I have video from my camera in a .MOV file that says it's frame width:height is 640:480 (4:3). I want to include it in my 16:9 DVD (Pinnacle Studio 14)along with a number of photos. I would like to resize the video so that it fills the full width of the screen but with the correct aspect ratio; by cropping the top and bottom off the video. After much tinkering with the Clip Settings/Aspect Ratio and applying resize and crop filters, it still will not generate the correctly sized output. Please help, I'm loosing my mind!

This is what worked for me.

When you crop your video, make sure the dimensions after the crop are 16:9. For example, the width of my video ended up being 644 pixels, so my height needs to be 362 pixels to make it a 16:9 image.

For the resize filter, the only thing I needed to change was unchecking the "keep aspect ratio" box. It's kind of counter-intuitive, but leaving it checked added black bars to the sides of my video (for DVD output). Leave everything else at their defaults. The format chosen in the format stage will make it the correct dimensions.

In the format stage, choose DVD standard MPEG file as your output format (since it's for a DVD) and make sure to choose 16:9 as the Aspect ratio.

In the Encode stage, click on the preview button to make sure it looks the way you want it to. It should look just how it does in the crop filter screen.

Actually, you might need to keep the "keep aspect ratio" box checked for your video. See how it looks with it check and without.

I say this because my source file is a 4:3 DVD-Video MPEG-2 so its pixel aspect ratio is probably different than your .mov video and this could make a difference in how you should process your file.

I have a question regarding subtitles. When I use TMPGEnc to create a MPG backup of my movies sometimes the subtitles are not in the MPG. By subtitles I mean the ones that are part of the movie itself not the different languages. For instance District 9. During the movie there are several times when the alien’s words show at the bottom of the screen. But when I look thru the video I can't find it. I see the director comments, foreign languages, etc., but not the captions. When I do the conversion there are no captions.
Am I missing something?
When this happens I end up just copying the DVD in it’s entirely which wastes a lot space.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Dave

TMPGEnc doesn't support line21 captions for some dumb reason. Your only choice is to try ccextracter to create a srt file then get a program like Aimersoft that will convert to mpg using the srt file so you get the captions back.

Should be mandatory for serious video editors to fully preserve Line21 in any conversion because there is no excuse not to.

I need to reduce the file size of some avi's and reducing the frame rate or the picture size would seem the answer, but I can't see how to do this ?

To change your output settings:

http://i28.tinypic.com/2z51veg.png
1. go to the Source stage
2. click on the "Settings" button for your track(s).
3. in the track settings window, click on the video tab

Then edit the settings you want to change. You may need to change the Encoder Mode to "Re-encode all videos as below" in order to change some settings.
Lowering the bitrate might be a better way of lowering the file size though, but it's up to you.

Thanks for that. The logic of going to "source/settings" for the "output requirements" had passed me by completely. Anyway, in business now.

Foe some reason, all of a sudden, after my project gets through trans coding, the disc writing tool starts up but does not start the burn process. I have to do that manually and yes I do have it checked in the output before I start to write to the media automatically. I get the problem more with re-writable discs than R's and I also tried changing blank brands. I'm using Verbatim now. Also the problem does not happen every time.

Hi. I just used the TAW4 trial. My 157-minute film is 7.7GB, so I clicked the DVD+R DL choice when setting preferences. But when I tried to create an ISO, I got this error message:

"One layer DVD media capacity exceeded. It is not possible to create a valid ISO image file for a dual layer DVD media. Your ISO image file will not be transferable on a media. Do you want to create an ISO image file anyway? Y/N"

Not possible to create an ISO for double layer? Is this message accurate? Is it only for the TAW4 Trial, for TAW4, or is that true for all DL discs--cannot burn ISO on them?
Thank you.

You are probably better off outputting your project to audio ts and video ts at 8.5GB size, and then using imgburn to either burn folders straight o disc or to create iso and then burn to disc. This way you can set write speed to it's minimum to make the burn quality more likely to succeed. Recently I did the same but didn't set the lower write speed which left a slightly dodgy frame playback toward the end of the clip.

Thanks for that answer.

I just received another answer from Olivier Graves in TMPG Pre-Sales Customer Service:
"I am afraid it is not possible. The ISO image format is quite old now and has never been updated to the multi-layer type of physical media. For this reason, ISO images can only be created when the output fits on a single layer."

What he wrote is compatible with an ImgBurn Error that I got: "Optimal L1 Data Zone Start LBA: None Found! (VTS_01). This image has not been correctly mastered for burning onto a double layer (OTP Track Path) disc. None of the cells meet the 'DVD-Video specification' criteria for a potential layer-break position."

In a related matter, I found that when burning to DL, slower is not always better. I got numerous burn failures using Verbatim DVD+R DL when trying to burn folders at 2.4x which is recommended on the disc pack. I finally checked my NEC ND3520A burner's specs, and it requires 4x and only 4x for burning DL.

Can anyoone tell me if i import a dvd which has 8 subtitles stream can authoring works preserve them ?Because i have heard that 2 is the maximum subtracks in authoring works.
Thanks

Unfortunately, 2 is the max.

I have figured out how to add BGM to my screens when authoring a DVD, but it looks like to have to add an audio track for each screen if you want music on them. My problem is that whenever you click to go to a track screen from the main menu, the music restarts. Is there anyway to set BGM for the entire DVD so that if I click to go to a track menu, then back to the main menu, it will keep playing the music without restarting?

Thanks for your help!

Unfortunately, that's not possible. This is a limitation of the DVD standard in general. Basically motion menus are video files, so when you switch to a different page, it has to start playing a different video file. The audio is part of that video file, so it can't span across pages.

After converting to Mp4 format, the file doesn't play until it's completely downloaded in flash player.

Is there a way in Xpress to move the boxes to the front of the file or do I have to use a separate tool like MP4Box or a similar tool to move the boxes to the beginning of the file.

Thanks.

try playing the mp4 file with another player, flash player sucks

Rufine-- I got Xpress 4 to create a streaming file (I use FlowPlayer) by using the following settings:

container: iPod video
profile: main
level: automatic (4.1 and less)
framerate: 29.97 progressive
rate control: 1 pass constant quantization (also works with 2-pass variable, and maybe others, I only tried those 2)
motion search: 63
bitrate buffer: 0 (auto)
video system: automatic
detect scene change: checked
GOP length: 250
B frame count: 3
Reference frame count: 5
I picture: 23
P picture: 24
B picture: 26
Entropy coding mode: CABAC (I also tried CAVLC, which I think is better for portable devices)
motion estimation: quarter pixel
audio - object type: low complexity
audio - output format: raw
no thumbnail info entered

I'm not quite sure what made it a streaming file, but its nice not to have to use another tool to fix it for streaming! I have a feeling it was the "iPod" setting... let me know if you find out.

I'm a TMPGEnc DVD Author user and would like to upgrade to the latest product if it can do what I need: I want to be able to author DVDs using an HD transport stream as the source file.
Is this possible?
i.e. Will Authoring Works 4 be able to convert a 1080 video into DVD resolution?
There are free products out there that I can use to demultiplex the transport stream if necessary, but I love the ease of editing & authoring with DVD Author and would like to be able to keep that experience by using Authoring Works if possible.

Thanks in advance,
Luuuc

Yes without a doubt it will and does a very good job. just set your output to DVD video for PAL / NTSC. You source video will be re-encoded, but the quality is very, very good. I do this all the time with HD source video. Depending on your computer power will determine the duration of the re-encode.

Thanks for that, mobie. Guess it's time for me to upgrade.

I have a short clip with background music that i imported into authoring works 4. I have enabled "motion menu with audio" in global menu settings. Why is the menu clip silent during simulation playback?? Both clip audio and background music is silent. The tracks play fine. Also, i output to blu ray and no audio either when the menu played.

Did you click on the "Motion" button in the Simulation stage? Motion menu previews will not render unless you click that button.

Yes i activated that button in simulation. Still no audio.

Did you activate background audio for the thumbnail/background image?

If not, in the menu editor, double-click on the background to open the background editor window, click on the "BGM audio selection" tab, and select an audio file or choose to use the audio from the background source (if you are using a video as a background).

You must do the same thing for each motion menu item that you want to hear the audio for.

Perfect, that worked!!

thanks so much.

Why does authoring works 4 flag my MPEG-2 HD file as non compliant and goes into full rendering mode when it meets the blu ray specs standard of 720p at 59.94fps?? The audio is 5.1 Dolby.

Please help me. With motion menu background activated, full rendering time is over 24 hours!!!

thanks.

Hard to say, but it usually has a good reason. Try use a program like MediaInfo and post the specs of the video.

Here are the specs. thanks.

File Size: 6601621128 ( 6.15 GB )
Program Duration: 01:01:38.10
File Type: TS Stream
Encoding: MPEG2
Video stream Id: 4096 (x1000)
Encoding Dimensions: 1280 x 720
Display Size: 1280 x 720
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Frame Rate: 59.94 FPS
Bit Rate: 20.000 Mbps
VBV_Buffer: 976 KB
Profile: Main/High
Progressive: Progressive Only
Chroma: 4:2:0
Audio Format: 5.1
Audio Stream Id: AC3: 4097 (x1001)
Audio Bit Rate: 384 Kbps
Audio Sampling Rate: 48000 Hz
TS Mux Rate (bps): 1638449

Just after a bit of advice for using the DivX dvd element of authoring works, is there any particular difficulty to it? How many approx .avi files can fit onto a 4gb dvd disc? Also, is a menu still created? And lastly, are there any particular settings, be it file or tmpgenc, required for it to play in a conventional dvd player? (that supports divx playback)

Cheers if anyone can advise!

Creation is pretty much the same as a regular DVD; you can import the same types of files and Smart Rendering is supported if your files are already in the DivX format. The amount of content varies on what bitrate you choose, but since DivX has a higher compression rate than MPEG-2, you should be able to fit much more than a regular DVD would.
Menus can be created just like DVD menus, but your player must be DivX Ultra certified in order to see them--emphasis on the ULTRA. If it is just DivX certified, you can still play the videos, but you will not be able to see or use the menus.

Cheers for that, so lets say i create a dvd with a top menu, and subsequent links to the tracks (or movies) ive added into the project, if I were to play in a dvd player that has DivX and not DivX Ultra, would the result be that playback fails? Or would it just play each track one after the other with no control other than forward/rewind?

I can't remember exactly, but I think it will show a generic file menu where you can select which track to play...that probably varies from player to player, but I think it will treat each track as a separate DivX file. I can't remember if jumping to the next or previous chapter works either. My DivX Ultra player hasn't been working, so I can't make sure, but that's what I remember.

ok cheers tkrave, will give it a try and report back.

Last question on this one, was wondering about frame rates for a divx dvd, in that I have a number of files, some are 23 fps (NTSC) and some are 25 fps (PAL), should these always be kept seperate in a project or does it not matter for a divx dvd?

It shouldn't matter as they will be converted to whatever your output format is, so they can be in the same project. I would put them in separate tracks though.

So I tries this, and then played on two different mediums to test it, first I tried laptop with DIVX Player, worked fine, even the menu's I'd put on showed up which is good. Then I tried my blu ray player (DIVX compatible but not DIVX Ultra) and it didn't work properly. No menu comes up, it just plays the first track off the disc and then stops as if it had finished playing the disc..

Have you tried pressing the "menu" or "setup" buttons on your DVD remote? Even pushing the stop button might get you to the player-generated menu.
Or, maybe I was wrong; like I said, I was going on memory so it's possible I'm completely wrong about all of this.

Didnt try pressing setup, but did try pressing menu. The problem might be playing it on blu ray player, it seems to treat it as if it is a file from a usb stick, it goes to the file but only has the option to play. Will try another divx player if i can find one..