Questions about TMPGEnc and converting videofiles to DVD

[xycer]

i have a few questions about TMPGEnc/Plus/DVD Author. Ive read a lot of guides and searched google but i still have these questions:

1) is the only difference between TMPGEnc plus and TMPGEnc is TMPGEnc is the free version with limited MPEG2 conversions?

2) i got the AC3 decompressor but do i need the TMPGEnc AC3 plugin too? the original videofile has to have AC3 sound for you to keep the AC3 sound in the converted output file right? you cant just give a videofile AC3 sound right?

3) should you only extract the audio to .WAV using virtualdub if youre converting divx/xvid to DVD?

4) when you extract the audio to .WAV, does it matter if the original videofile is PAL or NTSC? the reason i ask this is cuz i tried converting terminator 3 which was a PAL xvid DVD-rip, i extracted the audio to WAV file using virtual dub and used the WAV file as the audio source in TMPGEnc but the output files sound was out of sync by 3-5 seconds... videohelps guide recommended using virtualdub to extract the sound to WAV for divx/xvid to try to eliminate sound sync problems...

5) for TMPGEnc, is there much difference between the highest quality and low quality for the motion search precision?

[guns1inger]

1. Yes, mepg-2 encoding is limited to the first few weeks or so - it's in the documentation and on the website.

2. You need the AC3 encoder if you want to encode your audio as AC3. AC3 is more universally accepted than MP2, and uses a lot less space than LPCM. There are freeware tools that can do this as well, but they are not integrated like this.

3. I only do it virtualdub reports an incorrectvbr header. This prevents sync issues (at least for me).

4. It only matters if you change the format of the video. If, for example, the video is NTSC, and you encode as an NTSC DVD, then there should be no audio problems.

5. Don't know - I use CCE or mainconcept out of VEgas.

[xycer]

what does the AC3 decompressor do then? on this guide:
https://www.videohelp.com/tmpgencdvd.htm im using TMPGEnc and TMPGEnc DVD Author, so do i need the TMPGEnc AC3 plugin then?

it says "To convert from DivX/XviD with AC3 Audio install the AC3 ACM Decompressor."

and when you said "I only do it virtualdub reports an incorrectvbr header. This prevents sync issues (at least for me)." did you mean if virtualdub reports an incorrectvbr header? does it tell you if you have an incorrectvbr header when you open the movie file or in the clips info?

[guns1inger]

Virtualdub and virtualdubmod both report it as a dialogue box when you load the clip.

AC3 ACM Decpmpressor, as the name suggests, decompresses or decodes AC3 streams. For example, if you have an xvid with an AC3 audio track, you can load it into virtualdub, and if you have AC3 ACM Decompressor installed, save this audio out as an uncompressed wav. It DOES NOT encode AC3 audio, so if you want to create AC3 audio you will need an encoder.

[xycer]

pardon my ignorance, i dont know much about this stuf at all... thanks for the help so far tho.

ok so is the ac3 sound compressed or something and you haveta decompress the sound with the decompressor through virtualdub? So when does this TMPGEnc ac3 sound plugin come in? do you need it to maintain the ac3 sound if youre converting the file to DVD format? or do you even need it?

to make things more simple for the others that have TMPGEnc and have done this before, straightup, what all do you need to maintain the AC3 sound of the original divx/xvid when youre converting it to DVD format using TMPGEnc and TMPGEnc DVD AUthor?

[guns1inger]

Look up Dolby Digital in the glossary to get a rundown, the follow the link to Dolby Labs if you need to know more. Basically it is a high-fidelity compression algorythm for multi-channel sound transport.

Some Xvid/Divx files have AC3 audio. Most don't (I have never seen one) and use mp3 instead as it is smaller in size. Mp3 is not DVD compliant, and cannot be used as an audio track.

Tmpgenc can produce either LPCM (uncompressed audio) which is very large, or mp2 (Mpeg1-Layer 2 audio) which is compressed to about the same size as AC3 audio. MP2 is a ompliant format for PAL players, and will also play in most new NTSC players, as well as many older ones. AC3 has a higher fidelity than MP2, as well as being true multi-channel, although as most Xvid/Divx have butchered audio (MP3), it probably doesn't matter much which you use.

The short answer (finally) is that you need the AC3 plugin if you want to author AC3 audio. You don't need it if you aren't going to author AC3 audio.

[xycer]

ok thanks a lot, thats the answer i was lookin for =]. btw, hows CCE? is it better than TMPGEnc? also what DVD Authoring tool do you use with CCE?

[ZippyP.]

So when does this TMPGEnc ac3 sound plugin come in? do you need it to maintain the ac3 sound if youre converting the file to DVD format? or do you even need it?

You need it if you want TMPGEnc to convert the audio to AC3. I use FFmpeggui to convert to AC3 and I don't bother with the plug-in.

... what all do you need to maintain the AC3 sound of the original divx/xvid when youre converting it to DVD format...

Guide here.

...what DVD Authoring tool do you use with CCE?

You can use any authoring tool that you wish after creating your mpegs, whether you create them with TMPGEnc or CCE or ....

Many people prefer CCE b/c it's faster.

[xycer]

thanks zippy, i know i can use any authoring tool, i was just curious if theres a better one than TMPGEnc DVD Author.

which encoder is the best for converting like divx/xvid/avi to MPEG2 DVD format? I usually use TMPGEnc but is there any faster ones out there that have just as good quality?

[guns1inger]

I use virtualdubmod to resize and sharpen slightly, then frame service this to CCE. On my old warhorse it processes at between .6 and .7 of realtime per pass. I single pass VBR of a 90 minute movie takes around 2 hours 10 minutes, give or take. 2-Pass takes around three times as long (creation of vaf file + 2 passes) Without virtualdubmod, it runs at around realtime. Avisynth is faster than virtualdub in most cases for the same filters, but more complex to start with - scripting etc. CCE doesn't have much in the way of built in filtersm hence VirtualDubMod.

[jimmalenko]

The reason i ask this is cuz i tried converting terminator 3 which was a PAL xvid DVD-rip

Wouldn't backing up the original DVD be a better/easier/faster option here ?

[Nelson9937955]

ok thanks a lot, thats the answer i was lookin for =]. btw, hows CCE? is it better than TMPGEnc? also what DVD Authoring tool do you use with CCE?

CCE and TMPGENC


TMPGENC is much easier to use for newbies and cheaper. The results if encoded right with each program yeild little diffrence if any. CCE is a bit faster but not by any leaps and bounds.

[xycer]

well price isnt an issue ... ive tried both now on a small divx movie and CCE was like 1-2 minutes faster (with 2 passes CBR) but TMPGEnc was a tad better looking. Also for some reason when i went to convert both files to DVD format using TMPGEnc DVD Author, it converted CCE's MPEG2 output file a lot faster than TMPGEnc's MPEG2 output file. Ive also tried Mainconcept and TMPGEnc DVD Author also converted MC's output file faster... any reason why it takes longer to convert TMPGEnc MPEG2 output file compared to MC and CCE's?

Im having a tough time deciding between CCE and TMPGEnc, my eyes arent great so i dont trust my judgement... for you video experts out there, which MPEG encoder do you use? If youve tried CCE and TMPGEnc, do you find the speed of CCE worth it?