Aspect Ratio Problem

15th Oct 2001 09:35 #1

Member

Since I assume you’ve been using other encoders (TMPGEnc) and would like to switch to (or at least try out) CCE, I won’t get into ripping or DVD2AVI. Other than to state you’ll need a rip program & DVD2AVI. If you don’t know how to use DVD2AVI get back to me.

First of all here’s the programs I use: Smart Ripper, DVD2AVI, AVISynth, TMPGEnc, tooLame, VFAPI Converter, bbMPEG, DVTool and of course Cinema Craft Encoder 2.50.

Once your DVD is ripped & you’ve saved your project file with DVD2AVI, start VFAPI Converter. Click ADD JOB in bottom left corner. Load your .d2v file, leaving the settings as they are in the window that will open up. Press OK and the window will close with your selected file in the main window. Press CONVERT in bottom right corner. It only takes a few seconds so don’t worry that something went wrong. It just writes a file to direct the “fake” .avi to the .vob files.

It doesn’t matter if you do the audio or video first, but I’ll explain the audio first.

Start TMPGEnc. On top in the OPTION menu go to ENVIROMENTAL SETTING and choose EXTERNAL TOOL. Under EXTERNAL AUDIO ENCODER checkmark LAYER-2. On the right hand side click on BROWSE and give the location where you have TOOLAME.EXE (NOT tooLame32.exe). Close the window to go back to TMPGEnc. Open under video AND audio source your project files from DVD2AVI (it’s better to load both to avoid any sync. Problems even if the video isn’t being processed). Since you only want to process the audio, check AUDIO ONLY on the right hand side (notice how the output file changes to .mp2. Although tooLame will encode the audio it’s doing it through TMPGEnc so you need to go to SETTINGS and set the audio to your taste. Close that window and press START. A temp. .wav file will be made the tooLame will open up it’s on window and start encoding your audio. When finished (it’ll say DONE) close the tooLame window and WAIT a second until TMPGEnc realizes it’s finished encoding.

Now to AVISynth. The first thing is to create an .avs script. Create a new text document somewhere on your HD (I use the partition I encode to) naming it whatever you want. The important thing is to choose ALL FILES under file type and save it as .avs NOT .txt. If you did it right it should be an unknown file type. If it’s a text file Icon, go to folder options in explorer and under VIEW uncheck hide all known file types. Then go back and delete the .txt extension to your .avs file. Windows will warn you, but YES you really want to change it. Now you’ll need to write your script so it will open the “fake” .avi file created by VFAPI Converter. Open the .avs file and add the following lines:

AVISource(“C:\abcd_vfapi.avi”)
BicubicResize(480,576)

Under AVISource of course add YOUR files complete location, including subfolders the path. And yes, use the quotation marks too! Under BicubicResize enter the size of the norm you’ll be encoding. I use PAL, for NTSC it’s 480,480. There are a lot more commands you can use, but this will be all you need to get started. Check out the AVISynth site for all the various things you can do besides just loading your source and giving it the right size.

Now it’s CCE’s turn. Start CCE and in the window that opens right mouse click and click on the ADD button that appears. Change file type to ALL FILES and load your .avs file. If everything was done right you’ll see the file in the window along with the correct time. If it only shows a duration of 10 secs. than CCE is not properly cracked. You can also try loading a real avi (or even just the vfapi.avi) and then reloading your .avs file. If you get an error message than either AVISynth is not properly installed and/or your script has errors. Make sure the AVISynth is copied to the Windows\System directory (System32 for NT & Win2k) & you double clicked the install file. Check your script for errors. It’s easy to forget to add a quotation mark or not give the EXACT path of your VFAPI.avi. Once you have your file in the window double click it to open up the settings window. First and foremost uncheck AUDIO FILE under OUTPUT FILES in the middle of the window. You’ve already done that part! Choose ES (should be by default). If you only want to use 1-pass encoding you can also uncheck the VIDEO INFORMATION FILE. Under VIDEO ENCODING MODE select how you want to encode, ie; 1-pass VBR or Multi-pass VBR. The opens up the settings area just below that. That’s where DVTool helps. Among other things it’s a very accurate bitrate calculator. Adjust these settings to your needs. If you’ve encoded a movie before it should be self-explanatory. Under that section are 3 buttons (4 actually but the AUDIO should be greyed out. If not UNCHECK the AUDIO FILE OUTPUT above. Under QUALITY settings you can adjust how well it encodes complex scenes. If your source is DVD you don’t need to use ANTI NOISE FILTER. Don’t know anything about the GOP settings so you can leave that unless you know what you’re doing. Under VIDEO everything can be left as it is unless your source is progressive (should have seen it using DVD2AVI). If your source WAS progressive check the PROGRESSIVE FRAMES box. If you think everything is set to how you want it click OK and that brings you back to the main window. All that’s left is press ENCODE! Then of course WAIT…
After encoding you’ll need to multiplex your .mp2 and (from CCE) .mpv files together. Start bbMPEG (the AVI2MPG2.exe). In the bottom left press START ENCODING (don’t worry it’s not going to start encoding anything yet). In the window that open press the SETTINGS button. This opens another window. If you want to cut your movie give the time or size in the right fields under GENERAL SETTINGS. Also make sure the MULTIPLEX AUDIO AND VIDEO boxes are checked (should be by default). Under INPUT AND OUTPUT FILES you load your video (.mpv) under OPEN VS, load your AUDIO (.mp2) under OPEN AS 1 and give your file name to save under OPEN PS. Next go to PROGRAM STREAM SETTINGS and check which format you’re multiplexing (SVCD). Once everything is set click OK, which brings you back to the previous window. In the bottom left corner click START. BbMPEG will read your audio and video file, multiplex it then check the format of the multiplexed .mpg.

That’s it! You now have a .mpg file which can be burned with Nero.

15th Oct 2001 10:09 #2

Truman

Member

Why do you copy sully's post????? At least you should refer to the original topic.
This is a 4 month old topic and the guide isn't up-to-date anymore. I believe sully agree with me.