.MPEG to .VCD all jerky and choppy.....???

[SKT]

It will be quite obvious that I am a total newb so here goes. I am downlloading .mpegs and then going through TMPGEnc then Nero to make them into .vcd format. I notice that the original .mpegs are not the best quality and after they go through TMPGEnc then some get even more jerky/choppy, like frameing out of a game on a underpowered PC. I am wondering is there anything I can do to smooth out the .mpeg before the TMPGEnc stage or is there another app that I can use that will reduce or eliminate this problem. I don't really expect perfection, I would just like the final product to run a bit smoother. The .mpegs are mostly mountainbike flicks and it becomes quite obvious (to my eye) during slow-mo scenes.

Any and all help appreciated.


TIA

SKT

[negon]

I'm not really sure why you bother with TMPGenc if they're already MPEGs. Why don't ya just burn as vcd with nero and let nero convert the MPEG to VCD compatible....I let it go overnight.

[FulciLives]

Hello

It could be ... I stress could be ... that the format of the mpeg files are different than what you are trying to create. For instance, if the original downloaded mpeg is in the PAL format and you try to convert to NTSC (or vice versa) then you have to be VERY carefull how you do this ... otherwise the end result will not work correctly with one culprit being jerky playback.

For instance some media players (I use BSPlayer a lot and I know it does this and it is free) will tell you the resolution and frame rate of the video (along with the format such as xvid or divx or mpeg1 or mpeg2 etc.)

You can also use VirtualDubMod to load the file. It will accept mpeg1 files no problem. If it is a mpeg2 file then you need to de-multiplex it with TMPGEnc first then you can load the resulting M2V file. VirtualDubMod will then give you all kinds of juicy info such as frame size and frame rate etc.

Report back here with your findings.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[SKT]

Regarding Negon. I thought I had to go through TMPGEnc to get the mpeg into an apropriate state to then go to .vcd. Please let me know if that is a waste of time.

[Craig Tucker]

If it is mpeg already then there is a good chance that it is already VCD compliant, re-encoding with TMPGEnc will then just be a waste of time and incur quality losses. If it is not VCD compatible when you try to create a VCD with Nero it will tell you so. You could choose to ignore it and burn anyway creating a non standar XVCD, but this may or may nopt play in your DVD player. If the mpeg file you have is not VCD compatible and you have to make it so, then reencoding is the only way, for this TMPGENc would be the best option. Dont use Nero to encode it is nowhere near as good as TMPGEnc.

[SKT]

Roger that Craig.

[micc59]

just remember when the file you put in to tmpgenc is bad what comes out will also be bad
you can try to use Gspot a program to find out what your file is 8)

[SKT]

micc59said

you can try to use Gspot a program to find out what your file is

GSpot atctually wont tell me anything at all strangely enough. All I get is path and size, no Aspect, Framerate, Bitrate or anything. BSPlayer will tell me that its 352x240 and 29.97 F/s but thats about all I can gather.

I just wondered if there was an app that can smooth out the original mpeg before going to vcd, like something that sorta puts in fake frames, if that is whats actually wrong (thats what appears to be wrong, there are frames missing).

Someone told me that Adobe Premier may be able to stablise the motion a bit, but he doesn't really know all that much so I am still open to suggestions. I guess this has become one of those little learning experiences that I always seem to pursue in order to understand something I don't understand all that well.

Once again, all advice is much appreciated.

SKT

[FulciLives]

GSpot atctually wont tell me anything at all strangely enough. All I get is path and size, no Aspect, Framerate, Bitrate or anything. BSPlayer will tell me that its 352x240 and 29.97 F/s but thats about all I can gather.

This indicates of course NTSC system format. I know you said that the original mpeg files are not that great in quality but you also said that they get worse after encoding. Assuming you are encoding to VCD compliant NTSC at 29.97fps then they really shouldn't get any more jerky and/or choppy after encoding so again I just wanted to add that if you are trying to convert to another VCD format (in this case NTSC 23.976fps or PAL) then this will make things worse.

Also as stated before the files might already be VCD compliant ... the resolution and frame rate seems correct for NTSC ... but you never know with downloaded files. I've seen many files with the proper resolution and frame rate for VCD and yet they have used non-standard (very low) bitrates. I guess people do this so files download quicker but it really destroys the quality. Such a shame. I'd rathre have a divx at 352x240 than a very low bitrate mpeg-1

- John "FulciLives" Coleman