Decision to buy TMPGEnc

[louhall]

My trial version of TMPGEnc 2.5 is over. Time for decision to buy at pegasystems the download version 3.0 at $58.00 without the Sound Plug in AC-3. An anniversary price, so they say.

My need is to convert VCR and non-digital camcorder tapes to DVD. I have done some, found the software easy to use, didn't do any titles, menus, etc.

Some of my DVD's are DVD-RW and DVD-R. Some ended up without sound. No doubt, my error. My point here is that I am an amateur without ambitions to produce the finest.

I would appreciate your advice as to whether going TEMPGEnc 3.0 is the way to go, and without AC-3, or is there something for free out there that would be just as good for this newbie?

Many thanks. It was this forum that brought me this far. So, please make a comment.

[vcdforme]

I'll go out on a limb.
You cannot beat TMPGENC. It's the best.
Very flexible too.
Nothing better in this price range.

((my own reasons, I'd stay away from v3, and find an
earlier version, I hate the internet activation idea,
which they have recently switched to.))

I wish they'd drop internet activation, 'cause I'd really like
to buy their AC3 encoder. Oh well.
</p>

[Josef K]

...buy at pegasystems the download version 3.0 at $58.00 without the Sound Plug in AC-3...

I would stick with v2.5, for the reasons outlined above by vcdforme (and it is much cheaper - $37 as of the time of writing). Version 3 is supposed to be faster but the addition of net activation is ruffling a few feathers among those who were anticipating this new version. Besides, of the few comments by people who have tried v3, the speed increase is not so great to make you wet your knickers over it.

I would appreciate your advice as to whether going TEMPGEnc 3.0 is the way to go, and without AC-3, or is there something for free out there that would be just as good for this newbie?

Whether you need AC3 or not will depend on where you live. If you're in an NTSC region then you will most likely need to use AC3 unless you have an (guaranteed) MP2 compatible standalone and you won't rely on your discs to be able to play correctly in any other standalones. I live in a PAL region so I can get by with MP2 and know that any discs I author will be compatible on pretty much any standalone I put them in. NTSC'ers, though, are cursed with this extra annoyance.

[northcat_8]

I would have to agree with the other 2 posts. I would stick with TMPGEnc Plus 2.5, I don't know anything about 3.0 but 2.5 is the best I have found and if you want AC-3 then you can get the plugin.

I do exactly what you are wanting to do with it, convert analog VCR tapes to DVD and it's all I use.

If 2.5 is working for you, don't get creative, if its not broke don't fix it.

[nitestalker49]

I am using " TMPGEnc Plus 2.521.58.169 " and it works awesome, once you play with it for a while and learn to work with it and not fight its predesigned menu options it's really awesome and easy.

For AC3, I use " ffmpeggui 03 ", which converts almost anything into AC3.... NOW , when i do this ... as long as i go with 2 channel AC3 TMPGEnc DVD Author accepts it without the plugin. If i try to guy higher than 2 channel it creates problems. I have heard damn good sound on my surround sound system with these results. For instance I heard a Biplane coming from the left rear and fly thru my living room leaving thru the right front. Its not 5.1 but its decent enough for home videos.

[louhall]

Replies as you have made were ment for me.

As my post allowed, I am not looking for the last bit of power, clarity,
or whatever. I was using 2.5 as a trial. What I used, suited me fine.

Saving a few bucks doesn't hurt either.

I'll make my decision with good information at hand, in the morning.

[nitestalker49]

sorry, guess i just wanted a reason to brag...

[louhall]

I need more help. The trial version I had was 1.5, not 2.5. I have removed it, so I cannot double check, but I believe it was TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.5. I want to follow the advice here and hold off on 3.0. Much thanks for this continued help.

Taking into consideration my starter posts above, what is your recommendation of choice of these two items for download?

TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 @ $37.00

TPMGEnc DVD Author 1.5 @ $57.00

The above to items were found at:

http://www.pegasys-inc.com/en/shopping/index.html

[jtommyj]

You're looking at 2 different uses. TMPGEnc DVD Author ,does just that. It ONLY authors your finalized MPEG. So you are making a choice between two products that do not do the same function.

TMPGEnc Encoder encodes your native source into compliant Mpeg files FOR the authoring. So you really need BOTH of the types of products, an encoder and an authoring app.

Which ones you use are up to you but the TMPGEnc products are pretty nice for the money.


Tom

[Josef K]

Well I was going to jump in but jtommyj beat me to it. I'll expand on his post, though:

Presumably, you'll be wanting to author your MPEGs to DVD once you've converted them. If you're in the market to buy TMPGEnc anyway, you might as well download the TDA trial and see if it meets your needs. That's what trial versions are for. However, there's currently no discount for buying TDA and TMPGEnc Plus together so it can't hurt to buy them one at a time, should you decide to.

I would also recommend that if you are definitely going to buy TMPGEnc, then don't hold off too long. If they remove v2.5 from sale then you'll only have v3 to buy. Then you'll be stuck with activation and an encoder that hasn't improved greatly over its predecessor.

[louhall]

I find a 1.5 version of TMPGEnc DVD Author, not a 2.5 version.
For TMPGEnc Plus, I do find a 2.5 version. I cannot find a 2.5 version of DVD Author.

TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 @ $37.00
TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.5 @ $57.00

This is what I have done. I attached my non-digital camcorder to the Video S hub of my WinFast TV 2000 XP Deluxe using a CBVS [ S-Video, Live TV-other settings] setting and recorded a MPG file on my hard disk.
[For the audio, I connected to the sound card.] I selected the CBVS setting of WinFast because the movie was on the WinFast Screen with that setting. For the audio files from the cassettee, I only connected to the sound card.

Next, I edited the MPG file with the trial version of TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.5. and created an MPG2 file, as I remember the extension. I used audicity to edit my audio files from the mini-cassettee recorder.

Then I used a simple version of Nero Burning Rome to produce some DVD/R and RW's and a simple version of Roxio CD Creator to produce some CD-R and R.W. By simple, I mean the freebes that came with the computer.

I haven't tried to go disc with the family VCR tapes.

Please where does TMPGEnc fit into the picuture as I created the disks with only TMPGEnc DVD Author as the only software from Pegasys?

FIrst a DVD burner, then DVDX Copy, then CD/R&RW, DVD/R&RW discs.
I liked TMPGENC and I am ready to go for it, but will that do, or do I need more, or lots more.

Thanks for you patience.

[jtommyj]

The TMPGEnc encoder would come into effect because it seems most people capture to uncompressed avi using the Huffy codec or another lossless codec and then convert that source to Mpeg.

If you are already starting off with Mpeg, then that is obviously a step you can skip.

Tom

[Josef K]

This is what I have done... ...and recorded a MPG file on my hard disk...

Ah! We did not know this.

As jtommyj says (and I agree with), you would probably be much better off in the long run capping to .AVI using a lossless codec. Editing an MPEG is fraught with problems (mainly audio synch in this case) whereas editing .AVI presents no such concerns. Capping to .AVI will also afford you the possibility of better compressing (to MPEG as your final step after editing) with better bitrate management to more completely fill the disc. Capping directly to MPEG as your first step may mean you will have to either leave out portions in order to fill a disc as best you can or DVDShrink the final authored project. Neither are desirable in the long run. I don't suppose you have much say in how much bitrate you can cap to MPEG as you're currently doing?

On the other hand, if you don't plan on doing any editing and won't be capping enough to fill or overfill a disc, then ignore the above. As you were...

[jtommyj]

If your computer stats are up to date and you do plan to capture to uncompressed .avi, a larger dedicated hard drive purchase would be in order here. Just some info


Right now, you're capturing and the program really doesn't know how to distribute the bitrate on the fly because it can't "predict" where you will need more or less because it has no idea how long the capture will be or where the quality will suffer, only doing one pass . If you do it in avi and then load it into TMPGEnc, what you originally captured in MPEG at 4000 CBR may now be converted at 6000 avg. VBR and you have incresed your quality a great deal becasue there is a "set" end point. Just something to think about as you go down the learning curve.

Personally, I would go get a 160 GB 8MB cache hard drive or larger, set it up as a master on the second IDE channel, capture to uncompressed avi, convert with TMPGEnc, author with TMPGEnc and you should have much better final results after you experiment for a while.

Tom

[louhall]

I'm going to make an assumption that there is no version 2.5 of TMPGEnc DVD Author. There is the old 1.5 version that I plan to download and ignore the new TMPGEnc DVD Author version 3.0. Soon, I will give consideration to TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 whereby I would have more flexibility in the capture.

As for additional hard drive, I do have 80 gb with about 3/4 unused. I don't think I am quite ready for, at my stage, a "Gone With the Wind"
project. I don't have but 256 of RAM, but I do have a limit on what I want to invest in hardware and software.

[Please advise if I am NOT correct in assuming that the next to latest version of TMPGEnc is 1.5, the version I plan to download.]

I will bring together the posts each of you have so kindly made as I try to gain a little experience in what I am attempting to do.

I did mention that I have some VCR tapes that I wish to convert to DVDs.
In a general sort of way, will the basic mechanics of this be similar to the method I have been using in capture the tapes from my 8mm camcorder?

[jtommyj]

You are still confusing the two products. The 1.5 TMPGEnc DVD Author is the latest one. The version 3.0 TMPGENC is the encoder, as is the version 2.5 the encoder.

Good luck with your project. the 1.5 DVD Author is great.


Tom

[louhall]

Thanks jtommyj, jospfk, nitestalker49 and northcat-8-I'm coming around. [EOM]

[Josef K]

jospfk

Heh!

[jtommyj]

jospfk

Heh!

He got mine right cause I got a hot avatar !!

Tom

[louhall]

What is a hot avatar? Is that a male version of a female, "hot flash".
I said I was a newbie. Someone sent me an private message with only the word, "cheapsakte". I guess they got it right, but think about all I have learned here being "one".

I registered for TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.5. After fooling with it for a few days, I will download the thirty day trial for the 2.5 encoder. [See, I'm getting the lingo.] Then, I'll probably go for it, if I think I can use it.
I have mirovideo DRX on an old 95 computer networked to this computer for which I never used, the card, or the software.

First, I want to see if I can even copy the VCR tapes. As I said, I'm not trying to do, "Gone with the Wind", just save a little family history even though it would be a lot less expensive had I taken the VCRs to a commercial shop.

That's really not the point, I want to have some fun.

[jtommyj]

The avatar is that little picture under my name,the dark haired chick. About the e-mail, cheapskate or whatever, well kids will be kids, what can you say.

As far as copying the tapes, yes it can be done and there are some guides over to the left to help you out. It's not my field of expertise so I don't want to steer you wrong.

Tom

[Josef K]

What is a hot avatar? Is that a male version of a female, "hot flash".

He's talking about the picture under his name. What he doesn't realise is that I have an avatar - it's just too damn hot to be shown publicly!

Someone sent me an private message with only the word, "cheapsakte". I guess they got it right, but think about all I have learned here being "one".

Report that PM here if you haven't yet deleted it. (Post a screenshot of it.) Abuse is abuse - no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.

First, I want to see if I can even copy the VCR tapes. As I said, I'm not trying to do, "Gone with the Wind", just save a little family history even though it would be a lot less expensive had I taken the VCRs to a commercial shop.

That's really not the point, I want to have some fun.

Well, that's the spirit! Everyone on this site (no exceptions) was like you at one point. You're lucky to be at a site that is relatively free of 'pros' who feel they're above 'newbies'. We all have to learn and the best thing to have is the enthusiasm to gain that knowledge.

I'm sure you'll cap your tapes soon enough. If they turn out crap, press DEL, then try again. All you've wasted is a bit of time and that time will probably be spent while you're sleeping as you encode overnight. The best advice I can give is to just read, read and read some more. Then make your Gone with the Wind.

[louhall]

Today, I attempted to download the 14 day trial version of TMPGEnc. 2.5
Nothing worked out. I received error messages that stated I must be using Windows 95 or 98, something about not a '32 application. Then I received a message that my mpg2 conversion privileges had expired even though I had just installed the 2.fiver. It must be installed as windows do open for starting a project.

I decided to go ahead an buy the 2.5 TMPGEnc, but the first I wanted to remove all traces of the trial version or the two versions I may have downloaded.

I cannot find the program in the add/remove area. I do not see any files that imply uninstall. I thought I would check with support. A form came up with more questions that I could not answer as compared to those that I could answeer.

Can I just delete all of the files residing in the TMPGEnc Plus-2.521.58.169
folder that is one of many on my "C" drive and the same folder TMPGEnc
[Without out the version numbers behind it's name that is within my program folder]? More files are in the plain TMPGEnc folder within the program folder.

[vioxx]

Need to clean up your registry as well!

WinXP: start -> run -> type 'Regedit'

Searching 'Software' uner 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER' and "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE'. Delete all trace of TMPGEnc Plus-2.521.58.169 in the registry.

If you NEVER did anything like that before, better asking someone with experience to show you!

[louhall]

What next vioxx, but you are right.

The first computer code I ever wrote was fifty two years ago. Now, I
am only fifty two years behind. Then, there were only a few models of computers and only a couple of languages, as they were called. It was easy.