Is there a plugin for burning .mkv videos to dvd for Author 4?

Not that I know of. You will need to convert the .mkv file to a format that Authoring Works 4 can import.

Hi,

As long as you can playback MKV files on your system, TMPGEnc Xpress 4 and Authoring Works 4 -should- be able to open them via directshow. Although it doesn't have extension support on the Load File window, if you change it to show all files or *.mkv the files will show up and can then be imported..

You may get weird audio sync issues with some files though, usually if they are variable framerate.. Or it may keep sync but you may notice on the final output video (can't always judge by editor previews) that you have some scenes which are jerky or otherwise jumpy. This happens when it converts a VFR stream to CFR (constant frame rate).

There are ways to minimize those issues, or solve them entirely, but they can be long and involved processes to discuss. However a program called Avisynth is a great solution. It is a frameserver, which allows you to load practically any video into programs even if they don't support the format they are stored/compressed in. It acts as an intermediary serving raw uncompressed frames to programs like TA4, as they request them (but you can end up with errors if you seek too much within the file - its a directshow related bug I think).

Instead of loading the video file, you create an Avisynth script, a .AVS file, and load that file into your editing program. The script is a simple text file with relevant commands Avisynth recognizes.

An example would be a file called video.avs - and inside it..
*
Directshowsource("path\to\video.mkv")
*
That's a basic script to load a video file.. you can do all kinds of things with avisynth though, since it can use plugins. Which means you can do all kinds of filtering which many times is much better and faster than using your editing programs internal filters.. You can also fix most (but not all) Variable Framerate MKV issues with this method.. Or at least minimize any jumpy scenes that make for annoying viewing of the video. The most common problem with VFR MKV's is they are made to carry over the hybrid film/video framerates from DVD's. Many DVD's have sections that are 23.976 (24fps) or 29.97 (30fps) 119.88 is a multiple of both numbers, so you can increase the framerate to that without any jerkiness, etc going on usually.. Then you can decimate the framerate (remove duplicate frames) down to your desired framerate.


*
Directshowsource("path\to\video.mkv", fps=119.88, convertfps=true)
FDecimate(rate=30)
*
Would for instance, convert the video to 119.88 FPS, then decimate it down to a rate of 30FPS. What you decimate down to is trial and error, but usually you pick the majority framerate.. I.e if your video was 90% Video and 10% Film, you would decimate to 29.97 or you can decimate to 30 as well. But decimating to 23.976 will still give you choppy playback of all the 29.97 frames, which is the majority of the movie in this case.. See what I mean?

You can resize your video, add borders, crop, apply sharpening, smoothing, change the color profile (YUY2,YV12,RGB, etc) if needed. Deinterlace if needed.. All with whatever plugins you find work best for the job. And all your editing program has to do at that point is encode the video, because it is served to the program with all those modifications intact. You can even add filters from the editing program if you really want to, but will probably unnecessary.

You can get Avisynth at http://www.avisynth.org

One more note on MKV support..

You need the proper codecs to playback and open MKV files in the first place..
A popular codec pack called Combine Community Codec Project (CCCP) is a great way to get support for all kinds of files. You can enable and disable whatever you want, if you already have preferred codecs, although it can be a bit of a learning process.

But installing something like CCCP or the K-Lite codec pack will get you proper support.. I recommend CCCP though. http://www.cccp-project.net/

Hi,

How can I create a WMV file from an unprotected DVD source that has no compression? I ave plenty of space and don't want the hassle and time constraints tied to compression.

Can anyone help?

TIA

I'm wondering if anyone knows how long the software can run without an Internet validation. I work a lot on a laptop and work around a bit where there's no internet connection. If the software cannot run for long without internet it would be nice with a downloadable "ticket/ portable validation file" at least to guarantee a certain amount of startups...

thanks,
Rob

That's a good question. I want to say it's not that often; perhaps once or twice a month, but I may be wrong. I haven't really kept track of it, and I use it on a computer that is always connected to the internet so I may not notice it sometimes. I also don't use the program everyday, so it's hard to say if it's based on a calendar or the number of times the program is opened.

I source the pictures (100) and then I develop a slideshow with panning and zooming effects. After I output I play the .vob files to make sure everything looks nice and every time on every picture I get an annoying un-smooth fade / zoom on the edges of the pictures. I was wondering if I could change something with the scene detection or something of that manner to correct my problem...

Thanks.

I think I know what you're talking about...the edges of the images have a sort of studdering, jerky zoom-in/out effect. For now, the only way around it is to disable the zoom-in/out effect or select "Avoid border appearance" for the Resize setting in the Slideshow's global settings. Unfortunately, avoiding border appearance will not let you see the full image if it is vertically oriented.

Hopefully, they'll be able to fix this in a future update.

Thanks for the quick response. Hopefully they will fix this little annoying thing in the near future :)

Hello again all. I'm in the process of burning off a DVD and am having just a little trouble understanding the issue of aspect ratios (I confess I'm a total noob when it comes to those kind of things).

The AVIs I'm putting on the DVD include subtitles which are part of the actual files themselves (meaning they can't be turned on or off; they're automatically incorporated within the movie clip).

I'm not 100% certain but I think these AVIs are in a widescreen (16.9 ?) format, but all the TVs in our house are the old-fashioned non-widescreen (4.3 ? ) sets.

I've burned off one disc as a test and while all the important parts of the picture are there, I've noticed that subtitle lines which are either longer or justified over to one side tend to get cut off at the ends (obviously because they begin to edge into the widescreen portions of the image that a non-widescreen TV wouldn't display). There's also a little cut-off at the top and bottom of the screen, although this isn't as noticable.

I know it's probably hard to give an effective answer to this question without being able to see the source files for yourselves, but is there any way to change the aspect ratio of the files within DVD Author so the whole image is visible on a non-widescreen TV without any cut-off? I've been looking through the help docs with the program but unfortunately am having a little trouble deciphering the more technical information regarding aspect ratio settings and the like.

Basically I'm an utter n00b, and if any non-n00bs out there have had experience with making these kinds of adjustments before, any input you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. :-)

Usually, your DVD player will detect that your footage is 16:9 and automatically add black bars to the top and bottom of the video when displayed on a 4:3 monitor.

The fact that your video is going off the screen at the sides leads me to believe that the source file's pixel aspect ratio is wrong. What is your Aspect ratio in the Clip Properties window?

Here's what you may have to do:
When you add your video clips in the Source Stage and the Clip Properties window appears, change the Aspect ratio option to "Pixel 40:33 (NTSC 16:9)" (or "Pixel 16:11 (PAL 16:9)" if you're in Europe). Then output your file as normal (default settings should work).

If the aspect ratio is already set to one of those options, let me know.

I've been thinking about this problem here and there and now that I've given it more thought, it might not be the pixel aspect ratio.

Take a look at your track settings and tell me what it says for "Wide mode settings" down towards the bottom of the window. I'm guessing it's on Pan and Scan. If so, select one of the other options ("Letterbox" or "Letterbox/Pan and Scan").

If that isn't it, let me know.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, tkrave.

Okay then: aspect ratio in the clip properties window is saying "Pixel 1:1 (Square pixel)". On the video tab under track settings, it says it's "Image Ratio: 4:3"

The Wide Mode setting is saying "Letterbox", although it's grayed out and therefore cannot be changed.

At the same time I posted here, I also sent a message to the person who supplied me with the original AVIs. He tells me that the content WAS made in 4:3, however (and I quote):

"...due to encoding methods of old some display in 16:9 format even though the files are in 4:3 format (640x480). What you may need to do is re-encode the files using vdub to compensate for the AR feck up, or you might be able to process them in TMPEG into usable DVD compliant MPEG files (I haven't tried that method for a while so I'm not sure how well that works)"

He suggests to re-encode the files to 4:3 format. He mentions VirtualDub but that program and I have never gotten along so I'm hoping it can be done via DVD Author.

I don't know if that gives you any more insight to work with, tkrave, but if you think it should just be as simple as me changing the aspect ratio to 4:3 and retrying or if you can suggest something else, please let me know. Thanks. :-)

The fact that the source file is 640x480 and it has a pixel aspect ratio of 1:1 leads me to believe it's meant to be 4:3. The TDA3 settings you've described should make it show up correctly, but you can try changing the pixel aspect ratio to NTSC 4:3 in the Clip Properties window to see if that fixes things.

So maybe it's something else...
How close do the subtitles get to the edge of the screen if you view the video on your computer? It's possible that they are going outside of the "tv safe" area into the overscan area which is why they get cut off when viewed on your older analog tv. It's actually normal for the edges of the video to get cut off on analog tv's so that may be what you're seeing.

Hmm, it could be an overscan thing, I guess. Usually it's probably not something I'd notice, but the subtitles really make it stand out. I know I have to take that into consideration when making the menus as I have to make sure everything's slightly in from the "useable TV area" guide frame that DVD Author puts up.

I would say the subtitles do get fairly close to the edge of the computer screen. Wasn't sure how else to calculate it so I set Windows Media Player to full screen and then got out the trusty old ruler - I would say they're anything between 7mm and 10mm from the edge of the screen (depending on the letter). When I burned off the first test disc, on the TV there was probably 1-2 letters getting cut off at the sides. Top and bottom didn't seem to be too bad in the middle of the screen, but depending on how far out the subtitles stretched out I could get as much as the entire bottom half of the line being cut off.

Tried two different 4:3 settings via DVD Author late last night and burned off Test Disc #2:

"Pixel 10:11 (NTSC 4:3)" fixed the problem on the sides of the TV screen, but not the top and bottom.

"Pixel 12:11 (PAL 4:3)" fixed the problem on the top and bottom of the TV, but not the sides.

I can't seem to find a setting that fixes both at the same time though. LOL.

If I absolutely HAVE to make a sacrifice on one or the other, then I suppose I'd rather put up with a couple of letters missing off the sides than having half the line missing at the bottom. In which case my only worry would then be what the overall picture would look like if and when I finally did get a widescreen TV - I might get the sides back but will the top and bottom then look squashed in?

If you get a HD tv it will most likely have display options to adjust the image.
For instance, my tv can show the whole image (overscan area and all), a normal image (with the overscan area cropped), 16:9 (forces everything to be widescreen, even 4:3 video), 4:3 (forces everything to be 4:3), and various levels of zoom.

The display options will probably vary from model to model though.

In my experience viewing DVDs made at 4:3 on a 42" Panasonic plasma HDTV, the image is not stretched or scrunched in any way and you see the video centered on the screen with black bars on each side (none on top). But you also then have the option of changing the display various ways so that it fits the entire screen, which depending on which option you use, will result in either the video being stretched to some degree or zoomed so that it's not stretched but not all of the original content is displayed.

I actually had the opportunity to try both of the test discs through a widescreen TV the other day, and it actually didn't make a difference. Still looked just like it did on my set, with subtitles getting cut off in the same places. As you guys said, maybe adjusting some settings on the TV might have helped (I didn't have a chance to try this though), and obviously because my test discs were set to 4:3 I don't know what it might have come out like if I had tried the 16:9 setting.

Oh well, I guess I'll settle for the "Pixel 12:11 (PAL 4:3)" option and just cope with the side cut-off for the time being. Seems to be the best way to go at this point.

Again, a massive thanks to you tkrave (and you too Bob) for putting up with my annoying little problems over the last few days. Your kindness is greatly appreciated. :-)

Just a quick update to report: PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

Once again my heartfelt thanks to both tkrave and Bob for their assistance and - more importantly - their patience! Treat yourselves to something special. ;-)

Hello, how does one insert a video as a background menu with buttons on top?

Do you want the video background to animate?

If so, you need to activate the motion menu settings. Do this by clicking on the Global Menu Settings button in the Menu Stage.
This opens the global menu settings window. Click on the "Motion Menu" tab and select "Motion menu (no audio)" or "Motion menu and background audio".
You can then set how long your background, thumbnails, etc. will animate (keep in mind that the longer the animation time, the more disc space it will require). Click "OK" when you're done to close the window.
After you've activated the motion menus, select the menu page you want to edit and double click anywhere on the background image to open the background and bgm editor (or just click on the "Background editor" button in the toolbar).
You can then use the file browser to select a video file from your computer. Drag the "Start" and "End" points to specify a certain part of the video you would like to use if necessary.

You can also add a video as a still background; just don't activate the motion menu settings.

Thank's for your detailed explanation!
Kind regards,
Rob

I currently have TMPGEnc DVD Author 2.0 and wish to upgrade in order to access some AVI files on my computer. I have them on disc as well but they don't play on the DVD recorder.

I am finding it very complicated to even upgrade. Can someone please let me know how to dothis?

Hi,
I think there is not an upgrade available from your Author 2,0, you may need to get the User´s discount showed in Authoring 4 which is the latest version,
Author 3 is already discontinued.
Use this link to check it out:
http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/shopping/taw4.html#tabSelector1~tabSelectorSubTab1

good luck

disneyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Hi I cant succeed to create a playable DVD with an HD content, authored as BDMV.
I have encoded sequences of pics from a 3DSMax rendering, in HD, mp4, with TMPGEnc 4. The encoded files play fine on the PC, and are imported without any prob in TMPG AW4.The simulation is ok; i get the image file , iso, and when i play the dvd-R burnt (Nero)after this image, i get a message on my stand alone BR player (Panasonic BD30), certified as AVCHD compatible: "incompatible disc"
I have not a blu ray burner, and the discs are too expensive for a short demo of animations ( (a few minutes) ...
I am missing something ???
What's the difference between mpg2 HD and AVC mp4, related to making a mini Blu-ray on a DVD or DVD DL ???
Where can I find the correct spec for editing and playing such discs?
Thanks !

Hello,

I have a question.

I want to make a top-menu with three track-menu's.
Now I have one big track-menu with ALL the chapters.

How can I add a 'TRACK 2' and 'TRACK 3' chapter in my menu?

Please look at this picture: http://i39.tinypic.com/t9z4tx.jpg

Hopefully can anyone help me with this.

Many thanks,

Roland.

Go back to the Source Stage and click on the "Add a track" button to add as many tracks as you want. From the Source Stage, you can also drag chapters from track and drop them into another.

Whooopsss! I didn't see that option before, I asking myself if I'm blind..hi.
Thanks for your answer!

I was a fairly regular user of version 3 and thought the addition of 5.1 was reason enough to try version 4 but there seems to be a few bugs. The most glaring is that every time I set the target size for a single layer dvd it over compresses by a gig or more. Has anyone found a solution for this or seen it reported as a bug that will be fixed in the future?

Set the target size to 8,5, and burn it with other burning program that can shrink (e.g. xilisoft DVD Copy).You´ll have all the 4,5 full.If you want a full 8,5...you just set the size in TMP4 manually to a bit more than the 8,5 and burn the same way.

Was this bug solved in future releases? I use version 4.0.7.32 and have the same problem. Before I start writing the project to a DVD structure it shows the size about 4,1GB, but when I look on the created VIDEO_TS folder it has about 5,2GB. Which is useless for me. I dont use any DVD menu and the source data are in MPEG2 so that I dont need to re-encode.
Would it not decrease the quality if I will use some shrink DVD SW to fit it on DVD?
Thanks for an answer.

I always output to 8.5g and then custom shrink in DVDShrink to a .iso image file. Then I check the whole thing in vlc player before burning to disc. Generally I find that not that much quality is lost during compression. I think for around 5gb it would be approx 6% loss if you have no menus.

If your still concerned about quality loss though, you could always output to 8.5gb and burn to a dual layer dvd disc (8.5gb).

I dont think you need any special writer for a 8.5gb disc but I could be wrong..

Setting to 8.5GB to output 4.7GB solution worked well for single layer.

However, the double layer will not work this way because the output setting does not recognize anything over 9GB. Setting the file size to 9GB will compress down the final output to mere 6.3GB... hardly worthwhile bothering to go to double layer.

Perhaps this is only an issue when converting avi files to DVD disks.

I have a few recorded HD (1080i) shows in dvr-ms file format. I would like to convert them so it can be viewed on the PS3. I've tried various mp4 profile settings (AVC, High profile 4.1, 1920x1080) without success, PS3 keep saying it's corrupted. Has anyone successfully done this? What is your setting? I'm currently using TMPGEnc 4 Xpress v4.6.3.268.

I am trying to encode an HD file and I am using settings that have not changed for months. I just had the PMPGEnc 4.0 reinstalled on a new pc, and I am using the exact same settings on this new pc, but when I get to the Encode Screen and hit the Encode icon, I get the "Output file contains invalid characters" error box. No matter what I do to the output file name, it will not encode the file. Anyone else ever get this error?