Newbie - mpeg 2 cutting by scene and file size - help

[b7]

I'm a beginner so please take it easy

I have searched for the answer but to no avail.

I have a mpeg2 file saved from DVB satellite, and want to put it on 80 min CD's, but I want to cut it at the best viewing points, i.e. where one part dissolves into a new subject. Is there any tool that will let me see the file size and the scene at the same time ? I understand it is about 800 Mb for each disc ?

I can cut in TMPGEnc but can't see the file size.

b7

[jonywinf]

would like to know the answer to this myself

[bilbogod]

You could try playing with one of the bitrate calculators in the tools section. If your file is mpeg2 SVCD in the TMPGenc Pal standard settings (CBR) then you could be looking at about 57/58 mins for 800mb



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: bilbogod on 2001-12-19 18:02:26 ]</font>

[ngnr]

Maybe I'm missing the point here because this seems really simple to me, which usually means I don't have a clear understanding of the problem.

Is your file already in the format that you intend to burn? If it is, then you don't need to see the file size, only the time, which the TMPGenc Cut/Join tool will show you. For example, if you have a 1500 Mb file that is say 90 minutes long, then you know that you can get 800Mb/1500Mb x 90 minutes on one CD = 48 minutes. Open it in TMPGenc and use the editor to get to the scene where you want to cut making sure that it is less than 48 minutes but more than 42 minutes (so the remaining 48 will fit on CD2).

If it's not in the format you intend to burn, encode it first and then cut using the method above.

Sorry if that is totally off the mark but that's what I thought you were asking.

[b7]

Ok thanks for replies.

Iam gettting the Idea but am confused about being able to get 80 mins on a SVCD, I thought in my limited knowledge gained so far it was around 34 Mins.

Since posting I have found another couple of problems...

The file is 544 X 720 PAL. I tried to burn a portion of it in Nero 5.5 but it told me the file was not svcd compliant. I burnt it anyway, and although it played in my Cyberhome 528 it had some strange video effects, momentary glitches were a 30 mm slice of the screen near centre would move slightly sideways !

Do I need to process the mpeg2 file to 480X720 ? If so how?

In my first attempt I had a 790 mb file which grew to 820 in Nero's file window, I assume because of the SVCD overheads. I then cut out a smaller file and burnt it as above. Is the file size increase normal ?

Thanks folks, and Merry Christmas.

Al

[ngnr]

There is a very good SVCD guide here http://www.vcdhelp.com/tmpgencsvcd.htm
and a VCD one here http://www.vcdhelp.com/tmpgenc.htm. Read those and it will become a lot easier.

For SVCD it should be 480x480 NTSC or 480x576 PAL and VCD is 352x240 NTSC and 352x288 PAL.

[b7]

OK if I want to trancode this file to 480 X 576 what would be the best tool to do that.

Thanks

[ngnr]

Well, sorry if this sounds rude but you should start reading the advice that you have already been given. In my previous post I gave you one suggestion for what many consider to be the best encoder to do precisely what you need.

[b7]

Point taken, have already read and tried it,but it seems very slow. I was wondering if there was a faster alternative for just changing the size. I am also assuming that the video will then look a bit distorted if I change it from 544 X 702 to 480 X 720.

[ngnr]

Yes, it can be a bit slow but the results can be quite good. Try to be patient, although it can be difficult waiting for that encode! I usually let it go overnight.

There are other faster alternatives but all of them involve spending more money. Cinema Craft is very fast and also very expensive. LSX 3.5 is faster than TMPGenc but I find it is blockier and it also costs. Some people use Panasonic but that is only for VCD and again, is not free. There is also one from Ahead for Nero but I have not tried it. I think there is a demo for LSX and CCE and depending on your inclination, your ingeneuity and your scruples, you may be able to find non-demo versions for "less than cost" so to speak.

As for the size, for SVCD it must be 480H x 576V for PAL, not 480x720. If it's not, then it's not SVCD. It should not look distorted when resized; it should look just fine. Many people actually capture in higher than final resolution to aid in smoothing the video and to get more detail to work with in the source.

BTW, what CPU are you using? That is the single biggest factor in encoding, all things being equal.

[b7]

I will get the size correct yet My machine is slow by new standards ( PIII 650 256mb DRAM ) but I am considering build a new one and have looked at maybe 2 X duron 1200 MHZ as a start on a Dual Mobo. They got a geat write up in TomsHardware.com especially for video and mp3 manipulation.

Now a strange problem back to the original thread...

I got a nice program from http://www.offeryn.de called PVAStrumento. It is mainly written for PVA files off the Sat PC cards, but also processes off air MPEG2 files. In this setup you can set the split of the file to various sizes depending on the format you want to create. The setting for SVCD is 792 Mb. When I try to burn it in Nero I see it is around 900 Mb.

Have I missed a setting in Nero for the CD? I did check and the disc is correctly identified as a 80 min CDRW. I also chose SVCD from the templates.

Am I making life difficult for myself )