Frame # problems, Chapter splitting

[WarDekar]

I'm converting a DVD I have (Rounders) into SVCD to burn again. I'm at the encoding stage now. Anyway, I want to make it with chapters, and also split it at a chapter line from the DVD. So what I did was I got the chapter listing using SmartRipper. The problem is, though, the frames listed in the .d2v file I use in TMPGEnc show 216826 frames while the vts_01_INFO.txt file from SmartRipper shows 173302 frames, and it also says the 29th chapter starts at the 173301 frame when I know it's longer than that. If anyone knows another way to get the chapter listings, please let me know!

[digvid]

I use ChapterXtractor, downloadable from http://www.flexion.org. This program loads a ripped .ifo file and tells you the frame locations of each chapter. When I use it, I set the frame rate (a combo box near the bottom of the screen) to 24. This causes ChapterXtractor to reevaluate the frame numbers.

Here is what I do when I want to back up a DVD to SVCD:

0) Use SmartRipper to extract all vob files (one file per chapter)
1) Load all vob files in DVD2AVI and save the project (w/out FORCED FILM)
2) Load the .d2v file in TMPGEnc, set for NTSC film, run IVTC (auto), and save the project
3) Run VFAPI converter on the .tpr file to create an .avi file
4) Load the .avi file in CinemaCraft Encoder 2.5
5) I decide how many discs I want in my set, and which chapters will go on each disc (I never split a chapter between two discs)
6) In CCE, set a chapter point at each of the frame numbers you got from ChapterXtractor
7) Using CCE's source range feature, create X different encoding sessions within one project (where X equals the number of discs). This gives you frame-accurate splitting exactly at a chapter point.
Encode just the video with CCE
9) Using DVD2AVI, I load the .vob's for disc1, save the audio as a .wav file, then repeat for each disc
10) Encode the audio for each disc using TMPGEnc
11) Run pulldown.exe on the video files if it was 23.976 fps
12) Multiplex the audio and video using bbMpeg
13) Author
14) Burn!

Hope this helps.

- digvid

[WarDekar]

Just out of curiosity, why do you go through so much? Why don't you juse load the .d2v file in TMPGEnc, convert to MPEG, then split it at the location you want? Then you can just use TSCV to create the chapters and have it in bin/cue format for burning. Is there anything wrong with the way I just listed?

[digvid]

Nothing wrong at all! I've done it that way before too, because it is easier. When I really want a polished looking backup though, I use CCE because:

1) 3-pass in CCE is faster than 2-pass in TMPGEnc, and looks better on my Philips DVD-711 (in my opinion)
2) If I use the "source range" option of TMPGEnc to encode only a portion of a video, the resulting mpeg sometimes is corrupted (i.e., it plays in MediaPlayer with green blocks at the beginning). If I encode the whole thing then split it with TMPGEnc, I can't get frame-accurate splits. Also, I would have to demux and remux with bbMpeg anyway because TMPGEnc has bugs in the way it muxes mpeg files for SVCD
3) Chapter points in CCE are much better because you can set up selective closed GOP I-frames, which means you can jump to the EXACT point at which you set the chapter. If you want this in TMPGEnc, you have to set all GOP's to closed, which degrades the quality of the video. Without the closed GOP's in TMPGEnc, I have found that my chapter points are sometimes off by as much as three seconds or so.

If you are a perfectionist like me, and enjoy experimenting to get the "perfect" backup, then my method is great. If you simply want a decent backup copy without spending a lot of time, your method is probably the best!

- digvid