AviSynth & TMPGEnc Trouble- Audio/Video Sync Off!!!

[F-ING HOSTILE]

Hi- For some time now I have been attempting to copy a 2.35:1 DAR widescreen movie, while retaining the original aspect ratio (720x360), as opposed to using the standard 16:9 1.85:1 (720x480) ratio forced apon you by the software programs. With the kind help of replys to previous posts, I learned that this could be acomplished through the use of AviSynth. I have a basic understanding of AviSynth, and was able to write a resizing script I felt would work.

As a test I decided backup my copy of Star Wars Ep.2. I ripped the main movie files using DVD Decrypter, and then ran DVD2AVI (I used v1.76 for simplicity sake). I opened "clip & resize" and changed my top and bottom sizes 60, giving me the 720x360 ratio I wanted. DVD2AVI left me with a 720x360 d2v, and my 3_2 DD AC3 file. I wrote the following AviSynth script to size and add borders to the d2v:
LoadPlugin("MPEGDecoder.dll")
mpegsource("movie.d2v")
bicubicresize(720,360,0,0)
addborders(0,60,0,60)
I then opened TMPGEnc and loaded the avs script. It seemed to work perfect. TMPGEnc recognized it as a d2v 720x480. Great!! AviSynth had done it's job by managing to provide TMPGEnc with a 720x480 video (which was actually 720x360), leaving TMPGEnc none the wiser. TMPGEnc then provided me with an M2V file that read MPEG2-video 16:9 (720x480) while actually viewing 2.35:1 (720x360). I could now compile the DVD using this M2V (with the original ratio I wanted), without getting a "Illegal Resolution" error. I assembled the project with DVDMaestro, adding my DVD2AVI AC3 file and chapters (from ChapterXtractor). Everything went as usual, without errors. I then burned the movie using GearPro (as I usually do).

At first, the DVD seemed to be perfect. The 2.35:1 video looked exactly the same size as the original (without stretching into the "long faced", 1.85:1 (720x480) widescreen that seems standard for 16:9 copies). The chapters were exactly the same too. I'm thinking, "I've FINALLY done it", then I noticed the audio and video were not in sync. Near the beginning of the movie the video was around 12 seconds ahead of the audio. This gap seemed to widen as the film progressed (nearly 30 seconds difference towards the end). After viewing it for a while, I occasionally noticed colored pixelation, and there were a few spots that froze, then skiped (which may have been due to a dirty DVD-RW)..

I'm fairly sure the problem is in the video, as the AC3 files provided by DVD2AVI have always worked perfect. I'm guessing the problem lies either in my AviSynth and/or TMPGEnc settings, or the order in which I chose to resize the video. All my TMPGEnc settings have remained the same, from previous successfull encodings(MPEG-2 Video,720x480,16:9 display,23.976fps internally 29.97,automatic VBR,MP@ML,NTSC,3:2 pulldown,4:2:0,8 bits,non-interlaced,bottom field first,16:9 525,full screen,1 5 2 1,force picture type settings). I'm betting I need to correct a setting in which I altered the speed/rate or sync of the video. Mabye the "bicubicresize" command in my AviSynth script was the wrong choice. Perhaps I should encode the d2v directly from DVD2AVI to TMPGEnc, and then run a script on the resulting M2V for my compilation. DAMN, I was so close Hopefully it's just something simple I overlooked Any advice would be greatly appreciated
THANKS!!!

[F-ING HOSTILE]

I've figured a few things out since I posted this plee

1. I misunderstood the DVD2AVI guide I was basing my resizing on. You use the "clip & resize" to determine the peramaters you want, but don't save the project with the resized settings (just save like normal with 720x480). I'll bet applying the script changes to an already resized d2v caused the video problems I was having.

2. I'm new to AviSynth. I used the MPEGDecoder plugin, when I should have used the MPEG2DEC plugin. This may also have caused some problems with my encoded M2V (because I was using the wrong filter to framesever the d2v TMPGEnc encoded).

I've corrected these mistakes and have just started TMPGEnc encoding another M2V. I previewed the encoding file, and it already looks a lot better than the previous one. Hopefully this will correct the problems I was experiencing.

I still welcome any advice! THANKS!!