Half-D1 settings for TMPGEnc?

[braindead0]

I'm starting to play with Half-D1 for VHS to DVD conversion. I've got several VHS tapes that are recorded in EP (or just a bit crappy)... Things like the Hitchhikers guide the galaxy and the like. Sampled via DV passthrough to firewire.

So far, I've used Ulead DVD Workshop and allowed it to encode from DV source to Half-D1. This appeared to work pretty well (I set the video VBR bitrate to 2k-3k).

Does anybody have a settings file or a URL with good TMPGEnc settings? I'm trying Canopus procoder now as well, but it doesn't have a 'native' noise reduction filter...

Any thoughts on decent BitRate settings? What's legal for Half-D1?

p.s.: already tried searching here, didn't find anything...which I thought was odd.

[dvasco]

I use the Tmpgenc default setting for half-d1. 2Mbps video and change audio to 192 Kbps. I don't change anything. I really doubt you will see a difference based on your source if you try other settings.

[braindead0]

I don't see any presets for Half-D1... Which seems odd. Think you could post yours?

[dvasco]

I don't even know how to do that. If you know how let me know. I have Tmpgenc 2.58.44.

[braindead0]

Ah, I see there are no file uploads.. I'm running 2.59, doesn't have any half-d1... hmm

If you browse to: http://walkervision.dyn.ee/modules.php?name=Easyup, select "File to Download" from the drop-down list and browse into your TMPEnc template directory. I'd think the file name is obvious, or perhaps you could zip up your templates?


Thanks!

[dvasco]

It's one of the dvd templates off the wizard. Can't remember how I got there. I just uploaded a project file. Let me know how it goes.

[Anonymous65]

You can easily make your own half D1 template, by making a new one or modifying one.
Half D1 for NTSC is 352x480, PAL is 352x576.
For DVD creation from a VHS tape I use 352x480, 29.97 frames, 4000kb/sec, 48Khz audio at 224kb/sec. If you can live with lower quality, you can drop the bit rate all the way down to 2000kb/sec for the video.

[energy80s]

I use the same settings for 1/2 D1 but I use CQ coding instead of CBR. Bitrates are 4000 max and 2000 min with a CQ from 75 to 100 (depending on quality and length of file to fit on a CDR disc). CQ at 100 will give you about half an hour on a 700Mb disc.

[braindead0]

Thanks, I noticed the Wizard has settings for it..so I started a project with the wizard, tweaked the settings to Automatic VBR 1000 min 3000 max 75 quality for now.

Now I can save the settings and have a 'baseline'.

Thanks folks!

edit: Oops, just noticed the 'low quality DV' wizard sets the size to 352x240, should be 352x480 for Half-D1 if I'm not mistaken

anoder edit: a few more tweaks, and I think I have a proper baseline. The DVD (NTSC) wizard has the option to down the resolution to 352x480, so I did that..turned on noise reduction..changed to VBR (not automatic) 1000-3000. I think that should work well enough for now.

[dvasco]

Great. It's nice when we can get what we want. If you do dvd backups read my posts, I need help on that. Thx.

[braindead0]

Pretty new at DVD Backup myself. I've used DVDDecrypter with a lot of success. Used DVD Decrypter file mod - ripped to a directory, then used IFOEdit to clean up the IFO's and stuff. Then used ImgTools to build the image, and back to DVD Decrypter for burning. That worked like a charm in my test case (Dark City), but..the entire movie (sans menus, extra languages and stuff) fit on a single DVD+RW

[dvasco]

I am trying to find the easiest way to do the backup and keep 1 ac3 audio, subs, and chapters onto 1 dvdr and still have good quality. Encoding time is not an issue. Number of processes is a big issue. Any suggestions are welcome.

[aanbalagan]

I was wondering if someone could upload someplace a tempalte for half-d1 (352x480). For some reason, I can never resize the video in TMPGEnc, it forces me to always use the 720x480 or the 352x240 (low resolution option); the settings and change resolution stuff is always grayed out. Thanks,

Anand

[wwaag]

Anand,

Open Tempgen. Enter "Load" for a list of available templates. Then open the Folder "Extra" and open "unlock". Now all your "grayed options" should become available and you can change your resolutions and whatever. Once happy, then you can save to a template name of your choosing. Hope this helps.

wwaag

[aanbalagan]

Thanks! I'll give it a try after it's finished rendering.

[energy80s]

Usually every time you load a new video file TMPG will change the output resolution to be the same as that of the input file, so you need to change to 352x480 every time you import a new video file.

[dvasco]

If I remember correctly, when using the wizard the chosen template will determine the output resolution. I hope that helps if I am right.

[energy80s]

I never use wizards so can't confirm or deny this!

[mpb]

I'm starting to play with Half-D1 for VHS to DVD conversion. Sampled via DV passthrough to firewire.
So far, I've used Ulead DVD Workshop and allowed it to encode from DV source to Half-D1. This appeared to work pretty well (I set the video VBR bitrate to 2k-3k).

Does anybody have a settings file or a URL with good TMPGEnc settings? I'm trying Canopus procoder now as well, but it doesn't have a 'native' noise reduction filter...

Any thoughts on decent BitRate settings? What's legal for Half-D1?

I guess my old posts on this have cycled off...

I do half-D1 fairly often. I wonder if I can send you my template somehow... maybe sharing it on kazaa? Well, you can make your own easily enough. I have had AMAZING quality encodes with this... you're really going to be pleasantly surprised with the quality, especially considering the small file size. Try it with a clean AVI first just to make sure it's working well for you, and then you can use it on your older tape captures and you'll know if you're getting good encodes or not.

352x480 size of course

2-pass VBR

full screen, 4:3

max 4900, min 2000 (padded), avg 2520 <--- this is a very "magic" number for some reason in the world of mpeg-2

audio mp2 or AC3 at 192k bitrate, 48k sampling.

either leave interlaced or do deinterlace-even field.

DVD's maximum is 9800k, and at half the framesize, half of that maximum will yield the best possible file, hence 4900k. Then you just average down from there. If your DVD player is tolerant of unpadded files (lower than 2000k for mpeg-2 playback) then unpad the file and use a 0 minimum, and that will open up the top end of the bitrates for more time during your average encoding, meaning high motion scenes get even *better*.

I used to play with the quantizer and GOP structure a lot but lately I've had good results from the default tables and GOP lengths. Go figure. That's kwag's thing, really... us greenhorns should just leave it alone. heheh

Good luck in your efforts!!!