Windows Media Encoder - 2 Pass Encoding Problem

[Xenon77]

I am using WMEnc to create a WMV from an AVI.

1 pass encoding is fine, but when I attempt 2 pass, the result is not right - I end up with a smaller file than with 1 pass, because while the audio is playing correctly from the beginning the video for some reason starts about half way through.

Studying the viewing window during encoding, the film plays out from beginning to end at pass 1, but then on commencing pass 2, it strangely starts from around the middle of the film instead of the beginning again...

I have found these relative threads reporting similar issues:-

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/windows-media-encoder-fails-on-2nd-pass-t338777.html

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/windows-media-encoder-avi-to-wmv-two-pass-probl...m-t355476.html

I have tried uninstalling WMEnc, and re-installing with the latest version direct from Microsoft - same problem.

Note that the place in the film where the 2nd pass (and resulting WMV) incorrectly begins seems to be slightly different each time....

Any ideas about this? Does the 2 pass function simply not work with AVIs, or certain AVIs?

If there is no fix for this issue could someone recommend a good alternative (free) WMV encoder? Reason for using WMEnc in the first place was I was finding some other computers were not recognising my WMV files made from other converters, but Microsoft's program gave me (at least in 1 pass) WMVs which seemed recognisable to media players in all other computers I tested on.

[mh2360]

I have found that Windows Media Encoder has always been a little flakey with 2 pass encoding.

There's nothing quite like waiting 4 hours for the first pass to finish only to watch it crash at the start of the second pass...

When I use WME now, I usually stick to 1 pass VBR...

[Xenon77]

I'd prefer 2-pass CBR at the moment.

OK so I'll give up relying on WMEnc for this until the 2-pass issue is fixed - can someone recommend another good WMV encoder?

Ideally with 2-pass facility, and same codecs as WMEnc: Windows Media Video 9 & Windows Media Audio 9.2?

I did find the least compatibility problems between different computers when I used WMEnc to encode...

[poisondeathray]

You can try wmvmuxer, WMNicEnc (requires avisynth), automkv, or encode360 - all free

Maybe it's an issue with your input file?

[Xenon77]

Thanks Poison, I'll take a look at those - I haven't any experience with AviSynth yet though so something simpler would be best for me at the moment, WMEnc was nice and easy to use.

The source AVI is made directly from Avid Liquid, never had any problems like this with many past AVIs - then again this is the 1st time I've made a 2-pass encode from one with WMEnc. I tried experimenting with 2 other AVIs [also from Liquid] with same results - the 2nd pass, and the resulting WMV, has jumped forwards a bit in the source video and starts in the wrong place with audio correct.

I'll try a non-Liquid created AVI and see what happens there - a few people have reported similar 2-pass problems with their AVIs however.