fact no vob from any disk will be inputed. What now am I doing wrong!!!!!
thanks

If you are Running XP or Win2000 with a NTSF File system then you can Use Smartripper to Rip the DVD to One Big Vob file so you will not need to Merge them, You can also use it to extract all of the audio to on Big AC3 File if you want...

Hmm... you can't just merge VOBs straight from a DVD.
VOBs are encrypted on DVD for copy protection which is why it won't work. You need to rip the VOBs to your Hard drive first with Smartripper.
Also any file which has the read only option checked in it's properties will also cause this and this will be the case with any file on a disk.

Hi,

I would like to make a little request here:

Today I had to merge several (about 40) MPEG-clips together. Each hat an Intro and Outro, which I wanted to cut out. So I had to set the range for each clip one by one. That was kinda awkward, so I'm asking, could you build in one of the next versions of TMPGEnc a small function, which allows it to apply one range setting for all MPEG-files to be merged?

Then there is something I would like to ask. I recently came across another encoder "cinema craft". It seems to have a more efficient encoding algorithm, since it encodes almost twice as fast as TMPGEnc does. Are you working on a better algorithm to improve TMPGEnc's performance?

Anyways TMPGEnc rules, keep it up!
SH

Yes CCE Is a Better Mpeg2 encoder and On My CPU it is allmost 5 times as Fast(Encode a 2 hour movie in less than an hour), I don"t think the Feature you are asking for (If I understand it Correctly) would be Very Benificial to very many Poeple, Not many Poeple will have a Bunch of files that have the Exact amount of Video to cut out of the exact same spot in every single file, Meaning Not many poeple are going to have to edit out For instance 22.3 seconds off of the beginning of 40 Files..Do you see what I mean, and the Tmpgenc Editor is supposed to be for Just very basic editing, and it isn"t even very good at that as it does not support the accurate editing of VBR encoded Mpeg files, and When joining many files they have a Habit of going out of sync..If you want a Full purpose Mpeg editing try something like "Womble Mpeg2VCR" but even that doesn"t have the feature you are asking for I don"t think any editor has that Feature and I own a Lot of different ones....Cheers

Regarding Cinemcraft your comments about Cinemacraft encoder.
Yes this is a more efficient encoder, but it also costs many, many times more.
Also Cinemacraft only has the advantage of speed and better quality where MPEG2 is concerned. For MPEG1 TMPG beats it hands down and as far as I know there is no better MPEG1 encoder.
Secondly the interface to Cinemacraft leaves a lot to be desired. It just simply cannot compare to TMPG as far as features are concerned. You name another encoder that offers as much as TMPG for the cost.

Also the main reason TMPG is slower is because it can only decode in RGB rather than YUV such as Cinemacraft. This causes a serious speed penalty in TMPG and I and certain others have asked for this feature to be introduced. The only problem being it would mean a major rewrite in the code. Hopefully in a future version this important features will be introduced, but until then if your not happy with the speed of TMPG then I suggest you stump up $2000.

This is what I did. I opened TMPGEnc and it took me to the Project Wizard. I selected the Video CD and selected NTCS. Then I put the avi file from Kazaa in the Video File but I didnt put anything in the Audio File because I dont know what to put. Then it took me to the filter settings but I didnt know what to do so I pushed next. The it took me to the Bitrate Settings but I just pushed next again. The I saved it in my folder and pushed next. Then it started to convert it but after it was done the movie still didnt show the picture. Can you tell me what I did wrong and can you tell me what to put in the Audio File. Thanks

OK..Well the Audio Probably didn"t Show up because either you do not have the right codec to decode it or which is more likely the audio in the AVI file is Of a Format that is Unsupported By Tmpgenc, What you would have to do is Use a seperate Program to Extract the audio from the AVI file to a Useable Format,Wav format is the best..Tmpgenc Can not decode AC3 Audio and VBR MP3, and they Both can be a bitch to extract Properly especially VBR Mp3..If the audio is VBR Mp3 I would use a Program called "VirtualDub_Mod" ,If it is AC3 I would use "AVI-Mux", You can use AVI-Mux For Both Formats..The Problem with No Video Can Usually be fixed By running Tmpgenc then go to "options" to "Enviromental Settings" to "Vfapi Plugins" and then Raise the "Direct show" Priority To "2"..Now the Video should be in the File, You will know if there is Video in the File if you can see your Video being Encoded in the Tmpgenc Screen..A Good Place to read up on How to Properly Make VCD"s ,SVCD"s or DVD"s and to Solve Problems that Can arise is: http://www.dvdrhelp.com/", Or if you ever get really stuck you can e-mail me....Cheers

I had trouble getting TMPGenc to open my xvid .AVI. So initially I went to www.doom9.org, got codecs for XviD files and more. Next I did some searching and found this advice, it turned out to be a golden nugget:

"...TMPGEnc is an excellent encoder for making VCD's... Just change the priorities as follows in your TMPGEnc->Options->Environmental Settings->VFAPI plug-in:

Directshow.....3
AVI2(OPEN DML).....1
BMP/PPM.......-2
DVD2AVI......-2
TMPGEnc Project.....-2

Rest of them set all on 0

And now you wont even need to frameserve - just load the XviD files into TMPGEnc as you would any standard AVI file and encode as you wish

These settings I have used in TMPGEnc for converting a DivX file to mpeg and then taking the mpeg and useing it in nero (or whatever) to make a svcd or vcd."

After I did this, I learned to "tweak" the bitrate to get the right size/good quality from using the search and reading the already posted info in this BBS.

Thankx Moderators, You're all great!

It is actually better to use FFDShow instead of the XviD codec for decodeing files as you can and many times do get a NTDLL.dll error when decodeing XviD useing the Xvid Codec...

Ok, got the new upgrade, thanx for the ability to add motion menu's even if it is rather simple right now. Thank you very much for letting me hear audio in the preview cut window, and even thank you for the dvd burning engine although it was not a need for me. The baby steps are working and I very much appreciate the relatively rapid response to the problems. I hope you are paying the most attention to the requests for menu support, this is what will set your tools apart from any others.

To tweak the motion menu, let us add direct from dvd video instead of just mpeg files.

please give us template editing tools.

In absense of this, profile tools would be nice.

the biggest complaint I have is the chapter/track pages cannot be deleted if not used, and the highlight colors cannot be changed.

Basically, show us the safe area and let us create our own links/fonts/highlight colors/pictures/video boxes/etc...

I converted an avi file from Kazaa but it wouldnt show. I dont know what to put in the audio output. Can someone give me step by step instructions. Thanks

What do you mean it "Didn"t Show"???? Maybe explain your Problem in More detial...

i have just downloaded a vcd format mpeg and i want to convert it to a dvd format mpeg

can anyone tell me what plug in i need 2 to this

when i try 2 to this i get the file is file C:***** can not be opened, or unsupported

can anyone help me

Why don't you just burn it to DVD as it is, no need to re-encode. All you need to do is resample the audio to 48khz then just burn as a DVD.

For the first time in my life I actually paid for a license for a software program before actually trying it out. WHAT A MISTAKE!

I assumed that anything coming from the brilliant brain of Hori would be the bees knees. HOW WRONG CAN ANYONE BE!

TMPGEnc DVD Author has a long way to go to warrant the cost of a license. The introduction of a writing engine is not exactly what the users are looking for. Pegasys, please get your act together!

Well I did the same - didn't try very long either before bying. But I am still glad of it. There are lots of things that could be improved, but I am confident that it will straighten soon.

Even the burning engine if it is far from looking professional is very easy to use (I have been Neroning up to now). I don't know what the percentage is for while burning a disc as it nearly takes half the time to burn the last 2%. But this is a minor detail I can live with.

The automatic creation of chapters while editing tracks works relatively fine if you don't use the botom option (interval). The option to clear all chapters would be fine if it read 'clear all chapters from this point' instead of clearing all chapters from the beginning, may be both options would be usefull.

I have tried a few other authoring softwares and I am glad to say TDA is the only one that gives me satisfaction using in it's price category. After the long job of capturing, editing, encoding, etc, authoring with TDA is the crowning, then I put my DVD still warm in the player for a few tests and enjoy the anticipation of watching the whole stuff in the near future.

You misunderstand. I bought the license before downloading the software, and I agree, it does have potential, but in it's present form it does not warrant the price.

As for waiting for the final 2% during burning. This is a bug that should have been rectified before the program was released.

I'll try it again in six months time when perhaps it may have reached maturity.

I'm making a one-cd-vcd temlate. But when I should save it there is no temlate alternative. Why and how can I save it?

Best wishes

// Masse

Well all you have to Do is do your Settings and Click "Save" in the Bottom Right corner, and if you are Makeing a Non-standard VCD template(God Knows Why as the Quality will be Crap) you have to set the "System" Setting to "Video-CD Non-Standard" or the File will be padded and will not be as small as you would like...

We downloaded avi files from Kazaa. I have down loaded and installed the free version of TMPG. How Do I get files converted to mpeg? Newbie would appreciate instructions on how to get a usable file. Thanks in advance

Well Have you Tried to use Tmpgenc Yet??? When you run the Program something called the "WiZard" will pop up and Lead you through the Proscess of setting up the Perameters for encodeing the file, It is Pretty self explanitory...If you are Haveing a Specific problem then Post it....

Yes that is were I get lost, The wizard comes up and the first screen gives you choiced vcd, svcd, dvd. I leace it on vcd NTSC, then hit next through browse next to video file I find my avi file then it says cannot be opened, or unsuported. This happens with all three avi files I down loaded. So were am I going wrong. Thanks For your help

You should have used the "Search" function before you Posted Cuz this is the Most common Question asked here...What you do it First get rid of the Wizard then go to "Options" to "enviromental Settings" to "Vfapi Plugins" and Raise the Priority of the "Direct show" to "2" this should get the Files Loaded...And downloaded Files aren"t the Best for makeing VCD/SVCD/DVD"s out of as they are Usually made with Wierd Non Standard Resolutions and Framerates and Use Unsupported Audio formats Like AC3 and VBR Mp3, Pluss Downloaded files have a tendancy to be Corrupted and cause a Lot of errors durring the encodeing Proscess...Good Luck

I am toataly lost, still no luck. I get a unsopported file format still

Well If Raiseing the Direct Show To "2" doesn"t work Then it could be that you do not have the Right codecs installed to decode the file ,But if you can Watch the File in Media Player then This is Probably Not the Case...I guess you can try Frameserveing the File to Tmpgenc with Virtual Dub or AVISynth But this is a Little Advanced..If you go to "http://www.virtualdub.org" you can download a Program called "virtual dub" and Look for instructions on "Frame serveing"...Maybe you can post the specs of the Files you are trying to encode, Like the Resolution ,Framerate,Codec, Audio format,ect, then maybe we might find what the Problem is....

Are there step by step instrctions for this software on how to convert a file from AVI to MPEG. I downloaded a an avi file and need to convert it to MPEG si I can write a cd with NERO and watch it on my DVD player

Read the Post above...

OK Guys (And girls) I know you must have heard this question like a billion times but here it goes.

After 1% of encoding I get that particular error message. Allways one percent. I know the regular way to fix it is to make sure that there is enough memory in the outpoot folder. I am encoding it straight to C: and I have 20 odd gig left and I am constantly getting this error message. Incase it has anything to do with it, I used DVD2AVI convertor to change the dvd into a wav file and a d2v file.

Thanks in advance.

Well i spelled "Output" wrong and I am too lazy to edit it. Well anyway hopefully someone will help me :)

What is the best way to reduce a 780 meg file down to 700 (without deleting any frames). Trying to burn a SVCD and size is too big. Should I reduce the bitrate first?

Thanks

You do not need to Reduce the size as you can fit up to 800mb+ on a 700mb 80min CD-R, But Yes to reduce the size of a file you can either cut off the credits or Lower the Bitrate...

Thanks. I went ahead and tried to burn and was wondering how I could fit 770 on a 700 cd.

All 70mb CD-R"s can hold up to 800mb+ in SVCD or VCD Format This is Because VCD and SVCD does not use any Error correction, In regular Music and Data CD"s you can only fit 700mb because 100mb is used for Error correction..Because VCD/SVCD"s have to Error correction you should allways Burn the Disks at a Very Low Speed Like 4 or Max 8 speed or you will get a Lot of errors in the VCD/SVCD disk which can make the Movie Allmost unwatchable...

Thanks again for the tips. I burned a mini-dv tape on VCD and SVCD (1550) bit rate and couldn't tell a difference in picture quality. Wasn't real please with either. Thought they were a little less quality than a VHS.

I capture the mini-dv into moviemaker 2 and converted using 1.5mbps. Should this setting give me good quality?

Thanks

>I capture the mini-dv into moviemaker 2 and converted using 1.5mbps. Should this setting give me good quality?

LOL...You didn't serioulsly expect 1.5mb/s to be any good did you?
1.5mb is almost standard VCD bitrate which just doesn't cut it and it doesn't matter whether you encode using that bitrate to VCD or SVCD the quality will be the same.
Why do think DVD's are encoded with bitrates of up to 9.8mb/s?

You going to have to at least double your bitrate to acheive any sort of image quality satisfaction or better still use a VBR nethod of encoding.

And this would allow me to fit how many minutes on a VCD?