I speculate about SVCD and tmpgenc problems

[cooljoe666]

I have gotten past newbie status after converting so many videos even though I have not used every program out there. I had good results while back using DVD2SVCD but because of lack of user-friendly batch conversion feature I went back to learning TmpgEnc, vcdeasy, vcdgear, and whatever else to get the SVCD MPG on a cd with clarity and no playback problems. I have the latest DVD player so compatibility isn't an issue.

I am still having problems with using TmpgEnc and vcdeasy. Sometimes I don't have problems and sometimes I do, even after using the same settings. I NEVER HAVE PROBLEMS USING AN AVI FILE THAT NEED NOT BE SPLIT TO FIT ON ONE CD. But, it seems that after splitting an avi it's downhill from there w/ Tmpgenc. I have tried splitting with virtualdub after deleting any bad frames, or making sure audio isn't vbr. Sometimes I will try using EZ video splitter. Either way I end up with 2 avi files with no errors and perfect audio sync, playing back the files in about 7 different programs to test the files. I even scan with every version of virtualdub to check for more errors or bad frames. Finally.............

I load up TmpgEnc for conversion making sure I have the right codecs, environmental settings. I have the best luck with using CQ 2520 w/ around 75 to 80 quality setting. I quit using 3:2 pulldown because of jerky playback. I always use Layer 2 audio w/ stereo 224(sometimes 192). I have tried using audio that was extracted to a wav file as source(no difference). I have experimented with every possible setting according to posts from these forums and this turns out the best for me outputting a 60 minute video at around 600mb MPEG file with perfect specs and plays back superbly clear and flawless in Windows Media PLayer 6.4. But...........

When it comes to burning it's a whole different story. If it isn't the chinese specs popup...........or the autopadding problem..............or bad packets(??)...............AND..................

The most strangest phoenomena is the fact that with the exact same settings the AVI1 comes out 548MB and AVI2 comes out 735MB....a split file having the exact same playback time. The second part of a split avi file always seems to have probelms OR is 'handled' differently by TmpgEnc. I am not an expert but I keep records. I will argue with anyone about the fact that TmpgEnc isn't flawless then again what program isn't..considering the condition of working under an imperfect OS like Windows, and that affects everything. It seems you have to learn alot about experimenting with codecs, players, encoders, etc fine tuning everything to output a pefect file.

The second SVCD MPG file of the two looks perfect on the pc but after burning it, it looks somewhat blocky...0 blocks on the pc. All the divx settings are as well as could be. This is the first time this has happened.

Also, I don't use a bitrate calculator since it never comes out right for me, but that's irrelevant because 2520 always works for my split movies not having to go much lower in case still keeping quality. I have tried creating an image file and burning with CDRWIN and that helps sometimes but not always. Some weird shit.

Finally.....all ******** not need reply to this post with your immature garbaged mouths...positive reinforcement is more useful and saves data.

Out.

[VCDHunter]

Why do you feel the need to split your AVI before converting ?

[cooljoe666]

HI,

I split the avi into 2 parts because it is a whole movie which will only fit on 2 cds. I haven't had much luck with splitting a whole SVCD MPG file into 2 parts sucessfully. If that is a feasible option someone let me know the options out there. Thanks.

[johns0]

Have you tried using the source range settings to tmpgenc to make 2 svcd files with out manual splitting?I do batch conversions all the time with dvd2svcd with avi files,when dvdsvcd is extracting the audio i click on exit and dvd2svcd will exit after the audio is extracted,then i edit the dvd2svcd batch file and add the folder name(s) to be run when i do a batch run.

[cooljoe666]

Thanks for the reply.

I tried that w/ dvd2svcd one time editing an example batch off this site. It worked but I ended up with a big file for some reason..all settings being correct. That's a good idea using Tmpgenc's source setting but I noticed from using source to make test mpg's that using source function seems to jack up the encoding time to convert..at least on mine. For example...i tried using source to cut out a minute from the beginning and the end credits....the encoding showed 7 hours to encode...but if i unchecked source, the encoding process took 3 hours...big difference.

[teegee420]

In my opinion, the best program for splitting mpeg-2 files is Womble Mpeg VCR. Every other program I have used would always spit out segments with horrible audio synchronization problems.

[cooljoe666]

Also, i forgot to mention the reason I returned to this post.....

Sometimes when i encode an svcd with Tmpgenc this happens.........

Let's say my MPG file is 548MB.....i goto burn the file to cd and it creates a bin file that 730MB. So, i demux and remux w/ tmpgenc and then the bin file usually comes out something like 600MB...just right. What causes this to happen?? I think this might be related to the problems listed up above.

[VCDHunter]

Thanks for the reply.

I tried that w/ dvd2svcd one time editing an example batch off this site. It worked but I ended up with a big file for some reason..all settings being correct. That's a good idea using Tmpgenc's source setting but I noticed from using source to make test mpg's that using source function seems to jack up the encoding time to convert..at least on mine. For example...i tried using source to cut out a minute from the beginning and the end credits....the encoding showed 7 hours to encode...but if i unchecked source, the encoding process took 3 hours...big difference.

You're doing something wrong here mate, dunno what though.

If you encode LESS video then it'll take LESS time. How you get it to take more time to encode less video is a mystery. Well to me anyway.

So you've checked the source and thats fine, it converts ok, but takes an age or won't convert properly if you split the AVI before hand. Is this right ?

Whats the source ?

[johns0]

Might be streaming errors from the original avi file,i find that lots are encoded with mistakes that show up in encode but not in playing them,sometimes remuxing will fix the errors but not always.

[cooljoe666]

what i mean by source is 'source' in tmpgenc as replying to a previous remark. Also, it is while using a split avi file which could be because of stream errors that virtualdub didnt pick up because i have endlessly checked and verified every file before using it. maybe using a whole avi file while using source may change this problem..i will try it and get back.

[johns0]

i found virtualdub rarely pick up errors with files i test which have frames that look like they are blended with other frames thus causes the audio to go out of sync.Real pain in the neck to fix,Have to find the point of audio shift and add audio to correct the problem.

[cooljoe666]

I understand what you mean there. The only thing I can seem to do well enough there is to find that point of error and i key back one and key one after to delete the entire portion containing the error.

[johns0]

I found even when you do delete the error in that way you still have to fix the audio by inserting the amount that got delayed.

[VCDHunter]

what i mean by source is 'source' in tmpgenc as replying to a previous remark.

Do you mean me

When I asked what your source is I meant what type of video file your "source" is is it dixv, xvid, mov etc ?

[cooljoe666]

Hey vcdhunter:

My source file is Divx avi. I used the new divx 5.1.1 codec. Playing back files looked smooth and clear to me even though others have been saying to use divx 5.0.5 to encode.

Instead of splitting an avi into 2 pieces I decided to try loading up the whole file into tmpgenc and using 'source' along with saving as 2 seperate projects to save 2 Mpg files. I just tried this using a smaller avi file so i wouldn't have to wait 10 hours. The result was the same as using 2 split avi files. I even did the same thing with an Mpeg1 file to encode into SVCD. Same problem. When playing any of the resulting SVCD files in media player they look and sound good but if you try to move ahead or 'seek' through the movie it looks like big blocks from one fram bleed over into the next frame and the movie gets stuck. If i play the movie in FLASKmpeg I don't see these problems.

I wonder if there is something better to set in Tmpgenc OR can environmental settings create these kinds of problems??

Whatever.

[RabidDog]

Going from a 3 hour encode to a 7 hour encode sounds like you are going from a 1 pass CQ encode to a 2 pass Vbr encode. re-encoding avi files is fraught with error . When doing this your playback decoder matters as some people use divx decoder to decode xvid.. this may or may not cause problems.

[cooljoe666]

hmm..

I use the same settings on everything really. CQ 2520 at 80 quality w/ MPEG Layer II 224 - 44000hz.

480x480 svcd - compliant

It's really weird - i just used a whole mpg1 file in Tmpgenc. I set the 'source' setting to the first half of the file and saved the project. Then i changed the 'source' setting to the last half of the file and saved a new project. Okay....2 projects for the same mpg1 file to result in 2 different mpg2 svcd files. 2 files cut right down the middle exactly.

The first mpg came out 6.22mb
The second mpg came out 9.33mb

Using the exact same settings for both projects using the same source file. This is the weird dilemma i am facing all of a sudden. And the second resulting mpg file does not seek as well as the first when played back in a media player.

[johns0]

cq encoding is very unpredictable,thats why you get different file sizes,first half and second half of movie file sizes can change dramatically using cq,i stick to 2pass vbr or cbr to save time on file prediction and guessing.

[cooljoe666]

I think I probably stayed away from vbr because i used a guide one time using vbr and got a 1 gig file. I am not sure why really. I just re-encoded the movie again using one whole avi file....after burning it to a cd..the audio is jerky every few minutes..mainly on low audio parts or dark scenes. I think i am gonna try dvd2svcd again.

[cooljoe666]

I decided to experiment alittle more with TmpgEnc. I loaded the entire movie AVI file and decided to encode only the video stream. I set it to VBR and it said 22 hours to encode. Then i tried setting it to CQ 77 and it was to take 7 hours. Much better. I checked 'soften block noise'. The resulting video looked good. I then encoded just the MP2 audio in 44000hz 224 stereo svcd specs. Then I muxed the two with TmpgEnc and behold...jerky audio. The same problem I have been dealing with. There is something going on with TmpgEnc because doing this exact same thing with CCE I dont have this problem.

Anyone else seen this?