TMPGEnc Dvd author 3 problem

[prcole18]

I have been encoding & authoring to dvd for a while but I am by no means an expert.

Ok i'll try & keep this simple. I use TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 for Encoding & authoring AVI's to dvd, love it, no problem.

I am now in the middle of transfering Vhs tapes via my Camcorder to my Pc Using Virtual Dub & saving them as AVI files, again, no problem.

The first thing I what to know is if I then encode my AVI's to MPEG 2 video using TMPGEnc Plus to save space on my hard drive, will I lose much quality?? Or would you advise to leave them as avi's?

Now the main problem I am having is if I do encode the avis to MPEG 2 files, if I then want to make a dvd using TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 I cant use MPEG 2 files as TMPGEnc DVD says i can only insert the audio part of the file?
So again is it best to leave them as AVI's & make sure I have enough hard drive space?

Oh by the way i'm using Windows Vista!

Any help or advise greatly appreciated

Paul

[Baldrick]

What settings are you using in tmpgenc plus? If you use a dvd profile you should be able import that mpeg2 file in tmpgenc dvd author without any reconversion.

[prcole18]

When I open TMPGEnc plus, it asks me to select format so I chosse DVD - Pal. I choose VBR MPEG 1 LAYER II

[Baldrick]

It sounds correct.

And tmpgenc dvd author can't import those mpgs? Strange...

[prcole18]

No, I go to "add file" & it says the video cannot not be added only the audio

[prcole18]

Ok sorted it, I didnt have MPEG file reader ticked in the file input plug in.


So now, would you recommend saving the avis as Mpegs to save space, or would I be losing quality doing that?

[jman98]

AVI is just a container, so it depends on what the video codec is as to whether or not your AVI is lossy. If it's Divx or Xvid, then it's lossy. If it's MJPEG or uncompressed AVI (this will result in gigantic sized files) then your AVI is lossless. Most AVI files are not lossless.

Converting ANY format at all to MPEG is lossy because all MPEG codecs (1, 2 and 4) are lossy. Whether you can tell any difference between an MPEG encoded file and your original source depends on the bitrate you use to encode to MPEG and how good your encoder is. With proper care, it would be possible to encode to MPEG and have the final result be extremely close in quality to the original AVI.

[prcole18]

jman98
Thanx.
Im capturing using vitual dub. The last file I captured is 26 mins long & 5.46GB in size, I dont know if this is lossless or not?

I then encode to MPEG 2 using TMPGEnc Plus. The final MPEG seems very close to the original avi in quality even after editing the avi in virtual dub