First SVCD attempt failed. Here is what i did...

[Igorius]

Hi there.

My first attempt to make an SVCD failed.
Acctualy a XSVCD with full PAL res (720x576) and data rate as DVD.

I will describe the whole process i did and hope you can help me track down the problem.


Source footage:
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PAL D1 resolution (720x576) 25fps, LosslessJPEG codec


MPEG encoding
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Software: Ligos LSX 3.5 demo

With the idea of coding the video with DVD Mpeg2 settings i selected the "MPEG-2 DVD Assets PAL" profile from the profile menager.

The encoding worked only for 2000 frames.
I continued to endcode the rest by specifying the staring frame being the last frame of the previous segment.
At the end i finished with 4 "m2v" files.


SOUND encoding
---------------------------------------------------------
With TMPGEnc c2.59.
384Kbits, 44100Hz, Stereo MP2


Merging
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all "m2v" files loaded in TMPGEnc's merge&cut utility.
Type of merging: MPEG-2 Super Video CD (VBR)
(i guess. or was it MPEG-2 program (VBR) ? )

Successfuly combined in one m2p(v?) file.
File plays OK.


Multiplexing
---------------------------------------------------------
In TMPGEnc's MPEG Tools: Simple Multiplex.
Type: MPEG-2 Super Video CD (VBR)
or was it MPEG-2 program (VBR).

Successfuly Multiplexed.
File plays with sound OK.


Burning
---------------------------------------------------------
Nero Burning ROM 5.5.9.17

Selected SVCD.
PAL, Create standard compliant CD: ON
Menu: on
Selected a BCKGRND picture, changed header and footer TXT, layout 6 thumbnails.
ISO level2 selected. Some Label data than NEW.

From the NERO file browser i drag and droped the file into the Track window.
Uppon releasing the message of "file not valid for creating a standard SVCD" appeared.
I selected "Turn off standard compliance and continue"

After that i burned the CD.


PC aftermath
----------------------------------------------
The SVCD file structure was there. I selected the MPG file from the MPEG2 directory to play.
Nothing. Blank screen. No sound. The file didn't play.

IMPORTANT!

The final MPG file used in NERO was 144MB.
The MPG file on the burned CD was 165MB!!!

WHERE did those +20MB came from?
Does NERO writes some sort of header and then the rest from the input MPG file?


On my computer the CD MPG file played all scrambled without sound. Very scrambled + big surfaces filled with color.
Example: The start is a black screen with small green cursor flashing. The CD MPG starts with full green screen (from the cursos data i guess) and starts slowly to clear up and mix with proceeding video.


DVD player aftermath
-----------------------------------------------------
I checked it on couple of DVD players.

On the first, the starup picture with header and footer appeared and the name of the file as track 1.
According to the sales person in the store, by just pressing play, the file should start playing. I thought maybe it shell be pressed 1 on the remote control, which wasn't there at the time.

On the second DVD in another store the start up pix wasn't there but the display said PBC, like there is something but what?

On the third DVD, it read the file and after pressing play sound came through! But... Very chopped. Continuously going on and mute.
Unfortunately this player was conected with surround speakers for sound demonstrarion only. No TV set connected so i don't know what happened with the picture.



THAT WAS SOME LOOONG TYPING!!!


Will you be kind enough to give me your opinion and suggestions for this case?


Thank you!


Igor

[mats.hogberg]

That's quite stretching matters in a first attempt!
1. Take a look under WHAT IS for SVCD to see what resulutions/bitrates are valid as SVCD material.
2. Make sure you encode / multiplex as MPEG-2 Super Video - else it must be padded (which you probably experienced).
3. The compliance check is there for a reson- even if Nero doesn't do a good job trying to correct your mistakes, it certainly is picky (and correct) when it judges what is suitable as source material!
4. Nero doesn't create 100% (S)VCD compatible discs. Use VCDEasy instead.

To get you started: Use TMPGEnc. Use the SVCD template it offers at startup.
Author (and, if possible, burn) with VCDEasy. If your writer isn't supported by VCDEasy, then burn the cue/bin VCDEasy creates with Nero.

And - read the CONVERT HOW TOs here on the left!

/Mats

[Igorius]

Thank you for your reply.

I did some video encodings with TMPGEnc but didn't like the results.

I did the high bitrate video encoding after reading somewhere the
XSVCD "specs". Max bitrate up to 9.8Mbits/s.

On another forum i was suggested of max rate of 4500Kbits/s. Good info?

On this site, in the table for comparisons, max rate for (X)SVCD was 2500Kbits/s. ???

I downloaded VCDEasy and will see what it can do.

For multiplexing of the Video and audio they recomended bbTMPG. TMPGEnc apparently did a bad job. True?


Thank you.

[mats.hogberg]

SVCD standard says: max ~2524 kbit/sec MPEG-2 (if the audio is in 224 kbit/s), audio + video bitrate max bitrate is ~2748 kbit/s. Resolution 480 x 576 PAL at 25 fps, 480 x 480 NTSC at 29.97/23,976 fps.
This is what a DVD player that claims to play SVCD must handle.
If you're lucky, a specific make and model might take higher rates and/or non standard resolutions, but don't count on it.

I'm sure bbmpeg is fine (maybe even better than TMPGEnc) but I've never bothered since TMPGEnc has worked fine for me. But make sure, what ever multiplexer you use, to multiplex as SVCD mpeg2.

/Mats