AVI to DVD MPEG (CCE or TMPGenc encoders)

[DJRumpy]

If a movie is blurry during fast scenes, then it's most likely a bitrate issue or the fact that your using only a single pass instead of multipass (I'm assuming your are using mutlipass though right?). I would start with your source since your maxiumum and average bitarate should be acceptable for most movies. Your AVG is a hair low, but it should still not be causing any major blurring. Open your source AVI file in VirtualDub and find one of those blurry scenes. Check your source AVI to see if the problem isn't there to begin with. I may need you to post an example somewhere so I can take a look at it.

Regarding the movie 'lightness', remember that WindDVD has it's own brightness settings. Make sure your settings there are perfectly centered (I think it has 3 or 4 adjustment sliders if memory serves). If they are and the movie is light, then try changing the uminance level setting from 16-235 to 0-255.

[punk_rocker128]

well i think i might have just found the problem. in windvd, the video plays fine, perfectly smooth playback and brightness. in virtualdub, the video is somewhat brighter and the playback is blurry in high motion scenes.

could the problem be when virtualdub combined the two files it did something weird to it? why would 2 different programs play the movie differently?

and no, ive been using single pass VBR every time

[DJRumpy]

If the file is playing blurry in virtualdub, then you are either seeing an interlaced frame (unusual if the film is 23.976 fps), or your source file is simply blurry.

Simply combining the files in virtualdub does nothing. If in doubt, play one of the single split pieces of the avi.

Is there somewhere you can post a sample?

In either case, of your output VOB's look fine in WinDVD, they would probably look fine on DVD.

[punk_rocker128]

the source could be interlaced since it was ripped straight from a dvd. is there anything i can change in CCE for an interlaced source that might be able to fix this? id wanna try this before posting a clip

also, i converted 2 other movies with this guide. both looked good on the pc, except freeze in certain areas and in other parts look really choppy. i burned one to a dvd and it is a little blurry when theres high motion scenes. its hardly noticeable and can be seen only when people move really fast or are talking fast. could that be because i didnt use pulldown after running CCE SP? i have CCE SP v2.70.02.01 and i use the 2:3 pulldown in the program. do i still need to use pulldown?

[Sakuya]

If something was recorded at 120 fps and I want to convert that to DVD, what FPS should I select?

[Banned]

Hi,
Thanks for the great guide, I'm finally able to encode my movies on DVD.
But I have a problem.
When the encoding is done the borders are all out of proportions. There is a small strip of viewable movie left.
The movie is 640x272 (2,35:1), 25FPS, the audio is 448kbps. And while the movie is 01'57:39. The encoded movie is 0'56:18. But it apears to be all there, I've skipped trough the movie and compared to the original avi file.

This is the AVISynth Script I've used:

AVISource("name.avi",false)
LanczosResize(640,272)
AddBorders(0,60,0,60)
ConvertToYUY2()

When I import the script to VirtualDub the image is ok. But after encoding it's all wrong. I'm using the options posted in your guide.
Can you help me? Please.

[Bourni]

Congratulations for this great guide. I've been trying it for weeks but I got stucked in the audio out of sync problem. I'd tried pulldown with no success. My source avi file has 2 ac3 audio tracks wich were extracted OK with vdubmod. After I extracted just the video file, as recommended here. I played the processed vdubmod avi without audio tracks in Bsplayer and tested both extracted audios: all is fine. audio tracks and video are in sync. The problems is after the encoding part with CCE.
The source file:
640x352 (1.82:1) [=20:11]
FPS: 23.97

AVISynth's script:
AVISource("I:\test.avi",false)
LanczosResize(720,460)
AddBorders(0,10,0,10)
ConvertToYUY2()

CCE options: all like the guide... 16:9 option

Suggestions?
Thanks

[retiredjoker]

I use this guide quite often, the one thing i do different though is use BatchCCEWS and i get absolutely no sync problems. Never have. Its a great program that will even calculate final size. As far as audio goes i always save as wav unless its ac3, and encode with ffmpeggui to 2 channel ac3. Hope that helps

[Bourni]

Thanks for your suggestion retiredjoker. I tried but I couldn't fix the sync problem with BatchCCEWS.
I used the DVD Lab Audio Delay Tool to fix it

[Bourni]

Sorry for flooding here but I have a lot of newbie questions... I put numbers in front of them so it's gonna be easier for you to answer...

About resolution and borders: In your guide you showed us 4 examples: 1:33, 1:77, 1:85 and 2:35 aspect ratios. But I have a bunch of avis that don't fit in these examples. Weird aspect ratios like 2:43, 1:82, 1:36, 1:89, 2:38...
- (1)Is it OK to use the closest aspect ratios of your examples to create AVISynth script's LanczosResize and borders or do I have to create a different script?
- (2)And if the aspect ratio is very different?
- (3)What can I do to get the best results in this part?
Resolution is another thing that is not that clear to me... For example, if I have a source file that has 1:33 aspect ratio, I choose 4:3 aspect ratio in CCE and pulldown. If I have a 1:77 aspect ratio source file I choose 16:9 in CCE and pulldown to.
- (4)But if I have different aspect ratio's source files, what options should I choose in CCE and Pulldown? The closest one?
- (5)The CCE and Pulldown aspect ratio's options are related to the source files or they have something to do about in wich monitor/TV I'm going to watch the DVD? Because I'm going to do it in the Pc's monitor or normal TV (not widescreen)...
In DVD Lab's project properties I'm using default's option including the Menu/Slideshow aspect (4:3 regular).
- (6)Is it OK even for 16:9 source files?
- (7)This is related to where I'm gonna watch the DVD (normal TV, PC's monitor), right?

About audio: When I have a MP3 VBR audio track, I save wav in VdubMod and then I convert this audio to PCM WAV in Goldwave.
- (8 )But wich option? PCM signed 24 bits stereo?
Sometimes DVD lab tries to fix the audio file.
- (9)Is it OK, even if it it happens with an ac3 audio track?
- (10)Can audio loose sync in these cases?
- (11)Is there a way to preview my new settings if I have to use the audio Delay Tool of CCE?

I read all the posts of this guide's thread including the one that you explained how to find out if the source file is progressive or interlaced but I couldn't notice what you said in VDubMod.
- (12)Would you mind trying to explain it again or is there another easy way to check this out?
- (13)What could happen if I encode one progressive source as interlaced or vice versa?
I'm leaving the quality options in CCE in the default's option wich is Intra
block... 9 and Alternate.
- (14)If I can't find out if the source is progressive or alternate, wich options should I use in CCE quality and Pulldown program?
After encoding a small clip of a 1:33 aspect ratio source movie in CCE quality's default option, I opened it in pulldown and processed the file using the interlaced options and When I import the m2v created from pull down to DVD lab, I received this message:
error - you can't ignore this
cause: wrong FPS
size: 720x480 FPS: 23,98 Aspect 4:3
DVD Lab asked if I want to fix it and then created a new file with _pulldown at the end of it's name.
- (15)Why did it happen? Did I do something wrong?
- (16)Is it OK to do let DVD Lab fix it or something can happen like loosing audio sync?

I almost forgot this one... About filters and other things to increase the video quality.
(17) - What can I do about it? Is there a link with pre defined filters to add to AVISynth's script?

I would appreciate your help. I've been trying and giving up to use DVD lab and CCE for almost an year. Before reading your guide I was using WinAvi and Nero Express. I don't like the results but it was the only way I know how to do it... After reading your guide and testing and trying now I'm just one step to get there. Thank you a lot for this DJRumpy !!!

[kschang]

I'd suggest you take a look at the program FitCD. The bottom half of it deals exclusively with resolutions and aspect ratios, and will even generate AVISynth script for you, thus rending half your questions moot.

[Bourni]

I'd suggest you take a look at the program FitCD. The bottom half of it deals exclusively with resolutions and aspect ratios, and will even generate AVISynth script for you, thus rending half your questions moot.

Thanks for replying. I already tested this program. I'll do a search for a guide and give it another try.

[DJRumpy]

punk_rocker128: You can turn on the pulldown detection in CCE. It's possible someone ripped the video improperly. CCE can detect the duplicated frames. You only need to post a single image of the 'blurr' though, not a sample movie clip.

Bourni: For the ac3 audio, you did run AC3 fix on them after joining them back together didn't you? If you don't, the video will go out of sync at the join point. You'll find that it's out of sync at the end of the move, but typically fine at the beginning. Now on your questions...

1) Yes, it is alright to pick the closest ratio. I usually just do a search for the dvd title to find out the dvd aspect ratio. I then resize it to that ratio and see if it looks right. Sometimes it may not if the person cropped to much. The only answer that is 'right' here is that it looks ok to your eyes. Quality is entirely subjective

2) If the aspect ratio is very different, then you can simple use the aspect ratio that the AVI came with. Either method will work. There are actually a huge number of valid aspect ratios, any of which are valid. You would simply encode that aspect into a 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio for DVD using letterboxing to 'pad' the extra space on the top, bottom, or sides. If you want to see all of the math invovled, search for the aspect ratio guide. It will show you how to calculate aspect ratio's for just about anything, including how to fit them into 16:9 and 4:3.

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=174200&highlight=

3) You should definately read the aspect ratio & resolutions guide. It explains all of this. Any aspect 'wider' than 1.33 is considered widescreen, and should be placed in a widescreen aspect ratio. If your converting to dvd and your aspect ratio is 'wider' than 1.78 (16:9), that means you must 'squeeze' the aspect into a 16:9 aspect ratio. You do this with letterboxing (the same way you can watch a widescreen movie on a 4:3 tv..same principal can be used for any widescreen aspect).

4) If your video is 4:3 ( 4/3 = 1.33) the choose 4:3. If it's any 'wider' than 4:3, than you should always use the 16:9 (16 / 9 = 1.78 aspect). If you have version 2.70 or higher of CCE, it will perform 2:3 pulldown for you, allowing you to skip using the external PullDownBatchFE.

5) The aspect ratio settings in CCE and Pulldown sets the Display Aspect Ratio (DAR) setting in the MPEG file output file. It is related to your source video only the fact that you would use 16:9 for a widescreen source, and 4:3 for a non-widescreen source. That setting affects how the image is played back by a dvd player (this works directly with the 4:3 / 16:9 setting in your dvd player). It uses the display aspect ratio to determine how much to stretch the mpeg width on playback. Again, read the aspect guide for more info on this.

6) Is what ok even for 16:9 files? Using a 4:3 menu is ok, but you should have selected the proper aspect for your mpeg when you encoded it in CCE, or in PullDownBatchFE if that's what your using for pulldown after CCE. If you encode a 16:9 video, and you didn't put the proper 16:9 flag on the mpeg, it would look very tall and skinny on a 4:3 television since the player won't know how to size it properly. The Display Aspect Ratio (DAR) tells the player exactly how the mpeg hould be sized during playback. Think of it as simple math (1 + X = 3). The mpeg is 1, and the TV is 3. If the dvd player knows the mpeg is '1' because the aspect ratio is embedded in the mpeg with the Aspect Ratio setting when you encode it. The dvd player also has an aspect ratio setting that you set to tell the dvd player what aspect ratio your TV is ( the = 3 part ). Once it knows both the Source (1) and Display (3) aspect ratio, it can figure out that X = 2.

7) PCM audio for DVD is very inefficient. You should convert it to AC3 or worse case MP2/MPA audio. I can't help you with Goldwave settings, as I don't use it.

8) I don't use goldwave. I would suggest you don't use PCM at all. Use AC3, and save the bits for your video. If your an audiofile and you insist on using PCM then you can use 16, 20, or 24 bit PCM Audio at 48Khz or 96Khz.

9) You lost me again. Is what ok if what happens with an AC3 audio track?

10) I'm not sure what your asking. I don't know what situations your talking about.

11) There is a preview of sorts in CCE using the "setting" button, but it doesn't include sound. You must have a different version of CCE, as I don't know of any audio delay tool that's built in.

12) Interlacing is very obvious, even to untrained eyes when looking at a source frame by frame. Just examine your input AVI directly in VirtualDub by stepping a single frame at a time on a very busy scene. Look for a 'combing' effect, like you would see if you pulled a rake through sand.

13) If you encode a progressive source as interlaced you would get degraded quality, as you would encoding interlaced as progressive. The mpeg encoder must spot any motion in a frame and because interlaced video is field based, not frame based, it can make that process go very wrong.

14) If you can't determine if a source is interlaced or progressive, I would err on the side of progressive, however, spotting interlaced video is simple. Just step through about 30 frames on a busy scene with VirtualDub. You'll notice a lot of horizontal (side to side) lines that appear to be combed through SOME of the frames if it's interlaced or telecined. Here are a few extreme examples (http://www.100fps.com/). The FPS error you received was becauses your video was still 23.976 frames per second. You didn't use pulldown to properly change the framerate to 29.97 frames per second.

15) See #14

16) Yes it is ok to let DVD Lab fix it. There is always a risk of losing video sync when doing video editing, but it's unlikely that a commercial application would have such an obvious bug.

Man you have a lot of questions!! Seriously guy, start with the Aspect Ratios & Resolutions guide. They will answer the bulk of your initial questions. As for quality settings, use the suggested settings for either interlaced or progressive in the guide as they are presented. If you can't determine if your video is interlaced, then you should learn. There are some things that you simply shouldn't 'guess' on. Interlaced or progressive is one of them.

[Bourni]

I apologize for so many questions. I sholud never have left the newbie area
I had already read your aspect ratio guide but I got confused with so many information at the same time , so I went back to this guide and decided to stay just here.
DJRumpy I don't have different words to say thank you again. You can't imagine how you helped me. Now I understand what I'm doing!

[Dentist]

Do you think you could list the settings for CCE 2.70 up like in the original guide, that would be greatly appreciated if you could do it.

[manono]

Hi-

Try this guide to the CCE 2.70 settings:

http://www.doom9.org/mpg/cce270.htm

There are some things he advises with which I disagree, but it will do for starters. One very good tip he has is to uncheck the default filtering. It's about half way down, where there's the rectangle with the top part black and the bottom green, different from the default.

I have no idea what DJRumpy thinks of the settings. Since it's his thread, I won't be unhappy if he chimes in with ways that he would do it differently.

[DJRumpy]

There are no wrong answers when it comes to filtering, as what I may see as too soft, may look better to someone's eyes. Filtering is one of those things you just have to try for yourself and see if you like the results

Dentist: You can find the original guide at the beginning of this thread, or just click here: https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=222898&highlight=

[Dentist]

Tried to do what I could using the 2 guides but, all 3 times the movie(should be 1:23:05) shows up in Nero as about 59 minutes. I've used the guide a few times with TMPGEnc but don't seem to be able to get it with CCE

[kschang]

Tried to do what I could using the 2 guides but, all 3 times the movie(should be 1:23:05) shows up in Nero as about 59 minutes. I've used the guide a few times with TMPGEnc but don't seem to be able to get it with CCE

My first reaction is the FPS was set wrong and/or the wrong pulldown was used. However, without checking the source file it's hard to be sure.

[manono]

I also thought it might be an FPS problem. It's easy to find out, though. There are only 4 places for it to be wrong:

1. Open the AVI in VDub(Mod) and go File->File Information to confirm the original length.

2. After setting up CCE, but before doing the encoding, check to see if the main screen has the correct length.

3. After doing the encoding it's sometimes tricky to check the length. I make a D2V file using DGIndex and then a simple AviSynth script for opening in VDubMod. You could just open the M2V in VDubMod or VDubMPEG2 and see what the length is. Most players won't give the correct length for an M2V.

4. If you get the correct length above, then I would guess that Nero is at fault. What are you using Nero for? For authoring? I don't know anything about it as an authoring app. Go ahead and author and hope for the best. If it screws up somehow (out of synch, plays fast, or whatever), I'd then try a different authoring app, such as the freeware Muxman.

[Bourni]

I don't know if it happens to you but when I play all my mpv files resulted from the CCE encoding, they are shown with different times. Like a 2h movie showed as 30 minutes movie, for example. I don't care since it's everthing in there. If I don't press the stop buton of the player, it keeps on playing after the 30 minutes had passed. I tryed Bsplayer, Crystal and VLC Media Player. And NeroVision does the same. But for me it's not important because when I drag and drop the file into DVD Lab it shows the correct time and the resulting DVD is correct. I just tested one mpv file (wich I have to rename to m2v, because NeroVision doesn't open mpv files) now and the wrong length time was there (in NeroVision), like in the players. Then I imported the same m2v file to DVD Lab and there it is: the correct movie length.
I don't like NeroVision and I used it a lot. But after I tried DVD Lab, oh man, I'll never use Nero for authoring again...

[DJRumpy]

Agreed. I love DVD Lab. FYI, you can usually get good playback times in WinDVD. Look under the Setup menu, on the Info tab. You might also try dropping the M2V onto AVICodec to see if it reports the proper length.

[lafjax]

I don't mean to reduce the work that has been done to create this excellent guide but why not just use VSO's ConvertXDVD. I've been using this program with great results for awhile now to convert avi files to dvd's and burning. Simple to use. Maybe I'm missing something but ConvertXDVD is quick and very easy to use.

[Bourni]

lafjax
I tested ConvertXDVD and I like it. Fast, easy to use, possibility to have two audio tracks (if your avi has 2 embedded audio tracks) but the menu it creates sucks. I tested all this easy-to-do programas. It's a different way to create DVDs. It's an automated job in wich you can't interfere, so you can't fully control the results. And generally, the fastest and the easiest are not the best... I'm not saying that I will never use ConvertXDVD anymore. But if I want the best quality I can have in the conversion stuff, I wouldn't go anywhere else but here, following the steps of this guide. And I tried a bunch of other programs...
Like we say here in my country, you are comparing apples with pies...

[Dentist]

Trying to work with a different movie, a 25 FPS one this time, and can't seem to get the final product with the same length. AssumeFPS(23.976, True) in the script doesn't make a difference, when I drag the script into CCE and select 23.976 the time is off. Or if I encode it leaving 25FPS in CCE PulldownBatchFE will lengthen it. What am I missing?

[Wile_E]

Hi-

Try this guide to the CCE 2.70 settings:

http://www.doom9.org/mpg/cce270.htm

There are some things he advises with which I disagree, but it will do for starters. One very good tip he has is to uncheck the default filtering. It's about half way down, where there's the rectangle with the top part black and the bottom green, different from the default.

I have no idea what DJRumpy thinks of the settings. Since it's his thread, I won't be unhappy if he chimes in with ways that he would do it differently.

That guide has an error.
For bottom field video, always uncheck "output top field first stream" and always set Offset line to 0. It has to be zero for bottom field first video. Setting it to 1 crops a line, and basically makes your video top field first. I'm suprised this error was never corrected in the guide.

[DJRumpy]

lafjax: People use this guide because they want to know how it works, they want to fine tweak their conversion process, or they just don't like one-click solutions. It states at the beginning of this guide that there are 'one-click' solutions out there, and if your not interested in the process, that they should look elsewhere

Dentist: What does VirtualDub report the framerate of your source AVI is? When you drop your AVISynth script into CCE, it should default to the proper framerate setting automatically. What does it select?

As to the other guide, I don't critique other guides here. I'll leave that to others. Wile_E is of course, correct. The field order setting should be set properly according to your video's top field or bottom field order.

I wrote this guide a few years ago, pre-version 2.7 (I think it was 2.64 at the time). Many of the screen shot's and features present at that time have changed completely (although I have updated a few), and many of the tools I used then aren't even available any more. I'll take some time and update it to encompass the pulldown and filering options. I'm actually a bit suprised that this guide still gets used. I assumed that some tool would come along that encompasses all of these various tools and gives you a simplified interface like BeLight/BeSweet. Maybe in my free time this year I'll throw a gui together

[DJRumpy]

Ok, I've put in the long needed CCE version 2.70 updates for the GUI and Text descriptions, and removed some of the tools that are no longer required (namely PulldownBatchFE and pulldown.exe).

[Bourni]

Ok, I've put in the long needed CCE version 2.70 updates for the GUI and Text descriptions, and removed some of the tools that are no longer required (namely PulldownBatchFE and pulldown.exe).

Great DJRumpy! Thanks 8)
But there were weird tags in biltrate calculator part

[DJRumpy]

I've already e-mailed Baldric about that. I'm not sure why their popping into the guide. Something to do with the Auto-Link option.