MicroMV to DVD conversion problems

[Svuppe]

Hi.
I am trying to figure out a way to convert my MicroMV recordings to be recorded on a DVDR. But it doesn't look too easy.
I am first converting my MMV files to MPEG2, no problem here.
But these MPEG2 files are around 9-10 Mbit/s and that is (as I understand it) a bit too much for DVD players.

I have tried NeroVision Express 2 (from Nero 6), but it transcodes the files very, very fast, and the resulting output isn't converted down in bitrate, despite my configuration.

Then I tried TMPGEnc. It crashes while trying to read my original MPEG2 files. It has something to do with claud.ax (audio decoder from PowerDVD I think).
I can make TMPGEnc work by frameserving from VirtualDub-MPEG2. The result is very good, but it takes forever to make good quality files.

Then I tried CCE Basic, after reading about it in this forum. The saying is that it should be about as good as TMPGEnc, but not with my testfiles. CCE was noticeably worse than TMPGEnc. Am I doing something wrong here? Any classic noob-mistakes?

And then just for fun, I tried Ulead VideoStudio 7 (my usual video editor). I keep hearing (reading) that Ulead is way worse than TMPGEnc. But after I played a bit with the MPEG2 settings in Ulead, I was able to make good quality files, comparable to TMPGEnc in High Quality mode. TMPGEnc is still better in Highest Quality mode.
But Ulead does it quite a bit faster than TMPGEnc, and that doesn't add up in my head. Am I (again) doing something dead wrong?

I guess my questions are:

Are Ulead really so much worse than TMPGEnc? And in what way? Because I can't see it.

And are there perhaps some other way I can convert my high-bandwidtg MPEG2 files to DVD-compliant files. Some way I've completely overlooked?

[dcsos]

I don't know the answer but have you tried SHRINKING the overall size with DVD SHRINK, after building a overly huge DVD?

check these tool for MICROMV conversion
http://134.102.55.200/haupt/SonyIP7_to_MPEG2-PS.htm

[Svuppe]

Hey. Never thought of it that way around.
I just don't think my authoring program will allow me to build an oversize DVD on my harddrive. But if DVD Shrink (or some other similar program) will shrink the native MPEG2 files before authoring, then that might be it. I'll try it tonight.

[dcsos]

Good luck..I ask because ARCHITECT sometimes cautions you, but will build a too huge project like that , of course, to the hard drive...
My DVD also will warn you, but will proceed

[Svuppe]

I finally tried to use a shrinking program, but the quality wasn't quite comparable to TMPGEnc.
I have played a lot with settings in various encoders, and I've reached the conclusion that TMPGEnc will be my encoder to be.

I got CCE Basic to generate some really good quality output, almost as good as TMPG and quite a bit faster too. That compares somewhat better to what I've been reading around here. But I am having some problems playing CCE files. I can't seem to seek around in the file, nor can I play it at anything but 1x speed (no slowmotion, no fast forwarding). Well, not in PowerDVD anyway.

[VCDWotcha]

I've got the same problem.

I'm trying to burn MicroMV2 Avi's to DVD but nerovision's output is quite rubbish. I've not tried TMPGEnc as yet as I've really no clue what settings to use.

As MicroMV2 AVIs are interlaced do you have to worry about field order ?

Also due to the interlacing of the source video, would a better quality output be reached if the source was deinterlaced some how to produce a progressive frame before encoding to mpeg2 ?

Also how do I extract the Audio and encode it to AC3 so it plays through my digital output ? Is there a guide somewhere ?

[Svuppe]

Yes, I've scrapped NeroVision almost immediately after trying it. It is clearly a beta with quite a few issues yet to be worked out.
As for TMPGEnc settings, I have followed the guidelines from this page:
http://dvd-hq.info/Compression.html

Field order can be an issue, depending on the software. TMPGEnc encodes without any problems. Either it detects it automatically, or the default settings just happens to be correct. Ulead Videostudio is another story. The built-in, premade setting for DVD compliant output produces the wrong field order. So instead I have to use customised settings every time. But once you know it, it isn't a problem.

I can't really give any ideas about deinterlacing. My final output will be a DVD that is to be viewed on a TV. So I keep all the processing interlaced as the TV expects an interlaced signal. I think that deinterlacing, and then later on in the process re-interlacing the movie, can only destroy some information, not preserve it.
If your final product is to be viewed on PC's only, then that may be a completely different story. But I don't know.

The audio can easily be extracted with the MPEG tools in TMPGEnc.
But I live in Europe, and therefore I am using PAL, not NTSC. And that means that all DVD players over here does support the MPEG1 layer 2 audio that is in the original MicroMV stream. So I haven't got the need for AC3. But I've seen it mentioned in the Audio forum. Someone over there will be able to help you with that.

Just as a footnote: I have stopped using TMPGEnc for my encoding needs. Not because it doesn't work. It does, and very well too. But it is quite a bit easier just to do it all in VideoStudio. With TMPEGEnc I had to demux the movie from VideoStudio, load the video in Virtualdub for frameserving, or else TMPGEnc won't read it. Then let TMPGEnc encode the movie (very very very slow). Then remux audio and video, and finally load it back into VideoStudio for DVD authoring.
TMPGEnc does make slightly better quality output in most situations (I do have a small clip that Ulead actually does better), but it is barely noticeable on the TV. And Ulead encodes a 1-hour movie in only 2 hours, whereas TMPGEnc will need around 15 hours.

[VCDWotcha]

My ultimate aim is to display on a plasma so at some point along the way it is going to be deinterlaced. I was thinking that maybe by deinterlacing before compression would yield a better quality mpeg2. Don't know if that's possible though. Time for some experimentation I suppose.

Oh I'm in the UK too so I don't know what is wrong with my player though. It just doesn't see any digital audio tracks. Maybe it's just nero vision being rubbish.