I downloaded a 692mb DVD rip AVI movie file and converted it to a NTSC Film SVCD leaving the aspect ratio on 1:1 (VGA). After converting the file it turned from a 692mb AVI file to a 2.7gb MPEG file and I wasn't getting any audio even though the video was fine. I have a couple of questions:

1) Which option should I leave the aspect ratio on for the best quality and a widescreen view?

2) After converting the file and viewing it on Windows Media Player, WinDVD, etc. I noticed the file claimed to be about 270 mins long which is over 4 hours. The movie played fine from beginning till end for 1 hour and 40 mins which is the actual length of the movie but after that it played over 2 hours of nothing.

How do I delete the 2 hours of blank on the movie and keep the 1 hour and 40 mins of the actual movie?

How do I split the movie into parts for me to burn since I can't fit the whole file onto my 80min 700mb CD-R?

3) I noticed that TMPGEnc doesn't convert certain audio files such as AC3, etc. so I was wondering how I would be able to convert the audio files seperately into AC3 or WAV format?

It is greatly appreciated for your help. Thanks!

Your OutPut Aspect ratio should be 4:3 if you have a regular TV, if you have a Widescreen TV then use the 16:9 aspect..To cut the File into Parts you go to "File" to "mpeg Tools" to "Merge & Cut" and from here it is pretty easy to figure out how to cut the files, Just remember to choose "Super-Video-CD" from the Drop down menu and not plain "mpeg2" cuz SVCD and Mpeg2 are different..and yes Tmpgenc doesn"t like AC3 or VBR Mp3 audio in AVI files so you can use "Virtual dub" to extract the audio to WAC format and use the Wav audio as the audio source in Tmpgenc, You do not want to use AC3 for SVCD as it will Probably not play.....Cheers

Well you will have to use a different Mpeg editor, The only Freeware Mpeg editors I know of are Mpeg 2 editors, one is called "Mpeg2Cut" and the other is called "Chopper XP" ,For editing Mpeg1 files I don"t know of any freeware ones, The editor I usually use is called "Mpeg2VCR" But it isn"t freeware, Do a search on Google for Mpeg2Cut or Chopper XP and you should find a Download Link Pretty Easily..As for the Differance between VBR and CBR , Well CBR means "Constant Bitrate" and VBR is "Variable Bitrate" ...CBR keeps the same bitrate through the whole encodeing Proscess and VBR Bitrate varies depending on how much bitrate is needed to encode the Image and the Bitrate range that you set, you can expect the same or Better Quality useing VBR with a Smaller file size, Tmpgenc has a Few differant VBR Encodeing methods that you can choose from .....

>Thanks Minion, but apparently my "Merge & Cut" under MPEG Tools crashes everytime I try to edit a file so is there another way to cut the files and I was just wondering the difference between CBR & VBR.

This likely because you don't have a compatible MPEG2 codec installed to decode the file.
TMPG can encode to MPEG2, but it can't decode it unless you have the latest Plus version.
You need a compatible MPEG2 directshow codec.

Try installing the codec below, just extract and copy the files into your TMPG folder then follow the instructions to install.
http://www.marumo.ne.jp/mpeg2/m2v_vfp-0.6.38.lzh

If that doesn't work try the Cyberlink codec from Power DVD.

Also the M2v.vfp codec above comes with it's own MPEG cutting tool, so if you still have problems you can use this, which I find is actually better and faster than the Merge&Cut tool anyway.

I tried TMPGEnc a long time ago for something else and now have a TV Capture card, etc and am trying it again (most recent version). Unfortunately, the system has remembered I used it before and says MPEG2 support has expired (past 30 days).

I have my own MPEG-2 Codec on the machine and don't need to use the internal one, but no matter what I do, the program will not open my MPEG-2 files. I need to convert them down to MPEG-1 or just to a size/format VCD/SVCD can use.

How can I get this to use the external codec or reset my 30 day trial?

If you don't want to use TMPGEnc's built in MPEG-2 filter you can also use PowerDVD or WinDVD. Just raise the priority of the one you want to use.

If you can't get TMPGEnc to use your specific MPEG-2 decoder you can make a simple AVISynth script and feed it in that way. (I like Nic's plugin the best)

The only way you can get rid or the 30 day message is to purchase TMPGEnc which I would recommend as it very inexpensive considering all the great features it offers.

Video Guy

I don't think videoguy has quite explained what he means.
For starters you cannot use any WinDVD codec in TMPG for decoding MPEG2 files.
The MPEG2 expired message you get in TMPG has nothing to do with not being able to load your file. It only refers to encoding to MPEG2.

You need to install a compatible MPEG2 codec to decode any MPEG2 files. The ones required are listed on the TMPG features page.
If you have the free version the best one to use is this one particularly made for TMPG: http://www.marumo.ne.jp/mpeg2/m2v_vfp-0.6.38.lzh
Just extract the files then copy them to the TMPG folder then follow the instructions to install it.

If you buy the Plus version of TMPG it comes with it's own MPEG2 decoder.

Yes you can use WinDVD and PowerDVD to decode MPEG-2 in TMPGEnc. They install DirectShow filters that can be used in other programs. For instance install WinDVD, then play you MPEG-2 file back Windows Media Player 6.4. If you go to the menu and view the playback properties you will see that it uses the Intervideo DirectShow decoder. If you set the priority correcty in the settings in TMPGEnc and the WinDVD filter is properly registered in windows registry you can use WinDVD to decode in TMPGEnc. Same with PowerDVD. If you go to Environmental Settings -> VFAPI plugin you can set the priority of the "Cyberlink MPEG-2 Decoder". This is PowerDVD.

I also mentioned using AviSynth above. Let me explain better. IMHO this without a doubt will give you the best decode. I use Nic's MPEG2Dec3 in conjuction with DVD2AVI. MPEG2Dec3 has many advanced features that are not found in any decoder. For instance it has BlindPP which will totally remove any block noise you have in your source. Visit the forums at doom9.org for more info.

Video Guy

You seem to be under the misconception that TMPG can use any directshow filter that Mediaplayer can, this is not the case, if it was our lives would be a whole lot easier with TMPG.

The WinDVD filters are not one of the supported types which will work with the latest TMPG, you either have an older version of TMPG and/or the older WinDVD filters.
I have WinDVD correctly registered on my system the filters are used as the decoders in Mediaplayer, but it does not appear in the VFAPI plugins nor will it decode MPEG2 files in TMPG.
Which versions do you have out of interest?

I received the m2v file encoded using TMPGenc.
But in TMPGenc, the Profile & Level was set to Main Profile & High Level) instead of MP@ML.
After I authored and play the DVD file, there is no video. The frame rate is 0 instead of 29.97.
Is there anything I can do to turn on the video at the IFO or VOB files?
Thank you.

Well, when we received the m2v file, we verified and checked it did played in Microsoft Windows Media player ver 8. So we accepted and paid the contractor.

But after we authored the DVD to mux the m2v video with ac3 audio, PowerDVD shows no video.

We found out the contractor used TMPGEnc to encode at 29.9 frame rate. But we did not specified and they used High Profile @ High Level instead of MP@ML.

Saddly we have to encode with MP@ML again. What a costly lesson.

Thanks for your help.

Error message xc5xa4SS not supported when reading from hard diskx81Ethis is the error message I get when trying to process a DVD ripp
ed with smart ripper to my hard drive. Thanks for any help guys with this one! O yeah I didnxc3xd5 mention the program that was actually g
iving the error message (Instant Copy)

guys that should say " CSS not supported when reading from hard disk E

So you are Saying that you are Getting this error in "Instant Copy"?? If so Why are you Posting this Question Here??? this is not an "instant copy" Forum..Pluss your Post is Not very Clear as it seems to say that you are trying Use smartRipper on a Ripped DVD that is on your Hard drive, This is Not Possible, Smartripper can only be used on a DVD Disk Not on a Encrypted DVD that is On your Hard drive....If this Question Has anything to Do with Tmpgenc Please Post you Question again but this time Be More clear with what you are trying to do and what problem you are Haveing....

Minion the error message I was getting is "CSS not supported when reading from hard disk"
Step1. Rip DVD to my hard drive with smart ripper.
Step2. Open instant copy/process with instant copy.
Step3. Get the error message.

Minion thanks for your replies to my questions in the past but I have to disagree with you on this question I am posting about instant copy. Look I am a licensed user of Tmpgenc & Tmpgenc DVD Author most everything I do concerning movies has Tmpgenc fingerprint on it, if I went back to your many replies on this message board I am sure I will find you replying to questions that has nothing to with Tmpgenc and also you recommending programs other than Tmpgenc so I think it's a little disingenuous of you tell me about posting a question in here that has nothing to do with Tmpgenc.

You are probably ripping in the wrong mode. You need to rip in 'Backup' mode not 'Movie' mode.

Anyway I wouldn't even bother with this program, it's too slow. DVD2ONE can backup a whole DVD in 20 mins on a decent speed PC compared to a few hours for Instant copy and the quality is more or less the same.

If you are Useing Instant Copy or DVD2One for that Matter you are Not useing Tmpgenc at all, Not even a finger Print of Tmpgenc...So I figured that a "Instant copy" forum would be a Place were you would find answers, as Most poeple who Use Tmpgenc to Back up DVD"s wouldn"t go and use a Clearly Inferior method for backing up DVD"s like Instant copy...You Might find that you get Better results useing "DVD Shrink" as it will Take a Little Longer than DVD2One but give better results and it has more options..But What i have been useing is the SIF DVD Standard for Backing up DVD"s but useing Mpeg2 and I can get up to 6 hours on a DVD with Quite good Quality, Close to or as good as SVCD Quality, .....Cheers

As usual great information!! Thanks Ash and Minion!

I have encoded many AVI files with TMPGEnc and always got one file to author with Ulead Workshop and burn DVD.
Now I get 2 files, one video and another with audio only.
What am I doing wrong? Did TMPGEnc changed?
Can I author DVD with the 2 generated files?
Thnaks in advance for any help.

You can use these 2 files to author the DVD. Most DVD authoring programs will accept them. The .M2v is the Video and the .Wav is the audio
If you want one file then next time choose 'CBR MPEG-1 Layer II audio (MP2)' in the wizard and not 'CBR Linear PCM audio'

Thanks a lot for the quick response. It sounds so simple now.

Abusing your patience I dare to ask if there is any significant difference between CBR Linear PCM Audio and CBR MPEG-1 Layer II Audio (MP2)?

There is a Big Differance between PCM audio and Mpeg audio, PCM is the same as Wav audio and this is a Uncompressed Audio format so the File sizes are Huge and they take up a Lot of Disk space so it is better to use a Compressed audio source, But Mpeg audio is Not DVD Compliant for NTSC DVD"s unless there is an AC3 or Wav audio track present also, But most DVD players will Play Mpeg audio in DVD without a Problem..What I do is encode the Wav file to AC3 audio and Use that in My DVD authoring Program But the Cheapo Low end DVD authoring Program you are useing(DVD Workshop) will Not accept AC3 audio (Unless you have the AC3 version) and it will Not accept Seperate Audio and Video Streams so you have no choice but to Encode the Wav audio to Mpeg audio and Multiplex it with the M2V file and Load it into your DVD Authoring Program, Or you can get a Real Authoring Program that accept DVD compliant audio formats and seperate audio and Video streams..The One I have been useing for Makeing Basic DVD"s is called "DVD-Lab" which will also let you Put VCD"s and SVCD"s on to DVD Pluss it is really easy to use and it is cheaper than those Ulead Programs....Cheers

Minion,
I learned a lot with your reply. Many thanks.

Now when you say Ulead Workshop is a cheapo low end authoring program I disagree, the son-of-a-gun software costed me over $250 a year ago. The DVD-Lab you refered to probably is out of reach ($$$) for me.

But again I sincerely appreciated you taking the time to teach me about 'CBR MPEG-1 Layer II audio (MP2)' and 'CBR Linear PCM audio'.

DVD-Lab is well Under $100 ,When I said cheapo I meant as a Program not in Price..DVD Workshop is way over priced along with most other ulead Software that is Probably why Ulead software is Pirated so often and can be found for free all over the net..There are No Ulead DVD authoring programs that make Fully compliant NTSC DVD"s accept for the AC3 version of DVDWS, and none accept seperate audio and Video streams, that is what I meant By "Cheap", You can download a 30 Day Demo version of DVD Lab on the Net, Just do a search on Google and you will find the site, It is a Basic DVD authoring Program and doesn"t have anything Fancy but it does accept AC3 audio and it accepts Seperate audio and Video streams and it can even Put SVCD"s on to DVD, another good One is "Spruce UP" which has simular features But it can be found for free Cuz they do not make it anymore, and there are many others that are Better than DVDWS ..If you want to try something different then Email me and I"ll try to hook you up with something....Cheers

On the subject of free authoring programs, you can use IFOEDIT and is one of the best for backing up DVD.
IFOEDIT is an invaluable program for backing up DVD's once you get the hang of it.
It only has basic authoring features, but it will accept any audio stream and also has many other features you will not find in any other program.
http://mpucoder.kewlhair.com/derrow/

Here's a guide how to author with IFOedit:
http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/ifoedit-dvdauthor.htm

Hi There,

I have a collection of 10 mpeg-1 video's and I want to extract say 100 segments out of this collection. For each segment I have a startframe, endframe and movie name. Can this be done with TMPGEnc?
I noticed a batch mode that allows to split and merge, but I don't want to merge. I want to write the smaller mpeg-1 segments to separate files.

Does anybody know whether this can be done with TMPGEnc or maybe some other tool?

Thanks,

-Cees

I personally Do not Know of any Tool that lets you edit in Batch Mode...Sory

Hi, I'm very new to this so please forgive my ignorance. I have a tv tuner card(AVER TV Studio) that can capture video in MPEGII. I tried to use TMPGenc to convert it into SVCD, but the program cannot read my file. Even when I set TMPGenc to read MPEGII the program still says "unsupported". Did I do something wrong? Currently I'm using ver. 2.53.35.130.
Also, let's pretend I did converted the MPEG II file into SVCD do I need to get a cd burning software like NERO to make a SVCD disk or can I just burn that SVCD file directly onto a CD. I hope the 2 questions make sense to you. Thanks.

Well you should download the newest Plus version as it comes with it"s own Mpeg2 decoder so you can load Mpeg2 files into it, and Yes you will need a Program that specificly supports Burning of SVCD"s like Nero if you want But I personally liked to add Menu"s and Chapters to my SVCD"s Like DVD"s Have and for this you would need a Real Authoring Program but Nero will Work for Basic SVCD Burning....

Thank you. I downloaded the new version of TMPGEnc and I can convert movies to SVCD!! Now, I need to copy it to CD, what software would you suggest I can use to do that? Thanks again!

Well Nero is better than Most for Plain SVCD Burning but the new Nero 6 is a Bit Buggy on some systems, another good One is VCDEasy which used to be free But not anymore but you might be able to find an old version somewere..Then there are Real Authoring Programs that you can use to Add Chapters and Menu"s and Titles Like Ulead DVD workshop or DVD Movie Factory, you can download Full working 30 day demo"s at the Ulead Web site...Cheers

What is the best settings to use to make the highest quality VCD movie? Currently I'm using TMPGenc 2.35.35.130

There are no settings to make the Best quality VCD, the Quality is Dependant mostly on the Quality of your Source file, so if your source file is low Quality so will your VCD....VCD is a Low Quality Format anyways and it follows a Strict standard that has to be followed so anything to do to Make the Quality better can make the VCD non Compliant, Like Raiseing the Bitrate will Give you better Quality But this will make it Non-Compliant, and Raiseing the Resolution would give you better Quality But this will also make it Non compliant ,so You can either Make a Non-Compliant VCD (XVCD) or you can try makeing a SVCD...The only setting you should make sure you set is the "Motion Search Precition" set it to "High Quality" as this will produce the best Quality, and if your Source file is Really low Quality you can try cleaning it up with some filters....Good Luck...Cheers

Just came back for a quick visit to say hello - I see you two are still keeping up the good work helping others out on this BBS


I don't do much conversion these days anymore, but it's good to see that there's a place I can come to if I need help ;)

On a side note - the DVD players that support DivX/Xvid seem pretty interesting. Do either of you have any experience of them ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000B0A4H/ref%3Dase%5Fenevacom04/026-6439834-5686810

Olli

Hi, Long time no See!! Nope I haven"t used one of these Players But they do not seem to be Catching on very Much, there are Only a Couple of Brands of DVD Player that Will Support Mpeg-4 Compression and these are Pretty Much Small companies that are supporting them....

Hello Olli, nice to hear from you again.
Don't know why they aren't catching on yet, maybe it's licensing issue?
Would be a good thing though, but may put encoders like TMPG out of business if they do or at least take a chunk out of the sales especially seeing as most DIVX encoding programs are free.

Hi,

I agree that MPEG4 is not widely implemented in standalone players but I think that will change. I even saw a new philips introduction of a MPEG4 compatible DVD player. I'm sure other big brands will follow. A nice feature is that the player is easy upgradeble.

I would love to see more MPEG4 players coming onto the market. Saves me a lot of time converting to MPEG1/2 (beside from putting some subtitles into the movie)

Hello, from Ger.!


I have a problem I try to encode a avi file into a VCDflie but it dont work the file can not be open or is unsupported is the warning what is my mistake!?


Thank ya, for help!


Niko

I have this same issue. Sound is no issue, but as soon as I try to open the video source an error message appears: 'File xxxx cannot open, or unsupported'.

Anyone ideas?

Thanks!

Download http://new.softnews.ro/public/cat/11/2/7/11-2-7-13.shtml and run TMPGEnc again. I did work for me after installing this.

For this Error all you Usually have to do is go to "options" to "enviromental Settings" to "Vfapi Plugins" and Raise the Priority of the "Direct show File Reader" to "2" ...This will Usually get Most AVI/Mpeg4 formats to load in Tmpgenc....Cheers

Hi all,
Ive captured a homemade movie using Firewire and Ulead MediaStudio Pro 7.0, thus creating an avi. Checked that avi using Windows MediaPlayer and it is okay.
Then created an mpeg2-file with tmpgenc (wizard). Checked it again in WMP and no problems. Created an dvd with Ulead DVD Moviefactory 2 and burned a DVD+RW with Nero.

The problem now is that, when playing the DVD on my standalone DVD-player downstairs, all seems te be ok. Exept for one thing: when in de movie there is a camera-movement (filming from the left to the right) or zooming, the picture is faulty. The lines in the screen all appear as blocks. No straight line e.g. for a curtain, but blocks are seen. When the camera is steady, everything looks fine.

Anyone have an idea what the problem could be?? I created the mpeg2-file using the wizard. Did not change a lot... What could i do to help this..?

Any suggestion would be appreciated. If needed, ill post my settings here..

thanks

edso

In addition:
ive encoded the mpeg2 with a bitrate of 8000.
Ive read that i have what they call masterblocks... How can i exterminate those?
thanks

They Are Called "Macro Blocks" and if your AVI file is Clean Meaning there is No Noise then the Bitrate you used would Sure be high enough to Get rid of any Macro Blocks..There are a Few Things you can Try ,After setting up your File in the WIzard cloce the Wizard and go to "Settings" to "Video" and set the "Motion Search Precition" to "High Quality" if it isn"t allready, This should help with the Macro Blocks but if there is any Noise in your Source file you should first Try to Filter it out cuz if there is Noise in your File the encoder will Use a LOT of Bits trying to encode the Noise, There are Noise Filters in tmpgenc But they will make the Encodeing take up to 5 times as long as Usual so it is Better to Clean up any Noise in your Editing Program before you render the file to AVI, or if you Know how to Frameserve with AVISynth or Virtual Dub you can use there Noise Filters and other filters to clean up the Image as they are Much faster and better than the Tmpgenc Filters...With a Clean Source file you should be able to Achieve Good Quality without Macro Blocks useing Half the Bitrate that you used to encode this File...Good Luck...Cheers

I used PowerVCR.II v3.0 to capture mpeg-1 video from my TV card.
After I cut/merge or demux/mux with MPEG tools the video has sync problem.
Is it a bug of PowerVCR.II or TMPGenc ?


Reference cases:
http://bbs.pegasys-inc.com/bbscgi/search/docs/en/tmpgenc/box12/tmpgenc_post_6855.html
http://bbs.pegasys-inc.com/bbscgi/search/docs/en/tmpgenc/box03/tmpgenc_post_3470.html

Well it could be a Little Bit of Both...Some Mpeg capture Programs use Padding to Make up for Dropped Frames and when you de-Mux the files the Padding gets removed which can cause Sync Problems, But the "Merge & Cut" can also Cause Desync and besides the Merge & Cut is officially supposed to be only for files that have been Encoded By Tmpgenc..I would sugest you use a Real Mpeg editor like Mpeg2VCR ..And For Mpeg Capture Programs the best one Is WinDVR 3.0 ,If you have a Fast enough PC you should try captureing to Mpeg2 as you will get Better Quality...What I do is Capture to Mpeg2 at 720+480 and at 20,000Kbs then I re-encode the File adding Filters to clean up any Noise and Resize if Nescessary and use a Much Lower Bitrate and the Final File looks better than the Original File I captured, this Method Works Like a Charm....cheers