I am fairly new to the world of encoding. I have been following some guides to convert my blu rays to WMV for the pure lazy enjoyment of playback through the Vista Media Center and the Xbox 360 extender.

It seems like for the audio choice most people are recommending Windows Media Audio 10 Professional for 5.1 which upon further investigation appears to be lossy. I was wondering why this was the preference over the Audio 9 lossless for 5.1 since the xbox 360 will support lossless. Is the professional 10 lossy better quality than 9 lossless? Is there another reason for choosing the later?

Thanks in advance for any information/advice.

Well, I read the Wikipedia etc. definitions of each but I would still really like to hear a general opinion, from those who use this software to encode, on WMA 9 lossless vs. WMA 10. I'm intersted in hearing any experienced opinion on quality or any other insight as to why I might choose one over the other when encoding to WMV HD.

Thanks again

The biggest question is space. I've been ripping DVD's to WMV for playback on my XBox 360. I've been using WMA 10 2 Pass VBR 384kbps, 48kHz, 5.1 Channel 24 bit with a peak of 768kbps and max buffer of 4000ms. I'm not sure off hand for BluRay, but I think they use 96kHz on the audio. What ever they use you should match on the settings for your encoding.

As far as using lossless or lossy. VBR can sound exactly like the lossless version, because during the more complitacted/demanding parts the bit rate is able to increase and during less demding parts it lowers it self down. Using a VBR is greatly preferred to using a CBR. Using VBR instead of lossless greatly increases the amount of space saved on your hard drive. Which is key when you're talking about source movies that are 20GB+. As for being able to hear a difference it really depends on what you're listening to and what you're using for playback. If you've got $10,000+ worth of stereo/speakers and listening to an orchestra playback you might be able to discern some small difference. And even then it can vary by listener.

You can also always run test encodes with different settings and see which one is best.

It is posible burn a bluray movie with 1280x720 resolution to dvd?

It might be possible, but since I don't have a Blu-ray burner, I can't test it. Authoring Works 4 forces you to use a blu-ray writable drive if it detects a blu-ray file structure. If you have one, you might be able to stick a DVD in it instead of a BD disc. I have a feeling it might detect what type of media is in the drive and force you to use a BD disc though.

Can anyone test this?

I'm working on converting my DVD collection to WMV files. Thought I had everything working. My latest rip, The Da Vinci Code, I can't figure out how to get the forced subtitles to work. So at the parts where they're speaking Latin and other foreign languages you get no english subtitles. If I watch the DVD on the same computer I'm encoding with the subtitles work at those specific spots automatically. I get options for selecting subtitles, but they just enable it throughout the entire movie and not at those specific spots. Anyone know how to get the forced subtitles working?

As far as I know, all subtitles in 4.0 XPress will be forced, as in, encoded into the actual video. You'll need some pro DVD authoring software to do what you want to do I think.

I think you're misunderstanding what I'm asking. On some DVD movies the DVD will force the subtitles on and off throughout the movie for foreign language speaking parts. I'm fine with TMPGEnc Xpress burning the subtitles into the video track, but there is no way that I can see for it to just do it during these forced on parts and not the entire movie.

From doing some Google searching about "forced subtitles" and subtitles on DVD, during foreign language portions, there seems to be three methods.
Subtitles that are already burnt into the video track.
Subtitles track that only has those foreign language portions.
Subtitle forced on and off during the movie.

The last one is the one I'm having problems with on Xpress. If I turn on the subtitle I get them throughout the entire movie. If I leave it off you miss all the foreign language parts of the movie. And there is no special subtitle track on the DVD with just those portions.

Now I downloaded a trial of DVDFab which gives you a little checkbox for only showing forced subs. So you select the subtitle track and then check "Only Show Forced Subs" and you get the results I'm looking for. Tmpgenc is a much better piece of software and I'm not really looking to spend $50 to get one feature that can be added to Xpress quite easily. I'm basically hoping the ability is already there and I'm missing it somehow or it'll be added a future patch.

There's no way to only show forced subs in 4.0 XPress. If you can export one of the subtitle streams as a file, you can edit it with a subtitle or text editor. Just delete all of the subtitles except the forced ones and then import it back into 4.0 XPress.

Or you could just type in the subtitles manually.

Little update. I talked to the support people, who confirmed that forced subs can't be done currently. They've added it to the user feature request list. So hopefully an update will implement it soon.

I haven't done this with DVD so I'm not sure it works the same but this is what I do when encoding Blu ray to WMV and want to keep the forced subtitles.

1. I import the .m2ts file from the blu ray into TSmuxer(free). (Not sure about this step for DVD)
2. I demux the english subtitle streams. (Takes a couple minutes)
3. I them import the demuxed subtitle stream into Suprip(also free)
4. Then I click the auto OCR button and sometimes not all characters are recognized properly so I go through and put the corrct letters where the OCR didn't automatically select the correct character. (one I did last night took about 5 minutes on this step)
5. I then select the check mark for forced subs only and save. (creates .srt file)
6. Now when I open TMPgenc Xpress 4.0 and import my video, I then use the subtitle filter in Clip/Edit (I had to add the subtitle filter to the list of shown filters in TMPgenc as it was not shown by default) and I import my newly saved .SRT file (forced subs only)that was created with Suprip and encode to WMV.
7. Works great!

When I add MOV video file, the audio is not import. The audio is not in edit window not yet in output file.
Video codec is avc1 and audio codec is mp4a.

Please help.

LD

Greetings,

I need help creating a PAL M DVD, which is the standard used by Brazil, using TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress. My understanding is that PAL M has a similar a frame rate and scan line to NTSC; however, the color carrier is different.

Unfortunately, PAL M is very different from the PAL used in some countries in Europe.

Would someone be kind enough to help me configure TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress and TMPEnc DVD Author 3 with the proper settings so that I can make a working PAL M DVD?


Thanks in advance,

Ed

When I encode MPEG2 for SD DVD, the audio is slightly ahead of the video. It is this way from the very beginning. This occurs if I use the software codec from TMPGEnc 4 Express, or if I use the FirecoderBlue SpursEngine card.

Has anyone seen this, and found a solution? Is there a known good set of setting for encoding?

I believe a workaround is to demux the audio and video then load them as separate files. You can find the demultiplexing tool in the Start Stage-->MPEG Tools.

> I believe a workaround is to demux the audio and
> video then load them as separate files. You can
> find the demultiplexing tool in the Start
> Stage-->MPEG Tools.

My input is an AVI file. It is perfectly synced. The tools demuxer doesn't support AVI files.

You should have mentioned that from the beginning.

Here's an older post that might help you.
http://bbs.tmpg-inc.com/bbs.php?key=audio+sync&search=+Search+&board=en_te40#topic86

ok use nandub to take away the audio and also so re add to the video if needed after your encoding, but also you can add the audio file to the mpegvia the mpeg tools tmpgenc xpress has.

also make sure that you select the correct fps format that yu encode your video , because if its different than the original source, thats where the syns issues will be.

I don't think seperating audio/video to resolve this is a reasonable solution. This is a 2 hour video, and I have quite a lot of them. This AVI file can be encoded perfectly with other apps. The audio is ahead of the video, even from the very beginning. It is a constant delay. Although the audio gap feature could be used to fix it, it is trial and error to get the correct delay.

the audio your using is it vbr mp3?

TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress (version 4.7.1.284)

Source is a DVD.

Audio drops out after processing a "bad" frame in the source. My source file has what appears to be a bad frame. When using the Cut-Edit tool the bad frame is visible in the "film strip" below the main image. There's one section that has no image, almost like a gap in the source. Kinda hard to explain but I hope you understand what I'm talking about. Well, when playing the video from the Cut-Edit screen the audio drops out after passing this bad frame and the audio remains off for the remainder of playback. This loss of audio also ends up in the final file (in my case it's an .mp4 but I think that's irrelevant since the problem occurrs before the file is even converted). If I move the cursor to point after then bad frame and play, the audio works fine so it's the processing of that one frame that kills audio from that point on.

So...
Has anybody experienced this and is there a work-around? or...

I can cut out the bad frame...
Is there a way to find a bad frame like this without having to manually scan all 300000 frames of my movie.

I have the same problem. I have yet to find a solution. :-/

if the file is mpeg-2 format , use dgindex to create a d2v file this will also locate the bad frames and fix them...well it should do.

then all you do is load the d2v file into the software and load the audio file

I had the same error. I ended up figuring out the bad frame and deleting a few frames before and after. It worked fine after that. But yes, it would be good to have this fixed properly in the s/w.

Hi, I am new to using this software. I have reencoded some of my movies to WMV with great sucuess using TMPGenc 4.0. However, I got to one last night that wanted to encode my movie with a green bar on the left side of the video. This was .m2ts files with H264 video and AC3 6 channel audio.

I would really appreciate any advice or assistance with encoding this movie without the green bar.

Thanks

Nevermind. The green bar only shows when viewing through WMP 11 and not my actual TV. I can live with that.

Hi...I have been playing around with my settings in TPMG AW 4 for a few weeks, ran into some problems. I have found out through trial and error basicly now that the picture gets kinds of blurry/pixaly when someone moves/ camera moves after I use AW to put it on dvd. I am importing files through my dvd recorder as well as converting AVI files with the AW software to DVD. The files themselves are all good and great quality until I put them through AW. I am thinking it has something to do with the encoder settings. I did change the "Motion Search" settings to higest with error correction, that seemed to help some, but not a ton. I wonder if when u go into settings and MPEG settings it has a "Intercom MPEG encoder" thing there, do I need to change it to a different encoder? I LOVE AW and I just need to get my settings right LOL! Please help! :D

What are your other track settings? I'm guessing your source video isn't in a DVD-compliant format, otherwise it wouldn't re-encode the video and there'd be no quality difference.

In Source stage-->Track settings-->Video tab, change the encoding mode to "Re-encode all videos as below".
Then for Rate control mode, select "VBR (Full rendering 2 pass VBR)".
Pump up the bitrate and max bitrate to 9200 kb/s if it isn't up there already.
Change motion search settings to it's best setting as you have already done.

You'll have to change these settings for each track.
Other than this, I'm not sure what else you can do within TAW4.
Outside of TAW4, you can use some other video encoder (such as 4.0 XPress) to re-encode your source video into DVD-compliant MPEG.

I am importing mostly from dvd files from my dvd recorder...the only thing that is re-encoding is the cut out parts (smart rendering) BUT I am using the target size 4.7 gb otherwise it wouldn't fit onto a single layer dvd. I will still try what u said though! Thanks! BTW- is there anything else u would suggest from reading this post? :D

Ah I see, you're using the transcoding settings in the Output stage. I'm pretty sure that is what is causing the quality drop. How big is your project before transcoding? If your project is huge, like 9GB or so, then you're going to get a quality drop no matter what as long you're trying to fit it on a single layer DVD and keep it in the DVD-Video format.

You can try selecting "None" as the target size and then output the file without burning to disc. You can then check the output file to see if the quality is as it should be. If it looks good, then we can confirm that it is the transcoding settings that are causing the quality drop.

Well, it isn't really bad quality...it is just after I put it through aw it has a kind of blurryness/pixal thing when it is done rendering...so it is probably the transcoder, so I will play around with the settings and what u suggested! TY! :D

Also, is there any way to have smart rendering with the 2-pass encoder for the re-encoded parts?

Unfortunately, no. However, you can change the picture quality to 100 (by default, it is 90 I think).

LOL...I have it that way already LOL...well anyways I will see what happens and thanks again! :D

Hey again...LOL! I have FINALLY figured out that it is the transcoder making the blurry/pixaly thing...not too bad except for after a big move in the picture, when it settles the pixals show a lot and then go away...is there anyway to reduce or get rid of this? Also if there is a bright picture and then after it a darker one, the pixals are even worse...can anyone help? There is something in the preferences about the transcoder engine and it looks like you COULD change it, but it is greyed out...I am not sure if changing that would even help...but I am just asking if anyone know what to do to improve this! Thanks! :D

Can I make thumbnails for the video files I create with MovieStyle?
MovieStyle always seems to use the first frame of the video.
If there is a trick to do it with another program I'd like to hear about it.

Thanks,
cb

Which thumbnails are you talking about? The ones that show up in Windows or in a certain device such as the PSP?

In any case, I don't think it's possible; at least, I haven't found a way to do it with MovieStyle.

I am trying to re-author a double layer DVD as a single layer DVD. When I get to the end of the project I get an error massage that says "Total Bitrate is too Large for Standard DVD ....."
I'm not sure what that means or how to fix it.
Would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks

The video is probably too long or the quality is too high for a single layer DVD. Thus, lowering the bitrate will make the filesize smaller, allowing it to fit on a single layer DVD. The less space on the disc you have, the more you're going to have to sacrifice on quality (assuming it's a full-length movie).

If you don't know much about bitrates, try the Transcoding option in the Output stage and make sure you select single layer DVD as your target media size. This should automatically adjust the quality so your video can fit on the single layer DVD.

Thanks, I will try that, but just for an experiment I ignored the warning and hit the "Continue Anyway" button. It created the DVD and I tried playing it in my new DVD player. It was perfect, but of course it's a new player and that may make a difference. I'm going to find an old DVD player and see if it will play on that. If it works in an old player then maybe the error message is a useless glitch. What I really can't understand is where the message says "total bitrate" I thought a bit rate was just an adjustable number. How is it related to a "Total" as though something is being added up. It's not saying the bit rate is too high, it's says the bitrate TOTAL is too high. I don't understand that at all.

The maximum bit rate you have selected may be above the nominal DVD standard maximum rate, even if the total file size fits on a single layer. Many, but not all, DVD players can cope with the higher bit rate. Thus there is some risk it will not play on some, especially older, DVD players.

Something is screwy. If I set the Source Encoder to Automatic it comes up with a non-adjustable maximum bit rate of 9641 which is well below the maximum of 9848, and that's when I get the error message about it being too high at 9866.
But if I set it to "Re-Encode All" I can set it all the way to 9840 and it does not present me with the error message. Do you think it's a bug in the software?

Might the difference be whether or not audio is included in the bit rate setting/calculation?

Hi

I have been trying to produce a slideshow from high quality photos (15 megapixel) but am very disappointed with the resulting DVD (viewed on the computer only so far). The source pictures are crystal clear, yet the images in the resulting video are degraded so much that the video is 'unwatchable'. I have tried installing various video codecs (thinking I might not have some necessary bit to achieve the quality I expect), and have tried resizing the image files to smaller 720 x 540 size in case TMPGEnc AW4 is struggling with the size of the source files. Both methods fail to correct the problem.

I have also tried to produce a slideshow using MemoriesOnTV and get the same kind of poor quality results. I have used both these packages previously (over a year ago) and was pleased with the results. That was on a different computer no longer available to me.

I am using a Dell Dimension 9200 with Vista.

I hope someone can help, and will thank any responders now in advance.

It's possible that you just have a bigger, better monitor now and can thus see how DVD-quality just doesn't look as good on a larger, high-resolution display.

Can you take a screencap of a frame from the slideshow DVD (via PowerDVD or something like that)?