when i try to reduce a 768x1280 mpg to 384x640, i expected to see a file size reduction from 15Mb down to about 3 or 4Mb. i see NO file size reduction at all the output file is exactly the same size as the source file despite being 25% the actual pixels. why is this and how can i achieve this savings?

using tmpgenc 4.0 xpress by the way.

thanks

Are you sure you're looking at the right output file? There's no way it should be exactly the same file size.
I can reduce a 720x480 mpeg file to 360x240 and the file is roughly half the size as expected.

What are the settings you're using in the format stage?

the input file is 19 seconds long, 768x1280. mpeg 1 format, 29.97fps, 6000kbps

the output settings are:

mpeg 1, 384x640, 29.97 fps, CBR (Constant Bitrate), 6000kbps

one would think that just these settings would drop the output size down to 25%. it does NOTHING for file size - the same EXACT size as the input is output.

i open both the input and the output in windows media player and the properties show that the original is 768x1280 and the output file is 384x640 so that's working but the file size is unchanged.

very bizarre.

It's your bitrate settings. If you use CBR at 6000kbps for each version of the movie, you'll get 6000kb of data for each second of the movie, no matter what the resolution is.

Try change it to VBR (Constant Quality); it'll keep the quality up but adjust the bitrate accordingly. You can also lower your bitrate if you want to use CBR.

so if i drop my bitrate down from 6000 to 1500 won't the output video look crappy (i guess i'll know when i see) it just seems to me like by default when you lower the size of an IMAGE, you don't have to lower the jpg quality to see the savings.

i'll give it a try either way.

thanks

P

it reduced the file size but i AM seeing significant degradation in the video quality. puzzling...

so anyone? anyone? bueller?

no ideas on why a video at half the res is still full size? not a quarter like it ought to be?

any other suggestions? maybe tmpg can't do what it ought to here???...

Have you tried VBR? If so, how was the quality?

Like I said, if you use CBR, it will force the output to be the same amount of data no matter what the video dimensions are. That's what makes it CONSTANT bitrate. This IS the reason your two videos are the same size; there is no other explanation.

Lowering the CBR will lower the quality, especially on scenes with a lot of motion/complexity. This is why VBR is much better; it can adjust the bitrate according to the complexity of the scene.

Comparing CBR to a jpeg isn't accurate since when you resize a jpeg, it takes into account any detail loss and adjusts the file size accordingly. Jpegs are saved based on quality (like VBR) not on a file size target which is essentially what CBR is.

Is there a reason you need to use CBR? VBR is really the best option.

I was trying to run TMPGENC under a limited user account, when I saw another post here from another user, regarding the availability of GPGPU only under admin accounts.

Come on guys, is it so hard to implement in the next version the GPGPU feature to run under all accounts and not just under admin? I am facing the same problem, I do not want to make it available under limited accounts, and at the moment it is not possible...

I'm having a problem encoding dvr-ms audio. I find that whenever there is a "glitch" in the original audio stream, the audio stops encoding right at that point and the rest of the audio is silent. This also happens within the clip-editor. I have to run back to before the error to get audio working again. I can cut several frames out around the glitch and the audio will work correctly. I have reported this bug, but it is a very painful bug to work around. Has anyone else experienced this and is there a better workaround?

hello everyone , I was doing ok until this started to happend, I do some family video editing , some partys and get togethers, every was coming along fine burning AVI files, Xvid, Divx, 1.30 to 1.50 Hour.minutes files at first with DVD+R 16x the results OK no problems, then I came across a different format disk DVD-R 16x the results continue to be good, the I switch back to DVD+R 16x same brand as I use previously, and now I'm able to burn the disk but it will not play on a regular DVD player. it reads ( disk it's durty ) code 13 70 , I try playing the same DVD into the computer and the computer will no recognice the format the first window that appears says DVD it is Blank and there data on the disk, second window appears and it estates that the disk its not readable or that the data it's corrupted, so now I can't burn on DVD+R disc, my dvd player its capable to playthem but not lately.......... can someone helpmi or give me some tips or insides my burner its an Asus DRW-2014-L1T, motherboard--EVGA 790I ultra, CPU--Intel Q6600 @ 2.4 Ghz, 1066 Mgz, Graphics card--EVGA 9800 GTX+, 512mb, 738 Mhz core, 2200 Mhz mem clock and lates K-Lite full codecs, XP Codecs.

What is the brand of DVD+R discs that you are using? Some discs are not made very well and can have problems playing on some players.

What type of DVD player do you have? Your player may also have problems playing DVD+R media.

What speed are you burning the disc at? Try using a slower speed like x4 or x8 to avoid writing errors.

You may also want to think about switching to DVD-R as I think they are better supported than DVD+R.

I am capturing VHS using VirtualVCR to a .AVI file. Can I import this directly into Authuring Works 4 and start authoring without any other encoding / decoding..etc ? Thanks

Yes, Authoring Works 4 will accept AVI's; no need to convert it or make it compliant.

I use Newtek's Speededit to transfer homemovies and VHS to DVD. I was wondering how TMPGEnc XPress works on these SD formats. I have used "other" programs, but I get alot of pixilation in the black with it. I would like to hear from you all about using TMPGEnc XPress this way. thanks

What kind of capture system are you using?

Is there a lot of noise in the source file after you capture the VHS/home movie?

It could be that the bitrate setting is too low in these other programs.
4.0 XPress also has a noise filter that could help if it is video noise.

I a using a plextor MU-420 external unit also have an internal ATI wonder card. Not sure how to set the bit rate setting.

Noticed that in the black of a scene there is pixilation. I also have a copy of Sony Vegas DVD maker I will try.

Does this pixelation look like video noise/snow or is it big and blocky?

Is it present in the video after you capture it but before you convert it to DVD format?

If it's pixelated before you encode to DVD format, then it may just be a limitation of the capture card.

You may also want to look for 2-pass VBR (Variable Bit Rate) encoding in whatever software you're using.

Hi all sorry for my English but I speak Spanish I would like to know if it is compatible with TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress Windows XP SP3? which is seen by some bug reports here, because I am interested in buying and I do not want to take a surprise and if I needed to try the trial and I downloaded it I did not go. Thank you!

I'm using XP SP3 and 4.0 XPress works fine.

Is there a way to switch a project from NTSC to PAL or vise versa? I need to burn DVDs with slideshows for both Europe and the USA (family in both countries).

It is very time consuming to create two identical projects for just a conversion issue.

Thank you in advance!!

Unfortunately, there's no easy way to switch between PAL and NTSC. You'll have to recreate most of it.
One thing you can do is save your menu as a template so that's one less thing you have to redo.

From the Menu Stage, Edit menu --> Save the current menu as a new template.

You can also import the footage from your NTSC DVD into a new PAL project so you don't have to re-edit and all of that stuff.

H, does anyone know what GOP is? I have not been able to write to disc because of a GOP error. I went trhu the help files and it is not very helpful. I seem to be stuck on this one cpmonent. Can anyone offer some advice.
Thanks

GOP stands for Group Of Pictures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_of_pictures

What exactly does the error message say?

Actually I am facing the GOP error too. The error says "Video GOP is too long..."

Just to see what happens, I hit Continue when I got this error message to continue to burn the DVD. It burns right however the DVD hangs in the first second when loaded on a Standalone.

How do I resolve this issue of GOP?

Hello,
I seem to remember in a very old version that you could increase the number of passes. Does that feature still exist? Did it do much?

I understand from a bit of reading that the Pros have software that they can 'hand tweak' the compression during various parts of the movie. What are they doing? Is this a feature that might get added?

Thanks,
Dave

I know that you can do more than 2 passes when you choose DivX file output (advanced mode), but I've never used it and I don't know how the pros tweak things.

Is it possible to use TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress to join two mp4 audio/video files together without re-encoding? Both files have the same resolution, bit rate, etc.

I'm afraid not. 4.0 XPress doesn't have any smart rendering feature so everything will be re-encoded I believe.

After outputting a DVD project from Authoring Works, I am unable to delete the output from the hard drive. All files are deleted except the VOB files. For these files I get an "Access id Denied" error. As well, what is worse, I am not able to take "ownership" of these files, in spite of the fact that my user is an administrator, with full rights to the whole computer.

I am using Vista 32-bit, and have never had this problem with any other product. However, it has been the case with every project I've outputted from Authoring Works... it's now taking up around 30GB of space... and makes me not want to output any more projects!

Are you sure that is the actual location of the file? I know Vista uses some hidden shortcuts for certain folders. Where are the files outputting to?

I think I know where the bug lies...

My user is member of a Windows 2003 domain. So is my computer.

If I log in as the local administrator, I can delete the files. It is only with the domain user that I am denied access.

So, it seems there is a bug in the program that if a user is a domain user, the VOB files which are exported are not erasable by that user.

It may also be related the bug that the "finalizing VOB files" process is amazingly slow... it takes about 1 minute per VOB file, when using the domain user.