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TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress BBS [ Sorted by thread creation date ]
I have an automated process for generating a time lapse movie from an HD weathercam each day and needed to find a way to use TMPGEnc *unattended* to transcode and (and crop and deflicker) the very large avi file into a final form suitable for uploading to my website. Since I have a project file already defined with all the necessary options that operates on and produces fixed files all I needed was a way to get TMPGEnc to run it automatically *without any operator input*.
Although you can pass a project file and have it load it on startup, a bit of searching led me to understand that there is no other command line interface. So I then looked to see if there was an option for having it automatically start a project file when it's loaded. Unfortunately I didn't find anything even though the corresponding "finishing task" option does exist.
Not willing to give up I put together the following simple vbscript code segment that will launch TMPGEnc with the specified project file and then send the keyboard shortcuts for moving to the Encode window and start the process. The only extra thing it does is to first delete the old previously generated movie to prevent the TMPGEnc UI from hanging with the “file exists, do you want to overwrite” dialog.
Note that this is far from an ideal option and assumes a preexisting project file in a known location and both the input and output files are “hard coded” in that project. Although there is no meaningful error checking and essentially no flexibility, at least it allows the basic unattended operation I needed to allow the encoding job to run automatically in the middle of the night as part of a larger automated process.
Dim outFile, filesys, objShell, objExecObject, cmd
Set filesys = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
'wscript.echo "checking for old movie"
If (filesys.FileExists(outFile)) Then
wscript.echo "deleting old movie to prevent TMPGEnc dialog"
filesys.DeleteFile outFile
End If
I got this software to edit my movies so I can remove the scenes I don't want and keep the scenes that I do. I have the trial version BTW.
I start the software, click "Start a new project" from the Project menu, click "Add file", load the movie I want to edit, then I select Cut-edit, and edit my movie. But I can't find a way to save my edits?
You have to output your video in order for the video to actually be edited, otherwise you're not really doing anything. Outputting will not overwrite your original video; instead it will re-encode it to the format you specify in the format stage.
You can also save your project if you don't want to output, but I think that's disabled in the trial version.
At the top of the main window, there's 4 buttons: Start, Source, Format, and Encode. These are the basic steps to edit and output your video.
If you've edited your video, you're probably at the Source stage.
Now click on the Format button to choose your output format.
Once you chosen your format, you can click on the Encode button and click on the Start Encode button (the round button in the bottom left corner) to start the encoding process.
It's time to reduce the file space being taken by my 13,000 music videos and it is apparent that the mp4 file format will be the eventual winner in the video compression codec wars.
All the older videos are NTSC 4:3 size ratio BUT are being viewed on a high def wide screen 52" monitor.
All the newer videos are NTSC 16:9 size ratio AND are being viewed on a high def wide screen 52" monitor.
My cry for help is hopefully very simple to answer.
A) When converting the 4:3 vids to mp4, what are the ideal settings in TMPG to insure a very high quality audio and video output with the greatest reduction in file size that will maximize the available screen space on a wide screen monitor? Please, be specific, tab by tab, and as simply defined as possible. I'm not too smart.
B) When converting the 16:9 vids to mp4, what are the ideal settings in TMPG to insure a very high quality audio and video output with the greatest reduction in file size that will maximize the available screen space on a wide screen monitor? Please, be specific, tab by tab, and as simply defined as possible. I'm not too smart, remember.
Currently, this is what I'm doing for any video regardless of wide screen or not:
Output Container: Normal
Video:
Profile: Main; Level: Automatic Level 4.1 and less
Size: 720 x 480; Framerate: 29.97
Rate Control: 2 pass variable; Ave bitrate: 3,500; Max bitrate: 10,000; Motion Range: 63; Bitrate Buffer: 0 Auto
Video System: NTSC; Detect Scene Change: unchecked
AVC:
GOP: 33; 8 Frame: 0; Reference Frame: 2
Quantization: I Picture: 24; P Picture: 25, B Picture: 27
Entropy coding mode: CAVLC; Motion Estimation subpel: Quarter pixel
Suddenly, my TMPGEnc 4 wouldn't play (and embed) the subtitle file that exists in the same folder (and has the same name) than the Avi(divx) file I'm trying to convert. Funny, it used to do that before, when I didn't needed. Now that I need it, it won't work! What could be the cause for this? Is there anything I can do?
Thanks in advance...
Typically subtitles are not automatic. At least, I've never experienced them automatically being added to the video.
You have to activate the subtitle filter and then import your subtitle file, then it should show up.
Yes, I used to be able to watch any movie in any kind of player (mostly GOMplayer) with subtitles, charged automatically by having the same name. That happened too with TMPGEnc, even when I used the subtitle filter and resychronized a subtitle file (mostly in srt): when exporting/converting, BOTH subtitles (edited from the filter, and the srt file) would be interpreted into the video!
In that cases, I used to change the name of the srt file, and re-add the video file... that worked.
But now that the subtitle filter doesn't allow some specifically settings (font, italic, font color, etc.) to be set into different lines of a same srt file (changing layout editor affects all lines), it is no use to me. I finally edited my srt file exactly as I wanted (using Subtitle Workshop), it can be played with GOM Player, but TMPGEnc doesn't play it like it did before! I tried srt files, ass files, ssa files, sub files, txt files, but nothing works... not only with AVI files, but with rmvb files, divx files, xvid files, wmv files...
Finally, I managed to make it right... I used VirtualDub to embed subtitles, and then recoded the avi file . The results were satisfactory. Thanks a lot for the hints! Keep going.
I am currently going through a process of converting some old VHS recordings to DVD. I have the recordings on a DVD but would like to improve the picture quality within Xpress 4.0.
Can anyone recommend some basic configuration settings that would help me in this Project and improve the quality. Things like you would normally see with a few lines in the recording from time to time, ghost noise etc. Any ideas or recommendation to start that I can then use as a Template>
These are the filters I recommend taking a look at. Of course, their use will vary depending on the quality of the VHS footage, so you need to adjust the settings until it looks good to you.
Contour:
This is a nice filter to sharpen the image and make details more defined.
Smart Sharpness:
Another good filter for making the image sharper. Avoid the regular Sharpness filter; I can never get it to look good.
Color correction:
If your video is discolored or washed out, this filter can help intensify the colors.
Video noise reduction:
This is good for getting rid of the graininess of a video. Don't overdo it though; if you do, you'll lose fine details.
Ghost reduction:
If you've got some ghosting, this might fix it.
Color phase correction:
Your ghosting might also be caused by color phase misalignment; if so, try this filter.
Many thanks for coming back with the information and link.
I am not sure what to place on each setting and it would take some time and rendering to see the finished effect. With regards to these filters any ideas on what number to at least start with which I can use as a Template basis.
I can then +/- from the base to get the desired result.
You can actually see the results immediately, no rendering required. Navigate to a place in your video where you can clearly see what you're trying to fix. So if you're trying to fix ghosting, try and find a frame where you can clearly see the ghosting.
Then just enable the filter and play with the settings. You'll see the affects immediately. You probably won't be able to play the video smoothly but just looking at one frame should give you an idea of how it will look.
I have no idea what your video looks like, so you might not even need to use all of those filters. Me guessing what settings to use probably won't help since the settings always depend on the video quality. Just play around with the settings until it looks good to you.
I have a source that is 854 x 480 which I converted to an NTSC DVD compliant MPEG (720 x 480) with 16:9 aspect ratio. I then used that MPEG file as the source file and authored a 16x9 format DVD using TDA3. What I notice when viewing the DVD on a widescreen 16x9 TV is that it fills the screen with no black borders, and a little bit of the original content is cropped from each side and the top and bottom with no visible aspect ratio distortion. My question is how does it go from an 854x480 to 720x480 without any aspect ratio distortion or black borders? Thanks.
854x480 is pretty much 16:9 (not exactly perfect, but close enough).
You'll also notice that 720x480 is NOT 16:9.
What the DVD-Video format does is it applies different pixel aspect ratios depending on the format of the video (widescreen vs. 4:3). So for a widescreen video, it's actually stretching the pixels to the 16:9 ratio, and conversely squashing the pixels if the video is 4:3.
So this results in an image that should look 16:9 even though the actual pixel dimensions are not. Since your original video was 16:9 and not wider, it does not require black bars to be added when viewed on a 16:9 TV/monitor.
Hi all, I am trying to open movie files I have downloaded but it will not let me. The files are AVI's, or so it says.
I am using TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress version 4.7.4.299
I click on add file and then select my file and get the following.
The error message I am getting is
>Can not open video part of file C:\(file location and name).avi only the audio file can be opened.
When I click ok, nothing happens.
Why will it not open these files.
I'm using TMPGEnc 2.5 plus now, planning to upgrade to TMPGEnc XPress. SoI have tried the trial version but discovered that it can't accept the .vdr file frame served from VirtualDub.
When converting an mpg HD into another mpg HD or SD file, I see that only 40% of my Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz (OCed to 3.2GHz) is used. Core Temp says that only one of the 4 cores is used about 75%, but the other 3 cores are running really low like 24% utilization.
My question is is there anyway to use max out all 4 cores to get the conversion done more quickly? Can this program use only 1 or 2 cores unless you apply filters? ;s And it doesn't even max out one core? I already raised the priority from Task Manager, yet not even one core is hitting near 100%.
Another question is CUDA. After the above observation without CUDA, I turned on CUDA hardware encoding as I have the GeForce 9500GT. The GPU usage is only 30% or so according to GPU-Z. Why does it not fully use CUDA to do the conversion as quickly as possible? Is there anyway to make that happen?
The editor is a perfect environment to be able to edit a frame. Can you add the ability to touch-up a frame by importing it into Photoshop and then exporting it back. Many imperfections found in old movies could be removed with the advanced Photoshop tools, and on a pixel-by-pixel basis if need be.
The provided TMPGEnc filters are good, but they cannot repair a frame to this extent. Adding the Photoshop support would make this product an order of magnitude better as an editing/encoding tool.
When i get a video from youtube via www.keepvid.com i can import the 3gp file and the mp4 file into TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress. But i can't import the flv. Could somebody look in to this?
This is the way I convert an .flv file with TMPGEnc - YMMV
I use the following programs:
AutoGK 2.55 (also installs AviSynth)
QuickTime Pro (or VLC can be used) for audio conversion
FLV Extract 1.6.1 http://moitah.net/
DGAVCDec 1.09 http://www.videohelp.com/download/dgavcdec109.zip
use FLV Extract to demux the .flv
open the .aac audio file in QuickTime to create a .wav file
File > Export > Export: Sound To Wave > Options: (choose what you like)
now you have your .wav file
open the .264 video file in DGAVCDec
(learn how to choose your 'settings'...)
File > Save Project
now you have your .dga file
Save these 6 lines in notepad as an .avs file:
LoadPlugin ("C:\Program Files\DGAVC\DGAVCDecode.dll")
you can add features in this .avs file for exact control of your video:
BicubicResize (608,456)
Greyscale ()
AddBorders (16,12,16,12)
Trim (1236,35363)
FadeIn (12)
FadeOut (12)
and dozens of others.....
Keep all these files so far in the same folder.
TMPGEnc will now import the .avs file with all your editing features,
along with most other video programs that can handle an .avi import.
One of the few things you have to set is bitrate & quality. The added bonus
of an .avs file - you can drop it into other programs like VirtualDub
& all of your resizing, fading, bordering, etc... in the .avs - saving
you the time of having to reset everything in different programs.
I've been using TMPG for a number of years to create MPEG video files, and I'm currently using TMPG 4.7.3.292 on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine. I often use .mpg files as video clips in Powerpoint presentations. This always worked until recently. Now, the *.mpg files that I have created recently play fine in Windows Media Player, but Powerpoint won't let me insert them into a slide show. It gives an error message: "Powerpoint cannot insert a video from the selected file. Verify that the necessary codec for this media format is installed, and then try again." Unfortunately, it doesn't tell me what codec is missing.
I can solve the problem by coding the files to .wmv, which Powerpoint will accept,but I would prefer to use .mpg.
Has something changed in TMPG's encoding that could produce this? Or might this be an issue related to 64 bit Win 7?
I am able to insert mpg video into PP. However, I'm on Windows XP using Office 2003. 4.0 XPress is latest version.
Update to the latest version; that might solve your problems. There have been a lot of updates since the one you're using.