file size doubled

[agent222]

I acquired an xvid.avi file that is approximately an hour, and, forty minutes plus long. I wanted to load into TMPGEncoder Plus. Initially it wouldn't load because of some .xvid codecs that were missing. (Found this out by using Video Inspector.) Fixed that. Now the file will load into TMPGEncoder Plus, but I can't DO anything with it in that program, because it's reading that the file is over three hundred minutes long, and, expands to over 9x the original file length (700 mb,) if converted to Mpeg-1. I've tried closing the program, and, re-opening it. This (the misreading of the file length,) still occurs. I've never seen this happen this before. Has anybody else? And, is there anything that can be done to fix this? (The program won't allow me to reduce the file size, or, percentage of use of a disc, like it normally does.) Thanks.

[redwudz]

Did you check for MP3 VBR audio? That would be my first suspicion.

If so, extract the audio as a WAV with VirtualDub Mod or similar and use that as your audio source.

[agent222]

Video Inspector doesn't indicate if it's VBR, or, if it does I'm not reading it correctly. According to Video Inspector, the file has all the codecs (audio, and, video,) attached, and, reads the audio stream as 2-channel, MPEG-1, or, 2 Audio Layer 3 (MP3.) If the soundtrack still might be MP3 VBR, what can I use to determine this, since Video Inspector, doesn't indicate it.

[agent222]

Since the reply I posted above, I checked the file with VirtualDubMod. That program indicated that at least part of the file was indeed audio encoded with VBR. So I decompressed the audio, and, saved it as a .wav file with GoldWave. This time when I loaded the file(s) to TMPGEncoder Plus, it read the files as the right length, and, was able to go from there.

This, recommendations as to how to solve problems, is why I joined the forums, and, why I recomend this site to all who starting to make "back ups" of their DVDs, or, converting acquired video files.

Thanks redwudz. may you always be quake free. (cute cat icon.)

[TBoneit]

BTW you could have saved the audio as a wave file right from Vdub and then loaded that wave file in TMPGEnc.

FWIW I would always check for VBR audio as TMPGEnc does not always catch it you end up with sync problems.

[jimmalenko]

FWIW GSpot will tell you if there's VBR MP3 audio.

[redwudz]

I use VDM for that also. It lets you know right away if you have VBR. You can also use Gspot 2.60 and look for the little green 'VBR' sign in the audio window. If you were able to get TMPGEnc to accept the VBR, you would have a very long file, that would be badly out of sync and have most of it as a black screen. I always thought it was strange how much a mess the audio format could make with an encode.

What I do most times is to save it out as a WAV with full processing with VDM, then run it through ffmpeggui and convert to AC3, then combine that back with the video when I author with TMPGEnc DVD Author.

EDIT: WIth VDM open, you can also frameserve the video directly to TMPGEnc encoder to save some handling. This is handy if you need to crop or do some light filtering or editing.

[agent222]

As I said before, Video Inspector might've told me that the audio track had been encoded with VBR, and, I missed it. As for decompressing, and, saving the track through VDM, I couldn't see how to do it with that. I've used GoldWave in the past to prevent audiosync problems with compressed tv files, and, I'm comfortable with it. I'm sure VDM does as good as a job as GoldWave, it all depends on your comfort level.

I prefer Video Inspector as a "codec checker" because it normally links you to the specific codecs you need to download to make your file totally useful. Other may prefer GSpot, which I've also used, they're both good. It all depends on w you prefer to work.

Thanks to all.

Happy Holidays.

[jimmalenko]

As for decompressing, and, saving the track through VDM, I couldn't see how to do it with that.

You only had to look as far as the guides section here:
Extract audio to WAV using VirtualDubMod

Another guide I've written that is good for the "regular" virtualdub or virtualdub-mpeg2 is here:
SAVE AUDIO TO A SEPARATE WAV FILE

[agent222]

Okay, now I know that there are guides for using VDM, and, VD/VD-MPEG2 for saving the audio tracks as separate tracks.
And, in the case of one set of files, it would've saved going to another program to do that.
But, as I said before, I've used GoldWave to help prevent audiosync problems in compressed TV files, so I'm comfortable with that program.