Making files for Toast 7

[MikeyGee1]

I am trying (and trying and trying!) to get Toast to accept a .mov (or whatever!) file so that instead of reencoding it, it will just re-mux it (or whatever!).
I have tried using ffmpegX to make VIDEO_TS files, and these work fine for Toast, but I can only burn one on a DVD. I want to put two or three episodes of a TV program (currently .avi files) onto one DVD. I guess I need to de-select 'Author as'?
Can anyone give me the full setting I'd need to choose in ffmpegX to give me files I can use straight in Toast without reencoding.
Please help! I hate Toast's encoding!

[Case]

I am trying (and trying and trying!) to get Toast to accept a .mov (or whatever!) file so that instead of reencoding it, it will just re-mux it (or whatever!).

That only works with DVD compliant MPEG files.

I have tried using ffmpegX to make VIDEO_TS files, and these work fine for Toast, but I can only burn one on a DVD. I want to put two or three episodes of a TV program (currently .avi files) onto one DVD. I guess I need to de-select 'Author as'?

Exactly. When you de-select 'Author as', then ffmpegX will stop the process before creating the VIDEO_TS folder, leaving you with DVD compliant MPEG files.
Drop your converted episode .mpg files onto Toast to author a VIDEO_TS folder for a DVD with all three episodes.
I would suggest using the mpeg2enc preset for better acceptance by Toast.

[MikeyGee1]

But what settings within ffmpegX do I use?
Do I have the Target Format set to DVD mpeg2enc? Or do I use the setting '.mov' Then I deselect 'Author as'?
I tried this, and all I ended up with was a ".mov.ac3" file, a ".mov.wav" file, and a ".mov.m2v" file. None openable in Quicktime and certainly none that Toast would happily not reencode.
I then tried the ".mov" setting in ffmpegX. This gives me a true '.mov' file, which is openable in Quicktime. However, Toast 7 insists on reencoding this, even though I have set "Never" in Toast's encoding options.
I just don't seem to be able to make an MPEG that Toast will accept and not reencode. (I have even tried using MPEG Streamclip, with no success).
Please, can someone give me the exact settings to use to make a Toast-happy MPEG so that I can burn several files onto the one DVD without Toast reencoding!
All the video acronyms! I'm going mad!! MAD I TELL YOU!! Bwaaa ha haaaaa! (Sorry! That's the mad scientist in me!)

[Case]

But what settings within ffmpegX do I use?

Use the DVD mpeg2enc preset (this should work), then tweak some (for even nicer results) depending on your source file. It depends, because we know nothing of your source files.
One more thing: if your source file is 23.976 fps, then ffmpegX will use that for Target Format too, and then for DVD encoding you should activate the "Set 3:2" checkbox in the Options tab. If you don't, then Toast will re-encode to 29.97 fps, which you want to avoid.

Do I have the Target Format set to DVD mpeg2enc?

That would be my recommendation.

Or do I use the setting '.mov'

No, that wouldn't create a DVD compliant MPEG-2 file, but an MPEG-4 file (which is not DVD compliant).

Then I deselect 'Author as'?

Yes.

I tried this, and all I ended up with was a ".mov.ac3" file, a ".mov.wav" file, and a ".mov.m2v" file.

The source video was encoded to .m2v (MPEG-2 video). The source audio was decoded to .wav, then encoded to .ac3 (Dolby Digital). These are temporary files. The next step should have been muxing the m2v and ac3 together into an .mpg file. Apparently this failed. Often this happens because of spaces and/or special characters in the path or filename.
Also check the filesizes, as a 0K file may point to yet other error(s).

None openable in Quicktime and certainly none that Toast would happily not reencode.

If you drop the .m2v onto the Toast window (Video tab, DVD format), then Toast will try to find matching audio (based on the filename), and if it can't, it should tell you it is only video without audio and ask you to locate the matching audio (.ac3). Then Toast should create a DVD without re-encoding.

I then tried the ".mov" setting in ffmpegX. This gives me a true '.mov' file, which is openable in Quicktime. However, Toast 7 insists on reencoding this, even though I have set "Never" in Toast's encoding options.

QuickTime .mov files are not within DVD specification, so Toast will have to re-encode to create a valid DVD. No way around that.

All the video acronyms!

Check out the Glossary (also fifth link in the left-side menu on every Videohelp.com page) to familiarize yourself with most video terminology.

[MikeyGee1]

I managed to get Toast to accept one of the MPEGs that I'd made from ffmpegX, but now I can't seem to make an MPEG that Toast will see as video, and not as a 'Playlist'.
When I bring the MPEG into Toast (set to 'DVD-Video') it shows the MPEG as only a playlist, with no video or whatever! I used the same settings to make this MPEG as the last one (that was accepted), so I really don't know what I am doing wrong!
Please help! I'm going mad! (Especially since it takes 8 hours to process the AVI in ffmpegX, and for the resulting MPEG not to work...! Blahhh!)

[Case]

I've seen that happen with MPEGs created using the DVD ffmpeg preset, but not when using the DVD mpeg2enc preset, which is one of the reasons why I adviced DVD mpeg2enc earlier.

The work-around is to use MPEG Streamclip to demux the .mpg file into elementary streams, then drop the .m2v onto Toast (Toast will find the matching audio by itself or warn you), and continue from there.

[MikeyGee1]

Thanks for that.
Tried it this morning.
Toast does now accept the .m2v file, and automatically finds the .ac3 file to go with it.
Great, I thought. All is good with the world. Until I came to watch the resultant DVD.
The sound is seconds out of synch. Starts off OK, but by the end of the 45 minutes the speech is happening a good 3-4 seconds before the action!
Do you have any idea why? And possibly a solution? I'm determined to crack this!!
Thanks in advance!

[Case]

Maybe the maker of the source file stretched the audio to match the length of the video. If that happened, it would explain the sync drift. Check the duration time of the source file and the two output elementary streams to verify this.

One way to deal with that is to use QT Pro's Export > Sound to Wave on your source file, which will export a newly sampled audio file of matching length. Convert that to AC3 and replace the old AC3 file.