Multi Episode trouble

[bosco-12]

OK, I have 22 45 minute .avi episode files from a series. All I want to do is put at least 4 on a DVD so that I can watch them on my standalone DVD player. Menus not required, but would be really nice. I tried burning them just onto a DVD, but that does not work I found out.

If anyone can please direct me to a guide or give me some advice, it would be much apprechiated.

[guns1inger]

DivxtoDVD - the free version, will probably do this. I used it to fit 6 28 minute episodes onto a disk. Worst case you may find you need to use DVD Shrink to reduce it 1 or 2 % to finally make it fit.

If you want to do it more carefully, encode with a standalone encoder at half-D1, then author. This method will take, on average, 2 - 3 times longer, but generally produces higher quality outcomes.

Or you could buy a DVD player capable of playing Divx/Xvid files (assuming that is what yours are), and you can probably put the whole lot on 2 - 3 disks.

[FulciLives]

If you want to put 4 episodes of 45 minutes each on a standard DVD Video disc then we are talking 3 hours of A/V so for "best" quality use Half D1 resolution (for NTSC that is 352x480 ... for PAL that is 352x576) and use a video bitrate of about 3000kbps if you use an audio bitrate of 256kbps. For 2 channel AC-3 audio 256kbps is a good bitrate. It is also probably "good enough" for MP2 audio although MP2 is not as good a quality as AC-3 so if you use MP2 you might want to use 384kbps for the audio (the highest MP2 can go) but if you use 3000kbps video bitrate with 384kbps MP2 audio bitrate you are "cutting it close" to fitting it on a DVD Video disc. Though it probably will fit if you don't make the DVD menu overly "fancy" i.e., don't use motion menus or audio on the menus etc.

If you use 3000kbps video and 256kbps AC-3/MP2 audio then you have enough overhead to get a bit "fancy" with the menu if you want.

Please note that 3000kbps is a bit "low" so you will want to do a multi-pass VBR encode. Try a MIN of 1000kbps ... an AVERAGE of 3000kbps ... and a MAX of 5000kbps. That should work very nicely for Half D1 resolution.

If you want to use Full D1 resolution (for NTSC it is 720x480 ... for PAL it is 720x576) then you would want to UP the bitrate to 6000kbps and just put 2 episodes on each disc. For a multi-pass VBR encode try a MIN of 2000kbps or 2500kbps ... an AVERAGE of 6000kbps ... and a MAX of 8000kbps. That should work very nicely for Full D1 resolution.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[xcoolguyx]

try using nerovision express,although i encode my avi to vob first by using winavi video converter.then when its vob files already, i use visionexpress's smart encoding to make it faster and smaller in size,enabling smart encoding enables me to use the highest bitrate with dolby 2.0 sound.iv tried it on my csi episodes

[bosco-12]

If you want to put 4 episodes of 45 minutes each on a standard DVD Video disc then we are talking 3 hours of A/V so for "best" quality use Half D1 resolution (for NTSC that is 352x480 ... for PAL that is 352x576) and use a video bitrate of about 3000kbps if you use an audio bitrate of 256kbps. For 2 channel AC-3 audio 256kbps is a good bitrate. It is also probably "good enough" for MP2 audio although MP2 is not as good a quality as AC-3 so if you use MP2 you might want to use 384kbps for the audio (the highest MP2 can go) but if you use 3000kbps video bitrate with 384kbps MP2 audio bitrate you are "cutting it close" to fitting it on a DVD Video disc. Though it probably will fit if you don't make the DVD menu overly "fancy" i.e., don't use motion menus or audio on the menus etc.

If you use 3000kbps video and 256kbps AC-3/MP2 audio then you have enough overhead to get a bit "fancy" with the menu if you want.

Please note that 3000kbps is a bit "low" so you will want to do a multi-pass VBR encode. Try a MIN of 1000kbps ... an AVERAGE of 3000kbps ... and a MAX of 5000kbps. That should work very nicely for Half D1 resolution.

If you want to use Full D1 resolution (for NTSC it is 720x480 ... for PAL it is 720x576) then you would want to UP the bitrate to 6000kbps and just put 2 episodes on each disc. For a multi-pass VBR encode try a MIN of 2000kbps or 2500kbps ... an AVERAGE of 6000kbps ... and a MAX of 8000kbps. That should work very nicely for Full D1 resolution.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

Thanks for the info!

This half D1 sounds like the best bet, i dont want to have to use 11 discs for this.

I have done some encoding and whatnot, but not an overly huge amount. Do you think you could give me a list of which programs I need to use to do what you suggested? (And anything I need to know before I get started )

Again, thanks for the help.

[FulciLives]

Thanks for the info!

This half D1 sounds like the best bet, i dont want to have to use 11 discs for this.

I have done some encoding and whatnot, but not an overly huge amount. Do you think you could give me a list of which programs I need to use to do what you suggested? (And anything I need to know before I get started )

Again, thanks for the help.

Well you need a MPEG converter program. Popular choices include:

1.) TMPGEnc Plus
2.) Cinema Craft Encoder
3.) Mainconcept MPEG Encoder

Those are the BIG three.

You will also need to convert the audio to AC-3 and then you need a DVD authoring program. I suggest TMPGEnc DVD Author with the AC-3 plug-in as this is an excellent yet easy-to-use DVD authoring program and with the optional AC-3 plug-in will convert the audio to AC-3 format.

Also you will need VirtualDub or VirtualDubMod plus a good WAV editing program like GOLDWAVE for instance. Most DivX/XviD AVI's have MP3 audio and the best way to extract the audio (and then save to PCM WAV) is to use GOLDWAVE.

There are a lot of steps here but you will find guides on how to do all of this.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[bosco-12]

Thanks for the info!

This half D1 sounds like the best bet, i dont want to have to use 11 discs for this.

I have done some encoding and whatnot, but not an overly huge amount. Do you think you could give me a list of which programs I need to use to do what you suggested? (And anything I need to know before I get started )

Again, thanks for the help.

Well you need a MPEG converter program. Popular choices include:

1.) TMPGEnc Plus
2.) Cinema Craft Encoder
3.) Mainconcept MPEG Encoder

Those are the BIG three.

You will also need to convert the audio to AC-3 and then you need a DVD authoring program. I suggest TMPGEnc DVD Author with the AC-3 plug-in as this is an excellent yet easy-to-use DVD authoring program and with the optional AC-3 plug-in will convert the audio to AC-3 format.

Also you will need VirtualDub or VirtualDubMod plus a good WAV editing program like GOLDWAVE for instance. Most DivX/XviD AVI's have MP3 audio and the best way to extract the audio (and then save to PCM WAV) is to use GOLDWAVE.

There are a lot of steps here but you will find guides on how to do all of this.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

OK, thanks again.

One more question: I have heard of all those programs and used some of them, and their guides. Thing is, none of them seem to deal with multiple titles on ONE disc, this is why I made the thread.

Any more help would be apprechiated!

[FulciLives]

OK, thanks again.

One more question: I have heard of all those programs and used some of them, and their guides. Thing is, none of them seem to deal with multiple titles on ONE disc, this is why I made the thread.

Any more help would be apprechiated!

What exactly are you confused about?

Is it the ripping part? (although you said you already have 22 AVI files)

Is it the authoring part? (putting 2 or more episodes on a DVD Video disc)

Or what? ...

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[bosco-12]

OK, thanks again.

One more question: I have heard of all those programs and used some of them, and their guides. Thing is, none of them seem to deal with multiple titles on ONE disc, this is why I made the thread.

Any more help would be apprechiated!

What exactly are you confused about?

Is it the ripping part? (although you said you already have 22 AVI files)

Is it the authoring part? (putting 2 or more episodes on a DVD Video disc)

Or what? ...

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

lol sorry for the confusion. With the guides out there, I know I will be able to convert an AVI file to make it DVD compatible.

My confusion enters because I have MULTIPLE files, so with authoring.

[FulciLives]

OK, thanks again.

One more question: I have heard of all those programs and used some of them, and their guides. Thing is, none of them seem to deal with multiple titles on ONE disc, this is why I made the thread.

Any more help would be apprechiated!

What exactly are you confused about?

Is it the ripping part? (although you said you already have 22 AVI files)

Is it the authoring part? (putting 2 or more episodes on a DVD Video disc)

Or what? ...

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

lol sorry for the confusion. With the guides out there, I know I will be able to convert an AVI file to make it DVD compatible.

My confusion enters because I have MULTIPLE files, so with authoring.

Well just about any decent DVD Authoring program can handle multiple episodes.

You have one of two choices.

Put them all on the same "track" or VTS which is fine as long as they are the same format. For instance all have to be MPEG-2, same resolution, all have to be 4:3 or 16x9 but not mixed and all must use the same audio format (like AC-3) ... I think auido bitrates can differ but you can't mix 2.0 with 5.1 (at least I don't think so).

The other option is to make each episode a different "track" or VTS and this way they can have different properties. One can be 4:3 whereas another can be 16x9 etc.

I use TMPGEnc DVD Author and I make each episode a different "track" or VTS but that is my "preference".

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Graham Meredith]

Hi Bosco-12,

I did just what you are wanting to do. I got 7 20 minute episodes on 1 dvd.

You will need:

TMPGEnc (to encode the mpgs, and then to demultiplex your mpg files)

DVDAuthorGUI (to make the disk):
https://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=DVDAuthorGUI
-also get the guide for it

Then DVD Decrypter to burn the iso image produced by DVDAuthorGUI:
http://www.doom9.org/


If quality isn't so much of an issue, you could maybe fit all of them on 2 disks if you encoded them to VCD resolution (352 x 288 or 240) but with 48k audio - that's what I did, works great!

Cheers, Graham

[thegeeman]

bosco-12; With respect all of the information was given to you by Fulcilives-he's spot on with it. Just use TDA (after encoding obviously) to create a multi episode DVD. Open up TDA; go Add file for 1st episode; OK; click 'ADD NEW Track' for your second episode and so on. If you have the AC3 plug-in then will encode straight to 2ch AC3 without having to demux, edit audio etc etc prior. It just depends on the end result that you are after. If you want it high end, then check out the guides for ALL the programs mentioned earlier and adjust your project accordingly.

[bosco-12]

Hi guys, thanks for the help.

I found a good guide for converting and authoring avi files with ac3 audio to DVD using tmpgenc, I realize now this is definitly the program to use.

I made a disc using D.I.K.O., it works, but I'm not too satisfied with the results quality wise, so I'm going to give tmpgenc a try, it seems it definitly lets you tweak the settings more.

What are your guys thoughts on DIKO?

I will let you know if I have any more problems.

Thanks again!

[FulciLives]

Hi guys, thanks for the help.

I found a good guide for converting and authoring avi files with ac3 audio to DVD using tmpgenc, I realize now this is definitly the program to use.

I made a disc using D.I.K.O., it works, but I'm not too satisfied with the results quality wise, so I'm going to give tmpgenc a try, it seems it definitly lets you tweak the settings more.

What are your guys thoughts on DIKO?

I will let you know if I have any more problems.

Thanks again!

Never used DIKO but I suggested it as it seems to be easy-to-use for a newbie. This is based on a guide I read recently.

TMPGEnc Plus is a very good encoder with many options and when properly set up does produce excellent quality. It can be VERY slow though compared to other encoders such as CINEMA CRAFT ENCODER but CCE can be a bit more tricky to use.

I have both and although I mostly use CCE I still find myself occassionally using TMPGEnc Plus.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[thegeeman]

Ditto-Never used DIKO. I started my stint at encoding with TMPGenc and have tried several others along the way but TMPGenc Plus is in my opinion, the best encoder out there.

Note:in my opinion. Best, is what's best for YOU!

I agree with Fulcilives in that it is a very slow program and even painfully slow if you set to VBR!!!! 9 times out of 10 i will set up a batch encode with TMPGenc before i go to bed and HOPEFULLY they should be done in the morning. You may want to upgrade the in-built audio encoder though to TooLame(freeware). Easy to do and a much better encoder.

TMPGenc Plus coupled with TMPGenc DVD Author is ideal for anyone starting out at encoding/authoring etc and i will bet that even some of the more technically advanced gurus on this forum will agree that it is a prefect yet simple starting point and i'm sure they still use them to this day in some shape or form!!!

[FulciLives]

TMPGenc Plus coupled with TMPGenc DVD Author is ideal for anyone starting out at encoding/authoring etc and i will bet that even some of the more technically advanced gurus on this forum will agree that it is a prefect yet simple starting point and i'm sure they still use them to this day in some shape or form!!!

Yes I agree.

Personally I prefer to use AviSynth with CCE but that can be a bit "tricky" for the newbie. Only real issue I have with TMPGEnc Plus ... speed, or lack thereof, aside ... is that it works in the RGB colorspace.

As for DVD Authoring I still to this day use TMGPEnc DVD Author and have only very rarely (and very painfully at that) made projects with DVD Maestro ... where multiple audio or subtitles are needed.

As for DVD-Lab ... well it just has too many bugs for me to want to bother with it.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[guns1inger]

Just out of curiosity, what bugs are you specifically referring too ?

[bosco-12]

Ditto-Never used DIKO. I started my stint at encoding with TMPGenc and have tried several others along the way but TMPGenc Plus is in my opinion, the best encoder out there.

Note:in my opinion. Best, is what's best for YOU!

I agree with Fulcilives in that it is a very slow program and even painfully slow if you set to VBR!!!! 9 times out of 10 i will set up a batch encode with TMPGenc before i go to bed and HOPEFULLY they should be done in the morning. You may want to upgrade the in-built audio encoder though to TooLame(freeware). Easy to do and a much better encoder.

TMPGenc Plus coupled with TMPGenc DVD Author is ideal for anyone starting out at encoding/authoring etc and i will bet that even some of the more technically advanced gurus on this forum will agree that it is a prefect yet simple starting point and i'm sure they still use them to this day in some shape or form!!!

How do I go about batch encoding with TMPGEnc?