All,

I tried to figure out how one can make a fast file size estimation like the way it is done by DVD2SVCD (doom9) but didn't figure out how this works. Therefore I tried to look at the help, but no help file was found ...
So could anyone point me to some in depth help of tmpg features and/or tell me how to do such a fast estimation.

Thanx a lot
edw.

Download TMPG plus for the helpfile

ASHY

I need some help again. I'm trying to make an SVCD movie. The source file is 25.000fps and size 320x185. I'm pretty sure it's 1 hour 39 minutes and 44 seconds long. I'm using TMPGEnc of course and I'm following this guide:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/tmpgencsvcd.htm

What I don't get is to cut the movie in half. How can it fit even if you cut it in half? And besides, after you cut it in half, when you burn the CD with Nero, it has a 5 second pause that I can't do anything about. Also, it takes 8 hours to burn the first part and probably another 8 hours for the second part. And TMPGEnc suddenly messed up when burning the first part for some unknown reason. Something about the stream. Please help!

Your Makeing a Pal SVCD?? and you want to Cut it in Half or Encode it in Half??? You can do both..if you go to "Settings" to "Source Range" and Double Click it, here is were you can set it to encode the first half or any part of the File...Or you can encode the Whole file and cut it in Half with the Editor..Go to "File" to Mpeg Tools" to "Merge & Cut" here you can cut the file in half...and What are you talking about with takeing 8 hours to Burn the File to disk?? It shouldn"t take more than 10-15 minutes to burn the File to a Disk in VCD/SVCD Format, Or are you letting Nero Re-Encode the Movie?? If so thats a Big No No.....

You have mad some 'BIG' mistakes here. You have done almost everything wrong!

Firstly to cut the movie in half you use the Merge&Cut feature in the MPEGtools.

Secondly when you cut you are supposed to put each part on a different disk not burn both to the same disk.

Thirdly the pause is automatically put in by Nero between tracks, but can be removed by right clicking the file and selecting properties, but you wont need to do this because you are not going to burn both parts on one disk, so you will only have the one track.

Lastly you have loaded an ordinary MPEG2 file into TMPG, I guess you cut this movie and didn't use 'MPEG2 Super VideoCD(VBR)' as the stream setting when you cut it.

This will cause NERO to give you an 'Illegal stream error' which is why you are saying TMPG messed up. You messed up not TMPG.
What has happened is Nero has re-encoded the file again which is why it took 8 hours.
Burning only takes minutes.

Go back to your SVCD guide and read it very carefully again!

ASHY

Thanks for the replies but let me make it more clearer because I still don't understand. First, I have an AVI (DivX) file that's 1 hour 39 minutes and 43 seconds long. I first used VDub to make a WAV of the audio. The AVI source file is 25.000fps and I want to put the movie onto one SVCD. I read this how-to:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/tmpgencsvcd.htm

They said that if I had a source file that's more than 60 minutes, it's best that I should cut it in half so I followed their directions for source range as best I can and selected the first half of the movie to convert to MPG. For the mcf thing under "Load" in TMPGEnc, I chose SVCD(PAL).mcf. So I started the conversion for the first half of the movie, this will take 10 hours! While it was at 41%, a error occurred in TMPGEnc saying "Illegal Stream Error" or something like that and the conversion stopped at 41%.

I am currently scanning the source AVI for bad frames like you said ASHY.

I know this has been discussed before, but I
don't see a solution for me. I know it has
something to do with interlacing video and the
field order.
I encode with Tmpeg 2.58
Here are my settings:
Video:

Stream - Mpeg-2 video
size - 720 x 480
aspect - 4:3
Frame rate - 29.97fps
rate control - 2-pass VBR
Profile - Main Profile &Main Level(MP@ML)
format - NTSC
encode - Interlace
yuv - 4:2:0
DC - 10 bits
Motion - Highest quality

Advanced

video - Interlace
Field - Bottom first(B)
source - 4:3 525 line(NTSC)
video arrange - Full Screen

GOP structure

I = 1
P = 3
B = 2
header = 1

most of the DVD is fine, looks wonderful.
But I have 2 clips and a motion menu that
has caused me grief. The two clips seem
to strobe just a little especially where
there is high motion, lines even appears
in those areas. The motion menu is a transistion
from one menu to the next, high movement.
It shows lots of lines. The rest of the DVD plays
fine.
In preview, on Tmpeg I have used the Deinterlace
under Advanced menu and scrubed through to check.
This seems to solve the problem but create another.
The motion is Rock solid, but the still part
of the video seems to be blurred when using this
solution. Help.

You have just discovered one of the quirks of DVD.

On a lot of DVD's the menu's and extras are encoded in a different way to the main movie.

Whereas the main movie is probably stored as FILM with 3:2 pulldown added, the extras and clips are mixture of FilM content and non FILM content.

The reason for this is that the clips are created at a different time to the main movie in a different way and then just hashed together with the main movie to create one complete DVD.

It plays back smoothly when watched, but causes a big headache when trying to encode it.

So what you are trying to do is use the same process on different types of encoding which really need to be tackled differently.

The way to do this is to encode the menu and extras first using whichever filters give the best result then encode the main movie.
Then you join both parts together with the MPEG tools and then author as normal.

ASHY

Strobing during motion sounds a lot like incorrect field order. Especially if the source is video, not film. "Bottom" field is correct for DV but many analog capture cards are "top field first".

Search for a program called "PULLDOWN.EXE". Among other very useful things it can flip the field order flags without having to reencode.

A foolproof way to determine field order before burning is to use something like avisynth to show each field as a complete frame (bob deinterlace) and step through the video. Avisynth assumes bottom field first so if the frames are jerky, you have top first video. (Use the ComplementParity command to smooth out the video and confirm.)

I have never tried it, but starting the entire encode process in wizard mode is supposed to enable field order detection. Give that a shot and see if top gets selected.

I recently downloaded an avi file that plays well on my PC, looks good, sounds good but I can't seem to encode it in either pal or ntsc. The frame rate is 12.5 fps. Does anybody know what settings may be needed to overcome this and eventually get the file on VCD?

Many thanks in advance for replies.

Yes there is an easy way to do this with TMPG.

Load in your file as normal in TMPG then load the PAL VCD template. Click Setting>Video.
Next click where it says 'Framerate' and choose 'unlock' from the menu.
This will unlock the setting.
Now click the setting button. This will pop up a box.
Input these Values 25 / 2 = 12.5fps then click 'OK'

In the framerate box it should now say 12.5 fps(internally 25 fps)

Now go ahead and encode. Your AVI will be encoded at 25 fps.

NOTE: This option is better than simply loading the VCD template then encoding as TMPG will do a framerate conversion to 25 fps. TMPG cannot do this correctly and will exhibit undesirable effects such as jerky playback.

Doing it this way will maintain the original framerate, but instruct your player to add extra frames to create the correct 25 fps framerate when playing back.
Even so at this low framerate there maybe some playback artifacts to be expected.

ASHY

Hi again, after I converted my AVI files, they have lots of blocky images when put on the TV. For instance, in a very dark scene with lots of black colors, you can see lots of blocks. I would make an SVCD but it always comes out screwed up on the TV, meaning there's lots of unwanted trash everywhere covering up the entire video!

Those Blocks are From have a Low Bitrate, to eliminate the Blocks Try raiseing the Bitrate...

Do I use TMPGEnc (recently purchased) to convert ¡Æraw¡Ç video BEFORE using Show Biz?

Or do I create movies with ShowBiz first, and then run them through TMPGEnc, then onto MY DVD? Which method gives the best results?

I am using Show Biz 1.2.3.11 to capture video clips from Sony DCR PC5, and MY DVD 4.0.1 to create DVD.

I am not personally familiar with Show Biz, but I believe it is a video editor. (I am assuming it is the Arcsoft title that I got with my Pioneer A05, but I have never used it as I use Adobe Premiere.)

If this is the case, you would likely use Show Biz to edit your content, then save your project as an AVI. This AVI would then be the input for TMPGEnc to create MPEG-2 file that MyDVD will use.

Note that with some video editors, such as Premiere, you can frameserve directly to TMPGEnc. This cuts out the intermediate step of creating a new AVI based on the editing of your source AVIs, and just feeds an output stream to TMPGEnc. I do not know whether this is available with Show Biz.

I would further suggets that you configure TMPGEnc to create separate video (.m2v) and audio (.wav) elementary streams, which MyDVD will import. This setting is on the main screen, lower right, under "Stream Type", where you select ES (Video + Audio). The audio should be set for 48 kHz, 16 bit PCM.

For an excellent primer on TMPGEnc settings to create high quality DVD, check out
http://pwp.netcabo.pt/0165394101/Compression.html

I believe the only settings that you should change from the guide for the sake of MyDVD compatibility is the stream type, discussed above, and the MyDVD requirement that the GOP structure be closed (under the "GOP Structure" tab), as opposed to open as suggested in the guide.

Make sure that the audio and video files have identical names except for the extension (which is the default condition for TMPGEnc) and that they are in the same subdirectory. When you import assets into MyDVD, it will only show the video files, but it will automatically pull in the audio file with it.

Regards,

Eric J

Hi folks,

to convert audio streams I use tooLame as an external tool. Normally this works quite fine in combination with TMPGEnc, but not when the audio source is different from the video source.
Example: I extracted the audio stream to a WAV file using VirtualDub. Now I put this WAV into the "audio source" field of TMPGEnc and start encoding. TMPGEnc now creates a temporary WAV file, regardless of the fact that there is already one in the right format! What a waste of time!
Bug or feature? Please tell me.

Best regards and merry X-mas,
Uwe.

In Version 2.59.47.155 on the MPEG Setting, Quanitize Matrix tab, the Soften Block Noise settings below the check box are almost entirely hidden. You can not scroll down or tab down to see what values (I think these are numbers in the two fields) are present for the Soften Block Noise.

I have tried video resolutions from 800 X 600 to 1600 X 1200 and none allow me to see what the values are for the Soften Block Noise filter. I want to use this filter but I need to see the values. I am running under Windows XP Home edition. Would different size fonts help?

Thank you.

Problem solved. Win XP allows you in Settings Control Panel Display Settings Advanced to increase the DPI (dots per inch) for everything on the display to make everything larger, not just the fonts. I used this to run the monitor in fairly high resolution for the size of the monitor but still have everything ledgible.

However, this results in the bottom portion of TMPGEnc's window for Soften Block Noise to disappear. This is the first program I've had this problem after several months at 120 DPI. Setting the DPI back to the normal 96 rather than 120 solves the problem for now. I would rather that TMPGEnc properly display at the higher DPI setting. I do not know how difficult it is to program TMPGEnc to handle different DPI settings or if Win XP is a hinderance in this regard. From a user standpoint, it would be preferable for TMPGEnc to display properly at the higher DPI display setting.

Thanks. TMPGEnc is quite nice and there is a lot to learn!

If you leave the font size to 96dpi in "Advanced" and select Large Fonts from the Appearance Tag your problem will be solved.

Any program designed for use in "Windows" will use the modules built into the operating system, and that includes font selection.

Tmpeg has done a wonderful job of converting my files
to mpeg2. But I have noticed on a couple of motion files
and one playing clip, where there is a lot of fast motion,
the video seems to produce lines all through the video and
some motion seems to be almost strobed.
The original video plays fine in Non-linear system. I figure
there is a setting that I am missing in Tmpeg.

Those Lines are Interlace lines, they are actually part of the structure Video, and when you get the strobeing effect that usually means you have the incorrect field order set,these lines will usually show on a computer monitor cuz it projects a Progressive image but on a TV they should not be visible if you have the field order set correctly, you can allso use a De-interlace filter to help get rid of the lines...

I have the mpeg file, but I want to know how to split it so I can fit the file onto to 2 cd's, what do I have to do??

Go to "File" to "Mpeg Tools" to "merge & Cut" and remember you can get 800mb on a 700mb 80 minute CD-R...

does vcd audio have to be 16 bits/sample? or can it be 8

It has to be 16bits. If your source audio is 8-bit you have to convert it first...

thx fellas for both sets of advice......but guess what?....after spending the entire weekend trying everything that i think is possible i still have the out of sync problems.......here are some additional details.....
winXP pro...trying to make vcd from dvd with pcm audio.....claddvdxp1.3....tmpgenc.....STILL OUT OF SYNC......used this same set of progs earlier this year and everything worked perfect.....are the new versions of tmpgenc not able to handle lpcm audio?.....i really really need some advice......even tried smartripper, then dvd2avi, then tmpgenc...same problem...HELP PLEASE ANYBODY!!!!!

Tmpgenc doesn"t have any problem with PCM audio..I use SmartRipper and DVD2AVI and never have sync issues, you might try ripping the audio with something else like VOB2Audio..Is the audio just go out of sync on your DVD player or is it out of sync on your Computer also??

hey minion...i need all of the help that you can offer me.....the audio is out of sync on the mpeg2 file that i create using tmpgenc....at the beginning of the file it's ok but progressivly gets worse as we move along in that file....overt this weekend i tried smartripper for the first time to do the rip....everything seems ok with those files and that part of the process....then i use dvd2avi for the audio.....finally tmpgenc to put it all together for the mpeg2 file.....nero to burn.....where do you think that the problem is? with aspichk it says that aspi is installed ok and functional....is there anything that i am missing like some files to install or anything?.....i'll owe you if we can solve this one.....funny thing is that everything worked perfectly earlier during the year...do you think that i should do a reinstall of my OS (xpPRO)?......HELP & THX!!!!!

4got to answer the question that was asked......aiming to create VCD's from the DVD.....but i dont bother to do the burn cause when i look at the mpeg video on the pc audio/video is out of sync.....therefore makes no sense to burn although somewhere on this board i read that one fella said that when he did his burn everything went into sync even though it was out on the PC.....so i tried but of course that did not work...what did i expect!!!!.....please help me

Well I don"t know what the Problem could be, Maybe you can Try a Different Mpeg encoder, The New MainConcept Mpeg encoder is Pretty Good and Quite fast..Or you can try doing what I sudgested earlier and Rip the audio with something else like VOB2Audio...

Keep using Smartripper to rip your files as it very reliable and the best ripper there is.

To rip the audio don't bother with PCM audio. You should be ripping the DD 5.1 Ac3 track to a wav.
For this the best and more accurate way than DVD2AVI is VOB2AUDIO, just ensure you rip the correct Ac3 track. There will be a text file in your folder where you have ripped your VOBS to which contains the audio stream info.

Once you have chosen the correct stream in VOB2AUDIO run it and it will create a wav.
The next step is to use the d2v file which Smartripper 2.41 should have created in the same folder as your VOBS.
If you are using Smartripper there is no need to use DVD2AVI at all, but it still needs to be installed for TMPG to use the d2v file.

Load both of these files into TMPG.
Choose the correct template to encode. I.E. if your DVD is PAL choose the PAL VCD template, if it is NTSC choose the NTSC VCD template.
DONT try to convert one format to another.

Before encoding in TMPG click File>Preview and move the slider to the end. Note it's time code info then load the wav into media player and play. Check that both are the same time length.

If both are the same length you can now go ahead and encode and you should end up with an in sync MPEG.

ASHY

By the way what does Aspichk report as the Aspi layer version? 4.7 is bad 4.6 is good.

ASHY

minion....thx for the advice but most likely i'll stick with smartripper-dvd2avi-tmpgenc combination......its' now 2312hrs local time here and i'm xtremely tired....so no more xperimenting for tonight......

ashy......some positive news though....the dvd's that i am most interested in converting to vcd have only pcm audio stream along with the video stream....these are dvd's with music videos like what you see on mtv....earlier during the year i had no problems at all using cladxp1.3-tmpgenc but now i get a message that i never did b4 saying 'authentication routine failed to unlock locked sectors' but clad still rips the vob files anyway.....so today i tried a dvd movie and guess what...everything worked fine which means that the problem has to be specific to those music dvd's......used smartripper then tried with clad with no sync problems both times.....

tomorrow i will continue to experiment again....like most times the problem may be something staring us right in our faces.....

still don't give up on me as yet...i'm learnig from you both....

thx again
and merry xmas

c

so now with this e

4got to answer.......aspi check says

COMPONENT VERSION DATE SIZE

WNASPI32.DLL 4.60(1021) 09/10/99 45056
WINASPI.DLL 4.60(1021) 09/10/99 5600
ASPI32.SYS 4.60(1021) 09/10/99 25244
WOWPOST.EXE 4.60(1021) 09/10/99 4672

ASPI is properly installed and is fully functional.
A total of 2 host adapters have been detected.

thx ashy

Hmm strange problem. Your sync problem is almost defintely linked to the DVD not being decrypted properly and the sectors remaining locked.

Any ripper will still rip the locked VOBS, but when you come to encode these VOBS there will be problems because they are still encryted and this is where your sync problems are beginning.

The 'authentication routine failed to unlock locked sectors' error is usually due to a bad ASPI layer or blemishes on the surface of the DVD, so ensure it's clean. (is it only this one music DVD or all music DVD's?)
Even though you do have the correct layer installed I would kill it and re-install it again. There is program called killaspi.bat which can do this which I guess you already have as it comes with 'Forceaspi 1.7'

Another option is to play the disk for a few seconds first with your PC DVD player software such as WINDVD. This will authenticate the disk then try again with Smartripper.


If all else fails after this then I would try the very best ripper out there VSTRIP which can rip any DVD on this planet.
It's a bit more complicated to use, but gives guaranteed results. If VSTRIP can't do it then there is something wrong with the disk.
http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/vstrip.html

ASHY

hey ashy.....yes the prob now seems to be not those music dvd's but something else cause i tried to convert one that i had successfully done in the past and i got that authentication problem....i too seem to think that it's with this aspi layer....i had a HD problem in june and had to do a complete reinstall and after that is when the problem started.....i lost the aspi that i was using then....today i successfully converted 'mission impossible 2"...know what i noticed today....with smartripper when i did the movies successfully,when you hit the start button in the 'code info' area of that dialog the 'aspi' sign ligkt up....this does not happen with the music dvd's....i am going to experiment a little later and will fill you in again...will try to remove and reinstall aspi to see what happens....hope that it works this time......

thx again....
cary