Hello, I've seen folks say they were able to use TMPGEnc to create DIVX movies from a stack of bitmaps. Can anyone point me to tips on how to do this?

Thanks.

Once the Divx encoder is installed, it will appear in the compressor list for any application that uses Directshow compression plugins in a "Save As" dialog.

TMPGEnc is meant to control its own mpeg encoder. It has a "Save As AVI" mode but other apps are better. A good one is VirtualDub. It can load numbered BMP sequences directly.

Search for: VirtualDubMod_1_5_4_1_All_inclusive.zip

(There might be a newer version. The "mod" version reads mpeg files and has a better "Save As" dialog.)

What does the error:
"invalid pointer error" mean?

When do you get this error? Could you provide more info like can you open your avi file. Or do you get this when you just open the program?

Video Guy

i get that message sometimes when splitting files using the source range

I need to encode approx. 200 10 second files, do I have to do each one seperatly or can I set the encoder once, and have them all done at once?

Every time I tried to normally uninstall TMPGenc from the Add/Remove Programs control panel, the Install utility loaded up and promptly exited without any notice or warning. So I manually brute-force uninstalled it by deleting the TMPGENC folder and it's contents and then I deleted every reference to it in the registry.

Then I rebooted and tried to install the new version of TMPGenc, but it always fails with the following error messages:

"Error 1714 during install -- unable to remove old version"

THEN:

"Feature transfer error

Error: -1603 Fatal error during installation

Consult Windows Install Help (msi.chm) or MSDN for more info"


It turns out that error 1603 means: "Error installing Windows Installer engine. A file which needs to be replaced may be held in use. Close all applications and try again."

Naturally, I tried exiting all applications and then re-installing, but I got the same error.

So then I tried installing it from Safe Mode (although I'm still having trouble getting into Safe Mode deliberately) but I again got the message that it couldn't uninstall the previous version.


What should I do? Thanks in advance for your help!

So I FINALLY got the xvid .avi file to convert to an mpeg via TMPGEnc, and burned my vcd's.

Overall the quality is very good. But every once in a while (not at scene changes and not with fast action, necessarily) the video just hesitates; sometimes for just a second or two. other times, I have to mess with the pause/play/search buttons to jar it out of it and make it play again!

I encoded using the standard template for VCD/NTSC.
I burned the disc using the Roxio Platinum VCD utility.

Any ideas how I can get it to play more smoothly. I am using FFShow which is how I got it to work in the first place; before that it did not work at all; and as you may recall I set my DirectShow setting to 2 at the top of the list in Settings. And I'm playing the dvd on a Panasonic dvd player, an RV-32. (not a computer dvd player, a stand alone one, with my tv.)

A few suggestions:

1) The bitrate is too high for your player. But you say you use the standard VCD template, so that's not the case.

2) Limit the burning speed to 4x.

3) Try another brand writable CD.

4) clean your CD.

Cheers

Does the actual XVID have any playback problems itself?
You may have a movie which is encoded with the new XVID codec which causes this jerky play back if you try to use the old XVID or FFDSHOW codec.
You need the updated version of FFDSHOW which will solve this problem.
http://athos.leffe.dnsalias.com/ffdshow-20040329.exe

>Does the actual XVID have any playback problems itself?

No, it plays back fine on the computer with WMP. Only on the dvd player with my tv does it give me problems. Also, I have no problems with other vcd's I've made from vcd-ready files (I have not made any others with TMPGEnc, so I don't know...)

>You may have a movie which is encoded with the new XVID codec which causes this >jerky play back if you try to use the old XVID or FFDSHOW codec.
>You need the updated version of FFDSHOW which will solve this problem.
>http://athos.leffe.dnsalias.com/ffdshow-20040329.exe

I will try that. Thank you! But, do I need to uninstall the previous version of FFDSHOW, first? (I have the 20040325 version.)

I already tried cleaning my recorder and my player, and if the above does not work I will try another brand of cd-r, but right now I dont have any others. But I doubt that is it, I've never had a problem before with Imation cd-r's on my TDK 4800.

is there a downloadable manual for tmpgenc? if so, where can i get it?

thanx,
-sean

Download the plus version there is a manual with it.

Where would one find the "plus" version? I see only one version available on http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html

Jaysus, have you guys never heard of google?
http://www.pegasys-inc.com/

ok, i put the avi file in the input video place and selected the output folder. then i clicked the load button and chose DVD(NTSC) and tried to begin my conversion when it gave me an error saying that there was a read error with "ntdll.dll" please help.

Congrats you are the 60th person to ask this question.

Next time use the search.

Xvid seems to be the number one cause of ntdll.dll errors.
Is this your format of avi? You might want to try installing ffdshow to decode the avi. This should fix your problems.

(I just read my previous post and it sounded sarcastic. Sorry about that, it was not my intention. I had just misphrased myself. Just meant to say that the "search" is your friend.)

I tried to download PMPGEne Version 2.521 ( Zip file ), however
WinZip prompted an error and cannot unzip.

Please fix the problem asap.

The file is fine.

Chances are your download is corrupt.

Clear your internet cache and download it again.

your full of shit....it does'nt work and you know it....lier

He's NOT full of s..t u a..hole. It's cuz your using an older version of Winzip u tosser.

Download the latest version of Winrar and it should solve the problem.
Now F...off and don't come back you foul mouthed git.

xaewswq1l, your response demonstrates your level of intelligence.

Most people who visit this board know the basics of computers and the internet. This includes downloading and unzipping files. This majority of people seems not to include yourself.

I was trying to help FukuSan, on my own free time without any payment.
Many other people also provide support here, especially ashy and Minion.
Why you feel the need to attack people who try to help others I do not know, and to be honest I don't care. Thread closed.

I just noticed that you made your user name my ID.

Well your user ID is 6zgvhpgwgof.

It should be noted that you have violated the "Terms of Use" on this forum.
Example: Impersonation, foul language, etc.

I agree with both Ashy and David. Your comment was way out of line. David was helping. We don't need fools like you on this board.

To get back to the topic:

If your file got corrupted or did not finish downloading, do like David said and clear the cache. Sometimes if you do not clear the cache, the browser will use the corrupt file in the cache instead of re-downloading it.

If you have an old version of Winzip, do as Ashy said and update it or try another zip program such as WinRar.

To repeat there is nothing wrong with the zip file.


Video Guy

Hi. I have two questions about aspect ratios and video arrange methods.

1) I'm making a PAL SVCD from some captured videos. Source resolution is 640x480 (so source aspect ratio should be 1:1). I set output aspect ratio as 4:3 (620 lines) PAL. Now my problem is this: video looks good, but the video is subtitled and the subtitles are 'cut' on both sides of the image (left & right). It's like it doesn't fit on my tv screen or something. This only happends using Full screen modes. My question is, which full screen mode wouldn't make it happen?

2) When converting the same video to a PAL DVD I get a similar problem. Image is a bit off-screen on bottom and left side. Should I use 'CENTER <CUSTOM SIZE>' and enter 720x540 for example? I say 720x540 because it's the closest resolution to full screen with 1,33333 aspect ratio like the original, so I suppose it will fix the 36 remaining pixels with black bands, right?

Thanks in advance

Use Center (Custom size) with 688x560 or 672x544.
And use 704x576 als Target Size, NOT 720x576 which isn't PAL 4:3 (1.333).

'Use Center (Custom size) with 688x560 or 672x544.
And use 704x576 als Target Size, NOT 720x576 which isn't PAL 4:3 (1.333).'

I don't understand it. 688x560 and 672x544 don't have a 1.333 aspect ratio, how is that going to work? And why the 704x576 as Target size? According to the templates a PAL DVD is 720x576. I'm just trying to know the 'why' of your answers cause I like to know the reason to do something so I can understand it. Thanks for your help.

> I don't understand it. 688x560 and 672x544 don't have a 1.333 aspect ratio

Sure they have. ;)

> And why the 704x576 as Target size?

Because your Video has the AR 4:3 and this Resolution has the AR of 4:3.

720x576 is the same than 704x576 with an Overscan of 16 Pixels.

Your Source is at a PAR (Pixel Aspect Ratio) of 1:1, MPEG do use 1.092:1, so the rest is simple mathmatics. In "natural speaking": MPEG-Pixels aren't square, they are Non-Square, which means:
768x576 square is the same than 704x576 non-square
786x576 square equals to 720x576 non-square

PAL DVD knows the following Resolutions:
720x576 with a Motion Area of 704x576 (ITU-R 601)
704x576 with no special Motion Area (CCIR601)
352x576 which is called Half-D1 (CCIR601)
352x288 (Quarter D1, CCIR601)

They all use the same PAR: 1.092 on 4:3 AR.

I have a DVD here which is 114 minutes long, a bitrate of 9800KB/S and a total file size of 4.33GB.

I can't understand how this works. According to my calculations the file size should be 8528GB. My sums have gone wrong here but TMPGenc would seem to (roughly) agree with me, can anybody help?

Cheers,

Bob.

That size is about the correct size TMPG will create if you use the wizard.
TMPG will adjust the bitrate accordingly to fit a regular DVDR(4.37GB)
I doubt the bitrate is 9800 Kb/s unless you set that yourself as CBR.
Most DVD's say 9800Kb/s as the max bitrate not the constant bitrate. DVD's are VBR encoded which means the bitrate varies to save file size usually between 2000Kb/s - 9800 Kb/s

Hello would apretiate anyones help on this I am trying to make a karaoke vcd to play on my dvd player with tmpge. I know it can be done because I did it once and now I must be missing a step somewhere because I keep getting a message cannot open or unsupported message when I try to input the bin/cdg file as the video file?

You don't have a clue of what you're doing huh? Get daemon tools at http://www.daemon-tools.cc/portal/portal.php, install them and try to mount this bin file. You just learned something new ;O)

TMPG does not accept BIN files.
You have your answer above.

Thanks but I don't understand how to use daemon tools and I have made one mpg without it so there is a way to do it Is there anyone who can help me furthher?

Man, haven't you heared of google? You could have been ready days ago if you searched google!! I found this in a flash: http://www.powerkaraoke.com/src/prod_powercdg2avi.php

Make it yourself easy. USE GOOGLE

I captured 104mins of video this morning and the resultant 4GB file played on any windows player correctly. After putting it through TMPGenc however, the audio was out of sync by about 1.5 seconds by the end of the clip. It did not matter whether I used merge/cut, demultiplex/multiplex or encode the result was the same. I solved the problem by extracting the audio and time stretching it using cooledit before remuxing it in TMPGenc.

Is the following explanation feasible?

That the VHS tape I encoded the video from is rather old and has stretched. When TMPGenc gets hold of the created MPG it interprets the video as 25fps exactly but interprets the audio exactly as it comes off the tape. As the tape has stretched, there will be a difference and that's where the loss of sync comes in.

I can't think of any other explanation or solution other than modifying the audio track. Since the entire operation took about 9 hours any better solution would be welcome for next time.

Cheers,

Bob.

I just finished capturing an hour from an old tape and downloaded VirtualDub-MPEG2 with which to check it. The result bears out my theory.

So if I have a file that is 24.7fps is it possible to convert this to 25fps (changing the bitrate along the way) and keep audio sync without using another program to change one or the other?

For some reason I can only capture at 8MB/S (any lower and the capture fails) and I have a project where I want to create a DVD of 2.5 hours (requires 4MB/S). So I want to use TMPGenc to do the conversion.

I have the feeling there is no easy answer to this. Am I right?

I think it's unlikely a stretched tape problem, even if it is a little stretched, however your video player should compensate this and output at the correct frame rate regardless by speeding up or slowing down the rate it plays at.
All video players do this constantly even with new tapes by using an electronic feed back mechanism to maintain the correct speed.

Your capture software is probably crap. Any software that doesn't stick to the standards when set should be binned. If you set your capture software to 25 fps it should stay as 25 fps not vary.

TMPG will automatically select 25 fps as the framerate if you choose PAL therefore speeding up the frame rate and shortening the video causing A/V desync.
You must select 'Do not frame rate conversion' from the advanced options or you will experience jerky playback.

I'm afraid you will have to shrink the audio with cooledit to match the video.

Thanks,

After more tests today, shrinking the audio track doesn't seem to do the job. The 'raw' MPEG I have claims 25fps and is perfect when played through any media player it's only after it's been through TMPGenc that the audio sync is out.

I'll report back when I've learned what the problem is, but the file is 2.5GB long so TMPG takes about an hour to process each test.

Cheers,

Bob.

Perhaps I have another (better) explanation for bad audio sync:

Investigation proves I am capturing a number of empty frames. The capture file contains these empty frames and the resultant padding means that media player maintains audio sync when playing.

Am I right in thinking that TMPGenc will discard empty frames with the result that the resultant video becomes that much shorter and therefore more sync is lost the longer the video lasts?

If so, could TMPGenc be configured to keep the frames as they are?

Cheers,

Bob.

I think that it is your capture software that is causing the problem, not TMPGEnc.

Did you try another software capture package? I have used the Ulead products to capture real time mpeg without any problems. They offer a free trial version that works for a month. If you have an ATI capture card you might what to download the latest drivers and mpeg capture software.

Those empty frames you talk about might be dropped frames from you capture program or maybe a failing VHS tape. If its the VHS tape you could try a time based corrector but thats a bit expensive. It would sit between your vcr and your capture card. If you have DV camcorder, most have a built in time based corrector. So you would plug your vcr into the camcorders inputs and capture it to the computer using firewire.

Hope this helps.

At present I am only aware that the problem exists (and I note that others have had the same or a similar problem) and I'm trying to identify the cause. Once I know what the cause is and what the respective programs can and can't do I can derive a solution.

I'm not blaming any product as yet; I just need to know exactly what they do.

Bob.

Update:

The capture software is to blame. If I manually stop the capture the problem is as I have described; if I let the recording run on to a predefined time limit so that the capture software aborts the recording there are no sync problems after re-encoding the file through TMPGenc.

I shall take it up with the manufacturers of the capture software.

Thanks everyone for your help,

Bob.