DVD Styler Question

[Blinkerzon]

I'm trying to get DVD Styler to produce an SD NTSC-compliant DVD from an MPEG file I encoded outside the application using HcEnc, without re-encoding it again. The source file is HD and according to MediaInfo is NTSC progressive 23.976 fps, and I am under the impression that DVD Styler can produce an NTSC-compliant DVD for a progressive film source of 23.976 fps without re-encoding.

Could someone let me know why DVD Styler is identifying the m2v file as PAL, and therefore preventing the video from being copied over without re-encoding?

================================================== =========
Here is the Media Info file from the source file:


Complete name : C:\Video.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 4 / Version 2
File size : 994 MiB
Duration : 2h 18mn
Overall bit rate : 1 003 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2013-03-21 15:39:04
Writing application : mkvmerge v6.1.0 ('Old Devil') built on Mar 2 2013 14:32:37
Writing library : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.0

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 9 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 2h 18mn
Bit rate : 809 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 536 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.049
Stream size : 784 MiB (79%)
Writing library : x264 core 129 r2230 1cffe9f
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=10 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=8 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=2 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=809 / 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
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 2h 18mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 190 MiB (19%)
Default : Yes
Forced : No

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My goal is to convert the file to full-D1 SD NTSC progressive 23.976 without pulldown. I am using HcEnc v0.25 as the video encoder. The audio file was identified as NTSC-compliant by DVD Styler. Test AVS script for the video encode was initially simple and looked like this:

DirectShowSource("C:\Video.mkv",fps=23.976,convert fps=true)
#convertfps to prevent audio synch issues if source is vfr
LanczosResize(720,480)

For purposes of testing (first 3000 frames, the encoder was set for auto GOP 14 max, DC 10, 16:9 aspect, min bitrate 3000 and max bitrate 6000). The encode finished successfully, and here is its Media Info file:

General
Complete name : C:\Test1.m2v
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
File size : 44.0 MiB
Duration : 2mn 5s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 2 953 Kbps

Video
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Format settings, GOP : Variable
Duration : 2mn 5s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 2 953 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 6 000 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.356
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:00
Stream size : 44.0 MiB (100%)

================================================== ============================
Media Info file says the output is still NTSC, but DVD Styler says it is PAL.

I had previously tried a different approach, demuxing the raw video to AVC and then running it through DGAVCIndex to produce a .dga project. File info from the indexing confirmed fps was 23.976 but indicated Colorimetry standard 709 so I ran a second AVS script including the ColorMatrix filter to change from 709 to 601 standard, still producing a PAL-identified file to DVD Styler. Also added ConvertToYUY2() to the script for a final test, and still identified by DVD Styler as PAL.

I'm relatively new to using DVD Styler (mildly experienced with Avisynth / HcEnc usage) and I am confused as to why it says the source is PAL. Do I need different format settings in HcEnc (Profile/GOP/BVOP/Matrix), or a modification of the AVS script, to get the video to true NTSC-compliance? Is MediaInfo mis-identifying the file as NTSC? Or is pulldown (23.976 > 29.970) absolutely necessary for DVD Styler to skip re-encoding?

[videobruger]

I've no idea of how DVDStyler identify a source as either PAL/NTSC or one that needs re-encoding.

But for what it's worth: I made a NSTC DVD today using DVDStyler. My MO:

- Rip BR to 1280x544 (2.35:1 movie) h.264/DTS MKV.
- Re-encode to MPEG2 using MediaCoder
- Author in DVDStyler

By now I've delete my intermediate files but I made a re-encode of the first two minutes with MediaCoder. Using NTSC as project settings in DVDStyler it'll accept this file as NTSC and use "Copy" mode for video and audio. Using PAL as project setting DVDStyler will identify this as NTSC and asks if I want to change the project settings to NTSC.

Have you tried just to use NTSC project settings and merely set "Copy" mode for video and see what happens?

Here is the MediaInfo for my MPEG2 clip:

General
Unique ID : 46553066959971128021287181158345487341 (0x2305CB68AF8B08142F1F66C33F9233ED)
Complete name : C:\MediaCoderOut\Hunt_BackupA.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 66.8 MiB
Duration : 2mn 0s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 4 647 Kbps
Movie name : MediaCoder
Writing application : Lavf54.59.106
Writing library : Lavf54.59.106

Video
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Codec ID : V_MPEG2
Codec ID/Info : MPEG 1 or 2 Video
Duration : 2mn 0s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 4 363 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 24.000 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.526
Stream size : 62.7 MiB (94%)
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 2mn 0s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : 1mn 5s
Stream size : 2.76 MiB (4%)
Default : Yes
Forced : No

[Blinkerzon]

Tried your suggestion with resetting the default but DVD Styler continues to disable the "Copy" option. Probably because of the resolution not being PAL-compliant.

[hech54]

Tried your suggestion with resetting the default but DVD Styler continues to disable the "Copy" option. Probably because of the resolution not being PAL-compliant.


[Attachment 16860 - Click to enlarge]

Just buy the DVD and stop messing around with downloaded warez crap.