here's what I'm doing, but there's gotta be a better way

[hakeemshabazz]

I'm trying to make a mixed DVD, with all my favorite movie scenes. This would be easy enough, if I didn't want to add fades to the video & audio and add titles...but keep original quality of the footage.

Here is a rundown of what I'm doing to complete this. Is there an easier way?

1) rip chapters from DVD (using smartripper)
2) use mpeg-vcr to cut the ripped VOBs down to the exact scene I want
3) demux with TMPGEnc Plus (or mpeg-vcr) to get .m2v and .ac3 files
4) use mpeg-vcr to cut about 15 seconds off the .m2v file (that will be used for the fade)
5) use mpeg-vcr to fade in the 15 second clip I made from step 4
6) merge the faded clip made in step 5 to the edit clip from step 4 to give me a new .m2v file. I used TMPGEnc Plus to merge the two .m2v files using TYPE: MPEG-2 Program (VBR), and just saved it as <filename>.m2v
7) multiplex new .m2v file with the original .ac3 file to get a new .vob

Hopefully everyone can see why I'm going through all these steps. ...I wanted to add the fades without having to re-encode the entire .m2v file & end up losing quality throughout.

And for thos mpeg-vcr users out there, maybe you can explain why I can't multiplex this new .m2v file (but can in TMPGEnc Plus). I get a "This file is NOT an mpeg video ES file" error message. Are the steps that I am taking above creating a non compliant video? The only thing I can figure is during step 5, the video isn't getting re-encoded right? (I'm not doing anything to it when I save, just saving it).

I have tried using products that have Smart Rendering technology but the hell if I can get it working... Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[SaSi]

I can understand your frustration.

I accept your ultimate goal of not losing quality, but perhaps there is a side-route to that.

I would rip the chapters of the DVD with SmartRipper as you do.

I would then open them through VirtualDUB mod.

Would then save them to AVI, using hufyuv codec (lossless) and uncompressed 48kHz wav for audio (interleaved with the video).

(I believe this particular step of converting audio into WAV to be critical, because since you are mixing scenes from different movies, chances are you will be faced with different audio types. Different bitrates, different channel counts or even DTS vs AC3).

I would then edit the videos with Premier or another editing s/w (MainConcept's EVE is supposed to do smart rendering) and again save with HufYUV.

Up to now, no loss in quality and a more straightforward process.

Now to encoding.

If you encode with a slightly higher average bitrate - or the same - the original movies were encoded using a descent MPEG encoder, I don't believe you will have visible difference in quality. Do a two pass VBR encoding.

[hakeemshabazz]

Thanks for the reply Sasi. Just to clarify, I'm not wanting to mix scenes together into one file. I want a compilation of scenes (which can just be all their own VOBs, for all I care) that I can just pick from a menu.

I'm not familiar with the AVI codec hufyuv...it's lossless? So then I'm assuming that I would only lose quality when re-encoding to mpeg...in which case, what is the best mpeg encoder?

Some scenes are getting added to the mix because of their audio, in which case I don't want to lose quality of the audio (which I'm assuming would happen if I decoded the .ac3 to wav & then back). So, is there a way to demux the VOB, convert the .m2v file to avi, and then convert the avi back to .m2v and remux that new file with the .ac3?

I thought those Smart Render programs were going to fix my problems, they sound like they are made exactly for what I want to do.

[hakeemshabazz]

two pass VBR encoding?

[hakeemshabazz]

What about this...

Can I clip off the ends of the .m2v file (in mpeg-vcr). Take the ends, convert them to avi using the hufyuv codec & virtual dub, and then add the fades, re-encode to mpeg, and join the mpeg w/ the .m2v file?

Will these merge?

[offline]

Just a suggestion:

1) use DVDShrink in re-author mode and use the start-end frames to select each clip.

2) save each clip as a "backup" in indvidual folders

3) load each VOB clip into Ulead Movie Factory or Ulead DVD Workshop

4) drag and drop each clip into ulead in the sequence you require and
choose alternate audio if required. Drag and drop fade or other effect between each clip as required. Check end result in real time.

5) check smartrender, check do not re-encode compliant audio/video and output final video.

Trial versions of Ulead products can be d/l from www.ulead.com

(no.. I don't work for Ulead) 8)

edit: the trial versions of ulead's products do not handle AC3 audio

[hakeemshabazz]

I tried using some of Ulead's products, and I couldn't get squat out of them...but from reading your posts, it makes me wonder...do I have to have my vobs in a video_ts folder in order for them to get recognized in movie factory?

I'm getting so annoyed with this project, that I'm thinking of just abondoning it again.

[offline]

hakeemshabazz,

Apologies. Just rename the .VOB files to .MPG and everything will
work fine. Just forgot to mention that last step