I can't find the right TMPGenc settings!

[chad5871]

I am so frustrated right now... Well about a week ago I converted an HDTV .avi into an .mp2 and burned it to a DVD with AC3 audio. It looks perfect and sounds great. I used TMPGenc to encode the video portion. Now I am trying to do the same thing again, however when I try to encode through TMPGenc, it takes about twice as long and there is a "sticky" frame about once every 20-30 seconds. I cannot for the life of me figure out why it is taking so long and there is that annoying sticky frame. If anyone could help me I would REALLY REALLY appreciate it. I know for a fact that the first time around I encoded at 8000 kbps, VBR (2-pass), so I don't think that this is the issue. Here are pictures of the settings I am using to encode the .avi:







Here is a picture of the GSPOT screen for the original .avi:


Here is a picture of the GSPOT screen for the encoded .mp2:



Also, the first time I did the encoding, I had issues because I had gotten mixed up whether the file was interlaced/de-interlaced. How can you tell the difference?

[jimmalenko]

For that source, a Motion Search Precision of motion estimate search (fast) should be sufficient. This should reduce the encoding time extremely significantly.

As for interlacing, Windows Media Player doesn't deinterlace, so you should see horizontal interlacing lines if the source is interlaced.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/dvdguides/capture/understandsource.htm#interlace might assist.

[FulciLives]

The HDTV AVI is 23.976fps so it is already progressive yet in your TMGPEnc setting you have the INVERSE TELECINE option enabled. Wrong! That is when you have a source that is 29.970fps and you are trying to make it 23.976fps ... but your source is already 23.976fps.

Your settings seem OK so really just deselect the Inverse Telecine option. Do not check mark the 3:2 option on that same screen. You have it set correctly already on the "video" tab.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Just about any DivX/XviD AVI is going to be progressive. An interlaced DivX/Xvid AVI is extremely rare.
If it is 23.976fps then it is always progressive. 29.970fps can be progressive or interlaced and the same can go for 25.000fps but 23.976fps will always be progressive.

[vhelp]

EDITED

I see a couple of things that *may* have altered your encoding speed
from your stated previous encode speed. (assuming that your source avi
has not changed, i.e., codec, etc) then.

The following needs to be check/unchecked, (not "ghost checked" as in one
of your pics, i.e., under quantize) ...

** Video TAB -> frame rate: [23.976 fps (internally 29.970 fps) ]
** Video TAB -> Encode Mode: [3:2 pulldown.. ]
** Advanced TAB -> [ ] Inverse Telecine
** Quantize TAB -> [x] use float..

Last, be sure that under Options/Enviornment/CPU settings, be sure that
these are check/unchecked as well:

CPU setting:
[x] enabled mmx
[x] enabled mmx-2
[x] enabled sse
[x] enabled SSE-2 ---- (if you have a P4 w/ this feature)
[x] enabled 3D now!

Cache setting:
[x] Saves analyzing results of multi pass VBR to cache


You want to select 3:2 pulldown because this will insert the flags
for the extra frames during the stand alone dvd player operation.

(if you were just encoding it for mpeg-1/divX/XviD, then you would not
need to make this setting for a 3:2 pulldown - for MPEG-2, you do)

The [x] use float.. was ghosted, but not truely set. Its the same
as turning it off, but limited speed. Turning it on will increase
the speed - or should.

I also suspect that your *cache setting* for 2-pass VBR encodes was
unchecked, adding to the slow encoding time. This will difinately
slow down encodings during 2-pass vbr encodes.

Also..

(some users like to encode w/out 3:2 pulldown turned on, and later,
use an external tool, pulldown.exe to do the actual insertion of
the 3:2 flags. Personally, I don't like this route, because in one
of my findings, this did not look right, when I brought it back into
dvd2avi and overserved the following fields:

Encoding w/ TMPGenc and [x] 3:2 pulldown activiated.
During an F5 run, the statistics window showed through-out:

video type: FILM
Frame Type: Progressive


Encoding w/ TMPGenc or CCE but without any 3:2 pulldown activiated.
Instead, an external tool, pulldown.exe was used on the source:
During an F5 run, the statistics window showed through-out:

NTSC / NTSC / NTSC / NTSC / NTSC .. ..
Progressive / Progressive / Progressive / Interlace / Interlace .. ..

Perhaps the flags are used/turned on differently for these two apps,
TMPGenc vs. external tool, pulldown.exe

** note, after finding this several years ago, I did not find it
** important enought to report it - till today.

These are my comments/notes on this above regarding pulldown. Other
than the above explantion/notes, I have no futher info to give. Perhaps
someone else does - until then, this remains a mystery)

end EDIT

So, give the above some thought, and run a few test encodes to see
if any change happens.

Good luck.

-vhelp 3641

[chad5871]

Thanks everyone for your help! I did everything that vhelp suggested, and that helped a lot with the encoding time - it cut it nearly in half!

However, when I deselected the "Inverse Telecline" option and played the resulting .m2v back in my Intervideo DVD player, it seems very choppy, much much choppier than it did with the inverse telecline selection chosen. Any idea on why this could be happening?

EDIT: I just checked using PowerDVD and the same thing is happening with that program as well... for some reason when I don't use inverse telecline, the video gets really really choppy.

[chad5871]

Any other ideas on the "sticky frame" issue?