NOTICE TO ALL WHO ARE CONVERTING THERE SVCDS TO DVD!!

[baker]

I just wated to say to all those who have a vast svcd collection and want to convert them to dvd, dont upsize the svcd res to 720x576 for the dvd!!!
Dvd has 2 resouloutions

pal= 720x576 or 352x576
nstc= 720x480 or 352x480

upsizing your svcds to put them on a dvd disc will make them look worse. Insted downgrade them to 352x576(480) which is dvd compliant and keep the same picture quailty (about the same anyway)

I know this may be simple but i am sure someone out there is upsizing their res to put their movies on dvd and making an arse out of it!

Quick guide:
virtualdub with resizing filter->cce!

Now was that hard?

Baker

[Truman]

You will loose quality with every conversion. Also it might be very time consuming to reencode the whole collection. Save your time by reading the guides. 8)
http://www.vcdhelp.com/vcddvdr.htm

[nick1977]

Thanks for that info.
I've been burning my SVCDs at 352x576 and 48khz audio anyway (my Pioneer DVD player plays them fine) for this very reason.
It's good to know that my theory was correct and that someone has proved it in practice!
Now all I have to do is wait for a Pioneer DVD-R/RW to fall below £200 and I'm jumping on the bandwagon

Nick

[dvddarren]

Has anyone ever put the sound as AC3 sound on the dvd?

I have been trying to do this for a while now.

If I have a stereo sound track in a vcd/svcd with a possible Pro Logic track, how can i convert this to AC3, Im sure theres a way to seperate all the channels then use Soft Encode to make an .AC3 file.

Will an AC3 file ba backward compatible with, say for instance, listening through a tv and not an amp?

[Anonymous65]

Also, I think you will find that most DVD players will play 480x480(576) SVCD files just fine the way they are even if you put them on a DVD-R disk.

Now, you might have a problem finding a program that will convert your mpeg files to the needed Video_TS file tructure. I'm hoping Nero will include this file converter in the near future.

[TheSeven7hSon]

If the video is encoded at 352x480 instead of 480x480, would the file end up smaller? If so, could the bitrate be raised then?

Seven

[vhelp]

baker,

looks like SOME people are only starting to figure this out - sheeesh!!
I've ben (so called) proclaiming this 352x480 resolution for quite
some time now, and NOW, i'm seeing many, many poster quoting this is
the way ta go, he, he..... people R now waiking up to smell SOME of
the coffee, he, he... ... ...

No affense to anyone

As far as the file being smaller than 480x480, yes, it will be small, but
only by miniscule (or I could be wrong, ...a few kbyes per many small
clips I've done and compare, and noticed, but NOT anything significant)

-vhelp

[Greyhair]

I asked this elsewhere, but it's appropriate here too. I too am concerned about having stuff be as compatible as possible for a dvd burner purchase in the near future. I've also recently discovered the so-called "kwag" template, which I think is super. I'm guessing that it will NOT be dvd compatible as it's mpg1 though.

True or false?

If true, has anyone experimented with "kwag" (for example, the GOP settings) on mpg2?

[kinneera]

Technically, DVD has a maximum GOP length (12 or 15 I believe), so templates with extremely large GOPs will not be absolutely 100% compliant. That said, the restriction on GOP length seems to be one of the most weakly enforced portions of the spec.

[vhelp]

greyhair,

the GOP settings don't work on the MPEG-2's - no.
In all honesty, its the new algorithem use in the CQ for TMPG v2.53
The GOP (as I'm sure) has ben put to the test by many (including
myself)
I've ben this route with the GOP settings w/ all version of tmpg,
but unluckely, haven't tried it with v2.53, but if you were to try
the default settings for GOP of 1.5.2 vs. 1.20.3, you'd be surprised
to see the results - for MPEG-2 that is. The clips are actually
smaller then the 1.20.3 GOP in MPEG-2.
So, no, it doesn't apply to MPEG-2. IF that answers your question
on GOP in MPEG-2.

You other quesiton, is it compatible?? NO. It's not cuase its MPEG-1
and you can't burn and SVCD or xSVCD which has MPEG-2 files and
enclude an MPEG-1 with the same burn. ...though I've heard of the
abilitiy to encode with an MPEG-2 header or something, this remains
an unswered question. But for now, no, it's not compatible

-vhelp

[dvddarren]

If converting the mpeg file is necessary due to the resolution needing changing, how muh of a difference will the Bitrate make?

Surely its pointless using a bitrate higher than the original svcd, or am i wrong on this?

How would you determine what bitrate to use? Could you find out what bitrate the svcd used and use the same?

cheers

[AndySom]

I tried burning my SVCD's to DVD! It works with Spruce but only plays on my Pioneer 747A and PS2. My Toshiba doesn't like it as its not 100% compliant.

I tried using DVDIt but it tells me the GOP something could not be broken into VOBU's or what ever that means!

Can anybody help as i know my Toshiba will play stuff authored by DVDit!

[vhelp]

.
.
the GOP for true compliant DVD production is 15 for PAL and
18 for NTSC.
Please note, there IS a reason for the default GOPs used in TMPG
or CCE etc., of 1.5.2 or 1.5.3 - in short, they work! ...and w/
no glitches for most if not all standard dvd players. You
can play around with many parameters in tmpg/cce to your hearts
content, but not every dvd player will play YOUR modified parameters
ie GOPs or bitrate, or whatever is considered standard. Apex
dvd players will play almost everything you throw at it, even
modified parameters in some encoders. At first, my dvd player
did like 1.20.3 GOPs, but i found by making a few ajustments in
other settings/parameters in tmpg, I could make it play w/out
any of the symtims I posted way back in y2flyy's thread.
Mind you, I haven't tried any full-fledge encoding of DVD sources,
or Satallite captures via my DV cam or ATW analog cap. card yet.
I'm looking forward to giving these new findings a (kwag's
tmplte) a good work over, he, he.... But, i'm still in the middle
of trying to set up my new 2nd pc. Just made another purchase.
...a computer desk, just something really small, like a childs
desk, he, he...., he, he....
Hay, but if whatever settings work in your current setup, then
by all means, why not use'em, right? But, some of U's are
concirned about true compatibility w/ future hardware/upgrades,
a valid concirned. The only I can suggest is to find someone
with a DVD burner, and try these settings and see how far you
get. Better yet, there are some here that already have dvd
burners. why not ask nicely if they wouldn't mind doing some
tests for ya that R concirned?? Just a thought!

-vhelp

[baker]

I aint going to lie all respect to vhelp for providing me with this info. I always saved my svcds at 480x576 and was wondering is it possible to change the res to 352x576 without re-encoding. Making an svcd at 352x576 was something i never did as it aint standard and i like to keep it standard.

On anothre note is it possible to apply tmpegencs new routines to encode divx? If they are this good on mpeg2 imagine how small a divx file would be.

Baker

[vhelp]

.
.
I heard that there MAY be a way of faking the 480x480 in the actual
MPEG file to a new 352x480 (any res for that matter) but I don't
know HOW true this is. And, IMO, if you have to fake or jimmy a
file in thinking that it is something it isn't, there is room for
some trouble there.

baker, I'd do a googe search on this subject to see what ya come up
with. I'd do for ya, but i'm in the middle of putting together a
small desk, and it's a real pain in the azz. I've spent like 20 min.
just figuring out where the screws go, LOL.

Re-encoding would be a bich to have to undergo, but may be the only
alternative. But there is 1 good, and 1 bad.
* bad is, the you MAY not have the origonal avi's or source of these
file to re-encode.
* good has it, that you will no doubt have gain newer knowledge or
perfected better quality since your first attempts and should you have
any origonal sources to re-encode, you can apply your new quality
enocodes.
I know how you feel. I have some 480x480 clips that cannot be re
produced due to lack of orginal sources, ie star trek clips, but I
hear they are always on anyways, and for these, I have no trouble
with going the re-capturing route again, only this time, it DV, he,
he....

-vhelp

[Greyhair]

Vhelp

Thanks alot for the information.

Unless I hear credible info otherwise, you answered my question. It only seemed logical that if dvd authoring is picky about resolution, it would be picky about file type

I was trying to be very compatible with the mpg2 standard doing 480 x 480. I then stopped keeping up awhile. 300 svcd's later, I'm looking at getting a dvd burner

Won't re-encode anything until I have no other choice though. But any of my new encodes are at least compatible with what appears to be dvd authoring requirements. Of course, about the time we all switch to dvd burning, a new technology will be on the horizon

[baker]

There are two alternatives so far:

1. reencoding:
Reencoding all my svcds to dvd will be very very very time consuming but may be the only way out. Not only time consuming but will mean a huge loss in quailty due to most of my encodes being captured off a digital source which had loads of macroblocks, me encoding it to svcd and making more macroblocks and now reencoding it to dvd adding even more macroblocks!!! I don't like the sound of any of this and need to find an alternative.

2. Trans coding:
I really have to look into this i know very little about this and like the sound of it. Although if it makes the file slightly unstandard i won't use it as I only use standard.

Does anyone have any news on my divx idea.

Also My computer has a strange humming in the background. This humming is now sticking to my captures which is very very anoying when watching.

Baker

[baker]

Just found this:

http://www.doom9.org//Soft21/Encoders/MPEG2/ReMPEG2v152.zip

rempeg a transcoder, i will tell my results later.

Baker

[Shabubu]

.
.
I heard that there MAY be a way of faking the 480x480 in the actual
MPEG file to a new 352x480 (any res for that matter) but I don't
know HOW true this is. And, IMO, if you have to fake or jimmy a
file in thinking that it is something it isn't, there is room for
some trouble there.
-vhelp

http://www.doom9.org/mpg/svcd2dvdr.htm

[sudsbrewer]

Also My computer has a strange humming in the background. This humming is now sticking to my captures which is very very anoying when watching.

Baker

Humming from where? The speakers?

If it is mechanical noise (fans, etc.) and you are capturing sound from your mixer make sure the microphone input is deselected. This may sound stupid but then I'm sometimes stupid.

If it's electrical noise, you may have a groundloop in your audio cable. Try another one. Also try reseating your sound card. Check your DC power supply taps (5v, 12v etc.) with a meter set on A/C. If there is any ripple on the DC it might will show up. Yeah, I know switching PSs work around 400hz and A/C meters are tuned for 60hz but if it sounds like a typical 60 cycle hum then its leakage from the house current and it's coming from somewhere.

suds

[baker]

the text file with rempeg:

ReMPEG2 is a program to transcode an MPEG-2 video file to
half D1 resolution (352x480 for NTSC, 352x576 for PAL)

Looks like i am on a winner here!! Ths program creates a temp avi file which it then re-encodes using the mpeg info that came with the original file!! Sweet huh???

I can't wait to try this it looks cool! Its a faboulous idea and i can't wait to c if it works.

About the humming:
yes its a ground thingy prob which i need fixed by tuesday (recording a movie) Its constantly humming away and gets louder when i move the mouse or do something on scrren (ie minimise something) so if you know an easy way to fix this please help me.

Any noise on that divx idea of mine?

A transcoding lover,
Baker

[sudsbrewer]

About the humming:
yes its a ground thingy prob which i need fixed by tuesday (recording a movie) Its constantly humming away and gets louder when i move the mouse or do something on scrren (ie minimise something) so if you know an easy way to fix this please help me.

Ground loops are more often than not a problem with a loose connection. Check all your cables. Try plugging your computer and a/v source into the same outlet or different outlets.

suds

[baker]

Well i regulary plug and unplug everything. Thus prob has been here since day 1 of getting the pc so i doubt its a bad connection. I am going to try putting my soundcard into another conection do u think that will help?

What about my divx idea is it complete shite?

Baker

[baker]

rempeg seems to take as long as reencoding would and it alwas seems to look crap for some reason.

Anybody any other sudjsetion opn how to change the res?

Baker

[sudsbrewer]

Well i regulary plug and unplug everything. Thus prob has been here since day 1 of getting the pc so i doubt its a bad connection. I am going to try putting my soundcard into another conection do u think that will help?

Is the hum there when you remove the audio input cable from the jack and then record?

If it isn't, then perhaps the hum is coming from the input source. Try to run the input source through another amplifier to see if the hum still exists. Use same cable that you use for input to pc capture and plug it into one of your sound system line inputs.

If you have other power cord pigtails available, try swapping the CPU cords out. There may be some resistance on the AC common side that is enough to introduce an AC voltage diff between the audio source unit and the computer.

It may come down to the sound card. Swap it out if you have a spare. If you have on-board sound on your motherboard that you have disabled to use a fancier in-slot card, try switching to that.

The idea is to try to isolate the source by changing things one at a time until it goes away.

We can take this offline if you'd like considering that the subject has little to do with VCD stuff. Just email me at sudsbrewer@yahoo.com. Send me some info about your system. Info like how old it is and what upgrades you have done since then might help.

suds

[revjake]

Reverend Jake's thoughts (from experience) on hum:

Do you have a TV connected to your computer (via the video card, perhaps)?

Back before I had a *sweet* 3-disc DVD changer, I used to use my PC's (now-defunct) DVD drive and a Creative DXR2 card to play DVD movies on my television.

I *always* had terrible hum, coupled with fuzzy-as-hell picture.

As it turns out, I was getting ground noise from the cable TV hookup into my TV---as soon as I unplugged it, picture and sound were perfect.

Just a thought.

[Truman]

rempeg seems to take as long as reencoding would and it alwas seems to look crap for some reason.

Anybody any other sudjsetion opn how to change the res?

Baker

Of course it takes that long. ReMPEG2 is a MPEG encoder.
Transcode = reencode to the same format, e.g. MPEG-2.
There is no other way to change the resolution than reencoding.
All what you can do is to change the sequence header information.

[SatStorm]

Well, what do you know....

People suddenly discover CVD....

A little Theory now:
DVD - Video, has 5 known resolutions:

CCIR 601 (720 X 576 (480)
D1 (702(4) X 576 (480)
D2 (352 X 576 (480)
D3 (720 X 288 (240) (No one use it)
D4 (352 X 288 (240)

So, CVDs, xSVCDs (like Sefy's SxVCD), xVCDs (like Sefy's SeVCD) and the typical VCD, are full compatible with DVD - Video.
Those resolutions are for BOTH mpeg 1 and mpeg 2.
DVD-Video "believes" that a mpeg 1 file, is simply a mpeg 2 with progressive picture file! Easy like that...

The gop stracture is the hidden compatibility issue:
DVD Video gop is limited in theory to 15 Pal/ 18 NTSC
In praxis, it is limited at 18 for Both Pal/NTSC
Long gops ain't supported. That's why TMPGenc splits big gops to smaller ones (only to new versions! So, forget old good 12/12a for those jobs!)

The best quality solution is: CVD with 48 khz sound!
The best General solution is: xSVCD with 48 Khz sound!
Both "formats" on CD-R today and on DVD-R tommorow, with no Re-encoding!

[Truman]

Latest release of dvd patcher should support NTSC as well.
If it does not work for you you may try ReStream or
DV MPEG, that comes with the "easy changer" tool. Or Bitrate Viewer, that comes with a tool to modify the sequence header too.

[Sefy]

So what you are saying is, that the latest Templates I have which have 48khz Audio are now DVD Compliant if I burn them in the future to a DVDR ?