Need help from the Pros about converting MPEG4 to MPEG2

[spodekmodek]

I'm trying to create a DVD with a file that only seems to play with VLC mediaplayer.
My last attempt to convert this file seemed to get me separate audio and video folders with no audio in the audio folder. Is there some "one click" program that will default to a the necessary burning form. If you can't already tell, calling me a newbie, is giving me way too much credit. Perhaps, you could put things in the most "amoebic" terms.

Thanks for any guidance folks!

File looks like this when read by Mediacoder:


Format : MPEG-4 version 1 / MPEG-4
Family : MPEG-4
File size : 365 MiB
PlayTime : 1h 26mn
Bit rate : 587 Kbps

Video #0
Codec : MPEG-4 Video
Info : (MPEG-4) Apple MPEG-4 Video
PlayTime : 1h 26mn
Bit rate : 400 Kbps
Width : 640
Height : 480
Aspect ratio : 4/3
Frame rate : 29.679 fps
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.044
Size : 257434331

Audio #0
Codec : AAC LC
PlayTime : 1h 26mn
Bit rate : 96 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44 KHz
StreamSize : 121564472
der.

[redwudz]

I would try ConvertXToDVD. It may be able to handle the AAC audio.

[manono]

My last attempt to convert this file seemed to get me separate audio and video folders with no audio in the audio folder.

The AUDIO_TS is supposed to be empty. All audio, video, and subs are contained within the vobs, found within the VIDEO_TS folder. I'd take redwudz' advice. You might check around, maybe their web site, if they have one, to confirm that ConvertXToDVD can handle AAC audio.

[Cornucopia]

1. Open MP4 in QTPro. Export to AVI ("None" compression). Export Audio to LPCM WAV.
2. Encode the video to MPEG2 (remembering to resize the 640x480 to 720x480) using MPEG2 encoder of choice (Mainconcept, TMPGEnc, QuEnc, FreeEnc, HC, CCE).
3. Encode the audio to AC3 (remembering to resample the 44.1kHz to 48kHz) using AC3 encoder of choice (SoftEncode, Vegas, Besweet, Aften)
4. Author and burn to DVD.

I don't recommend "One-click" apps for things that can only be done well with many more steps.

Scott

[PuzZLeR]

Just for the sake of smoothness in conversion.

I understand AVI has square pixels as opposed to MPEG-2's rectangular ones. Therefore a smooth conversion would be a 640x480 AVI to 720x480 MPEG-2, assuming an AR of 4:3 in NTSC land.

What about MP4, or MPEG-4 in general (both ASP and AVC)? Should we be concerned about this when converting to DVD compliant MPEG-2 files?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Cornucopia]

For completeness...

AVI can have square or non-square (aka rectangular) pixels (so can QT/MOV and MKV)

MPEG1/MPEG2 can have square or non-square pixels

MP4/h.264 can have square or non-square pixels

The specific subsets of MPEG2 used in DVD's will always have Non-square pixels. If converting from or 2 this format, this should ALWAYS be taken into consideration.

Usually AVI/MOV is square (except DV, then it's almost always non-square).

Usually MP4 (incl Divx/Xvid/h.264) is square.

If you're real anal about getting the Aspect Ratio exactly right, you'll want to convert 640x480 to 704x480 and then pad with black 8 pixels on each side to get 720x480. In essence, that's what camcorders do.

Scott

[spodekmodek]

I stand in awe of the "big brains". I probably can't fully enjoy or utilize all your info but I appreciate the help and ensuing discussion. As is always the risk, after converting the MPEG-4 file with CONVERTXTODVD program and burning a DVD- there is a SYNCH problem. No synch problem existed before burning when testing the coverted file. I also tried burning with NERO but synch problem existed using that program as well.

Thanks again

[PuzZLeR]

This topic's aged somewhat, however maybe the original post member may come across it.

Spodekmodek, for A/V sync issues, I will recommend you look into a process where you "demux" and "mux" video and audio. This is actually the process of separating the video and audio into different streams and then putting them back together in proper sync during the encoding phases.

This would be too long a topic to discuss here, and I understand you're a newbie. But there is plenty of reading on it here and plenty of fee apps available to help you. Look into it, and if you have particular questions, you can always post a new question.

As well thank you to Cornucopia for your answer. Well said.