Tmpgenc Xpress 4: I Don't Want To Resize

[Tom Saurus]

I record video files with my Hauppauge PVR 150 at 720x480 mpeg2. Well anyway I bought Tmpgenc Xpress 4.0. I like to convert to .divx files because of the good quality I get and the smaller file size. I bought Tmpgenc Xpress 4.0 and when I play the .divx files in vlc and on my television as well, it is not what I am used to. I chose the "Home Theatre Profile" in the encoding options for .divx. What happens is when I play the file in vlc there is a border all the way around it, that is because I have selected "full screen" in the "Resize Filter" option or if I chose "full screen without borders" in the Resize Filter, I get a video that fills almost the entire screen but there is a bit of a black bar on the top and bottom. I don't really want to resize to begin with, but this option is checked no matter what you do.

Now if I was to make a divx ultra file with Tmpgenc DVD Author 3, I would get menus and such, but once one is playing the video, it would be just like the original mpeg2 file in video or picture dimension. My main reason for getting Tmpgenc Xpress 4.0 tool which would come in handy for a whole bunch of smaller clips, I want to convert and just set it up to work on them overnight, making good use of the time.

I know I could use the .xvid codec and convert my files, even with batch encoding using AviDemux. But for whatever reason when I convert my mpeg2 recordings from the Hauppauge Card to .xvid the picture gets quite jumpy at times and is hard on the eyes to watch it. I have not figured out why and launched a topic about it quite awhile ago. It was suggested to me that it had something to do with the way Hauppauge records interlaced.

I could put some example clips up on MediaFire to illustrate what I am talking about if necessary. Does anyone have some suggestions? Thank you in advance for any help on this matter.

[deadrats]

I record video files with my Hauppauge PVR 150 at 720x480 mpeg2. Well anyway I bought Tmpgenc Xpress 4.0. I like to convert to .divx files because of the good quality I get and the smaller file size. I bought Tmpgenc Xpress 4.0 and when I play the .divx files in vlc and on my television as well, it is not what I am used to. I chose the "Home Theatre Profile" in the encoding options for .divx. What happens is when I play the file in vlc there is a border all the way around it, that is because I have selected "full screen" in the "Resize Filter" option or if I chose "full screen without borders" in the Resize Filter, I get a video that fills almost the entire screen but there is a bit of a black bar on the top and bottom. I don't really want to resize to begin with, but this option is checked no matter what you do.

a few things to keep in mind, the "resize filter" option only comes into play when you are resizing the image, when you are configuring the divx output module make sure that it matches the characteristics if your input file, in other words if your source is 720x480 with 4:3 pixels, make sure you set the output to the exact same thing (or you can use 640x480 with square pixels as it will have the same aspect ratio, but i prefer to keep everything exactly the same).

[Tom Saurus]

deadrats: Thanks for your input. Here are some screenshots for additional information on this topic:

[Tom Saurus]

Here is another screenshot:

[Tom Saurus]

GSpot Specs for Original Mpeg2 File:

[Tom Saurus]

GSpot Specs Screenshot for conversion to an .xvid file by AviDemux:

[Tom Saurus]

GSpot Screenshot of Tmpgenc Xpress 4 with Resize (Fullscreen Option):

[Tom Saurus]

GSpot Screenshot of Specs for Tmpgenc Xpress Post (Full Screen without margin) option:

[Tom Saurus]

G Spot TDA 3.0 Divx Ultra Specs Screenshot: This matches original mpeg2 file specs except it is now a Divx Ultra File.

[Tom Saurus]

A look at the Tmpgenc Xpress 4 Resize Filter Screen: This option cannot be turned off.

[Tom Saurus]

A look at the video properties of the original mpeg2 file before it is converted by Tmpgenc Xpress 4:





A look at the Output Screen in Tmpgenc Xpress 4:

[Tom Saurus]

Should I upload the different examples to mediafire for futher analysis? I think I will because it will illustrate better what I am trying to convey. I hope the pictures are of some help to understanding this issue. One thing the Divx Ultra Example will play in VLC and it may seem like a plain .divx file, but it does have a menu, but VLC ignores it and just plays the file as if it doesn't exist. To see the menu you would need to play it in the software player that the Divx Website distributes. Thanks in advance for any help concerning this matter.

[Tom Saurus]

Here is a link to the folder I put the examples in to illustrate what this topic is about:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=9a19020c1bf6063aab1eab3e9fa335cadaec68455a8b91d0


I left a brief description of each example over at MediaFire. If you try them play them in VLC and play at Fullscreen that way you can see that some fill the full screen, such as the original mpeg2 and the .divx ultra file. The other files illustrate the problem. The AviDemux .xvid file may seem okay on the eyes, but that is probably because there isn't much movement in the scenes and it is a short clip. When converting my mpeg2 files to .xvid the video kind of jumps or gets a quiver to it and it must have something to do with the way Hauppauge records the files. When I use the "Home Theatre Profile" the video is stable and smooth, both on my computer screen and tv screen.

I will leave the clips up for a few days and then delete them. The clips are about a news broadcast where they talk about Brooke Astor passing away at the age of 105. I found it an interesting news item so I kept it. Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me concerning this matter.

[Tom Saurus]

I think I have come across the solution. First in the resize filter select full screen and proceed on to the next step in the program. Instead of using "Basic Mode" choose advanced mode. If you change the pixel ration from 1:1 to pixel 10:11 (NTSC 4:3) you end up with a file very close to your original video size aspects of your original mpeg2 file, with the exception that it is now a .divx file. The resulting file is excepted by VLC and my Phillips Divx Ultra Player. I made a template in Tmpgenc Xpress 4 to reflect the setting in TDA 3.0 when it makes a Divx Ultra File. I am going to post some screenshots from GSpot and just about every spec matches up between the Divx Ultra file produced by TDA 3 and the Divx Ultra-like file produced by Tmpgenc Xpress 4. I am also posting some screenshots of the video settings pages in TDA 3 for the Divx Utra Specs and the video settings pages in Tmpgenc Xpress Advanced Mode. I tried to match the setting wherever possible.








TDA 3.0 Divx Ultra Video Setting 01



TDA 3.0 Video Setting 02



Tmpgenc Express 4 Divx Ultra-Like Specs 01







Tmpgenc Xpress 4 Divx Ultra-like Settings 02

[Tom Saurus]

Finally done; I got a tad obsessed at trying to figure this out. I got to go to the Doctor, I have developed a condition where "heavy duty thinking" results in my butt getting hot. Forgive me for me throwing in some self-deprecating humour in here. I will post a link to the "Divx Ultra-like file" once I upload it to MediaFire. I will probably delete the files on Monday, since this topic is about rapped up. I put the various files on a usb stick and watched them on our television. The .xvid file was hard on the eyes at times, it was very noticable on the television. Maybe that is something that can be figured out someday. I hope that the information has been useful to atleast one person. Maybe deadrats will find it useful.

I want to say thank you to everyone for helping with various video issues on this website over the years. I have aquired alot of knowledge because of it.

[Tom Saurus]

Here is the Mediafire link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?f4doemkgztn

I will delete the files tommorow, unless someone think it would be useful to leave them up awhile longer. I more or less think the problem has been solved.

[deadrats]

A look at the video properties of the original mpeg2 file before it is converted by Tmpgenc Xpress 4:





A look at the Output Screen in Tmpgenc Xpress 4:

the "output screen" shows what the problem is: notice that you are choosing square pixels (1:1) with a resolution of 720x480, what you should do is change the (1:1) so that it shows (4:3), alternatively leave the pixel ratio as it is and change the resolution to 640x480, either one will produce the correct output, though as i said i prefer to keep everything as it was in the source, which in this case means 720x480 4:3.

edit: i see you figured it out for yourself, sorry i couldn't get back to you sooner.

[Tom Saurus]

deadrats: The problem was with the basic mode it didn't allow me to change the pixel ratio. I was hesitant to go to advanced mode because there was a warning that it may not play on a .divx player. Thankfully my .divx ultra player has a usb slot so I just transferred these files to a thumb drive and then tested them out. I used the .divx ultra specs in TDA 3.0 as my guide. My original video source is interlaced but TDA 3.0 always chose "Progressive" as the display mode, and since I have always been pleased with the .divx ultra files, I chose that setting in Tmpgenc Xpress 4. I don't know if it converts "interlaced" to progressive or not. In the filters section of Tmpgenc Xpress 4, I chose "de-interlace when necessary" and I don't know if that helps or hurts the resulting files. I converted a bunch of small files the other day with the batch mode and the program plugged dilegently away at them, but I saved my original mpeg2 files, until I watch some of these files on my tv and see if I am satisfied with them. I made a specific .divx ultra-like template and apply that to all my mpeg2 files. Now it is just a matter of seeing if I am content with the resulting .divx files and then I can delete my original mpeg2 files.

I am quite happy with Tmpgenc Xpress 4. The batch mode is terrific. The one feature that Tmpgenc should work on is to have a titling option that could sense what your file's video dimensions are and tack a title page on the beginning of the clip to give an idea what is in the clip. TDA 3.0 can create some very nice menus, so if they could come up with something like that to add to Tmpgenc Xpress 4 for the purpose of titling that would be terrific. Thanks for responding to my questions.