AVI to DVD MPEG (CCE or TMPGenc encoders)

[Sakuya]

Thanks for both of your help. I like this guide a lot because it teaches you what to do in many different cases.

[how2party101]

what do i do when:

I have 2 AVI's (700MB) each, want 1 DL DVD and both the AVI's merged into 1 file. how can i do this with CCE? what would a good authoring program be that would work with the .mpv and .mp2 that comes out of CCE when its done?

Anybody know what to do? Please Help!

[manono]

Hi-

These 2 AVIs, can you join them before starting? That is, are they 2 halves of the same movie, and/or encoded with all the same parameters (codec, audio, framerate, resolution, codec settings, etc.)?

If so, join them and half the job is done. Extract the audio from the joined movie and set it aside if already DVD compliant (AC3, maybe), or decode to PCM WAV audio, reencode to AC3 if MP3, and join it with the M2V at authoring time.

If the videos won't join, then you can encode them separately and join during the authoring. You can extract the audios and make them DVD compliant.

Or, you can join the AVIs in the .avs for encoding:

A=AVISource("C:\Path\To\AVI1.avi",False) #False disables the audio
B=AVISource("C:\Path\To\AVI2.avi",False)
A=A.Resize
A=A.AddBorders #If needed
B=B.Resize
B=B.AddBorders #If needed
A+B #Join them

Maybe decode the 2 audios from the 2 original AVIs as PCM WAV audio, join them in a WAV editor, and reencode to AC3 using Aften and one of its GUIs. Or, depending on the authoring app you plan on using, joining them might not be necessary. Just convert to AC3 and join during authoring (Muxman can easily do this). If both the audio and video get joined, just about any authoring app will author them. Even if they're not joined, any authoring app can author them for DVD, although depending on the app, you may wind up with a very slight pause between the 2 parts. That may not be a problem for you, though.

For free authoring, Muxman, DVDAuthorGUI or GUI4DVDAuthor. The last 2 are good if you want to make menus. For money, DVDLab or TDA are good. There are lots of ways to do this job, depending partly on what you know and what you have to work with.

By the way, I'm not sure you'll need a dual layer DVD for this, since the quality probably isn't all that good to begin with. Up to you, though.

[how2party101]

The movies I have are 2 parts, so half of one movie on 1 file and the other half on a different file. All the settings are the same. I would like it as 1 file.

[manono]

So, join them up before then following the tutorial/guide. Open the CD1 in VDubMod, setting Video to Direct Stream Copy. Be sure to answer "No" if any message appears about VBR MP3 audio. Then add in the second one with File->Append Segment. Then File->Save As..., give it a new name, and wait a few minutes.

If you can't append because of diffferent audio bitrates, then convert the audio for each to PCM WAV audio before then joining. After opening one of them, set the Video to Direct Stream Copy. Then go Streams->Stream List and you'll see the audio. Right-click on it and first switch from Direct Stream Copy to Full Processing Mode. Then right-click->Compression->No Compression (PCM). OK twice and File->Save As.

After doing that for both, you'll then be able to join them. You'll also probably want to extract the audio for conversion to AC3 audio.

[how2party101]

well i've successfully merged all my 2 part movies...only 1 problem. They are too big for a standard DVD. They all come out with 5.5GBs at least. They are DVDrips so they are high quality. Any idea of what I can do? I don't mind putting them on DL DVD's, I just need to find an authoring program that will take the files that CCE spits out and will convert them to DVD files and then automatically write it to a DL DVD. Any ideas?

[manono]

They are DVDrips so they are high quality.

Yeah, sure they are. Much higher quality would be if you used the DVD as a source.

They are too big for a standard DVD. They all come out with 5.5GBs at least.

Use a bitrate calculator to find out the right bitrate for the filesize you want.

Any ideas?

In my first response to you I listed 5 authoring programs. I don't know which, if any, will also handle the burning to disc. But that's easily done using ImgBurn.

I'm not sure you're ready to do this manually. I might suggest DVD Flick, AVI2DVD, or the free version of ConvertXToDVD until you get the hang of it.

[how2party101]

I know what to do, I'm just lazy lol

and I have been using a bitrate calc. I've been using the one in this tutorial. It still keeps making the movie too big in the end. I've been doing everything right.

I mean, a lot of movies now a days are sold on DL DVD cuz of all the features they throw in them.

And I use TMPGEnc DVD Author for my burning program

[how2party101]

I know what to do, I'm just lazy lol

and I have been using a bitrate calc. I've been using the one in this tutorial. It still keeps making the movie too big in the end. I've been doing everything right.

I mean, a lot of movies now a days are sold on DL DVD cuz of all the features they throw in them.

And I use TMPGEnc DVD Author for my burning program

I mean it works awesome for 90% of the movies I got, there's just a select few that are too big when they come out of CCE. Why is that? I use GSpot, then take the times and throw them into the bitrate calc on this tutorial and it gives me the bitrates, I put that into CCE and it still comes out too big. Do I have to change a setting or something?

[Pinstripes23]

Give an example of the numbers you are using. All bitrate calculators are pretty much the same. I use videocalc personally, and the numbers I put into CCE, it always hits around its filesize.

[manono]

Yeah, one bitrate calc is pretty much the same as the next. My guess is that you're allowing CCE to convert your audio to PCM WAV audio, thus bloating the file size. Just a guess, though. If you're just dropping the AVI into CCE, then remove the audio first. If you're using an AviSynth script, disable the audio so CCE doesn't see it. Then, when using the bitrate calculator, feed it the bitrate or the size of the final DVD compliant audio you'll be using. And don't forget to allow for the overhead. But a 5.5 GB result is way more than not allowing for the overhead, if you used a bitrate calculator properly. So, I still think it's the audio. You can open a VOB in GSpot and check the kind of audio in there. Or play the DVD in PowerDVD with the OSD turned on, and it'll tell you.

[how2party101]

I convert all my audio's to PCM WAV because for some reason .ac3 isn't accepted in my authoring program and when i burn them to a DVD, theres no audio when i play it. Thats y i always convert it to PCM WAV and throw it into CCE cuz i know it works

[manono]

And then you wonder why your DVDs come out a Gig oversized?

[how2party101]

is there a codec i need to get to allow me to encode ac3 straight to the dvd and have it just plug into CCE? because every time i try and do it the sound is never put onto the DVD, i just get video. if i extract the sound and make it PCM WAV it'll work fine but a lot of those movies turn out way too big for a standard DVD. Help!

[manono]

Hi-

is there a codec i need to get to allow me to encode ac3 straight to the dvd and have it just plug into CCE?

No. And it's better to do the audio separately anyway. The purpose of an MPEG-2 encoder is to encode MPEG-2. You put the audio and video together at the authoring stage. If you're having trouble getting the audio into the DVD, maybe detail how you made the audio, and what you're using to author.

Try this, using Muxman to test. It's free and good. Load in the M2V and the AC3 and hit "Start". It may seem to quit or freeze, but it's still working. When done it'll spit out a message. Let us know if you got audio in the DVD doing it that way. It'll only take 15 minutes to do and might help us narrow the problem down to either the audio itself or the authoring program.

[DJRumpy]

Agreed. Just encode your audio to AC3 and mux it in. It doesn't require a codec to mux the audio in, although there are many freely available on the internet that are open source that will allow you to play it back to verify your output.

Remember that your video and your audio are both part of the whole. Even if you follow the bitrate requirements for your video, your audio also has requirements.

BeSweet will also encode audio to AC3, or BeLight (BeLight has a much nicer interface than BeSweet).

Encode your audio and set it aside. Remember what audio bitrate you plugged into your bitrate calculator, as you must choose no higher than that bitrate when you encode your audio. When your done and you mux the result together you should have a 4.3 GB file ready to author into DVD.

If your authoring software doesn't accept AC3 audio, then you should try a freeware version. There are a few in the TOOLS section that will handle it like DVDAuthor (get the GUI for it as well.. DVDAuthorgui or GUI for dvdauthor).

[how2party101]

K, i tried one of my movies. It STILL came out like 200MB too big, even with AC3 audio. I did exactly what you guys told me to do. This is odd. I mean, the audio in ac3 was 403MB and i thought maybe PCM WAV would be bigger but it was actually the exact same. Any idea why?


And I used MuxMan, it worked but the outcome of the movie was slightly too big still. And, it worked with my authoring software which is a big +.

[DJRumpy]

Then something is wrong. The AC3 audio should be far smaller than PCM audio of the same track.

[manono]

And I used MuxMan, it worked but the outcome of the movie was slightly too big still.

That's hardly the fault of Muxman. Perhaps you didn't allow for the muxing overhead (or the true audio bitrate?) when figuring the video bitrate. Or maybe your encoder didn't honor the bitrate set.

As DJRumpy says, AC3 doesn't make files the same size as PCM WAV audio. AC3 audio is typically 192-256 kBits/sec for stereo, and 448 kBits/sec for DD 5.1. PCM WAV audio is typically 1536 kBits/sec, unless you made some sort of really bad quality (and likely not DVD compliant) WAV audio.

[rest_easy]

HELLO!

This is a little trick I came up with if I miscalculated my bitrate and the dvd came out too big.

Shrink it. Use dvdshrink or dvdrebuilder and set the correct size. It is the easy way out. That's all you need.

[DJRumpy]

Shrinking it again is no different than re-encoding it. Might as well fix it properly the first time and not take the additional quality hit.

[javier8801]

when i try opening the avisynth file in virtual dub i get an error saying AVISource: couldn't locate a decompressor for fourcc.vid

[DJRumpy]

Javier, that most likely means you don't have the necessary codec installed to decode the video. Use GSpot or something similar to determine what codecs you need.

It's also possible your AVISynth script is to blame due to a syntax error (typo).

[Sakuya]

I'm finding your instructions for converting a PAL AVI to NTSC MPEG-2 a bit unclear. My AVI is 25 fps. In my AVS file, I have added the AssumeFPS 23.976fps line. In TMPGEnc, I have set the input FPS as 23.976 and for encode mode I used 3:2 pulldown. Is that wrong? Yet in your guide you say that if it is a PAL source, I should set it to Interlaced.

Also, I'm dealing with my audio separately since TMPGEnc wouldn't recognize it for some reason. Would making this into 23.976 fps cause audio sync issues afterwards? If so, how can I fix it?

[manono]

Hi-

In TMPGEnc, I have set the input FPS as 23.976 and for encode mode I used 3:2 pulldown. Is that wrong? Yet in your guide you say that if it is a PAL source, I should set it to Interlaced.

Since pulldown can only properly be applied to a progressive source, then when encoding for 23.976fps NTSC, you should encode as progressive. Indeed, most PAL DVDs have been encoded as interlaced. But not most movies for NTSC DVD.

Also, I'm dealing with my audio separately since TMPGEnc wouldn't recognize it for some reason.

You should always handle the audio separately, in my opinion, whether or not TMPGEnc recognizes it.

Would making this into 23.976 fps cause audio sync issues afterwards?

Yes, unless you also slow the audio to 23.976fps length.

If so, how can I fix it?

How can you slow the audio so it synchs with the now 23.976fps video? One way is to convert it first to PCM WAV audio in BeSweet and its GUI, at the same time using the PAL->NTSC (25.000 to 23.976fps) Preset. Then take the WAV file and encode for AC3, using Aften and one of its GUIs, ffmpeg, or some commercial AC3 encoder, if you have one.

[Sakuya]

How can you slow the audio so it synchs with the now 23.976fps video? One way is to convert it first to PCM WAV audio in BeSweet and its GUI, at the same time using the PAL->NTSC (25.000 to 23.976fps) Preset. Then take the WAV file and encode for AC3, using Aften and one of its GUIs, ffmpeg, or some commercial AC3 encoder, if you have one.

First TMPGEnc could not recognize it. And now, BeSweet crashes once it starts to transcode. I don't know why, the MP3 plays fine in Vdub and MPC. In GSpot it's identified as:

0x0055 MPEG-1 Layer 3 44100Hz 192 kb/s tot , Stereo

I have even tried converting the MP3 to WAV in Goldwave and transcoding that but then BeSweet just stays at "transcoding..." for 10 minutes. I've also tried just saving the WAV in Vdubmod but it still won't recognize.

[manono]

Sorry, but I can't help you if you started with an MP3 audio file that's somehow corrupt. By the way, for DVD, that 44,100Hz file should be converted to 48,000Hz somewhere along the line.

Are you saying that the problem might be BeSweet itself? Maybe it is, I don't know. Mine's set up OK, but maybe yours isn't. You could try uninstalling it and starting over, maybe trying the BeLight GUI for BeSweet. It can also do a framerate conversion:

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/BeLight.htm

[DJRumpy]

You can probably cheat to get your audio to WAV format by using Directshow since the audio can be played back without issue in MPC.

Try saving the direct AVI input as a wav in VirtualDub and converting that output. Drag/drop the AVI onto VirtualDub and from the File menu, select "Save WAV".

If that fails, the use your input video from AVISynth in VirtualDub and attempt to save that as WAV. Drag and drop the AVS file onto VirtualDub and attemp the "Save WAV" again. See if either of those WAV file's will convert properly to AC3.

[Sakuya]

If that fails, the use your input video from AVISynth in VirtualDub and attempt to save that as WAV. Drag and drop the AVS file onto VirtualDub and attemp the "Save WAV" again. See if either of those WAV file's will convert properly to AC3.

Thanks, that works. I saved the WAV from the AVS file and I didn't even need to do any frame rate processing with the audio since the AVS file already took care of it. So all I had to do was convert it to AC3 with ffmpeggui. I'm now doing a quick author with TMPGEnc DVD Author to make sure it works.

Edit:
Yup, it works! Thanks so much!

[richard_m_morales]

I think the calculating audio bitrate part is wrong. Shouldn't you change it to custom and then change the MB/DVD to the size of the audio + 25-50MB that way you can have room for a menu as well. Wouldn't that make it easier. At least that's what I did following this other guide that was for DVD PAL to DVD NTSC conversions.

http://www.eggshellskull.com/pal2ntsc/