AVI to DVD -- progress hangs for hours

[bcoker]

I'm trying to convert an AVI using the DVD ffmeg preset. My AVI is mpeg4, 624x352 with mp3 audio. The only things I've changed from the preset are aspect ratio (now set to DVD 16:9) and encoding with Quicktime (letterbox checked).

After about 8 hours, progress is stuck. I should also mention that the AVI plays fine in Quicktime. I'm running 10.4.2 and Quicktime 7.0.1 on a G5 2.0x2. Surely I'm doing something wrong, can someone point me in the right direction?

Following is the text from the status panel as well as a screenshot of my summary tab.

Encoding started on Fri Aug 19 08:09:51 EDT 2005 Input #0, yuv4mpegpipe, from 'pipe:':
Duration: N/A, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0.0: Video: rawvideo, yuv420p, 720x480, 23.98 fps Output #0, rawvideo, to '/Folder/file.mpv':
Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg2video (hq), 720x480, 23.98 fps, q=2-20, 4000 kb/s Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0

[major]

Is the file.mpv file increasing in size?

[bcoker]

No, the file size was same after a certain point. I already dumped the file so I'm not sure how large it actually got, but it never got past the point in the info text above.

I just tried changing some settings and running it again. I'm using the same preset (DVD ffmpeg), but I left the video tab alone this time. I also changed the audio to MP2 and changed the bitrate to 224 kbit/s. I'm planning on taking these clips into Sizzle to author and I read an earlier post that stated I should be using this format for audio. These are the settings I want to get files to use in Sizzle correct? Perhaps there is some other file type that would be better?

So, with the new settings I've got a completed .mpv file that looks good and a wav file, but again my progress seems to be stuck. The wav is no longer being updated and my process info reads:

Encoding started on Fri Aug 19 21:36:10 EDT 2005
Input #0, yuv4mpegpipe, from 'pipe:':
Duration: N/A, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0.0: Video: rawvideo, yuv420p, 720x480, 23.98 fps
Output #0, rawvideo, to 'Folder/file.mpv':
Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg2video (hq), 720x480, 23.98 fps, q=2-20, 4000 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
bench: utime=453.054s
video:602207kB audio:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 0.003679%

thanks for your help Major.

[bcoker]

In the interest of adding even more information, I just tried to encode using these settings:

DVD ffmpeg
DVD 16:9
No QT

I get stuck at the 99% mark and (as before) I have a good mpv file with a wav that appears to be incomplete. My process info this time actually shows an error:

Encoding started on Fri Aug 19 22:13:26 EDT 2005
Input #0, avi, from 'Folder/File.avi':
Duration: 00:20:33.4, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1185 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg4, 624x352, 23.98 fps
Stream #0.1: Audio: mp3, 48000 Hz, stereo, 133 kb/s
Output #0, rawvideo, to 'Folder/file.mpv':
Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg2video (hq), 720x480, 23.98 fps, q=2-20, 4000 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
[mpeg4 @ 0x381324]header damaged
Error while decoding stream #0.0
[mpeg4 @ 0x381324]header damaged
Error while decoding stream #0.0
[mpeg4 @ 0x381324]header damaged
Error while decoding stream #0.0
[mpeg4 @ 0x381324]header damaged
Error while decoding stream #0.0
bench: utime=848.142s
video:601801kB audio:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 0.064325%

[major]

There is apparently a decoding error. However, if you previously obtained a complete .mpv file you have completed the most important step, that is, encoding the video track. You can now use the "Movie audio to mp2" preset to encode the audio separately. Then rename mpv to m2v and use the two files in Sizzle.

[bcoker]

Okay, I used the Movie Audio to MP2 preset and now when I try to bring the resulting file into Sizzle I get this:

"Some audio in "file.mp2" is not in AC3, MP2 or LCPM format"

and nothing is imported.

I also tried the Movie Audio to AC3 preset and I got this back when importing into Sizzle:

"Audio in "file.ac3" is not 48 KHz. It is not a valid DVD stream. The stream will be added, but DVD players may be unable to play it. It may also cause audio sync problems."

The audio is imported but when I export a DMG and test it in DVD Player everything is fine up until about the last two minutes then the audio goes out of sync.

Perhaps this is a Sizzle issue at this point? Should I try another app? I don't what other app I could/should use. Can iDVD do this sort of thing (multiple episodes to chapters on a single disc) or do I need DVDSP?

[major]

DVDSP would be the best choice of course.