A question about encoding times

[Joseph Vigo]

I am experimenting with ripping DVD to SVCD using DVD2SVCD and TMPGEnc as encoder (not Cinema Craft Encoder).

I have followed the guides here for settings and the file is encoding but the expected time to complete is given as 12 hours for a 120 minute film.

Does this sound about right, it seems a long time to me.


Thank you.

[redwudz]

That's on the slow side, but it depends on what options are set. TMPGEnc is slower than CCE in this application. When I used a similar PC it would take around 8 hours with CCE at the default settings. I went to a 2500 Barton CPU and the times went down to about 5 hours. I went over to DVDshrink when I got a DVD burner and haven't used DVD2SVCD since. You can go to the Doom9 forum for more info.

[offline]

What settings are you using for Tmpgenc in DVD2SVCD ?
If you are using 2-pass then 12 hours is almost right for
your system specs. Try CQ instead of 2-pass.

[Joseph Vigo]

thank you.

What settings am I using in TMPGEnc? OK, I`ll try and remember but will probably have to check properly at home and get back to you. (I have no internet at home and have to come into university) so please check this thread later if you don`t mind?

For now, generally, I have TMPGEnc set to 2-pass VBR and Highest Level Motion Detect (very slow), and the MIN bitrates are 755 I think, the MAX is 2000 I think. I think most of the other settings are default.

I must say i am satisfied with the quality it has produced, but each of the bbmg-muxed files is over 700MB needed to fit on a CD. It has created 2 Muxed files, each about 750MB in si=ze. But then when i try to open the files in NEro to burn them (under the sVCD option) it says it has to convert the files to burn them. This conversion takes about 1 and a half hours! And the resulting file it converts to is way bigger than the original bbmg.muxed file......So..... I have had to import the two muxed files into TMPGEnc and cut them....I have tried cutting the bbmg. muxed files into 40 minute chunks, but don`t know yet if this has worked as it is still encoding at home.

ANyway, all trial and error i guess. I am burning to SVCD from DVD for cost reasons. My DVD-ROM supplier is not cheap, and I have set myself the challenge of seeing if I can make it work with SVCD as the CD`s are so much cheaper. But the big downside of all this is obviously the time factor of all this encoding/decoding/muxing/and re-encoding in Nero.

Can I use TMPGENc to do the final decoding ready for CD burning? Or do i have to let NEro do it?

OK, thanks for any input guys.

[offline]

Highest Level Motion Detect

The difference between highest level and normal when ripping
a DVD is minimal. Try normal or even fast - I'll pay your
tuition fees if you can see a significant difference.

2-pass VBR

Nice but slowww. Tmpgenc was never built for x-pass, it's strength
is in VBRCQ and CQ.

MIN bitrates are 755 I think, the MAX is 2000

Ok I'd change that to min 300 max 2520.

the bbmg-muxed files is over 700MB needed to fit on a CD

When burning a SVCD, you can fit approx 100 meg more because
of the lack of crc (error checking) in the format. With overburning
enabled in Nero you can write 810 meg or more on a standard 700 CDR -more if you buy a 99 min CDR.

But then when i try to open the files in NEro to burn them (under the sVCD option) it says it has to convert the files to burn them.

Are you using Nero Express? If so dump it! You should use Nero Burning Rom. Under Nero Burning Rom, if it asks to convert the files, you say
NO. Then simply burn away - no extra hours wasted while Express
re-encodes and reduces the quality of your mpeg.

But the big downside of all this is obviously the time factor of all this encoding/decoding/muxing/and re-encoding in Nero.

I'd say you are wasting almost half your time on unecessary re-encoding
with Nero and uneeded 2 pass encoding with tmpgenc.

[ZippyP.]

...uneeded 2 pass encoding with tmpgenc.

I don't agree that 2-pass is un-needed. If you are willing to keep the bitrate high enough and use more disks then I agree that 2-pass is not necessary. But if you're trying to keep the disks to a minimum then 2-pass is your only option to preserve quality. TMPGEnc's 2-pass works/looks good to me. I set up my project and encode overnight, the extra time doesn't matter.

[offline]

But if you're trying to keep the disks to a minimum then 2-pass is your only option to preserve quality.

Don't forget the original poster is using DVD2SVCD which calculates
the best CQ settings within a tight error margin prior to sending them
to tmpgenc. You do not then need 2-pass to obtain quality and keep discs
to a minimum. 2 pass may look better on a 2 disc SVCD, but CQ is
not far behind; and (if a 3rd disc is allowed) CQ can equal 2pass on an
80 min flick as it is close to CBR anyway.

[Joseph Vigo]

wow, thank you. nice to see people doing the same thing who know their stuff. Well, i`ll say one thing, its not simple all these options and decisions.

ok, i`ll try to be concise. I have printed off all your replies above and will study them properly at home as my time on this PC is limited.
The conversion from DVD-SVCD mentioned above has been a success, using DVD2sVCD. Downside - ? It took 3-CD`s to burn my 129min black and white DVD movie. For my next experiment with DVD2SVCD i will try to reduce the max bitrates and min bitrates as you suggest. I really think its good to try and find the maximum efficiency for VHS/DVD > SVCD, especially as much of my material is shorts, episodes, not full movies.

I am currently capturing a colour VHS movie using composite (my S-vid is broken). I am using 1/2 D1 resolution, which seems to be very good so far, from the little test i did, but we`ll see how it went when i get home. The movie is actually 4 SHort films, so hopefully i will be able to cut the final MPEG into 4 chunks in TMPGEnc, and each "chunk" will hopefully fit on a couple of CD-700MB. Or even one CD each hopefully.

Yes, you are right, my Nero program opens automatically with Express for some reason, and Ive been loading the MPG files from there. So full Nero won`t force me to re-encode? Great....what a godforsaken DRAG that was. It took forever and reduced the quality by loads. strange thing is, when I open Nero from the "Launcher" thing, it gives me an option to select SVCD, but when i try to opem the MPG (which was encoded in tmpg FOR svcd, it says it isn`t a SVCD compliant file, that`s when it starts converting it. Anyway, I`ll open Nero from the Full program from now on.


Take Care all.
thanks for your support.

[offline]

Downside - ? It took 3-CD`s to burn my 129min black and white DVD

Set for CQ and in the bitrate settings tab set as I suggested but
change the max file size. Depending on your version of DVD2SVCD
it may look in part like this

Size CD No

800 1
800 1
800 2
800 2
800 3

if so change all the CD No to 2 to limt the output to two cd's

800 2
800 2
800 2
800 2
800 2

or on other versions of DVD2SVCD you will just get 1 filesize, so
change that to 1300 to fit on two CD's.

DVD2SVCD should then do a series of 10 minute tests with tmpgenc
to determine the best CQ setting for your project. Sorry no pics
as I have not used DVD2SVCD for at least a year now.

[Joseph Vigo]

Just caught your reply before i left. thanks a lot. I will take home a print off of your reply and go through it at my compter....great