English version TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 released

[roma_turok]

Does it support multi-channel dolby digital audio or just the standard 2 channel?

Other than the divx menu support, which is great if you have a divx supported dvd player, What are the significant improvements over 2.0?

Just download trial version and check it.

[ofbarea]

I think Pegasys wanted to offer a product similar to the now defunct "Canopus ProCoder Express". It does allow a direct encoding from DV and other source files to MPEG2 and DivX without letting you to define too many choices. In this regard my girl friend will love this product.

I also like DivX menu support. I will attempt adding menus to some anime and see how they look in my OPPO.

The feature I was waiting for, is subtitles. I will try the free version just to use this feature.

Since TMPGEnc DVD Author has a cheaper introductory price I may get it.

-Purchase the download version direct from TMPG Inc's Online Store.
For a limited time, get it for the special Introductory Price of $67.95!
(Regular Price: $89.95)

By the way, it does not support encoding multichannel Dolby digital.



*** Updated to eliminate confusion on the AC-3 encoder ***

[FulciLives]

By the way, it does not support multichannel Dolby digital

What ?!?!?!

Are you sure !!!

This has been supported for a very long time now in the 1.x version and 2.x version. Doesn't make any sense to drop it.

I am thinking that maybe you are getting confused with the built-in AC-3 encoder which historically has only done 2 channel audio but the program has historically always accepted 5.1 AC-3 if you had it ready-to-go as an input.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[ofbarea]

I am thinking that maybe you are getting confused with the built-in AC-3 encoder which historically has only done 2 channel audio but the program has historically always accepted 5.1 AC-3 if you had it ready-to-go as an input.

You are totally right The built-in AC-3 encoder does not support multichannel encoding, but using an already encoded 5 channel ac-3 file should work with no problem. I will try this tonight.

[festmaster]

From their website:

[Caution] Use of this software implies the possession of a valid TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 with DivX® Authoring License Serial Number and an environment allowing the periodical license validation through Internet.

Periodical license validation through the internet? I wouldn't even consider giving it a try.

[Conquest10]

I still use 1.5. Perfectly happy with it. Don't really use menus right now so can't see a reason to upgrade. And it will take a multi-channel ac3. I don't have the plug-in as I usually create the audio outside of the authoring.

From their website:

[Caution] Use of this software implies the possession of a valid TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 with DivX® Authoring License Serial Number and an environment allowing the periodical license validation through Internet.

Periodical license validation through the internet? I wouldn't even consider giving it a try.

Me either. I do most of my video work on a computer that's not hooked up to the internet. So what would happen if I "upgraded"?

[roma_turok]

In TMPGEnc DVD Author 2.0 you need activate only 1 time, after install.
After upgrade to TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 need activate every month. bit**es

I was wrong the menu button enable in Top menu only
And you can make "true join" several clips in one track:

[Wile_E]

$67.95 for yet another meager upgrade. I'm confused at who they are targeting this app towards now. Price seems to always go up every version, with little improvements and features. That price is way too much for previous owners to upgrade. $39 at most for an upgrade is more reasonable. They must have a small user base that is buying their product and that's why they are charging such high price. I'm glad I jumped on the Sony Vegas 7 and Cinescore deal last year.

Whatever happened to the TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 templates competition? They were supposed to give out free prizes to contestants. There is no mention of winners on their website. Did no one submit an entry?

[TBoneit]

Well I like it. a big improvement over 1.5 version.

It lets me add wmvs and output a .divx with menu or a DVD.

Not a ton of control over the encoding versus a stand alone encoder, however I've tried it out and the output is decent.

For serious work I'll keep using a stand alone encoder, CCE Basic ot TMPGEnc Xpress 3. However I've been wanting a DL authoring solution now that the discs and decent burners are available at a decent price.

A reesonable price since there was no upgrade price from 1.5.... and a lower cost than if I had upgraded from 1.5 to 1.6 to 2.0 to 3

[buggerritt]

I bought this application with the idea that I would be able to author XviD files to DVD. I was incorrect on that assumption. Any file that is not a DivX encoded file will be converted to DivX when making a DivX DVD. I Emailed Pegasys and they replied with that little bit of knowledge. Also the filesize of 4GB is max for a DivX DVD. This is very odd to me. I never liked DivX files compared to the open source XviD codec. I would never encode with DivX since it is quite inferior to XviD. I do not understand why there would be no option to disable transcoding. Hopefully Pegasys will change this in a future update. I doubt that will happen though since they are teamed up with DivX company now as affiliates. I do like the program for DVD authoring better than the previous versions though. The subtitle option is very nice. I have attempted at making menus with DVDLAB in the past and it is so damn complicated. TMPGEnc is much easier. The only cons i have found are the 2 things i mentioned. Everything else is fantastic.

[guns1inger]

If you want Divx authoring, you must have Divx files. If you just want Xvid files on a disc, you don't need this tool, you just need Imgburn to burn a data disc.

Is the 4GB limit for a single Divx file, or the compete Divx disc ?

[TBoneit]

I haven't tested a Divx file that big. However the 4 gig limit has to be per file as I have created in my testing several .divx files and filled a +R DL disc that played fine.

When I say per file I mean a .divx file that could have a menu with 3 titles in it each with chapters etc.

When I say +R DL disc I'm just adding several a;ready created .divx files and burning them as a data disc.

I suppose it could be some sort of dvd file size limit???

I know if I go over 2 Gig of .divx I have to change the burning mode to accomodate. Fortunately the Phillips 5960 handles either mode. Interesting to me is that the .divx acts as a container on the Phillips. IOWs I choose the .divx file get a menu with several titles to choose from. When I choose one then the Phillips does its reading index thing as if I had just opened a new file.

[TBoneit]

I bought this application with the idea that I would be able to author XviD files to DVD. I was incorrect on that assumption. Any file that is not a DivX encoded file will be converted to DivX when making a DivX DVD. I Emailed Pegasys and they replied with that little bit of knowledge. Also the filesize of 4GB is max for a DivX DVD. This is very odd to me. I never liked DivX files compared to the open source XviD codec. I would never encode with DivX since it is quite inferior to XviD. I do not understand why there would be no option to disable transcoding. Hopefully Pegasys will change this in a future update. I doubt that will happen though since they are teamed up with DivX company now as affiliates. I do like the program for DVD authoring better than the previous versions though. The subtitle option is very nice. I have attempted at making menus with DVDLAB in the past and it is so damn complicated. TMPGEnc is much easier. The only cons i have found are the 2 things i mentioned. Everything else is fantastic.

I looked and it said Divx authoring before I bought. Why would you expect it to author Xvid without converting them?

I bought it to convert other formats to a divx format for the menuing and chaptering. Since I burn to DVDs and even verbatims are inexpensive enough when on sale I do not care that a xvid might be squeezed down smaller for the same quality output. So far I've fed it .mov and .wmv and .asf files in testing. The only problem I had was corrupt wmv's that caused it to fail while encoding and another one that was even more corrupt and caused a problem adding the wmv.

[jagabo]

I bought this application with the idea that I would be able to author XviD files to DVD. I was incorrect on that assumption. Any file that is not a DivX encoded file will be converted to DivX when making a DivX DVD.

Just use AVI Fourcc Code Changer to change the fourcc to divx/DX50.

[buggerritt]

The thing is that they should allow the ability for not transcoding and allow chaptering for all avi file extensions. Of course it said DivX and not XviD. I know this. But the XPress 4 encoder also says DivX encoding and u can choose the XviD codec for avi ancodes. So i figured you would have similar versatility with the app. Also I know you can burn XviD files as data. Anyone, that has any knowledge of video, knows this fact. The thing I wanted it for, was chaptering and menus. It would be kind of neat. Anyone, that has a DivX player, knows it sux to have to fast forward through an hour of film to get to a place on a XviD file where you left off. As for the 4GB limitation, it is a limitation of how much of this authored divx you can fit on a disc. Personally I have never seen a DivX or XviD file that was over 1.5 GB. That is not the issue. The issue is that having 3-6 films (depending on length of the films) on one disc is the standard with these sort of files. So, why does this app allow only 4GB of them on a DVDr? You can burn as data and fit full media capacity. I just recieved a reply from DivX and here is there answer:

Thanks for contacting DivX!

DivX uses the .avi file container and it has a limit of 4GB and that is why you cannot create a DivX file greater than that size.

there must be another application that allows menus and chapters with XviD files. If there is none, then one should be created. I think it would be a big hit. For now, I will just burn as data. DivX sux compared to XviD and I would never switch back to it. Open source for life.

[jagabo]

DVD ISO file system has a 2 GB file size limit. DVD UDF file system has a 4 GB file size limit. AVI does not have a 4GB limit (although very old versions did).

I find both Divx and Xvid quality to be pretty close in their current iterations. Divx can be much faster though.

If you want to use Xvid go ahead. Just change the fourcc to Divx before you author. The app won't know the difference.

[buggerritt]

I took your advice and used the 4cc changer. The application loaded 2 700 MB files and reas the output as being 2250 MB already. This is without a motion menu. It must still be wanting to transcode for some reason.

[jagabo]

Actually, I was under the impression that TDA3 reencoded everything, even if it's already Divx. I don't have it though so I don't know that for a fact.

[buggerritt]

If that is the case, then there is no need to change the 4cc code. It loads XviD files and virtually any other file you throw at it. Hell, you can throw an MPEG-2 or MPEG-1 or WMV even. Ijust wish it would not transcode at all when using premade avi. There seems no point. For now, I will just burn as data and hope someone comes around with an open source option for authoring avi with no transcoding. I still like it better than previous versions for authorring KDVD backup discs. It actually seems to compile faster on the same pc than version 2 and 1.6. What took me 30 minutes now takes about 20. prettty consistantly.

[guns1inger]

The 4Gb limit comes from the UDF file system. I have the same issue burning raw mpg files from my DVB caps.

[buggerritt]

Here is a quote from my last email reply from DivX:

When you use DivX Author the final output is one large DivX file and not smaller ones. The program actually re-encodes all of the videos into one therefore it is limited to the 4GB size limit of the .avi container

If I knew that, I would have probably stuck with 2.0. This is a very lame addition to the program and i will surely never use this part at all.

[TBoneit]

Well that's the difference between us. I'd never have bothered re-doing old files anyway....

New ones will be done through this program and have all the benefits of chapters and menus.

I have the Phillips 5960 and Toshiba 3990? Not real sure of the model number off hand. The Toshiba has 100x FF and it dosn't really take that long to get back to where I left off with it. Overall the Toshiba is a more polished player with a better remote. The Phillips is Ultra Divx and plays files that Toshiba won't + the USB port... Now to find a inexpensive machine that has it all....

You may not like Divx, however it has a big advantage over Xvid and other right now. It is a standard and is supported by player makers and even a couple of recorders and such. If I were converting home videos to something for relatives it would either be WMV for computer playback, Divx for computer or divx player or DVD. No Xvid, or QT or Real or OGG or MKV and so on.

Having played with Ultra Divx and seen how handy it is it will be Divx or DVD for my stuff now. Forget Xvid and no Menus or chapters.

In the end it all comes down to personal preference.

Some of the features are neat in 1.5 I used to have to change the titles in the chapters screens for each title screen, Now change the top one and it is global for example.

BTW you could have used the trial version and avoided all this angst ver spending the money for something you don't like.

Cheers

[FulciLives]

Here is a quote from my last email reply from DivX:

When you use DivX Author the final output is one large DivX file and not smaller ones. The program actually re-encodes all of the videos into one therefore it is limited to the 4GB size limit of the .avi container

If I knew that, I would have probably stuck with 2.0. This is a very lame addition to the program and i will surely never use this part at all.

This is bad if you have DivX or XviD files to start with ... but ... if you have a high quality source (such as a DVD) and you want to make a DivX back-up then DivX Author and/or TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 are still valid for such a conversion.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[buggerritt]

I hate beating a dead horse but here goes. I am glad after I bought the product to see that it is a better DVD author than the previous models. I would not have bought it but am glad I did because of that fact. The subtitle option is actually something I did not expect and am greatly pleased by it. All in all it is very nice. I do not feel cheated. As for XviD, the only advantage I can see that DivX has over it, is the ability to make these chapters. Any DivX standalone will play XviD files just like DivX files. True, it all comes down to preference, though. I also have a Toshiba standalone and it does fast forward at 100x which is fine. I also have a Philips PET 1002 portable that only does at 32x so that is pretty slow. Would I buy this application again knowing what I know now about everything? Yes, definatley. If I did not already purchase it, and only wanted it for avi format, then no.

[ntscuser]

I'm currently using the trial verison to encode an existing DivX movie plus some decent extras together with a menu. It's taking 4 hours to do the encoding.

I could have just burned the individual files onto a data disc in minutes and accessed them that way although it wouldn't have looked as nice. Is it worth waiting four hours just to have a nice looking menu?

Update: Well after waitng 4 hours it turns out my Pioneer DVD machine (which plays almost anything else) can't play the menu, also TDA3 has re-encoded my original 16x9 widescreen rip as a letterboxed 4:3 movie.

Verdict: Useless

[gyoshi]

Update: Well after waitng 4 hours it turns out my Pioneer DVD machine (which plays almost anything else) can't play the menu, also TDA3 has re-encoded my original 16x9 widescreen rip as a letterboxed 4:3 movie.

Verdict: Useless

Is your DVD player DivX Ultra Certified? Sounds like it's not since it wasn't able to play the menu.

PEOPLE: If your DVD player isn't DivX Ultra Certified, save yourself some time and don't bother making a DivX DVD with a menu!!

Was all of your footage in widescreen format? Was the menu in the widescreen format? If you mixed aspect ratios, that may have been why it re-encoded it in 4:3 aspect ratio. Remember, for DivX DVD's it will re-encode all of your files into one big DivX file, thus, in the end they will all have the same aspect ratio regardless of their original aspect ratio (at least, this is my understanding of it).

[ntscuser]

Update: Well after waitng 4 hours it turns out my Pioneer DVD machine (which plays almost anything else) can't play the menu, also TDA3 has re-encoded my original 16x9 widescreen rip as a letterboxed 4:3 movie.

Verdict: Useless

Is your DVD player DivX Ultra Certified? Sounds like it's not since it wasn't able to play the menu.

Apparently not. It's a DVD-575A which has been hacked with the firmware from a DV-585. Time for another upgrade methinks, this time with firmware based on a DV-596 which is DivX Ultra certified.

PEOPLE: If your DVD player isn't DivX Ultra Certified, save yourself some time and don't bother making a DivX DVD with a menu!!

Was all of your footage in widescreen format?

No. the main movie and a couple of extras were W/S, the other extras were 4:3

Was the menu in the widescreen format?

Yes! That is why I thought it would encode the rest of the material in W/S rather than 4:3

If you mixed aspect ratios, that may have been why it re-encoded it in 4:3 aspect ratio. Remember, for DivX DVD's it will re-encode all of your files into one big DivX file, thus, in the end they will all have the same aspect ratio regardless of their original aspect ratio (at least, this is my understanding of it).

That is what appears to have happened in this case. Thank you for the explanation.

[TBoneit]

And of course why take the quality hit re-encoding an existing divx file.

I Bought the program to use to encode DV avi caps, MOVs, WMVs and such to a .divx format.

Note in My informal testing it converted .flv, ogg and mkv with the proper codecs installed.

It did not handle corrupt files gracefully however. Feeding it a corrupt file that was corrupted in the middle would just halt the whole process with a error, Graceful would have been to continue converting the rest and pop up a message box about the corrupt file with filename(s).

Taking a flv that was corupt the teh end of the file would freeze the editor if I went to the end to try and select a cut point. Working my way through the file until the frame before the currupt one allowed me to cut it there and encode.

[DereX888]

I still use 1.6...

I think mine is even more outdated - v.1.5

[DereX888]

Update: Well after waitng 4 hours it turns out my Pioneer DVD machine (which plays almost anything else) can't play the menu, also TDA3 has re-encoded my original 16x9 widescreen rip as a letterboxed 4:3 movie.

Verdict: Useless

Is your DVD player DivX Ultra Certified? Sounds like it's not since it wasn't able to play the menu.

Apparently not. It's a DVD-575A which has been hacked with the firmware from a DV-585. Time for another upgrade methinks, this time with firmware based on a DV-596 which is DivX Ultra certified.

PEOPLE: If your DVD player isn't DivX Ultra Certified, save yourself some time and don't bother making a DivX DVD with a menu!!

Was all of your footage in widescreen format?

No. the main movie and a couple of extras were W/S, the other extras were 4:3

Was the menu in the widescreen format?

Yes! That is why I thought it would encode the rest of the material in W/S rather than 4:3

If you mixed aspect ratios, that may have been why it re-encoded it in 4:3 aspect ratio. Remember, for DivX DVD's it will re-encode all of your files into one big DivX file, thus, in the end they will all have the same aspect ratio regardless of their original aspect ratio (at least, this is my understanding of it).

That is what appears to have happened in this case. Thank you for the explanation.

I think its crazy with this whole "Divx certification" hoopla.
Yet another way of extorting money from consumers...

People, don't buy any "divx certified" crap, you just unneccessarily drive part of your money to some crooked company (divx labs) that way.
Insist on players with MPEG-4 support, not with some "divx crap"!

I've seen in Hong Kong bunch of players (City brand and other unknowns in western countries) that didn't have any "divx certification" but they simply supported MPEG-4 format.
They play divx as well and cost $20 retail...


Please insist on MPEG-4 support, not "divx certificate" in the players or recorders!
SAY NO TO "divx" - ASK FOR MPEG-4