How To Avoid Nero Re-Encoding If Possible

[CurtisMinBC]

Hello there,

Presently I have a Hauppauge PVR150 tuner card which I download television in MPEG2 format which is fine if I want to watch it on the computer.

The steps I take are as follows:

1. Convert to DiVx either using PocketDivXEncoder or a plug in for my PVR software.

2. Burn it with Nero (who then re-encodes it and then burns)

What I would like ideally is to avoid having Nero re-encode as it is so time consuming.

What I was hoping/wondering is if their is a way I can take my resulting MPEG2 file after my tuner card is done and then run it through a program and make it into VCD format and then just burn with Nero without Nero having to re-encode.

I know about TMPGEnc but when I was using it, it mentioned a 30 day trial for MPEG2 encoding (which didn't make sense as my files are already MPEG2).

Anyway any help is appreciated and if possible if someone can recommend free/open source tools for Windows as if I have to start shelling out money I'll just stick with my time consuming situation that I have now due to low funds.

RGDS & TIA

Curtis M.

[ZippyP.]

Welcome fellow BC'r!

VCD in our part of the world (NTSC) is 352x240 mpeg1.

You can re-encode using your original source material (after capturing at the highest resolution possible), or capture straight into VCD ready format. It's best to keep the conversions to a minimum for quality purposes. TMPGEnc is free with no time limit for mpeg-1.

If you have DVD capability then there are several other resolutions which you can use.

PS, yes you can turn off standard compliance in nero but you wouldn't want to do that if you're making a VCD from a divx file.

[inuyasha]

If you capture card software can capture directly to mpeg, then capture from tv at 352x240 directly. Burn with nero making sure the option "do not encode compliant mpeg files" is checked. Nero 6 has this option for sure. Not sure about previous ones.
No need to first convert mpeg to divx if a VCD is what you need.

[reboot]

Nonononono...the PVR150 outputs a splendid, DVD ready, 720x480 NTSC 29.97fps video.
Why would you even consider re-encoding to divx, then re-encoding again to VCD?
If you must use VCD (mpeg-1), then tmpgenc will do it. Even after it's expired, you can still use it to make VCD mpeg-1. It won't do mpeg-2 unless you pay.
Although it seems to me, like a total waste of time and quality, just load the mpeg from the PVR into tmpgenc, select the NTSC VCD template, and encode.
What a shame, really.
BTW, Nero is only good for burning. NVE is akin to WMM IMHO (is that enough acronyms for you?)
p.s. Welcome fellow B.C.'er!

[mats.hogberg]

Don't know about PVR150, but the 250 capture app (WinTV 2000) comes with a VCD preset - just capture & author!

/Mats

[CurtisMinBC]

Hello all,

Thanks for all your input, VCD is now a term I can define.

I got some help for my PVR software ([url=http://www.gbpvr.com][GB-PVR/url] and was able to get it to output to VCD (352x240 MPEG1) since I do not have a DVD burner yet.

I then use an older (freeware ) version of VCDEasy and burn to ISO and then burn with burnatonce as my Nero Express does weird things when trying to burn a CUE file.

Well thanks again everybody, I'll know by morning if it works or not and if this does then that'll be the end of this thread.

Thanks again...

Curtis

[mats.hogberg]

Yes, VCDEasy (last free version) is a much better choice than Nero for this task - and if you have burnatonce up and running, you ought to be able to burn with VCDEasy too, to avoid that extra step (even if there's no other disadvantage burning with BAO)

/Mats

[reboot]

I kinda thought the post looked familiar, and now I know where I saw it
Have you done a recording test?
Do you get an actual mpeg-1, or is it mpeg-2 still?
Is SVCD not an option for you (for some unknown reason)?