can any one help me make sense of this

[thewingeruk]

i have downloaded several films via the net then re encoded them either using tmpgenc or letting nero do it for me .now the quality has been really poor i am trying to make a vcd pal based ie for the english systems i have decided that i must download the correct resolution first ie 352x288 at 25 fps or am i wrong can i download anything and let the reencoding sort it out ?

many thanks to anyone taking the trouble to help me

[Sefy]

Read my typing: DO NOT LET NERO ENCODE! EVER!!
Always use TMPGEnc or a diffrent enocder to handle the encoding part, Nero is great for data burning and audio and other stuff, but it is NOT a professional encoder.

[resnullius]

I hope sefy wont be too annoyed with me telling you to try with nero it's not a pro encoding tool but sometimes gives you good results. you might want to try it but if your video is not the right size you'll get a streched video. Generally speaking though if you use tmpgenc you'll get a better results faster. (make sure your settings are good and to use a high motion search precision)

[Sefy]

Oh, I won't be annoyed, everyone is allowed to choose what they like, i'm just making a recommandation on facts, and it's well known that Nero is NOT a good encoder, it's always prefered to use a encoder that was made for the job, then use a substitute.

[dumwaldo]

thewingeruk

the resolution is much less important that the frame rate. since PAL is larger than NTSC the resolution is not the problem. you can create a PAL VCD with 24 black pixels at the top and 24 black pixels at the bottom of the screen and that allows you to keep the aspect ratio from being distorted.

the real problem is that when you change a standard NTSC video with a 29.976 frame rate to PAL with a 25 frame rate most encoding processes will simply drop out 5 frames a second to get the right frame rate. this can cause visible problems in playback.

many players will play both NTSC or PAL vcd's so i would suggest trying a NTSC vcd before getting into the very complicated area of converting NTSC to PAL.

now a word about encoders. nero re-encodes your files with the most standard settings possible. it uses a preset template and offers no configuration options. even if you were willing to spend the time/effort to convert a NTSC vcd to PAL format nero's built in encoder lacks the tools required to do it properly making it impossible.

give TMPGEnc a try. it is a very powerful mpg encoder however you will want to learn some things about video if you wish to become proficient with this software. you can use TMPGEnc in a very basic state by simply loading a template and converting your video, even this will produce a better result than nero however you can use filters, or other encoding techniques that will yeild better results IF you choose to do so or find yourself wanting a richer mpeg encoder as you learn.

i need to rip off chris rock to make a simple analogy...
i can steer the car using my feet but that doesnt mean its a good idea. just because it is possible doesnt mean people should do it.

peace out,
dumwaldo