This forum is for users to exchange information and discuss with other users about a TMPGEnc product.
In case you need official support, please contact TMPG Inc.
Pegasys Products BBS [ Sorted by thread creation date ]
Realize this is a bit "off the subject", but wondering if some of the people here can recommend a decent DVD authoring package. I already have a "finished" DV video (Premiere / TMPGenc), but need to create DVD menu, chapter points, etc. Tried the MyDVD that came with my Pioneer 104, but it "transcodes" the mpeg2, and also cannot add chapter points.
Encoding for DVD, if I use CBR the resulting stream actually has a VBR. Even setting for VBR and setting Max/Avg/Min all the same still sees a VBR, with peaks going above the maximum setting, and mins dropping well below the Min setting. This is of course causing problems as setting say a maximum of 9000 CBR is seeing a VBR stream with peaks going about 10Mbits/sec causing problems on playback!
I've had many audio sync problems converting a 512x384 (4:3) NTSC 23.97 48000 DivX trailer to play on my PAL Sony NS-300 multi-region DVD player and Sony 4:3 TV in the UK.
First I demultiplex the file to a 44.1 WAV file and a video stream.
Then I encode a new file:
With fixed frame rate, 512x384 the picture is too far to the right. This is probably a DVD/TV problem.
With 23.97 frame rate, SuperVCD 480x512 (PAL) but mpeg1 format (2200kbps) the picture is good but the audio sync is wrong, seems to get worse.
I have tried many combinations of resolution, aspect ratio, frame rate. I have studied vcdhelp.com. The TV is multi-standard and plays all the different frame rates (NTSC/PAL) with a good picture. I use Nero to burn CD-RW disks.
You have done every thing right up to a certain point, but what you didn"t do is realize that your video stream is now shorter than your audio cuz you have sped up the movie by changeing the frame rate from 23.97 ntsc to 25 pal, now what you have to do is shrink your audio file..First extract the audio from your video file then find out the "Exact" length of your video file, now you will need a audio editing program like "cool edit" which has a function that will allow you to shrink(or stretch)your audio file to the exact same length as your video file, after you have done this you just you can multiplex your audio file and your video file together and then they should be in sync..There is a bit more to it that i wrote here but this is basicaly how you do it, you will need to experiment for a bit to get it right, but it"s better than never getting it done, if you have trouble figureing it out you can e-mail me ........good luck
Thanks I see your point. I don't think the sync problem is due to a 23.97/25 (95.88%) timing skew - over a 40 minute movie the sound is out by about a second or two. While we are on that point - are there any details about the TMPg frame rate conversion? I would expect it to interpolate between frames to keep the timing correct and the CPU time used supports that. If it simply output frames without any processing it would finish in a few minutes.
It seems more likely there are small jittor errors creeping in, either in the audio or video streams. Perhaps the extraction of the Divx MP3 audio track is not 100% accurate timewise...or the Divx codec that decodes the video frame by frame for TmpG it not entirely accurate.
I recall getting some "buffer underflow" errors from one of the conversion programs. At the time I just ignored them but if audio samples where lost that could explain the sync errors. I'll see if I can reproduce the problem.
Are there any test AVIs or MPGs anywhere? One showing time and an audio click every second could be calibrated with a clock.
Thanks I see your point. I don't think the sync problem is due to a 23.97/25 (95.88%) timing skew - over a 40 minute movie the sound is out by about a second or two. While we are on that point - are there any details about the TMPg frame rate conversion? I would expect it to interpolate between frames to keep the timing correct and the CPU time used supports that. If it simply output frames without any processing it would finish in a few minutes.
It seems more likely there are small jittor errors creeping in, either in the audio or video streams. Perhaps the extraction of the Divx MP3 audio track is not 100% accurate timewise...or the Divx codec that decodes the video frame by frame for TmpG it not entirely accurate.
I recall getting some "buffer underflow" errors from one of the conversion programs. At the time I just ignored them but if audio samples where lost that could explain the sync errors. I'll see if I can reproduce the problem.
Are there any test AVIs or MPGs anywhere? One showing time and an audio click every second could be calibrated with a clock.
Your post is VERY confusing to say the least.
On one hand you say you are creating a PAL SVCD, but then you say the framerate is 23.97 and the resolution is 480x512 and the format is MPEG1, so how can that be PAL SVCD? PAL SVCD is MPEG2 480x576 25 fps which is nothing like your specs.
One other point I'd like to ask is, does this happen on the PC as well as your DVD player?
I think TMPG probably does interpolate frames when you change the framerate, but this always results in jerky playback where the frame has been interpolated otherwise the length of the movie would change which doesn't happen.
I think that your sync probs are due to errors in either the video stream or audio stream as this only happens with certain files and I don't think it has anything to do with buffer underflow errors.
If the audio is gradually losing sync then I would follow Minion's suggestion and find the length of the streams separately and use Cooledit 2000 to adjust the audio stream accordingly or you could simply alter the framerate slightly using AVIframerate changer and speed up or slow down the video to match the audio.
Me again, I was having troubles before with tmpg not accepting the mpegs that i made using vcdgear. I was told to use isobuster to create them and this would solve my problem. I just got done creating another mpeg from bin and cue files using isobuster and tmpg still said that it was an illegal mpeg. What is the problem? I have uninstalled tmpg and re downloaded it and tried about every other method of converting. Now if there is an easier way to do what i am trying to do, im all ears. here is the scoop-
My dvd player doesnt support svcd so i use the tmpg to put a vcd header on the mpeg files that i create. This has worked for me 50 times in the past. Without any problems. Now all of the sudden every mpeg that i create no matter how i create them says illegal mpeg when i try to load it in the tmpg demultiplex or even the merge and cut. When i try to load them in isobuster it says some other error like pvc or somthing. I am in desperate need of help. Please send it. Thanks in advance.
Did you create these bin/cue files with that crap VCDgear. If you did this is the reason why you are still getting the error when you extract with ISO buster.
VCDgear alters something in the MPEG itself so no matter what program you use to extract it, it will still have the same problem with TMPG.
The way around your problem is to demultiplex the file with another program first such as DVMPEG or MPEG2VCR first. It should then open in TMPG ok.
Another solution to your problem is to not extract the MPEG from the bin file at all.
A program called Daemon tools to create a virtual drive. This allows you to open the image and use it as if it were already burned to a disk. You can then use TMPG to open the MPEG or DAT file directly from the image. http://www.daemon-tools.net/main800.htm
also 1 thing that i forgot to mention, Even the movies that i havent touched with vcdgear dont work on tmpgenc. So i am wondering if i have a setting wrong on it or if when i was installing those codecs if i might have installed some conflicting stuff??? just some ideas. But now that i have demultiplexed an mpeg, tmpg does accept the video part of it. But says that it is an illegal audio mpeg. and as far as your question as to where the original mpeg files are, I downloaded the rar files and extracted them to bin and cue using winrar. So i never have had the original mpeg files. I appreciate the help.
If you can get your video file in "tmpgenc" then your problem is solved, just encode the audio the a wav file with any audio encoder and load that in a your audio file.....
Sorry that should be. http://www.dbpoweramp.com
One other thing if you have trouble encoding the audio to a wav. It is most probably AC3.
For this you would have to use a program such as AC3DEC to decode the file to a wav.
got it converted to wav and it still says that it is an illegal audio stream. I am convinced that somthing major is messed up here. NOthing you throw at me seems to work. And like i said before, even files that i havent even touched with vcdgear wont load on tmpg so i think the problem lies deeper then we are looking. Any more ideas? Thanks.
What??? You've got to be kidding me. TMPG 'WONT' load the wav file.
There is definitely something amiss here. That should not happen.
Does it actually play with mediaplayer?
Was the wav encoded to 44.1khz 16 bit stereo?
As a test encode a music file such as an mp3 to a wav with dbpoweramp and try to load that as the audio in TMPG and see if you get the same error.
The only other advice to you is to completely remove TMPG from your system. Download the new version and re-install it.
Please Help!
I do not have a registered version of TMPG Enc, I downloaded it 21 days ago and it says I have 9 days left if I go to the "about" section.
I have version 2.54.37.135 and Core 1.87.133. Here is my problem:
I have 2 multiple CD SVCD's. I do not have a DVD player that plays them so I reencode them. This is a fine solution for me as I can re encode at roughly the same speed that it plays and I am a patient person. The first SVCD went fine, I re encoded the whole thing (5 CD's), burned it and enjoyed watching it on Friday.
However, I am now working on the second one and having terrible problems. The first CD re encoded fine. The second, the same. However, now working on the Third I have hit an absolute road block. I was re encoding and I got a BSOD. I restarted my machine and now TMPGEnc will *NOT* open the SVCD's Audio portion. It will open the video fine, and the MPEG does have audio, but for some reason it will no longer recognize it. This is the case in both partions of my WINXP and Win98.
I tried to see if it would open the previous CD's which I just re encoded hours ago. I get the same error. I obtained an ancient version of TMPGEnc from a website to see if it would open it. It does but by the audio it puts mux:. This is a much slower way of reencoding and I would really like to avoid it.
Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?
Also... if this is an issue that crops up every couple of days I apologize. I tried to use the search function on this forum but it is impossible to get anything related since it uses any of the words. Arg!
Feel free to remove the **nospam** and e-mail me or add me to ICQ.
Thanks for any help at all.
What you will have to do is just encode the video then you can "de-muliplex" the original mpeg and multiplex the audio with the encoded video..You said that you don"t have a dvd player that plays them(svcd"s) so you re-encode them, re-encode them to what?
I Re-Encode them to XVCD (I think). Basically the settings are MPEG-1 with a bitrate of 2500 which my player will play.
Thanks for the solution. It just bugs me that only hours ago I could easily do it without "de-multiplexing" and now suddenly I can't. It says the audio portion of the Mpeg's is unsupported. My question is how can that be if it was supported only hours ago?
Does TMPGEnc have an MPEG Audio codec that could be corrupted and that it would not fix when I tried re-installing it?
Actually, I think I fixed it.
I went into Options --> Environmental Settings --> VFAPI Plug In and I had 2 MPEG 2 Video plug ins. By unchecking one of them I solved my problem.
If your wondering it is the DVD Screener of LOTR. However I ran out of 80 minute CDR's and have to slice them up slightly so that it fits onto 5 CDR's. The movie is 3 hours long and is 4 80 minute SVCD's.
I use TotalRecorder to record the audio of .mov and save as 44.1khz, 16bits, wav format. And use TMPEG record .mov & .wav to a mpeg file.
It's normal while playing in PC, but after i burned it in cd-r with nero as vcd format. it only has "sa" sound came out, and i can't listen to the music & talk.
My mpeg file: 320*420, 25fps
but nero still said that "it's not standard format", my vcd format is not svcd, just vcd, so i carry on burning.
The standard frame size for vcd is 352 by 240 for ntsc or 352 by 288 for pal so 320 by 420 is NOT in the vcd specifications, so this is not a compliant vcd file, and what do you mean when you play it a "sa" sound came out? You did not load the standard "vcd template" or you probably would not have this problem , re-encode your file but use the "vcd template"..
My mpeg: PAL vcd
I can see the video on tv, only the sounds are terrible, just like it can't read the sound on that cd, the noise(sa..sa..sa) appear only while the music wave appear.
I save the wav as cd format by totalrecorder as i use quicktime to play it
image: www.4gigs.com/~sonic/1.jpg
And combine two video(.mov) & audio(.wav) in TMPEG
image: www.4gigs.com/~sonic/2.jpg
And there is part of my mpeg video burned on cd.
video: www.4gigs.com/~sonic/test.mpg
I have looked at your pics, but everything looks fine there.
The MPEG wouldn't download. Your hosting service said they don't allow that file type.
Anyway we need more info. Set up TMPG as if you were gonna encode then copy the information at the bottom of the main window and post it here.
It will look something like this -
MPEG-2 480x576 25fps CQ 65, Layer-2 44100Hz 224kbps
Still doesn't allow download. Streamload reports it isn't accesible to the public only for the owner.
You can stream it to my streamload account. Send to mark_ashworth1@hotmail.com
Hmm, I have downloaded the MPEG and it plays and sounds fine even though the quality is a bit low. It has all the right specs for VCD so I'm not sure what the problem is.
Does this file play fine on your PC?
Are you quite sure you chose the VCD option and not SVCD in NERO.
From looking at the MPEG I have downloaded it seems that you may not have used the right 'type' setting if you used the Merge&Cut feature to split your file.
When you cut the file you must make sure you choose 'MPEG1 Video CD' as the 'Type' from the drop down menu otherwise NERO will give you the compliance warning if you haven't done this.
To correct your file just run it through the 'simple multiplex' option in MPEG tools and choose 'MPEG1 Video CD' as the type then burn it with NERO. As long as NERO doesn't give any warnings it should work fine now.
Is there any different between "Multiplex" & "Merge & cut" to combine my video files? because i create the final mpeg file with "Merge&cut"( MPEG-1 system auto) every time.
Thank You, ASHY ^.^
After i change the type from MPEG-1 system to MPEG-1 VCD, the nero didn't pop up the window any more. And the sound is normal while playing in hi-fi.
thanks ASHY
I still have one question, i merge the mpeg files, but there's a "bit" sound while playing from one mpeg to other which that already merged into 1 file. Can it be prevented?
This little chirp or beep in the sound is caused by incorrectly joining 2 MPEGs at the wrong point in a GOP.
If you click the 'correct' button before merging this usually prevents it.
If it doesn't the only other way around it is to move the merge a few frames at either the end of the first MPEG or at the beginning of the second MPEG. As to which one is down to trial and error. You'll hardly notice this as it's only a few frames, but may get a slight jerk at the joined point.
I installed TMPGE 2.54.37.135 and everything worked great.
I installed a second drive and deleted tmpge from the original and installed it on the 2nd drive. on the about screen it still stated I had 28 days left on the trial.
Now when i convert avi>mpeg the picture is great but now I get no sound...??
Does tmpge leave anything in the reg to prevent uninstalling and then reinstalling at a later date or onto another drive??
Only certain audio formats are supported in tmpgenc and the one that is the best to encode for combatibility and quality is wav, download "virtualdub" and use it to extract the audio to a wav file and use that as the audio whilst encodeing,as a general rule I usually extract the audio from my avi files just so I can avoid any problems and it only takes a couple minutes and can save a lot of trouble.....
my dvd player can only read VCDs, but I have a VCD...So how would I get it to a VCD file without losing too much quiality?? Please try to instruct me step by step...I am new..thank you
its easy u just get the right encoder u need... do u use nero to copy? if so u just go to vcd (pal) then on video source click browse, find the movie, click ok... then all u have to do is go encode or start or something... on average it takes about 2 hrs per disk... if you have ne problems email me at xpac142@hotmail.com
>my dvd player can only read VCDs, but I have a VCD...So how would I get it to a VCD file without losing too much quiality?? Please try to instruct me step by step...I am new..thank you
Nero is crap for encoding VCD's stick with TMPG.
I can't understand what your saying. If you already have a VCD why do you want to create VCD file from it?
I make files from mpegs using isobuster and tmpg says that they have illegal audio. am i doing somthing wrong? I am trying to put on a vcd header on them so they will play in my dvd player.
Do you mean you are trying to load mpeg2 files into "tmpgenc", First off you need the "mpeg2 vfapi plugin" so tmpgenc can open and decode the mpeg2 files, and the priority of the plugin should be at "1", and now if you still can"t get the files loaded in "tmpgenc" then you should de-multiplex the file and load the streams in seperately....do these two things and your file is sure to work....
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.
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.
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, 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?
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, 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.
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, 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!
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.
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.