Hi,
We have videos that are 720p and want to encode to Blu-ray compatible MPEG for TAW4. I read below it is better to use bicubic in Picture Resize filter.

In Output format, we chose Blu-ray standard MPEG file.

1. But in the template configuration, do we choose 1280x720, 16:9, 23.976 fps (and not upscale the videos at all) or do we choose 1920x1080, 16:9, 29.97 fps (and upscale the videos to 1080p from original 720p) ?

Which would be the best setting the highest video quality?

2. Does upscaling video to 1080p from lower resolution help with image quality? Or do we also need to add filters or do something else to achieve the highest image quality? If so, can you let me know what else we need to do in Video Mastering Works 5?

Thank you

your better off just to leave it at 720p and let your Blu-ray player do the upscaling

Will TMPGEnc ever support Intel's Quicksync?
Thanks/

Good morning,

if your talking about the feature of the "Sandy Bridge" the reponse is Yes

BUT, YOU COULDN'T have ANY OTHER GRAPHIC CARD !!!! NOT COMPATIBLE WITH LUCID VIRTU
I have a i2600k with Lucid Virtu and a Geforce GTX560Ti and I couldn't use Intel QuickSync in Hardware

My mobo has the Virtu.
Intel Quicksync is at the processor.
I don't understand you.
I have the 2600K which has Intel Quicksync.

He's saying Quicksync is supported but not through Virtu.
You have to plug your monitor directly into the motherboard to use Quicksync, thus not using your Graphics card.

If you wan't to use hardware Quicksync you have to connect monitor to the motherbord. I don't testing this solution. I have on the motherbord a HDMI port and on my Monitor a DVI port

And how is then and MediaEspresso can see the QuickSync fine?

I have dual monitor setup at my Geforce and no VGA to Intel output.

Look, we don't know how or why one works and the other doesn't. All we know is that it doesn't work with Virtu.

I've already sent them an email about supporting Virtu so hopefully they will look into it.
For now, the only way is to plug into your motherboard if you want to use Quicksync. If you don't have video out on your motherboard, then you can't use hardware quicksync encoding.

Software that supports Virtu is limited, so I'm guessing special programming is required by Lucid, Pegasys, or both in order to add support to TMPGEnc software.

See supported software in this document:
http://www.lucidlogix.com/download/Virtu%20Release%20notes%20%201-2-106%20Aug%209%202011.pdf

If it will not be compatible with Virtu then it will be a huge miss as far as I concern. There are more than many Z68 motherboards like mine (Gigabyte ZX86XP-UD4).
My mobo has mini HDMI output thus an output.
But I have my main VGA at 2 monitors because I am editing with it.

At my laptop that has Optimus TMPGEnc can render using Intel SDK Hardware.
Isn't this the same thing?

If your talking about Nvidia Optimus technologie, you have the same problem. Your Laptop have a Nvidia graphic Card ( geforce G....) and a Intel "sandy bridge" (Intel i3/5/7)

>At my laptop that has Optimus TMPGEnc can render using Intel SDK Hardware.
>Isn't this the same thing?

The end result of Optimus and Virtu might be the same, but how they do it is probably very different. I highly doubt NVIDIA and Lucid are sharing their techniques with each other. So just because it works on one does not mean it will work on the other.

However, it's good to know that Intel hardware encoding works with Optimus.

It's not only working.
It's razor fast.
I haven't seen anything like that!

>If your talking about Nvidia Optimus technologie, you have the same problem. Your Laptop have a Nvidia graphic Card ( geforce G....) and a Intel "sandy bridge" (Intel i3/5/7)

What problem are you referring to Rafael?

It works great here!

Why TMPGEnc MPEG Editor 3 not supported file .M2TS?

All other software supporting .M2TS

Do you have make a update later? Thanks for your answer? I purchase this software for working more with .M2TS files.

I'm guessing your video is actually MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 which is why TME3 won't accept it.
.m2ts is just a container format, so the actual video stream doesn't necessarily have to be MPEG-2.

The program crashes when I:

Import some files (sometimes no issues)
Create chapters
Play the simulation (plays for 6 seconds and then freezes)
Try to output files

I'm using AVI files.

I've used TAW4 trial version before and haven't had any problems with anything. And then after I bought the full version, nothing works.

Any ideas on what to do or what I'm doing wrong? I understand enough about computers to use one, but when it comes to the technical aspects, you'll have to really dumb down your explanation/questions.

Thanks in advance if anyone can help.

Has anything on the PC changed (new programs, new hardware, etc.) since you used the trail version?

No new hardware but I did install updated version of Divx, and some PC games.

If it worked before, try a reinstall.

Also it migh be one of the new programs you added cause an issue and yo cou8ld try uninstall them.

The reinstall didn't seem to work...bummer.

I'll try uninstalling some of the new programs I installed.

thanks.

What is your OS? Windows 7, XP, Vista?
How much RAM do you have?
How fast is your CPU?

You can check these things by right-clicking the "Computer" or "My Computer" icon and selecting "Properties" in the menu.

Have you run Windows Update lately?

Windows Vista Home Premium
RAM = 4.00 GB
CPU = 2.00 GHz

Ran Windows Update last night.

Thanks for the help, I kind of resolved the issues by converting the files to mpeg and worked.

I also contacted their support people. Hopefully, I'll get an actual answer.

Interesting. Maybe it had to do with the codec for your AVI file.

Do you know the codec used?
You can use MediaInfo to get information about your video file.

Yup, it was a codec thing. Thanks for your help!

Hello,
I made my first BD with this prog. All looked nice, in simulation all the menus worked .However, the burned disc on insertion to the SA (Panasonic BD75)only lists all the menus and actual footage as seperate streams .So 00001 m2ts is menu 1 00002 m2ts is menu 2 . Any ideas what i did wrong? Made many dvds with no problem in the past but this is my first BD authoring...cheers
Gazza

does cuda help divx in any way. i am converting dvd to divx. how can i get cuda to speed the process?
What is the equivalent to divx 720x480 at 2500 as far as using a code with cuda?

CUDA can help with filtering, but not with the actual divx encoding.

If you want to completely use CUDA, then you'll have to output as MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and use the CUDA encoder instead of the x264 encoder.

As for an equivalent to divx 720x480 @ 2500, I don't know exactly. I would try a little less bitrate, maybe 2000 and see how it looks then increase or decrease based on that.

What is the best setting in the Picture resize filter when upscaling and encoding video from smaller resolution to larger resolution? Is it Lanczos-3 or bicubic or something else? I read in help that Lanczos can create ringing effect but not sure what that means. It does not say what effect for bicubic.

What about when downscaling video from larger resolution to smaller resolution as such when encoding HD video to dvd-compiant mpeg. Do I also set to Lanczos or bicubic?

Thanks

For upscaling, bicubic is better.

For downscaling, lanczos is better. Although some people use lanczos for upscaling and downscaling.

In the end, it's up to you and what you think looks better.

Ringing is also known as a halo effect.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringing_artifacts

I have happily used 3 and 4 Xpress for years but would like to upgrade to VMW5 sometime. I tried the trial version when it first came out but it was clearly unstable.

Do users now feel that it's a stable improvement on 4 Xpress ?

As the first version was so unstable (there have been many corrections), it would be good to be allowed another trial for free.

Thanks.

I can't speak for everyone, but I've had very little problems with TVMW5. The worst thing is that it crashes on my XP machine; I'm not sure why. Then again, Google Chrome crashes that machine, so it could just be the machine getting old.

On my Win7 machine it's been good. Keep in mind I typically only output to h.264 so my usage is a bit narrow.

Do you remember what issues you had when you tried the trial?

You may want to look at the user discount option instead of upgrading; it's a little more expensive than upgrading ($79 i think) but you get to keep your 4.0 XPress license in case you want to keep using it.

I haven't used 5 extensively yet, but at least in Normal mode 5 seems much more stable and smooth operating than 4 was for me. No trouble so far.

Hi,

I always get 100% CPU usage and 0% CUDA during encoding.

This is not a problem except when it is encoding my CPU temp go to 100 C. I notice that when it is upscaling the video as well while encoding, the CPU temps are at its highest.

I do have my CPU watercooled and this is the only app that makes it go so high so my watercooling is working good.

I read somewhere in the help that even if you check CUDA, the app may decide not to use it. Is this true?

I have Enable NVIDIA CUDA and Use CUDA for filtering checked in Preferences and did the CUDA Optimization. My video card is GTX 560. I am also only using one filter while encoding but CUDA is 0% still.

1. Under MPEG Video Decoder in Preferences, do I also need to change MPEG-1 video decoder, MPEG-2 video decoder and MPEG-4 AVC video decoder from Standard decoder to NVIDA CUDA as well? or do I leave as Standard decoder for them?


2. How do I force the app the offload or share some of the work to the CUDA so that the CPU does not have to work that hard and thus lower my CPU temps?

Thank you

What kind of CPU do you have? I think if TVMW5 thinks that your CPU will be more efficient, it will use it instead of CUDA.

What types of filters are you using? I may be wrong, but I think CUDA is better at certain filters.

You can force it to use CUDA for decoding MPEG in the preferences, but that won't effect filter processing.

I have Intel Quad Core i930 overclocked to 4.2 Ghz with water cooling. I am using Contour filter.

Can you actually force the app to use CUDA? I tried CUDA for decoding MPEG in the preferences but it seems to still use CPU.

I think when I choose Contour and Smart Sharpness, it would use CUDA also. But that is the only combo I know that would activate CUDA.

1. Do you know of any other filter combo that would activate CUDA?

2. I actually don't want to use Smart Sharpness but the Smart Sharpness and Contour filter combo does activate CUDA.
So if I wanted CUDA activated, what setting do I have to put for Smart Sharpness in order minimize the Smart Sharpness effect (without any distortion by this filter to the image quality) and at the same time have CUDA activated?

Thanks

I don't think decoding is very intensive, so any CUDA usage might be negligible.

I don't know if adding filters just to trigger CUDA will help either; does the CPU usage go down? Remember that 100% CPU usage in TVMW5 doesn't necessarily mean your CPU is being used 100%; it only means that the output process is 100% CPU operated. So TVMW5 could say 80% CPU and still be using 100% of your cores. Confirm the actual CPU usage with a widget or something.

What format are you outputting? If you output to MPEG-4 AVC, you can choose the CUDA encoder instead of x264 (default). That way, it should use CUDA 100%.

Another suggestion is lowering the CPU priority for TVMW5 (or the TVMW5 batch encoder) and then run it in the background when encoding.

I use app called Core Temp and it shows the load of each CPU which is close to 100% load so I know it is using close to 100% of the CPU cores.

The temps from Core Temp show 2 of the cores reaching 100 C and the other two cores reaching 98 C which is two high for me.

I also note this high temp is when it is upscaling video when encoding.

1. Sorry for the dumb question but what is difference between decoding and encoding? I thought they are the same or at least both used in the process when converting video with this app.

2. "If you output to MPEG-4 AVC, you can choose the CUDA encoder instead of x264 (default). That way, it should use CUDA 100%."
So if I am not outputting to MPEG-4 AVC, I should leave it as Standard Decoder in for decoding MPEG in the preferences? Or should it still be changed to CUDA?

What I am doing is basicly converting video to be authored in Authoring Works 4 for Blu-ray. If I output to MPEG-4 AVC, my understanding is Authoring Works will fully render the video once again so there is no point doing it twice.
I would like Authoring Works to Smart Render so I chose Blu-ray Template in Video Mastering Works 5.

3. Is there a better way to encode video to Blu-ray than this so that Authoring Works can Smart Render and have the highest video quality?

4. Is there any image quality difference using CUDA encoder instead of x264 ?

5. I see the where you can lower CPU priority for TVMW5 batch encoder tool options -> task priority
but where do you do it in TVM5 itself ?

>1. Sorry for the dumb question but what is difference between decoding and encoding? I thought they are the same or at least both used in the process when converting video with this app.
>
Decoding is the opposite of encoding. Think of it as unpacking a .zip file; it's taking a compressed file and decoding it into usable data. Whenever you play a video, it has to be decoded so the decoding process for video files is usually pretty fast/unnoticeable.
Both processes are used in conversion but encoding is the more intensive process.

>2. "If you output to MPEG-4 AVC, you can choose the CUDA encoder instead of x264 (default). That way, it should use CUDA 100%."
>So if I am not outputting to MPEG-4 AVC, I should leave it as Standard Decoder in for decoding MPEG in the preferences? Or should it still be changed to CUDA?
>
I think you can leave it as CUDA if you want; the decoder used shouldn't matter too much. The encoder is the important part, but for MPEG-2, you won't really have a choice but to use the Standard Encdoer.
It's interesting that you are getting 100% CPU usage with the standard encoder. On my machine, I only get around 40% CPU usage (that's actual usage; in TVMW5 it says 100%) so I always thought the standard encoder was less efficient than the x264 encoder. When I output with x264, I always get in the 90-100% CPU usage range.

>What I am doing is basicly converting video to be authored in Authoring Works 4 for Blu-ray. If I output to MPEG-4 AVC, my understanding is Authoring Works will fully render the video once again so there is no point doing it twice.
>I would like Authoring Works to Smart Render so I chose Blu-ray Template in Video Mastering Works 5.
>
>3. Is there a better way to encode video to Blu-ray than this so that Authoring Works can Smart Render and have the highest video quality?

You are correct, encoding to h.264 would be a waste of time if you are using TAW4 to make a blu-ray. There really isn't a better way in this case.

>
>4. Is there any image quality difference using CUDA encoder instead of x264 ?

Since they are two different encoders, there will be some differences in how they encode video. I don't know exactly how noticeable those differences will be though; I always use x264. Maybe I'll try and do a 1:1 comparison if I have time.

>
>5. I see the where you can lower CPU priority for TVMW5 batch encoder tool options -> task priority
>but where do you do it in TVM5 itself ?

It's not as intuitive, but in the Encode stage, right-click the preview area and there's an option for task priority.

I want to replace the audio track of a video I'm editing with a better audio source. Does TMPGEnc allow for this?

I've been using Mac software (iMovie and Final Cut Pro) to do sound upgrades, but am interested in switching to PC so I can have better options for blu-ray production

Yes, you can just select a different audio source in the clip properties after you import a clip.

Thanks for the response. I might have to try out TMPGEnc.

we have footage of 16 audio tracks (8 stereo pair).Can TMPGEnc encode and export to quicktime at the same time? We need 16 audio tracks quicktime output.

Are you saying you want one quicktime video with 8 stereo audio streams where the user can select between the 8 streams? Or do you just want the audio tracks to play one after the other?

In any case, Video Mastering Works can't encode Quicktime video with multiple audio streams. If you want to just have audio one after the other, it can do that.

I have a DVD that I am converting to an MPG1. There are a couple of spots on the DVD where the audio is extremely low. I want to increase the volume in those two spots, only. How do I do that without increasing the volume on the entire disc?

Use the timeline editor and create keypoints at the areas where the volume should be higher.

To do this, check the "Animate" box in the Properties tab for your selected timeline. This will make the animation and volume timelines appear. (or you can click on the Display/Hide Items button on your layer.)

Navigate to the spot where you want to increase the volume, then right-click in the volume timeline and add a key point.

You can then drag that keypoint upwards to increase the volume level.

You will probably need to create two keypoints per volume change. The area between each pair of keypoints is where the volume changes. See the screenshot below as an example.
http://i52.tinypic.com/2e3zlu0.png
Notice there are four keypoints total for two volume changes.
The area between keypoint 1 and keypoint 2 is where the volume is actually increasing.