ligos encoder (3.5 demo) won't convert DV avi

[Dragonsf]

I wanted to give the Ligos encoder a try, but it doesn't want to convert my captured avi (DV format dvsd).ULEAD has no problems (and VirtualDub and Tmpgenc too) with this avi.And yes, the codec is registered.Any idea what's going wrong?

[Lamont Cranston]

The Ligos LSX35 encoder can't encode avi DV Type 1. You have to transcode the dv type 1 to dv type 2 using a product like Ulead's VideoStudio 5, DVD MovieFactory... Then go to www.mainconcept.com and download thier demo DV codec and install it on your system. You won't get the demo watermark because you will not be using it for compression. Now the Ligos encoder will encode you type 2 video.

[Dragonsf]

thanx for the answer.Is this because dv type 1 is not VfW?
And why do I need the MC codec?I can make DV type-2 with ULEAD MS, so does Ligos need another DV codec?

[Lamont Cranston]

DV Type 1 and 2 is not VFW. You have to transcode to type 2 to get audio is the correct format for the Ligos encoder. This a lossless transcode if you keep all the parameters the same except the type 2. Ligos needs the mainconcept codec to decompress the type 2. Ligos LSX35 is way out of date. My advice is to use TMPGEnc.

[Dragonsf]

I gave ligos a try and a kick (into the waste basket):
1st of all it complains about SVCD format
then the result is so bad (with highest bitrate set), much worse then ULEADs MF encoder or tmpgenc. At the end the audio is missing and MF doesn't want to author the result.If I were Ligos, I wouldn't give away such a bad demo.
But it does work with the ULEAD DV encoder.I don't like the mainconcept codec, because audio is going bad after 9 min.

[Lamont Cranston]

I don't like the mainconcept codec, because audio is going bad after 9 min.

I am surprised with your comments about the mainconcept codec. It is rated one of the best. I use it and record several hours with no prooblems at all.

[Dragonsf]

The MC codec might be one of the best, but can virtually only be used with mainactor.When I tried to use it with ULEAD Mediastudio (my favourite Editor which I paid much money for), I can only use 9 min. of footage (2GB limit).With longer footage, the audio is completely missing after that time.The MC codec came bundled with my HW Bridge and as the ULEAD DV codec is good enough for me anyway, I didn't want to pay extra money for something I already paid for.
So I think I'll stick with ULEAD MS for capturing and converting, I can do footage as long as I like (lately I used 24GB of footage) withoput problems.The only drawback is the time MS needs for converting, but this can be done overnight.

[Lamont Cranston]

The MC codec might be one of the best, but can virtually only be used with mainactor.When I tried to use it with ULEAD Mediastudio (my favourite Editor which I paid much money for), I can only use 9 min. of footage (2GB limit).With longer footage, the audio is completely missing after that time.The.

Let me ask the obvious question...Are you sure you are running MainConcept's DV Codec V2.04? 9 minutes of video & audio should be around a 4G file not a 2G file. I am running MSP 6.5 under win 2K and no problem capturing any length with Virtual_dub and 4G segments with AVI_IO. I can't use Ulead capture because it does not support WDM-VFW wrapper. No audio ater 9 minutes does not sound like a codec problem. MSP has known problems with avi files over 2G even though it 'supports' open dml. Some files MSP will not read past the 2G length. Also, MSP and DVDMF NTSC file frame rate does no meet NTSC specs.

[Dragonsf]

I'm in a PAL country, so I didn't encounter any NTSC problem (yet).
Lemme see: 3550Kb/s*9*60s=2.3 GB (that's my calculation).I don't know what version the codec is, but it came with MainActor 3.6.
I'm capturing (now) always with the MS DirectShow DVApp.This will let me capture into Type-1 or type-2, with type-2 slightly bigger.
I remeber some time ago, you wrote, that ULEAD was trying to solve the 2/4GB limit issue.Any success so far?
My personal opinion (maybe I'm wrong) is:
Capturing with DVApp, editing with MSP 6.5 and converting to mpeg-2 with MSP6.0 give the best result.
I only use tmpgenc with difficult scenes (lots of motion, water scenes) and virtualdub with logo-away and deinterlace filters (with the 9 Min limit).

[Lamont Cranston]

You are right on the file size 4G ~ 18 minutes. MSP 6.5 is designed to work with DV type 1 video. It has problems with DV type 2. When will Ulead correct the problem? Probably not until the next release. IMHO I believe TMPGEnc produces better results than the Ligos encoders (Ulead & Ligos LSX35) but it a subjective call. The 9 minute limit remains a mystery. Are you running a Pentium? MainConcept's codec require the MMX instruction set. You should find the version number when you select compression in VirtualDub or MSP.

[bertmartin]

I bought the full version of Ligos encoder and was not impressed. The quality is not as good as TMPGEnc and it is very picky about file formats. Just another piece of software gathering dust on the shelf.

[Dragonsf]

You are right on the file size 4G ~ 18 minutes. MSP 6.5 is designed to work with DV type 1 video. It has problems with DV type 2. When will Ulead correct the problem? Probably not until the next release. IMHO I believe TMPGEnc produces better results than the Ligos encoders (Ulead & Ligos LSX35) but it a subjective call. The 9 minute limit remains a mystery. Are you running a Pentium? MainConcept's codec require the MMX instruction set. You should find the version number when you select compression in VirtualDub or MSP.

No, I'm running an AMD Thunderbird (with MMX).My problem with Tmpgenc's encoder is, that is takes more time to convert and the settings are very difficult to set up, because my DVD player is very sensitive to VBR (which IMHO is the main point for tmpgenc).´That's why I use tmpgenc only for footage with strong motions.