AVI to DVD MPEG (CCE or TMPGenc encoders)

[DJRumpy]

Sorry for the delay getting back to you. I'm not getting a notice consistantly when someone posts

TooLFooL, make sure your using the right media setting in your authoring software. It almost sounds like your picking a CDR instead of DVDR, in which case pretty much any DVD project would appear to be too big. Regarding TMPGenc, it's defaintely a slow beast. When in doubt, encode only a small sample to make sure it looks right. It takes only a few minutes, but it can save you days of work! You select a small range under SETTINGS->ADVANCED->SOURCE RANGE. That will let you encode a small minute or two clip from your video.

Jonas_Vedder: CCE accepts only AVI or frameserved input. It does not accept MPEG input (either MPEG1 or MPEG2). To convert MPEG2 files, open them in DVD2AVI and save the D2V project file, which can be opened in AVISynth, or TMPGenc. MPEG1 can't be opened in DVD2AVI, but you can open in in VirtualDub, which can also frameserve to CCE or TMPGenc. Check the guides section for help with any of these methods or tools.

[Jonas_Vedder]

Hi again and thanks for the reply.

I must say that I think your guide is great..i think i've said this already
Anyway..I had a problem here in 2 or 3 movies that I converted.
These avi's are all 23,976 fps so what I do here is like u said, convert them and after that I use pulldown.Right? About audio, I extract it in VirtualDUb and I convert it to .ac3 with ffmpeggui.
So my problem is when I author the DVD. After the authoring i go watch the movie and in these particular cases the audio in the beginning of the movie is in sync with the video but as long as time passes, the audio loses sync..
Why does this happen?
I've authored plenty of 23,976 fps avi's with no problems with sync.

Thanks
Jonas

[DJRumpy]

A very gradual loss is a problem in the avi. It could be a problem in either the video stream, or the audio stream. When you demux them, the bond betwen the video frames, and audio frames is lost. Any bad frames are then 'dropped' when the audio is converted, and the output is shortened as a result. I've had various success getting around it by converting the audio in a variety of software's. Sometimes one will handle the conversion better than another without changing the length. Unfortunately, when your dealing with home made avi's, production problems will creep in . Try opening your joined AVI in TMPGenc for instance, and using the "FILE->Output to file" menu to save a WAV file. Onother method is to use avisynth to join your avi's and then save the wav in VirtualDub. All sorts of different methods, some will work sometimes and somtimes they won't. Sometimes you just have to deal with the fact that your audio and video don't match, and you compensate by time stretching the audio using a audio software editor.

[our-kid]

Hi I have been following your guide however I seem to be having a few problem with the AVISynth part of the process.

Upon creating my script using notepad;

AVISource("F:\DVD Files 2\AVP.avi",false)
LanczosResize(720,576)
AddBorders(0,60,0,60)
AssumeFPS(25,True)
ConvertToRGB24()

I try and drag and drop the movie.avs file into VirtualDubMod however I am met with the error
'AVI Import Filter error: (Unknown) (80040154)

Do have any ideas as to why this might be hapopening?

I have tried creating scripts for various conversions however am met with the same error.

Any advice would be appreciated

[DJRumpy]

What happens when you drag the AVI itself onto VirtualDub? You you also get the error?

[BSR]

Is avsynth and vdub installed properly. Try updating both if you haven't already.

This error means the required codec is not installed on your system.
http://msmvps.com/chrisl/articles/10917.aspx

[our-kid]

Hi

Thanks for the replies. I have re-installed AVIsynth and all now appears to be working correctly (should of really tried that first sorry)

I however have a further question (sorry!)

I have dragged my movie.avs script across to VirtualDubmod which now looks like this after a little bit of tweaking with the letterbox sizes to get it to 720x576(PAL)

AVISource("F:\DVD Files\AVP.avi",false)
LanczosResize(720,432)
AddBorders(0,72,0,72)
AssumeFPS(25,True)
ConvertToRGB24()

However when playing it back through VirtualDubMod the playback is extremely jerky, is this correct. The original avi file I am using was configured at 23.97fps(NTSC) and I am trying to convert it to 25fps(PAL) as noted in the script. Would this account for the jerkiness when playing back through VirtualDubMod. If I play the AVI itself it plays fine.

[BSR]

I'll sometimes get jerky playback if my computer can't keep up with the processing from an AVIsynth script.

Only way to tell for sure is to convert a small section and see how it looks. I'm not familiar with NTSC to PAL conversion. Sorry.

[DJRumpy]

Agreed. Jerky playback doesn't necessarily indicate a problem. Just encode a small sample using the Trim command at the end of your script like so:

Trim(5000,6000)

That will encode a thousand frames. Just make sure you remove that before you do your final encoding

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

hi, just found this guide, but i didn't read all the replys. but anyway, I have a DV AVI and a WAV file. I want to convert the DV AVI to DVD using TMPGEnc, should I just use these settings here for video? I was going to encode the video seperately and then convert my WAV file to AC3 Dolby Digital using a different program and then put both of those files together in the authoring program. Sound like a good idea? I'm shooting for the best quality possible.

[DJRumpy]

Sounds fine. TMPGenc does a decent job on DVD MPEG. Especially for DV video. I would suggest you use AC3 Machine for the audio. Your video will be interlaced unless your CAM is Progressive capable. You should leave it interlaced to avoid any quality loss.

[Sakuya]

I have a DVD rip in 16:9 format. When encoding my AVI files to MPEG-2, I always use Constant Bitrate and the results are great. 2-pass VBR takes much longer, so why do that? What is the DC component precision? The default DVD template set that at 9 bits I think. As for the motion search precision, what's wrong with motion estimate search? And what's the use of the AVS script? Can I just input the AVI in TMPGEnc directly and set the source aspect ratio to 16:9?

My AVI has lots of gradients and shadowing, it's animation, just in case before I spend about 2 hours to encode it to MPEG-2, is there a setting so those shadowing and gradient scenes would look smooth? Just in case if it doesn't.

[DJRumpy]

CBR is limited in the quality it can produce. A movie has a wide range of bitrate requirements. In a slow scene for instance, it may require only 3000 kbps, while a high action scene may require 9000kbps. With VBR, the bitrate can change with the requirements of the video. With CBR it can't. If you encode a video with a 6000kbps CBR bitrate, and the movie requires 9000kbps for a particular scene your quality will degrade for that scene because CBR cannot adapt to the higher bitrate requirement. It's less obvious on DVD unless you have a long movie which forces you to use a lower CBR bitrate. The reason your encodes take so long is because you use TMPGenc. It's horribly slow. Try using a newer encoder.

The DC component represents the average brightness of a macroblock (an 8x8 pixel region within a frame). It represents the number of bits used to store luma information. The higher the number of bits, the more accurate the image. DVD video should be set to 10, as it typically has plenty of bitrate to spare for a common movie.

Motion estimate search is simply a search algorythm used to search for motion within a frame. The more thorough the search, the longer it takes to encode, but the better your final image quality will be as a result. If the encoder can identify motion within a frame, it can avoid using bits for that motion. If it fails to identify the motion within a frame, it must use bits to produce that image area in the frame. A Better (slower) search = less bitrate used. Quality is entirely subjective though. If your happy with your output using the fast motion search, then stick with it

AVISynth is simply more flexible than TMPGenc's built in filters. TMPGenc is a tool that is typically used by newbies with a wizard interface that is very newbie friendly. I personally never use it, simply because it is so slow, and it gives poor output for lower bitrate projects like SVCD, and VCD. DVD is far more forgiving though because it has such a large bitrange, so it's faults are not as obvious. If you are happy with it's built in filters, then you don't need AVISynth.

Regardless of what method you use you should always encode a sample before spending time on the whole project. It takes only a few minutes, but could save you hours in the end. In TMPGenc, use the Source Range filter to select about 2 minutes of a high motion scene to see if the output is acceptable.

TMPGenc has a matrix for Anime. Make sure you select it under the Advanced->Quantize Matrix settings.

[Sakuya]

Thanks, that was very helpful. I'm most experienced in using TMPGEnc because of its interface. What good encoders are there? CCE seems hard and unfamiliar. How fast is that compared to TMPGEnc? And the quality?

[DJRumpy]

You should try many of the popular encoders. CCE can be up to 7 times faster than TMPGenc. The same is true for Main Concept. I prefer CCE for it's speed and quality.

As to whether or not an encoder is difficult, there are hundreds of excellent guides for all of the major encoders. I'd suggest you simply download a few encoders, and give them a spin. They all offer trial versions of the software for evaluation

[Sakuya]

I have a problem! I have a split AVI with AC3 5.1 sound. I didn't know that it was not split correctly and it overlaps! The first part's end gets cut off. The second part starts off repeating a few seconds before the first part's end. How should I correct this? Since it's AC3 audio, the audio doesn't play in VdubMOD so it's even harder to cut. Not to mention, it's in the middle of a sentence, good thing though that the second part starts off after a pause. I want to cry.

[DJRumpy]

Even though VirtualDub may not play the audio, it can still trim the avi, and output an avi with AC3 audio.

To fix this, you must find the area that overlaps at the beginning of your 2nd avi, and remove it. To do this, you use the two far right buttons at the very bottom of the VDub window (they look like flags laying on their side). These let you set the range of what you want to save. Use the double arrow buttons to advance frame by frame until you get to the end of the overlap. Once you get to a point where the 2nd avi frame is not overlap, you click the left of the two range buttons to set the start of your range, then move the slider all the way to the end of your video (use the right arrow with a line after it..it should look like this: >| to automatically move the slider to the end of your AVI ), and then click the right of those two range buttons to set the end of your range. Then click FILE -> SAVE AS. Type in a new filename, and make sure your set for Direct Stream Copy. You'll get a new 2nd part of your avi file with those overlap frames removed.

You can then join your original first part, with your new fixed 2nd part, and then continue as per the guide. Make sure you use the AC3fix on the resulting audio so you don't have sync problems.

[Sakuya]

It's so hard! It's in a scene where there's absolutely no movement except for the slow panning as well as the cigarette smoke.

The very last frame of the first AVI is the same frame as the second AVI's frame 150. A nice even number. :P At that point, I pressed the End marker, moved to the start of the video and pressed the Start marker. I deleted that selection and then saved as AVI. VdubMOD then decided to replace the first few frames starting at frame 151 with the frames that I cut off. (Vdub does that for some reason because I tried some cutting for a music video a long time ago but had this same problem.) The audio is fine after cutting though because it plays smoothly. I tried frameserving into TMPGEnc and it starts off at the correct place. Should I do that; convert the first and second parts individually and then merge using MPEG-VCR? As for the audio, I can use Vdub to append the 2 AVIs (using the cut-second-part because the audio was fine there) and then extract the AC3, and then fix it?

Oh, and since I set the End marker AT frame 150, after I cut away that selection, would the first frame be frame 151? Or would it still be frame 150? That might've sounded stupid but I'm now confused by Vdub's frames.

[DJRumpy]

lol..it can be hard to find the right frame. VDubMod may be acting the way it does, because it tries to cut on a Key Frame (an I-Frame). If you want to be sure, you can use the buttons with the keys on them at the bottom. Hopefully there's a key frame in common in your overlap.

Personally, I would join my AVI's together with VirtualDub, and encode the single AVI (the guide uses this method).

If you cut frame 150, then it should start on frame 151. That's assuming VDubMod isn't forcing you to keep that I-Frame. It's unlikely you'd notice a single frame unless someone was talking or there was a lot of motion. I would join your AVI's, extract your audio, and encode the joined AVI.

You could always try splitting with VDub. I remember the old versions did not force you to cut on a Key Frame. Optionally, you can use AVISynth to join the two AVI's. It can do frame or even field level splicing.

[Sakuya]

I did it! I found the common key frame and then erased the extra part from the first AVI so that it'd start right off at the second AVI. I hope I will never do this again though. Thanks for the help!

As for TMPGEnc, why not use the other VBRs like Automatic VBR or Manual VBR? I don't like using 2-pass because it takes extra long.

[DJRumpy]

With those modes, you can't control the size. If your video is very short, you can get away with them. If not, you'll have to use either CBR, or VBR. If your happy with the quality you get with CBR, then use it. Remember, the only person you have to make happy with this is yourself.

[ericy5150]

DJ, great guide! I needed something like this!!

I had to change my .avi from PAL to NTSC...don't I have to do something to the .ac3 file in order for it to match up with the converted video?
Also, I'm confused on exactly which total video time to put in the bitrate calculator..the total time of the PAL .avi before I do avisynth, or the total time AFTER I get the .avs file? Another curious thing..when I put the .avs file in virtualdub and do file information, the total time shows 7 seconds difference the total time that shows on CCE before I begin to encode. Just trying to get my audio to match up..I assume that I just multiplex the audio with the dvd authoring software..I'm using DVD-LAB! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!

[DJRumpy]

The ac3 file must be slowed down with AC3Machine. It has a simple PAL to NTSC setting.

Assuming your using AVISynth, the script you drop onto CCE or TMPGnec is already reduced to NTSC speeds, so that is the time that you put into the bitrate calculator.

I've also seen discrepencies between VDub's reported length, and CCE's although they usuall don't cause a problem. If your curious, examine the total number of frames reported by each program, and do the calculations yourself. Just remember there are 23.976 frames per second

Your correct on the audio. Once you have it joined, fixed, and resampled for NTSC, you would then leave it until your ready to import into DVDLab.

[ericy5150]

I have AC3 Machine v0.41 and it has alot of settings like LFE to LR channels, Dynamic compression, Set Delay, Set Sample Rate, External PLugins..etc..It does have a change frame rate from 25000 to_______ ....should I put in 23976 or 29976 since I did a pulldown? What about these other settings? Is there a different version of AC3 Machine that has a simplier interface for PAl to NTSC? Thanks again!

[DJRumpy]

You don't want to send your LFE to the left and right channels, so that option should be unchecked (that option would send all of your low frequency to your left and right front speakers). Here are all of the settings you should use...

All of the Azid Downmix Levels should be unchecked

Overall Output Config Options:
Channels Mode: Checked. Set to 5.1 (assuming your AC3 is 5 channel..select stereo is yours in only 2 channel.
Use Dialog Normalization: Unchecked
Dynamic compression: Checked. Set it to light
Auto Find Maximum Gain: Checked (this normalizes your input)
Change Frame Rate: Checked - "25000" to "23976"

Under the SSRC Options:
Check the Set Sampling Rate only if your AC3 is 44.1 Khz (unlikely). Most DivX/XviD AVI's leave the sampling rate at 48000.

Under AC3 Encoding Options:
Set your OUT bitrate to the same IN bitrate (i.e if your AC3 is 448, set 448 here)

You can leave the External DLL options unchecked.

Uncheck all of the Log File Options[/b]

[ericy5150]

DJ, thank you so much for your guide and this help..this is my Bible for converting to dvd!
If I want to add a menu and maybe 2 or 3 scene selection menus with audio, what should I do to the bitrate to ensure there will be enough room left on the disc for these items?..or is there another way that is better regarding menus?
Can I get a link to your svcd to dvd guide? Should I do a couple more passes on CCE for these mpeg 1 files to get a decent picture quality? THANKS!!

[DJRumpy]

You would typically gather any images together ina folder to find out the size, and then subtract that from 4.3 Gigabytes. Just aim for 4 gigabytes if your not sure.

If these are MPEG-1 fils, you can't do VBR, so no extra passes will do you much good. I would think two passes are sufficient (2-pass CBR).

Here's the link you asked for:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=171216

[ericy5150]

I'm trying to convert some .ogg files of a television season to dvd. I tried running winavi and then authoring them, and even though the audio seems to be in sync when I play the mpeg, after I author it it gets out of sync. It shows up on gspot as an xvid that is 720 X 480 with an aspect ratio of (1.50:1) (=3:2)??? The audio is ac3 at 192kbs 48000Hz. It is a 675MB file.
Do you have any advice on how to convert these to ensure the audio stays in sync? Thanks! javascript:emoticon('')
Embarassed

[Demonio316]

I am trying to convert an OGM file (Battle Royale 2) to DVD. When I place my AVISynth script into VDubMod or CCE, the app crashes. Also, when I try to re-sample the audio using AC3machine, nothing happens. A command box pops up, then goes away. The log is empty. Ive been at this for 2 hours!!!! Help!

At one point in your guide, you say to drag n drop the AVS script into the main AVISYNTH window, but you are showing the CCE window.

thanks in advance.

wait a minute, I think I mixed guides. However, I think I still need to resample my audio.

[Sakuya]

I have an AVI that's from a DVD with lines, so it's interlaced on the computer. It has 29.976 fps and I set the Encode Mode in TMGPEnc to Interlaced because that's usually what I set for 29.976. On the DVD player, it gets very rickety probably because of the interlace. How do I make it play normally?

What's the difference between Non-Interlace and Interlace for the Encode mode? What should I set if the AVI was 29.976 and not interlaced on the computer?