TMPGEnc Error converting asf to MPG-2

[Caned_and_Able]

I have an asf file 955MB [4.5 hours approx], and gspot says video: 640 x 480, codec: WMV1
I extracted the audio with VirtualDub MPEG2 to uncompressed wav and converted from 44100 to 48000. This sound file plays all the way through no problems.

I know it's a long file, and wanted to use NeroVision [or something else if you have suggestion] to split into more than one file so it fits on approx 2 DVDs hopefully. But when I convert using TMPGEnc 2.5 I get the following error about half way through

TMPGEnc "system error: 112" "there is not enough space on the disk"

It makes a 4,194MB mpeg that is only about halfway through the original. Also there is still almost 10GB of disk space.

I suspect it has something to do with FAT32 having a 4GB(approx) file size limit. Is this correct? And is there any way I can by-pass this error? If not, then TMPGEnc is the only conversion method I'm familiar with, so any suggestions for a conversion guide which won't exceed the filesize limit would be much appreciated.

TIA

[edit: forgot to mention the free-space available on disk, corrected]

[guns1inger]

You have three choices to address this problem

1. Split the video before converting. Simplest way to do this would be using avisynth and the trim command, and encoding is separate chunks.

2. Convert your current file system to NTFS. I know XP ships with the Convert command to do this. Not sure if Win2K does

3. Install a second HDD and format it to NTFS and convert to it. 40GB isn't much space when you are working with video anyway, and you get some speed gains by going from disc to disc.

The other thing you need to consider is that once you have converted your video to mpeg you will have used almost all of your available space. You will need at least as much again, and probably more, to author the actual DVDs.

[Caned_and_Able]

Thanks for the speedy reply guns1inger!

2) isn't really an option atm since it will require backing up my drive to an external drive(which I don't have) so I can format the drive. And if I do get another HDD, I may as well just use your advice in 3) and not bother with the formatting.

So I'd like to give 1) a go, but have a few questions first (sorry in advance for such complete newbie qts btw). I searched about the forum a bit and (correct me if I'm wrong) but it seems that avisynth is just used to 'activate' a script written in avsedit (for eg) when you load it into another prog like TMPGEng, or VDub. Is this right? In which case, if I wanted to use the trim script in TMPGEnc while encoding, does this only encode the section of the asf not within the trim? And is it like editing in VirtualDub where the original file remains intact?

Also, how do I get the location of the exact frame where I want the video to be split in 2? Normally I use VirtualDub to scroll to the point I want. But this time when I was saving the uncompressed wav in VirtualDub MPEG2 there was no picture in the preview pane to find the frame I need.

[edit- Just realised where you got the 40GB from. The specs as I entered them keep switching back to a 'default' or something when I change them. There's actually 66GB capacity on this drive.]

[guns1inger]

40 or 66GB isn't important - 10 GB of free space is the killer.

Yes, avisynth is script driven, however what it is is a frameserver that reads the scripts, acts on it, and passes the video through to the calling application (in your case, tmpgenc). The script contains the commands to load and filter the video. What tmpgenc sees is an uncompressed video stream. Avisynth has a Trim command that allows you specify a section of video to work on. Use Trim (0, 25600) and you will only get the video from the start through to frame 25600. What you can do is load the basic script into virtualdub and scroll through it. You should be able to see the video. Find the frame you need, exit virtualdub, modify your script, then test it again in virtualdub.

[SanderMan]

You can also use the source range option in tmpgenc to encode smaller chunks of your file. It's under setting ->advanced. If you're using version 2.5 that is.

[DarrellS]

2 and 3 are mandatory if you're working with large files. You don't have to reformat your drive to make it NTFS. Windows 2000/XP has a built in conversion tool.

First, install the new storage drive (being the holiday's, you can get a large drive for very little) and format the drive to NTFS. Then move all your important files to the storage drive. Just in case something does go wrong.

Use this command to convert the old drive to NTFS.

http://www.ntfs.com/quest3.htm

[Caned_and_Able]

I'm working on finding a decent deal on the external drive, so bear with me for now regarding space needed to author DVD.

I couldn't figure out how to get any of the versions of vdub I have to show me the video, so I used Sandermans advice, and it worked. I used the source range to trim about halfway, and now I have a 2.5hour 3.45GB mpeg-2. A couple more questions though:

1) I think I chose the correct source aspect ratio [4:3 625 line (PAL)], but there is 2 thin black lines on top and bottom of the video even though gspot says the source video is 640x480 which is 4:3 afaik. Will this just disapear behind overscan when authored?

2) I checked the mpeg on media player classic and the picture quality isn't a million miles from the source files quality, but it plays very choppy, stuttering from start to stop the whole time. Does this indicate an incorrect setting I used?

[Caned_and_Able]

I tried just using nero vision 3 to make some chapters and burn it. I then noticed that the audio moved progressively out or synch with the video from a start that's in synch.

I went back over each step and there's an error I must have ignored the first time when uncompressing the audio from the asf using VDub MPEG-2

The audio codec reported an error while decompressing audio data.
Error code: 512 {ACMERR_NOTPOSSIBLE}

Is this the problem?

I tried asking on the vDub forum and there's no replies. Anybody here familiar with this error? Or perhaps can suggest a better way to get the 2 dvd's from this asf file?