Hey guys,
I have an HD camcorder that records in AVCHD format. I have been usin TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress to convert the AVCHDs into a single .avi video file converted in divx format. When you do the converstion you can set many options to enhance quality sound etc... but it also allows you to set a resolution you want your .avi to come out. The avchd that i record is set to 1920x1080 on my camcorder which is too big of resolution for most normal TVs and Dvd players. When i did my trial conversion I set it 800x600 ... and that didnt work. dvd said doesnt support resolution. So can anyone help me out and tell me what the right resolution to set it to, to make .avi playable on my divx dvd player???

THANKS

Here is some thought i have put to this

Since the original resolution is 1920x1080 = 16:9 aspect ratio,
so i would downsize that to 720x405 = 16:9 which is still same aspect ratio,


or should i switch to 4:3 aspect ratio? and if i do, do i lose any image due to letterboxing?

so i figured best optimal size is 720x480 ... NTSC at 3:2 ratio.

How are you setting the 3:2 ratio?

If it's widescreen NTSC, I believe the pixel aspect ratio should be 40:33.

Are you using the DivX template or the AVI template in the Format stage?

Im using the divx template but it tells me to set the resolution.

720x480 is a 3:2 aspect ratio (720/3=240 ... 240x2=480)

40:33 aspect ratio would crop out a lot of the footage.

I'm talking about pixel aspect ratio, not the ratio of the resolution dimensions.

Changing it to 40:33 pixel aspect ratio will not crop anything; it will stretch the image to the correct 16:9 aspect ratio of your source file. Obviously, 720x480 is not a 16:9 ratio, so the DVD format(or in this case, the DivX format) stretches the pixels themselves to obtain the correct aspect ratio of 4:3 or 16:9.

So in the DivX format options, you'd set the Size to 720 x 480, and the Aspect ratio to "Pixel 40:33 (NTSC 16:9)". I'd use profile type "Home theater".

I discovered something about using a 2nd audio source on a clip which you edit that is quite surprising.

What I discovered is that if you add a 2nd audio source that is, say, 5 minutes long to a 15 minute clip, then you edit that clip (eg. you edit out the first 10 minutes out of it leaving a 5 minute clip), that 2nd audio source will not be included in the output (nor can you hear it during simulation). If I remove all edits, then you can hear the 2nd audio source. I tried adding the 2nd audio source AFTER I had edited the clip and got the same results.

It seems rather surprising that the 2nd audio would not be applied to the beginning of the final, edited clip. I got around this by first creating output of the final 5 minutes (with no audio) then using that output as the clip source for another project which I then added the 2nd audio source to. A long way around it seems.

Am I doing something wrong?

I think that's just how the cut-editing works.

Since the cut-edits don't actually happen until output, it will put the audio at the beginning of the video as if there were no cuts. In other words, the cut-edits aren't final until you output.

So yeah, you'll have to cut-edit, output, then bring it back in just as you did.

OK, I can live with this, but it does seem reasonable to assume that the 2nd audio source would be applied after the video edits are taken into account.

I think it's more of a technical issue. If you think about it, when the file is being outputted it is encoding the audio and video together so it would have to start both the audio and video at the same time, and thus it would make the edits in the order they appear. For it to apply the audio track after the edits, it would essentially have to do 2 passes where it would edit the video on the first pass and apply the audio on the second pass. This would be further complicated by having two audio tracks where the first is being edited normally along with the video but the second is supposed to be applied after the edits.

And what if you made cuts, then added a second audio source, then made more cuts? Should the audio start after the first set of cuts and then be affected by the second set of cuts? The program just has no way of knowing.

In the end, even if they were to program the software that way, it would still take twice as long or about the same time as encoding the edits and then bringing it back in to add the audio.

To me, it's more logical the way it's set up now. It's like adding a musical score to a movie--you do it after you've edited the film.

Yea, that makes sense. I used to use Nero for DVD authoring and you could make your video edits and then apply a 2nd audio source to the pre-encoded edited video and then you would encode it (just once) to get your desired output. But as I recall, Nero took longer too so perhaps it was doing it in two steps.

Hi!
Error are in the slideshow making when put the audio file (mp3).
When i simulate it, the audio is wrong, the playback start in the middle of the song or similar.
I need help Please!
Thanks.

Mariano

I'm running TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 with DivX Authoring (v. 3.1.2.176) and have some video files with a black bar above and below the picture (videos were originally 16:9 aspect but have been reprocessed by Tunebite software into 4:3 aspect - hence the lines). Is TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 able to crop these lines out to restore 16:9 aspect, and if so how is this done? If not, is there any other TMPGEnc software that will do this?

DVD Author 3 won't be able to crop the picture.
TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress has a crop picture filter that should do the job.

I really like TDA3 so far but I would like to see the ability to add simple transitions such as fades between clips added to the program. I know MPEG Editor allows you to add transitions but I don't see that it supports ASF files, which is my primary source format.

I have been transcoding? my home movies that were taken in 1080. I have been using the Divx encoder via the TMPenc 4.15 Xpress program. I am however at a loss as to why there is a 4 Gigabyte limit. Maybe someone can explain this. After all why do HighDef in Divx if there is a 4 Gigabyte limit?

Thanks,
Kerry N

Vista Quad Core 2.66 each
6 GB RAM

I think its probably because you're drive is formatted as FAT32 rather than NTFS. FAT32 only allows 4gb max files.

If you are encoding to DivX, then the DivX format itself is the limitation. DivX files can only be less than 4GB.

I understand that TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 with DivX Authoring includes a Dolby Digital/AC3-Plugin for but only two stereo channels.
How can I upgrade to a 5.1-DD-decoder?
Thank you.

There is no upgrade to a 5.1 decoder.

However, I believe DVD Author 3 has 5.1 AC3 passthrough, meaning that if you don't re-encode the audio, it will remain 5.1.

tkrave, thanks for your response from 2008/09/08.

You are right, DVD Author 3 handles video files exactly as you mentioned - problem resolved.

I observe a follow-up problem, however:
When I record a pure DD 5.1 audio file in .ts format, which is identified as a52 by VLC-Player, and offer it to DVD Author 3, the program responds, that it 'Could not open the video part of the file . . .ts. Only the audio part can be opened.'
That's exactly what I expected, but in fact it does not open the audio part of my file. How can I convince Author to accept it as being a clip?

Do you have another good idea? I would gratefully acknowledge.
Thank you.

So you want to add the separate audio file to an existing clip?

Add your video clip first, then in the Clip Properties window, you can select a different file as the audio input for the clip. I don't have an audio DD5.1 audio .ts file to test this with, but it might work.

Hi, I've been using TMPGEnc with great success for years, now
suddenly it won't open video source files, and will only select
the video file as the audio source.

It gives the message that the format is unknown or unsupported
but then opens an Windows SMSS.exe process through ZoneAlarm.

Any ideas?

Will your programs get suport for the new MS mediacenter format wtv?
so I can use it to cut out comercel brackes after upgrade to?
Or shold one try not to get anything in that format (have not found anything that suports it yet.)
thanks for great program.

Any render I do from Xpress 4.0 results in a corrupted mpeg file. Sometimes I render a file that plays (plays in Windows media and Author 3.0) but 80% of the time the file is corrupted. I submitted a ticket on this issue but Tmpgenc support is horrible and they didn't help except for asking ovbious questions. I'm suspecting that the mpeg encoder is conflicting with some other encoder/application. I do have installed in my PC, Media Concept Mpeg encoder, Cinema Craft Basic and Nero. Has anyone experiencing the same issue? I'm completely frustrated by the lack of support from this company but I do love the results (when it works) from Xpress.

My OS is XP with SP3, Xeon based machine. Please help!!!

Sorry, never had this issue. What are the source file formats for the ones that end up corrupted? Are they different from the ones that come out OK?

The sources are mostly avi (using Cineform codecs) and also uncompressed Quicktime. The files range from 10 to 15 mins and the final output 1:45 hour. I tried smaller files with no luck. Every single file is corrupted and not even Mpeg editor will open it. I installed the updates with no luck. Once in a while it produces a viewable files. If it wasn't for the superb quality i would not bother with this product.

Can your source avi files play in Windows Media Player?

Also, what do you mean by corrupted? They just don't play, they play but it's black, garbage artifacts or what?

You can check to see if your Cineform codec is being recognized by 4.0 XPress by going to Options-->Preferences-->AVI settings. If it doesn't show up in the list, then 4.0 XPress doesn't see it. There may be a codec conflict as well, and you may need to uninstall your codecs and reinstall them one by one to see if it shows up.

Have you tried encoding it to other formats other than MPEG?

It could also be that the source file is corrupt.

Hello, maybe somebody can help me.

Was athoring a DVD with two tracks (In one of them, a concert with 26 songs/chapters, in the other, a "bonus" with 2 songs), and after checking all is ok in the simulation, I started the output. At 97% an error mesage pops up, reading something about a Stream Error, and in the output screen, another one telling me that the output had to be stopped due to an error.
Googling about that I read that it could be due to a lack of disk space, but it's not my case.
In the output folder, checking the final .VOBs, I see that the concert (track 1) was succesfully finished, but there's nothing about track 2 (apparently there was when output stopped, I think) and menus...

Well, if someone can help me, I'll be very grateful. Please give me ideas to solve this. I'll post screen caps of all the settings for the videos and the properties of the video sources too, if needed.

Thanks in advance!

"Stream Error" means that the TDA3 couldn't read(decode) the file
correctly.
> with the preview near or at the end of the first track
Do you know which source movie file was in process?
Could you create a DVD with that source file or it becomes also problem
even without that specific source file?.
Seek and wipe out clips which are making errors in the output process.

good luck

So I'm running version 2.58.44.152 and when I open the Wizard, there's no 16:9 NTSC or 16:9 PAL option under DVD. I had to redownload this program because i built a new computer, and I remember the option being there on my old computer. Did I download the wrong version or am I missing a patch? What gives?

Whoa, where did you download that from? That is an old version from 2002.

If you're using Plus, go here:
http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/download/tp.html

If you're using the free version, go here:
http://www.tmpgenc.net/en/download.html