DJRumpy's SVCD to DVD Conversion

[Gfavored]

Hi, great guide.

I have a question though, I use to use TMPEGEnc for all my encoding.
The resulting DVD's played in most players. But I changed to CCE for the speed and quality, unbeatable in my opinion. My problem is this, the resulting files only play in some DVD players. The only difference is the encoding part. I have taken the same file and have done one in TMPEGEnc, and the same file using CCE. The TMPEGEnc encoded DVD would play in my RCA and Apex, but the CCE would play only in my RCA. I am using everything the same ,ie: Media, Authoring program, Burnig program.

The CCE file of course is much smaller than TMPEGEnc's, because I can lower the bitrate considerably using 4 and 5 pass. but still the max I use is 4000 well within the DVD standard. One last thing is that if I load this CCE m2v file into virtual dub it is read as an mpeg 1,also the same if I load it in Power DVD. But TMPEG picks it up as an mpeg 2 and all my other programs do too.

Any ideas?? By the way I'm encoding to NTSC, using FitCd as the avisynth script works very well without the need to calculate. Thx in advance.

[DJRumpy]

A few things here. It definately sounds like a setting your using in CCE does not agree with one of your players. We'll touch on that in a minute.

As for bitrate, doing more passes will not get you a smaller file, unless you lower the average. Unless you trying to fit multiple files onto a DVD, then you should just use a calculator to find the AVG. Set your Max to somewhere over 9000, and set your min at anywhere from 0 - 2000 (if your player if finicky, try a 2000 min). You MAX setting will not affect output size in any way, so you should definately NOT be using such a low MAX for DVD video. The AVG dictates exactly how large your output will be. The more passes you do improves the quality.

Try using the same settings as those that are in the guide, with the exception of the minimum. Set yours to 2000. I wouldn't worry too much about your software reporting MPEG-1. They are almost identical except for some differences in the header among other things. You can't do multi-pass on an MPEG-1 file in CCE, so I'm sure your settings as far as output type are right there.

[Gfavored]

THX for getting back so quick,

Here's the thing I use the multi pass for quality with a low bitrate,I have found that I am able to create a 1.4gig file for an hour and a half movie, there is very little differance ,if any from the 2.5 or 3.5 files even with this lower bitrate. I would, like to put these movies on the new 1.5gig, mini-DVD media. Also it cuts down on burning time, and of course storage. I am able to put up to 3 DVD img files on one DVD, this way.
I understand that there is a max bitrate for standard DVD's but is there anything about average, and min. in the standards?
Also because some of the other programs do pick it up as an mpeg 1 file, I thought that maybe something in the header was confusing cheaper players. If I run these files through TMPEG's mpeg tool's and remultiplex it as an mpeg 2 stream it is picked up as an mpeg 2 file in everything.
As for quality I can use a number of filters if needed using Advanced AVISynth.
I have been encoding for quite a few years now and in fact I use to make one cd VCD's of movies with almost zero loss of quality, about 4 years ago. I have now been able to make one cd SVCD's that are bettter than any 3 cd's I have seen yet to date. Of course we are talking about a movie that is only up to 90 min in length with only 128 in sound quality. Although my VCD's could go as long as 135min with 98 in sound quality.
I am using CCE 2.67, and SpruceUp for aurthoring.

[DJRumpy]

You should still use a higher max. It won't affect your file size at all, and it will only increase the quality of your output. Only the AVERAGE setting will affect your output size in any way. By keeping your MAX low, your crippling the very strengths of multipass VBR. The actual specs for a DVD mpeg are on a pay only basis, meaning if you haven't payed, you can't see them due to a non-disclosure agreement, so we're pretty much guessing as to the actual specs. Just set your max to over 9000. Set your AVG according to how big you want your MPEG to be, be it 1.5 gig, or whatever. Your min can be zero if you like.

You shouldn't be multiplexing anything together if you use SpruceUp. Spruce will warn you if the file isn't compliant. It imports simple streams, like .MPA (mp2), and M2V (mpeg2). Just import them 'as is', after running pulldown.exe on your CCE M2V output.

[Gfavored]

Hi, sorry it took so long to get back to you,
It apears the problem wasn't in CCE or the bit rates or anything with the encoding or authoring process, it turns out for some reason NERO 5.5.10 was the cause. But it seems to only be for DVD files under 2 gigs. I tried a different burning utility, TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.5, which has a burning program in it. Works like a charm, using the exact same files I use in Nero. They played in every player I tried, they played in ones that never played any of my DVD's large or small , CCE or TMPGE. Even my Apex AD-500A which by compatability list shouldn't play any of them, but it is.
I just finished burning that new movie Mat... Re......, which is 2hrs 18 minutes long using CCE 6 pass 500 min. 1375 ave., and 9000 max. with Ac3 DS 224, 720,480 res. the resulting file is 1.4 gigs after authoring in TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.5. Watched it over my friends on his large screen, through his stereo surround and it was picture perfect.
Breaking the 1.5 gig goal was my mark, so as to be able to use the new 1.5 gig DVD media. Now thats achieved with 140 min movie such as that one, and HI-Quality, well... an average length movie is not a problem.
Just wanted to update you on the NERO thing ,still don't understand why it performed that way, maybe never will, but that was the problem,no doubt about it, I've been working on this problem for the past 5 days,for about 14 hours a day. Think I'll get some sleep now,he-he.
thx for all your help and time,

Gfavored
.

[DJRumpy]

I noticed the late hour that the notification was sent regarding a topic reply to this thread. Talk about burning the midnight oil.

Regarding nero, I seem to recall there is a 'compatability' setting that causes it to burn a larger disc, which may resolve your problem. I don't remember the specifics, but I do remember seeing that setting somewhere. It might be worth a look.

Otherwise, I'm glad it worked out well for you!

[DrVenkman]

just a quick question. What about when the source is PAL? As in 25fps. I only ask because the audio seems to fall out of sync as I had to make some changes (I was experimenting so instead of 23fps as posted I changed it to 25fps.

My question is should I just follow the guide anyway which includes me converting to NTSC i guess? Or is there something else I could do so that I get a PAL dvd?

Thanks a lot.

[DJRumpy]

If your source is PAL, and you want to leave it that way, just leave the AssumeFPS line out of your script. If you want to convert from PAL to NTSC, include it the AssumeFPS command in your script, so it looks like this: AssumeFPS(23.976,True)

If you want to convert from NTSC to PAL, it should look like this:
AssumeFPS(25, True)

[igneous]

This is a one of the best guides I've seen. There however seems to be a problem with PAL videos. I did everything as usual (and i've tested it over and over on my laptop and it works flawlessly with no problems), but i encounter a problem with this PAL SVCD i'm trying to convert to NTSC. When I try to play the Avisynth AVS script the video just freezes on the first frame. I can fast foward through the movie but it still stays on the same frame. I re-installed all my video codecs but cant seem to fix it. I'm thinking that it could be video codec problems. The video plays flawlessly btw, the only problem is when i try to test the avs script. I've went through the guide and checked everything down to the letter but unfortunately cant get it working . I burned the video to a disc so i can take it home tonight and test it out in my laptop. If it works in the laptop then i know its a video codec issue on this computer and thus i'll have to format, but i'm hoping that there is another way to resolve this problem. Here is what i did so far:

1. open movies in dvd2avi (v1.76) [followed all the steps in the guide]
2. re-encode the audio in besweet
3. write avs script:
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\mpeg2dec3.dll")
vid=Mpeg2Source("bd.d2v")
aud=WAVSource("bd.wav")
AudioDub(vid,aud)
AssumeFPS(23.97,True)
ResampleAudio(48000)
ConvertToYUY2()

Everything is in C:\movie\ FOLDER btw.
4. Try to play bd.avs in windows media player (and it freezes at the first fame) when the video opens all i see is the first frame, i skip through the movie and nothing happens it stays on the same frame.

5. All the software i'm using is the exact same ones specified to use in DJRumpy's guide.
Thanks,
Igneous

[DJRumpy]

First things first..you don't need the LoadPlugins line if your DLL is in the Plugins directory (which your script says that it is), so you can leave that line out of your script. The MPEG2DEC3 DLL will be loaded by default. Other than that, your script is fine. Your problem most likely lies with your source MPEG, and not your codecs. Even though the original SVCD plays fine, when you extract it back to a file on your PC, bad blocks on the CD-R can introduce problems that do not show up while playing the CD-R itself. As for Codecs, since you can play NTSC MPEG without issue on your PC, than PAL would also play without issue. There is no difference between the two as far as your codecs are concerned, since both are MPEG-2 and both are from an SVCD, using either PCM audio, or MP2 audio. I would suspect the problem likes with the first frames of your mpeg. You can try stripping the MPEG off of the CD-R using VCDGear, and the Fix MPEG Errors option, or if you want to try a quick fix, use the TRIM command on your final output, to skip X number of frames at the beginning of your video like so:

vid=Mpeg2Source("bd.d2v")
aud=WAVSource("bd.wav")
AudioDub(vid,aud)
AssumeFPS(23.97,True)
ResampleAudio(48000)
ConvertToYUY2()
Trim(10,0)

The Trim(10,0) command will skip the first 10 frames. I just threw 10 in there as an example. Try 1 to see if it gets around your problem. If it doesn't, try larger and larger numbers. You can also try manually stepping through each frame using VirtualDub to see if it will allow you to get past frame #1. Use the DoubleArrow buttons in VirtualDub to advance once frame at a time.

[igneous]

I tried everything you said I should and still came up with the same problems. I tried the same steps on a different computer (my laptop) this time and i was able to view the movie.avs script this time. Here is the error I encounter in CCE when i try to encode the move (i also encountered this problem on my other computer which this video would freeze at the first frame).

This is the first error I recieve when I try to encode with CCE

And this is the second error I get in CCE


I also tried tmpg but i just freezes and doesn't do anything... and eventually stops responding and crashes. I woulder if its just this issue with pal videos or perhaps just this particular video.

[DJRumpy]

I'm still leaning towards a bad MPEG. You said you were able to view the .AVS script on your other PC though? Try running the MPEG through VCDGear using the 'Fix MPeg' option (make sure you turn of splitting in the VCDGEar options). Then resave the MPEG as a D2V file using DVD2AVI. Just save it over the top of your existing .D2V file, and try playing the script in Windows Media Player again.

[igneous]

Hi, update, i just downloaded the PAL SVCD sample from vcdhelp to see if it was really the video source or perhaps something else also (i did run the video through vcdgear with fix mpeg box checked on all of my movies i do that normally ). The exact same problem that i had with my PAL SVCD is the same problem I encountered with the PAL SVCD that I downloaded from VCDHELP , so now I'm thinking it could be a problem with CCE as I'm using version 2.50, but TMPGEnc acts the same way it still hangs like with the old video and crashes eventually. Now I have no idea what could be causing this silly problem I'm encountering... as I said before NTSC movies work flawlessly, and I can load teh PAL SVCD movies into tmpg and they'll encode w/o any issues.

[DJRumpy]

If you want to try the Codec tack, start with your MPEG-2 codec. Which codec are you using? Are you using more than one? You never did answer my other question regarding your second PC. You said it does play the disc without issue?

[igneous]

PC #1 is the one that the video freezes at the begining of the frame when using the avs script. I also recieve the same errors in in CCE as with PC #2.

PC #2 is the one that the video plays the avs script but gives me the errors in CCE and freezes in TMPG.

As for codecs I'm using the cyberlink dvd 4.0 which tmpg detects the codec and i uninstalled all my other "elecard" media codec. That was the only other mpeg2 codec.

On both of the pc's the video works file (.mpg file) btw.

[DJRumpy]

You said you could re-encode the PAL sample from this site though correct? You could always try a newer version of CCE. Since both PC's crash when encoding, I still think its' your mpeg with nothing else to go on. You said you could play this sites sample PAL encode. Can you re-encode it? I'm not familiar with your MPEG-2 codec, since I've only used WinDVD, and PowerDVD. You might try those. I think they offer a trial.

[littledg]

I started using your guide and everything went smoothly until i tried the movie.avs. i get an unrecognized error on line 16. ive tried to redo the beginning steps over and over but it still doesnt work and i cant figure out whats wrong. also when i used DVD2AVI it did not make a wav file. could that be the problem? how would i fix it if it were? thanks in advance

[DJRumpy]

What is on line 16 of your .AVS code? Also, did DVD2AVI generate an MPA file?

[littledg]

vid=Mpeg2Source("dvd2avi.d2v")
is the 16th line

and no it didnt i was looking through the program but didnt know how to do anything like that

[DJRumpy]

Ensure that the file dvd2avi.d2v exists in the same directory as your .AVS script. You also need to be sure that you have the MPEG2DEC plugin in your PLUGINS directory.

As for setting up the DVD2AVI, just follow the steps in the guide. Pay particular attention to the AUDIO configuration for DVD2AVI. It's possible your MPEG source audio could be corrupt, but it's more often just a missed checkbox or setting in DVD2AVI.

[veg]

Hey im having trouble with your guide. When using DVD2AVI do i Demux all Tracks or just Demux. THat could possibly be my problem however the main problem is using BeSweet. When i try to convert this is what the log file shows

eSweet v1.5b25 by DSPguru.
--------------------------
Using hip.dll v1.19 by Myers Carpenter
Using Shibatch.dll v0.24 by Naoki Shibata & DSPguru (shibatch.sourceforge.net).
Error 85: support for ac3enc.dll had been removed due it its suckness!
Quiting...
[00:00:00:000] Conversion Completed !

Logging ends : 03/10/04 , 13:28:05.


Nothing happens and no new .wav file is created. Im reallly not sure what to do because the MPA files needs to be a .WAV and i cant convert it. If you could just post a screenshot of what ur setup is like or how to fix it id appreciate it.
THanks alot

[veg]

Ok i understand why it was removed because i am using the beta version, however i downloaded 1.4 it that .dll file is still missing. I still dont know what to do and how to fix it

[DJRumpy]

The guide isn't meant to teach you how to configure your conversion tools. It assumes your tools are in working order. You should post this one out in the main forum, noting your having a problem with BeSweet.

[kbaxter]

First of all, thanks for the guide.

However, I have a problem. The resulting DVD is always much too bright. The original MPEG is ok, but as soon as I preview the ".avs" file everything is just too bright. I've read a little on this forum about different luminance levels on tv and pc, but no matter what options I use (tv & pc scale in dvd2avi and 0-255 or the other one in CCE) the problem remains. I assume the difference is too much to be caused by this problem anyway.

I checked, double checked and even triple checked the settings, but nothing seems to solve this. I even tried the test svcd on videohelp. I could of course adjust the luminance manually, but I will only do that unless absolutely necesarry.

Anyway, I hope some one can help me out here. What setting could I be missing? What might be wrong (drivers? dlls?)?

regards & thanks in advance,
Peter

[DJRumpy]

The first thing I would look at would be the player settings. They often have independent brightness/contrast settings from what's actually in the video.

[gnslinger]

First off, great guide. Most guides I've read don't give actual reasons for why you check certain options. This makes it easier to understand what I'm doing. But I am having a problem. Whenever I try to encode the video with CCE it gets to about 2% then ends, then encodes the audio to the same spot and ends again. Any idea why this is? Also when I try playing the AVS file through Windows Media Player the video is really choppy and the audio sounds high-pitched, like it is moving slightly faster than it should. I'm guessing the audio has to do with me converting it from PAL to NTSC, but will this be corrected (along with the video) when I finally encode and author the DVD?

[gnslinger]

Okay, I just encoded it with TMPGenc and it went smoothly. But the audio is still high pitched and isn't in sync with the video (even after using Pulldown). I'm going to try and go through the whole process again and try to see if I made any errors. PAL to NTSC conversions are so frustrating!

[gnslinger]

Alright, just started from scratch it works perfectly. The reason CCE wasn't working right was because of a bad registration key (learned that from their FAQ), and the reason the audio/video was screwed was because I used FORCE FILM when I shouldn't have. That part of the guide is a little confusing, it says if the movie is progressive then I should use FORCE FILM, but it also says if it's PAL don't use it, mine was both so I wasn't sure which to use. Other than that, it's a great guide, espically for the fact I was able to make the movie anamorphic, didn't even know I could do that.

[DJRumpy]

The PAL setting always overrides the type of video. If it's PAL, do not use the force film. I'll update the guide to note the setting should only be used on NTSC sources.

[Blimp]

First of all great guide. I’m getting some excellent results with FILM frame types SVCD's! There is only one problem whem I’m converting a NTSC (29.970 fps) frame type SVCD to PAL.
When the conversion is completed the PAL video isn’t synchronized with the audio. The video seems to leg a few seconds. I tried the “true” option in de avs script, but then the audio is “stretched” (as expected, because this option should not be used).
A workaround could be to create a NTSC DVD, but my DVD player doesn’t like them a lot. So I hope there is a way to convert Frame type NTSC to PAL DVD’s.