Problem with TMPEnc

[Technophobe]

Hi Folks,

I have been using TMPEnc 2.5 for a few years now to convert AVIs to MPEG2 and on to DVD format.

I know that TMPEnc is not happy trying to encode AC3 so I usually demux the sound and just convert the video and remux it later. However, just recently I am finding that TMPEnc will not accept MPEG1 Layer 3 (MP3) audio in the AVI. When I try to run the program it just freezes. To get around this I have to demux the audio, convert to AC3 and remux in DVD author. This obviously adds further steps to the process. I have reinstalled the program but no change. This problem now stops me doing overnight batch runs on a couple of AVIs.

Can anybody suggest what I might have done to cause this change and/or how can I rectify the problem.

Many thanks


Techno

[guns1inger]

Look at the way the MP3 has been encoded. I suspect that Tmgpenc is choking on VBR encoded MP3, but will have no problem with CBR encoded MP3. It is not alone in these issues, and your demux/convert/remux process is a sound way around it. FWIW, I always encode audio separately, regardless of the source encoding.

[Technophobe]

Guns1inger said I suspect that Tmgpenc is choking on VBR encoded MP3, but will have no problem with CBR encoded MP3.

Thanks for your reply. I usually use G-Spot to check if it is AC3 audio but I can't remember if it also states if it is VBR. I see, sometimes, when I put the AVI into VirtualDubMod that it complains that it is VBR but I just ignore this and do a demux. However, even those AVIs it doesn't complain about still freezes up TMPGEnc.

Techno

[redwudz]

Gspot 2.70 will tell you if you have VBR audio with a small green 'VBR' indicator in the audio section. I don't use TMPGEnc to encode audio anyway.

If it's AC3, I just demux it and add it when I author. If it's VBR, I save it out as a WAV with full processing in VDM and convert to AC3 with ffmpeggui and add that when I author. Either way doesn't take that much time, compared to the time TMPGEnc takes to encode . And I don't have any sync problems unless the video or audio is messed up in the first place.