encoding compression and resolution

[saeed]

hello..
my project is to put multiple DVDs in one with making the video compressed really good and with changing the resolution from 720*480 to 352*480 which can save even more space..the tools that come with dvd lab pro (quicklab mpeg encoder and reduce mpeg size) were frustrating..also i didn't find a resolution change function in the program..
is there a tool to compress the demuxed video files (m2v)created by dvd lab to a better ones..and it would be even better if i can set bitrate,quality and other stuff like that..
also how can i change the resolution of the dvd!!
by the way i wanted to do this this project because i saw a dvd with about 8 hours playback..and i just couldn't believe that the quality wasn't that bad (but ofcourse not dvd like) but it was really good compared to the bitrate which was about 1300 kbps including the audio..

[stantheman1976]

First off, do you still have the original files? It would be best to use those instead of the demuxed videos if you can.

You need to get a good MPEG-2 encoder like TMPGEnc. I have never had good experiences with editors or authoring programs that had buit in encoders. Then decide how much you want on the DVD and use a bitrate calculator to get your video bitrate. This is a good calculator:
http://dvd-hq.info/Calculator.html

If you want to try and fit 6-8 hours on a disc you can go with a resolution of 352*240 which is DVD compliant. I also recommend encoding the audio to AC3 probably at a bitrate of 192-224kbps.

[Scorpion King]

The video quality on an 8 hour dvd is 1st going to depend on the quality of your source files. The higher quality they are the better your reencoded files will be. Second is the encoder you use and the way you set it up.

8 hours of video on a 4.7G dvd doesn't allow much bitrate. My calculator says 1145Kbps video w\ 128Kbps audio. This leaves very little room for a menu.

Faced with numbers like these I would use 352x240 MPEG-1 VBR 1.8Kbps max - 0 min and a target of 1145Kbps 2-pass slow. Tmpgenc would be my encoder of choice. And I would consider using a very plain 1 page menu or even no menu if necessary. Expect long encoding times. (it still might not fit)

For the best results I would deinterlace, resize(bicubic a=-1.00), and probably sharpen(+10) with VirtualDubMOD then save out as uncompressed or huffyuv. The small framesize will probably benefit from sharpening after the resize. If your files are not high quality then other filters will probably be necessary also. Expect long processing times here if you need to use filters.

You could frameserve from MOD to Tmpgenc but with a project as large as this I would go the AVI intermediate file route then encode. Filtering, resizing, etc on top of frameserving and encoding will make each file very time consuming if not broken up into steps.

Good luck.

[saeed]

the original files are original DVDs..TMPGEnc doesn't deal with DVDs(*.vob and *.ifo) or demuxed files (*.m2v) so what should i do..and an important thing is changing the resolution..
i used dvd lab pro to get information about the final dvd files and i got this:
the resolution is 352*576 (the original dvd is either 720*480(PAL) or 720*576(NTSC)) does this mean that this file is compressed better or the resolution doesn't matter to the size..
the bitrate is vbr so i checked the bitrate viewer and the average bitrate of a random vob file was 1050 kbps..
also i found something weird which is that i can't seek backward!!!!does this mean anything..

[guns1inger]

DVD Rebuilder Pro will allow you to select VTS' and have them resized to half-D1 and re-encoded. It requires only that you have an authored DVD structure to being with. However it does not go down to VCD quality, which is what you are talking about here.

DVD Lab Pro is an authoring tool, so it is of no use to you until you have your source assets sorted. Resolution has no impact on size. Size = running time x bitrate. If you reduce the resolution, but don't reduce the bitrate, you get no change in the size.

I would use FitCD to create a small avisynth script to resize your source material down to VCD resolution, encode it with tmpgenc at whatever bitrate your bitrate calculator tells you to, and author in DVD Lab Pro afterwards.

Then sit and weep and the quality.

[saeed]

still one tiny thing..TMPGEnc doesn't take *.avs files...

[manono]

Who told you that? Because it's not true.

Start TMPGEnc. and load the *.avs as video source. If you get the "..can not open or unsupported" message, select options > enviromental (global) settings > VFAPIplugin. Disable direct show multimedia file reader.

And if you need the ReadAVS.dll:

tmpgenc-readavs.zip

Or maybe your .avs is no good. Open it in VDub to get an error message if something's wrong with the .avs.

[saeed]

now it's working..thank you very much..
now i can start the project and i'll tell you if anything goes wrong (hope not)..

[saeed]

when i demux my vob files i get a video file with wrong(short) duration information i.e. if i open it with winamp,the duration information is shorter than the actual one although i can play the full duration (the time goes past the duration!!)..this problem happens when i create an avs file and then use TMPGEnc..TMPGEnc encodes according to the wrong short duration information..
how can i fix this..
note:for demuxing i used DVD decrypter and rejig..

[manono]

when i demux my vob files i get a video file with wrong(short) duration information i.e. if i open it with winamp,the duration information is shorter than the actual one

Don't trust any player to give you the correct length.

this problem happens when i create an avs file

Open the .avs in VDub and go File->File Information. Is the length correct? Then the encoded length should also be correct. Unless maybe the source video is corrupt, or maybe you encode for the wrong framerate.

how can i fix this..

I'm not convinced anything is wrong. Didn't you say it kept playing past the short length? If you open the reencoded video in VDubMod, can you scroll to the end? Does it seem to be all there? Have you even reencoded it yet?

[saeed]

Don't trust any player to give you the correct length.

we'll get to this later since it's not the main issue..

Open the .avs in VDub and go File->File Information

i did that and the length is incorrect.i made sure that the framerate is correct and the original video file is not corrupted..

If you open the reencoded video in VDubMod, can you scroll to the end?

after opening the original m2v,the avs file and the reencoded file:
the original --> perfectly correct
the avs ---> the video is all there but with wrong(less) number of frames and length..(there's some difficulty in seeking)..
the reencoded ---> the video is cut to the previously wrong number of frames and length..

since it seems that the problem started with the avs file i thought it's better to write it:
# -= AviSynth v2.5.5.0 script by FitCD v1.2.8 =-
DirectShowSource("F:\NEW\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_1 - 0xE0 - Video - MPEG-2 - 720x480 (NTSC) - 16~9 - Letterboxed.M2V")
#Trim(0,3520).FadeOut(150)
AudioDub(BlankClip()) # a CCE 2.50 'crashfix' for Athlons

i tried this avs in tmpgenc and cce but the same results..i also noticed that the Trim phrase may be the cause of this but i tried changing it to the correct number of frames and encode BUT i wasn't lucky!!!

Have you even reencoded it yet?

ofcourse i did..i'm not fooling around,man..

one more thing..i used FitCD to generate the avs file..

[manono]

Why are you using DirectShowSource? Make a D2V using DGIndex and then MPEG2Source. Something like this:

LoadPlugin("C:\Path\To\DGDecode.dll")
MPEG2Source("C:\Path\To\Movie.d2v")

Fire up DGIndex. Using File/Open, open your VOB. You should see the video. Now select Audio/Output Method/Demux All Tracks. That will cause your audio to be saved in a file(s) when you save the project.
Now select File/Save Project and enter a name for the index file (D2V file) that is going to be generated. Suppose your VOB is called 'myvob.vob'; you might choose the name 'myvob' to enter here, because DGIndex will automatically append '.d2v'. Good. Hit Save. The indexing process will start and you'll see the indicator moving along the time line to indicate the progress. Be patient if your video is large. When the process finishes, exit DGIndex.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is This Index File and What Do I Do with It?
DGIndex created an index file called *.d2v. It is read by DGDecode, which actually decodes the MPEG and delivers the video. The index file just contains information that tells DGDecode where each frame is located and some information about each frame.
But you can't just execute DGDecode directly! It has to be done through Avisynth. We'll make a script file called myvob.avs using a text editor. Later in this document I'll show you how to configure DGIndex to make the script automatically, but for now, you need to know the old-fashioned way. So put this text into a new text file you make called 'myvob.avs':

LoadPlugin("...\DGDecode.dll")
MPEG2Source("myvob.d2v")

http://neuron2.net/dgmpgdec/QuickStart.html

To sum up, I use PGCDemux to demux the assets, DGIndex to make the D2V, which I then use in the AviSynth script together with MPEG2Source to send the frames to the encoder. I don't know why anyone ever uses DirectShowSource, except in those rare instances when they have no other choice. The DGDecode.dll and DGIndex (and 3 very good documents to read) are to be found in the DGMPEGDec package. Yes, FitCD uses DirectShowSource. Better is AVISource when the source is an AVI, and MPEG2Source when the source is DVD.

[saeed]

worked like a charm..thank you..

[manono]

Oh good. Now you're on your way. Lucky you posted that script.

Khoda Hafez.