problems making program streams

[jimmydu3]

When I try to compile to Program Streams [mpv + ac3] from VCD I'm having problems. When I multiplex using TMPGenc then I end up with a MPG that is the same same size as the original and it plays fine. When I use SVCD2DVDMPG the resulting file is larger (409 megs compared to 401). I downloaded mplex.exe and used the default command line of mplex.exe -f 1 a.mpg a.apv a ac3 and got a file the same as using TMPGENC. I was just wondering what command line options are used in SVCD2DVDMPG? The key to the Program Streams working might be in the -f switch differing between SVCDs and VCDs. Thanks for the work, James

[ChrissyBoy]

svcd2dvdmpg uses f 8. This is to insert the navigation packs required in the dvd vobs. Ultimately this is why the file size is different. What problems are you having?

[jimmydu3]

gotcha, I was just trying to insert the program stream .mpg into Sonic MyDVD (yeah, i know it's not that great, but it does accept ac3 + mp1). Well I guess by adding the navigation packs then it is not DVD-VCD compliant anymore (by MyDVD's standards) and goes about reencoding it. Are there any other command line switches used than just -f 8. Thanks, James

[ChrissyBoy]

well you could produce ES and then run mplex on those. These are the values for the format param:

[0 = Generic MPEG1, 1 = VCD, 2 = user-rate VCD, 3 = Generic MPEG2,
 4 = SVCD, 5 = user-rate SVCD
 6 = VCD Stills, 7 = SVCD Stills, 8 = DVD with NAV sectors, 9 = DVD]

so it would be somthing like

mplex -f 1 -o out.mpg inout.ac3 input.mpv

i supose i should do 1 for VCDs, 4 for SVCDs & only do 8 if you are letting SVCD2DVD author your DVDr......

[jimmydu3]

That would be great to do it that way. Also I thought I'd throw out a couple of other problems. When the project finishes, the only way for me to start a new one (w/ different settings) is to restart the program. If I don't restart all of the options are greyed out and can't be selected to make changes. I'm using Win98se and have the .net framework installed. I might need to update the .net though.

Thanks so much for your hard work on this program and I can't wait to see the new menu program.

[jimmydu3]

ChrissyBow, After a full day of testing with mplex, I've found out that if you are using VCD video with AC3 audio, then using the -f 1 is not the best option. software players and hardware players did not like and said AC3 does not go well with the VCD spec. In TMPGenc's multiplexer, you are required to use the MPEG 2 setting if you are using AC3, no matter what type of video. So with mplex I used the -f 3 option (MPEG2 generic) and my video is accepted in all my authoring programs and the audio is in sync. So if you decide to add this option in, the -f 3 flag is needed if using MPEG1 and AC3. Thanks, James