Stuttering video when converting/burning to DVD

[hans030390]

I have a couple of movies that I'd like to burn to DVD. One is in MKV format (x264, AC3) and the other is AVI (Xvid, AC3). I've used both DVD Flick and ConvertXtoDVD 4 on these videos. The MKV video itself stutters on my computer when playing, though my hardware is more than capable (Athlon II X2 240, 4GB RAM, Radeon HD 5770, etc). The Xvid file plays perfectly on both my computer and PS3. I also have the K-Lite codec pack installed on my computer (mega, with all options, and up to date).

Still, when I try to use either of those software to burn the movie to a DVD, the DVD stutters on playback (in my computer, PS3, other DVD players, etc). It's like there's a brief pause every second or two (or less) when playing it through DVD. However, the sound always plays smoothly.

I've had this issue a few other times with other videos and a different computer. I've just never taken much notice of it.

I'm currently using some extra Sony DVD-Rs I had around with a LITE-ON iHAS-324-98 (iHAS324 Y) DVD burner. The video I'm currently trying to burn is a 2+ hours long, and the file sizes both range around 2GB (same video, different rips).

What might be some possible causes of this issue? Thanks!

[guns1inger]

To begin with, having the k-lite codec pack (or any codec pack, for that matter) should not be a matter of pride, but rather of concern. Codec packs are not recommended practice as you don't know what they are actually installing, what conflicts with what, and when trouble strikes (as it inevitably does), when to start looking.

Stuttering on playback could be a number of things, including issues with codecs, players or the file. Start with a mediainfo tree view of both files so we can see what you are working with.

When you encode, do you force a format (e.g. NTSC) regardless of the source, or do you encode PAL to PAL and NTSC to NTSC ? Poor format conversion can cause stuttering.

The PS3 should be able to play the Xvid back without conversion (assuming no qpel/GMC), so try burning that as data to a DVD and playing it back. Does it still stutter on the PS3 ?

[hans030390]

Ok, I can uninstall the K-Lite codec pack. When I'm encoding, all of my videos have already been in NTSC format, and I encode in NTSC. I'll have to try burning the movie as a data file in a bit, but I'll report back. Here's the mediainfo tree for both of those files (starting with MKV, then AVI). Let me know if you need any other information:

General
Complete name : C:\Users\[username]\Videos\video\video.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 1.46 GiB
Duration : 2h 36mn
Overall bit rate : 1 330 Kbps
Movie name : video
Encoded date : UTC 2010-02-10 04:56:51
Writing application : mkvmerge v3.1.0 ('Happy up here') built on Jan 19 2010 12:09:24
Writing library : libebml v0.7.9 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@3.0
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 2h 36mn
Bit rate : 1 111 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 1 136 Kbps
Width : 848 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 8 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.114
Stream size : 1.22 GiB (83%)
Writing library : x264 core 83 r1400 20fa784
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=2 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / wpredp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=1136 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 2h 36mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 215 MiB (14%)
Language : English

Text
ID : 3
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : English

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General
Complete name : C:\Users\[username]\Videos\video\video2\video2.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
Format profile : OpenDML
File size : 2.19 GiB
Duration : 2h 36mn
Overall bit rate : 1 993 Kbps
Writing application : VirtualDubMod 1.5.10.2 (build 2542/release)
Writing library : VirtualDubMod build 2542/release

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Advanced Simple@L5
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Muxing mode : Packed bitstream
Codec ID : XVID
Codec ID/Hint : XviD
Duration : 2h 36mn
Bit rate : 1 789 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 400 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 8 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.259
Stream size : 1.96 GiB (90%)
Writing library : XviD 1.2.1 (UTC 2008-12-04)

Audio
ID : 1
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : 2000
Duration : 2h 36mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 216 MiB (10%)
Alignment : Split accross interleaves
Interleave, duration : 42 ms (1.00 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 500 ms

[guns1inger]

Nothing seems odd about the files, which would suggest something else is going on. I would start by getting rid of k-lite entirely, and go from there.

[hans030390]

Nothing seems odd about the files, which would suggest something else is going on. I would start by getting rid of k-lite entirely, and go from there.

Ok. So, I get rid of it...then what? Say I want to burn my Xvid video to a DVD. What steps should I take?

[davexnet]

Why not try one of those all-in-one DVD creation programs, such as DVD Flick or AVStoDVD ?
If you've uninstalled K-lite, install FFDshow. If you want to try AVStoDVD (which give the best
quality in my opinion), it will install Haali splitter and Avisynth for you.

Let us know how it goes.

[guns1inger]

You get an official Xvid codec and install just that codec. Same with any other video. You find out what you need, and install just what you need.

For playback LC that does not rely on external codecs.

[hans030390]

Why not try one of those all-in-one DVD creation programs, such as DVD Flick or AVStoDVD ?
If you've uninstalled K-lite, install FFDshow. If you want to try AVStoDVD (which give the best
quality in my opinion), it will install Haali splitter and Avisynth for you.

Let us know how it goes.

If you noticed, I've already tried DVD Flick and ConvertXtoDVD. K-Lite also installs FFDshow, Xvid (the same coded I'd be installing), Haali media splitter...etc. I understand that there might be conflicts with all it installs (as mentioned above), but I'm failing to see exactly how that will make a difference if I'm going to be installing the exact same things back onto my computer.

Also, how much do the codecs installed impact a conversion/burn to DVD?

[davexnet]

In that case (I guess I had forgotten some of the details at your first post) uninstall the codec pack and use something like Filmerit to see if it can find any errors in the directshow registry. The reason the codec packs gets singled out for suspicion in that they install so much stuff, there really is no way of knowing if some of the dshow filters are conflicting with any others. Guns1inger is right, the simplest configuration that will decode and encode your files is the best, especially when troubleshooting. If it's not that, the other thing already mentioned is the poor standards conversion - but you stated that it was straight NTSC to NTSC. FFDshow by itself is much, much simpler that k-lite, installs and uninstalls cleanly. Have you put the source file(s) into Mediainfo to see the details? Give it a try and post the text view in here.

[guns1inger]

The fact that one of the source files doesn't play smoothly prior to conversion is suspicious in itself