Can I force Adobe Encore NOT to transcode already-compliant MPG2 video?

[ndaher]

I've encoded my movie to MPEG2 using TMPGEnc because I'm able to get near-perfect results with it. When I import the MPEG2 file into Adobe Encore to create menus and chapters, I have the option to not transcode the video. Ok great. But if I so much as add a chapter mark, or add a button to the menu, or do anything in regards to authoring, then the "Don't Transcode" option is disabled. This is rediculious, because program's such as DVDLab do not force you to re-encode (transcode) video in order to author. I'm positive my MPEG2 is DVD compliant because I've burned it already, so Adobe is just being buggy. Can anyone help me?

[pijetro]

I get this problem when i'm working with video that's 23.976fps..When that happens to me, i run Pulldown.exe on the original .m2v file, and all my problems go away..Encore needs 29.97fps video..Pretty stupid for an advanced authouring system not to offer pulldown.

Would this be your case?
It's pretty trick to answer more specifically..You see, my magic crystal ball broke, and i can't read beyond what you typed :P :P

[pijetro]

Wait a minute..Are you talking about menus or movie timelines??
As far as menus go, of course, any change in the menu (button, text, etc...) requires a full recode..

[ndaher]

Oh my video source is 29.97fps. Before I converted it to MPEG2 it was DV footage, so most everything was already DVD compliant, 48khz audio, 29.97fps video, etc. So that's not the problem.

Yes I'm talking about creating menus, but the entire video should not have to be re-encoded just because I add a chapter mark should it? As I said, with DVD lab you don't have to re-encode the video at all, you only have to build the DVD folder which takes about 10 minutes. Is Encore that primitive that it can't author a DVD without re-encoding the actual video, even if it's compliant?

[pijetro]

but the entire video should not have to be re-encoded just because I add a chapter mark should it?

You're correct. This has nothing to do with the encoded video..It's simply a pointer to tell your DVD player where to go..

Is Encore that primitive that it can't author a DVD without re-encoding the actual video, even if it's compliant?

Here's the problem..It shouldn't.
Perhaps try loading the video into Restream or Bitrate Viewer. Hopefully it's just a header problem.