Recommend me an all in one encoder and authorer please?

[love2learn]

Hi,

I'm looking for an all in one encoder and authorer. It must have the following features....

(1)Encode quickly with good quality.
(2) Encode straight to a dvd burnable folder.
(3) Have no low sound or out of sync problems.
(4) Be able to batch encode.
(5)And have a menu feature.

Note: I've tried WinAvi, but it produces low sound problems

[guns1inger]

Speed and quality are mutually exclusive. Quality takes time.

FAVC would fit your bill almost 100%.

1. It uses HCEnc for high quality encodes (note : quality is dependent on source - garbage in = garbage out)

2. It produces a burnable DVD structure, and can also burn directly if Imgburn is installed.

3. Is reliable as far as sync and volume is concerned. (Note : I have recently found a small problem when converting 5.1 AAC audio to 5.1 AC3. The author is working on a fix, but there is a scripting work around available in the meantime)

4. You can have FAVC stop without processing so you have the batch files available. You would have to create a master batch file to run them all in sequence.

5. It can create simple text menus similar to those created by ConvertXtoDVD.

DVD Flick is another possible candidate, although I prefer the quality of HCEnc to that of ffmpeg, which is DVD Flick's encoder.

The only downside to FAVC is speed. HCEnc is reasonably fast, but not as fast as ConvertXtoDVD. If you are prepared to spend some money, give ConvertXtoDVD a test drive. It is as fast as WinAVI, but a lot more reliable. It does not, however, produce the same quality of video as FAVC, IMO.

The simplest solution is to ditch the need for fancy menus, and buy a Divx capable player. You can do this for the same cost as ConvertXtoDVD, and it allows you to fit a lot more on each disc, without the need to re-encode. Every avi-DVD converter will produce quality that is lower (or appears to be lower) than the avi source when encoding downloaded material. Even if the encoder preserves the quality of the original, the fact that the image needs to be enlarged in most cases, and the different gamma curves of a TV versus your PC monitor means that all the flaws inherent in the source will be exposed.

[Valnar]

I'm playing with HDTV captures and converting them to DVD. I've tried FAVC, FilmMachine, DVDFlick, etc. Everything I've read says that FAVC is the best, but that's the one program which does not import my MPG files. It throws an error and says to use AVISynth or frameserve from a compatible application. Trying to do that from VirtualDub, which I've done many times before, still produces an error with FAVC. So far, I cannot get it to work.

Any tips there? I would prefer to use something that utilizes HCENC or CCE.

Robert

[guns1inger]

So create a simple avisynth script to load your video, and then encode form that.

[Valnar]

So create a simple avisynth script to load your video, and then encode form that.

A "simple" one doesn't work. If I have to analyze and optimize each saved HDTV file to work correctly, then there is no point in using FAVC. So far, I'm unsuccessful.

Robert

[guns1inger]

That's the joy of video, and why the tool you seek doesn't exist. Every video is unique, and if you want the best results you have to treat them this way. If you just want mediocre results, use an all-in-one. Perhaps ConvertXtoDVD can convert for you.

[Valnar]

I just tried Convertx2DVD and the audio was out of sync, just like DVD Flick. I'm working on the script right now for use with FAVC. I'll see if that works.

I realize with the abundance of video formats out there, especially videos downloaded from the web, that you would require extensive knowledge of every format to get the desired output. In this case, it's the two HDTV formats. It doesn't get more simple than that - I would think.

Robert

[guns1inger]

Unfortunately it does, because the broadcasters aren't consistent in how they go to air. Also, it is a lot of data to work with, and even a small glitch in the stream, while not affecting playback, can make encoding very difficult. I have an SDTV stream that is giving me similar problems at the moment. It plays fine, but everything I have tried has resulted in sync problems.

[vhelp]

Hi guys.

This is what I tried to explain many months ago -- about the hdtv stream.

That they get contaminated/glitchy during broadcasting to your computer's hd
card, and, consiquentially, the processing (if an IVTC application is applied)
results in failure, as evidenced in (usually) audio desync and/or non-smooth
video or studdering.

In HD content (as captured by one's hd tuner card) there are two major things
to look out for. And they are, what I just described above, and the other,
is time expansion or compression of the video, via re-telecining of either
the original 24p (film) video source or their *shared* video source -- the
source they all use, from broadcaster to broadcaster pool of video content.

(note, since there seems to be no specific terminology, I'll just make up an
acrynom for it -- for now -- TEC: Time Expansion or Compression)

So, if you are having trouble with your (HDTV) Film source, while seeming
pretty sure that it is pure Film (or clean Film, aka telecine) it is a good
probable conclusion that the source was either glitchy (during caturing) or
was a TEC with a new telecine pattern (and where the usual ivtc method/
application for 30i -> 24p conversion would be used, would fail on these)

There are many, many examples of such TEC type sources. Heck, last night, I
was playing around with some (quick) captures I made, (for testing for TEC)
telecine patterns, and I immediately found that the captures I had consisted
of TEC. The two example (movies) as captured from my cabletv, were:

** (AMC) -- Mission Impossible
** (A&E) -- Lora Craft: "The Cradle of Life"

..had I applied the *usual* ivtc method application, the resulting video would
have played sort of jerky or studdery, and giving the illusion that the software
tool (ie, your FAVC) were at fault, though it weren't.

Last year, I made a capture of the Movie, "The Matrix" on TBS. And they had
aired this Film source as a clean 3:2 pattern Telecine. And, it was easily
converted back to its origianl 24p frame rate via ivtc method application.

Shortly after that, maybe a few months after, when it cought my eye, I had
captured it again (cause I like re capturing things for study, etc) and
when I attempted to ivtc it back to 24p, I found that this same source as
captured off the same station, TBS, they had restreamed for TEC, and I could
not get back to a 24p video.

Now, (the above) was shear coensidence. I had just so happened to be
studying Telecining and TEC, when this fell into my lap. In fact, I even
taped it on vhs for further study and other things.

Thus, you will find that MOST made for TV shows and Movies are becoming
more and more restreamed as TEC, so that they can squeeze it into the time
slot alloted.. ie, 2 hrs, or even 1 hr, for that matter. Perhaps this is
the new standard for *everything* now. I don't know. I'm guessing at this
point. But its all very interesting, indeed.

-vhelp 4421