tmpgenc settings

[Michael Coates]

hi, was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction here. i use tmpgenc to convert my home movies (avi to m2v) but when i look at the chart it says i should be able to get over 2 hours on my dvd, but the video i finish up with is always huge, i have trouble fitting 40 minutes on it - i assume this is a bitrate issue because even on low res it still comes out too big. so i'd like to know a few things if anyoen can spare the time:

1) i know opinions differ but if i was to try and get 2 hours of home movies on one dvd what bitrate would you go with for low res PAL dvd?

2) i converted some to vcd files some time ago - i tried to author these on a dvd with some m2v files but i keep running into errors, i want to re-encode the vcd mpg into m2v+wav - what bitrate would anyone recomend for this bearing in mind i want to save space?

i only have tmpgenc btw.

thanks for reading.
mik x

[Michael Coates]

wow, lots of views but i seem to have everyone stumped! really, any advice at all would be really helpful - i haven't a clue!

[jimmalenko]

1) Use the bitrate calculator here to work out what your average bitrate should be (I'm assuming you want to use VBR ?)
Set your max to 9000 and your min to 3000 and your average to whatever the bitrate calc says.

2) In TMPGEnc, go to MPEG Tools > Simple Demultiplex and add your VCD MPEG. This will split it into a video and an audio stream. You can keep the video as is, it will be fine. All you need to do is resample the audio to 48KHz instead of 44.1KHz. I would recommend using Besweet or HeadAC3HE for this.

[Michael Coates]

hmm, in dvd-lab it always has problems with my video being m1v while everything else is m2v, which is why i was just gonna re-encode. what would be a good bitrate for a vcd file in m2v format do you think? i can do what you say but dvd-lab always says it has a problem with it.

regarding point 1, i dont really know the diff between variable and constant bit rates. all i know is on tmpgenc the automatic setting is at 8000 - and that's where i get massive files coming out. i tried it at 4000 and got a reasonable size and the video looks ok - but i dont know how much i am comprimising. it says i should be able to get 2 hours worth at dvd standard but when i use the automatic settings i can't get nearly enough.

thanks for the reply mate
mik x

[jimmalenko]

OK. Do this:

In TMPGEnc, go to MPEG Tools > Simple Demultiplex and add your VCD MPEG. This will split it into a video and an audio stream. Resample the audio to 48KHz instead of 44.1KHz. I would recommend using Besweet or HeadAC3HE for this. In TMPGEnc, load the m1v file and load a DVD template. Load the unlock template. Use 2-Pass VBR with Max 9000 Min 3000 and Ave whatever the bitrate calc says. If you select ES (Video Only) this will output to a M2V file.

[kyemeng]

You could do as the man suggest by using the birate calculator available at this site or alternatively using the project wizard in Tmpgenc to provide an appropriate birate.