AVI to DVD MPEG (CCE or TMPGenc encoders)

[DJRumpy]

ericy5150, is the loss of sync gradual and consistent, and how far off is it at the end?

Demonio316, copy the AC3Machine command to the clipboard, and paste it into a dos window, so you can see the error. The gui should have a button to copy it to the clipboard. You then open a command prompt by selecting START->Run-CMD and then press and hold down ALT->TAB. Select EDIT->Paste from the menu to paste the command into the dos prompt. Then just hit enter to execute it. The window will stay open this time so you can see the result. Either that, or turn on logging in AC3Machine and examine the log file.

Sakuya, you should verify if your AVI is truely interlaced, or just telecined. Just open it in VirtualDub and move the slider to a high action scene. See if every frame has 'lines', or if it follows a pattern of 3 frames with lines, 2 without, 3 with lines, etc.

Just because a video is interlaced doesn't mean it will cause a problem. Interlaced video will play just fine on any dvd player or television. Your problem lies elsewhere. You might try changing the Field Order if your video looks jerky. Just make sure you encode only a small sample to see if that resolves your problem.

[Sakuya]

The video doesn't look jerky on the computer. In Virtualdub, the lines are present in all the frames with panning or high motion. In TMPGEnc, I set the Encode Mode to Interlace. Should it be Non-Interlace?

[DJRumpy]

If it has lines for every frame, then you should definatley encode it using the Interlaced option. I'm assuming by 'Rickety' you mean the video is jerky? You probably have the field order backwards. The setting is on the Advanced tab. There are only two options. Just pick the opposite of what's there now, and encode a high action scene. Use the Clip Frame filter to cut a small scene to test with.

[Sakuya]

Why would the field order be backwards? Doesn't TMPGEnc automatically set that for you? And I already set it to Interlaced last time to produce the jerky motion.

[DJRumpy]

TMPGenc will try to correctly set the field order. No software is perfect. Just choosing the interlaced option will not make your video jerky. Either you've set something you shouldn't, or your field order is wrong. did you encode a small sample to see if the change in field order was still there?

[pinksock]

This guide is a great reference tool. It is far more easier to read than any CCE guide at doom9. Thx Rumpy.

Anyone else here get bad or no sound in their AC3 files from besweet? Im having a horrible time with a batch of AVIs with bad VBR MP3 audio streams. Best way I found to extract the audio from the bad AVI is through Goldwave;which has extracted the audio streams where Vdub could not. Although the WAV I get is fine, when I encode it to AC3 with besweet, AC3Machine, or even DVD-Lap Pro with the AC3 plugin, it comes out with no sound some times.

I've been diggin around the forums, and lots of peeps say besweet sucks just for this reason. They suggested ffmpegGUI, which works real good, but it is so simple, there is no way do framerate conversions in the GUI, all my AVIs are PAL 25fps. So I have to do a multipart audio conversion. AVI to WAV with GoldWave. This takes a couple of steps, including changing the fps from 25.00 to 23.976. Then finally using ffmpegGUI. AC3machine can do all this in one step, but unfortunately for me, it doesnt work every single time.

Does anybody have a better way they like to share with us?


PS. Rumpy, you forgot to tell us about templates in CCE. I just found out by accident that you had to DOUBLE CLICK on the "Standard" template to bring up the template settings. After manually inputting the settings as per your guide many times over, it gets kinda tedious. I dont know if it was your intent to make us do the extra footwork to get to know CCE better, but I sure am grateful in any case.

[DJRumpy]

Sorry about that. I use templates all the time. I just figured that anyone who used CCE did. I keep one for VCD, SVCD/CVD, and DVD.

For you AC3 Woes, I used to experience the same problem, but that was over a year ago. I had since switched to AC3Machine for my ac3 audio and my problems went away. It will resample, change the sample rate, etc, but I didn't experience the problem. Oddly enough, it still uses BeSweet, but apparently they got it right. I'm surprised you have a probelm with it. I'd make sure your have the latest stable versions of both BeSweet, and AC3Machine (not the betas).

I don't encode to MPEG-2 much anymore since I got the mediapc, which may be why I haven't experienced a problem.

[flip82]

Hi there!
I've noticed a problem when I play my converted movies on the tv;
about 35 pixels of the width is missing on both sides . I've checked the settings on my dvd and 16:9 tv-set, and they're all fine.

Here's some specs on the conversion:
divx source, aspect 1,773 (624*352), 23,976 fps

MPEG settings, resize 720*480, 16:9 DAR.

Btw the movie looks perfect on computer.
My conclusion is that my tv must be f.. up, but I'd like your thoughts on the subject.

Just one more question.. How to determinate the field order on avi's?

Thanks

[DJRumpy]

It's just overscan. The TV automatically removes about 5% of the video image area. All TV's do this, widescreen or otherwise so you don't end up with black borders on the outside of your video. If it bothers you, just add letterboxing to all of your video and shrink your video by 5% on all sides. There's not a lot that happens in that tiny section though. I would think black borders on the side would bother you more. Just multiply your width * 5% to get the value of pixels to add to the sides of your video:

720*.05 = 36 pixels
480*.05 = 24 pixels

You would resize your video to 684x456 and add letterboxing to fill it out to the standard 720x480 like so:

LancsozResize(684,456)
AddBorders(18,12,18,12)

This would give you a 720x480 output with 36 pixels of letterboxing on the left and right sides, and 24 pixels total on top and bottom.

The method I use to determine field order is with AVISynth.

You can use the AssumeTFF() or AssumeBFF() command in a test script to change the field order of the input video. If you specify TOP field first using the AssumeTFF() command and it looks good, then the video is top field first. If it's jerky on playback, then it's bottom field first. NOTE: This is only necessary for telecined or interlaced video. Progressive video plays an entire frame at a time, so field order isn't relevant in those situations.

AVISource("Airplane.avi")
AssumeTFF()
SeparateFields()
Trim(2500,0)

Why does this work? If you 'force' the top field to be played first, and it is normally top field first anyway, you haven't changed anything, and the video plays back normally. However, if your video is actually bottom field first and your forcing it to play back top field first, you see that's it's jerky and that it is not a Top Field First video. The TRIM command is just to skip the first 2500 frames so your into the movie proper, rather than looking at static movie studio logo screens and such.
[/b]

[flip82]

Thanks DJRumpy, that explains it all.
I've just never noticed earlier because this is the first time i encoded a tv rip and the logo was chopped in half...

I'm also doing some experiments on a interlaced sample. I never thought I would stumble across a clip like the pics on 100fps. The interlacing was so bad that even when played back on tv the interlacing was noticeable, and this movie was actually released on dvd... This is why I'm asking about the field order.

Thought I might bother you with another question.
As I said I've been converting some tv rips and I've noticed several avi's with 1.81 aspect..
I've done some math after reading your guide on aspect ratios, but I can't figure out the cause.
I've been thinking about cropping as the cause?

Thanks for the reply and great guides

[DJRumpy]

Just remember that avi's are created by people, and people will use all sorts of methods to arrive at the final resolution you see. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just choose an aspect that looks best to your eyes and encode it that way. You could go either way with 1.81. I'd probably pick 1.85:1

[Sakuya]

Do you know how to join a 2 part MKV file with AAC 6ch sound? I think I might be about to using Vdubmod and then saving the video only as AVI. But the audio, I'm not sure what I need to do to it. For AC3, you have to fix it right? What's the case for AAC?

[DJRumpy]

Good question. I was just encoding a divx the other day and thought about doing the audio in AAC/MP4. You could try following the same method here for AC3 while skipping the AC3 Join of course. That and your extension is different. I'm not sure how they index aac audio. I'd be very curious to know what result you came out with.

[Sakuya]

Well first things first, I can't even open the MKV in Vdubmod because it gives me this error:

An out-of-bounds memory access (access violation) occurred in module 'Virtualdubmod'.

How else do we join audio files?

[DJRumpy]

I'm afraid I can't help you much here. I haven't messed with MKV audio and this guide is specific to mp3, mp2, or ac3 audio. Try posting your question in the Advanced forum. Specifically, ask how to demux your audio while retaining the 5.1 or 6.1 channels.

[Djago]

Hi!

I've tried your guide and guess what? I'm having a little problem with my file.

Once upon a time...
I had these 3 avis and I want them to be joined, so I've used VDMod and joined them without any problem.
Now there's a friend of mine that like to watch movies in his DVDPlayer and ask me to convert this big quality avi/ac3 file to DVD. So, I headed stright to videohelp and looked for the best encoder and a guide for using it. Now, here I am.
All right 'till I've demuxed the ac3 and encoded the file. The problem is...

GSpot says that my original file is 1:57:01 long (idem for vdmod, windows, bsplayer and everybody in town). BSPlayer also says that my new .mpg file is 1:57:01. But Nero ShowTime, instead, hangs up. Windows Media Player 10 says 1:57:02. Winamp says 117:01 (ok, strange way, but ok). GSpot doesn't know what I'm asking it and says... 21:07:46 :P . The worst is WinDVD. It gives you whatever you want; just drag the slider faster to the end or slower and you can get between 57' or 2:07:08. Anyway, I don't care as long as the DVD plays fine, so I went to my authoring part.

Now, DVDLab don't like .mpg files generated in this way, so it offers me to "Demultiplex to Elementary Streams" or not. Whatever I choose, it says that my mpeg is only 1:56:54. But my AC3 is still 1:57:01
What should I do now? How can I end this story?

BTW: the AC3 is fine and without any damage, same for the XviD part

Thx!

[DJRumpy]

I've seen this kind of wonkyness before. I would just encode and create your dvd image. Once the image is done, but before you burn it, do a few spot checks in your video to ensure hte audio is in sync. I'm not sure why they do this from time to time, but they do. i've had some that report the durations as WAY of, yet when you mux them all together again and get ready to burn, everything is peachy. Just remember to check it before you burn it using WindDVD. Check it in the beginning, middle, and end.

[Djago]

You were completely right!


That conclude the story (at least this chapter, 'cause I have to convert 3 more )

[Djago]

:P

See? That's the problem... you think you're done, but not... there are more things to fix.

The next frontier: Size!
It doesn't fit! I've followed your guide exactly as you said, but the thing doesn't fit. DVDLab says 4.7Gb (movie+audio; nothing else!) and put the damn project in red .
I know how to fix it: just lower the average bitrate. But I wonder where's the problem, 'cuz I don't like the idea of redoing the reencoding 2-3 times for every movie

One thing that I don't understand very well (maybe a little off-topic here?) is the "Reduce MPEG Size" thingy in DVDLab-Pro (it says "DCT Transcoder"). I've tried it (just for fun, not to use it because I want the best quality) and put in 99% of the file. If I calculate correctly, from a 4032.7Mb I should get a 3992.4Mb; instead, I get a 3857.7Mb.

[Sakuya]

I think I may have the same problem as Djago (the first problem). Could it be a VFR AVI?

First of all, I used mkvtoolnix to merge the MKVs and then used MKVextractGUI to extract the AVI and AAC. The video is about 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 25 seconds. The audio is 1 hour, 39 minutes, 45 seconds. I then tried using mp_rel.exe to extract the AVI and now the AVI is 1 hour, 40 minutes, 31 seconds.

I haven't yet tried out your suggestion yet but I have a feeling it won't work. But before I read your suggestion, I followed a VFR guide leftover from the last time I had to work with these kinds of files and it's going to take 2 hours for Vdub to recompress the video so that it's 23.976 fps throughout. I set it to fast recompress and at highest priority though and it's still so slow.

[Sakuya]

Great guide, this is the same method as I'm using.

I think you made one little mistake. The avisynth script for a 1.85 aspect ratio should not be:

LancozResize(720,384)
AddBorders(0,48,0,48 )

but something like this.

LancozResize(720,460)
AddBorders(0,10,0,10)

I would also add the following line to avoid an edge in the middle of an mpeg encoding block.

BorderControl(YBS=10,YTS=10)

Also, when I add that BorderControl line, in Vdubmod, it says there's no such function. When I remove it, then it works. I have a 1.85 aspect ratio and after I finished the script, it makes the video 720x480. So, in TMPGEnc, should I be setting it as 4:3 becuase that's what the script is? Or should I set it at 16:9 Display because that's what the source is? Also, there's a 16:9 525 line (NTSC) option. What's the difference between that and 16:9 Display?

[Djago]

One little question:

I've skipped the PullDown part and the DVD is ok. I'm using CCE Trial 2.70.01.05 + DVD-Lab Pro for authoring. Is this ok? Or I am missing something very important?
PowerDVD plays the file OK...

Thx!

[flip82]

@ Sakuya
I get the same message, and to be honest I don't know what the line do. I've never used the bordercontrol function before and my outcome is perfect every time, meaning I dont think you need it.
As for your aspect. If you used the lines (as you should)

LancozResize(720,460)
AddBorders(0,10,0,10)

the script indicates a 16:9 source, or more correctly anamorphic widescreen. You choose your settings in TMPGEnc (16:9 or 4:3) according to source. This makes sure your DVD-player displays the video correctly.
Make sure that stream type is set to MPEG-2. If that setting is correct you wouldn't have the option "16:9 525 line (NTSC)" option as far as i know, but maybe you have another version than me. You would stick with 16:9 Display. I cant say much about the difference as both options will end up displayed as 16:9, maybe DJRumpy can assist you more on that part.

@Djago
If yours goal is to play the movie on a DVD-player you'll have to do the pulldown. Unlike computers the DVD-standalone is in most cases programmed to follow a standard, this means you have to feed it with 29.97 fps (NTSC video). Pulldown makes the 23.976 fps appear as 29.97 fps.

I'm sure DJRumpy soon will fill out what I've missed out.

Cheers

[Sakuya]

By the way, if I have some hardcoded subtitles on a widescreen AVI, how do I prevent it from going off on the sides, the overscan area, of my TV? If I normally encode it at 16:9 Display, some subs cannot be read. What shall I do in this case?

[flip82]

If it bothers you, just add letterboxing to all of your video and shrink your video by 5% on all sides. There's not a lot that happens in that tiny section though. I would think black borders on the side would bother you more. Just multiply your width * 5% to get the value of pixels to add to the sides of your video:

720*.05 = 36 pixels
480*.05 = 24 pixels

You would resize your video to 684x456 and add letterboxing to fill it out to the standard 720x480 like so:

LancsozResize(684,456)
AddBorders(18,12,18,12)

Just as DJRumpy explained to me, but in your case you have 1.85 video so you need to consider the borders that's you need to begin with.
This means your hight 460 - 24 =436 , and the hight in the AddBorders command : 10 + 12 . Your script would look like this

LancsozResize(684,436)
AddBorders(18,22,18,22)

I would encode a small clip of the movie and burn it to a DVD-RW the first time to see how it looks like.

Cheers

[DJRumpy]

Djago, did you use the 2:3 pulldown option in CCE? The new version can do the pulldown for you. It sounds like you did since DVDLab didn't complain that your video was 23.976 frames per second. In this case, your fine. I need to update the guide for the newer versions of CCE. With the new pulldown option, it is no longer necessary as a seperate step.

Sakuya, BorderControl is not a standard command in AVISynth. It's probably a plugin for AVISynth. Search google for more information on it and where to downloda it if you need it. I've never used it. For your subtitle question, are you 'hard coding' the subtitles into the video stream (i.e. encoding them into the video when you convert to mpeg) or are you actually importing the subtitles into your authoring software?

[Djago]

Nop, I didn't...

It's the price I've to pay for being careless

[buckv]

Hello,
I have an XVID that I would like to convert to DVD. What would the script look like and how can I eminate the black bars on the bottom and top? Also, what is the command to trim certain parts out af an avi?
Thanks in advance.

[serum79]

I have an annoying issue with my mpeg
Here's the info
Runtime: 2:13:50
Aspect Ratio: 640x288 (2.22:1)
FPS: 23.976
Audio: AC3 192 kb/s (96/ch, stereo) CBR 48000Hz

Bitrate Calculator Info
Calculated Bitrate: 4361
Max Bitrate: 9603

I used the settings from the guide, but after I opened the mpeg in TMPGEnc DVD Author I see that the mpeg is 4476mb, but the limit is 4438mb

Have I done something wrong?

[Sakuya]

A quick question. Does CCE allow conversion from M2V to M2V? I'm backing up DVD by putting more episodes per DVD but DVD Shrink develops very bad pixelation. TMPGEnc can do this but it takes 2 hours per episode which is too long for my deadline.