No Duration for Video and Audio After Encoding

[pbmc59]

Hi,
Checking the encoded ( TMPGenc ) file with AVICodec, there is no duration for both the video and audio. The file looks like this in AVICodec:

File : 2.5 Gb (0.0 b), duration 0:00:00, type MPG, 1 audio stream(s), quality 98 %

Video : 0.0 b, 4337 Kbps, 29.970 fps, res. 720*480 (16:9), MPG2 = MPEG 2 (SVCD/DVD), Supported

Audio : 0.0 b, 416 Kbps, 48000 Hz, 2 chan., 0x50 = Mpeg-1 audio Layer 1 [0xc0], Supported

I'm capturing an hour of D8 using WMMII.
Then encoding ( using the Wizard only so far ) for 2.5 hours or so then the file looks like the above.
Please tell me I'm doing something wrong. I'm using the guide from here on how to convert DV so I can burn it.
Any help will be appreciated. I already somehow captured two hours of D8, encoded it and burned it to one DVD. Now I'm losing my marbles as to why I can't do it again.
Are there simple steps I should be following?
Should the audio be encoded separately?
Is the above OK, can I do something with that?
Thanks in advance for your time,
Pat minus his marbles

[DJRumpy]

Does the MPEG actually play properly?

[pbmc59]

...yes, the mpeg plays ok in cyberlink, with just ok quality. i'm not sure if it's because it was only my third hour of taping with a camcorder or how i captured it.
the two hours i did get to dvd, after encoding, i had two files, one a MPEG1, the other a wav file. i pulled these together in MyDVD and it burned, and worked fine. AVICodec said "VCD" after the video portion.
it feels like i'm going backwards here. i read alot of what's on this site, and i'm just too spread out here. i simply want to capture the D8 tapes, and get them to DVD. i can work on becoming francis ford coppola later...
i apologize for the frustration in my words...if this is a normal part of the learning curve, then fine, i'll just ride it out...
thanks again in advance fir ANY help
Pat

[DJRumpy]

If the file plays fine, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. It sounds like, from your description, that the everything is fine. Your simply seeing a non-length reported for the files. You didn't say what was reporting the 0 length.

If this isn't the case, start again. List of the problems you are having, and some of the steps (or all if your feeling verbose), you used to convert to MPEG. Take your time...we're not going anywhere... 8)

[pbmc59]

Hi,
Here's some of what I've done:

I captured through the firewire and my D8 camcorder using Windows Movie Maker 2.

This is what AVIcodec says my D8 captured file is:
Windows Media Video 9 and Windows Media Audio 9
File : 1.10 Gb (1.10 Gb), duration 1:01:04, type ASF, 1 audio stream(s), quality 100 %
Video : 2.46 Gb, 5744 Kbps, 72.157 fps, res. 720*480 (4:3), WMV3 = Windows Media Video 9, Supported
Audio : 75 Mb, 172 Kbps, 44100 Hz, 2 chan., 0x161 = Windows Media Audio 9, Supported

After encoding it with TMPGenc, AVIcodec says the resulting file is:
MPEG2(SVCD/DVD) and MPEG-1 Audio layer 1 (0xc0)
File : 2.5 Gb (0.0 b), duration 0:00:00, type MPG, 1 audio stream(s), quality 98 %
Video : 0.0 b, 4337 Kbps, 29.970 fps, res. 720*480 (16:9), MPG2 = MPEG 2 (SVCD/DVD), Supported
Audio : 0.0 b, 416 Kbps, 48000 Hz, 2 chan., 0x50 = Mpeg-1 audio Layer 1 [0xc0], Supported

Next, I tried to pull the file into MyDVD simply to burn it as is, with no menus or chapters. And when it was finished pulling it into the program, the file was 2.8GB in size, leaving only 1.9GB for the next file that would not fit. My goal ( have done it once already ) is to get two one hour D8 tapes onto a DVD.

In TMPGenc I requested the output file be 50% of the DVD.

I used the Wizard in TMPGenc, setting things up by the guide from DVDrhelp.

The quality played on Cyberlink was ok, and didn’t seem as good as the first two D8 tapes I burned.

Are there some simple steps I'm not paying attention to or that I should be following? Should I have TMPGenc only do the video and the audio separately?

Please let me know if you need more detail than this.
Thanks again,
Pat

[DJRumpy]

So the real problem here has to do with available space? If so, you need to figure out the AVG bitrate, so you can get your files to fit. You do this with a bitrate calculator. Use the one on this site. It's excellent for beginners. Very clean and easy.

You'll find it in the TOOLS section under Bitrate Calculators. Put in the length of BOTH of your clips combined. If their both 57 minutes, then 57x2 = 114 minutes ( 1 hour, and 54 minutes ). You also put in the bitrate for your audio. This will tell you exactly what bitrate to use for your AVG bitrate. By doing this, you can fill out a DVD to fit your encodec movie exactly.

[pbmc59]

Hi,
You've seen through my fog somewhat. The Force using you must be!
Regarding the audio bit rate. Do I use the bit rate showing on AVIcodec when I open the captured file, under the Audio part? Thanks.....again!

[DJRumpy]

Use whatever bitrate you decide to encode your final DVD at. If you want to use 224kbs, then set the calculator to 224. The input value doesn't mean much, other than to give you a good idea of the quality of the input video. For DVD, assuming your input audio was encoded around 224kbps, then you should keep that value. If it was encoded at a lower value (say 128), then you can also drop your DVD's audio bitrate. Just be aware that not all formats are created equal. MP3 can create better audio at 128kbs than MP2 at 128kbs because mp3 has a better compression ratio (more audio at lower bits).

If your still not sure, then set them the same. In - 224, DVD-224

[pbmc59]

Hi,
Thanks for the help so, but unfortunately, I'm still here.
I calculated the bit rate considering length of video and size of media.
I encoded the captured D8 video using the Wizard and guide for TMPGenc. I set the output file size to 48% of the media.
When the encoding was done, the file was 2.106GB.
The problem occurs when I pull this file into Sonic MyDVD. The file grows to about 2.7GB when it's done importing. This doesn't leave enough room in the project ( 4.7GB ) for another one hour of D8 tape ( my goal of two hours on a DVD ).
Is MyDVD re-encoding the audio or video?
I checked in preferences for a setting for this, but there is none.
Should I be doing someting differently?
I selected "one file" for the output of TMPGenc. Should I just do the video with tsunami, then do the audio with Besweet or something like that?
Or should I just get a better authoring utility, MyDVD seems to be lite-fare.
Again, Thanks in advance.........

[SaSi]

You guessed that right. Drop MyDVD. It makes audio LPCM which inflates it's size. If I remember correctly, it also re-encodes the Video (to make it better ).

Check out Tmpgenc DVD author as well as DVD Lab. The second one might appear a bit overwhelming at first, but once you spend a couple of hours with it you'll realize ut is a fine tool.

The confusion you are having means you are in the interesting part of the lerning curve and you seem to be going well. Enjoy the ride.