From AVI to DVD - movie stutter

[Ciffor]

Hey there.

I have a problem, i'm not sure how to solve.

I have an AVI movie, which i convert to DVD using ConvertXToDVD. The process is simpel and everything goes fine.

But when i play the movie in my DVD player, it stutters, for approximately every second till two.

I have a feeling it's something about PAL/NTSC settings and framerate, but i'm not sure and don't know how to solve it (if it is that).

Thx ind advance.

Ciffor

[Alex DeLarge]

I've had this problem too, maybe not caused by the same thing.

Some DVD players have problems with constant bitrate mpeg-2 streams, thats how I fixed it, just encode in variable bitrate and it worked.

Thats assuming your input and output framerates match.

[guns1inger]

By default ConvertXtoDVD encodes in the same format as the source (PAL -> PAL, NTSC -> NTSC), so it should not change the format unless you tell it to. Recent versions also used pulldown on 23.976 sources when encoding for NTSC, which has improved the quality a lot.

There is no simple fix for format conversions, other than to not do it. If Denmark is a PAL country (don't know, haven't had the pleasure) then you should find you can play back both PAL and NTSC equally well, so there is no need to convert.

Check the source and output frame rates with g-spot and see if they are different. Also, if they are contrary to your native format, check your player to make sure it isn't doing format conversion on the fly. Some don't do it very well. If you have a multi-format TV, make sure your player is set to output the same format as the source.

[Ciffor]

Thx, both, for replying.

My country uses PAL.

In ConvertXToDVD, the "Estimated framerate" is 23,98 and the (Auto Target - i suppose this is the output framerate you are referring to) is 29,97.

Another interesting information, i assume, is what convertxtodvd write next to the 29,97 Fps. It says "pulldown required". And i haven't the slidest idea about, what this means

[Alex DeLarge]

You sould look at your DVD player first, sometimes you have to switch manually between PAL and NTSC. 24 fps and 30 fps are NTSC, so you need to have you DVD player set to NTSC.

Try that first.

[guns1inger]

pulldown is a flagging system to the tell the playback hardware to create the missing frames required for NTSC video playback. It is more efficient and produces a better result than creating the frames at the encoding stage.

Do you have any other NTSC material ? If so, does it display the same playback issues ?

Like I said in my previous post, I have my players set to output the native signal (PAL->PAL, NTSC->NTSC) and my TV switches formats on the fly to deal with it. By default, most PAL players will be set to output PAL under all circumstances, even if they can also output NTSC. If your TV can play NTSC, check the output settings of your player and make it also outputs NTSC. Not all players do the conversion well (my Pioneers are always great, my LG produces stuttery output when converting). If you don't need to convert, don't.

[Alex DeLarge]

Sony's switch between PAL and NTSC automatically.

[guns1inger]

In the US they tell you you have region problem when it's a format problem. I like their TVs - wouldn't touch their players with a barge pole (I only have the LG because it was a freebie from the electricity supplier)

[Ciffor]

Great, problem solved. I did have to switch to NTSC on my DVD player. Thanks

Regards, Ciffor

[guns1inger]

Much quicker than re-encoding

[Ciffor]

I totally agree!

[hemang]

hi cliffor, i am not replying to your post since the topic is already closed but i want to ask for a favor. i am in india which is also pal country but the tv's do support ntsc. my canon a640 makes .avi movies which i want to convert to mpeg2. i got a lot of help from this forum and am going to use SUPER (because it is free) for this purpose. my request to you is that can you make some mpeg2 files (from avi) with SUPER using the following settings:
Output Container : MPEG2, Output video codec : MPEG2, Output Audio codec : AC3
ffmpeg
Video : 720x480, 4:3 aspect, 29.97 fps, 3024 kbps, Hi Quality, 48K Audio
Audio : Sampling freq 48000, Channels 2, 96 kbps

Then you can burn these to DVD and check how it plays. I dont have a DVD burning software or a DVD player. But since the avi files are too big to store I wanted to convert these to mpeg2. if it plays well on a tv, i can convert and delete the originals.

i would appreciate if you can do this. thanks if it is possible and thanks (for reading the post)
if not possible

[guns1inger]

You asked this question (and had it answered) in your own post. Please do not hijack other threads to double post. Be patient and you will get your answers.

[Baldrick]

hemang : please continue in your first topic, https://forum.videohelp.com/topic333478.html

[hemang]

hello guns1inger and Baldrick, i am neither double posting nor hijacking any posts. please read my post carefully.
from what i read, cliffor is also doing the same thing as i am trying. but he seems to have a dvd authoring software and dvd player. i was only requesting if he could convert some avi files to mpeg2 using the settings which i think i should use, and see the results on tv, which i cant do as i dont have dvd writer nor player.
i am not asking him for any recommendations.
i have had such helpful replies in my forum, there is no reason to start another thread.
i just got excited that someone else is trying to do the same thing as i am and has more resources than i have so was just asking for some help.

[buttzilla]

Thx, both, for replying.

My country uses PAL.

In ConvertXToDVD, the "Estimated framerate" is 23,98 and the (Auto Target - i suppose this is the output framerate you are referring to) is 29,97.

Another interesting information, i assume, is what convertxtodvd write next to the 29,97 Fps. It says "pulldown required". And i haven't the slidest idea about, what this means

Since your country is PAL format set the tv format in convertxtodvd settings to pal. It's default is auto which will convert the file to whatever the original format is. This will make your dvd playable in a pal dvd player.

[guns1inger]

The best solution is to avoid format conversion where possible. In this case, the problem was solved bu having the player play the native video, rather than by forcing a re-encode to another format, which is more likely to embed stuttering into the finished video than to cure the problem.