New software Minx Transcoder

[khitomer]

Anyone tried this yet, looks interesting?

http://www.hillmanminx.net/downloads/transcoder1.0b3.sit
Just downloaded it and giving it a go now.

Khitomer

[jchansen]

"Minx Transcoder uses the free UNIX tools mpeg2enc, mpeg2dec and mplex in unmodified form"

Interesting; they estimate about 7 fps encoding. I'm trying it now.

[carmine]

looks like its working well. doing bourne identity now. what are teh differences betweeen this and forty-two? will the quality be the same? (im burning to a dvd-r). transcoder doesnt support dts, how can i figure out which bitrate to use? im doing it to dolby digital now, i suppose i will have to reencode if i want dts. thanks for the help!

[Wiqd]

K i tried v 1.04b and for SOME reason my output was in PAL 25 fps, even with an NTSC input video. If someone else gets it to work outputting at 29.97 fps like it should, lemme know what you did. I tried 3 times and all I got was a movie in fast motion.

meh, nevermind 1.0 beta 6 is out, has an option to supposedly fix this. ill try it tonight.

Wiqd

[fab98]

b6 has solved the NTSC sync issues with the few m2v files I had lying around. It seems to work well. Make sure you check insert pulldown frames option!
Also, DVDSP comes up with a couple warnings about the VOBU being a second off when you build the disk with the transcoder m2v. I don't exactly know what this means, but it hasn't affected the two DVD's I made. They play fine and in sync on my top set player.

[Wiqd]

Well I tried transcoder las night with the pulldown option and now the movie is slower than the audio. Heh, maybe I should try it again without the insert pulldowns checked and see what happens. *shrugs*

Wiqd

[carmine]

i tried to import my files into dvd studio pro, and it says the audio and video combined are 4.5 gigs. but when i add them, they are 4.3. minx looks like it did a good job, but i cant build a burnable copy. i tried sizzle and it failed. any ideas, anyone?

[CISCOKIDD]

I have also tried the current release of this program and I have not had any success with it. I tried to convert an NTSC DVD with the pull down option checked and the VBR checked. Unfortunately, the trancoded video and audio were way out of sync. The interesting thing is that the author of this program discourages users from checking the VBR option stating that it doesn't do anything, but reduce m2v file size. However, he also states that he is trying to resolve the NTSC sync issue, which is why he added the pull down menu. I thought that NTSC DVDs where variable bit rate (VBR) and that is why we have the sync issue to begin with. I don't know why the author put the VBR option in their if he doesn't want people to use it. Should I not check the VBR button? Could this have some how caused the transcoded video to go out of sync? If anyone has had success with this program using an NTSC DVD please let me know what you checked to get it to work because I have not had any success with this program so far.

Thanks

[fab98]

I had success with two dvd's so far. I checked VBR and Insert pulldown frames (fit dvd-r too). I have had no problems. Both fit fine in dvdsp... Maybe I just got lucky with these 2 disks (mystery men and death to smoochy). As far as why NTSC goes out of sync, it has nothing to do with vbr.. It has to do with frame rate changes and the like. Forty-two has been the only application that consistently takes care of this correctly!

[CISCOKIDD]

Does anyone know if most DVDs are interlaced? I never check interlaced and I was wondering if this could be the reason why my transcoded video and audio do not sync up?

[bilestyle]

I have also tried the current release of this program and I have not had any success with it. I tried to convert an NTSC DVD with the pull down option checked and the VBR checked. Unfortunately, the trancoded video and audio were way out of sync. The interesting thing is that the author of this program discourages users from checking the VBR option stating that it doesn't do anything, but reduce m2v file size. However, he also states that he is trying to resolve the NTSC sync issue, which is why he added the pull down menu. I thought that NTSC DVDs where variable bit rate (VBR) and that is why we have the sync issue to begin with. I don't know why the author put the VBR option in their if he doesn't want people to use it. Should I not check the VBR button? Could this have some how caused the transcoded video to go out of sync? If anyone has had success with this program using an NTSC DVD please let me know what you checked to get it to work because I have not had any success with this program so far.

Thanks

you are thinkin of variable FRAME rates that are setting off the sync.. variable bit rate just has to do with encoding high vs. low motion scenes at different bitrates to accomodate smaller size AND superior quality. it has ZERO affect on whether or not things successfully sync. The problem with syncing with the mjpeg tools is that the information isnt decoded into them properly which leads to the massive sync issues most encoding programs/wrappers have.

i used to buy into the whole variable frame rate concept/phenomenon... but i was steered clear of it when i realized when done properly one of the most difficult to sync dvds (the matrix) only drops ~4 frames or so the ENTIRE movie... so much for the idea of variable frame rate. It all has to do with telecining and 3:2 pulldown -- basically most of the ripping software available improperly tags the material from teh start.. and its just like a math test that is cumulative throughout, u get the first answer wrong, and u just feed the wrong answer into every other answer on teh test... and basically what do u get in teh end, an F. That analogy is basically what i have come to see as one that properly mirrors the whole sync issue problem with NTSC material.

[Wiqd]

OK well here's what happens to me. If I don't select pulldown the movie is redone from 29.97 fps to either PAL (25 fps) or 23.97 NTSC fps. So a movie that was originally 104 minutes is now 84 minutes, or something around there. If I do pulldown, the movie looks like its the correct length, but starts slower, so the sound begins before the movie, etc etc. Very strange...

Wiqd

[fab98]

What movie are you trying? I'll give it a go if i have it..

[hayworth]

Hi, I tried the latest version of Transcoder last night. It definitely shrunk the file size of the original DVD (from 5.87GB to 3.95GB), but maybe too much? I tested the new file with VLC and the video looks great but I'm not getting any audio. Any ideas what I might have done wrong? I did make sure to check insert pulldown frames. Also, I'm still pretty new to this, so how exactly would I make this new m2v file burnable via Toast? (I've only burned with already created VIDEO_TS files.) Any suggestions/advice is greatly appreciated!

[fab98]

The m2v's are only video tracks. you need to extract the ac3 file and import them (m2v and ac3) into DVDSP or sizzle to author the DVD folders you can burn in toast

[hayworth]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm a little confused though - do I have to extract the ac3 file from the newly created m2v file and if so, what program do I need to do this? DVDSP? Or, do I just take the original ac3 file and use that? (if this is the case, then what was the point of putting the origianl ac3 file into Transcoder? Just curious) Thanks again for the help!

[fab98]

Use the original ac3. Transcoder just uses the ac3 for time info..

[Wiqd]

I tried 2 different DVDs. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Die Hard (collectors edition). Jay and Silent Bob went from 1:44:14 to 1:26:13 or something to that effect. Die Hard went from 2:12:00 to 1:45:00 and some change. The movie plays in fast forward. Mind you this is without pulldown enabled. WITH pulldown enabled (ive only tried on Jay and Silent Bob) the movie looks like its playing alright, MAYBE a bit slow, but the audio isn't synched. Audio starts before the movie does.

Wiqd

[CaseyComb]

I had the same probelm with the audio being out of sync. If the time stamp of the video does not match the timestamp of the audio it will be out of sync in DSP. I'm not sure why the timestamp changes when the bitrate is reduced for The Minx Transcoder. Nice little progam in theory I hope they fix this with future versions.