TMPGEnc Plus - toolame - 8mm to DVD

[LSchafroth]

I am getting ready to convert all my 8mm analog footage to DVD. I've been testing MCE 1.4.2 and TMPGEnc 2.52xxxx.

So far the best results are with TMPGEnc. I've been using the standard audio encoding built in to TMPGEnc. I've read on the KVCD forums that they never, under any circumstance, use the built in audio.

They either convert the stripped out WAV to AC3 and encode video only or use tooLame.exe in TMPGEnc.

Step 1: I will capture at 352x480 (never saw any difference with cap at 702x480 then resizing).

Step 2: Convert to DVD using Smurfs recommended settings in TMPGEnc, but use toolame.exe and do AC3 or MP2?? Since my campera is mono, do I choose Joint-Stereo? Do I stick with LordSmurfs settings or can I get more space from VBR or KVCD?

Step 3: Use DVD Lab to create DVD with menus and chapters and etc.

Step 4: Burn with DVD-Lab or should I use Nero 6 Ultra? (I have 6.3xxx) DVD Lab can do it and it works on my player. Not sure if Nero is more compatible results.

Step 5: Do I label the disks? I've never had an issue with sticky labels.

Anything I'm missing here? Critique me please.

[VCDHunter]

Well, your avatar is sweet

And the audio encoding in TMPGenc is poor so I use Toolame.

[daamon]

Hi LSchafroth,

Step 2: AC3 or MP2?

AC3 is universally acceptable (i.e. it's on both the NTSC and PAL DVD specs). MP2 is only on the PAL DVD specs, but is reasonably likely to be OK in NTSC-land.

You can use ffmpeggui to convert various audio formats (including that in an AVI) to AC3. I don't believe toolame does AC3 encoding.

Use this link:

http://dvd-hq.info/Calculator.html

...to help you determine whether to use VBR or not. It also has some useful info...

As for the rest - whatever works for you in relation to your questions, but looks sound to me.

Hope that helps. Good luck...

[LSchafroth]

Well, your avatar is sweet

.

I just took your suggestion of doing a reverse of yours. hehe

Where do I send my royalties??

LS

[VCDHunter]

Well, your avatar is sweet

.

I just took your suggestion of doing a reverse of yours. hehe

Where do I send my royalties??

LS

Nice - send all royalties via paypal

[oldfart13]

How do you like mine? Right off the Atari service contract manual for 1986 when I used to work for them...

[LSchafroth]

How do you like mine? Right off the Atari service contract manual for 1986 when I used to work for them...

I love it!!

LS

[VCDHunter]

How do you like mine? Right off the Atari service contract manual for 1986 when I used to work for them...

Sweet

Where the heck have you been hiding ? You joined in 2000 ?

[TheFamilyMan]

I hate to rain on the avatar parade, but here's my comments:

I assume your 8mm footage is from a camcorder. MPEG2 hates hand held camcorder footage, unless you used a tripod. Even though your using 1/2 D1 resolution, try using high bitrates (8000-9000) when you do your encoding. My TMPGEnc bitrate setting for this same kind of project were CQ 90 1000-9000. Some will scoff at the high bitrate for 1/2 D1; in my tests with TMPGenc lower bitrates produced crap with my home footage. Also, I used the noise filters at about 13,1,13 without the high quality setting. This increased the picture quality measurably. High quality setting for noise reduction is a bit better, but it GREATLY (5x) increases encoding time. I use toolame also, it is much better than the built in audio compressor, though someday I may be burned by my use of MP2.

Remember, large grains of salt are always required with anyone's advice.

[VCDHunter]

Well its all well good popping in with useful advice, but where's yyour comment about the avatars ?

Bloody do gooders

[TheFamilyMan]

About the avatars - my mother-in-law worked for Atari in the late '70s here in Sunnyvale, CA (this is really a city in California). Their employee break room was pretty cool. It was filled with betas of their most recent and not so recent arcade games that played for free. My father-in-law still has a few Atari project T-shirts from that era. My avatar is a close-up of the Exotica girl on the cover of Martin Denny's Quiet Village LP from '59. What absolute useless but fun information this small talk is....

[oldfart13]

A friend here owns the last arcade in the city as well as the machines at the movie theatre chains. I get free tokens to play them all. He has a warehouse full of old games. I get my Street Fighter III arcade videogame and Fish Tales pinball fix everyday...

[daamon]

MPEG2 hates hand held camcorder footage, unless you used a tripod.

TheFamilyMan, I feel the need to clarify this statement as I feel it's misleading as it is. I'd be more inclined to say "Poorly shot hand held camcorder footage (i.e. panning too fast, quick / excessive hand-wobble, zooming in / out too fast etc.) will (or is likely to), when encoded to any other format (including MPEG2), cause a degradation in quality. This can be overcome by the operator not doing the things mentioned, and aided by a tripod.

I regularly shoot footage on a DV cam without a tripod and don't have any problems after encoding to MPEG2.

Even though your using 1/2 D1 resolution, try using high bitrates (8000-9000) when you do your encoding. My TMPGEnc bitrate setting for this same kind of project were CQ 90 1000-9000. Some will scoff at the high bitrate for 1/2 D1; in my tests with TMPGenc lower bitrates produced crap with my home footage.

If you're not familiar with it, check out "GIGO" in the Glossary. Referring to the same DV cam footage I mentioned above, I encode this with 2-Pass VBR in TMPGEnc min 2,000, average 6,000 and max 9,000 @ 720x576. This is typically lower than the bitrates you quote and you're only using 1/2 D1.

Not being rude, but I'd suggest that it's the quality of the source (i.e. the things I mentioned above that cause problems) that is requiring your settings, not because it's from a DV cam that hasn't used a tripod.

Remember, large grains of salt are always required with anyone's advice.

Nice disclaimer...

[TheFamilyMan]

Thanks for your clarifications. I would agree that my source probably suffers. It was shot in the '90s using a '90s vintage Sony middle of the road 8mm camcorder. We're not into excessive zooms or pans, though there is usually a tiny bit of "sway" in most of the footage. I've always been puzzled why such high bit rates with 1/2 D1 were needed to achieve "perfect" quality. I also made the assumption that CQ will do its job. The footage that I've shot using a tripod is about 45% the size per time span as the hand held footage.

The only reason I posted this was the statement "8mm analog" in the original post. I am sharing my experience with 8mm analog camcorder footage. All I know is from my experience with my equipment. I started out using the guides and suggestions in this site and experimented until I got the quality I wanted. The best advice for anyone looking to perfect their video project: learn, be patient and experiment, experiment, experiment (thank goodness for DVD+RW).