Some DVD authoring programs will not accept CCE encoded mpeg2 files

[ettin]

After im done editing a movie i manually demultiplex the file by exporting audio and video streams separately, then i encode through CCE for mpeg2 DVD compliancy. If i choose to forgo menu's and chapters i use dvd flick and it will recognize the file are already encoded and skip the encoding step. Ive been trying out various authoring software and have had no luck so far (DVDit, dvdauthorGUI, NTI). They will tell me that my file is not DVD-legal or DVD-compliant and attempt to transcode them and they never provide a way around it, which is strange because their file information dialogues typically show the files as being compliant.

So can anyone suggest a authoring program that can recognize a properly encoded mpeg2, or at least provide an option to not transcode regardless?

[filmboss80]

Not all mpeg2 files are DVD-compliant. Are they 720x480 for NTSC or 720x576 for PAL? Your files may be set for the wrong type of stream. Or, it may be a correct DVD-compliant elementary stream, but your authoring program may not like the GOP structure. For DVDit and DVDauthor, you might want to try encoding with Closed GOPs.

[ettin]

thanks for the reply. I encode for NTSC, everything is done pretty standard. It might be the GOP structure cause it opens and closes it constantly through the encoding process. What effect will closing all the GOP's have on my video?

[manono]

Try and open the M2V in Muxman. It'll reject it if it's not compliant. The log (root of the C drive) may say why not.

Next, post a GSpot screenshot of the M2V.

Next, give us a small 10 second sample to go over. Open the M2V in DGIndex, use the [ and ] buttons to isolate a small section and File->Save Project and Demux Video. Upload the resulting M2V to a 3rd party free upload site and give us the link.

What effect will closing all the GOP's have on my video?

Give slightly lower quality. There's nothing wrong with using open GOPs, and it's preferred. No authoring program will reject it because of open GOPs, although some stupidly warn you about it before then allowing you to author.

I encode for NTSC

23.976fps or 29.97fps? If 23.976fps are you applying pulldown (as you should)?

[lordsmurf]

No authoring program will reject it because of open GOPs, although some stupidly warn you about it before then allowing you to author.

Nope, not true. DVDit! 2.5 PE is one of several examples. Closed GOP is not always supported by all software. It assists in the chaptering process, and "lower quality" is pretty relative to a number of factors (usually no quality is lost). Some software doesn't do too well when GOPs are open, making the GOP too long (older long-obsolete versions of TMPGEnc is known for this sometimes).

[manono]

OK, thanks for the correction. I should have qualified my statement with "No authoring program with which I'm familiar will reject it because of open GOPs".

But then you say:

Closed GOP is not always supported by all software.

Are you saying some don't support Open GOP and some don't support Closed GOP? Or is there a mistake somewhere?

It assists in the chaptering process, and "lower quality" is pretty relative to a number of factors (usually no quality is lost).

Perhaps visually no quality is lost, but Closed GOP will produce a video with a very slightly higher average quant, all other factors being equal. As for the chaptering, since they have to be on an I-Frame anyway, and since the I-Frames will be in the same place whether Open GOP or Closed (right?), I don't quite understand that statement. There are reasons and times to use Closed GOP, but I don't think that's one of them.

Some software doesn't do too well when GOPs are open, making the GOP too long (older long-obsolete versions of TMPGEnc is known for this sometimes).

In my opinion, making allowances for defective authoring programs is hardly a reason for using Closed GOPs. The answer there is to use a better authoring program. The same can be said for DVDIt and others that don't actually allow Open GOPs. If they refuse to author DVD compliant files without reencoding or otherwise messing with them, well, they're not the only game in town. Maybe I've never had a problem using Open GOPs because I don't use crap authoring programs.

[Midzuki]

manono wrote:

Maybe I've never had a problem using Open GOPs because
I don't use *crap* authoring programs.

It seems you have learned something interesting from my Sumire-chan ^___^

[ettin]

OK, i opened it up in muxman and it accepted it. I would do the rest but i think the problem has already been located to the authoring programs i was trying to use. Its basic NTSC DV 29.97 4:3 video converted to MPEG2, and ive never had any problems before, and come to think of it i used to use a program called DVDlab but it had a habit of putting out bad files every so often, though it never complained about my input files.

So can anyone recommend a quality authoring program?

[borax]

For free: MuxMan. If you want menus and don't want to spend money on the VIP-version, try GUI for dvdauthor and select MuxMan as authoring engine.