Misc. encoding and authoring questions with TMPGEnc

[Ronaldus]

I have the following questions after playing around with TMPGEnc and TMPGEnc DVD Author recently:

#1. I was told it's possible to extract M2V and AC3 or MP2 streams from VOB files using TMPGEnc's MPEG Tools. I see Simple Multiplex & Demultiplex and Multiplex & Demultiplex tabs. I tried Demultiplex, but it only allowed me to select 1 VOB at a time and I had to double-click on the video and audio stream to save each separately. This generates a pair of M2V and MP2 files for each VOB, and I must repeat this process for each VOB in the title. Afterwards I have to use the Merge & Cut tool to combine these into the original M2V and MP2 files from which I made the VOB. I haven't completed the whole process yet (just as a test to see if it can be done), but for now I'm going to assume it will work.

Is there an easier way to do this in fewer steps or a different tool that can give me back the byte-for-byte identical elementary streams I put into the VOB files with TMPGEnc DVD Author? This process in TMPGEnc seems unnecessarily tedious.

#2. Please confirm if this is true:

In TMPGEnc, it's impossible to select start and stop points on input AVIs. Basically it processes either 1 AVI file at a time or works in a batch mode from a list of files. This means TMPGEnc will always encode the entire AVI file from start to end and provides no way of select a start and stop point within the input AVIs. If it could do this, then I could eliminate the extra step of editing and re-saving my AVI file before using TMPGEnc if I only want to trim the beginning and end.

#3. Why is TMPGEnc's audio output file extension a .MP2 when DVD audio is actually MPEG-1? Is that referring to the Layer 1 or Layer 2? Also, when given the option of MPEG-1 layer 1 or 2, I assume I should always pick layer 2?

#4. With TMPGEnc DVD Author, when you add multiple source files and then edit the chapters in each file, the chapters always start with #1. When you edit the DVD menu, you see a chapter for each file you added. For instance, suppose you have 3 source files resulting in 3 chapters automatically added to the DVD menu. If you then add 2 chapters in the first source file, when you return to the menu you will see 5 chapters instead of 3. The first 3 are in source file 1, the 4th is in file 2, and the 5th is in file 3. Yet if you edit chapters in source file 2 or 3, the first chapter listed is #1 when it is in fact #4 or #5.

I had expected the tool would not start numbering chapters at 1 in each source file but would instead use the actual chapter number from the DVD menu it builds. Is this just the way TDA works, or is there a way to fix this so the chapter # I see while editing matches the menu?

[GbMedusa]

I'll give it a try and hopefully someone else can fill in the blanks or correct any errors.

#1: I believe you need the TMPGEnc MPEG2 Plugin (not the "MPEG Tools" option) to read the titleset (all VOBs in the main movie). Or you could use VobEdit to demux the files.

#2: Under "Setting/Advanced/Source Range" you can cut out specific parts of the video (beginning, middle, or end).

#3: ".mp2" is MPEG-1 layer 2. As for "...given the option of MPEG-1 layer 1 or 2...", I am not sure what that refers to.

#4: Each separate source file imported into TMPGEnc DVD Author is treated by itself. So any chapters that you set only apply to that clip. Each will generage a separate menu selection on the main page and have its own chapters listed (starting at #1) on a separate page. If you want to have all chapters from all clips numbered consecutively, you will have to merge the clips prior to import then add the merged file into DVD Author. This will give you one menu selection on the main page and all chapters on the following page(s).

[ZippyP.]

I'll give it a try and hopefully someone else can fill in the blanks or correct any errors.

I think you got it right on.

[Ronaldus]

Thanks for the answers so far. Here are my followup questions.

#1. I'll try VOB Edit because TMPGEnc does not work for me for demuxing. I thought the MPEG-2 plug-in was built-into TMPGEnc because it encodes video into MPEG-2, but maybe I'm missing it and just don't know it?

I found out I could use the TMPGEnc MPEG Tools->Demultiplex option and extract identical M2V and MP2 streams for the first VOB, but whenever I tried to demux the remaining VOBs in the title it kept telling me the file was invalid. Does anyone know why only the first VOB works? Could I take a wild guess and assume the first VOB of each title has a header but the remaining ones do not and I would have to merge/concatenate the VOBs through some other tool (VOB Edit?) in order to demux with TMPGEnc?

#2. I double-clicked on the Source Range filter under "Settings->Advanced" in TMPGEnc and got an edit screen. There is no play button, but you can set a Start Frame and End Frame with a Cut Editing option saying to remove the selection or everything but the selection. There is also an Audio Gap Correct.

Am I right that you can only perform 1 of these Source Range edits per AVI file you encode?

If I only need to trim the beginning and end of an AVI, it would appear this Source Range filter would be sufficient. Does this mean I can skip my usual step of editing the captured AVI in Pinnacle Studio and re-saving to AVI? In essence, I want to make sure there are no negatives or side effects from using the Source Range filter to trim AVIs before encoding.

What is the Audio Gap Correct option? I searched on this and couldn't find any explanations.

#3. Under the TMPGEnc Settings->Audio tab there is a drop down box for the audio format with MPEG-1 layer 1 or layer 2 as choices. That's why I wanted to make sure that layer 2 is always what I want to choose.

#4. I'll have to try this again, but when I experimented I thought each time I added a new file in TDA it added a chapter stop on the same (main) menu.

Let me add a new question:

#5. I tried using the TMPGEnc batch encode option and see that in order to use it I must go through the project wizard. I guess I need to be careful to load my preset settings (.mcf) each time I go through to make sure each file gets the same settings. Specifically, I have 4 edited AVIs of equal length which I want to fill a DVD. I added the times together and use the Bitrate Calculator to determine the average bitrate for 2-pass VBR.

I would then like to batch encode all 4 AVIs into 1 elementary stream M2V file and 1 MP2 file. My understanding is batch encode will generate 4 sets of M2V and MP2 files (1 for each AVI) which I can then easily put together in TDA. Is there an automated way to get them all into 1 M2V and 1 MP2 file in TMPGEnc rather than relying on TDA?

[GbMedusa]

Let's see now.

#1: The MPEG2 plug in is used to import not encode. It is not part of TMPGEnc's basic setup.

As for only being able to demux the first VOB, I will have to defer to the higher authorities.

#2: You can make multiple cuts in the source before you encode. As for the Audio Gap Correct, I believe it is to compensate for out-of-sync audio. But that is only a guess as I have never used it.

#3: Not a question, but anyway. I always use Layer 2. Maybe Layer 1 is for VCD???

#4: Actually, it's not a new chapter stop. It's a new link to the movie. Each movie (clip) gets its own menu button. It's like selecting a movie or extras on a commericial DVD versus scene selections once you get to the movie.

#5: You do not have to go through the project wizard to save batch encodes. Once you have your setting, select <File/Add current project to batch list/MPEG - AVI - WAV - image sequence>. After you have your files set, go to <File/Batch List> and you will see all your listings ready for processing.

Actually, DVD Author will *not* merge the files into a single unit. They will still be separate entries. You can do your batch encoding to separate files (system or elementary streams) then use the MPEG tools (not the MPEG2 plugin!) to merge them into one file.

Whew! I hope this helps.

[Leoslocks]

#2. I double-clicked on the Source Range filter under "Settings->Advanced" in TMPGEnc and got an edit screen. There is no play button, but you can set a Start Frame and End Frame with a Cut Editing option saying to remove the selection or everything but the selection. There is also an Audio Gap Correct.

I have SVHS softball games with a fade out/fade in between each inning.
In the Source Range filter I am able to remove the fade out by moving the slider to the point where the cut is to start. "Set Start Frame", move to the end of the 'bad' area and "Set End Frame". Cut editing>Cut currently selected area>Yes to cut . This will work for multiple locations.

My setup is having VirtualDub framserve the AVI and TMPGEnc using the frameserve file as the source.

With [] Display Audio checked(Source Range filter), the audio output is shown below the video. Aligning a known source of audio to the video by adjusting the Audio gap correct: up/down arrow. Eg: moving the slider to where the Video shows the bat hitting the ball > adjust the audio gap slider to where the spike in the Audio graph is in the middle of the display.

The left/right arrows or the Wheel on the mouse will adjust the window you are in (Video or Audio).