Is it possible to convert avi/divx files with encoded AC3 sound to Mpeg2/DVD/SVCD with AC3 sound?

I have seen some posts that suggest that the sound should be extracted and converted inte WAV, but then I loos the multi-channel sound.

/JCh

If you extract the *.ac3 stream and convert the DivX file to any "flavour" of DVD mpeg files the answer is YES.
I mean (in PAL):
352x288,mpeg-1, CBR or VBR until 1800 kbps
352x576, mpeg-2
720x576, CBR or VBR until 9000 kbps


More accurate information here:
http://mpucoder.kewlhair.com/DVD/dvdmpeg.html


Regards

hi i have followed all instructions on vcdhelp.com to the t but i still am unable to convert my divx files. After converting there is no video, only sound. Also i am not able to preview the movie during the conversion process.

I'm a newbie so please be gentle. And thanks

Try to configure the Directshow vfapi plugin with priority 1 or 2.

To ADV_H67,

Try to configure the Directshow vfapi plugin with priority 1 or 2.???? What the heck does that mean????

I'm looking thru the questions trying to find the answer to my problem and mine is almost the same as this one. Please give details. Where do I fine the directshow vfapi plug in??? and then where do I fine priority 1 or 2???? Please give more details. Thanks

Go to "Options" to "Enviromental settings" to "Vfapi Plugind" then raise the "direct Show file reader" to "2", you do this by right clicking on the filter.....

I would like to know if there's anyone out there who could give me a hint on where to find some usable software that can perform a "good quality" conversion of NTSC AVI files to PAL AVI.

Thanks,

Sven

I don"t think there is a software package specificly for this task,I use a combination of different software to convert pal to ntsc or ntsc to pal, I use "virtual dub" to extract the audio then I use "avi framerate changer" to change the framerate then I use "cool edit" or "sound forge" to stretch or shrink the audio file to match up with the video file while keeping the same pitch,If done correctly they look perfect but getting the audio to match up with the video is the tricky part....

Why do you need any external software ..TMPGenc does this.

- Decompress the audio using the decompress utility bundled in with avi2vcd
- Select 25fps in your settings in TMPGenc

Convert ...voila !
I have never had to use any external software and usually have an NTSC source which I use to create a PAL XVCD

This won't work correctly. TMPG doesn't do proper framerate conversion. The effect will be jerky playback. You may never have noticed it before but have a close look at your AVI, you will see a slight stutter when there is movement in the scene. This happens when outputing to AVI or MPEG.

ASHY

Yes, that is the problem I perceive using TMPEnc NTSC -> PAL conversion, i.e., horizontal and vertical motions become "jerky". As I understand it, this is caused by the differerent frame rates between NTSC and PAL, and, as it seems, this not done by TMPGEnc, hence requires some special SW.

It seems to me that the "extensive" crafting required to do this with different pieces of SW (changing the video farame rate and then fixing the audio to keep it in sync) is rather cumbersome for a novice like me. However, since the NTSC <--> PAL conversion must be a rather common problem, I hope that there is packaged a solution out there somewhere and that this eminent BBS may know where to find it.

Thank you all for interest shown and for any future contributions and "Hello" from a warm, summery Sweden!

Regards,

Sven

It's not as hard as you think even though it looks complicated.

The only way is to change the framerate of the original AVI.
First you will have to extract the audio to a wav file using virtual dub.
Load the AVI file into virtualdub and extract the audio to a wav.
Next change the framerate to the one you want. When you do this note the time in the box at bottom right exactly and then convert it to seconds. WRITE THIS DOWN, you will need it later.

Close Virtualdub and download Cooledit 2000.
open Cool edit 2000.

When the program opens you will be presented with a box allowing you to choose 2 options. Choose options 1 and 3.

In the program click file>open and open the wav you created earlier.
Wait for it to finish then click 'Edit' and untick 'enable undo' then click 'select entire wave' next click 'Transform' and choose 'Time/pitch' from the drop down menu then click 'stretch'
In this box tick the following options:

Low precision
Time stretch (preserves pitch)

In the box that says 'Length' type in the exact figure you got in secs from Virtualdub for e.g. 4802.360 then click ok.
Wait for the program to do it's stuff then when its finished click 'file' then 'save as' and name and save your file as a wav.

This should give you a Wav file which will be the same length as the movie in the next step. Close Cool edit 2000.

To change the framerate of an AVI all you need is this program.
http://www.divx-digest.com/software/avifrate.html

Change it to the framerate you want then load your AVI and your new wav into TMPG and encode as normal.

Note: you may check that the audio is in sync with AVI by multiplexing the files with Virtualdub first.

ASHY

ASHY,

Thanks for good and helpful advice!

The only remaining question is the choice of new frame rate - everything else seems to follow automatically from this decision.

So, what frame rate should I choose when converting NTSC to PAL? I believe that my NTSC source is a bit higher thand 29 fps and that PAL is around 32 fps. But maybe this isn't such an exact science and the compression stuff might fudge this issue somehow...

Pax vobiscum,

Sven

If your source is 29.97 then you should try to use Virtualdubs Inverse Telecine filter which can be found under Video>framerate.. to change the framerate to 23.97. This will only work if 3:2 pulldown has been added to the movie in the first place.
To check just choose the Inverse telecine option and then play it in Virtualdub. If it plays smooth it's ok if not and it looks jerky then you can't use the filter.

You will the just have to do a straight conversion using the method I posted above from 29.97 fps NTSC to PAL 25 fps.

If does play ok then use the filter and still change the framerate to 25 fps, this will give you a better smoother conversion.

ASHY

With that bitrate and if your avi is good quality your mpeg2 file should be good quality so you are probably doing something wrong but I don"t know what cuz you didn"t leave your procedure for encodeing or the settings you used or the avi file info, but in general for the best quality dont use CBR use CQ and you will get a smaller file size also, put the rate controll on "High quality(slow)", and you could be seeing interlace artifacts in the file dureing a lot of motion so use the de-interlace filter if you are encodeing a interlaced source, generally speaking you should get a fair quality mpeg2 file

I was using TmpegEnc for my VCDs with no problem until now. I purchased a new mainboard (MSI-6373 K7N415DPro, nForce chipset) which has proven to be very stable and problems free. It's working with an Athlon XP 1500+ and I don't overclock it. My previous mainboard was an Asus A7A266 (AliMagik chipset) and now it's working with a Duron 1GHz (SSE capable), It's my secondary PC.
Both PCs have Windows 2000+Service Pack 2+DirectX8.1. The *.avi is a DV one.
I have tried before with a Gigabyte 7ZX (Via KT133)+Athlon Thunderbird and an older MSI board with classic Athlon 600 and AMD 751 chipset, no problems with them.

I haven't been able to make any complete encoding with TmpegEnc, In any time shows a "Read error at XXXXXXXXX module XXXXXX" and stops encoding. I have tried many things, even reinstalling Windows 2000 through reformatting the hard disk. It always fails.
The SAME video DV file (12 GB), and the SAME TmpegEnc program and Template files, copied through my home network to the Duron 1GHz PC, is encoded with no problem, so I might think it is not a SSE issue, or a corrupt Tmpegenc.exe file issue.
The failure occurs in any point of the encoding proccess. And It's more prone to fail when encoding mpeg-2.
The test are done encoding mpeg-2 DVD with 2 pass VBR, and mpeg-1 DVD-like with 2 pass VBR, Fast motion estimate. If using Fastest encoding mode it sometimes ends successfully.

Sorry for my bad english.

Regards
Note: I like TmpegEnc, it's the best encoder for mpeg-1 vbr which I can use for making mpeg-1 DVD disks from old tapes.

Note2: I can use the Duron 1000 MHz for encoding, but I'd like to use the faster Athlon XP 1500+ for it.

Update: the thing failed even with another fast encoder (you know what is) trial version. I have applied all the Windows Update security fixes over my Service Pack 2 and installed DirectX8.1b (all except installing Internet Explorer 6) and seems to work (???) with that encoder.
I will try this afternoon again with TmpegEnc.

I have had exactly the same problem with that MSI Motherboard and Tmpgenc.
I sold 6 Machines with that Motherboard and they were all unstable.
After much research the machines were fixed by putting in a new Power Supply!!!
The Power supply must be at least 300Watts and from a reputable manufacturer.
Cheap Power Supplies just do not work with the ATHLON PC and the MSI Motherboard!

First I created an avi-file with a very good quality. Than I encoded the avi-file to mpeg-2 (svcd, high quality, 2524 KB constant rate). The result: quality is very bad if pictures are in move (camera turns left, right, up and down) and high quality if pictures are still. What can I do? I would prefer SVCD and not VCD. Please help me. Thanx.

Is your avi file "interlaced" cuz it sounds like you might be seeing interlaceing artifacts, they are more noticeable when there is movement.Try useing the "de-interlace filter" in the advanced settings to see if it helps....

Hi Minion, yesterday I tested all parameters (I didn't find the switch for 'interlaced' - de-interlaced'!)during 5h with no solution. Now I find out when I capure a video from my DV-Cam in 'mpeg'-format (it meens I save the video after captering in mpeg- not in avi-format) the same effect appers. Maybe it is WinXP?

The "de-interlace filter is in the "Advanced Settings" you double click on the filter and a settings screen will pop up with your movie displayed in the window and a whole bunch of de-interlace filters, so what you do is go to a frame in the movie were the effect is really bad and then go through the filters to find the one that works best, there is a list of different filters to help adjust the color and sharpness contrast ect, these filters and the de-interlace filter are on the "Advanced Settings" screen, you can"t miss it...

When I launch the software I get the following message:
MPEG 2 trial period has expired

i am not sure why i get this error message. Long time back i had installed the TMPGenc software but i uninstalled the software before deleting the directory by double-clicking on TMPGEncVFP_uninstall.bat.

Any clues on how to get rid of this message?

Thanks,
Prasad

There is no way you can get rid of it legally (unless you purchase TMPGEnc Plus).
If you just encode some files to MPEG-1, just leave it as it is.
If you want encode files to MPEG-2, you need to buy TMPGEnc Plus.

Someone please help clear this up for me. This is probably the 4th time that I started seeing this message that the Mpeg2 file I try to import is not supported. The file used to work. I added the Free DVD files etc. Registered them... played with Environment settings and still nada. used to work, now it doesn't... again. Driving me nuts. Why does this continue to happen. I even reinstalled a fresh O/S, TMPG and did all the same above and still no go.

HELP!!!

You should make sure that you have the "mpeg2 vfapi plugin" and some times you have to de-mux the mpeg2 file and load the audio and video in seperately or not load the audio in at all just load the video and encode it and mux the mp2 audio with the encoded mpeg file........

Is there any way to encode video & audio together without de-mux the m2v & later mux them again?

What Minion is trying to tell you is that it is pointless encoding the audio. The audio is already mp2 and you would just be re-encoding it to the same format, which means you would be losing quality and wasting encoding time when all you have to do is encode the video and then mux it with the original sound.

ASHY

I have a DIVX .avi file that was created in wide screen ration (640 x 272, 163334 Frames, 23.976). When I encode to .mpeg for vcd viewing it appears to be distorted out of ratio on Windows Media Player playback.

Any suggestions what ratio should be set at to encode .mpeg output at proper ratio?

To get the closest possible representation of your original avi you should choose the "Fullscreen(keep aspect ratio)" with the 4:3 display unless you got a widescreen then use 16:9, and don"t use media player to view your mpeg file cuz it doesn"t show the correct frame size it resizes it to fit in the media player view screen, pluss it has really be quality for mpeg playback, use dvd playing software like "power dvd" and it will surely look better..

Hi, hopefully some1 can help me out. I have an avi film which is 29.970fps, which i want to convert into 25fps(pal). Heres what ive tryed and what happens..

Firstly i extract a .wav file from the avi film while its still at 29.970fps(Using virtual dub in full audio process mode). Then using Besweet i set all the standard setting but for FRC Presets i select NTSC2PAL 29.970 to 25.000. I then convert the wav file to an mp2 file. Now this is where the problem starts,
I tested the wav file against the full original avi file, and both sound perfect the speech is at the right pitch. BUT when i listen to the mp2 file the female voices sound like mens voices and the mens voices are very deep pitched. Ive encoded a small part of the film with tmpgenc just to test sync and its fine, its just the voices are very deep.

The link below is the method i use for converting 23.976ftp avi films to (PALsvcd) films and it works every time.

Should i be setting Besweet up differently ?
Please can some1 help.

Thx Mike

Sorry thats the link i use for 23.976 to 25fps.

http://www.doom9.org/mpg/avi2svcd.htm


Plz help.

Thx

I couldn"t get through to see the link but the way I do it is ,extract the audio to wav then use "avi frame rate changer" to change the frame rate to 25fps then encode the video to a "m2v" video file, then I find out the video length then use "cool edit" or "sound forge" to stretch the audio to the exact length of the video file,makeing sure that i use the "preserve pitch" option so I don"t get the same effect that you are getting, then encode the stretched wav file to mp2 the mux the files together...

Minion has hit the nail on the head.
The reason you are getting the audio problem is because a 29.97 to 25 fps conversion means the audio has to be stretched quite a lot thus having the effect of lowering the pitch. I don't think Besweet corrects the pitch so this is your problem.
The best way is to use Cooledit pro or 2000 as Minion says. This will preserve the pitch of the audio.

ASHY

I am experiencing unstable video when playing back via my Pioneer DVD player.
Firstly i edit my footage using Premiere 6. I then create an AVI file using Mainconcepts DV codec. Then using a high quality setting with Tmpge i encode the the AVi into an Mpeg2 and then using Nero burn as an SVCD movie for PAL (UK) .

The quality is excellent if there is no movement but where the video `moves` ie panning the camera the video image begins to stutter and partially break up. But once the camera remain still the image is perfect. This `break up appears as lines. Sorry i cannot describe it any better.
I am using 2 pass VBR rate for quality which is my main aim. I am not bothered about file size. Playback is for a TV not computer.

Anyone got any clues what causes this.

Martin

I have experienced a simular thing on many occations and it comes down to the dvd player that your playing the files on,I have noticed with my player if I put the bitrate to high I get the stuttering effect when there is any movement at all but when there is no movement then it looks perfect, so now for svcd I make sure the max bitrate is below 5000kbs for my player, another thing that causes this is if you encoded your avi file to a different frame rate as the avi file, so if you encoded a ntsc file to a pal file you can get this effect...

This sounds like interlacing artifacts.
You need to de-interlace your source AVI using the de-interlace option in TMPG.
Click the de-interlace filter and choose a scene in the movie with some action like a car moving across the screen or someone walking then choose the'even-odd field(field)' option .
Click the right hand arrow button a few times and have a look at the motion. if it is smooth the field order is correct, if it appears to stutter( move forward then backward) then the field order is wrong and you need to change it.
Once you have selected the correct field order change the de-interlace option to 'even field'.
This should cure your problem.

ASHY

This sounds like a wrong Field Order in the Video. DV uses Field order B (Bottom Field First).
Don't do any deinterlacing, the only effekt is lowering the Quality of the Video.

I figured out how to do a single avi>>mpeg conversion but I would like to know how I can set a batch task to convert a whole bunch of avis to mpegs at the same time.

Thanks for your help!

What you do is load each file in tmpgenc seperately do your settings and go to "file" to "save progect" then repeat for each file, then when you are done saveing progect files for each avi file then you go to "file" to "batch encode" then load all the project files into the "batch encode" window then click "run" ans thats it accept wait.....