DIVX/XVID TO DVD *ENCODE W/TMPGENC PLUS*-TAKES A LONG TIME!!

[sstaarzz]

Thanks to so many of the informative guides posted here, I have finally been successful in taking my xvid and divx.avi movies from my hard drive and burning them to DVD , first through virtual dub (to combine the files if the movies are in 2 parts), then using TMPGenc plus to encode, IFO edit to author the DVD and finally Nero to create my DVD.

I do have two questions tho that I hope someone can answer. My first is when I run tmpgenc, the first 50% of the encoding shows the word ANALYZING in the center of the movie. I have no idea why that occurs. My second question is that my encoding is taking anywhere from 10-27 hours. What settings can I change to lessen that time? I have Rate Control mode set to 2-pass VBR(VBR) and Motion search precision was set to either very slow, slow or normal which yielded the encoding process to (27 hours, 13 hours and 10 hours). Also, even before I begin the ANALYZING phase, there is a count of 1% to 100% and the words "Processing Inverse Telecine" which I also have no clue about.
My audio is almost always mp3 and I also always choose the selection that says OUTPUT VIDEO AND AUDIO AS INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTARY STREAMS which produce 2 files, an m2v and mp2, which are the two files that I open in IFO edit.

Hope to hear from someone about this problem.
Thanks again to all of you who have shared their knowledge and wisdom

[jester1x]

You see the word "analyzing" for fifty percent of the movie because that is part of the process of 2-pass VBR encoding. It analyzes on the first pass (allocates bits), then encodes on the second pass. Scenes with more action in them require more bits than relatively inert ones.

I would recommend you stay with VBR encoding because it does produces better results than CBR encoding. However, you can speed up the process by setting your motion precision search to "fast." When I encode two hour movies, it takes anywhere from six to seven hours with a Pentium 4 @ 2.53Ghz. For my own personal tastes, changing the motion precision search from slow to fast makes very little difference in my eyes. (I use the "fast" setting with action packed movies too and the results are rather good.)

As far as "inverse telecine" goes, I am not familiar with exactly how it works and what it does. So, maybe someone else can answer your question regarding that...

The final factor that will determine your total encoding time is your processor speed. The faster the processor means the faster your encoding goes. Hope this helps you out!

*I start my encoding right before I go to bed or go to work. By the time I wake up or return home, I'm ready to author.

[sstaarzz]

Thank you so much for your reply.
I am in the middle of encoding my newest movie, however, for my next project, I will change the Motion Search Precision to fast (6 or 7 hours is MUCH better than the 28 hours I waited for my first movie to complete)!!

My computer is an AMD Athalon XP 1900 so I dont think its that slow. Even though my first attempt at burning a DVD took me approximately 29-30 hours from beginning to end, in an odd way, it was worth the time I had spent, when I put the DVD I had created into my DVD player and the movie played with sound!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again.

[jester1x]

You are welcome! You may or not be aware of this... But, when you use VBR, you may want to set your average bitrate to about 97% of the disc capacity. So, the end result will be around 3955 mbs or so which TMPGEnc will warn you about if you exceed 4000 mbs. For example, if the average bitrate is say 5100, then I leave the max at 8000 and min at 2000. Most oftentimes, the file ends up smaller than the final predicted file size. Anyways...just a tip.

Like you, I enjoy the process as well as the end result!

[sstaarzz]

Hi
I had read about the average video bitrate and I do try to adjust it so that the file size is always no more than about 97% of disk capacity.

Like I mentioned, I am new to this DVD stuff... I just recently purchased my DVD burner which is a SONY DRU 510A. I used to burn my movies to CDRs, however, I would use 2 disks per movie. Its funny but I don't seem to remember that TMPGENC took this long to encode the avi to mpg when I burned to CDR but I guess maybe there is just more involved now when burning to DVD.
Up until a few days ago, I was ready to toss my burner out the window because I could not get past the encoding process, however, with some research, perseverance and the guides on this site, I achieved my goal.

Just a great feeling of success when that DVD plays!!!!!!!!!!

[teegee420]

Taken from the glossary:

Inverse Telecine
Inverse telecine (IVTC) is when a codec takes a 29.97 frames per second interlaced NTSC video that has gone through the telecine process and reconstructs the original 24 frames per second progressive FILM video.

[sstaarzz]

HI
Thanks for the info...
BTW... the 11 hour TMPGenc encoding project which I had running last night with only 3 hours remaining when I went to bed...
well... woke up with the blue screen of death and no output from my encoding....
oh well...
**why couldn't the pc have dropped dead AFTER the m2v and mp2 files were created?

THAT would have been too easy

[bugster]

Hi
Its funny but I don't seem to remember that TMPGENC took this long to encode the avi to mpg when I burned to CDR

It wouldn't. (S)VCD formats have lower bitrates and resolutions, therfore less data for Tmpgenc to generate which equals less processingtime involved.

Makes sense when you think about it

[bigjimmpls]

I finally took off my tmpgenc plus version 2.521.58.169 and reinstalled 2.510.49.157. The same avi in the 2.521 version took 7 hours and then reinstalled 2.510 and it does it in an hour and a 1/2. Does anybody know the differences in versions and if there is a difference in quality. Thanks.

[Sakuya]

Does encoding to DVD really take that long? I am buying a new, faster computer and buy a DVD burner as well just for the heck of it. But if it still takes me 3 hours to do it... Because my old computer that I use to burn VCDs took about 7 hours to conver a 23 minute clip to MPEG.

[bigjimmpls]

Sakuya,


It takes a long time I know that. That is why I went back to the old version of TMPGenc. Cut the time down a lot. Maybe a big fast computer will make it better, but I know for me 7 hours was to long. I am running a P4 2.0 ghz with 1 meg ram and a 120 gig hard drive with xp pro. Seems to me that is not at the bottom of the barrel. LOL Good Luck.