A Bad Frames Tale....

[Deepdale Duck]

Here's my scenario,

I've downloaded cd1 and cd2 of a certain film. They are both XVID format.
I frameserved cd2 no problems and have created a pal vcd mpg out of it.

However cd1 will not frameserve (VDub+TMPGEnc) so I change my environmental settings (TMPGEnc) for XVID and it crashes after 54:54 of the film's runing time (cd1 is 1hr27min). OK, so it must have bad frames.

I scan for bad frames using VDub, it chugs along then at a certain point, around the 7000 frame (I'm asuming roundabout 54:54) it zips to the end real fast and finishes without error. It tells me I have 588 bad frames! OK, I can lose 30 seconds.

I save out the video and audio as per KingJohn's guide. The resulting file though is much smaller and guess what, the video stops at 54:54 but the audio carries on regardless!

I now try different versions of VDub, 10, 12 14 - the latest version, all exactly the same problem! Now the guide also mentions VDub MP3 Freeze, but I cant find it anywhere! (using the links provided and doing some p2p searches) - if anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be grateful.

So I'm a bit stuck, but I really want this film. So what I've done now is to use the Source Range option in TMPGEnc. I create a VCD MPG up to about 54:50 of the film. Then I'll create another VCD MPG from about 54:56 to the end of the cd1 (this is where I'm upto - if it crashes again, I'll create another part and so forth)

Now my question is this, can I bung all these mpg's I've created into MPEG Tools>Merge & Cut feature of TMPGEnc, including cd2 and create one huge file from it? (obviously then I'll want to split it 3 ways for VCD's)

Will they merge ok? I've never done it before, what will happen with the sound? Anything? Or will there just be a slight blip in the film where a few seconds have been cut?

Any help or other suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Knut_Norw]

When you have 3 mpg files and add them all to one movie it should just be a blip where the 6 secs is missing. If U plan to cut the movie into three disks it's a good idea to make one cut at that point if possible.

I would try another XVID codec, theres a shitload of them out on the net and I'we seen one that continues playing after displaying a bad frame. If this one is used vdub can save the movie without errors.

[Deepdale Duck]

cheers

I'll search for more xvid codecs then - there is still hope yet!

but how do I tell the difference between these Xvid codecs? The date of the dll file used for instance?

[Knut_Norw]

The easyest way I found was to look at the date of the file before download. Ususally the page you DL from has some sort of version number or "edited by Carl sept. 02" at the bottom.

Anoter way is to install the codec, play the movie in Windows Media Player, choose File, Properties, Advanced, choose the XVID codec and click settings. It will say at the bottom when it was assamled.

[Deepdale Duck]

excellent, cheers Knut

[Deepdale Duck]

FYI

Got it working, I searched for more Xvid codecs and downloaded one called Aplha Xvid.

After I rebooted my PC I loaded in the xvid avi with bad frames and it did not show a green screen like it used to on xvids (something to look out for) I converted the movie no problems via TMPGEnc, on the 3 bad frames the picture slightly cocks up but carries on.

The sound goes ever slightly out of sync, but not to spoil the film too much, but anyway after merging the second half of the flick the sound goes back to normal.

After all my cocking about, perhaps the problem was with a simple codec?
So if Xvids are p***** you off, try and find another codec!!!