what's th deal w/Forty-two?!?!?

[maleek]

I'm new to this converting game so please bear with me. I finally was able to sucessfully install forty-two. I got it up and running, popped in a DVD, chose VCD as my choice and started converting. Got the dreaded empty folder. Searched the forum, downloaded the update (Ver. 1.6.1) tried again, same thing. Searched the forum some more and read that I need to place mpeg2enc (although my file is called tompeg2enc) into App support. Seemed to do more when it was running and now produces a 5 MB .AVI file after ripping for several hours. I tried putting all this into toast and I get the message "cannot burn this file cause quicktime doesen't support this file format"....I AM AT MY WITS END. I don't know what else to do to get this to work. Can anyone help?

[markusb]

i know it doesn't help, but you're not the only one who has had trouble getting forty-two to do as expected...

[maleek]

Any light at the end of the tunnel, or other options?

[galactica]

what exactly are you trying to do with 42.
dvd to what??

[maleek]

just simply tring to rip DVD's to VCD. This (according to some) should be relatively easy, but I encounter problems everywhere...

[galactica]

To be honest, im not exactly sure why 42 works for some people and doesnt for others....

Now, are you using just plain jane forty-two?
or perhaps one of the "expanded" forty-two's?
---Forty-Two DVD-MP Plus (this is the one I use)
---Forty-Two DVD-VX Plus

I have not had any problems with any of the expanded ones.
Perhaps if you are using the regular one you can get one of the more robust versions.

Alternative of this is to use OSEX and extract the dvd down to .m2v and .ac3

you would then convert .ac3 to .mp2 with any of the many audio converters.
Next you would then downscale and encode the .m2v using ffmpegx to a lower k/sec and to mpeg1

Finally, mux the .mpeg1 and .mp2 to get your .mpeg1 with audio.
You can then cut it yourself and compile your vcd images and burn.

More importatnly id contact kai and co using the email provided in the manual on 42 and see what they think about your specific setup and why its not working.

Sometimes it can just be that particular dvd. have you tried others??

[maleek]

thanks for the info, to answer you're questions:

1: yep, just using forty-two (trying to keep it simple)

2:I have e-mailed them 2X's about this and never a response

3: Yep, used several different DVD's all with the same effect, an empty "Burnwhat'sinhere" folder

Sigh......

[galactica]

ohh well thats a different story...
i thought you said it never worked at all!!!

Do you have the .mpeg or even the biles.m2v in the temp folder you set when you were saving??

If so, the encoding is not wasted. just use these file and mux them together to get your vcd .mpeg1

OR perhaps the mpeg1 is in your temp folder. If so you really just need to split it and make an image of the .mpeg1 with vcdtoolsx

then burn and watch.

[maleek]

umm, never said it never worked at all(see my original post). I said that what I get is an empty "burnwhat's in here" folder. The files it does end up producing are just way too small to create a movie, i.e. 5MB .Avi file, 20K MP2 file, etc.... I don't see these files as bieng relatively useful, but I have tried to keep them and burn them just as a test, when I open toast and choose the VCD optionit says "files not supported by QUICKTIME" and doesen't allow me to burn these. I search my HD for other files but it doesen't show anything. It's almost as though forty-two rips the DVD and then automatically trashes the resulting file...

[galactica]

hmmmm..... thats a 1st for me.
How long does the process take as far as yoru comptuer is concerned?
If its within a matter of min then thats why...

As to the fix.... cant offer one other than say purchasing the expanded versions of forty-two.

they have always worked for me. I had the plain forty-two when it was 1st out on the scene and it was iffy as to if it actually ever gave me anything in the burn whats in here folder, but the process would always go a good 4-6 hours and I always had a .mpeg file in the temp folder i could work with.

Im wondering why you have .avi in the temp, thats a little odd....
but no matter.

Sorry, wish i had something to say..

you are in 10.2 right? I cant remember if you said you were or were not.

ps, the mpeg2enc is actually supposed to be mpeg2enc, not the stuff you have. I wonder if your install worked properly.

Here's what is in my forty-two support folder....
DieRightNow
font
mplayer
mpeg2enc
mencoder

do you have the same things???

[symphy]

I've had the same problems with 42.

Reinstall 42 and follow the manual step by step.
It is also VERY important (according to kai) to separate you output and temp folder. This solved many problems for me.
The only format I still can't output is DVD (leaves me with only one image of 1,04Gb in the burn folder).
For the rest 42 works fine. I am having more problems with the MPPlus version, but a new version is on its way (according to kai).

For burning, open the cue files in FireStarter FX. It works better then toast, and you can overburn (sometimes necessary, becaus the images are close to the limit of 700Mb).

[galactica]

It is also VERY important (according to kai) to separate you output and temp folder.

Very true! But I think the problem here is more than just this... All i can say is reinstall from the lowest version and re work your way back to the highest with updates... perhaps something got screwed along the line...

[maleek]

I don't know guys..I'm close to giving up at this point...but I do appreciate all the fine advice. Really, all I want to do is back up and make copies of DVD's I have or borrow from friends and family and burn to VCD (which my DVD player will read). . . I had no idea it would be this difficult. I literally have soo many programs and codecs now that I'm forgetting what each one does or is supposed to do, e.g.:

Forty-two (now VX)
ME encoder
Divix Doctor 2
VLC
Quicktime pro (w/3ivx d4 404 codecs)
Fire Starter FX
ffmpegxbinaries

Wow! The good news is that w/42 it looks as though everything is in the right place, but I'm not sure which disc option to choose for VCD (I chose automatic and it gave me a small .AVI of the first 2 chpts of a DVD). If all I needed were AVI's I'd be king! Any other hints, suggestions or comments are more than welcome! Again thanks for bearing with me.

[symphy]

Why did you buy the 42 VX version? VX generates AVI for DIVX.
Only the plain 42 and the 42 MPPlus version can convert to VCD. Don't buy 42 MPPlus yet, because I find it stil to buggy.
With your donationware 42 version the convertion should be very easy and you don't need enything else. Except if you want to view your VCD on the mac, you need VLC or Mplayer.
Don't make it to difficult. With only 42 and a good burner it should be no problem.

[maleek]

umm, haven't actually purchased it yet, was only seeing if it worked... didn't know that it was only for avi's though...is the only version so far that has actually produced anything in terms of an end result. Maybe I should just stay away from 42 until the newest version comes out.