Nvidia 9800GT M (CUDA 2.2 installed)
4 Gig RAM
T9400 Dual Core 2.53GHz
Vista 64 Ultimate
Toshiba Quad Core HD Processor (SpursEngine) Driver version 1.2.1.7 (latest)

TMPGEnc 4.0 complains that this is an old version however it is the latest i can find on any Toshiba site

It works well encoding a 1hour 48 min DVD to MPG format in under an about 1 hour, however only 1 core out of 4 is utilised??? Would it not be faster to utilise all 4 cores of the HD processor. Does TMPGEnc do this??? if so how can i enable it to use all 4 cores of the HD Processor.

Any suggestions??

Is there a utility on your computer that tells you how many SpursEngine cores are being used?

The functions for MPEG-2 encoding/decoding are hard-wired, so it should be working as it was designed by Toshiba.

Yes There is a GUI Gadget that shows the seperate Cores of the HD Processor. During encoding one core is utilised at around 85% - 95% the other 3 cores are not used at all.

When i enable Gesture control all 4 cores are used. The same when i use Ulead Movie Factory, all 4 cores are used. Seems like something is amiss with the SpursEngine support in TMPGEnc.

I do not want to take the risk and purchase something that is not working as it should be. (do that enough with Windows lol)

when encoding from DVD into any format i get above erro at the last few frames (99%) encoded. Have tried encoding to DivX, MPEG-2 with Spurs enabled and disable and CUDA 2.0 enable and disabled. even in clip edit mode works fine untill i get to the last few frames then error occurs and i can not go to another position in the clip without the error occuring.

I am using the trial at the moment as I wanted to test the SpursEngine on my G50 Qosmio, Before i purchase the plugin. Spurs works great less than an hour to encode a 1 hour 48 minute DVD, but this error is annoying.

Anyone got a solution??

I don't think this error has anything to do with the SpursEngine plug-in.
This error seems to pop up every once in a while. A post at AfterDawn's forums suggests that the error is related to AC3 DVM audio, but their source file is an AVI and not a DVD/MPEG-2 so it might not help you. See this thread for more info:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/204024

Here are some other things you can try:

Cut the last few frames and see if the error occurs again. If it doesn't, then that means the last few frames might be corrupted somehow.

Import/rip the DVD in a different way. If this is a DVD rip from some other program, try using the Source Wizard to import the contents of the DVD directly from the DVD. If that's what you were doing, then try ripping it with some other program and import that.

Fromm all i could find it seems the error is related to FFDshow Audio filter which came as part of the Klite Mega Codec package.

I uninstalled Klite and the error still occurs FFDshow is no longer availabe..

I have been a customer of TMPGEnc since 2007 so i have the full version. Strangely enough using the full version (Klite un-installed) the error does not appear. So must me some limitation of the Trial with Spurs.

Will try Re-Encoding with Codecs re-installed.
Also strangely there is no CUDA options in the latest Retail version ??? Whats the go there??

Well it is deffinately the MPEG-2 Decoding. I ripped it without sound just video only and it still crashes with said error. So something is very wrong with the decryption of the MPEG-2 stream. Since i am ripping a Dual layer Dual sided Disk (the movie is split on 2 halves (stupid i know)) hence why i want to rip it and then join it. Damn annoying watching half a movie then having to flip the disk to watch the second half.

Have tried multiple MPEG-2 codecs too and it happens. Yet i can rip it fine with HandBrake 0.9.. (need to mess with the ripping functions a bit as the aspect ratio gets screwed up on Handbrake's DIVX encoding.) Have tried Fair Use and this rips ok as well except the audio is slightly out of sync.

So it all Points to an Issue with TMPGEnc.. Oh i tried ripping with an older version and it worked. The only difference is the older version of TMPGEnc 4.0Xpress 4.7.1.284. That rips fine without the error so it is deffinately something that has changed in the latest couple of versions.

I am trying 4,0 express. after I create my mpeg-2 file and import into Adobe Encore CS4 it will not play the audio and I do not get audio on my DVD when I author it? It works in Encore CS3.

I have DVD author3 software. I am not able to paste the video that is cut from the current clip. How can I do it? Also, I am not able to use a different audio stream for a clip.

When you cut a scene from a clip, you are not copying that scene, you are actually saying that it's going to be deleted. There is no copy/paste scene function. If you want to take a certain scene and put it somewhere else, you'll have to use the clip split function to create a separate clip of your scenes. You can then rearrange your scenes in the Source stage.

If you want to use a different or additional audio stream for a clip, go to the Clip Properties and select a different audio source for Audio input 1. If you want to have two different audio streams, select "Multi-audio" for the Audio stream mode. You'll then be able to select two different audio sources.

I'm having problems with videos I shrink for my iphone with TMPGenc 4.0 XPress. The audio and video end up 2-3 seconds out of sync once I put them on the iphone. Otherwise, everything else is fine - just audio and video way out of sync.

-The same video played on my computer in Quicktime plays well, with audio and video perfectly in sync.
-Videos converted in other software play well on my iphone with good a/v sync.

So, I'm wondering if anyone out there has found settings for TMPGenc 4.0 that result in videos that play correctly on the iPhone? Could you let me know any of the settings that you change from default in the MPEG-4 AVC mode?

My typical settings are as follows:
MPEG-4 AVC
Baseline profile, Level 3
480x270 29.97 fps
1000 kbps 1-pass VBR, with 2400 kpbs maximum bitrate
Audio: 48000Hz, 160 kb/s, low complexit, RAW

I have some settings that work well for the iPhone (and the Sony PSP too). Just checked and the sound and video are in sync. Original formats come from DVD, TV, camera etc.

Output container type: iPod video

Video:
MPEG-4 AVC, Profile: baseline, Level: auto (4.1 and less)
Size: 480x270, Aspect ratio: 16:9, Framerate: 23.976 (progressive)
1 pass VBR, 600k average, 1000k peak

Audio:
AAC, Sample Rate: 32k, Bit Rate: 96k
MPEG-4 (ISO/IEC 14496-3)
Low complexity, raw

These settings look similar to yours. I have a .txpe file (export format template) if that would help. Using TMPGEnc 4.0 Express (v4.7.1.284 but previous versions were OK too).

Thanks!

I think I'll have to kick myself for not noticing the iPod Video container setting before. That was the key. I was using "Normal" container. Once I switched containers, the audio and video were in perfect sync.

Hi guys,
I'm Transcoding footage from a Canon HF s100. The footage is AVCHD
1920x1080, 24p @ 24MB.

I'm using TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress which works fine. I'm going from AVCHD to QT Avid
DNxHD 90x (720p) and Avid DNxHD 115 8 bit (1080p).

I'm testing and look great. The issue is the Quicktimes seems to have a higher
contrast compare to the original footage. Much darker and richer darks. I could
change the contrast with TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress before transcoding it but I do not
want to do that.

My set ups are: millions of colors/ 709/ None Alpha.

Even I did try once to transcode it to QT none compression, a mean uncompress
and still is darker and richer.

When import these files into my Avid MC project, the files are 'fast import'
into the Avid, meaning they won't further compress.


Any solution???

G

Hi All
I keep getting the error message "THE WRITING DRIVE IS STOPPED"

I can extract a DVD from my Plextor DVDR PX-708A into a project in TMPGEnc Authoring Works 4.

I can go through all stages of a DVD creation project: Start Source Menu and
Simulation

But at the Output menu

When I check "Write to the media disc after output completeion" and then click on the "Writer Settings" button then---

----every time i get the same massage "THE WRITING DRIVE IS STOPPED"

I cannot finish the project please help

My Setup is:

Operating system: Windows XP 64

Processor model: AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 Dual
Memory size: 4.0Gb
Hard disk free space: 60Gb
File system: NTFS

Video format: MPEG-1/2 from a TMPGEnc application
Audio format: Dolby® Digita

Writing device: Plextor DVDR PX-708A
Writing application: TMPGEnc Authoring Works 4
Media manufacturer: TDK
Media type: DVD+R

How old is the drive. I have checked on cnet reviews that several people reported not so good usage after about two years or so. (failing drive)

But, try imgburn after the folders are created. (imgburn can burn the folders just like the writer from tmpgenc). It may be the drive doesn't like the writer program that comes with tmpgenc. Imgburn is freeware and it may be able to burn to your dvd's. (Just an idea to see if the drive is actually failing).

i am running win xp 64 bit and had the same problem. try this.
tmpgence states dvd drive not working.
do this
B's Recorder GOLD Service.move bgsvcgen from sys wow and replace
in system.

forgot to say do this as well.
tmpgence states dvd drive not working.
do this
B's Recorder GOLD Service.move bgsvcgen from sys wow and replace
in system.
then go to services and start the B's Recorder GOLD.

Now I'm having the same error message. The instructions to remove and replace doesn't work. It started when I downgraded from the version 4.2.0.24 cause the drive quits reading the dvd's. Can you explain more in detail what a person really needs to do.

I actually found out what the problem is. Since I added a Blu-Ray burner (LG GGW-H20L) which hooks into a SATA controller card thru pci bus (my computer is of the older athlon xp series), the program bgsvcgen.exe which is in the system directory does run and crashes. It gets confused with the ide dvd burners i already have in the computer. Disconnecting the Blu-Ray burner fixed the problem, so it seems that the B's Recorder GOLD Library General Service (bgsvcgen.exe) needs to be updated somehow. I also tried to disconnect the ide burners, but it still wouldn't work.

Meanwhile I'll just write it to disk and use imgburn to burn to the disk.

I may have to really upgrade now and get a computer with a better cpu with motherboard that has SATA capabilites.

Ok, I found out something new. Since I was using VIA SATA chipset controller (pci bus) cards, that did cause a problem with my setup. I purchased a 4 port controller card with 'Silicon Valley Chipset', replaced the VIA SATA controller card and now all my drives show up in the 'B's Gold Recorder' writer which comes with the version 4.0. Everything now works. All three of my drives show up.

I hope this helps everybody. I'll send a email to the techs at Tmpgenc and let them know what I have found.

Instead of Silicon Valley Chipset, it should be Silcon Image chipset.

Hallo , i have TMPGenc (3.1.2.176). I added to new project 7 files. I have edit them and saved project. Next I closed TMPGenc and opened the project. But there are not any files. Where is the problem? Size of td3 is cca 5MB.
Many thanks, Lubo

Do you mean that there's no clips or tracks in your saved project? Or that the changes aren't saved? Your source files will not be altered after you've cut-edited them. Any changes are transferred to your output file. The project file does not save the source files within it, it simply refers to the location of the source file on your computer.

This SpursEngine plug in looks great to speed up compression from MPEG2 to H.264 which is all I ever do.

Where can you buy one of these devices?? I've been looking all over and I can't find one anywhere, supposed to be Leadtec Winfast... ???

Has anyone bought one?

The Leadtek card doesn't seem to be available in the US yet as far as I can tell.

The Canopus/Grass Valley Firecoder Blu card is available though, just do a search for it on Google. It's a bit pricey at around $500 or so, but I think that's the only one readily available in the US.

The Toshiba laptops that have SpursEngine are only listed on their EU site and not their US site, but hopefully they'll bring them over here soon. They don't use the term SpursEngine though; they just call it a Toshiba quad-core HD processor or a multimedia processor or something like that. See the Qosmio G50 or F50 series laptops.
http://eu.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/generic/qosmio_eu/

I have a pxvc1100 on order. I might be able to run a few tests once I get it.

Kelvin

Just saw that the Leadtek card is available as a bundle with TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress at Newegg for $350:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815122013

I have installed TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress V.4.7.1.284 and I use Vista 32bit, suddenly TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress won't start, it just look like the program will start but nothing happens, same goes for ac3 plug (TMPEGnc Sound Palyer) neither this will run. All the rest of the programs works just fine but this problem i described just goes for theese two programs. I've tried new installation several times and cleaned and changed some possible registers but nothing seems to work. Please help!! :/

I have a mpeg file from sony camera with hardrive I think it was shot Anamorphic 16 x 9 at 740 x480 I can not convert it to AVI without it apearing letterboxed or Squished too tall> how to I convert to 4x3 format keeping center of picture looking normal and cropping sided. I do not want any black sides visable

Don't change any of the clip properties when you add the file.
Use the crop filter to crop the left and right sides so the end result is a 640x480 picture.
When outputting, you can either output it as 640x480 or if you want the output size to match the original, change the size to 740x480 (are you sure it's not 720x480?) and select "Display 4:3" or "Pixel 10:11".

You are correct its 720x480 but can you be more detailed as I can not seem to get it to work. where do you choose the output size and select 4:3

Sorry, forgot you were outputting to AVI. It will depend on whatever codec you're using on whether or not you'll be able to change the pixel aspect ratio. The only codec I have that actually allows you to alter the pixel aspect ratio is the DivX codec - just select the DivX codec and click on the "Settings..." button to the right of the codec list. A DivX Codec Properties window should open. Click on the Video tab and you can change the pixel aspect ratio; by default, it is set to "Square Pixels".

If you don't want to use DivX, you'll most likely have to output as 640x480 if you want it to be 4:3.

You can change the output size after you select AVI as your output format; it should be set to 640x480 if you cropped the image with the crop filter:
http://i39.tinypic.com/zx0eg5.png

I have been trying to convert a mkv to dvd format. it one stops everytime at 62%. I don't know why. it is a large file 6gb. I am usint authorworks 4 and the essentials codec pack for windows. any suggestions as to why this one freezes. thanks!