Tenders SVCD Encoding Guide

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

this guide is for divx or xvid(you need xvid codec)-to svcd(non ac3 ). it optimizes encoding speed,while maximizing quality on slow cpu's. remember: quality in-quality out. i use this method all the time.there is NO guarantee of final file size,but i have never had a problem with fitting under 2 hour movies on 2 cd's.

you will need 2 programs: virtual dub
tmpg enc

both of which can be found here: http://www.vcdhelp.com/tools

once you have them installed,open up virtual dub then file> open video file to load your avi.
now click file> file information. write down the fps so you won't forget.in this case its 29.971. then click ok.

next you click video> scan video for errors.this will take some time to complete.

if it finds errors select: audio>direct stream copy
video>direct stream copy
file>save as avi.
choose a name for your new file
this will save out a new copy without the errors so you don't run into problems while encoding.once you have saved your new file you can close virtual dub.

now open tmpg enc. where it says: "video source" click browse and load your error free avi that you just saved. leave the "audio source" as is. choose an "output file name" and where you want it saved to. next we load the template. frame rates are as follows: 29.976= NTSC,23.976=NTSC FILM,25=PAL. click "load" and choose the template that coresponds to the"fps" in virtual dub.(you did write it down right!) in this case we choose: SuperVideoCD (NTSC).then click open.

now click "settings".choose "constant quality".

now click the setting button right beside. set the quality level slider to 80.(if your movie is 2+ hours long,you might want to set this to 70) the maximum bitrate i leave at 2520. if your dvd player has trouble playing this you can lower this if you wish. now click ok. set the "motion precision search" to normal then click ok.

now click "start". on my 534mhz i average about 10-12 hours encoding time.

cybermage26 · Member Joined: 08 Oct 2001

I just cant feel confident using a guide made by someone that cant spell encoding...

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

hmmm....might even be a few more spelling errors in there. yesterday was a long day for me

don't use it then,your loss

cybermage26 · Member Joined: 08 Oct 2001

hehe

mrj03 · Member Joined: 03 Oct 2002

I loaded 12 monkeys.avi into VirtualDub and ran: > scan video for errors.
I got this error: Internal error: MMX state left on: T:\projects\VirtualDub_old\main\VideoSource.cpp:1101

So I tried your: " if it finds errors select: audio>direct stream copy
video>direct stream copy file>save as avi. ( I used 12 monkeys copy.avi ) this will save out a new copy without the errors. "

I then loaded the REPAIRED file ( 12 monkeys copy.avi )
ran > scan video for errors again and got THE SAME ERROR MESSAGE AGAIN.

My next move was to remove the bad frames:
http://vcdhelp.com/forum/userguides/116545.php
and save that file as ( 12 monkeys repaired.avi ).
I then ran > scan video for errors again and got NO ERRORS.

Your theory sounded good and would of saved me some steps but it didn't work for me. Maybe it only works on certian files or ERRORS....

thanks for the suggestion anyways.

Paul.....

jolo · Member Joined: 13 Mar 2002 Location: United States

First I would like to thank tenders for taking the time and energy to share his experiences.

Wanted to let you know that I thought the remark about the spelling error was obnoxious and disrespectful. Not funny, especially when aimed at someone who is volunterring their time and experience to share information.

Tender,

Do youi know if this would work with VOB files, instead of Divx files ?

Also, how is the sound compared to extracting the audio to wav, then running toolame (I do it offline), then using this newly created mp2 file to load with with video ?

Thanks,

Jolo (Jon)

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

thank you jolo, i guess cybermage26 has alot of free time

sorry jolo,i do not know about vob files. the sound seems ok to me. that i guess would depend on the quality of the audio in your file.(and if your very picky) i do not separate the audio and video because i find by doing it this way,i never have any sync problems.

hope that helps you

Art · Member Joined: 05 Apr 2002

Hi Tenders. I have tried your guides for encoding and cutting SVCD s. Everything worked well. Good job. I guess this is the best and fastest way to make SVCD s. Scanning video for errors works for me too. In order to watch on my Panasonic RV 31 DVD Player at the end I used the VCD header trick with TMPGEnc.
Thanks a lot.

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

your welcome

rswalker · Member Joined: 26 Oct 2002

Hi,
Many thanks for putting this SVCD info on.
I have downloaded an MPEG1,23.976,576*240 file and have managed to get as far as the burning pricess through Nero. It reads in the file, then comes up with an error saying it has the incorrect settings for an SVCD file even though it has been set as FILM. I have tried installing the SVCD patch on Nero but get the same error.
I know I have not given enough info but I will try again and repost after hopefully getting some feedback.
Many thanks.
Rob.

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

rswalker · Member Joined: 26 Oct 2002

Hi,

Thanks for responding so soon.
When I encode the MPEG1 file through TMPEnc should I set it as something different so it will burn as VCD or is this not possible.
Would I have to just encode it through NERO??
Thanks again,
Rob.

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

just choose the "videocd ntscfilm" template in tmpg. when done, make sure you burn as vcd not svcd.

harishon · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2002

Hi tenders,
thak you for the guide. one question though-what if i need to change fps from PAL to NTSC? i've got som PAL movies from Kazaa and would like to encode (did i spell "encode" right,cybermage?) them into NTSC-what is the best way and simplest way to that with minimum loss of quality and without sound desync.?
thanx.

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

there are templates for both pal and ntsc in tmpg,so you wouldn't need to change the framerate. if you have a file with a weird framerate like 12fps,it probably isn't worth encoding.

buzzrock · Member Joined: 15 Oct 2002

Tenders, I have not yet tried your Guide, But I do Have one Question..
Every other guide suggests converting the audio into wav before encoding, why doesn't your guide suggest this also?

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

WienieMan · Member Joined: 29 Oct 2002

How do you get the audio to work without exporting it as a WAV? It always say it's a unsupported format or the final render has no audio.

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

(in tmpg)try increasing the priority under,options>environmental settings>vfapi plug in. then right click on the direct show file reader and increase its priority. that might do the trick :

it is also possible you are missing a codec.

WienieMan · Member Joined: 29 Oct 2002

It still won't work. Where can I get a codec? It's just mp3 VBR right?
Thanks

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

try the nemo codec pack in the tools section of this site.

WienieMan · Member Joined: 29 Oct 2002

nevermind, I went back and set my priority a little higher from 4 to 5 and now it works. Thanks Tenders

Sav10 · Member Joined: 22 Nov 2002

Thanks Tenders for this guide.

Would you suggest I run the scan for errors process on a SVCD file created by ULead v6 i.e. not a dowloaded movie but a DV edited movie?

I have digital blocks and green blocks on SVCDs encoded as CVDs but that could be another problem? Normal (i.e. non CVD) SVCDs do not have the same problem. I use the TPMG header trick to play back as VCD on my player.

By the way (and purely out of curiosity), where exactly is the alleged spelling mistake as I couldn't find it???

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

Matt Rage · Member Joined: 29 Nov 2002

I have tried using this guide on four different files now.

The end result file I get, before I go to burning, never seems right.

When I play it, using Windows Media Player, with my MPEG 2 codecs installed, it seems to play fast, then stops, then skips frames, then goes really fast again.

Any ideas? I have followed the instructions to the letter on four different files now.

I was wondering if it was worth me just going to burn anyway, and see what the end SVCD plays like?

My original files have had no errors in them, and burns fine as a VCD (although I have to save the file out of Virtual Dub, even though it finds no errors)

Any ideas? (Many thanks for the guide anyway...)

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

this method has always worked for me. i have had windows media player act up on me from time to time. i generally use power dvd to check the files,as wmp doesn't handle mpeg2 very well.

my advice is to burn anyway and see what happens

CrystalSuicune · Member Joined: 01 Dec 2002

Um, I used your guide, and for some reason my .avi was doubled in size and length...nothing will play the file, so I dont know what it looks like. Did I do something wrong?

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

CrystalSuicune · Member Joined: 01 Dec 2002

Nimo Codec pack
This Pack includes, Divx, XVID, MP3 Audio Codec, Vob Playback, AC3 Dolby Digital audio decoder, MPEG2 Codec, DivX AntiFreeze Filter, OGG Audio Codec and much more. Freeware.

I have that already :/

Edit: Oh, and I dont think I made it clear (after talking to my brother), after encoding the movie went from 1 hour 15 minutes of movie to 3 hours of black screen, no sound

tenders · Diaper Dude Joined: 31 Mar 2002 Location: canada

the movie should be the same length time wise? where did this movie come from? perhaps you got a bad file?

did you check the video and audio codec in virtual dub? then you can check them against the ones on your system(to see if you have them.

a black screen and no sound almost always means a missing codec problem.