Converting Pinnacle DV Avi to Mpeg1 Using TMPGEnc

[Smie]

I've been trying to convert a dv avi, recorded with the pinnacle DV500+ to mpeg1 using TMPGEnc. The problem is, the video comes out jerky. Like the interlace setting wasn't correct. However, I've tried every setting recarding interlacing, and it just doens't come out right.

What could be the problem here?

[tlammers]

What are your settings? When encoding to VCD interlacing should not be a problem. In case you're using both fields (>240/288 height) take a look at the field order.
Is the mpeg file jerky or the resulting (x)VCD? In the latter case try reducing the (max.) bitrate.

Cheers,
Ton

[Smie]

I encoded at 720x576.
I tried non-interlace, bottom field first, top field first. All of them gave the same result.

I've tried mpeg1 at 2400 kbps and mpeg2 4000 kbps.

[Smie]

I've just tried to capture DV in Premiere (720x576), and if I export to DV again, the image is right, but if I export to another format, it gets jerky....

[Smie]

Still nobody who has an opinion on this?

[tlammers]

Have you tried frameserving from Premiere to TMPGenc?

Cheers,

Ton

[bachkhoa]

I captured my home video using StudioDV to avi, then converted to 'DV Compess' (avi) using StudioDV. I created SVCD from these files using TMPGEnc v5.2 without any problems. Here's my setting:
1. Video Size: 480x480
2. Video Bitrate: 2400 (Could be higher 2600-(128+128))
3. Audio: 128x128 (356)

The only problem that I've noticed is the fast moving scene/object (water fall) distorted so bad. I have to use VCDImage GUI to build a bin/cue file, then burn it with CDRWin. (I burned the normal clips with Nero 5.5.3.0 SVCD option).

Hope this help,

// bachkhoa

[Smie]

tlammers, what do you mean by frame serving?

I don't have acces to studiodv software, but I don't think that is the only way to fix it.

[tlammers]

Frameserving is where you get yourself the Avisynth plugin for premiere.
This lets you export your timeline to a .avs - file which is really a place holder. Open the .avs file from TMPGenc and get your frames directly from Premiere without using an intermediate .avi.
You can find all the info and downloads on this site or take this to e-mail if you wish.

Cheers,
Ton

[Smie]

Just tried it......no change.....

I'm really tide up here.......

[tlammers]

Can you post a small sample on your site for analysis?


Ton

[Smie]

Here it is: http://home.hccnet.nl/jbj.smeets/example.mpg

It's a mpeg2 file, 720x576. Exported out of premiere with Pinnacle mp2 plugin. All the other exporting poosibilities (including tmpgenc via frameserving) come out the same, with exception of pinnacle avi dv.

Don't pay attention to the movie itself...it's my younger brothers (they needed to make a commercial for a course at school).....

[jbarr]

Smie,

I have been very disappointed with Pinncale Studio 7's "Make Movie" function for VCD MPEG1 files. They always came out jerky and blocky. I doubt it's my machine (Pentium 4 1.6Ghz, 256MB RAM, Windows XP).

I simply use TMPGEnc to convert to VCD MPEG1 format using the captured .AVI file as the source. If I do any editing within Studio 7, (selecting specific scenes, adding transitions, etc.) I do a "Make Movie" but I save it as an .AVI file. Then, I use TMPGEnc to convert to MPEG1 format.

It's an extra step, and it takes up a huge amount of disk space, but the results are very consistent looks great! You also have a LOT more flexibility in tweaking the settings in TMPGEnc.

-Jim

[aboutNothing]

I've also had trouble with Studio 7 - Make Movie resulting in blocky movies. I've used TMPGenc and encoded an AVI to mpg1. The result was vastly superior than Studio -> mpeg2 SVCD.

[Smie]

Jim: like I said before: I already tried that, but that didn't work either. I really don't know what's going wrong.

[Faceman101]

DV to MPG2 can be tricky. Since you are using PAL I'm not how much this will help.

object TMPEGConfigFile
MPEG.Text = ''
MPEG.WizardCategoryName = ''
MPEG.WizardSubFormatName = ''
MPEG.WizardCaption = ''
MPEG.WizardDescription = ''
MPEG.OutputStreamType = MPEG_OutputStreamType_System_VideoAudio
MPEG.OutputStreamType_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.StreamType = MPEGVideoEncoder_StreamType_MPEG2
MPEG.Video.StreamType_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.Width = 720
MPEG.Video.Width_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.Height = 480
MPEG.Video.Height_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.YUVFormat = 1
MPEG.Video.YUVFormat_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.DC_prec = 2
MPEG.Video.DC_prec_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.VideoEncodeMode = MPEGVideoEncoder_VideoEncodeMode_Interlace
MPEG.Video.VideoEncodeMode_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.FrameRate = 4
MPEG.Video.FrameRate_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.AspectRatio = 2
MPEG.Video.AspectRatio_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.RateControlMode = MPEGVideoEncoder_RateControlMode_CBR
MPEG.Video.RateControlMode_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.MaxBitRate = 0
MPEG.Video.MaxBitRate_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.MinBitRate = 0
MPEG.Video.MinBitRate_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.CBR_BitRate = 6000000
MPEG.Video.VBR_MultipassVBRAlgorithm = MPEGVideoEncoder_MultipassVBRAlgorithm_2PASS
MPEG.Video.VBR_AvgBitRate = 7000000
MPEG.Video.VBR_MaxBitRate = 8000000
MPEG.Video.VBR_MinBitRate = 2000000
MPEG.Video.VBR_MaxPassCount = 0
MPEG.Video.VBR_Quality_P = 0
MPEG.Video.VBR_Quality_B = 20
MPEG.Video.VBR_EnablePadding = False
MPEG.Video.MVBR_MaxBitRate = 8000000
MPEG.Video.MVBR_MinBitRate = 2000000
MPEG.Video.MVBR_Quality_P = 0
MPEG.Video.MVBR_Quality_B = 20
MPEG.Video.MVBR_EnablePadding = False
MPEG.Video.AVBR_Quality = 50
MPEG.Video.AVBR_MaxBitRate = 8000000
MPEG.Video.AVBR_MinBitRate = 2000000
MPEG.Video.AVBR_EnablePadding = False
MPEG.Video.CQ_Quality = 65
MPEG.Video.CQ_Quality_P = 0
MPEG.Video.CQ_Quality_B = 20
MPEG.Video.CQ_MaxBitRate = 8000000
MPEG.Video.CQ_MinBitRate = 2000000
MPEG.Video.CQ_EnablePadding = False
MPEG.Video.VBVBufferSize = 229376
MPEG.Video.VBVBufferSize_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.GOP_SeqHeaderInterval = 1
MPEG.Video.GOP_SeqHeaderInterval_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.GOP_I_FrameCount = 1
MPEG.Video.GOP_I_FrameCount_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.GOP_P_FrameCount = 5
MPEG.Video.GOP_P_FrameCount_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.GOP_B_FrameCount = 2
MPEG.Video.GOP_B_FrameCount_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.GOP_BitStreamForEdit = False
MPEG.Video.GOP_BitStreamForEdit_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.GOP_MaxFrameCount = 18
MPEG.Video.GOP_MaxFrameCount_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.QuantizeMatrix_Intra_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.QuantizeMatrix_NonIntra_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.Profile = 4
MPEG.Video.Profile_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.Level = 8
MPEG.Video.Level_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.VideoFormat = 2
MPEG.Video.VideoFormat_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Video.DisplayWidth = 0
MPEG.Video.DisplayWidth_ReadOnly = True
MPEG.Video.DisplayHeight = 0
MPEG.Video.DisplayHeight_ReadOnly = True
MPEG.Video.MotionSearchSpeed = MPEGVideoEncoder_MotionSearchSpeed_HighCQ
MPEG.Video.MotionSearch_AlwaysHalfPel = False
MPEG.Video.UseFloatDCT = False
MPEG.Video.QuantizeMode = False
MPEG.Video.QuantizeModeVal_Intra = 35
MPEG.Video.QuantizeModeVal_NonIntra = 35
MPEG.Video.YUVBasicYCbCr = True
MPEG.Video.QuantizeMatrix_Intra = {
081013161A1B1D22101016181B1D222513161A1B1D22222616 161A1B1D222528
161A1B1D202328301A1B1D202328303A1A1B1D22262E38451B 1D23262E384553}
MPEG.Video.QuantizeMatrix_NonIntra = {
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010 10101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010 10101010101010}
MPEG.Audio.StreamType = MPEGAudioEncoder_StreamType_MPEG1_Layer2
MPEG.Audio.StreamType_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Audio.SamplingFrequency = 48000
MPEG.Audio.SamplingFrequency_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Audio.ChannelMode = 0
MPEG.Audio.ChannelMode_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Audio.CantUseMono = False
MPEG.Audio.BitRate = 256000
MPEG.Audio.BitRate_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Audio.CalcCRC = False
MPEG.Audio.CalcCRC_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Audio.OriginalFlag = False
MPEG.Audio.OriginalFlag_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Audio.CopyrightFlag = False
MPEG.Audio.CopyrightFlag_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Audio.PrivateFlag = False
MPEG.Audio.PrivateFlag_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.Audio.EmphasisType = 0
MPEG.Audio.EmphasisType_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.System.StreamType = MPEGSystemEncoder_StreamType_MPEG2_Program
MPEG.System.StreamType_ReadOnly = False
MPEG.System.CommentText = ''
MPEG.System.EnableCommentText = False
end


Save that as a MCF file and load that into TMPGEnc. I use a CBR of 6000kb (I know it's high) and it got rid of the interlace lines 98% of the time. In what I posted Im sure if you change some settings it will work for you. DV is interlaced, so that would be bottom field first.

[tlammers]

Smie,

First impression - haven't got all my tools here at the office - is that it looks like either a field dominance problem after all _or_ you lost frames during capture. Do you capture to the big disk? Does it show DMA enabled? How is it connected? Have you run DVexpert's benchmark on the unit lately? Capture disk nearly full ? Fragmented?

In the mean time
Try exporting mpeg1 at 352*288 (VCD) thru avisynth and see what happens.
If it's a field issue the VCD should be smooth. If it isn't you're probably loosing frames. Otherwise your configuration should not do anything mine doesn't......

Check you later.

Ton

[Smie]

I'm capturing on the 60GB disc. Dma is in mode 5, so it's enabled.
There weren't any frames lost during capture. Benchmarks show 35 MB/sec sustained.

When I export to 352x288 it looks ok. Like it should.

Just burned a DVD (there goes €5.... ) with the bad mpeg2. When I play it on my PS2 and my pc, it seems alright. The strange thing is, that playing it straight from the HD, results in the jerky movie again.....

I've tried several software dvd players.....all result in good playback of the dvd, and bad playback of the hd version.

[tlammers]

Starting to look like the problem is elsewhere in your system, such as WMP and/or your video card drivers. Xp issue, perhaps?
(There's some jerkyness on my office system, but that's nowhere near tuned to video.)

B.T.W. Where do you get DVD-R's that cheap ??

Cheers,

Ton

[Smie]

I'm using Nashua DVD-R's at the moment (they also burn correctly at 2x!!!.....although I'm just using 1x to be sure....I can surf during burning...so...no problem...).

I buy them via www.opussuplies.nl (Bodegraven, Holland)

And I see your from Holland too (why am I still writing in English? haha).

I'm going to check those driver settings.....

[jackhyde]

I don't know if these problems are related but if you go to the Pinnacle site you will find an update. I believe it is 7.13. There was a field reversal problem that caused similar problems in all versions prior. So try it and see.

[Smie]

where did you find it? Cause i can't......

[Rich927]

Pinnacle Studio 7 software, captures type 2 avi files and can only work with type 2 avi files. Most programs capture type 1 avi files and can edit/render both types. Sometimes it's advantagous to convert the type 2 files to type 1 when working with Studio avi files using other editing programs. This link helps explain the differences.

http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/tech/stream/vidcap/dvaviP.asp

I sometimes use Studio 7 and I found out the hard way about the file types. Found good info on this board that helped me figure this all out.

[jackhyde]

Here is the URL for the Pinnacle udate to 7.13.6

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/support/display.asp?ProductID=428&DocTypesID=14