TDA3 and import

[marioval]

If I import an existing video_ts folder as my source in TDA3 to add a menu, will it re-encode the output? I don't want any unnecessary quality loss. Thanks.

[Baldrick]

It shouldn't reconvert. But I have seen some comments that it reconverts some compliant dvd mpgs.

[Alex_ander]

It re-encodes (by smart rendering) the places where another authoring software inserted keyframes for chaptering. Unfortunately you can't turn this off, sometimes this results in minor video/audio glitches. This doesn't happen when you use your own clean and compliant material and turn off 'always encode chapter points as keyframes' (each time for each track). Also if your audio is LPCM turn off (just once) encoding it to AC3 (default).

[marioval]

So could that be remedied by selecting to not import the chapter points from the TDA source wizard then using TDA to create my chapters?

[marioval]

Bump. Anyone??

[Alex_ander]

So could that be remedied by selecting to not import the chapter points from the TDA source wizard then using TDA to create my chapters?

No, it can't. If the software finds anomalities in GOPs (like a frame inside a GOP specially encoded at frame-accurate chaptering, or improperly joined clips), it re-encodes those GOPs. To prevent problems (like glitches or even sync issues) I sometimes have to preview/demux tracks in TMPGEnc MPEG Editor (imports DVD material the same way), it has much more reliable smart-rendering engine and a built-in re-encode analyzer. That's the price for comfortable menu building .

[marioval]

And what if my original source has no chapters, just a 1 hour video.

[Alex_ander]

If it has no join points, chances are good for no re-encoding, just disable 'encode chapter points as I-frames' in track settings.

[marioval]

Ok it makes sense now, thanks. I will give it a go later and see what happens. 1 last question, if there are no chapters in my source but I add then with TDA3, will it re-encode?

[Alex_ander]

If you disable the 'encode chapter as I-frame' feature, it shouldn't. But this setting is individual for each track and is not remembered for next track or project.

[marioval]

Worked like a charm. All I used TDA3 for was to add a nice motion menu with background music. The output with TDA only took about 20 minutes to create the 4.3GB video_ts folder which I'm guessing was just to create the menu since a re-encode of 3 hours of video would have taken the usual 1 1/2 hours or so. Thanks for the help and advice.