HI.

I'm new to video editing/DVD authoring and I'm evaluating the trial version of TDA 1.5 and have a couple of questions.
Firstly I like the app as it allows me to directly use files created by my Panasonic E50 recorder, straight from DVD-RAM discs. I 'authored' a DVD of a concert recorded off-air and it worked out fine. The only thing is the menu options are a little limited.

I've now decided to try using this app then importing the results into DVDLab to allow for more flexible menus.

Confusion starts here. TDA has taken the one hour or so concert and output as three VOBS. One is menu and the others are of roughly equal size (little over 1Gb each. Why did the app split the concert into two main VOBS? Bearing in mind I want to retain the AC3 2.0 sound, how do I join these? I'm presuming I can ignore the VOB that TDA created for menu system. Is that right, or is there some link between all three VOBs?

Sorry of these are daft questions but I'd appreciate some guidance here please.

Thanks

>Confusion starts here. TDA has taken the one hour or so concert and output as >three VOBS. One is menu and the others are of roughly equal size (little over >1Gb each. Why did the app split the concert into two main VOBS?

As far as I know the DVD spec stipulates 1GB is the "standard" VOB file size.
As to joining them back up, why ? The .ifo files tell the player how to play the VOB's in sequence.

>The only thing is the menu options are a little limited.
I can do most things I want in the newer version... I often use other Apps to do a littl emore customising eg Adobe Premier to add a still photo to a 30 sec audio file then author to MPG, and use that for the background in the menu with motion meun's etc.

Only thing I would like to see added is abilty to drag a still image and a 48KHz WAV file (ah la DVD It PE) so I don't have to resort to Premier, other then that... I can get it to do what I want.

One suggestion might be go back to the DVD Author project and learn to use some of the menu features a little more ? Rather then trying to use two different authoring programs. I use it for -RAM files from my Panny E-100 and E-30, same as you for your E-50, drag and drop the files using WIndoze Explorer to the HDD first, makes the response time better when editing the clips in my opinion.

I have an Xvid file with 25 fps and Fraunhoffer IIS MPEG Layer-3 audio codec. I want to convert it to PAL so that I can author it to DVD. I am receiving certain errors while attempting to begin the process of conversion. The two prominent errors are :

"Write error occured at address 77F83AED of module 'ntdll.dll' with 000000000."

"The Error occured when ACM was initialized."

How do I resolve these issues?

OK..The audio is Probably VBR Mp3 which Tmpgenc does Not support so you will have to extract the audio to wav format, you can use Virtual dub for this...As for the other error it is because tmpgenc and the XviD codec do not get allong so what you should do is Install the "FFDshow Decoder" and Configure it to decode Xvid Files...This should get rid of the Errors....

I am encoding a .avi xvid movie to mpeg2 format for dvd. The .avi itself has no problems but about halfway through the movie on the encoded .mpeg2, a mess of green grainy pixels appear for a couple of seconds then the audio and video loses sync all the way until the end.

I've tried to "skip" encoding the couple of seconds where the green pixels appear by selecting the source range and encoding them into two seperate .mpeg2s but the audio and video is still out of sync on the second .mpeg2.

Help!

Well This Probably means that your AVI files has corrupted frames were the Video Pixelates and goes out of Sync...I think you are on the Right track with how to Do this, What I would do is do what you are Doing But with the Second part of the Movie that is out of sync you can try to Re-Sync it...I have done this a couple of Times and what you will need is a Program called "Mpeg2VCR" it is a Mpeg editor and it has a Multiplexor that has a Feature were you can Make the Audio start a Little earlier or Later so you can try to sync up the audio and Video...This Program isn"t free But if you email me I"ll see if I can find a Link to an Older Full version...Cheers

If you know how much delay there is you can add this to the 'audio gap correct' option in the source range. It's a bit of trial and error, just encode a little of the movie and check it.

Hello,

The problem is on this PC. I have a freshly installed WinXP system on it. The file I need to convert to VCD, is a DivX file with AC3 audio. The only two codec thingies I have installed myself, is "AC3Filter v0.70b" for the audio, and "DivX Pro v5.1" for the video.

All right, the file PLAYS perfectly fine. Perfect video, and perfect audio. But it will not behave in TMPGEnc. If I try to encode it with TMPGEnc, the system hangs for some time (10-13 mins), while there is constant HD activity. After this, it starts to encode. The end result is a VCD mpg file with NO audio. If I choose NOT to encode audio with it, it starts to encode immediatly (no hanging).

I have had this problem for a couple of days, and asked for help in newsgroups. People say, that TMPGEnc is NOT able to handle compressed audio. This should be the reason why TMPGEnc behaves as it does. This sounds okay to me, BUT (here comes the weird part)..

..I have another (much slower) PC here next to me, with same OS and same version of TMPGEnc. If I try to encode this EXACT SAME file there, the end result is perfect, and WITH audio. The system does not hang either, it starts encoding immediatly. This does not make sense to me, If TMPGEnc should not be able to do it...

I tried to open this DivX file in GSpot v2.21, on both PC's to see the DirectShow audio render path. And they are much different:

PC with encoding problem (this PC):

"(S) -> AVI Splitter -> AC3Filter -> (R)"

PC where encoding works fine (other PC):

"(S) -> AVI Splitter -> AC3 from AVI XForm -> AC3 Prologic Decoder -> Morgan Stream Switcher -> (R)"

Seems like the audio is processed a lot more on the PC where it works. Do these DS render paths have something to do with this? Or is it something else?

What might I do to make it work on THIS PC? Anybody else experienced any of this?

Thank you so much in advance for help.

-Brian

That AC3 filter will NOT work with TMPG however this one will:
http://fcchandler.home.comcast.net/AC3ACM/

Thanks a lot. Yes, that works! Pure magic! However, the volume is extremely low now.. Any way to adjust that? This filter does not seem to have any settings.

And another thing. I managed to get the same render path on this PC now. I installed "ac3audio.ax" and "decaudio.ax" with the regsvr32 command. GSpot then shows the same directshow render path, as the other PC. I had high hopes, but the players crash with those filters, and so does TMPGEnc. It doesn't crash the other PC.. This is really strange.. Wish things were more logical.. I then un-registered these filters again..

But.. Any way to adjust volume? Or maybe boost the volume with some third-party program? Can't find any..

Thanks again. ;)

You can boost the Volume in the Audio Settings of Tmpgenc you can also normalize and add fade in and fade outs....

Hello I need help with tmpgENC.

I am authoring an mpeg to DVD. I use tmpgENC to do it and burn it, rather simple everything works fine. Then I play my DVD and only the first 38 minutes are in there, BUT THE REST OF THE MOVIE IS MISSING!

The whole movie is there in the mpg, its even there when I'm making the chapters in tmpgENC but when I play in and DVD player only 38 minutes...anyone know whats going on?

Hanes

How can i cut a mpg file into pieces? I tried the merge & cut tool but i don't know how to use it..

thanx
Liyah

I don"t know why you can"t figure out the merge & Cut because it is Extremely simple and it basicly explains it"s self....You load the File that you want to Cut into the "Merge & Cut" then Highlight your File in the Window By Clicking your File name, Now Click "Edit" and a new window will pop up, now you use the Slider under the window to navigate the File and you use the " { } " buttons to choose the Beginning and end of the File that you want to save, after chooseing the Part of the file you want to save then you just click "Ok" then "Run" and it will Save that Part of the File ....it is Extremely simple to understand if you just play with it for a while...

But the AC3 sound support it's still very alpha. Looks promissing thoug.

If you are Looking for AC3 support in tmpgenc ,Meaning Useing tmpgenc to encode AVI files with AC3 audio then there is a Simple AC3 filter that allows this ,It is called the AC3 ACM Decompressor and if you do a Little Search you should be able to find it here in the Forum or if you get stuck and can"t find it then e-mail me and I"ll send it to you....

Thanks Minion,

This is a 16 bit codec. So it will work with VirtualDub also.
Now I can frameserve the AC3 avi's and let virtualdub do the rescaling and filtering.

Hendrik

Virtualdub will work with Ac3 anyway if you use Virtualdubmod or Virtualdub_ac3.

Every time i hit browse to look for a file destination or look for a place to save my files, the program instatly closes itself has any one had this problem?

I've had the same kind of problem for some time.Tmpgenc plus shutts down about 80% of the time after I have selected the source range,when encoding avi's.The encoding itself is good when it wants to work.Also,when I select"shutt down computer when finished encoding",very often it does not shutt down.I searched this forum,and even left a post but got no answers.Others seem to have this problem too...

Hey,
I'm wondering how long it should take to encode a 700Mb movie. I'm using DVD2SVCD to make SVCD out of and AVI file, and chose TMPGEnc as the encoder. So far, it's been going for about 16 hours.

This is the first time I've done this, so bare with me.

So, just a question. TMPGEnc goes through the movie once, that takes about 30-40 minutes. Thne it closes and opens again, to go through it again. Another 30-40 minutes. It's been doing this since about 6:00pm last night. It's now 10:15am the next day.

Should it be doing this? Or should it only be going through once?

I'm running a PIII 550Mhz, 256mb Ram, 40Gb 7200rpm Seagate Barra'.

Is it going too slow or is this time normal?

Thanks
Regards,
Greg

Well for the Speed of your PC you are doing pretty Good Time...Encodeing to Mpeg is an extremely High CPU Activity and is More geared towards a Faster PC..If you get a PC around 2.0ghz then you should be able to encode at pretty Close to Real time so Maybe it is Time for an upgrade, you can upgrade your PC to about 2ghz from about $125 US....
If Tmpgenc is going through your File Twice then it is Because you Chose the "2-Pass VBR" setting, You should NOT use this setting because the Gain in Quality is Minimal and the Encodeing time takes twice as Long as Normal...
And in the "Motion Search precition" you should Not use the "Highest Quality" setting just use the "High Quality" setting Cuz the Highest Quality setting doesn"t produce any better Quality than the "High Quality" setting But the Encodeing will Take Twice as long useing the "Highest Quality" setting....
You will Also Get a big Speed Increase if you Dump "DVD2SVCD" and Just encode your AVI file in tmpgenc without useing DVD2SVCD.....Cheers

Thanks for the reply.

As for the 2pass VBR setting, I chose CQ, not 2-pass. Besides, it has not only gone through twice, it has gone through heaps of times, all through the night after each pass. Each pass completes after around 30-40 minutes, and then TMPGEnc starts again for another 3-40 minutes.

But now (this time it is going through) it says it's going to take 24 hours.

Well if you chose CQ and it is Doing Passes or something that looks Like it is doing Passes then there is something wrong...But I don"t know what it could be, Maybe if you explain this behavior in a Bit more detail and post the specs of the file you are encodeing like is"t Codec, resolution, Frame rate and audio format Maybe I can give you more help.....Cheers

Hi

Nah, Won't be nessesary. I ditched DVD2SVCD and just used bbMPEG and TMPGEnc, with Virtual Dub. It's worked great, except the audio is a little out of synce, but I can live with that seeing as it's a first go.

Thanks for your help anyway.
Regards
Greg

>I ditched DVD2SVCD and just used bbMPEG and TMPGEnc, with Virtual Dub. It's worked great, except the audio is a little out of synce, but I can live with that seeing as it's a first go.

Why are you using all three of these programs when you only need to use TMPG?

Just following the guide I was reading.

I used Vdub to get the audio, tmpgenc to encode, and bbmpg to split it to onto cds. The audio had something to with NSTC to PAL conversion.

??? Dunno ???

If TMPGEnc can do that, then I'll have to look it up.

So, are you saying you have an NTSC AVI which you want to convert to a PAL MPEG or the other way around?
Either way you would have to use more than just Virtualdub to convert the audio in the AVI to NTSC or PAL format assuming you are attempting to alter it's length to sync it with the video.

NTSC to PAL or PAL to NTSC conversion is a tricky process to get right and requires some sort of audio editor with the ability to stretch or shrink audio with pitch control, Virtualdub isn't really required for this.

If you don't need to cross convert formats then TMPG should be able to do the job by itself. Nevertheless I actually do use BBMPEG for muxing and splitting MPEGs to 2 cd's, so it seems you are creating elementry streams with TMPG for muxing in BBMPEG.

It seems you are using some quite advanced methods for someone who admits that they are new to the process.

I use Roxio VCD creator to create vcds. For a long time this works fine but lately all of my vcds have turned out to be choppy and incoherent. What is more likely to be at fault here? My DVD player? my digital camera? My CD burner or the cds themselves? Plz help so I can take the appropriate action.

Well Choppy Playback can be caused By a few Things Like Burning your VCD"s at too high of a speed, The Slower the Better 4X speed is ideal..Low Quality Media Can cause Problems with Playback But it usually manifests its self as the Picture Breaking up and Lots of Random Pixelation..If you use too high of a Bitrate in your VCD"s it will cause Choppy Playback, And another thing could be the Problem which is Tmpgenc has really bad Bitrate controll so sometimes the Bitrate in the VCD File will Spike and when it spikes the DVD player can not spin the Disk Fast enough to ready the sudden jump in Bitrate and you get Choppy Playback...So if you are Useing VBR Encodeing you might want to try CBR encodeing, and if you are useing a Higher than Standard Bitrate in your VCD"s then Lower the Bitrate and finally if none of this works then either use a Different Mpeg encoder that has better Bitrate controll Like MainConcept Encoder or get a DVD Player that can handle Higher Bitrates....

PS: You might also Try a Different Program for Burning your VCD"s as "RoXio" Sucks ...Try something like VCDEasy or Nero even to Burn your VCD"s....Cheers

Hi again. I am encoding a normal 30-minute AVI file. In the past, I have encoded 25-minute AVI files in 2-3 hours (yes, I have a slow computer). But, this 30-minute clip is unusually long. It now says it takes 10 hours! Is it because I have my Internet Explorer on? But this is ridiculous. I am worried that the conversion will go well into the night. Is there an option in TMPGEnc to shut down the computer automatically when its done?

Half hour later: Ok, the remaining time in TMPGEnc has dropped all the way to 6 hours and 47 minutes. But that's still too long. Time is an issue for me. How long does it normally take on a fast computer? I have 294,436KB of RAM. Is that considered fast?

Some Things that Effect the encodeing Speed are, your Files Codec as some decoders are slower/Faster than others, and the Resolution of the File will affect the encodeing speed, the Higher the resolution the Longer it will take...and of cource haveing a Fast PC Helps...You just stated the Amount of Ram you have it Tells us nothing about the Speed of your PC, The Speed of your PC is determined by your Proscessor, it is Usually rated in MHZ or GHZ...I have a 2.53ghz Pentium 4 and I can encode to VCD at close to twice Real time and to SVCD in Real Time and to DVD at about 75% Real time so that means that encodeing to VCD your 30 minute Clip would encode in about 15 minutes and to SVCD it would take about 30 minutes and to DVD it would take about 40 minutes..
You could probably upgrade your PC to a Fairly Fast PC for about $125 US if you do it yourself.....Cheers

15 minutes!?!??! Wow!!!!!! I should upgrade sometime then! Imagine how fast it would take to encode a movie to VCD and DVD too! Usually, it takes me around 6-10 hours for a 1 hour movie. Oh, my conversion just finished. It took me 5 hours and 11 minutes. It's in pretty high quality video.

I convert AVI files to mpeg, but if the AVI file uses Windows Media Audio V2 sound format, the sound wouln't carry over to the newly converted mpeg. The video converts fine, just doesn't have any sound. Anybody have any remedies?

Well then I guess you are encodeing ASF or WMV files?? You will Probably have to extract the audio from the WMV/ASF file to Wav format and then use the Wav file as the audio source in Tmpgenc...I think you can extract the audio to Wav useing "DB Power AMP"..It is a Freeware Audio encoder that you can download at http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ but make sure that you also download the Windows media codec for DB Power Amp....

I have the same problem!

Glad to see I'm not the only one.
1st, I find that when tmpge works it works really well. I like it.
But I'm not sure if it's the codecs or what with this issue I'm getting.
1. installed tmpge and tried to convert Divx to SVCD.
did not read the AVI file, for video or sound.
2. install ffshow and a 3 codecs that came with it. (don't remember what it was)
Now Tmpge can read the AVI file for video but not able to read it for the audio.
3. installed AVS avi to svcd encoder program
Then Tmpge works and works well. So it was missing the needed codecs.
4. latter on after encoding a movie or 2 Tmpge started to not encode audio, no errors, no (unable to open file or does not recognise) errors, just no sound.
5. later on it started to loose the ability to keep aspect ratio.
Nice, I like to see streched elongated faces on the screen.
Odd that it was working fine then started to fall apart, I had not installed or uninstalled anything.
Even when I go back and encode a old avi file that Tmpge successfuly encoded before but does not encode properly now.
I am assuming damaged codecs, somthing is very touchy, hold your breath and lift you left leg up before pressing the start button.