Hello. I read through the prior posts regarding "buffer underflow" errors, and did some tests after I received my first today.

Actual Warning message in TMPGEnc while using the Simple Multiplex Tool, and trying to create a type of: MPEG-1 Video CD:::
2 s packets cause buffer underflow
The MPEG file might cause error when it played.

I figured that 2, yes two, packets wouldn't be a problem for any DVD player to handle, but figured I would try to correct this anyway. This file played perfectly well on my PC while using my media players, and also PowerDVD.

By the way, the video and audio both followed VCD specs.

So, I decided to use BBMPEG as suggested here a few days ago to another poster. I used the same vid and audio to create a VCD file in BBMPEG. The were no errors noted after the process concluded. I did notice that the resulting MPEG was 200k smaller than the "buffer underflow" one created using TMPGEnc.

As a "test", I ran both files through VCDGear to confirm VCD compliance and asked for it to "Fix MPEG Errors". The TMPGEnc "buffer underflow" file showed no errors, so no corrections were made. But the BBMPEG file showed " 21403 MPEG block correction(s) applied". That file was about 100 megs smaller than the original. I then tried to play that VCDGear corrected MPEG, but it wouldn't play in any player on my PC, with some of them noting "invalid" or "unkown" file. I then deleted this file, which was the VCDGear corrected file that BBMPEG multiplexed.

For my last test, I tried to create a seperate BIN file using VCDEasy for both MPEGS. For the TMPGEnc "buffer underflow" file, there weren't any unusual messages displayed in the VCDEasy log when the BIN file was created. But when I tried to create a BIN using the BBMPEG multiplexed file, here are 2 lines displayed in the VCDEasy log::::
1) mpeg stream will be padded on the fly -- hope that's ok for you!
2) autopadding requires to insert additional 428080 zero bytes into MPEG stream (due to 21404 unaligned packets of 130679 total)

Ok. I'm sure some of the above may be confusing, but I did my best to explain it carefully. You may need to read it twice to know for sure which file I am talking about in each case. I have yet to burn anything, but based on the results I noted above, I think I will go with the first file I created in TMPGEnc that gave me the "2 s packets cause buffer underflow" error and hope for the best. As far as I can tell, this seems to be the only way to go.

Although people here claim that BBMPEG never gave them an "underflow" error, and I can say the same thing. But obviously, the resulting file was NOT VCD compliant, even though there wasn't an error message displayed after the multiplex.

Anyone have any comments on any of this?

Thanks.

I am very farmiliar with these errors, and with vcd gear don"t trust a thing it says or does cuz it is crap,that is why you could not play the file after it so called fixed it .The buffer underflow error in the multiplex is actually caused by the multiplex ,if you would have multiplexed your file with the "mpeg1" setting you would not get the error, then you can put the vcd headers on with the "merge & cut" in "vcd/mpeg1" setting..And why are you so set on keeping total vcd compliance? allmost all new dvd players that play vcd"s will play vcd"s that are out of compliance,if I were you I would see what the limits of your dvd player are,I found out that my cheapo dvd player can play svcd"s with a bitrate up to 9000kbs and a resolution of 720 by 480 and svcd"s look awesome at full resolution, at least you can raise the bitrate and use a VBR encodeing method cuz I haven"t heard of a dvd player that can"t play high bitrate vcd"s..
for compliance use nero to burn cuz it will scan your file before burning and tell you if it is compliant, it is much more reliable than "vcdgear"....

Thanks for the reply. But, I tried what you suggested earler today when I read what you posted to someone else recently. I used the "MPEG-1 System (VBR)" setting, and that gave me "81223 s packets cause buffer underflow". The MPEG seemed to play fine, but given the difference, I feel I would be better with the 2 packets using the VCD setting, then the 81223 packets using the VBR setting.

If you have another suggestion, I'll give it a try, whether it be another app, or another setting in TMPGEnc.

As far as compliance, would "buffer underflow" errors make a VCD compliant or not? VCDGear, and VCDEasy didn't note that there was any problem with the file at all that I created with TMPGEnc, so I guess those "2 packets" didn't factor into what those 2 apps check for. But they both found problems with the file I created using BBBMPEG.

If you are stating that VCDGear isn't worthwhile, then how do you or anyone check to see if there are errors in an MPEG? Been using VCDGear for a long time, and it's corrected errors in many files I've DLed from NGs. Although I know it's not perfect, from experience when it did NOT created a valid MPEG, but it has worked very well for me in many siuations.

Obviously, not every DVD player will play a disc the same way. I have a Pioneer and an Apex. The Apex seems to be less picky. But If I can make a VCD 100% compliant all the time, or at least TRY to, then I increase my chances of having that disc play on the most possible players. I visit friends and family often, and everyone has a different player, so striving for full compliance seems to be a no brainer.

Like I said, the 2 packet MPEG plays fine on the PC, so I guess burning it and testing it out on my 2 players will be the true test.

Curious if you have any other suggestions.

Thanks.

By the way, I forgot to note that I also used Nero to check for VCD compliance. The "2 packet" TMPEnc file tested fine in Nero, while the BBMEG file did also. But as noted earlier, VCDGear and VCDEasy claimed that the TMPEnc file was fine, and that the BBMEG file was not. I believe that Nero ONLY checks to see if the audio and video streams are consistent within the specs of whether you are about to burn a VCD or SVCD, while it doesn't check to see if there are problems within the streams themselves.

If you don't want to consider the results from VCDGear, that's fine. But I also listed the problems noted in VCDEasy when using the BBMPEG file.

Well test the buffer underflow file but I have burned mpeg2 files with this error and you get really bad shakeing back and forth on the screen, with my player anyway,I used to use vcd gear and it would say there were errors in my mpeg that couldn"t be fixed ,so I would re-encode the file until I didn"t get any errors, but after a while I would notice that the files that vcd gear said had errors would play just as good as any other file, since then I have burned over 500 movies and never had a problem with errors in the mpeg stream with files encoded by tmpgenc,but i have had errors with files encoded by other encoders, like LXS, xing, flask,premier,ulead,canopus,..but I have never had an error caused by the encoder that would not make the mpeg play in my dvd player, errors in the settings or the way I encoded have .....

I'm with Minion on this one.
VCDgear is utter crap. This program produces errors and illegal streams. I've had many problems with this program. After running an MPEG file through VCDgear, TMPG reports it as an illegal stream.
Also sometimes it won't even accept perfectly good MPEGs and reports errors in them when I know that they are fine. I gave up and with this amatuers program an binned it a long time ago. I suggest you do the same.

ASHY

Ashy, thanks for the reply. The VCD Gear issue seemed to bypass my original question, I guess that is my fault. Even so, please tell me your opinion regarding the file I tried to Multiplex in TMPGEnc and BBMPEG. The results of my tests are posted above. Since I have never found anyone to question the reliability of VCDEasy, I'm curious to know what you think of the messages that was displayed when I tried to create a BIN using the BBMPEG multiplexed file.

Again, I only received "2 s packets cause buffer underflow" using TMPEnc, so do you think that the 2 (two) packets would cause a serious display problem, if at all? And if so, would using the BBMEG file be any better since VCDEasy claimed there was a problem with the stream. In my opinion, both created files have problems, so which would be better to burn? I have succesfully burned hundreds of discs, but have been fortunate never to have this problem come up before.

Lastly, what do YOU use to confirm that an MPEG does not have any serious problems with it before you burn it?

Thanks.

Buffer underflow errors can be due to an incorrect muxing rate.
You can't adjust the muxing rate in TMPG, but you can in BBMPEG.

Whenever I multiplex in TMPG, I usually get some buffer underflow errors and usually many more than 2 which is negligable and won't cause a problem. The MPEGs I have usually play ok, but there can be a jerk every now and then.

I always use BBMPEG now for multiplexing as I think it is better at it than TMPG and I hardly ever get buffer underflow errors once I have set the muxing rate correctly.
I usually create MPEG2 files. When I multiplex these in BBMPEG you can set the muxing rate to 0 which forces BBMPEG to scan the file and select the correct muxing rate.

This doesn't work to well with MPEG1 though, but I have found if you raise the standard VCD muxing rate in BBMPEG the buffer underflow errors dissappear. I only need to do this because I don't create standard VCD's so I have to adjust the muxing rate accordingly and I alsways select the option to align sequence headers.

This is what some people don't undrstand. The are many factors you have to change when you create an out of standard VCD and the muxing rate is one of them. This is another reason why you should use the 'MPEG1 VCD(non standard)' setting in TMPG when mutiplexing if it's not standard VCD.
I can't say I have ever had any problems with VCDeasy reporting errors when I multiplex with BBMPEG this way.

ASHY

ASHY, thanks again for the reply. One note, I did burn the MPEG with the "2 underflow errors" and it played fine on my Pioneer, as well as my Apex. I decided to take the chance, and since I didn't see or hear any problems on either player, then I assume the low number of errors (2) did not cause a display problem. Who is to say what "may" happen on other players, but at least I know it plays fine on the 2 I tried it on. By the way, this was one of about 2 dozen files that I had to convert. The originals were PAL SVCDs that I needed to convert to NTSC VCDs. Too long to explain why, but the point is I only had the problem with the 1 file that I initially inquired about.

One LAST question for you. Is there a special reason why you "don't create standard VCD's"? Does the same hold true when you are creating SVCDs? Would be very curious to know your reasons for this, and why you wouldn't attempt to create standard, fully compliant VCDs and SVCDs, if you don't mind sharing.

Thanks again.

The reason I don't create standard VCD or SVCD is because to be quite honest the quality is crap especially standard VCD.

Using 80 min disks it is possible to up the bitrate to around 2000kb/s for a regular movie when encoding a VCD as opposed to the standard 1150 kb/s. This improves the quality a lot.
In all my VCD's and SVCD's I use VBR to increase the quality and reduce the file size.

I mean why not, most DVD players will have no problem with out of standard VBR VCD's or SVCD's. DVD players are VBR machines by design and most can handle the higher bitrates and higher resolutions, so why waste that extra space on that 80min cd when it can be put to good use.

ASHY

Ashy, thanks for that explanation. Of course, it all makes sense and I'm sure the quality is increased to maximize the size of a disc. The only problem I see is that you only know for sure that your player will play those discs. What do you do in the case if you want to make a copy for a friend? I burn discs for my friends and family all the time, and if I make the discs VCD or SVCD compliant, then I increase my chances of everyone being able to watch it. Obviously, if you are not burning discs for anyone else, then this doesn't apply. But I have seen some very picky players out there, as I'm sure you have as well. Some that reject certain types of discs, brands or even colors sometimes, not to mention the MPEG itself. Even when I have encoded the vids properly, and burned them perfectly, I've seen some players skip the hell out of them when I know there's nothing wrong with the disc. Some players are just crap. Maybe soon EVERY player on the market will do everything, but that isn't the case right now.

To be honest though, I think I may do a bit of research on what you have said and do some experimenting on my own. I love the idea of bumping up the quality when I can, but at the same time, I wouldn't want to get spoiled. I travel often and show up at people's houses with discs in hand all the time. I would hate to not be able to play my discs anywhere but in my own player. It is something to think about - thanks for making the point!

Have a good day.

I see your point about disks created for my player may not work in others. This is true, but I keep the max bitrates reasonable, around 4000 kb/s, but most of the time it doesn't even reach that and I have done a lot of research on this and have found most players will handle it.

Also it's true some players are more picky than others and in different ways. My player can play all formats DVD/SVCD/VCD/MP3 and CDRW/CDR and also plays XVCD and XSVCD. I haven't had any problems with XVCD or SVCD yet, but I do get problems when trying to use CDRW or cheap CDR and if I burn disks above 4x, anything above 4x and the movie jerks like hell.

If you need reference as to what players can handle then go to:
http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvdplayers.php

ASHY

Ashy, I am very familer with vcdhelp.com, as I have used their review section before slecting both of my DVD players. The Pioneer I have does everything except play PAL, which is why I picked up a cheap Apex.

As I said, I am going to experiment a bit and see what kind of results I get, regarding an increase of quality, as well as DVD player compatibility.

Thanks again.



>
>If you need reference as to what players can handle then go to:
>http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvdplayers.php
>
>ASHY

I am trying to cut and merge a file, but for some reason it isn't copying all of the video and sound file. I am selecting a SVCD, and then trying to give it a MPEG-1 header by cutting and merging it into a MPEG-1 Video-CD..could someone please help me!

The reason that you are getting the error is because you aren"t supposed to use mpeg2 files with mpeg1 setting when mergeing or multiplexing, if you can"t get it to wotk you are probably out of luck....

I encoded asf file to mpg file by using
tmpgenc version 2.54.37.135...
but when i play asf file on mediaplayer
sound comes ok but when i play mpg file that i encoded,
there's no sound... so
i tryed again....its not work......
i decided to encode again i put my asf file on video source
and i tryed to put my asf file on audio source and
suddenly right after i click ok from audio source,
error came up and it said

file c:/my documentary/winter_m01.asf file can't open or unsupported

what should i do???

and I tryed to encode wmv file...and i don't think it support it....
does it?

You have to convert the audio from your asf file to wav, you can do this with a good audio encoder, try "db power amp" it will convert the audio from your file into a seperate wav file then you can use to encode with "tmpgenc"...

Hello,

I'm using the "Clip frame" feature to "crop-out" my video's black boarder. It works great, but unfortunately, I can't seem to create anything but a 720x480 AVI file.

How do I create a 702x274 AVI file?

Thanks.

In the settings screen you go to the line that says "size" and type in the size of the frame you want, you will have to load the "unlock.mfc" template to change the settings that are locked in by what ever template you use..

Thanks for the succinct, helpful answer. -- AND, on a Sunday afternoon!

The source aspect ratio setting does not behave as I would expect. Perhaps this is a bug, or maybe I'm not not understanding it correctly.

As I understand it, when you select the PAL SVCD template in TMPGEnc, it takes 720x576 video and converts it to the 480x576 resolution required for SVCD. Also, the 720x576 is comprised of Rec. 601 rectangular pixels which are 54/59 pixel aspect ratio, as described here:

http://www.lurkertech.com/lg/pixelaspect.html

Now, I have some video captured at PAL 704x576 by my Matrox capture card. Assuming that the captured pixels are Rec. 601 rectangular pixels, then it follows that I should pad my captured video with 8 black pixels on either side to make a full 720x576 Rec. 601 video file.

This 720x576 video (with its black margins) can now be converted to the 480x576 SVCD format, and it will still have its black margins.

If I do not add the two 8-pixel margins then the 704 width would be slightly horizontally stretched, which is undesirable. The margins ensure that the encoded SVCD will contain objects which have the same correct proportions as in the original 704x576 footage. There is more detail about this here:

http://www.uwasa.fi/~f76998/video/svcd/faq/

OK, so I now start up TMPGEnc and select the PAL SVCD template, and I open my 704x576 video file. TMPGEnc scans it and automatically selects the source format "4:3 625 line (PAL, 704x576)" which seems to be for video captured at 704x576.

That's great, says I! TMPGEnc must be able to process 704x576 files and maintain the correct proportions all by itself, which means it must add the black margins all by itself.

So I select "Full Screen (keep aspect ratio)" and start TMPGEnc. However, in the preview window I can see that there are no black margins, and my 704x576 footage is being stretched to the full width. There's something wrong here.

So I then try "4:3 625 line (PAL)" which I assume is for footage captured at 720x576. I start TMPGEnc with the same "Full Screen (keep aspect ratio)". This time the preview window DOES have the black margins!

It seems that if your captured footage is 704x576, then you must select the ordinary "4:3 625 line (PAL)". This creates a 720x576 window into which your 704x576 video is placed - and when you select a "retain aspect ratio" arrangement this ensures that your 704 width is not stretched, resulting in the required black margins!

My guess is that the "4:3 625 line (PAL, 704x576)" is not to do with the resolution of your captured material but the size of the WINDOW into which your video will be placed. Thus it creates a 704x576 window, so that even if you select "retain aspect ratio" your 704x576 video will occupy the whole window (no margins). I suspect that TMPGEnc is then converting that 704x576 window to SVCD 480x576 (instead of the normal 720x576 to 480x576 mapping).

As far as I can see, the above seems to fit with the facts of how TMPGEnc actually converts my files.

If this is the case then I can't see the need for the "4:3 625 line (PAL, 704x576)" setting, because 704x576 video probably has Rec. 601 pixels and therefore needs the black margin padding. The only way to get the correct margin padding is to use the "4:3 625 line (PAL)" setting.

Can anyone confirm this? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Thanks,

when i preview the movie it didn't have a picture just music. Well it did have some fuzzy lines. What should i do.

What you should do is give us more infirmation, like what are the specs of your file, like resolution, framerate, codec, audio format, and what your you trying to do "svcd/vcd/dvd/mpeg1/2" and how are you doing it....

Hi

I'm a newbe and reading a lot of stuff about problems and tricks for encoding.
Using tmpgenc i like to find somewhere the information about all the possible
adjustments and what the effect are using them.
simple how do i make a good DVD from a with RT2000 DV captured movie (10min)
with plays with HQ on a set top and computer.....

need help, thanks

Buy "TMPGEnc Plus".

>Buy "TMPGEnc Plus".

Thanks, where ????

click on the banner at the bottom of this page!!!!!!!!!

http://210.150.5.219/files/TMPGEnc-2.54.37.135-Plus-EN.exe

ASHY

Hi,
I have a avi film, i try to encode it to mpeg, tmgpe accepts it but when it starts to encode the film there is a breaking picture and i cant see nothing. The sound is excellent. Most of my other avi files work fine. i have been told to download a codec which i have but that doesnt make much of a difference. I was also told to delete tmpge and the codecs and re-install them which i have but again no difference. could you please help me with my situation. thanks!

It has something to do with your avi file,write back with the specs of the file , like the codec,framerate,audio format, and what you are encodeing to ,vcd,svcd,dvd, and where did you get the file ,is it downloaded of the net, capture card?......

HI,

I can convert PAL DVD movies to a mpg file fine but when I try to do it with an NTSC movie I get the following error :

Write error occurred at address 004028A9 of module TMPGenc.exe wit 008F0A94

This happens just as the encoding process reaches its end, a file is generated at the 95-98% completion mark. I use the standard NTSC template with the following settings : interlaced, top field first, 4:3 NTSC 525 Line Aspect ratio.

Any ideas?

any suggestions please?

After I rip DVD to HD , I use DVD2AVI to extract video at 29.97 framerate. On Audio I use Graphedit to extract Wav file. I then encode with TMPGEnc 2.54 Plus using wizard using DVD, ntsc, mpeg-2, 720x480, 29.97 fps, cbr 3000,... layer-2 48000 Hz, 384kbps audio . I want to get movie on 4.7 gb DVD-R. It seems the audio is always out of sync with the video on the final output mpeg file. Can anyone give me some tips or solution to problem??? I am about to pull out my hair.

Try extracting the audio with "dvd2avi"seeing as it is makeing your "d2v" file it might have better sync with it"s own extracted audio file...What way is it out of sync? does it start in sync and go out of sync or does it start out of sync and stay the same amount out of sync the whole why through?There are tools that let you multiplex your audio and video but off set the audio or video so you can fix the de-sync, "bbmpeg" does this with mpeg files.....

when i use 2-pass vbr: what is the max. bitate? and does the average bitrate match mith the size of the movie i calculated?

What do you mean "what is the max bitrate" the max bitrate is what ever you set it at, the max for the "dvd" standard is 9.8mbs, It depends on what you are doing eg,vcd,svcd,dvd as to what you set the max bitrate at....

i mean for an svcd, sorry. Some people say 2600, some f.e. 2300, some say less than 3000. And does the average bitrate match with the cd size i calculated?
Can you tell me about YUY2, YV12, rgb24 and rgb32? whats that? whats the best?

for svcd if you are trying to keep total compliance you would use the standard svcd template which has a cbr encodeing method, but the bitrate or encodeing method generally don"t make a differance as compliance goes, I usually set the bitrate to as high as I can set it and still fit it in a cd, as long as you dont go over 9.8mbs your dvd player should play it.I set the max at 8000kbs minimum at 1500kbs and average at 3000kbs, and I get about 35minutes on a disk, the average is what you should adjust to figure out file size...don"t change the YUY2 setting, this is the best setting for encodeing....

The maximum bitrate for SVCD depends on your DVD player.
The max setting for SVCD of 8000kb/s Minion is using is far to high for SVCD and could choke your player.

It is quite possible to encode to SVCD with this bitrate and it will play fine on your PC, but the your DVD player may have problems due to the physical limitations of the player.
The reason for this is because of the fact that the drive cannot spin the disk fast enough to read the information correctly.
DVD's are able to manage this because the spacing of the pits on a DVD is much tighter and therefore the data on the disk is passed under the laser at a faster rate.
With SVCD, because the pits are more widely spaced the disk has to spin at a faster rate for the pits to be read correctly by the laser.

The higher the bitrate you use the faster the disk will have to spin until it comes to a point where the drive reaches it's maximum speed and can't read the information fast enough off the disk and creates errors.

The reason why some drives aren't SVCD capable is simply because a 2x drive is required to spin the disk fast enough to read the data off the disk because of the higher bitrate.
If your DVD player doesn't have a 2x drive it won't be able to read the bitrate fast enough and will choke the player. So keep your max bitrate reasonable.

As for which colour space format to select, it all depends on the image quality you are tring to preserve RGB32 is a format which retains the all the colour information and detail in a file. YUY2 and YV12 are colour lossy formats which have some of the colour information left out. This is because the human eye is less susceptible to colour changes than luminance changes. This isn't really noticible to the human eye and is better for encoding as there is less information for the encoder to convert which will make it faster to encode.


I think TMPG can only use the RGB format as input and therefore has to convert any other format first to the RGB format before encoding and can't be changed which is probably one reason why it is slower than CCE as CCE can use the faster YUY format.

As far as the choice of which colour space format to use for MPEG, it is usually the YV12 format which is the best choice and a format a lot of sofware MPEG encoders use.
Having said this though, DVD's are encoded to the YUY2 format.
YUY2 should be the preferred choice for any other compression format and especially for capturing.


ASHY

2 Ashy: But what max./min bitrate should i now use when i want to play it on a stand-alone dvd-Player?

The main settings I use for SVCD are:
One pass
Constant quality(CQ)
Bitrate min - 1800 Max 4000
Quality slider - 65
Audio bitrate 160
Motion precision - Normal

This will encode a 90-100 min movie on to 2 disks with nice quality.
I don't bother with 2pass encoding as I have found that using Constant quality produces almost identical results as a 2 pass VBR.

If you wish I can send you the templates I use. I have sent these to many people now and haven't had any bad reports, so if you wanna try them and see what you think, I'll send them to you.

ASHY

Hý there,

is it possible to open more than 1 .vob-file (f.e. the ripped files of a dvd) ?
thanxx

DVD2AVI or AVIsynth

ASHY

i have to use another software?

Use DVD2AVI to produce a project file from your vobs then open the project file in TMPG.
It's the way almost everybody does it.

ASHY