List of Authoring programs that do not Recode?

[Joz3d]

Does anyone have a list/know of good dvd authoring programs that do not re-encode the video if it is already mpeg2 compliant? So far I only know of DVDStyler - and I need something a little prettier or that I can at least make thumbnails of the videos for chapters easily.

Ones that I've tried so far that always recode for no good reason are:

Pinnacle Studio (all)
Nero Vision
TMPG DVD Author 3

[Midzuki]

DVD-lab PRO 2

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[guns1inger]

Both NeroVision and TDA have flags you can set in preferences to tell them not to re-encode. Whether or not they listen is debatable.

Ulead DVD Workshop 2 also has a flag which will stop it re-encoding compliant material.

DVD Architect will not re-encode compliant material if the project settings and the source material match.

GUIForDVDAuthor does not re-encode compliant material.

[pinetop]

Both NeroVision and TDA have flags you can set in preferences to tell them not to re-encode. Whether or not they listen is debatable.

No hijack intended.
I have TDA 1.6, where can you set it not to re-encode?

[redwudz]

TDA 1.6 doesn't have a option to re-encode video. About all it can do is change 44.1khz audio to DVD compliant 48khz audio.

[FulciLives]

I used to use TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.5 and then 1.6 and it is true that it cannot do anything to the video even if it wanted to as that ability is not built-in.

I have since upgraded to TMPGEnc DVD Author 2.x and that version will re-encode but only if your source is truly f'ed up. I've used it many many many times over now and I've never had a problem with it trying to re-encode expect for a project where I realized that my MPEG-2 encoder did not properly apply 3:2 Pulldown ... once I ran the video file through DGPulldown to do proper 3:2 Pulldown the file was taken "as is" without anything else weird going on.

I even use DGPulldown to do PAL to NTSC conversions ... this creates an "oddball" Pulldown on the video file ... and TMPGEnc DVD Author 2.x has no problem with that except I have noticed that it re-encodes the last second or two of the video file on those jobs but that's it and it is probably due to the trickery that DGPulldown uses to go from 25fps to 29.970fps

So if you ever have problems with TMPGEnc DVD Author 2.x then the problem is with your source video file. Encoded properly you will have no issues.

So far I've yet to use the newest 3.x version so I cannot comment on that directly from experience. However from what I've heard it works the same, i.e., will not re-encode unless the video has "issues" due to incorrect MPEG-2 encoding.

Besides the "basics" like having the proper frame rate and frame size the number one issue people screw up is either not doing 3:2 Pulldown correctly or setting the GOP incorrectly. If the 3:2 Pulldown is not done correctly (when it is needed which is not always of course) or if the GOP length is too long then expect issues including TMPGEnc DVD Author 2.x - 3.x attempting to re-encode.

I like TMPGEnc DVD Author because it is extremely easy-to-use yet creates a very nice menu design ... granted you can't do "overly complicated" DVD Authoring "things" that you can do with say DVD Lab Pro but then again most of the time you never need to create a menu design that is that intricate anyways.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[AlanHK]

GUIForDVDAuthor doesn't reencode, though it has a shrink function if you want.

It's got a chapter making function that can make thumbnails.

[Alex_ander]

... if the GOP length is too long then expect issues including TMPGEnc DVD Author 2.x - 3.x attempting to re-encode.

It usually gives a warning about excessive GOP length, in this case I stop the project and go to my encoding tools.
BTW John, TDA3 seems to be an upgrade compared to TDA2. For some reason TDA2 is slower that TDA1.6, TDA3 is as fast. A very useful new feature to edit/correct adjacent button links that can often get ruined if you re-arrange them in a template (e.g. put them in column). Noticed this button problem recently and now always preview using arrow keys (you can't notice this in a player like MPC with mouse access).
As for reencoding last frames, there was recently a discussion, (as manono tested) TDA3 does the same and this looks like forced closing the last GOPs (independently from encoding type) in each individual file for safe possible joining streams in the same track.