I see that you finally offer a plugin for AC-3, very good!

However, some things aint clear to me...
1. The periodical activation... Do i have to pay a new fee every activation?
2. The plugin WILL encode pcm .wav files I hope?
3. Is it 100% DolbyDigital licensed?

I guess the best way to get good AC3 sound would be to choose pcm sound in TMPGenc and then let DVD Author encode the .wav sound to AC3?

Question: 1. The periodical activation... Do i have to pay a new fee every activation?

Answer: I do not think so. From what I am guessing, they had to
go to great lengths to negotiate a license deal with Dolby Labs,
and that included occasional license verification. Personally
I do not know any other product that offers a certified Dolby
encoder for 29 dollars.


Question 2: The plugin WILL encode pcm .wav files I hope?

Answer: While the TMpgEnc folks are not very savy in the
documentation department, they do produce some excellent
products at an excellent price. While the docs seem indicate
that only MPEG audio will be reencoded, I just tried it,
and found that if you click the "reencode the audio using
the output format of the track" in the edit dialog box,
you can then click on the "settings" button in the track
list, and Dolby Digital will be listed in the audio encoding
options, and indeed, the file produced is encoded with the
parameters specified. I will also add that when I asked this
question directly to the TMPGEnc folks, they gave an incorrect
answer that it only used MPEG audio as a source, and that there
where no encoding options for the plugin. In short, yes, you
can use .wav, and yes, there are encoding options for setting
bitrates.


Question 3: Is it 100% DolbyDigital licensed?

Answer: The TMPGEnc folks are neither documentaion experts
nor are they marketing experts. This should be clearly
presented on the website. I have the feeling that they
are waiting for permission to use the Dolby logos on the
website. I asked this same question directly to the
TMPGEnc folks, and they answered that yes, it it is, and
yes, the product has passed Dolby Labs certification.
The plugin does sport the Dolby labs logos.

Hope that helps!

Joe

>I do not know any other product that offers a certified Dolby
>encoder for 29 dollars

The Premium between the 'base' and 'Disc Creator' versions of Ulead DVD MovieFactory 3 appears to be about $50.00 (About $50.00 verses $100.00). Since the difference between the two versions is both AC-3 support, and some other features, the $50.00 difference could probably be split between part for the AC-3 and part for the other features.

So, even though it's still a $50.00 difference it probably wouldn't be too far of a stretch to attribute the AC-3 part of that total to be something close to $30.00...

As far as I can tell from their ads, Ulead 'DVD MovieFactory 3 Disc Creator' doesn't require activation (but I haven't purchased it, so I don't know that for sure).

-Greg Bohn

Joe C. Hecht : Thanks alot for the clear answers, I might get this pugin now :)

hi
i have divx with 23.976 fps ,and i vish to create vcd pal.
If i use a template i get not smooth playback.
Help

If you want to convert to PAL, you have to perform a PAL-SpeedUp. TMPGEnc can do this with the Videopart. For Audio, you have to use an other Program like BeSweet or - and that's the better Choice - a good(!) WAVE-Editor.

First, extract the Audio from the Video, this can be done by using VirtualDubMod.
Open the Video in TMPGenc. Chose PAL-VCD for Output. Go to Settings -> Advanced.
Check the Option "Do not Franme rate conversion".

Encode the Video.

Do the SpeedUp to the Audio-Part (BeSweet has an Option for this but it will Pitch the Audio).

Encode the Audio-Part.

Use Simple Multiplex to put Audio and Video together.

It's possible to find here and there a lot of supplementary templates for TMpgEnc.
However, I can't find any documentation explaining how to use the various MPEG.Wizardxxx fields which appear at the beginning of each mcf file.
Generally, they are left blank.
After some tests, I managed to understand the role of some of them,
But others (MPEG.WizardSubFormatName for example) remain mysterious.
Does a documentation about this subject exist somewhere ?

Thanks in advance

Onkrakrikru

You don"t need a Bunch of different suplementry Templates for Tmpgenc, well not ones downloaded off the net or whatever because you can just make your Own Templates..You can make as many different templates as you want you just have to do the settings the way you want in tmpgenc and when you have all of the settings the way you want them you just click the "Save" button on the Bottom Right corner and give the template a Name and save it to the "Templates" folder and when ever you wanted to use that template you just click the "load" button and navigate to the templates folder and choose it and that is it....Cheers

Great !

So, if anyone has clues about the usage of the "wizard" fields in the templates, my question is still pending...

<So, if anyone has clues about the usage of the "wizard" fields in the templates>
What does that Mean??? What "Wizard" fields in the Templates??? Can you explain in more detail what you are talking about??? cheers

OK :

Open any template file (extension mcf) in a text editor.
You'll see that at the beginning of the file, there are a few lines looking like MPEG.Wizardxxx = ' Something '

Using these fields, you can define the "integration" of a custom template in the wizard interface : the category it belongs, its name, its description, and so on...

That make the use of your own templates much more easy because by default, all the extra templates are gathered together in a single category named "other" regardless of their internal parameters.
Using "wizard fields", it is possible to tell TMpgEnc that a template is conceived for a VCD, a XVCD, a DVD... TMpgEnc will then display it in the relevant category of the wizard tree, and it will be easier for the user to search and find it.

But don't feel too concerned about these question now : I've made a lot of new tests since my first message and I think I've found nearly all the informations I needed.

Thanks for your friendly answers.

If you have enough advanced knowledge to know how to modify TMPG templates then surely you shouldn't even need to use the wizard?
Seeing as the wizard is aimed at novices and beginners I would have thought that you would now be able to set up TMPG without the help of the wizard.

The wizard is just slow and limiting and I myself never use it.

Thanks, I tried unlock.mcf thing but i still can't encode 400 x 350 dimension avi file. when i try it, it display error like this...

The resolution of the video is illegal.
> The windows size needs to be set between 8x8 and 4088x4088.
> The width and height of window needs to be multiple of 8.

What the error is telling you is the truth.....Mpeg Video resolutions have to be divisable by 8 so you Must change it to 400+352 if you want it to work...But why are you encodeing it useing this resolution??? you can"t make a VCD or SVCD or DVD out of it and the Files size will probably be bigger than the source file and with lower Quality???

Thanks, I know that this is not vcd or svcd standerd size but I am not using it for making vcd-svcd. I am making one multimedia project in which i have to make this mpg movie, the reason to use tmpgenc is because it's encoding quality and size is good and it has very very good noise reduction filter. "mainconcept mpeg encoder" and "xing mpg encoder" is good and it supports any dimension but it's quality is horrible, that's why I liked Tmpeg encoder. thanks again.

Actually they Do NOT support Any Dimention because this is a Part of the Mpeg standard that the Resolution be divisable by 8 and if they did make a Mpeg of that resolution it would not be a Valid Mpeg file....

By the Way you Must be doing something wrong if you are getting Bad Quality useing the "MainConcept encoder" because it"s Quality is Compareable to Tmpgenc and with 3 times the encodeing speed ,Unless you are useing an Old version But the newer version 1.4 is a Great encoder with awesome Quality....

yeah, I have latest version of maniconcept mpeg encoder but it hasn't noise reduction for video and it hasn't constant quality features. that's why I liked tmpgenc!

I was wondering if TMPGENC can create an MPG file that I can burn to an SVCD. The input will be:

32kbps mono audio (many hours of me speaking)
Many stills of pictures I took (one per audio file).

I would like to make a compliant SVCD so I will need MPEG 1 layer II audio I assume. One audio file will be about 20 minutes (it is in wav format now). And during the playback of the MP2 audio file I would like to see the still. I would also like to be able to browse the stills and hear the commentary associated with each still. I have the authoring part to figure out later. Right now I need help with the encoding the stills and audio to SVCD standard.

So far I have created a MPG file with the proper audio stream I think. The video I am not sure about. Can I just use JPGs rather than video?

I also want to cram as many files onto the CD as possible. I assume the stills will only take up 200 kb. Video versions of the stills would be significantly larger and less desirable.

If anyone has any helpful suggestions please forward them and thanks.

John

You basicly want to make a Photo VCD ,I suppose in theory it might be possible useing Tmpgenc But you would be better off use a program that is specificly made for makeing Photo VCD"s..Maybe something like this would be better:
http://www.nu2.nu/photovcd/

Well the software you mentioned does not allow audio. And others only allow WAV (too large bitrate). I would like the SVCD + audio option since according to the SVCD spec I can go as low as 32kbps in the audio stream (MPEG 1 Layer II). The video stream will be a black image but the minimal video stream bitrate is not puplished anywhere. They just state "up to 2500kbps". Does that mean I can create a video stream in TMPGENC with a videobitrate of 1kbps?

I have created photoVCD's before with just stills. With this project the audio and video stream specificationss are making if not so straight forward. But I think the long way is the only way at this point.

Le me move on to another related question then? How can I easily create a blank video stream that matches (in length) the audio stream in TMPGENC?

John

You can"t do any of this with Tmpgenc...What you would need to do is basicly get a Good Video editing Program and use your Images and Place them on the Timeline and sync them up with the audio track you are useing and once the Project looks the way you like on the Timeline you would render the Project as an AVI file and then you can encode it to SVCD with Tmpgenc...There is No way to Arrange Pictures so they Play for a certain amount of time and to sync them up with the audio in Tmpgenc......

Thanks for the help. I have come to the same conclusion myself. One benefit of all this tinkering is that I have become quite good at rendering compliant SVCD's.

Cheerio,
John

>Le me move on to another related question then? How can I easily create a blank video stream that matches (in length) the audio stream in TMPGENC?

This is possible with TMPG.

Simply load your audio into the Audio field, but make sure the Video field is clear.
Select a low bitrate or even 0 kb/s will do and any another settings you require.
Select stream type - 'System (Video+Audio)' and encode.

Thanks ASHY! I am doing that as I speak. I will let the group know later. I am testing to see how low I can go before my DVD player rejects the bitrate.

John

Well it worked! Sort of. But the file ended up being 27 MB for 22 minutes of audio. I have not tried it in a stand alone player yet but WMP plays it with a 3x3 matrix of pixels fluttering around like a butterfly. Maybe that is WMP doing that since the video source was left empty.

FYI: The audio was encoded as MPEG 1 layer II, mono, 32kbps, 44100Hz. The video was set to 1 kbps. Looks like TMPGENC is overriding my video settings and using something in the order of 150kbps for the blank video. Maybe padding?

John

You shouldn't be seeing this effect in mediaplayer. This is being caused by something else not the bitrate.
Even at 0 kb/s it should play fine in media player.

Make sure before you encode that the under the 'system' tab you set the stream type to 'MPEG1 system(automatic)' or if you intend to play it on a DVD player 'MPEG 1 VCD(non standard)'.

Also depending on your DVD player it may require you to use a bitrate of at least 300kb/s or in some cases some have problems with any less than the standard bitarate.

You may have to use window movie maker or premiere to add those still pictures on desired timeline and then frame serve it to Tmpgenc to encode it into SVCD with still pictures and audios.

I was contemplating ordering the AC-3 Plug-in when I saw that it requires not just one Activation, but apparently repeated activation.

Looking at the Pegasys website it mentions things such as 'When the expiration date is near, if you haven't chosen [Update License automatically from next time], you will need to update the license validation file manually.
A period is set, while you can update your License even after the expiration. -But after that period, you will have to do the verification procedure from the start.'.

So, not only do you have to 'activate' the plug-in at install time, but you have to keep re-activating it on a periodic basis.

I don't enjoy the prospect of having to turn off my firewall periodically to allow the software to 'phone home' and commune with its server (sending who knows what information in addition to your email and Name that they already mention...).

I'm sorry, but this goes too far for me, and I am not planning on buying the AC-3 plugin as a result.

I bought TmpGenc, and DVD Author, but I think this goes too far. I resent the whole activation attitude of:

*) We all must be crooks.

*) You have to do the 'Mother may I' act (repeatedly in this case) to
beg to continue to use the software you've already payed to use.

and last but not least

*) In my experience, something ALWAYS goes wrong eventually that prevents you from using your software (in a 'legal' manner of course). Whether it's dongles (had problems with those), or Activation bugs/'features' (had those), it always makes life hard for the legitimate user, and usually has negligible effect on 'real' pirates... I've got to believe they either already have a crack for this, or are working on one.

I'm certainly not trying to condone software piracy in any way, shape or form, but the rising tide of 'Activation' garbage just rubs me the wrong way.

-Greg Bohn

I have bought the AC3 plugin and I am very annoyed by this continuous verification and need to be on line (or the AC3 plugin is not active).
I have officially complained to support. I have bought TMPGEnc Plus, DVD Author and the AC3 plugin and I feel I got trapped with this AC3 plugin. I have also Ulead DVD Movie Factory 3 with the AC3 plugin and Nero with another AC3 plugin and none of them is bothering me with this relentless on line license check.

Sorry TMPG you are going too far..

Sorin (a Customer)

When I try to convert a file in MPEG2-format to MPEG1, TMPGEnc always adds noice (a constant ringing sound) to the recording that isn't there in the original file. Has anyone else experienced this problem or does anyone know how to solve it.
I've tried with noice reduction, but it doesn't help. Probably because it is the program itself that puts the noice there in the first place.

You Mean in the audio right?? Noise reduction is for the Video not the audio so it will not help..try this ,Before encodeing your files go to "Options" to "Enviromental settings" to "Audio Engine" and under "Sample Frequency Converter" choose "High Quality"...this should hopefull improove the audio Quality...Cheers

Hello all. I am trying to conver a XviD .avi file into a Video-CD (PAL). The audio and video are in 1 so thats that. I can play the file in Windows Media Player 9 perfectly fine. I use Video type: Non-interlace & aspect ratio as: 4:3 625 line (PAL). The MAX number of frames in GOP im using is 15. When i get onto the birate setting screen i get the following: http://www.suchco.co.uk/TMPGEnc.bmp <- screenshot. The video is only 43 minutes long. The .avi file is only 248 MB but why does it estimate is as 1.279 gig. When i converted some XviD's into .mpg's (VCD) a few weeks ago using TMPGEnc they were estimated at around 430 MB. Help would be much appreciated. Thanx

Looking at the image you posted it's obvious what the problem is.
TMPG thinks your file is 127min 54sec long instead of 43 mins.

This can happen sometimes with TMPG. A way round it is to enter the expert settings then in the 'source range' function set the beginning and end of the file.

Also to try and cure the root of the problem it is advisable to install FFDSHOW and raise the priority of the 'Directshow file reader' in the VFAPI plugins to 2.

I just want to know a bit more about FFDSHOW before i install it, it wont interfere with ac3 filter or my xvid codec will it? And also raising the priority of the 'Directshow Multimedia File Reader' in the VFAPI plugins fixed the root problem. Your a st*r ashy!

It won't interfere with your Ac3 filter, but it will take over the decoding of your XVID files however it won't affect encoding with XVID. You have the choice within FFDSHOW to disable or enable the AVI's you want it to decode anyway.

FFDSHOW is much better at decoding XVID files than the XVID codec itself and is more compatible with TMPG and other programs.
You will find that XVID ans all you other AVI files will play much better and smoother once FFDSHOW installed. It is especially good for playing raw uncompressed AVI which needs a lot of CPU power. Instead of playing jerky it will be smooth.

>You will find that XVID ans all you other AVI files will play much better and smoother once FFDSHOW installed

Sorry about the typo's it should read:

You will find that XVID and all your other AVI files will play much better and smoother once FFDSHOW is installed.

Hi !

I downloaded TMPGENC just an hour ago to get an idea how it works for producing a single DVD from a private video. After adjusting all settings a window popped up and told me, that "expiration time of 30 days has expired" or similiar.

Now i couldnt test, how it works, and how fine the result will be for me.

Is there anything wrong with my setup or where's the problem ?

Greetings, ACDC

Have you ever installed any version of TMPG before?

hi, I have 400 x 350 dimension avi and i want to convert it to mpg file as same size (400 x 350) in tmpgenc, how to do!

Load 'unlock.mcf' in 'Extra' folder located in the template folder and then change the output size under the 'Video' tab.

Thanks ashy, I tried unlock.mcf thing but i still can't encode 400 x 350 dimension avi file. when i try it, it display error like this...

The resolution of the video is illegal.
> The windows size needs to be set between 8x8 and 4088x4088.
> The width and height of window needs to be multiple of 8.

That's because you cannot use that resolution as it is not divisible by 8.
MPEGs are made up of 8x8 blocks, so any resolution must be a multiple of 8.
The nearsest legal resolution is 400x352.
Be aware though that the resolution you are using does not conform to any standards and thus will NOT play in any DVD/VCD players and probaly will not look right in any media player either because of it's unuusual aspect ratio.

That's because you cannot use that resolution as it is not divisible by 8.
MPEGs are made up of 8x8 blocks, so any resolution must be a multiple of 8.
The nearsest legal resolution is 400x352.
Be aware though that the resolution you are using does not conform to any standards and thus will NOT play in any DVD/VCD players and probably will not look right in any media player either because of it's unuusual aspect ratio.

Thanks again Ashy, I know that this is not vcd or svcd standerd size but I am not using it for making vcd-svcd. I am making one multimedia project in which i have to make this mpg movie, the reason to use tmpgenc is because it's encoding quality and size is good and it has very very good noise reduction filter. "mainconcept mpeg encoder" and "xing mpg encoder" is good and it supports any dimension but it's quality is horrible, that's why I liked Tmpeg encoder. thanks again.

Import Panasonic DMR-E30 created DVD-Rs (not DVD-RAM) into my PC for reauthoring(primarily creating new menus)?

I'm not familiar with the Panasonic, but yes, DVD Author will let you load a "DVD File" (the VOBs from a DVD) and reauthor. I've done this several times with DVDs created on a standalone recorder.

I'm encoding some VCD's from AVI's and when I watch the finished product on a TV screen in my DVD player the top and bottom of the video is slightly cutoff. Its not a HUGE ammount, but its enough so tha the VERY bottom of my subtitles are being cuttof sometimes, although I CAN still read them, I would like for there to be a slight gap between the bottom of the subtitles and the bottom of the screen like the AVI shows.

The AVI's are 512x384 which works out be 4.3 the same as 640x480. I thought if the source was already 4.3 and I put that in TMPenc, and then selected full screen(maintain aspect ratio) I should get full screen video with nothin being cutoff. Am I doing something wrong, or is this just something thats normal with watching a VCD on a TV screen?

>I'm encoding some VCD's from AVI's and when I watch the finished product on a TV screen in my DVD player the top and bottom of the video is slightly cutoff. Its not a HUGE ammount, but its enough so tha the VERY bottom of my subtitles are being cuttof sometimes, although I CAN still read them, I would like for there to be a slight gap between the bottom of the subtitles and the bottom of the screen like the AVI shows.

try centre (keep aspect ratio) if you dont want any cut offs

This is probably a problem with your TV set not TMPG.
It seems your TV has too much overscan. All TV's have a certain amount of overscan to account for slight picture size changes between light and dark scenes.
It seems yours is a tad agressive.

You have two options. Try the suggestion above or use the custom arrange method or have a twiddle with the presets on your TV to correct the overscan.

However if you don't have any technical knowledege of TV's then I wouldn't advise poking around in the back of the TV.