SVCD / MPEG2 - bad packet stops file.

[Steve Walsh]

Hi,

I'm trying to join 2 SVCD's back together into 1 MPEG2 file.
I'm using VCDEasy 1.1.5.2 to remove the SVCD header/padding.

When I try to join the files together the output is never the complete 2 files.
It turns out that the 2nd file has a bad packet near the start and this causes the process to end.

Analysing the file in VCDEasy, it says -
mpeg scan: pack header code (0x000001ba) expected, but 0x000023ba found (buflen = 2324)
bad packet at packet #24826 (stream byte offset 57695624) -- remaining 641296180 bytes of stream will be ignored

Sadly, the remaining/ignored part is 90% of the 2nd file !

Any idea how I can get around this ?

TMPGenc also "fails" to demux the streams in this file successfully - I end up with an M2V and MP2 file but only small one - up until the bad packet presumably.

Any help, very much appreciated.

btw - I still have the SVCD CD's (made by myself) if I need to go back to the source.

Thanks in advance.

[jman98]

Yes, I do have some ideas on what you can do. By the way, it would have been nice had you told us what program you were using to join.

Anyway, get a copy of MPEGVCR (you can try before you buy with no restrictions) and use it to join the pieces together. VCDEasy is great, when it works. I have found it often complains about things that no other program will complain about. Maybe it's right to complain. I don't know. I've seen videos that just gave it fits and it ignored the rest of the file. You can try feeding the file you created into it again and sometimes you get lucky and it will stop complaining about the file. Not always, but it's happened a few times for me. I remember a VCD I created from capturing a laserdisc and every time I fed the same video file into VCDEasy, it complained about a different point in the video with a similar error to yours. I remember once that I had a video file that generated errors and finally it took the file without any changes by me. I suggested MPEGVCR because it can join files and it also has an MPEG Fixer program and hopefully between those you can get the file joined together into something VCDEasy will accept. You can also try demuxing and remuxing the streams together and sometimes this produces a file that VCDEasy won't complain about. Again, MPEGVCR is a very good tool for this too. It will cost you nothing to try it, so give it shot.

[Steve Walsh]

Hi,

Sorry - the program I've tried to use to join the file together is TMPGEnc.

But it only see's a small part of the 2nd file - up until the bad packet.

I'll try MPEGVCR....

RE - Demuxing the streams - I have the same problem... demux stops at the bad packet and I'm left with 2 VERY SMALL files (.m2v and .mp2)

If the bad packet can be "fixed/skipped" then I'm confident about doing the rest - I'm not scared of demuxing/remuxing etc....

Thanks for your advice.

[jman98]

TMPGenc is a good program for encoding. What it is really bad at is video editing, such as joining. That's why I wanted to know what you used.

MPEGVCR may not be as fussy as TMPGenc about demuxing the video. If it has problems, which I doubt, you could always try to MPEG Fixer program I mentioned (part of MPEGVCR) and then try to demux. I'm pretty sure MPEGVCR can demux the program one way or the other. Try using it first to join the 2 files together and if VCDEasy still barfs on your file, try it to demux (using the MPEG Fixer first if necessary) and then remux the files back together and with any luck you'll finally get something VCDEasy will accept. I've had to demux/remux and just reload files in the past to get VCDEasy to accept them correctly. I really don't understand why, but sometimes VCDEasy just hits a spot in the video it doesn't like and it gives up. I have seen this happen and then I have loaded the exact same file without change into it and had it accept it on another attempt. But if you are persistent hopefully some combination of joining, demuxing and remuxing will eventually work.

By the way, MPEGVCR comes with some inline documentation that can be very helpful. You won't have to read very much to figure out how to use it.

[Steve Walsh]

Excellent news !
MPEGVCR was able to sort the problem...
I demuxed the "damaged" file, then remuxed it and joined to the other with TMPGEnc without any problems.
And I've still got 30 days of full usage of MPEGVCR - very useful program.... Lot's more VCD's/SVCD's to go through.

Thanks for the advice.
First time I've had this problem so never needed to stray from TMPGEnc for MPEG editing.
Do you have any views on Cuttermaran ?

[jman98]

My feeling about Cuttermaran is you get what you pay for. I tried it once and wasn't impressed, but plenty of people feel differently than me about it. MPEGVCR isn't that expensive now, so it's not like Cuttermaran is saving someone a ton of money. I bought it some years ago when it cost, if you can believe this, $250 a copy and I used it so much that I more than got my money's worth out of it.

There's a reason why something like MPEGVCR costs money. It also comes with useful tools like the MPEG Fixer or the demux / remux options that can help you a lot.