MPEG encoding problems in MovieFactory & TMPGenc

[jtalpur]

I’m having big problems with some MPEG-2 files that I want to put onto DVD using Ulead MovieFactory. I’ve successfully made 2 DVDs using my methods so far, with no problems. With my latest batch of input MPEGS however, MovieFactory is just not accepting them. Even Windows Media Player takes almost a full minute before it can play these files too.

Since the files I used to make my first 2 discs came from a similar source to these latest MPEG-2 files, I was puzzled as to what the difference was between them. Then, on checking one of the new files against one of the old ones in WMP, I discovered that the old files (which were all accepted by MovieFactory & TMPG) were being played using the MainConcept MPEG Video Decoder, and the new files (which just won’t load into MovieFactory) were being played using Ligos MPEG Video Decoder. After some checking I was able to uninstall the Ligos MPEG Video Decoder using DXMAN, but then the files didn’t play in WMP at all. I just want to get the files into MovieFactory so that I can re-encode them with the corrected audio.

Since trying to change the default Video decoder didn’t work, I then tried to simply convert the files to the correctly-sized mpeg-2 files using TMPG, with the intention of simply putting these files into MovieFactory, and telling it not to re-encode them again. However, TMPG will not accept these mpegs (or their original VOBs) either, so there is obviously a fundamental difference between the mpeg-2 files I started my discs with, and these new ones.

All I want to know is what method (preferably using TMPG) I can use to re-encode them to the bitrate I require to fit them on a disc, and what exactly is it that makes them different from most other mpegs in the first place?

Jon

[video-phile]

What I have experienced working with tmpgenc is that if you do not start with project wizard that helps with setting default values for DVD-compliant files, your mpg output clip will not be accepted by tmpgencDVD / DVD architect would reencode it.
Actually in GOP structure tab, tmpgenc (if configured for DVD) sets a value in "max number of frames in a GOP". Old versions of tmpgenc lack this setting. Good luck.

[Specialist]

1. Which application was used to create the new batch of MPEGs?

2. What are the properties of the new MPEGs?

In other words, I sometimes work with MPEGs that have the following precise properties for video/audio:

NTSC drop frame (29.97 fps)
MPEG files
24 Bits, 704 x 480, 29.97 fps
Field Order B
(DVD-NTSC), 4 : 3
Video data rate: Variable (Max. 8800 kbps)
Audio data rate: 256 kbps
MPEG audio layer 2, 48 KHz, Stereo

How do your new MPEGs compare?

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[jtalpur]

These new MPEGs were actually made by demuxing the original VOBs with TMPGenc (that much it can do). However, when attempting to open either the demuxed MPEGs or the original VOBs with TMPGenc in order to actually re-encode them to the video bitrate I want, it won’t open them at all, saying that they are unsupported with the program. This hasn’t happened with all other MPEG and VOB files previously, and I’ve been able to convert them to the required bitrates easily.

Anyway, the actual properties of the MPEGs are:

PAL drop frame (25 fps)
MPEG files
24 Bits, 720 x 576, 25 fps
Interlaced (I couldn’t find a way of getting the field order info, although the original files I converted were field order B)
(DVD-PAL), 4 : 3
Video data rate: 8000 kbps
No audio – I just tell TMPGenc to demux the vobs but leave out the audio, as I will dub the clips with new audio with MovieFactory.

Apart from the video data rate of the previous files being 7800 kbps, I could see no difference between them, even though there obviously is one that I am missing. It’s hard to find out any more specific info on these new MPEGs, as not many programs will open them. Only DVD player software opens them flawlessly at the moment.

Another thing is that with the first set of VOBs I demuxed in TMPGenc, I consistently got error messages saying that the MPEGs may not play properly. With this second set of VOBs, I get no such message, yet the resulting files seem to be totally incompatible with everything I’ve tried so far.

Jon