Sudden problem with Nero Vision Express 3.1.0.0

[smackyourfupa]

I cant find a solution to thsi problem. I've been recording TV shows on my standalone DVD recorder and running them through Nero VE to edit out the commercials now for a long time. I reformatted my PC and ever since there is a huge audio / video sync problem. Seems that whenever commercials are edited out, i can still hear a couple of seconds of the commercial when the show resumes. I've never had this problem before. Here are the steps I use ...

1- Record program on standalone DVD recorder
2- Run disc in DVD decryptor in IFO mode to make one .vob file
3- Run that .vob file in Nero VE3 to edit out the commercials and create another .vob file
this is the file that gets messed up. After each edit, I can still hear a couple of seconds of the commercial which makes the audio lag.

4-Rencode the final .vob file in auto gk to make a smaller .avi file
(havent been able to do this with the faulty .vob file)

any help is greatly appreciated. So far I've uninstalled and reinstalled Nero and the Xvid/Divx codecs.

[redwudz]

It sounds like NVE isn't cutting properly. Since you seem to only be using it for editing, you might try another editor. VideoReDo and MPEG-VCR are popular. You might try them out and see if there's a difference.

[smackyourfupa]

cool thanks

[smackyourfupa]

actually, both of these programs are not free. Nero worked excellent for a long time before reformatting. Must be a fix for this. Anyone ?

[redwudz]

When you mention that NVE isn't cutting properly, you should understand that compressed video like MPEG consists of 'I' frames and 'filler frames' in between. This from our Glossary:

I Frame
An I frame is encoded as a single image, with no reference to any past or future frames. Often video editing programs can only cut MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 encoded video on an I frame since B frames and P frames depend on other frames for encoding information.

Cutting anyplace other than a 'I" frame needs re-encoding of that area to ensure smooth cuts.

The few seconds of audio you mention sounds like NVE isn't doing the re-encoding properly, if a 'I' frame is not where you chose to cut. Or it's cutting the audio and video differently. I don't know the cause or the solution for NVE, though.

What MPEG-2 codec are you using? Windows XP doesn't come with a MPEG-2 codec. You or one of your programs added it. It could be part of the problem. That's why I suggested trying a different editor to see if it's possibly a codec problem or a NVE problem. Those editors should have a trail version to test with. There are a few freeware MPEG editors, MPEG StreamClip and Cuttermaran are two. But those two may require separate audio and video streams.

Or there may be a problem with your VOB format. Not all editors can work with VOBs directly though. You might try extracting to MPEG's instead. DVD Decrypter should be able to do that. Or try VOB2MPG. Since you are apparently re-encoding to Xvid or similar, you don't really need the VOB format anyway. And it may be adding some complications to the editing. Xvid is even worse to edit with. It only has a 'I' frame about every 300 frames by default. That makes frame accurate editing very difficult.

[smackyourfupa]

I will try everything you suggested, but like I said everything worked perfect before, and I've been doing tis for awhile now. No, I dont really need the VOB format and only run it through vision express to edit it. I'm not sure which codec works for Mpeg2 , the only ones I installed were divx and xvid.
I did notice that there was a patch in my Nero folder that I forgot to install after I reformatted callled SMC Patch. I'm not sure what it does but I'm going to install it and try again.

[smackyourfupa]

alright well i'm still working on this problem and it's driving me nuts. I ended up reformatting my PC, reinstalled Nero and it was still not editing properly. Did a clean uninstall of Nero, and upgraded to Nero 8. It's transcoding as I'm typing this. However, a 45 min TV episode that used to transcode and burn (onto my HDD) in 10 mins with Nero VE 3 is now taking 2 hrs and 45 min with the VE that comes with Nero 8 !!!!

[redwudz]

I'm not that familiar with NVE, but if you just wanted to edit, that sounds more like it's re-encoding the file. If it's already MPEG and you are re-encoding to MPEG, that will cause quality loss. If you are re-encoding to Xvid with NVE, then it depends on the settings for how long it takes to encode.

[smackyourfupa]

Right now quality loss is my last concern. I've been using NVE 3 to edsit and transcode TV shows Ive recorded on my standalone dvd recorder for awhile now and the results are excellent. I just ran a VOB through the NVE that comes with Nero 8 in the 2 hour mode and it came out good. I ran another in the 3 hours mode and I could still hear a few seconds of the commercials I edited out.
You cannot encode to XVID using Nero BTW.