VDub-->TMPGenc Frameserve problems....

[Red96TA]

Here's the story so far:

1) ripped episodic dvd to HD using dvd-decrypter
2) converted vobs to divx via Dr. Divx.
3) sliced up episodes via VDub

When I try to frameserv the subs and video through VDubmod 1.5.10 to TMPGenc 2.52, TMPGEnc does not accept the vdr file. I ran across a thread from over a year ago and did what they suggested (move around some dll files) but it didn't work. In the last year, has anybody found a way around the problem.

FWIW, I've tried using VDub versions 1.47, 1.51, and the mod versions with no luck.

As always, any help is greatly appreciated.

[Tommyknocker]

What error message does TMPGEnc give, and did you change your priorities yet?

[FOO]

What is the Divx step for ? You are now encoding twice. Not good
What is the slice up step for ? What do you save that as ?

If you can open the video with Vdub , you should select a section
and frameserve directly to TMPGenc. The only problem should be AC3 audio
which should be converted to WAV first

Can't open VDR
that's another separate problem. Is Video-Full processing set ?
Can you frameserve anything at all to TMPgenc ?

[Red96TA]

The priority settings have already been set and the audio muxed into the video is MPG-1 format.

I'm converting to divx first then sending the avi file through TMPGEnc to convert and frameserve directly back to MPG-2 for use in a dvd...am I going about this the long way? Should I just rip the existing subs and edit them and mux them back together? If so, how would I go about doing that?

The error I get is: "file C:/xxxxxx/xxxx can not be opened or is unsupported."

I can convert the audio to something else, but haven't had a problem in the past sending vdr's to TMPEnc using the MPG stream...

Any clues?

[Tommyknocker]

The error I get is: "file C:/xxxxxx/xxxx can not be opened or is unsupported."

Just what did you set your priorities to?

[fravel]

This was published in the old digtv site and I quote:

Video Frame Serving with VirtualDub

What is Frame Serving?

Video Frame serving is the process of using one video editing application to pass video frames to another application for whatever reason. One of the main reasons for this is to use the video Editing/Filtering capability of an application and then encode the video with a second application. Frame serving is this case allows us to skip the creation of a potentially large video file and just pass the filtered frames to the encoder as is.

What options are available?

The only video frames serving application I will be covering here is VirtualDub, there are others but must of them require 3rd party utilities to do the frame serving. VirtualDub comes with two ways of frame serving your video, AVI file handler and VCM. I will only be covering VCM as this is the most compatible method of serving video.

How to instal the VCM server option?

There is a fairly straight forward step by step method for installing VCM under Windows 95/98/Me in the VirtualDub help file but Windows 2000/XP will have to use the following steps.

Windows 2000/XP only


For Windows 2000 / XP just do the following:

Copy the files vdsrvlnk.dll and vdicmdrv.dll to the
\<windows dir>\System32


Register the VirtualDub Server Codec in the registry, download the following zip file and use the VCM_2k.reg file to do this, extract and double click on the VCM_2k.reg file.


Name = VirtualDub-VCM.zip Download Now
Size = 439 Bytes
Last Modified = 20/05/2002 at 16:14:42
You should not have to reboot.

How do I use VCM frame serving?

Using VCM frame serving with VirtualDub is relatively simple but a few words on what is actually happening is required first.

When frame serving using the VCM codec with VirtualDub you are effectively using VirtualDub as a Video Codec Source. This is what happens.

You create an AVI file using a striped definition file in VirtualDub. This creates an AVI file with audio as normal but the video is set to use a special Video Codec. The video is not saved in the AVI file at all.


You start VirtualDub frame serving in VCM mode by using the word VCM as the frame server name.


When you open up the AVI file in an application the Audio is read from the file as normal but the video is read through the special video Codec.


The Video Codec makes a connection to the serving VirtualDub and requests frames from there, these frames are then delivered to the requesting application.
OK So how do I use it?

You will first need a stripe definition file to create your striped AVI output file. You should read the section on VCM in the VirtualDub help file, this will explain what it is and how to create one. There is an example vd.strip file the the zip file above for you to use. The most important thing is that you change to destination of the output.

Here is a simple strip definition file for VCM avi creation

1
0 m 131072 65536 e:\vcmready.avi

Note the location, this must be changed.

It is quite easy to use VCM frame serving.

Open the AVI file you want to serve, apply any filtering append any video segments, cut out any sections etc.

Set the Video and Audio to direct stream copy.

Then use the vd.stripe file to create the AVI file, this will direct stream copy the audio track to the destination AVI file. This may take a few minutes.

Start VirtualDub Frame serving by selecting "Start Frame Server..." under the file menu.

In the Frame Server Setup Dialog enter VCM as the server name.

When the Save VDR box appears click CANCEL, as you do not need the VDR file for VCM frame serving.
The VirtualDub frame server should now be running, to test it double click on the e:\vcmready.avi (or where ever your striped AVI file is) and it should open in Media Player and start to play. You will get a very jerky video but you should see and hear something.

You can now open the AVI file on an MPEG2 Encoder like CCE 2.64 and encode to MPEG2 for SVCD creation etc.

Limitations and other Problems

You can not resize, well you can but it is not easy, you need to edit the created striped AVI files header to show the correct frame size, this can be done manually or by using an AVI header editor. You need to set the Frame Size the the same size as the output after filtering or cropping is applied in VirtualDub.

I have created an little app to edit the AVI header, it is very crude but it works, if you are interested email me.

This quote is in the sole interest of helping you and not intended to misuse any intelectual property of the author, who, I think, is the author of VirtualVCR (not VirtualDub). I believe this is no longer available at the new VirtualVCR site. About the little application mentioned by the author you can e-mail him (if you can get his e-mail).
Good Luck and Merry X'mas!

[Red96TA]

Tommyknocker...

The VFAPI settings are as follows:

Directshow 2
AVI2 filereader 1
AVI VFW 0
CRI Sofdec 0
MS MPEG-1 Decoder 0
Wave file reader 0
AVIsynth/VDub reader 0
DVD2AVI reader 0
BMP/PPM reader -2
TMGEnc project reader -2

Methinks it might work a little better if I increase the AVIsynth/VDub reader to 1 or 2....I'll get back to you

[Red96TA]

I raised the VFAPI AVIsynth/VDUb as high as a '3' priority and it still didn't have any effect...

[Red96TA]

Solution: I reinstalled the VDub frameserve handler and now everything works just fine!!!

Thanks again for everyones help...it's days like today that I remember why I come here