What format to output from Premiere Pro to use TMPGEnc?

[Schoolbus]

It seems like many here use TMPGEnc for encoding. What is the best way to get my project out of Premiere Pro and into TMPGEnc?

I have a 1-hour wedding video that I've edited in Premiere Pro and am now looking to burn to DVD. Once I save/export it in Premiere Pro and get it into TMPGEnc, what settings do I use in that program to burn it with Nero (?).

So, Basically, I'm in Premiere Pro now, would like to use TMPGEnc, and would like help on what I need to do to at each step to get the best results onto DVD.

Thanks!
Mark

[BJ_M]

why not use the built in encoder ?

anyway -- frame serve it out with the satish frame server

[Schoolbus]

Well, that somewhat leads into my next question.... I just made this wedding DVD using entirely Premiere Pro (capture/edit/ExportToDVD), and what I notice is that the encoding appears to create shakiness. As I pan the camera from one target to another (relatively slowly), instead of it merely starting at one and ending at the next, the image seems to wobble back and forth as if you were moving a container of water from one position to the next. It sways as it starts and as it ends. It almost makes you dizzy. So, that left me with 2 thoughts: 1.) Use TMPGEnc as a friend suggested it, and that idea was further supported when I looked at the poll posted above and saw the majority use that. and 2.) Determine if my settings for Encode in Premiere Pro are reasonable. I decided to ask about #1 first. But now for #2...


When Encoding in Premiere Pro, there are a bunch of choices, but I think only 2 for "high quality" "NTSC". One is "VBR 2-Pass" and the other is "CBR 1-Pass". I don't know which to choose, but either the default was set to VBR, or I chose it at random, but nonetheless, that's what I used. I recalled someone telling me to "Maximize bit rate", so I clicked that button as well and it Calculated "9.000 Mbps".

Below are the settings I used. Does any of this seem like it's questionable? I'm just looking to put this 1-hr edited wedding video to DVD, and get the highest quality out.

Thanks in advance,
Mark



Video Summary:
Codec: MainConcept MPEG Video
Quality: 5.0 (high quality)
TV Standard: NTSC
Frame Rate [fps]: 29.97 drop frame
Field Order: None (Progressive)
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Frame Width [pixels]: 720
Frame Height [pixels]: 480
Bitrate Encoding: VBR, 2 Pass
Minimum Bitrate [Mbps]: 1.5000 (low quality)
Target Bitrate [Mbps]: 4.0000 (low quality)
Maximum Bitrate [Mbps]: 7.0000 (high quality)
M Frames: 3
N Frames: 15

Audio Summary:
Audio Format: PCM
Codec: PCM Audio
Sample Size: 16 bit
Frequency: 48 kHz

[BJ_M]

Field Order: None (Progressive) <-- incorrect
should be bottom field first

Target Bitrate [Mbps]: 4.0000 (low quality)
might be to low - use bitrate calculator on the site ..

Maximum Bitrate [Mbps]: 7.0000 (high quality)
for sure to low - use 8.600

Audio Summary:
Audio Format: PCM
Codec: PCM Audio
Sample Size: 16 bit
Frequency: 48 kHz


do not encde the audio as pcm as that is knocking down your video bitrate ... do the video only, then render out the audio and encode it to ac3 192/48khz/2ch

[BJ_M]

the encder in premiere is by main concept and can produce pretty good results -- using tmpgenc is a possability also for sure .. (but will be a bit slower)

anyway you got to get your field order correct no mater which way ..

[Schoolbus]

BJ_M,
I appreciate the help. I'd like to be sure I fully understand what you are saying...

I just realized that the Summary that I posted does not update whether or not I click on the "Maximize BitRate" button. When I clicked on that, it Calculated that it would record to 9Mbps, so I'm pretty confident that is what it was doing (I did note that when clicking the button, the required disk space on the DVD went up to max, so that makes be believe it was indeed working.) So that's good to go.

Ok, I just edited one of those settings to make my own. Below are the details. I don't think I need to alter the Audio, because I was still achieving 9Mbps, so I don't believe the audio was harming the video bitrate.

Also, I have been using "Export -> Export To DVD", which encodes and burns. I notice there is also "Export -> Adobe Media Encoder", which appears to be the same encoding options for MPEG-2 (as well as a bunch of others for Windows Media, etc). If I were to do the video only, then the audio, as you suggested, I assume this is where I would go. I presume that once I use this encoder, it saves the files in some format such that I can then burn them afterwards to DVD using Nero, etc (or maybe Premiere has burning as a separate option as well?)? If that's the case, any tips on that?

I notice you said "AC3", and I looked around and the only reference I saw to AC3 was using "Dolby" as the Audio encoding method (as opposed to my other 2 options of PCM and MPEG1). It looks like Premiere came with 3 free uses of this SurCode for Dolby that uses this AC3. Is there a different, standard way to use AC3 without this SurCode plugin?


Ok, so here's my current settings now (and with Maximum Bitate selected, it calculates this video to be 9Mbps):

General:
Disc Name: 20040910_124207
Timeline Markers: Yes
Loop Playback: No

Preset:
Custom Preset
Comment: Mark - High quality, VBR 2pass, Field=lower (max bit rate = 9)

Video Summary:
Codec: MainConcept MPEG Video
Quality: 5.0 (high quality)
TV Standard: NTSC
Frame Rate [fps]: 29.97 drop frame
Field Order: Lower
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Frame Width [pixels]: 720
Frame Height [pixels]: 480
Bitrate Encoding: VBR, 2 Pass
Minimum Bitrate [Mbps]: 1.5000 (low quality)
Target Bitrate [Mbps]: 7.0000 (high quality)
Maximum Bitrate [Mbps]: 9.0000 (high quality)
M Frames: 3
N Frames: 15

Audio Summary:
Audio Format: PCM
Codec: PCM Audio
Sample Size: 16 bit
Frequency: 48 kHz

Encoding:
Export Range: Entire Sequence
Fields: Lower
Maximize Bitrate: Yes
Force Variable Bitrate: No

DVD Burner:
Burner: W:\DVDRW IDE1004
Speed: Auto
Burner Status: Media not present.
Number of Copies: 1
Record Options: Record

[Baldrick]

please post encoding questions in the conversion forum. moving you.

[BJ_M]

yes -- those are the correct settings .. and yes , you need to use the surcode ac3 encoder for dolby (ac3) , though you could use the free besweet to encode to ac3 (but i cant promise compliance) .

[Schoolbus]

Thanks for all the help. With the "fields = lower", that got rid of the shakey/wobble that had previously been created during encoding. The video looks great now!

Thanks again!
Mark