VCD to DVD (Please check my process)

[rocker68]

Hey all!

I have a lot of small mpeg-1 files created by a video camera that I am converting to play on my standalone dvd player. I have followed several guides, and have successfully burned a few, (not the greatest though) and am confused about a few things. I am new to this and feel a little overwhelmed.

Here are the source file specs according to AVIcodec:

File: 157 MB (154 MB), duration: 0:25:07, type: MPG, 1 audio stream(s), quality: 28 %

Video :134 MB, 750 Kbps, 25.0 fps, 320*240 (4:3), MPG1 = MPEG 1 (VCD), Supported

Audio :20 MB, 112 Kbps, 48000 Hz, 2 channels, 0x51 = Mpeg-1 audio Layer 2 [0xc0], Supported

Okay, my process:

I demux the source using TMPGenc

Load tooLame and SSRC into TMPGenc. I set the audio file to encode to "ES audio only", change the audio frequency to 48K, and am not sure what the bitrate should be set at. I think I used 384.

The video file turns out to be these specs in TMPGenc:

DVD NTSC (MPEG-2 720x480 29.97fps CBR 6000kbps, Layer-2 48000Hz 384kbps) using stream type ES (video+audio)

Encoding seems to take a about an hour and a half on my Athlon 64 3400+ with 1gb of ram. And it takes about 2 hours if I just drop the source files into DVD Movie Factory and let the program take care of it.

I then load the files into TMPGEnc DVD Author and burn my dvd. Picture doesn't seem to be TOO bad, but I think it could be MUCH better

Please suggest what I could be doing wrong or areas of improvement. Am I converting at too high resolutions compared to the source files? Should I be shooting for 352x240 since it's closer to the original source files?

THanks a lot in advance for any suggestions or beats on the head!

[jimmalenko]

Here are the source file specs according to AVIcodec:

File: 157 MB (154 MB), duration: 0:25:07, type: MPG, 1 audio stream(s), quality: 28 %

Video :134 MB, 750 Kbps, 25.0 fps, 320*240 (4:3), MPG1 = MPEG 1 (VCD), Supported

Audio :20 MB, 112 Kbps, 48000 Hz, 2 channels, 0x51 = Mpeg-1 audio Layer 2 [0xc0], Supported

Good work ! It makes it much easier and quicker when we have the stats. Thanks !

First things first though, 320 X 240 isn't VCD res

I demux the source using TMPGenc

Load tooLame and SSRC into TMPGenc. I set the audio file to encode to "ES audio only", change the audio frequency to 48K, and am not sure what the bitrate should be set at. I think I used 384.

IMO not much point setting the audio to 384 - it's certainly not going to get any better. Also, if you're using TMPGEnc DVD Author then there's no need to touch the audio - it will upsample to 48KHz for you on the fly.

The video file turns out to be these specs in TMPGenc:

DVD NTSC (MPEG-2 720x480 29.97fps CBR 6000kbps, Layer-2 48000Hz 384kbps) using stream type ES (video+audio)

Encoding seems to take a about an hour and a half on my Athlon 64 3400+ with 1gb of ram. And it takes about 2 hours if I just drop the source files into DVD Movie Factory and let the program take care of it.

I then load the files into TMPGEnc DVD Author and burn my dvd. Picture doesn't seem to be TOO bad, but I think it could be MUCH better

Please suggest what I could be doing wrong or areas of improvement. Am I converting at too high resolutions compared to the source files? Should I be shooting for 352x240 since it's closer to the original source files?

If you must convert, I would resize to 352 * 240 - you're probably making the picture worse by resizing up as far as you are ATM IMO. Also, 6000 would seem to me to be overkill for a file that is originally 750 kbps - you're not gonna improve the video simply by upping the bitrate - garbage in = garbage out. Also, MP2 isn't DVD compliant for NTSC unless it has AC3 or PCM in addition. That said, most players will still play it anyway - just wanted to make you aware of it.

[ZippyP.]

I believe you can pick the low res DVD template in TMPGEnc to achieve 352x240 resolution. That would be the one to use as already pointed out. A bitrate of 1500 should be plenty enough as well.

[rocker68]

First things first though, 320 X 240 isn't VCD res

Ahhh...! Thanks. That was one thing I was very confused about reading the various guides. I looked at the source file specs provided by AVIcodec, and saw MPEG 1 (VCD) in there. So I came here and first did a guide search for a mpg to mpg conversion guide because I read that mpg-2 format was dvd compliant. Only one result came up and it had nothing to do with my situation. I thought that was very odd considering all the mpg files out there needing encoding. So then I figured it must be a VCD format so I searched for VCD to DVD guides and 10 guides came up and most of them dealt with copying and iso's.

I'm surprised I got this far reading the wrong guides! That shows how clueless I am right now in video skills. Can anyone please point me to the right guide for my situation?

IMO not much point setting the audio to 384 - it's certainly not going to get any better.

Okay that is good to know. I was actually thinking that I could mess something up during the encoding process if that setting wasn't correct or close to what it should be.

Also, if you're using TMPGEnc DVD Author then there's no need to touch the audio - it will upsample to 48KHz for you on the fly.

And that is even better to know

So one less step to mess with is good news to me.

So basically I just need to run the mpg's through TMPGEnc, using the low resolution template Zippy suggested, and the final output would be like this:

DVD NTSC_4_3_LowResolution (MPEG-2 352x240 29.97fps CBR 1500kbps, Linear PCM 48000Hz 1536kbps)

That will give me a decent quality dvd video?

Thanks a ton both of you for the help so far

[ZippyP.]

That will give me a decent quality dvd video?

About as good as your source video, which is really all you can hope to do.

[rocker68]

That will give me a decent quality dvd video?

About as good as your source video, which is really all you can hope to do.

That's great and yes, all I hope to accomplish

Just wanted to make sure I was headed in the right direction here. Would really be a bummer if I found out months later that one simple wrong setting was costing me endless hours of encoding or recording time

[jimmalenko]

So basically I just need to run the mpg's through TMPGEnc, using the low resolution template Zippy suggested, and the final output would be like this:

DVD NTSC_4_3_LowResolution (MPEG-2 352x240 29.97fps CBR 1500kbps, Linear PCM 48000Hz 1536kbps)

Change this setting



to ES (Video only). If you've demuxed the MPEG, then you're only feeding the video through TMPGEnc, so there's no point trying to encode audio when we're not feeding any audio into it!

Then when you get to TMPGEnc DVD Author, specify the video file you've just created as the video, and the demuxed audio as the audio, and it will do it's thing for you.

[monzie]

Are you sure you want NTSC? Your mpeg fps is 25fps...where do you live in the world (country)?

320 X 240 is usually an .avi resolution, was it an .avi originally then someone has (incorrectly) converted it to mpeg1? That bitrate also sounds very low for mpeg more like avi to me (possibly quicktime?).

I aint saying it IS an avi but which camera (make/model) captured the footage?