Joining .m2v's for DVDAuthor

[wrawlind]

I want to put a couple of DV-AVI files onto DVD. Tried to use Adobe Premiere Pro's Media Encoder but I think the .avi's were too big, and they made Premiere freeze up during the export to .m2v process. So I broke the .avi's up into smaller .avi's, and then exported each of the smaller .avi's into .m2v's with Premiere Pro.

I need the .m2v's to play without pauses between them, so I can't just add them in DVDAuthor each as separate titles. I joined the .m2v's together using both mpgtx as well as TMPGEnc, but for some reason DVDAuthor doesn't like the concatenated file created by either program. It gives me an error during the authoring process, and the resulting DVD plays only the first .m2v of the batch before returning to the menu.

Is there a better way to join .m2v's? Is there a better way to make DVDs from large (~3.5Gb) .avi's?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
-R

[manono]

Hi-

Is there a better way to make DVDs from large (~3.5Gb) .avi's?

Yes, frameserve using AviSynth. I encode 15-25GB lossless Lagarith AVIs all the time using CCE.

[mats.hogberg]

...or just load them into "any" dedicated mpeg encoder like TMPGEnc or mainConcept or...

/Mats

[wrawlind]

I tried to frameserve with AviSynth and TMPGEnc with my 3.5 Gb file. Everything was going really well, and then about 3/4 of the way through with just 7 of 30 minutes left, TMPGEnc just disappeared without a trace. Subsequent attempts to frameserve yielded various error messages. Could this be a problem with memory? I'm running a Pentium IV 3.0 GHz with 3 Gb RAM. I have the /3Gb option enabled in my boot.ini.

I've already tried to convert the .avi's straight to mpeg-2 with TMPGEnc but it crashes during the "analyzing" stage on VBR and within the first few seconds on CBR.

[mats.hogberg]

Possibly a CPU temp problem (but that should bring the whole computer down, not just the app in use) but coulkd also be a problematic spot in the source file.

/Mats

[wrawlind]

Tried frameserving with AVISynth and CCE and it worked like a charm. Thanks for the tip!

On another note, I had about 12 encodings to do (testing out different bitrates) and during these encodings I did manage to crash CCE about 3 times--once with a BSOD, and twice where the program just gave up and disappeared. ???

[manono]

I think I'm with Mats on that one. Sounds like a hardware problem to me. I don't suppose you're overclocked, are you? Even if it's stable in gaming, or in other CPU intensive apps, nothing stresses a CPU quite like a video encoding session. If these crashes happen randomly, as opposed to happening at the same place every time, it's almost certainly hardware related.

My guess is also temps. Do you have a way to monitor the CPU temps, maybe Motherboard Monitor?

http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

And, to make diagnosis even more difficult, it could be a number of other things, with maybe faulty memory next on the list.

To confirm overheating, one way is to take the case cover off and blow a room fan towards the computer. If you can encode when doing that, where before you couldn't, it's almost certainly the temps.

[wrawlind]

I think you guys were right. I picked up Motherboard Monitor (thanks for the tip, manono), and my CPU temps when encoding with Premiere were up to 74 C! I've got a Prescott P4, 3.0 GHz, no overclocking. I replaced the thermal grease on the the CPU heat sink, but that didn't really help much. I've since taken to removing the case of my computer during DVD encoding.

If I can keep my CPU temps down (I think it means putting in a few hundred $ into a good cooling system and case), theoretically I should be able to encode feature length DVDs, correct? What is the most common method for creating 1-2 hour long videos--say from editing programs like Premiere or Final Cut? Just export as a really big .m2v (assuming you have a pretty well cooled system)?

Thanks again, guys.
-R

[manono]

If I can keep my CPU temps down (I think it means putting in a few hundred $ into a good cooling system and case), theoretically I should be able to encode feature length DVDs, correct?

Yes, theoretically. 74 C is pretty hot, all right. After giving out that advice, I had something similar happen to me recently. I kept freezing or rebooting during CCE encoding sessions, and couldn't figure it out. Finally I took apart the CPU and heatsink and found a big wad of dust (a really big wad, like that stuff you find in the clothes dryer, dust all matted up) between the heatsink and fan. The CPU was getting no air at all. I got rid of that and everything's fine now. Moral of that story is, if your computer is in a dusty room, check the fans every 6 months or so.

You shouldn't need to invest any serious money in fixing it up. Make sure there's good airflow in and out. Make sure the wires and cables are neatly bundled and out of the way. Make sure you have quality fans for intake and exhaust. Get bigger ones or more of them if necessary. Even quality fans are pretty cheap.

I don't create my own videos, but reencode DVDs, so they're up to 3 and a half hours long and 4 GB in size. And yes, they're all one large MPV coming out of CCE.