I'm encoding DVD into VideoCD (I feed the d2v file obtained from SmartRipper ->DVD2AVI conversion to TMPGEnc and expect to get MPEG-1 VideoCD compliant stream at the end. Conversion works great, with no macroblocks (general picture quality is professional enough), the only thing that bothers me a lot is that there is often a lot of noise, represented by random dots around small objects in a scene, almost like little flies are circling around people. They usually do not appear in static scenes, only in dynamic ones. Now, I love the absence of macroblocs, but hate those artifacts. I can turn on the temporal filter to the maximum (100), but that blurs the picture a little bit. Any advice?

These random dots, do they look like a sort of haze around objects, almost like mosquitoes? If this is the case then I'm afraid this is just an artifact of VCD.
VCD bitrates are far to low to be artifact free and this one can only be removed by raising the bitrate higher.

ASHY

Can anyone help, please?

I have a TMPGEnc-2.59.47 and try to open all the files like m2v or mpg but it's not working. It saying can't open or unsupported file and or illegal stream format. I can't open or Merge & Cut in TMPGE and can't even play on Window Media Player too. I could play those videos only in PowerDVD.
Need help....

Check your VFAPI plugins for the Cberlink codec. Power DVD should have installed this. If it's not listed then there is a problem with the Power DVD installation as media player should also be able to use this codec.

If it is listed then the other alternative is to load your file into DVD2AVI and create a d2v file then load that into Tmpg.

ASHY

the streams may be also somehow corrupted or whatever like happened to me. Still sometimes Vobedit or Mpeg2VCR have been able to split streams from it to me.

i ripped the sound and put both to do the conversion. the firt part using the source range went perfect, now that im tryin to do the second part from the middle to the end it doesnt work there is about a 12 second lag. i put the delay in but still it doesnt work. anyone know a solution thanks.

This is sort of Common when useing the Source range..You can try starting to encode from a Different point or what will probably work better but take much longer is to encode the whole movie into one file then split it into 2 parts useing a Mpeg editor...

Please Help

Hi

Use the MPEG Tools in TMPG, File>Mpeg Tools>Merge and cut.
Simply add your MPEG1 file, edit it select first half, pick a name and hit run.
Select the second half, change the name and hit run. Done

tiring_day

how long does it take to do all of the encoding and split the file

Normally the streams are splitted in a few minutes. There mustn't ne any time consuming re-encoding.

jetty

hi,

would like to know if it worked?
as i tried this,i thought it worked fine but the new halfs began with audio then the audio disappeared!!
so i suggest you check the audio to the end!!

I have read a couple of relevant posts that a search of this forum turned up, but I am still unclear exactly what I need to do, in order to encode a widescreen avi into a (S)VCD to view on an older, non-wide screen NTSC (American) TV. The widescreen avi's look great on my computer monitor, but after conversion, the picture is squashed vertically, and the actors all look anorexic.

Also, I read a few posts that suggest that the wrong settings could wipe out part of the picture that is on the widescreen version. I certainly don't mind the "letterbox" if that is the price of seeing all that the director meant for us to see.

I have done little more than use the project wizard to encode with TMPGEnc, so please tell me what settings I need to change, and where in the wizard I need to change them.

Thanks!

The wizard should automatically select the correct 4:3 output ratio for you, but you need to select 16:9 NTSC as the source raspect ratio.

ASHY

I have version 2.53. I can open a .avi file as 'Audio source' but when I try to open the same file as 'Video source' I just get the meassage "can not open, or unsupported" What can I do?

Go to "Options" to "Enviromental settings" to "Vfapi Plugins" and Raise the "Direct Show File Reader" to "2"...and Make sure you have the correct codecs installed...

How do you raise the priority? on mine you can't change the numbers.

I have version 2.53. I can open a .avi file as 'Audio source' but when I try to open the same file as 'Video source' I just get the meassage "can not open, or unsupported" What can I do?

sound like a codec problem.

try to open your file with virtualdub. if you do not have the right codec install, he will tell you which one .

or just d/l the latest pack divx codec . it help.


good luck

I can play VOB files in PowerDVD XP (with it's codecs) and correctly in WMP 8.0 only with Fraunhofer DVDaudio decoder and ELECARD mpg2video decoder but when I try to open the same file il TMPG it is unsupported.
I changed ELECARD mpg2video decoder with Fraunhofer DVDVideo decoder but also WMP and TMPG show in the time counter only half of the time last of the source VOB video file.
So when I try to encode the VOB at half time the enconding stops.
When I try to play the VOB in WMP at half time the time counter stops.

How can I use PowerDVD codecs with TMPG. The VFAPI box does not say anyting about PowerDVD or CyberLink...

Thanks.
Valerio.

You aren"t supposed to encode VOB files with Tmpgenc Or pretty Much any encoder, The Correct way to encode VOB file with Tmpgenc is to Use "DVD2AVI" to Frame serve the Vob files to Tmpgenc in a D2V file...Vob Files ripped from a Retail DVD"s have information in them Than Encoders Don"t know what to do with, and The Audio format in Most DVD"s is Not supported in Tmpgenc, which is Usually "AC3 Dolby Digital" and Tmpgenc in Most cases Can"t decode the AC3 and They usually Have Subtitles in them which Tmpgenc wouldn"t know what to do with them and They have Many Different Audio tracks and Video tracks which Tmpgenc Wouldn"t know what to do with...So the Established way of Makeing a VCD/SVCD/DVD from Vob files is to Use DVD2AVI to Make a D2V file and extract the audio track that you want, then Load the D2V file into Tmpgenc and encode it to the format of your Choice...It is Much faster doing it this way Cuz the Decoder that tmpgenc uses for Mpeg2 files(Usually Ligos or Cyberlink)is Not as Fast as haveing DVD2AVI decode it for you.....

Until you need only video and audio, tnpgenc handles vob's easy.
I use tmpgenc to split vob's 95% cases successfully. I split only video and audio from it. Splitted AC3 audio stream is suitable to convert with headac3he to any more common format and then to multiplex stream back to system stream.
5 % are somehow erratic vob's. Rippers have also produced somehow corrupted vobs or Chopper which I used earlier to split some vobs corrupted half of these.

Well once you "demux" the Video from the Vob file It isn"t a VOB file any more it is a Mpeg video file or a M2V file...So doing it this way isn"t encodeing VOB files it is encodeing Mpeg2 video files...

I have a file of 2,4 GB that I want to split in 3 to put on three discs. When I use mpegtools the error "stream writing error" comes up, always when the process of rewriting the svcd header is in progress. The files are ok to play in my computer, will the be ok even if I put them on disc, what is the purpose of the SVCD header? Why do I get these "stream writing error" problems?

Your are probably using verison 2.58. This has a bug when writing the SVCD header. Try using an earlier version or 2.59.

ASHY

Hi,

I ripped the harry potter DVD and try to open the video stream in TMPGEnc to no avail; i've tried demuxing the DVD to m2v files as well as using DVD2AVI to create a .d2v file, both gives me "Cannot open, or unsupported." I have WinDVD 4 and Media Player 7 on my system. I've tried playing with the VFAPI plug-in settings to no avail.

Thanks for any help!

Create a d2v file with DVD2AVI again then copy from the DVD2AVI directory a file called 'DVD2AVI.VFP'
Place this file into your TMPG directory then run TMPG. Your d2v file should then load.

ASHY

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. however, it still does not work. by the way, I have also tried demuxing the stream I got into a m2v file, but that file will not get read by TMPG either. Weird.

Well you Don"t have DVD2AVI installed Properly..Make sure that you have "DVD2AVI.vfp" Listed in the "VFAPI Plugins" in Tmpgenc...and if you don"t have it listed then this is your Problem...To get it listed you do as ASHY explained Earlier By copying and Pasteing the "DVD2AVI.vfp" File from the "DVD2AVI" Folder into the "Tmpgenc" Folder..Then restart Tmpgenc and go to the "VFAPI Plugins" and see if it is Listed ,It should be, and you can try raiseing the Priority of the DVD2AVI Plugin...And in DVD2AVI under "Help" make sure "VFAPI" has a Check Mark next to it...and you have to remember that you can"t move or rename any of the VOB files or D2V file from were they are till you have finnshed your encodeing...You can also download a Program called "VAPI Converter" that will turn the D2V file into an Psudo avi file that you can use in Tmpgenc..the avi file will only take about 2 seconds to make..and if the VFAPI Converter" gives you an error then you probably just need to make a New D2V file.Or you can try AVISYNTH to frame serve the D2V file to Tmpgenc..Well these are Pretty much all the Fixes I know for Problems with D2V files..I hope one of them will work....

Strange that you cannaot open the d2v file after putting the 'DVD2AVI.VFP' in the TMPG directory. Are you sure you put it in the right place? It must be located in the same place as the TMPGenc.exe
Check your VFAPI plugins to see if it's listed.

Also as minion says you cannot move,delete or rename either the VOBs or the d2v file or any of the folders associated with them until you have finished encoding.

Also what program did you use to rip the VOBs to your hard drive?

ASHY

Hi,

Yes, the plug-in is found under the VFAPI plugins list. No, I did not remove any VOB files after I ripped the CD. Ripper used was DVD Decrypter; I did "select main movie file" and ripped it with file mode, since that didn't work, I tried stream processing and just ripped the movie stream, and it didn't work either. Finally I tried to demux the movie portion to m2v file, and it didn't work either.

When i try to load the d2v file, tmpgenc pauses for quite some time (about 30 seconds) before coming back to tell me the file is unsupported. I think it's actually having truoble with the actual movie stream and not the d2v file.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the same settings work fine for a different d2v file that was created for another movie that I ripped. Only the harry potter movie gave me trouble.

You would be better using Smartripper for ripping VOBs. This is by far the best ripper there is and probably the most reliable only second to Vstrip.

After you have re-ripped with Smartripper you should find that Smartripper has already created a d2v file in the same directory as the ripped VOBS.

Raise the priority of the DVD2AVI file reader in the VFAPI plugins to '2' and the rest to '0' then try and load your d2v file.

ASHY

I´ve cut a *.mpg file with MPEG tools > Merge & Cut, but there´s no sound, when the cut file was created.

This happens From Tite to time Whith no real reason for it..You can try to Cut it at a different Part, But if that doesn"t work then you should maybe consider getting a Real Mpeg editor or encodeing your movies in Parts instead of a Whole movie so you don"t have to edit it Cuz Mpeg files aren"t really meant to be edited...

try vcdcutter , i like it very much .

Accept it does not work with Mpeg2 files which makes it useless you you are makeing SVCD"s or DVD"s...Try "Womble Mpeg2VCR" it will Cut Mpeg1 and Mpeg2 files...

If the sound disappears during the cut, more than likely, there is a corruption at some point in the file. Usually this corruption is at that particular place where there is no sound anymore.
Check the original. This kind of corruption can be easily recognized by slight 1-2 second sound crackle and video noise.
The only way to fix it is to convert the entire file and then cut it.

Actually if it's only the audio at fault the you only have to re-encode the audio part and then multiplex it back with the video.

ASHY

Hi,

Does the TMPGenc correctly recognize "Field order" setting from input material or does one have to set it manually?

I'm getting DivX AVIs (Ripped from DVD with DVDx) into TMPGenc 2.59 and in 99% TMPGe is setting itself to Top field. I'm allways reverting that to "bottom field" based on my experience. Should i leave this setting on default for creating VCDs?

Also, as I'm ripping widescreen DVDs, I'm using the following settings:
Video/aspect ratio - 16:9
Advanced/video source type - Non-interlace
Advanced/source aspect ratio - 16:9
Advanced/video arrange method - Full screen (keep aspect ratio)
Am I doing something wrong because my player doesn't switch to widescreen when I'm playing the VCD.

Best regards,
Goran

>I'm getting DivX AVIs (Ripped from DVD with DVDx) into TMPGenc 2.59 and in 99% TMPGe is setting itself to Top field.
If you are converting DVD with TMPG then you are wasting time and quality creating an intermediate AVI. You should be using DVD2AVI to create a d2v project file for TMPG (This basically allows you to encode with TMPG directly from the DVD files).

>Advanced/video source type - Non-interlace
If you are ripping DVD then the source should be set to 'Interlace' unless you have used the 'ForcedFilm' option in DVD2AVI.

>Advanced/source aspect ratio - 16:9
Secondly the input aspect ratio should be 16:9 display.

>Video/aspect ratio - 16:9
Lastly if your TV is a standard 4:3 TV then your output aspect ratio should also be 4:3 not 16:9]


ASHY

Tmpgenc Only analizes the "Field Order" and adjusts it acordingly if you load the File into Tmpgenc useing the "Wizard"....

>>I'm getting DivX AVIs (Ripped from DVD with DVDx) into TMPGenc 2.59 and in >>99% TMPGe is setting itself to Top field.
>If you are converting DVD with TMPG then you are wasting time and quality >creating an intermediate AVI. You should be using DVD2AVI to create a d2v >project file for TMPG (This basically allows you to encode with TMPG directly >from the DVD files).

I didn't find any way to use subtitles with DVD2AVI and I need subtitles.

>>Advanced/video source type - Non-interlace
>If you are ripping DVD then the source should be set to 'Interlace' unless you >have used the 'ForcedFilm' option in DVD2AVI.

And if I allready ripped the DVD into AVI and importing that AVI into TMPGe? Progressive then?

>>Advanced/source aspect ratio - 16:9
>Secondly the input aspect ratio should be 16:9 display.
>
>>Video/aspect ratio - 16:9
>Lastly if your TV is a standard 4:3 TV then your output aspect ratio should >also be 4:3 not 16:9]

It's 16:9.

Thanks for reply and best regards,
Goran

>Tmpgenc Only analizes the "Field Order" and adjusts it acordingly if you load >the File into Tmpgenc useing the "Wizard"....

Yep, I've created my VBR template, and loading files with the wizard. So, You think that i should leave this setting as TMPGe sets it? I'm changing it to Bottom and having no problems. Maybe it's irrelevant when input is non-interlaced AVI?

Best regards,
Goran

To use subtitles with DVD2AVI you need to frameserve from Virtualdub.
You are losing a lot of quality and time by creating this intermediate AVI.
The way to do it is as follows:

DVD2AVI(d2v file) > VFAPI converter > Virtualdub > TMPG

Load the d2v project file from DVD2AVI into the VFAPI converter (without audio), this creates a dummy AVI which can then be loaded into Virtualdub. Using the subs filter add your subs then frameserve the whole thing from Virtualdub to TMPG and encode.

It seems complicated but is really quite simple and it will save you bags of time messing about with AVI's.

Another alternative is to use DVD2SVCD which can do it all for you using some of the above programs.


Yes you're correct the field order will have no effect on a progressive AVI. If you are sure your AVI is indeed progressive.

By 'Interlace' I meant when using DVD2AVI.

ASHY

>To use subtitles with DVD2AVI you need to frameserve from Virtualdub.
>You are losing a lot of quality and time by creating this intermediate AVI.

How much quality am I loosing if my intermediate AVI is DivX encoded with bitrates 5000-8000? And with DVDx, ripping into AVI with subtitles and dolby surround sound lasts as long as a movie.

>The way to do it is as follows:
>
>DVD2AVI(d2v file) > VFAPI converter > Virtualdub > TMPG
>
>Load the d2v project file from DVD2AVI into the VFAPI converter (without >audio), this creates a dummy AVI which can then be loaded into Virtualdub. >Using the subs filter add your subs then frameserve the whole thing from >Virtualdub to TMPG and encode.
>
>It seems complicated but is really quite simple and it will save you bags of >time messing about with AVI's.

I tried it but cannot find subs filter. I searched vcdhelp tools page and virtualdub filters page with no luck.

>Another alternative is to use DVD2SVCD which can do it all for you using some >of the above programs.

I'm trying it right now. It got to TMPGenc part and i stopped it because avg bitrate was set to 1970, too much for one CD movie. Trying again...

>Yes you're correct the field order will have no effect on a progressive AVI. >If you are sure your AVI is indeed progressive.

I suppose that DivX AVI is progressive?

Best regards,
Goran

>How much quality am I loosing if my intermediate AVI is DivX encoded with bitrates 5000-8000? And with DVDx, ripping into AVI with subtitles and dolby surround sound lasts as long as a movie.

You will always lose some quality no matter what the bitrate. This is an artifact of compression technology.

>I tried it but cannot find subs filter. I searched vcdhelp tools page and virtualdub filters page with no luck.

You need VOBSUB. http://download.vobsub.edensrising.com/VobSub_2.23.exe

>I'm trying it right now. It got to TMPGenc part and i stopped it because avg bitrate was set to 1970, too much for one CD movie. Trying again...

That bitrate shouldn't be problem as long as your DVD player supports it and most do. If it's a regular size movie it should easily fit on 2 disks. I often use bitrates this high and higher for movies, this will increase the quality of the image.

ASHY