The Kooz's J.o.D DVD to high quality SVCD conversion guide

[Kooz]

last updated : March 11, 2002 ***

For those who aint newbies no more, but aint got their thang down yet . . . just like me ;)
J.o.D - Journey of Discovery. Is a work in progress. ***
updated line of info marked with ***

OS : Windows 2000 Pro
PC : AMD Athlon 1.4GHz, Asus A7V-133, 512Mb RAM, IBM 7200rpm ATA100 46Gb HDD, Asus V7700 Deluxe ***

Tools used :
Smartripper
DVD2AVI 1.76
FitCD
Tmpegenc 2.02
VFAPIConv
CCE SP 2.62
Pulldown ***

1. smartripper : ripping the dvd. self explanatory.

2. dvd2avi : frameserving the ripped vobs so cce & tmpegenc can use them directly.
a. open the ripped vob files. selecting the first one will select all.
b. preview the movie (F5), let it play a few minutes into the movie proper. take note of 'aspect ratio', 'frame rate', 'video type', & 'frame type'.
c. settings : video > field operation > force film. some people say always use (increased quality due to less frames) other say it's source dependant ***
> color space > YUV 4:2:2
> YUV to RGB > PC scale. PC scale if you're going to watch on PC, TV scale on a TV. I'm not sure - ask Stan ***
audio > track number > track 1 . . . although this depends on the dvd. make sure you check the audio output.
> channel format > auto select
> dolby digital > decode
> mpeg audio > demux
> 48 -> 44.1kHz > off
> mp3 compress > disabled
d. select the source range. it's a good idea to select what you want here so the audio is trimmed also. get rid of copy warnings, credits, company logos etc.
> drag the slider to the desired starting point, use the <> keys to select it precisely and use the [ ] keys to set the start [ and the end ].
e. output from dvd2avi will be blah.d2v & blah_ac3_t01_3_2ch_384kbps_48khz.wav - for example
f. do your luminance settings here, what us normal people call gamma, brightness and contrast.
video > luminance > offset and gain.
I'm not sure exactly what they do, but if you fiddle you'll get the idea. you CAN do this in tmpegenc but it slows the encoding down by like 25% - so it's quicker to do it here! ***

3. fitcd : calculating bitrates for multipass VBR.
a. enter the size of the cd you want to use (upper right panel).
b. how many minutes you want on that cd & frame rate (upper left panel). 60mins of movie on an 80min cd is around 1570 average, 2480 max & 1110 min.

4. tmpegenc : setting up the encoding parameters for the video stream only.
a. file > new project
b. video source > blah.d2v
b. load > NTSC(film) profile
c. load > unlock profile
d. stream type > video only
e. setting > video > stream type . . should be 'mpeg-2 video' & size should be '480x480'
> aspect ratio > 4:3 seems to work best ***
> frame rate > 23.976fps
> rate control mode > 2pass VBR > set your average, min & max from fitcd step 3.b. you dont need to, but it cant hurt, can it? ***
> video format > NTSC
> encode mode > non-interlace if the source wasnt ***
> dc component precision > 10bits. although some say its a waste, and you should use 8bits ***
> motion search precision > high quality (slow) . . . note that highest quality is MUCH slower & not much better
f. setting > advanced > video source type > non-interlaced (progressive)
> field order > source dependate - this can be check using aviutil & grumpy stans guide at http://www.geocities.com/stanwebber/dvd/field.html ***
> source aspect ratio > set according to what the source was from step 2.b. ***
> video arrange method > full screen (keep aspect ratio)
g. other settings. i try and avoid them, cos it's easy to screw stuff up. color corretion etc if you need it. you shouldnt need inverse telecine, 3:2 pulldown etc. ***
h. defauts for gop structure & quantize matrix should be ok, i guess.
i. file > save project > blah.tpr

5. vfapiconv : converting all the nice tmpegenc settings to a false avi so that cce can run the encoding.
a. open vfapiconv, & drag the blah.tpr onto it. click 'ok' then 'convert'
b. output will take a few seconds & you'll have a file called blah_d2v-vfapi.avi
c. this .avi can be previewed in windows media player, at a very low frame rate . . . but it allows you to check that the AR etc are all ok.

6. cce : encoding the video stream using the settings from tmpegenc stored in the blah_d2v-vfapi.avi file.
a. open cce & drag the .avi onto it.
b. select the entry, right click & select edit.
c. video files > ES
d. audio file > unselected
e. video encode mode > multipass VBR . . . 3 pass takes longer, but is dvd-like quality as compared to 2 pass. ensure mpeg-2 is selected ***
f. bitrate > average, max & min from fitcd step 3.b. for some reason, cce sets average to 2000 so reset it.
g. other settings > video > 'progressive frames', 'add sequence end code', 'upper field first' ONLY selected. progressive if source non-interlaced, field oreder from step 4.f. ***
> luminance 16 to 235 . . . for tv / dvd compliance apparently
> intra dc precision > 10 . . . for quality
> aspect ratio > SAR 1:1 - tmpegenc has resized it for you ***
h. everything else should be fine. encode that puppy, sit back & wait some.

7. pulldown.exe : telling your software to play the movie at higher frame rate. ***
a. open dos prompt ***
b. type 'pulldown blah.mpv' ***
c. you'll get a file called pulldown.m2v which is the finished video stream
apparently, this is an important step ***

8. tmpegenc : encoding the audio & multiplexing
a. file > new project
b. audio source > blah.wav . . . the other file that dvd2avi created.
c. setting > fiddle with your audio settings.
d. encode that puppy as a mpeg compatible (blah.mp2) format by clicking start.
e. file > mpeg tools > simple multiplex. joining the video & audio streams
f. simple multiplex > type > mpeg-2 SVCD (VBR)
> video input > pulldown.m2v . . . the video stream created in cce and polished up nice in step 7.c. ***
> audio input > blah.mp2 . . . the audiotmpegenc created in step 7.d.
> output > blah.mpg. the finished mpeg-2, svcd ready, ripped dvd!

that process should produce very high quality svcds, with almost one hour per 80min cd. with this system, it takes about 10 hours to do a 3 pass encode at 73.7% realtime.

burn it how you like, i'm using nero.
also, you need to set the doodah thingy to Mode2/XA to ensure you get the most info on your cd.

this is only a guide, if you have prefs you like go for it. but this works for me and i'm only a partial newbie now.
i didnt include pics cos i'm lazy & personaly, i much prefer to check off a list, once i know the software a little. i like stans idea of putting check boxes in the guide, but i dont know how

all this information has been gleaned off this site, so thanks all.

contact me : kamikuza@yahoo.com

[Kooz]

erm ok i just noticed there's a problem here somewhere ... the aspect ratio is getting screwed up, so that it's not letterboxing the frames and stretching them to fill the 480x480 svcd format.

meaning, the frames are stretched vertically.

suggestions???

otherwise, it all works brilliantly! :)

edit : it seems that you need to set aspect ratio to 1:1 vga in steps 4.e and 4.f ... maybe. seems to work

[ChevyNo1]

I have just recently been using dvd2svcd, and it makes very good quality SVCD's as well, and sets up pretty well everything for you. Good for someone who doesn't want to spend a lot of time setting things up . . .

- Dug

[Cosmo Kramer]

I agree, DVD2SVCD is pretty nice pack with CCE, it rips, makes the chapters and you just burn the images. Well, TMPEGNC may have more options to choose from, but all SVCD's i've made with using DVD2SVCD have been extra high quality. Sadly the subtitles doesn't work with my Standalone DVD-player (Divido).

CK.

[ChevyNo1]

Which style subs are you trying? The only ones I could get to show up on my Daewoo-3000 were the CVD style ones . . . I use Tmpgenc to encode, and while it takes all nite, incredible quality!!

- Dug

[stanwebber]

the guide is solid except for a few points: force film will not work on all film sources, not to mention all the tv shows(pure 60hz ntsc) being released on dvd now.

some of the tmpgenc settings(i.e. bitrate setting) are unnecessary since you are feeding the .tpr project to vfapi.

your whole approach to aspect ratios is far out in left field. that being said it may be working for you....i simply dont know.

personally i consider anything above 8bits dct precision a waste for svcd, but this is debatable.

i'd say the biggest pitfall is your assumption that all sources will be top-field first rather than checking to be sure.

i'm also concerned about how you're applying the 3:2 pulldown. if tmpgenc is performing the function then you are throwing away any benefit forced film might have given you. if not then your video is still 23.976fps & you need to run it thru pulldown before multiplexing.

since you asked me to critique your guide i'd like you to do the same since i've heard next to nothing from anyone. you'll find a link in my profile

[Kooz]

i assumed that the stuff being encoded was ntsc movies. force film should work for most of them, but if you preview the movie it will tell you.

erm i know nothing about top field, so like i said all that was sifted from the forum. it all seems to work.

[Joris]

What version of CCE SP are you using?
I have CCE SP 2.64

I open an .avi (divx) in TMPGEnc 2.53 to convert to mpeg2 (scvd)
I make an projectfile in TMPGEnc 2.53
I convert the .tpr to .avi with VFAPIconv
I get the error "this not an .avi file" when loading the .avi I converted from the .tpr file in CCE SP 2.64.

Is this an CCE SP 2.64 issue?
If so, is there a solution for this
OR am I doing something wrong here.

Joris

[Kooz]

i'm using 2.62

i'm using the version of tmpegenc before the latest release, i think its 2.52 ?

i had the same problem for ages, then it fixed itself. i dont know how :) try saving the tpr as a text tpr and see what happens. Drag and drop the avi on tpr, or open it by right clicking and selecting add.

2.64 and the light versions dont work for me at all ... other than that, i'm sorry i cant help.

[AlFaDuDe]

If you want the subtitles you can chose permanent subtitles.
The only thing that you can't turn them off.

[DarkLox]

Just a quick question.....using ccd 2.5
what are the best options in terms of all the other stuff thats available to change using dvd2svcd...for example...the resize method, linear quantitize , progressive frames, zigzag...etc

what settings seem to give the best quality picture?

[m_lea1]

i am not sure if i am doing something wrong but for some reason when i try and drag the tpr in to VFAPIConv-EN it wont let me do it. i am confused can you tell me whats going on here?

[valzuniga]

umm just use dvd2svcd, it does most of this for you in a clean , all in one package.

[Imran]

i actually like this Guide, Nice Work Kooz, I don't Rip DVDs anymore but this helps me in my AVI-SVCD