another PAL SVCD to NTSC DVD Conversion guide

[tend2it]

SVCD PAL to NTSC, SVCD to DVD, PCM to AC3, Menus and Chapters, VIDEO_TS gen
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Tools used (substitute where appropriate):
TMPGEnc Plus(AVI->DVD, De-multiplex)
BeSweet (PCM->AC3)
Power Director Pro (DVD authoring)
SpruceUp (DVD layout authoring)
LViewPro (jpg background editing)
dvd2one (shrink dvd size)
Nero Burning ROM (DVD burning)

Time reference: CPU 1.333GHz, XP PRo, 512MB RAM.

SVCD PAL to NTSC:
01. Start IsoBuster, Use File->Open Image File to load Cue image
02. Select dir MPEG2, right mouse click and select Extract MPEG2
03. Save to unique .mpg filename. Repeat for each SVCD part.

01. Start TMPGEnc Plus, cancel out of Wizard. MPEG Setting audio bitrate, I use 256. If you
go higher and get distortion, then you went too high.
02. Browse/Load Video source .mpg filename ... Audio will automatically load (same file)
03. Select Stream Type = System (Video+Audio) and use/Load DVD (NTSC).mcf template.
04. Click on Setting button, select Rate control mode = 2-pass VBR(VBR) for best quality.
04a. OR Click on Setting button, select Rate control mode = CQ (Constant Quality).
05. Select Motion search precision = Motion estimate search (fast) and hit OK to exit.
06. Select Output file name.
07. Hit the Start button at the top of the page.
08. Repeat for each SVCD part (~5.5 hrs = 2-pass VBR / ~3.5 hrs = CQ @)
Note: I couldn't tell the difference in quality between 2-Pass and CQ, some say that 2-Pass
is better for artifact removal. I use CQ.

SVCD to DVD:
01. Start Power Director Pro 2.55 (or your favorite editing software)
02. Import all converted mpg video files.
03. Add each to Storyboard in the correct order. Use Trim Mode to remove/edit disc overlap
scenes.
04. Ignore transitions between scenes.
05. Once the project is organized, select Produce Movie into one BIG file!
06. Select Video for general purposes = Mpeg2 Video and hit Next.
07. Select Smart Video Rendering ... select a filename and take a break until done (~0.5 hrs)
This is the feature / reason why I use Power Director Pro.

01. Start TMPGEnc Plus, cancel out of Wizard.
02. Goto File->MPEG Tools and select Simple De-multiplex to separate out video and audio.
03. Browse and select compiled filename = Input.
04. Browse and select Video output filename = .m2v
05. Browse and select Audio output filename = .mp2 and hit Run.
06. Hit run and take another break (~20 mins).

PCM to AC3:
01. Start BeSweet GUI.
02. Select Input filename = .mp2 file format.
03. Select Output filename = .ac3 file format (same filename as the m2v).
04. Select Hip->Use MPA Decoder and SSRC->Downconvert Sample Rate.
05. Select AC3Enc->AC3.
06. Click on SSRC button in the menu to the right.
07. Change the Sampleing rate to 48000. (DVD requires 48khz audio).
08. Click on AC3 & OGG in the menu to the right.
09. Change the bitrate to 256 kbit/s.
10. Finally, click on MP2 to AC3 and BeSweet will convert the audio to AC3 (~10 mins).

Menus and Chapters, VIDEO_TS gen:
01. Start SpruceUp DVD Authoring or your favorite authoring software.
02. Use File->Import to load the .m2v file. The .ac3 file will automatically attach.
03. Use LViewPro to create a new blank 1024x768 background and paste 600x800 background
image with offset starting top left corner 100x75. This will center the image in the view area.
04. Click on the Backgrounds tab, use Add Media Asset to load created background images.
05. Drag the background image to create menu1.
06. Drag additional backgrounds to the menu list along the bottom.
07. Click on the Buttons tab, drag buttons to menu1 and create labels for each (i.e., Play, Select
Scenes).
08. Select menu2's background.
09. Click on the Movies tab, right click on File Properties to check if audio file is linked correctly.
Hit OK.
10. Right click on Clip Properties and define Chapters using Slider and Red Flag button. The Eye
can be used to create chapter button images.
11. Once all the chapters are selected (even number), hit the Make Buttons from Chapters. The
chapters should appear in the current background.
12. Add another button to return to the Main Menu.
13. Link each button to an action by right-clicking and selecting a chapter or menu to go to when
hit.
14. When done, click on the Simulate button to test actions.
15. When satisfactory, click on the Export button. Select Output to = Title Set (create the DVD
Dirs and use Nero to burn. Hit the Write button and take another break (~15 mins).

01. If the Export image exceeds 4.7 GB ... you need to shrink the disc down a bit.
02. Start dvd2one, select Source = newly created VIDEO_TS dir, destination dir name, Copy
Mode = Full disk, then Select the audio.
03. Click the Start button and take another break (~0.5 hrs).

01. Start Nero Burning ROM.
02. Start a new DVD project. Rename the name of the DVD. Drag the newly created VIDEO_TS
contents to the DVD project, insert a DVD+-RW to test burn, and hit the Burn button.
Take another break (~0.5 hrs).

01. ALL DONE! Test new DVD in PowerDVD and on standalone DVD players.

[tend2it]

Side note for BeSweet mp2 to ac3 problems:

I just discovered that TMPGEnc Plus will allow you to unlock the Audio Stream Setting to change the Audio Stream type. This is done by clicking on the Setting (Mpeg) button and under the Audio tab, click on Stream Type. This will un-grey the field and allow pull-down choices! This will then allow you to switch from MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (mp2) to Linear PCM (Wav).

A few mp2 converts done through BeSweet caused some sound clipping/distortion in the resulting ac3 file. The pre-convert m2p file sounded fine. When I switched TMPGEnc's Audio Stream Setting to PCM and inputted the resultant Wav file into BeSweet, the clipping/distortion disappeared!