"Encode video to audio duration" causes menu background jitter/no

[Fairy]

I've used SVCD2DVD V2 for some time now and it's a great product. I recently upgrade to V2.5.3600 (latest version) and have found a problem:

When I use the "Encode video to audio duration" option in the "Menu"/"Audio Encoding" settings, the resulting menu has a jitter/noise/aliasing. It's as if the menu has two slightly different frames which it is constantly switching between. This can be seen both on the PC and on my Sony DVD player. I tried several different images for the background.

I know, in general, that I shouldn't need the "Encode video to audio duration" option but I have found that without it, my Sony DVD player just plays approx <1 second of the menu, although the DVD plays fine on my PC. I always used this option in V2 with no problems.

I think I've tried about every different option available under the settings, my only choice for the time being is to have no audio.

[Jikchung]

I hate to ask the simple questions of a long time user, but:

Are you using the correct standard (PAL, NTSC) for your location?
Does the standard used match the standard of the assets used in your project?
What is the resolution of your source background image?

[Fairy]

Thanks for the response Jikchung.

I've tried both PAL and NTSC menu, and tried with both PAL and NTSC assets. I've never had a problem with mixed menu/assets standard on my DVD player, here in the UK.

One image is 1024 x 768 and another (one I've used on many DVD's under SVCD2DVD V2 with no problem) is 720 x 540.

I'm going to try and achieve what I want using SVCD2DVD V2, rather than V2.5, using all the same assets, background, audio, and settings, and see what the result is.

[Jikchung]

Another question is whether you have tried a disc displaying this problem on a different player?

[Fairy]

I only have one conventional DVD player (the Sony) which exhibits this behaviour. But both my main PC and my laptop show the same abnormality when the DVD is played on them.

I checked the .VOB file for the menu itself and that shows the same problem, so it seems to be a problem with the menu generation/encoding, rather than the playback.

[Jikchung]

Cool, that's what we needed to know. Can you post a log file (under the help button) for a run that did this? Hopefully ChrissyBoy will have some time to have a look into it.

[Fairy]

I tried it with SVCD2DVD V2, same assets, same menu background, same menu audio, same options and everything is OK, so 100% sure it is a V2.5 issue.

Here is the log from V2.5.3600, as requested:

************************************************** ******************
************************ SYSTEM INFORMATION ************************
************************************************** ******************

***************************** SVCD2DVD *****************************

Name: SVCD2DVD 2.5
Title: 2.5
Version: 2.5.3600.0
Executable: J:\SVCD2DVD v25\SVCD2DVD.exe
Executable size: 2.57 MB
Executable size in bytes: 2703443
Executable CreationTime: 09/12/2007 17:41:26
Executable LastWriteTime: 06/02/2008 11:02:23
Executable LastAccessTime: 08/02/2008 12:38:15

************************* Operating System *************************

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Service Pack: Service Pack 4
Version : 5.0.2195
Windows Directory : C:\WINNT

OSLanguage: 1033
CodeSet: 1252
CountryCode: 1
Local: 0409

Total Physical Memory: 511 MB
Free Physical Memory: 18.5 MB
Total Virtual Memory: 1.71 GB
Free Virtual Memory: 358 MB

***************************** Computer *****************************

Computer Manufacturer Name: VIA Technologies, Inc.
Computer Model: VT8363
System Type: X86-based PC
Computer Name: HOME-SERVER
DomainRole: xd1f84ac4911c6b77
Number Of Processors: 1
User Name: HOME\administrator

***************************** Processor ****************************

Manufacturer: AuthenticAMD
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) Processor
Description: x86 Family 6 Model 4 Stepping 2
CPU Speed: 1.33GHz
CPU FSB: 133MHz
L2 Cache Size: 256 bytes

***************************** Time Zone ****************************

Time Zone: (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

****************************** VIDEO *******************************

Name: LogMeIn Mirror Driver
Processor:
Mode:
Video Ram: 0
Status: OK

Name: ALL-IN-WONDER RADEON
Processor: RADEON 7200 Series AGP (0x5144)
Mode: 1280 x 1024 x 4294967296 colors
Video Ram: 32.0 MB
Status: OK

****************************** Drives *******************************

DeviceID: C:
FileSystem: NTFS
Size: 7.99 GB
FreeSpace: 1.53 GB

DeviceID: D:
FileSystem: NTFS
Size: 99.9 GB
FreeSpace: 19.7 GB

DeviceID: F:
FileSystem: NTFS
Size: 46.5 GB
FreeSpace: 37.7 GB

DeviceID: G:
FileSystem: NTFS
Size: 9.99 GB
FreeSpace: 4.56 GB

DeviceID: J:
FileSystem: NTFS
Size: 9.99 GB
FreeSpace: 5.87 GB

DeviceID: L:
FileSystem: NTFS
Size: 27.9 GB
FreeSpace: 6.92 GB

************************************************** ******************
********************* END OF SYSTEM INFORMATION ********************
************************************************** ******************

************************* ProjectMetaData **************************

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<SVCD2DVD DateTime="08/02/2008 12:41:27" Filename="NONE">
<AssetSet>
<Asset ID="22011782-2523-4366-afd8-785430238bc8" Path="D:\Lost\Season 4" Filename="lost.s04e00.past.present.and.future.real .repack.hdtv.xvid-xor.avi" />
</AssetSet>
<DVDStructure>
<TitleSet Name="LOST 4-00" PostCmd="" MenuButtonType="0">
<MenuButton X1="312" Y1="66" X2="649" Y2="103" FontFamily="Arial" FontSize="20.25" FontStyle="1">Past, Present and Future</MenuButton>
<Title Name="lost.s04e00.past.present.and.future.real.rep ack.hdtv.xvid-xor.avi" AssetID="22011782-2523-4366-afd8-785430238bc8" MplexOffset="0" />
</TitleSet>
<DVDMenu Normal="-1" Highlight="-8323200" Active="-16711681" ShowPlayAllButton="False" DSOffsetWidth="1" DSOffsetHeight="1" DSColor="0" DSOnOff="True" BackgroundImagePath="D:\Lost\LOST.bmp" AudioPath="D:\Lost\36 LOST (End Title).mp3" />
</DVDStructure>
<Settings>
<General InitialAssetFolder="D:\" InitialDVDFolder="D:\SVCD2DVD DVD Output" OutputFolderName="SVCD2DVD_OUTPUT" InitialProjectFolder="D:\SVCD2DVD Projects" InitialMenuBackgroundFolder="" DeleteS2DFiles="False" UseDVDShrink="False" />
<Menu AudioEncoding="Custom_mpa" DefaultCustomAudioPath="" DefaultCustomImagePath="" TVStandard="NTSC" FontFamily="Arial" FontSize="20.25" FontStyle="1" PlayAllText="Play All" Loop="True" ShowMenuStandardWarning="True" EncodeVideo2AudioDuration="True" MenuAspectRatio="AR_4_3" />
<Process AudioEncoding="mpa" Chapters="Every 10 mins" SkipMPA48="False" SkipAC3="False" PanSan="False" MergeTitles="False" UsePulldown="True" PAL2NTSC="False" AVI2PASS="False" AVI2HALFD1="FS" NoBframes_FullME="False" UseCustomMatrices="False" IntraMatrix="" NonIntraMatrix="" TVOverscanPixels="0" UseThreads="True" ForceWS="False" SafeMaxBitRate="False" OrderAudioStreams="False" ProcessIfNavPacks="False" />
<Program BINExtraction="vcdxrip" VCDGearFIX="False" FastAudioEncode="True" />
<Burning BurningMethod="ImgBurn 2+" ImgBurnPath="J:\ImgBurn\ImgBurn.exe" DVDDErase="True" DVDDClose="True" DVDDDontBurn="False" />
</Settings>
</SVCD2DVD>

************************* ProjectMetaData **************************
Processing assets for DVD creation

=================== AV Details ===================
File Size: 349 MB
file=D:\\Lost\\Season 4\\lost.s04e00.past.present.and.future.real.repack .hdtv.xvid-xor.avi
FormatName=avi
Num_Frames=58254
DurationInSecs=2429
Duration=00:40:29.6
VideoCodec=mpeg4
VideoFFSTNum=0
Width=624
Height=352
Standard=NTSC (Film)
BitRate=1208
AudioStreamCount=1
Audio1FFSTNum=1
Audio1StreamID=[0x1]
Audio1SampleRate=48000
Audio1Codec=mp3
Audio1BitRate=128
Audio1Channels=2
=================== AV Details ===================

AVI2MPG: 9000kbs Full-D1
12:41:27: Looking for AVI PAR...
Pass 1/1: Processing lost.s04e00.past.present.and.future.real.repack.hd tv.xvid-xor.avi
12:41:30: FFmpeg version SVN-r7159, Copyright (c) 2000-2006 Fabrice Bellard, et al.

12:41:30: configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --disable-debug --enable-pthreads --enable-a52 --enable-gpl --enable-dts --enable-faad --enable-avisynth

12:41:30: libavutil version: 49.1.0

12:41:30: libavcodec version: 51.27.0

12:41:30: libavformat version: 51.12.1

12:41:30: built on Sep 13 2007 10:38:52, gcc: 4.3.0 20061204 (experimental)

12:41:30: Seems stream 0 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate: 23.98 (65535/2733) -> 23.98 (23976024/1000000)

12:41:30: Input #0, avi, from 'D:\Lost\Season 4\lost.s04e00.past.present.and.future.real.repack. hdtv.xvid-xor.avi':

12:41:30: Duration: 00:40:29.6, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1208 kb/s

12:41:30: Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 624x352, 23.98 fps(r)

12:41:30: Stream #0.1: Audio: mp3, 48000 Hz, stereo, 128 kb/s

12:41:30: Output #0, dvd, to 'D:\Lost\Season 4\lost.s04e00.past.present.and.future.real.repack. hdtv.xvid-xor_S2D.mpg':

12:41:30: Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg2video, yuv420p, 720x480, q=1-31, 9000 kb/s, 23.98 fps(c)

12:41:30: Stream #0.1: Audio: mp2, 48000 Hz, stereo, 224 kb/s

12:41:30: Stream mapping:

12:41:30: Stream #0.0 -> #0.0

12:41:30: Stream #0.1 -> #0.1

12:41:30: Press [q] to stop encoding

14:00:59: video:1727872kB audio:66436kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 1.982707%

14:01:00: Using pulldown.

14:01:03: AVI2MPG: done.
14:01:05: Done: Processing assets for DVD creation
Authoring DVD Folders
14:01:07: Creating TitleSet # 1
14:01:08: SVCD2DVD: DVDfolders

Generating DVD folders please wait....

14:01:08: -->: DVDFolders creating VTS

14:01:08: -->: VTS 01

14:01:08:
DVD Folders: Processing J:\SVCD2DVD v25\dummymenuNTSC.mpg...

14:01:08:
DVD Folders: Processing D:\Lost\Season 4\lost.s04e00.past.present.and.future.real.repack. hdtv.xvid-xor_S2D.mpg...

14:05:15:

14:05:15:

14:06:14:

14:06:14: Finalising DVD...
14:06:14: Encoding menu...

---------------------------- ENCODING MENU ----------------------------
TV Standard: NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Image size: 720x540
Resize size: 720x480
---------------------------- ENCODING MENU ----------------------------

14:06:24: FFmpeg version SVN-r7159, Copyright (c) 2000-2006 Fabrice Bellard, et al.

14:06:24: configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --disable-debug --enable-pthreads --enable-a52 --enable-gpl --enable-dts --enable-faad --enable-avisynth

14:06:24: libavutil version: 49.1.0

14:06:24: libavcodec version: 51.27.0

14:06:24: libavformat version: 51.12.1

14:06:24: built on Sep 13 2007 10:38:52, gcc: 4.3.0 20061204 (experimental)

14:06:24: Input #0, mp3, from 'D:\\Lost\\36 LOST (End Title).mp3':

14:06:24: Duration: 00:00:29.3, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 191 kb/s

14:06:24: Output #0, mp2, to 'C:\\Documents and Settings\\Administrator\\Local Settings\\Application Data\\Badger I.T.\\SVCD2DVD 2.5\\2.5.3600.0\\menu\\menu.mp2':

14:06:24: Stream #0.0: Audio: mp2, 48000 Hz, stereo, 224 kb/s

14:06:24: Stream mapping:

14:06:24: Stream #0.0 -> #0.0

14:06:24: Press [q] to stop encoding

14:06:24: bits_left=1202

14:06:24: bits_left=1100

14:06:24: bits_left=1282

14:06:24: bits_left=1241

14:06:24: bits_left=1361

14:06:24: bits_left=1340

14:06:24: bits_left=1234

14:06:24: bits_left=1148

14:06:24: bits_left=1033

14:06:24: bits_left=1353

14:06:24: bits_left=1291

14:06:24: bits_left=1233

14:06:24: size= 195kB time=7.1 bitrate= 224.0kbits/s

14:06:25: size= 383kB time=14.0 bitrate= 224.0kbits/s

14:06:25: size= 559kB time=20.4 bitrate= 224.0kbits/s

14:06:25: size= 754kB time=27.6 bitrate= 224.0kbits/s

14:06:25: bits_left=680

14:06:25: bits_left=1364

14:06:25: bits_left=1980

14:06:25: bits_left=-1

14:06:25: overread, skip -5 enddists: -2 -2

14:06:25: bits_left=2251

14:06:25: overread, skip -4 enddists: -2 -2

14:06:25: bits_left=2394

14:06:25: bits_left=2520

14:06:25: size= 798kB time=29.2 bitrate= 224.0kbits/s

14:06:25: video:0kB audio:798kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 0.000000%

14:06:27: FFmpeg version SVN-r7159, Copyright (c) 2000-2006 Fabrice Bellard, et al.

14:06:27: configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --disable-debug --enable-pthreads --enable-a52 --enable-gpl --enable-dts --enable-faad --enable-avisynth

14:06:27: libavutil version: 49.1.0

14:06:27: libavcodec version: 51.27.0

14:06:27: libavformat version: 51.12.1

14:06:27: built on Sep 13 2007 10:38:52, gcc: 4.3.0 20061204 (experimental)

14:06:27: Input #0, image2, from 'C:\\Documents and Settings\\Administrator\\Local Settings\\Application Data\\Badger I.T.\\SVCD2DVD 2.5\\2.5.3600.0\\menu\\background1.jpg':

14:06:27: Duration: 00:00:00.0, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A

14:06:27: Stream #0.0: Video: mjpeg, yuvj420p, 720x480, 25.00 fps(r)

14:06:27: Output #0, rawvideo, to 'C:\\Documents and Settings\\Administrator\\Local Settings\\Application Data\\Badger I.T.\\SVCD2DVD 2.5\\2.5.3600.0\\menu\\backgroundES.mpv':

14:06:27: Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg2video, yuv420p, 720x480, q=2-31, 1000 kb/s, 29.97 fps(c)

14:06:27: Stream mapping:

14:06:27: Stream #0.0 -> #0.0

14:06:27: Press [q] to stop encoding

14:07:35: video:3088kB audio:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 16.619585%

14:07:37: INFO: [???] mplex version 2.0.0 (2.2.3 $Date: 2004/01/13 20:45:26 $)

14:07:37: INFO: [???] File C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Badger I.T.\SVCD2DVD 2.5\2.5.3600.0\menu\backgroundES.mpv looks like an MPEG Video stream.

14:07:37: INFO: [???] File C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Badger I.T.\SVCD2DVD 2.5\2.5.3600.0\menu\menu.mp2 looks like an MPEG Audio stream.

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Video stream 0: profile 8 selected - ignoring non-standard options!

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Found 1 audio streams and 1 video streams

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Selecting dvdauthor DVD output profile

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Multiplexing video program stream!

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Scanning for header info: Video stream e0 (C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Badger I.T.\SVCD2DVD 2.5\2.5.3600.0\menu\backgroundES.mpv)

14:07:37: INFO: [???] VIDEO STREAM: e0

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Frame width : 720

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Frame height : 480

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Aspect ratio : 4:3 display

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Picture rate : 29.970 frames/sec

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Bit rate : 1000000 bits/sec

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Vbv buffer size : 126976 bytes

14:07:37: INFO: [???] CSPF : 0

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Scanning for header info: Audio stream c0 (C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Badger I.T.\SVCD2DVD 2.5\2.5.3600.0\menu\menu.mp2)

14:07:37: INFO: [???] MPEG AUDIO STREAM: c0

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Audio version : 1.0

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Layer : 2

14:07:37: INFO: [???] CRC checksums : no

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Bit rate : 28672 bytes/sec (224 kbit/sec)

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Frequency : 48000 Hz

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Mode : 0 stereo

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Mode extension : 0

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Copyright bit : 0 no copyright

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Original/Copy : 1 original

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Emphasis : 0 none

14:07:37: INFO: [???] SYSTEMS/PROGRAM stream:

14:07:37: INFO: [???] rough-guess multiplexed stream data rate : 1255800

14:07:37: INFO: [???] target data-rate specified : 10080000

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Setting specified specified data rate: 10080000

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Run-in Sectors = 89 Video delay = 13019 Audio delay = 16022

14:07:37: INFO: [???] New sequence commences...

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Video e0: buf= 0 frame=000000 sector=00000000

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Audio c0: buf= 0 frame=000000 sector=00000000

14:07:37: INFO: [???] STREAM e0 completed @ frame 868.

14:07:37: INFO: [???] STREAM c0 completed @ frame 1215.

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Multiplex completion at SCR=2631972.

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Video e0: buf= 0 frame=001182 sector=00001842

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Audio c0: buf= 2688 frame=001215 sector=00000405

14:07:37: INFO: [???] VIDEO_STATISTICS: e0

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Video Stream length: 3687355 bytes

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Sequence headers: 73

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Sequence ends : 0

14:07:37: INFO: [???] No. Pictures : 869

14:07:37: INFO: [???] No. Groups : 73

14:07:37: INFO: [???] No. I Frames : 73 avg. size 14403 bytes

14:07:37: INFO: [???] No. P Frames : 797 avg. size 3298 bytes

14:07:37: INFO: [???] No. B Frames : 0 avg. size 0 bytes

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Average bit-rate : 1016000 bits/sec

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Peak bit-rate : 1866800 bits/sec

14:07:37: INFO: [???] BUFFERING min 67123 Buf max 136052

14:07:37: INFO: [???] AUDIO_STATISTICS: c0

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Audio stream length 817152 bytes.

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Syncwords : 1216

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Frames : 1216 padded

14:07:37: INFO: [???] Frames : 0 unpadded

14:07:37: INFO: [???] BUFFERING min 15 Buf max 683

14:07:37: INFO: [???] MUX STATUS: no under-runs detected.

create sub file....done.
running menu muxer....14:07:39: MUXRATE =4400

14:07:39: after read_bmp(): xd=720 yd=480 x0=0 y0=0

14:07:39: Found EOF in .sub file.

14:07:39: warning, sub on line 0 starts before 4s, (some players won't show it)

14:07:39: subtitle duration: -1

14:07:39: ***************** HERE WE GO EVE.ODD *******************

14:07:39: MenuType: EVEN

14:07:39: subtitle_packet_size: 1113

14:07:39: subtitle_packet_size & 1: 1

14:07:39: subtitle_packet_size mod 2: 1

14:07:39: MenuType==""

14:07:39: MenuType=="EVEN"

14:07:39: WAS ODD

14:07:39: subtitle_packet_size++

14:07:39: final subtitle_packet_size: 1114

14:07:39: max_sub_size=1114

14:07:39: subtitle inserted at: 0.178022 sd=0

14:07:39: max_sub_size=1114

14:07:39: 1 subtitles added, 0 subtitles skipped, stream: 32, offset: 0.18

done.
14:07:40: Encoding menu...Done.
14:07:40: SVCD2DVD: DVDfolders

Generating DVD folders please wait....

14:07:40: -->: DVDFolders creating table of contents

14:07:40: scanning D:\SVCD2DVD DVD Output\SVCD2DVD_OUTPUT\VIDEO_TS/VTS_01_0.IFO

14:07:40: -->: Creating menu for TOC

14:07:40:
DVD Folders: Processing C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Badger I.T.\SVCD2DVD 2.5\2.5.3600.0\menu\menu.mpg...

14:07:40:

14:07:40:

14:07:40: Finalising DVD...Done
14:07:40: Done: Authoring DVD Folders
Burning DVD folder
14:07:40: Burning DVD with ImgBurn...
14:28:08: Burning ISO...Done
14:28:08: Done: Burning DVD folder

[ChrissyBoy]

ok. in the first instance can you email my the image and the audio... i will try it this end. Also can you try choosing AC3 for the menu audio output?

[Fairy]

Files on their way Chrissyboy.

Will try AC3 menu audio, although I think I've already tried it once. Another go won't hurt....

[ChrissyBoy]

Thanks for the files.... I have replicated the issue and the problem is that for that particular background a higher bitrate is requred for the menu. I will send you a build to confirm the fix and I'll add it to the next build.

BTW: No need to test AC3