When converting avi to mpg (for vcd, not svcd), what rate control mode (i.e CQ, CBR), bitrate and buffer size should I use? Thanks.

leave the buffer size on default but the encodeing method is up to you,"CQ" gives probably the best quality (besides 2pass) and smallest file size, "CBR" willg give you a more predictable file size but the quality varies depending on how high the bitrate is, 2 pass vbr will give you the best quality but it takes the longest and if there aren"t a lot of action scenes in your movie CQ would give you close to the same quality without the long encodeing time..

When I backup widescreen DVDs to a DVD-R, I have to convert the m2v file to 4:3. Is there a way of preserving the widescreen format? i.e. The only DVD template I have is 4:3.

Basically, is there a widescreen PAL DVD template anywhere or advise on how to create one?

Thanks for your help in advance.

This is simple you just change the "4:3" to "16:9", to unlock the settings made by the template you will have to load the "unlock.mfc" template..

Thanks Minion.
I selected 16:9 and you still have to set the size (height and width). I know they are 720 wide, but whatever height I put in and then encode, DVD IT PE, rejects the mpeg saying its not a legal format.

iv been trying 2 convert an avi that was made using the AngelPotion codec when i watch the film on the pc it is perfect but when i try 2 make it mpg it keep turnin red then normal then red etc is this codec supported or am i not setting it up right ??? plz help

The reason you are getting the color changes is because the codec reacts bad with tmpgenc and causes discoloration, what you have to do is encode your angel potion avi to another format then delete the codec then encode to mpeg1/2.There is a app that lets you convert angel potion avi"s to microsoft mpeg4 without haveing to re-encode them but I don"t know what it is called but if I find out i will post back.....

Hi, I am newbie to cdrw sw, presently I have DVD drive and cdrw installed beside nero software what other softwares that I need to complete my whole setup.Thanks.

I guess you want to copy dvd"s?? the software to need is "smartripper"dvd2avi"tmpgenc"nero burning rom" these are the very basic software that you will need but there are lots of other recomended software to get cuz more often than not you will run into a problem and you will need something to fix it,first off you should get something to watch your mpeg files with,your probably thinking "I got media player to watch my files"WRONG!!, media player SUCKS when it comes to mpeg playback for a number of reasons most commonly playing files out of sync or with no audio, so you will need something like "power dvd".and you will need an mpeg editor cuz the one in "tmpgenc" freezes all the time and has other big problems, there are a few good ones like "m2 edit pro" of there is a good editor in "power vcr", it would be a good idea to get an audio encoder that can encode to "mp2" cuz "tmpgenc" does not support all audio formats and is known to cause problems at times, a good free one is "db power amp".It is good to have a different muxer and de-muxer just in case you have problems with the one in "tmpgenc" but it is fairly reliable compared to some of the other features..hope this helps, makeing vcd"s and svcd"s is harder than it looks....

WoW! , Thanks a lot for the prompt reply and thanks again.

I recently upgraded to WinXP and when I try to use TMPGEnc 2.54 with the merge and cut it crashes. Here's how it goes. I captrue using an ATI AIW Radeon from the TV as an MPEG 1 3Mbit/sec 352x240 - no problems. I then will goto merge and cut to cut out the commercials. I add the file, click edit, and set the time code for the 1st segment. Click ok, then run, so far no problems. TMPGEnc creats the new file. When I click on edit again, it crashes with the the error that TMPGEnc.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. I then have to relaunch the application, go back to merge and cut, add the file again, then edit, and cut the next segment, create the file, then edit, and it crashes again. As you can see, it gets annoying to have to relaunch the application after every cut. Did some seaching but haven't found anyone else with this problem. This has happened with 2.53, 2.54 and 2.54a. Anyone have any idea's?

This also happens with 2.55. Also, I didn't have the problem on Win98 or Win2000, and I've installed all the updates for WinXp.

These are all common problems with the "mpeg tools" and there is no fix accept use a different program to edit your files,but if you are just cutting out comercials there is a function in the cource range that will allow you to edit the comercials out before encodeing so when you encode tmpgenc just encodes the parts you want and leaves out the parts you edited out.....

Is it possible to cut different parts in same video file and merge to one files like vcd cutter?
At present, I cut the different parts and save with different name, then merge it again. Is there any other way?
Is it possible to add function like clips list so that it can marks various in/out points in same video and then output to one file?

I don"t know if this is what you are looking for but there is a new feature in the source range that say if you had a file that had comercials in it you could cut out the comercials in the settings and when it encodes it would encode the file but leave out the comercials and if you set it right you shouldn"t be able to see where you cut it..I havent really used this feature so i don"t know much about it but it sounds pretty usefull if you need something like that....

I recently installed DirectX8.1 on my machine and since then TMPGEnc is unable to read the length of the media and I am unable to edit any of my mpg files. Does any one have simillar problems or does anyone how to solve this.

Following is the error message I get
Could not obtain the length of the movie with DirectShow (0x80004001)

Thanks

Srikanth

I also have problems with DX8.1, but mine is on playback. If I see an MPEG file and then move the slide bar to a different point the decoder goes crazy and play the movie, sometimes, up to 56fps and the audio goes crazy too with all kind of strange clicks... (like tring to adapt to the new play speed without altering the pitch)

On my next windows (2000) install I'll make, I'll try DX8 and hope maybe it won't have these things.

ABS

I have not been able to find much documentation on the VFAPI plug-in. Can anyone please tell me what it for and what is the best way to make the settings to encode from the Premier timeline through AVISynth for DVD production?

Thanks,

John

The vfapi plugins give priority to different file types, so if you are useing "dvd2avi" you would tupn up the "dvd2avi plugin" if your avi"s codec is "open DML" format, you would turn up the "open DML file reader" if your file is of a "direct show" format then you turn up the "direct show" plugin, if your input file is "mpeg2" then you turn up the "mpeg2 plugin" if your files codec it "video for windows" format then you turn up the "vfw file reader" and so on ect ect ect.Turning the pririty to high isn"t good either so don"t turn any of the plugins past "2"..I have no idea what format "avisynth" runs under but I would think it would be direct show,but the plugins have no bearing on quality they just sort of make tmpgenc compatible to decode there format...

Hi Minion,

Thanks for your answer. Are the plug-ins all loaded when loading the VFAPI download from the TMPGEnc site or do they need to be loaded separately and, if so, where does one get them? The files I am using are avi in DV format encoded on capture by Matrox RT2000 and combined into a full video project in Premiere. I'm not sure what plug-in applies to that. Any advice?

Thanks,

John

Have you been able to encode those "DV" files at all?probably not cuz you are useing aviSYNTH?I don"t really know what to say kuz I don"t know anything about "Matrox" or what format it is under but if you have a specific problem that I can help you with you can e-mail me and i will be more than happy to help if I can........see ya

I just want to say this software saved my life and I love it!!! Saved my job too... hehe

Thanks,
Zorella

Well if it saved your job maybe you might purchase it if you didnt already to show the maker your gratitude.

I am trying to use TMPG on a file, but I keep getting "the error when ACM was initialized" when I start the encoding. I can see the movie in the Source Range, so I know it is reading it. I have been told the file needs the "Ogg Vorbis" codec, which I downloaded and ran, but that doesn't seem to help. Any suggestions on what to do?

The "ACM" error is an audio decodeing error of some sort,What you should do is extract the audio from your avi file and convert it to wav useing virtua dub, then use the wav file as your audio input in tmpgenc..wav is the easiest format for tmpgenc to decode and encode so you might not have a problem if you do it like this........

While converting some avi files, the program will freeze and stop responding. Any ideas ?

If it happens with certain avi files then it probably means that your avi files have corrupted sectors in it..If the program just freezes up on you then there isn"t much you can do but if you are getting an error then there are certain things you can do for certain errors..you can try to frame serve the avi file from virtua dub but if the file is badly corrupted then that might not work either.These are common problems with files that are downloaded off the net...

How can help me??

If I want as video input load a SVCD-Movie always comes the error message:

"Can not open or unsupported".

Which codec must I have to can loading SVCD-Movies??

Please help me!!

Thanks for all answers.

You need the "mpeg2 vfapi plugin" to load mpeg2 files into "tmpgenc" and you might have to de-multiplex your file to load it in to.You can find the mpeg2 plugin at vcdhelp.com in the tools section.....

thanks