VBR encoding problem

[sparky12]

After reading the 'Battle of the CQ/VBR/CBR modes' thread, I decided to try 2-pass vbr on a captured file. The file captured was MPEG-2 480x480, 3000Kbs, about 1 hour long.

I tried to encode a section that was just under a minute (using TMPGenc Plus 2.53). I used the source range to select the section I wanted and encoded but I ended up with no video. When I encoded from the beginning of the file the video was there.

My specs are:
850 Mhz Athalon
394 MB
70 GB drive
Windows XP home edition

btw, I was trying to edcode SVCD, 3000 max, 2520 avg, 1000 min bitrates.

[fantomlord]

After reading the 'Battle of the CQ/VBR/CBR modes' thread, I decided to try 2-pass vbr on a captured file. The file captured was MPEG-2 480x480, 3000Kbs, about 1 hour long.

I tried to encode a section that was just under a minute (using TMPGenc Plus 2.53). I used the source range to select the section I wanted and encoded but I ended up with no video. When I encoded from the beginning of the file the video was there.

My specs are:
850 Mhz Athalon
394 MB
70 GB drive
Windows XP home edition

btw, I was trying to edcode SVCD, 3000 max, 2520 avg, 1000 min bitrates.

why are you capturing to mpeg2 and then reencoding to mpeg2 with the same bitrate? I don't understand why you would do that.
do you have the mpeg2 codec installed?
maybe look at this post:
http://forum.vcdhelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=83112&highlight=mpeg2+reader

[sparky12]

I do have the MPEG2 codec installed. This was the first time I every tried to use 2pass. I also tried to encode to MPEG1 from this file using 2pass and got the same results--no picture. This only happened when I tried to start encoding from a point past the beginning of the file.

[spidey]

Remeber it first runs completely through the whole clip BEFORE encoding. When it is doing that you will not see any preview if that is what's throwing you off.

Are you sure it was completed ?

[fantomlord]

I'm still not sure I understand...if you're capturing to mpeg2, why do you need to encode at all? and if you are planning to encode, wouldn't it be better to cap. to something lossless, and then encode that to mpeg?

[sparky12]

Sorry, been away from computer.

O.K., here is what I normally do.
Capture with ADS Instant DVD USB device using SVCD format (MPEG-2, 480 x 480)
Encode with TMPGenc using the standard VCD template with some tweaks (noise reduction, frame clipping, source range, etc.) so the mpeg will fit on 1 cd.

I have never tried vbr encoding so as a test I choose a 40 second section from near the beginning of the raw captured mpeg to encode. I choose to reencode mpeg-2 to see if I got better results than using mpeg-1.

My problem was when the encode was finished, I had no video, only audio.
I tried again from the beginning of the raw captured file and included the section I originally encoded and it worked fine.

I guess what I am asking is do I have to encode the entire file an then cut it into the parts I want instead of selecting the parts I want before encoding (using the source range option).

BTW, the whole reason I reencode is so my captures (usually 1 hr each) will fit onto a single cd.

Sparky

[Daagar]

I'm not sure about your no-video after encoding problem... I don't see why that should happen. But I did have some suggestions you may want to try if you are wanting to go to VCD for space-saving:

Try Kwag's KVCD templates (namely, the 352x480 template... http://www.kvcd.net). Granted, this will create a XVCD, not a standard VCD, so if that bothers you or doesn't work for you, stop reading now.

But, this template is great for packing lots of video onto a single CD without sacrificing a lot of quality (if any). Depending on what material you are capturing, and how you encode your audio, you may find that you can fit 2 1-hour episodes on a single 80min CDR with those templates.

To give an example, I had a copy of Monster's Inc. in 2-disc SVCD format. Using the above Kwag template, I converted the movie down to a single disc VCD. When played back on a PC, you could see a slight blurring of some objects (particularly fur, like on Sulley), but I also didn't use a sharpening filter. When played back on my TV (27"), I could see _no_ difference between the VCD and the original SVCD (not even the blurring that was present on the PC).

[sparky12]

I'm trying one of Kwag's templates at home right now. When I get around to burning it to disc, I'll let you know how it turns out.