If dvd2avi tells me the aspect ratio of a dvd rip is 16:9, then i choose Source Aspect ratio: 16:9 in the "advanced" tab and in Aspect ratio: 4:3 Display in the "video" tab. I encode to watch movies on my DVD player.

Most modern movies are 16:9 anyway but one thing has been troubling me all this time. Somehow watching the vcd/svcd/cvd on my regular TV, it doesn't quite look 16:9. It looks as if the sides have been cropped off and I don't mean simply overscanning on the TV. The top and bottom are fine I think, just the sides are the problem. The rectangle looks a bit more squarish than what I would see in a movie theater.

When I burn a video someone else has encoded and posted to a newsgroup, their aspect ratio looks fine. The 16:9 looks proportional to a movie theater screen.

Any ideas/clues appreciated in what I'm doing wrong.

Which 16:9 aspect ratio are you choosing?
You need to select 16:9 Display and 'Full screen (keep aspect ratio)'

I am using "video arrange method" full screen (keep aspect ratio) in the advanced tab and "aspect ratio" 4:3 display in the video tab. Forgot to mention this in my first post.

I've tried using full screen (keep aspect ratio 2) but it doesn't seem to make any difference. What is the purpose of this option?

All this time I was guessing that when I get a 16:9 display TV then the vcd/cvd would display more correctly--that is, would simulate a movie screen better porportion wise but I'm not sure. What I'm seeing doesn't look compressed or stretched btw, it just doesn't look rectangular enough because the left & right sides seems to have been cropped. It's as if there should be bit more black area at the top and bottm too. I always feel it should be wider than what I'm seeing. Oh yeah, I'm not getting a 16:9 mixed up with a 2.35:1 like Die Hard or Alien Resurrection.

The DVD player is a Pioneer DV434 and it does fine in distinguishing between 16:9 and anamorphic widescreen when I play a DVD so I don't think Pioneer isn't at fault.

It seems others aren't getting this problem since I don't read about it so if it's some quirk in the combination of my Sony TV attached to the Pioneer, I might have to do a center (custom size) but I'm guessing this will take longer than svcd or cvd and it would also be noncompliant. In fact, won't a custom size defeat the purpose of encoding in 1/2 DVD to begin with?

Any thoughts on this appreciated.

If you are encoding 16:9 material for viewing on a 4:3 source then you should use the parameters below.

Source: 16:9 display 'Full screen (keep aspect ratio)'

Output: 4:3 display(MPEG2) or 4:3 PAL/NTSC(MPEG1)

Resolution: 480x480 NTSC SVCD or 480x576 PAL SVCD, 352x240 NTSC VCD or 352x288 PAL VCD

If it still doesn't look correct with the above settings then either your source has a different aspect ratio or your TV has a problem.

Regarding the custom size, this will not affect the speed of encoding or the compliance of the actual output at all.
It simply places the required image size inside the selected output framesize thus remaining compliant.

In the first encoding attempt from avi to mpeg everything was ok but, there is no sound! I used the wizard with standard settings. Any suggestion?

This happens when the audio format in your AVI file is on an Unsupported Format...What you will have to do is Extract the audio from the AVI file to Wav format then use the Wav file as the Audio Source in tmpgenc...You should be able to extract the audio useing "Virtual Dub"....

Hi,

I have a question about TMPGE. When I try to convert from avi. to mpeg, a window pops up. It says (File"C:Documents and SettingsAdministratorDesktopNewFolderTriumph.avi" can not open, or unsupported.) What should I do to solve this problem.


Thanks

Well I guess that would depend on the Type of AVI file it is But generally you should be able to solve this Problem By going to "options" to "Enviromental Settings" to "Vfapi Plugins" and Raiseing the "Direct show File Reader" to "2"....

I am encoding to MPEG-2 on a hard drive. I find that using B frames decrease file size so I use 1,5,2 for GOP. I also find thay setting the Min bitrate to 0 also makes a big difference in file size. Of the encoding methods I have found CQ to be the best, even better than the new 2-pass. I was getting areas where the video was not smooth for maybe just a couple of frames. I tried increasing the bitrate from 2400 to 3400 in steps and this seemed to help but is still a problem.

Any sugestions on getting the file size down without losing quality? Any ideas on the places where the video is not smooth? Is this due to the B frames?

Thanks.

I know that ezsp_px is a burnsoftware related program, used at startup, BUT...
most programs recognize it as a trojan or a virus (hijack program).
Just do a "google" search on ezsp_px!
The search results show that the use of this program in your software
will be damaging to sales. The bad thing is that even if your software is uninstalled, ezsp_px is still there and will be started on every boot, so again this leads to the idea that this is a virus or spyware.
I would recommend a very clear explanation on your website to prevent problems,
or removal of ezsp_px. I know i would have bought it without all the alarmbells going off at startup.

Eric van Dee

ezsp_px:
Background task installed by the Easy Systems Drag?n Drop CD & DVD writing software found on most Japanese laptop and desktop PCs.

Recommendation :
This task is essential for the good functioning of Drag?n Drop as it provides the common routines (functions) used by the various components of Drag?n Drop.


ezsp_px:
Engine that allows PrimoDVD from Veritas (was Prassi) and Drag'n Drop CD from Easy Systems (and maybe others) to record and protects against other software overwriting the settings.

So there's no hint to any Spyware-suspicion. If you like, you can simply Remove it from you System. Kill the Registry-Settings including this Filename and after rebooting delete it from the Systems-Directory. But you will have problems with the Burning-Module after that.

Well, i find these headers:

Le fichier ezSP_Px.exe est-il un trojan
SpywareInfo Support Forums -> GBG's log
Computing.Net - I-Connection Interrupted...Virus?
WinPatrol Most Un-Wanted List
Forum Virus/S£Äurity

That might scare the hell out off people, as stated before i
understand what it does, but most novices will avoid the authoring software.
But what is unforgivable is that the software can't be uninstalled,
and even when you don't use the authoring software it's alway's
running in the background. Just my $0.02, from a marketing point of view
the google comments are very undesirable, and might affect sales
of a very nice program.
That said the combination of TMPGEnc and DVD Author is a d*** good one, and i will order them both.
Thank's for the quick response,i'm toasting in Nero, so i'll kill the ezsp_px!

Eric.

Hello,
I am running TMPGEnc 2.521.58.169 on Windows XP/SP1.
Everything was working well until I upgraded DirectX to the version 9.0b.
Now when I encode files or batch files (AVI to MPEG), the program shuts down after the first or second file.
Any Idea ?
Thank you.
Dominique Rey

It is a bug of Microsoft DirectX 9, but not TMPGEnc.

Your source file mignt be AVI DV TYPE 1, convert it to AVI DV TYPE 2 by using DV File Converter :
http://www.canopus.us/US/products/DV_file_converter/pm_dv_file_converter.asp

When I convert it (from a 1024*768 avi to DVD PAL Mpeg2 720x576 25fps) and play the resulting movie afterwards, the image has been cut off. Is this normal for the free version??

Albert

Well it shouldn"t Cut it off But I have never Encoded files with such high resolution before with Tmpgenc...The settings that determine how the Image looks in the screen are the "Video Arrange method" and the "Clip Frame" settings, so generally speaking if you use the "Full screen (Keep aspect ratio)" setting your image should be displayed properly but if not just experiment untill it looks correct....Cheers

I've tried all the Video Arrange Method settings, and it still keeps on cutting the image off.
Maybe a 1024x768 "master" can't be converted? :((

Hmm, apparently it's an on-and-off thing : I've gotten the created dvd-compatible video to be played correctly, but now it's cutting it off again.

I installed Media Player 9 (Win98SE version) and then for about a day it played correctly. Then I messed with the File Types options in MP9 and those in a previous version of MP and it cut off the sides of the video again, very strange. Mind you, I couldn't play ANY mpg anymore without cutting off the image. Now I got it again at the point where all but the TmpgEnc dvd-video play correctly. Or make that : this one AND every dvd movie I play which also get cut off now. Grrrrrr. :|

Ok, first off let me say that I love TMPEGEnc. Bang for the buck, you really can't beat it. But I recently purchased the plus version to convert my old home movies to DVD and am having huge mpg quality problems.

The original movie was done on Hi-8. I now have a sony Di-8 camera that can play back Hi-8 as well. So I captured via firewire and have a beautiful DV AVI file. I have been working with the AVI in TMPEGEnc for like 3 weeks now, trying all kinda of different settings and folowing all kinds of guides. Net result is a MPG file that seems very pixelated (is that a word?) and has a ghosting effect to movement. (I tried all the ghost reduction options and such)

But if I throw my AVI into Ulead trial software and burn the DVD, the result is a nice smooth video. Any clues as to what I am doing wrong? I paid for TMPEGEnc so I want to use it, but this is getting crazy.

Heck I will even take a clip and post it on my website if someone wants to take a shot at it and send me their settings.

Thanks in advance.

Hello, I have had kind of the same problem myself converting DV camcorder to SVCD, both PAL. The DV tape and avi file looked beautiful on the computer and in the camera if i sent it back to the camcorder and hooked it into my TV. I found that a 2 pass VBR with the highest (slowest) motion detection resulted in the best quality SVCD but it is still not exactly as good as the DV but close enough for me. I always thouhgt that when I bought a DVD writer and started putting my home videos on DVD instead of SVCD this problem would go away but since, to the best of my knowledge, DVD and SVCD uses the same MPEG2 encoding I think I am hoping in wane. Good luck-Lars

I have some home movies that were taken off of my video cam. I turned them into AVI files and would like to convert them so I can burn to DVD. I do have tmpgenc plus. For some reason, this program cannot convert using the xvid codec, I end up getting errors with it. It works fine for the AVI/divx coded movies I've done, but so far, nothing with xvid. Can anyone offer some advice? I have found some programs that will convert it, but it also converts the aspect ratio and I want to leave that the same as the original file.
Thanks

Yes there is a problem with the XviD codec and Tmpgenc, They do not seem to get allong very well...One Possible solution is to delete the XviD codec and install the "FFDshow Decoder" and configure it to decode XviD files...FFDShow can be used to decode all Mpeg-4 codecs without the need for the actual codecs to be installed on the PC...Another Thing that I know does work is to use Virtual Dub to frameserve the Xvid file to Tmpgenc, and AVISynth also works for frameserveing to Tmpgenc.....Cheers

I recently upgraded to the new Main Encoder 1.4. Sometimes I use it and sometimes I use tmpgenc depending on the needs. I have been using the tmpgenc authoring program and really like it. Since I have upgraded to 1.4 of the main encoder every movie that I encode and try to author in tmpgenc dvd author, I get an error message about the gop being too long. I did some testing and the problem lies with the tmpgenc dvd author program. I can convert a movie and author it in spruceup or dvd moviefactory and I never get that error message. I can use the same converted movie and try it in tmpgenc dvd author and the error is there. It only occurs when converting with main encoder 1.4 and trying to author with tmpgenc dvd author. The tmpgenc authoring program is version 1.5.15.49. I have gone to the main encoder website and confirmed that there isn't a problems with others when they use a different authoring program.

TMPGEnc DVD Author is very strikt to the standards. For PAL, Max-GOP-Lenght is 15, for NTSC 18.
You have to set these GOP-Lenghts in the Encoder. Try using closed GOPs.

I used the default settings for NTSC in the Main encoder. Tmpgenc dvdauthor is the only authoring program that gives that error. The max was set to 18 for my ntsc file. I created a dvd elementary stream that was NTSC. The default setting is 18 so I leave that alone but I get the error when using tmpgenc dvd authoring. I can read the exact same file into spruceup or dvd moviefactory and I don't get that error message. What is going on that is causing that message? It says that the dvd will be out of standard. The file I am converting is a divx 23.976 avi file.

Just ignore the error

Dear All, I posted a few days back because I kept getting read error messages when trying to encode a DivX source to SVCD. Someone told me to defrag my temp drive and make sure I had enough space there, I do (50+GB), and defragging it helped for 1 batch of 3 encodes. After that I got the same read error message saying "Read error occured at address 000B1CD2 of module 'TMPEGnc.exe' with 00000014". I checked my disk tools and according to them I do not need to defrag the drive again, I have tried to set the tempfile to 5,5 GB and also attempted to reinstall TMPEGnc and the program now encodes but the playback is very jerky. I'm encoding a PAL source to PAL SVCD so that should not be the problem. I have saved the audio in Virtual dub and also checked for bad frames with Vdub MP3. I have also tried to upgrade TMPEGnc Plus to the latest version but I am getting told that the serial I input is incorrect. I am at a loss here and would be very grateful for any help with this. Computer details: P4 2.0 GHz, 512 MB, XP Sp1, no overclocking and all the CPU options under environmental settings choosen and Direct Show Multimedia file reader has the highest priority. Best regards-Lars

Well Jerky Playback can be caused from a few things, Make sure that you know if your Source is Interlaced or Progressive and encode it accordingly, and if it is Interlaced make sure that you have the Field order set correctly...And if the Jumpy playback is on your DVD Player then try this disk on your PC and see if it is Jumpy on your PC also and if it plays fine on your PC but jumpy on your DVD/TV then it could be a Bitrate Spike Problem..Also remember to Burn your SVCD"s at the Lowest Speed Possible,4x speed would be Ideal.....Cheers

Hello Minion, Thanks for reply. The SVCD plays jerky on the PC as well, both if I play the disc and if I play the SVCD file that I burn. How do I see if the source is interlaced? Is there a program that I can run to check this as well as the field order? The thing is that the first half of the DivX encoded fine but then my 1,5 year old son got to the computer and stopped the encoding of the second half. When trying to restart the process is where my problems started so I guess some setting could be different from the first half encoding. Thanks again-Lars

Well if you use the "Wizard" to load your file into Tmpgenc, it will then Analize the File to see if it is Interlaced or Progressive and if it is Interlaced it will set the Field order accordingly...Cheers

Hello again, if that is the case it can't be the cause of my problem because I have loaded the file in the wizard many times and not touched the interlace or field order setting after that. Must be something else causing this. Since both the mpeg file and disc plays jerky on my computer I doubt if it is something wiht the burning either. I am at a loss :-( Thanks for your time & ideas anyway-Lars

Hi I'm wondering if anyone can help me. I haven't made any movies in a few months. And when I try now using tmpgenc from Divx movies to tmpgencDVD the audio directory is blank. But tmpgenc had made the m2v and wav files. But when authored there's no audio?

Anyone know what to do. I've tried reinstalling and nothing helps.

If your sound is AC3 format, it will not be supported by TMPGEnc at the moment.