ACCURATE Chapter points with VCD Easy? And Pulldown?

[homerpez]

This one has got me a bit annoyed, and I have one solution for this, it's just not IDEAL.

Here's what I am doing:

DVD ---> Smartripper:
Smartripper gives me the .vob files, and (improtant to this), the "info" file that tells how many frames there are, chaper points based on frames, and chapter points based on timecode.

VCDEasy ---> Chapters:
This is where my dilemma begins.

The Smartripper "info" file lists the ACTUAL frames of the movie, which is FILM rate (23.976). Let's say 100,000.

I project-file it with DVD2AVI, at "forced film". So, it's generating the "real" frames, ~100,000 again.

I encode the movie at 23.976 to make an SVCD. The "actual" frames remain 100,000.

NOW, I have to add "Pulldown" to the video stream, to make the rate 29.97 frames/sec for SVCD. This CHANGES the number of frames reported to the next step.

I take the "info" file from Smartripper, with chapters listed. I want to add these chapters directly into VCD Easy. The problem?

If I input the Smartripper timecode numbers, they create valid chapters, but the INCORRECT TIME, since it's based on 23.976. They are all off by several minutes (4:00 on the DVD is like 2:53 on the SVCD). It's displaying the correct time for the movie in VCDEasy, but not translating it to the correct frame when it does chapters.

If I input using the Smartripper frame numbers, again it will be wrong because the frames are assuming 23.976, but pulldown makes it 29.97. again they're off.


Now, my only solution to something like this? I guess I would have to make a project file again with DVD2AVI, this time not doing "FILM" rate. Then I'd have to browse it in TMPGEnc, matching up the Smartripper timecode (4:00) with the reported frames for 29.97.

{Sigh}

Is this the only way, or is there a better solution?

[gonz0]

I'm not sure I followed all of this but why not just open the ifo file in chapterxtractor, and paste that directly into VCDEasy? The ifo file has the actual chapter times rather than the frame number so it doesn't matter whether your movie is 29.97 or 23.976 fps.

[homerpez]

Well...

This is the same problem I have now. See, I can achieve the same effect by using the Smartripper "info" file (which I am now), and inside this it DOES list the CORRECT times for each chapter. These are the numbers I cut-and-paste directly into VCD Easy.

The problem? VCD Easy isn't properly translating the "time" into the right "frame"...

For some reason, when you apply Pulldown, it makes the movie 29.97 frames/sec for CHAPTER POINTS, so you have to MANUALLY compensate for this using some viewer (another DVD2AVI video project, and TMPGEnc) to match up the fake frame numbers to timecode.

Yipes, this is confusing to explain!

Basically, VCD Easy lists EXACT frames, and matches TIMECODE to EXACT FRAMES, NOT PULLDOWN FRAMES.

In order for the chapters to be exact, it needs to be placed in reference to the PULLDOWN video frames. TIMECODE/29.97 frames. VCDEasy doesn't recognize or flag your movie as having "pulldown", to it does the time --> frame computation wrong.

I was just hoping there might be an easier way, but apparently not, until the make a new version of VCD Easy... Thanks...

[LeeBear]

homerpez have you actually tried using Chapter Xtractor to get the entrypoints from the IFO? My experience has been the same as gonz0 VCDEasy has no problems trasnlating. I've done many movies with pulldown and have not experience the same problem as you.

-LeeBear

[homerpez]

Well, no, not ChapterXtractor, but I would imagine that Smartripper's "info" file is basically doing the same thing, though...

And it IS giving me the correct timecode figures, and the correct frame numbers, too. (That's in actual encoded frames). If I was leaving it at 23.976 "FILM" rate, everything would be exactly as Smartripper says it is.

But then I apply pulldown...

Then problem is pretty simply, that VCDEasy isn't listing the frames as "Pulldown" (29,97), but is reading the "actual" frames when it does it's computation for TIMECODE --> CHAPTER. It just seems to lack the ability to know when "pulldown" is changing things, and it only seems to look at "actual" encoded frames on that screen.

When I manually pair up a timecode to the "pulldown" frames (using TMPGEnc and a new DVD2AVI project file), I get the correct frame #, and they work...

I can try your way, maybe it will supply me with a new set of numbers (though if you only mean timecode, then VCDEasy will still compute it wrong)

Thanks...

[homerpez]

Hey guys.... turns out you were right on ChapterXtractor, just not for the reasons you gave me...

I just tried it and right there is the option to manually select the frame rate for the DVD... I can change it from "FILM" to "NTSC" and it will give me close to the right frame number for each chapter! Without having to check it manually in TMPGEnc!

This solves my problem, in a sense, since now I can input the adjusted frame numbers and they should be (95%) correct now, or at least close enough... it's what I want VCDEasy to do for me automatically, but whatever works I guess...

Thanks!

[Executioner]

Hey guys.... turns out you were right on ChapterXtractor, just not for the reasons you gave me...

I just tried it and right there is the option to manually select the frame rate for the DVD... I can change it from "FILM" to "NTSC

Where is this option in VCDEasy? I cound not find it. Thanks

[homerpez]

NO, the option I speak of is in ChapterXTractor, if you change "fps rate" on the bottom, then look on the "Format" screen, it will spit out the correct chapter point numbers for you.

In my case, I changed the fps to "29.97" since I added pulldown, and ChapterXtractor adjusted the frame # for each chapter accordingly.

Then, you'd input these numbers (by frame) under the "Chapters" section of VCD Easy.

(I can understand getting confused... this is one screwy tangent I took everyone on!)

[Executioner]

Thanks for that info! I was wondering what that did. All this time I've been doing it wrong with Chapter X Tractor. Thanks again for bringing it to my attention.