Edit with Pinnacle, but encode with something else???

[jscubb]

I've captured & edited a DV video using Pinnacle Studio Plus 9.3.5, it contains the usual (Title menu, Sub-menu with links to chapters with transitions, the audio track that accompanies the DV video, plus some background audio in some scenes).

My problem is that I do not like Pinnacle's Mpeg2 encoder because of it's lack of customizability & multipass VBR features, and I also prefer not to use Pinnacle's audio encoder.

I would like to use external programs to encode both the video (i.e. CCE for its multi-pass capabilities & high quality output) & the audio (i.e. Tmpgenc AC3 encoder via Xpress or DVD Author).

My problem is how can I 'export' some kind of workable file(s) from Pinnacle which retain the Chapters, transitions, menu's, and all of the audio, and then encode them in CCE and Tmpgenc Xpress or DVD Author with the AC3 capability? Is there a way to output something from Pinnacle which I can then decode & re-encode outside Pinnacle with no loss of quality along the way?

Pinnacle allows me to create AVI files of the data (which obviously lose all the chapter info though) and VOB files of the data (which defeats the purpose of trying to encode it outside Pinnacle....).

Any ideas???? Or will I be relegated to using Pinnacle's crappy encoders to finish my project ((

[tmh]

I would think that anything other than output as AVI would require Pinnacle to encode so it would cause just the problems you're trying to avoid. I use Pinnacle for lots of editing,transitions, etc but output as an AVI then encode and author seperately, as you are considering. Works great for me.

Why not do your chapter work with your authoring program? I use TMPGenc DVD Author (TDA) because it's easy and does all that I want to do (which isn't much, just chapter points, etc).

[wwjd]

I use VS8 and have used Pinnacle Studio 8 and I also have not been satisfied with the mpeg encoding. To get around this I use CCE Basic and
encode each segment (Chapter) seperately. I then drop the individual mpeg files into the story board in the order I want them played, add transitions and create a menu. Ulead VS8 does NOT re-encode mpeg compliant files so the authoring goes very quickly and the CCE encoded files are untouched. I know that Pinnacle Studio 8 re-encoded no matter what but I am not sure if Studio 9 will.

One thing you will need to watch for is audio sync. I have on occasion had the transitions cause an audio sync issue.

[jscubb]

I use VS8 and have used Pinnacle Studio 8 and I also have not been satisfied with the mpeg encoding. To get around this I use CCE Basic and
encode each segment (Chapter) seperately. I then drop the individual mpeg files into the story board in the order I want them played, add transitions and create a menu. Ulead VS8 does NOT re-encode mpeg compliant files so the authoring goes very quickly and the CCE encoded files are untouched. I know that Pinnacle Studio 8 re-encoded no matter what but I am not sure if Studio 9 will.

One thing you will need to watch for is audio sync. I have on occasion had the transitions cause an audio sync issue.

Tnx, maybe I'll give Ulead a test-drive and encode the chapters one at a time like you did. But what if you want AC3 audio instead of Mpeg or PCM audio? Pinnacle doesn't seem to want to support AC3 when I just tried adding some to the audio tracks, does Ulead or Premiere support that? How do you get around that issue?

[wwjd]

I think Ulead has an AC3 plug-in but I am not sure about Premiere.

When I am not interested in using transitions I use TMPGenc DVD Author with the TMPGenc AC3 plug-in. TDA is fast and easy to use. You can make fairly decent menus but it is really just an authoring app. It will only accept compliant mpeg files and will NOT re-encode them. It is does frame accurate mpeg cutting and trimming also.

[jscubb]

I use VS8 and have used Pinnacle Studio 8 and I also have not been satisfied with the mpeg encoding. To get around this I use CCE Basic and
encode each segment (Chapter) seperately. I then drop the individual mpeg files into the story board in the order I want them played, add transitions and create a menu. Ulead VS8 does NOT re-encode mpeg compliant files so the authoring goes very quickly and the CCE encoded files are untouched. I know that Pinnacle Studio 8 re-encoded no matter what but I am not sure if Studio 9 will.

One thing you will need to watch for is audio sync. I have on occasion had the transitions cause an audio sync issue.

FYI: Check out this post about how/when Pinnacle Studio 9 will re-encode a previously encoded Mpeg2 file:

http://webboard.pinnaclesys.com/read_messages.asp?WebboardID=1&ForumID=689&SectionID=1...ead=1401&lng=1

So basically, what I have learned is that there is NO way at this time to encode Mpeg2 files outside of Pinnacle, bring them back into Pinnacle, add background music or modify the audio in ANY way, and have Pinnacle NOT re-encode my previously perfect CCE-encoded Mpeg2 files

Guess I'll start looking into some other programs.