This is getting old... anybody with step-by-step, please?

[austinbrtndr]

Ok... I've been working on this for the past couple of days (had to wait 24 hours just to post here ), and it seems like I just keep getting more confused and my computer's getting SUPER clogged! I've been though tons of forums, read product info on almost all available freeware/shareware, and even downloaded what I believe to be every piece of freeware available, and all I've come up with is having the same movie saved to my computer in mpeg1 with audio, mpeg1 without audio, an audio file of the movie, .avi, and whatever the hell Window's Movie Maker is saving it as right now. I've tried to use TMPGenc (with Quenc AND CCE), DVDShrink, AVI2DVD, DVD Decrypter, The Film Machine, VCDEasy, and probably whatever other freeware you can think of. I'm not really a cheap person (yes I am), but with so many options I want to learn more about what I'm doing before I start investing in software. I'm trying to copy a .avi or mpeg1 file to a CD-R. One of my biggest problems is TIME! When I tried TMPGenc, the first time, it took several hours (was going to take over 20 in highest quality), then my damn audio would not properly convert. At about 6 this morning, I started using The Film Machine to burn the movie. About 10 hours later, with a completed audio file and a video file that JUST started it's second pass, I gave up after finding yet another friggin program that sounded better. My computer's not the best, but I've never had problems like this. My system is a Dell L800r PIII with 256mB RAM and a 9.5 GB hard drive, of which about half is free. I have no viruses, I've been cleaning the system about 2-3 times a day (complete wipe and defrag of whatever I'm not using), and my XP program was just uploaded about a week ago after a zero fill on the hard drive. I'm not computer-retarded (I'd like to think), so that's why this is getting terribly aggravating. I'd like for several people to reply to this, but I'd like each person to tell me what I should do from beginning to end. I'll try each version exactly as explained, then I'll post back and tell you how it went. I don't think anyone's ever done this before, or have they, and I somehow missed it scrolling through all the .avi.mpeg1.Nero-this-and-that.bin.cue mumbo jumbo? Any help is much appreciated.... Thanks again...

**edit** an update on Movie Maker... saved as CDFS which will not play in a DVD player (atleast not mine)... also saved in segments, so I have lots of small pieces of the movie, but nothing that fits together... bleh...

**re-edit** also, I'm putting everything in the NTSC format and not PAL... just incase you were wondering...

**p.s.?** I don't necessarilly need pristine DVD quality, I still listen to records and think they sound good... but only because I'm a DJ, not old... :P

[b1tchm4gn3t]

ok...what are you trying to accomplish? I dont understand the question here......

[Denvers Dawgs]

I agree, are you trying to back up a movie? Convert to a different format? Convert to dvd compliant? Edit video?

You didn't explain what you are trying to do, so how are we supossed to help you?

Also, 9GB isn't a lot of space when working with video....

[b1tchm4gn3t]

one more thing, your harddrive is wayyyy to small to be trying almost anything video related, and I think the same goes for your P3. Its no wonder it takes hours. Not putting the system down but you are really gonna have a horsepower problem.

[austinbrtndr]

Sorry... you guys are fast... I already edited the post... I'm trying to copy a movie onto a CD-R... that's it... and preferably with freeware (or something I can get for free)... This is more of a cure for boredom than a mission to burn as much pirated material as possible... and I realize 9GB isn't much, but surely it's enough to get me started... it's all I've needed until now, as I save most everything to disc anyway... and as for the hardwre issue, Ive seen people here doing a lot more with a lot less, it seems like... it also seems like I'm right on the verge of getting something to work, I'm just missing the last link or something... again, I am keeping everything clean and compressed... and I'm sorry if I seem like I have an attitued problem, but I feel like poop, am sick and gotta get ready for work, and have been messing with this thing for wayyyy too long with absolutely nothing to show for it...

[Richard_G]

I'm trying to copy a .avi or mpeg1 file to a CD-R.

Having re-read your post, I think I've found the important bit. So which is it, .avi or mpeg1? If you want simply put it onto CD-R, just burn it onto one as a data file. I assume you want to put it on CD-R in either VCD or SVCD so you can play it back on your DVD player? If this is the case, we now know where you want to end up, just not where you are starting from.....

[austinbrtndr]

Richard, yes, I want to play it on my DVD player... that's where I want to end up... as for where I'm starting from, hell, I've got nothing but time... I'm in no hurry... I've waited this long... I can completely blow out my HD again and start from scratch with another OS if necessary... you guys tell me... I wanna learn... oh, almost forgot one other thing... my burner is the LiteOn DVD-RW external, if that makes a difference...

[b1tchm4gn3t]

I'm sorry if I seem like I have an attitued problem, but I feel like poop, am sick and gotta get ready for work, and have been messing with this thing for wayyyy too long with absolutely nothing to show for it...

been there bro.....

[daamon]

It's all in here:

www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=201#201

All your questions are answered, and everything is explained. Don't forget to rate the guide when you're done.

You'll need to download DVD2SVCD, and you already have TMPGEnc to create MPEG1 for VCD. If you want MPEG2's for SVCD or DVD, you'll have to buy TMPGenc Plus (buy an unlock code to get MPEG2 encoding from the same software).

Good luck...

[Richard_G]

Right, you have a file and you want to convert it to VCD or SVCD. What is that file? What format, where did it come from? Like I said, until we know where you are starting from, it's difficult to know how you can get to where you want to end up!

[b1tchm4gn3t]

why not burn to dvd instead of vcd or svcd? just curious is all

[austinbrtndr]

It's a movie that I originally download in .avi format... I still have the .avi, plus 2 versions of mpeg1 (with and without audio)... the original .avi file is just over 700MB, not quite 701... I've chosen CD-R instead of DVD because I have an entire stack (was at almost 100 a couple of days ago) sitting here in front of me that I don't mind wasting... now screwing up $5 DVDs for a few days would probably hurt...

[b1tchm4gn3t]

$5 Each?

[Shadowmistress]

Your settings in Tmpgenc are wrong for the horsepower your computer has and that's why it's taking too long to encode.

Open tmpgenc and go to Option tab> task priority > set to high when active and high when not active.

Go to Settings button> Video> Motion search precision> set to "motion estimate search (fast). This is virtually almost as good as the high setting.

Try not to use any filters under the advanced tab. The more filters you use, the more time it takes.

And if tmpgenc is still telling you it will take 20 hours, go into Option tab> environmental settings> VFAPI plug-in> and find your Directshow Multimedia File reader and increase it's priority until it's at the very top of the list.

Do not use tmpgenc to encode your audio. Output your stream as ES video only. Use ffmpeggui to encode your audio to mp2. Then use the tools in tmpgenc: File> MPEG tools> simple multiplex, to join the streams back together.

EDIT: If you already have a working mpeg1 copy of the video and you have sound on one of the files, what's the problem? Use vcdeasy to author and you should be good to go. How's the filesize of the mpeg? Does it fit onto the cd?

[Supreme2k]

Where are you buying them from? A liquor store?

Last I checked, even at a retail electronics store (Fry's, Best Buy, even Target), you can get them for under $1 each (much less in bulk).

[b1tchm4gn3t]

I have had damn good luck with memorex, and at the local wally world, I pay like $15 for 30 either - or +'s.

[austinbrtndr]

lol... sorry about the price quote... I honestly had no idea how much they were, as I've never checked... but, given the fact that I have nothing better to do than pull my hair out, I'm determined to make this CD-R thing work, now... I've got the time and the supplies, now I just need the knowledge... I just got the DVD2SVCD program, so I'm gonna give that a shot first since I've already wiped TMPGenc... but, like I said, I'm gonna try both... it just may be morning before I get to the second... I'll keep you guys updated, and will probably be back with more questions after work... again, thanks for the replies... this place is killer!

[fritzi93]

To reiterate, get another hard drive, set it up as slave and do your editing and conversions there. If you don't, your OS hard drive will get fragmented quicker than you'd believe possible. Been a while since I used DVD2SVCD, but IIRC, it'll convert to elementary streams, then mux them. So... for say a 700M AVI converted to DVD, you'll need at LEAST 9 GB, if the bitrate is high enough to nearly fill the DVD.

Get another HD, seriously. The horsepower problem could be lived with, I guess. But you don't have enough space to even begin doing video.

[austinbrtndr]

Then I don't understand why/how I've been able to download everything so far... my only problem has really been putting it all together... I will admit that at the beginning I got a little download crazy and had 3 different movie files plus the one that was split into 3 different formats (so 5 total, right?), plus enough freeware to lose myself in... that's when I started having space trouble, so I dumped the other 2 movies... so I believe it's definitely possible and shouldn't be a problem once I figure out what I'm doing... I started to use the DVD2SVCD program just before I left the house, didn't get to actually start the program, though... I'll probably be sent home from work any minute because I'm sure they won't want me sneezing into drinks or anything, so I'll start it and post how it goes... but, a larger HD is in the works, just not at the moment as I just got out of a 2 month unemployment stint...

[jimmalenko]

http://members.dodo.net.au/~jimmalenko/TMPGEnc1CD.htm should help.

You might need to extract your audio to a WAV first:
http://members.dodo.net.au/~jimmalenko/ExtractAudio.htm
https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=837#837


I don't mean to be rude, but by video standards you're running what would be commonly regarded as a POS, and running the slowest encoder on it to boot, and at the slowest setting. Set the Motion Search Precision to High Quality (slow), as it's probably the best setting for most downloaded material. For DVD sources Motion Estimate Search (fast) would be fine though.


Also, a couple of days is nothing in this hobby. It'll take years for you to learn a lot of the ins and outs, what programs are best for what situations, what sources are crap and not worth dealing with, etc etc. Video is generally whole lot tougher than just blindly downloading a file, then dropping that file into some mysterious "black-box" application that just spits out VCD / SVCD / DVD and gives you no insight into "the process".

If it;'s truly a hobby, then stick at it, and try to get each individual process down before progressing onto the next process. Nothing like losing sight of the forest because of the trees

Read. Search (both forum and google). Read some more. Experiment. Ask a specific question about a specific guide or process when you get stuck. Read some more. Take yourself to your wit's end (shouldn't take long ) and back again. Build yourself back up from scratch. Sometimes you gotta fall down and hurt yourself before learning to walk

If you don't wanna put in the yards and want the quick fix, you may be lucky enough to find your public domain movie on DVD.

[fritzi93]

Then I don't understand why/how I've been able to download everything so far.

If you're talking AVIs (DivX, XviD, etc.), well, they're highly compressed. Convert one to DVD (MPEG2) and it's several times larger. And I'm sure, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but DVD2SVCD will require HD space at least double the size of the end product, plus some overhead. DVD2SVCD is pretty good for an all-in-one actually. You have more control over the process than in similar programs. Pretty sure it supports Quenc now, a freeware encoder.

No doubt you could manage to do one VCD or SVCD at a time, save to disc, purge, and do another. Just letting you know what you need. And when folks suggest some reading, it's not that they're brushing you off. The guides are quite good, and are the best way to learn.

Good luck and welcome to an absorbing hobby.