Problem converting .avi to .mpeg

[Melody]

I'm trying to convert my first .avi film & not having much luck. The .avi I'm trying to work on has the following properties:

Media length: 67 min 6.693 sec
Audio format: MPEG Layer-3,189 kBit/s, 48000 Hz, Stereo
Video format: 640 x 352, 96544 Frames, 23.976 Frames/Sec,
176 KB/Sec, Unknown Format
Software: Nandub v1.0rc2


My burner is Nero 5.5.9.0 which can do the encoding for you but burns it to cd straight afterwards - I tried using that & after 3.5 hours ended up with a film that plays upside down.

I'm now trying TMPGEnc 2.57. It wouldn't let me change any of the MPEG Setting > Video so I've had to go along with what I presume is the default. It shows the following when I click on Setting:

Video: MPEG-1 Video
Size: 352 x 288 pixels
Aspect ratio: 4:3 625 line (PAL)
Frame rate: 25 fps
Rate control: Constant bitrate (CBR)
Bitrate: 1150

When I previewed the mpg being created, it was the right way up but the aspect ratio looked off (everyone's elongated). When I played the finished mpg, there was no audio & the final file size was nearly twice the original one.

Please can someone advise me on how to correct all of these issues. I am reading up on it, but I think I'm making the problem worse by reading more than I understand. As I said before, this is the first conversion I've tried, so if you need more info please let me know. Many thanks.

[Tommyknocker]

You change the settings one of two ways I know of. The first, use the Load button near the bottom of the screen to select the template that is needed according to your final output requires.

The second, select Load-->Extra-->unlock.vcf. This unlocks the settings in the Settings window, and should be used by the more advanced user.

[theDruid]

Melody - I'm not an expert, but can say a couple of things:

1. What format are you trying to get to? If TMPGEnc has converted your .avi to PAL (25fps) MPEG1, then you're going for a PAL VCD format. Is this what you want? (I think you should be able to fit the whole of your 67min video onto one CD with this format).

2. Almost everyone here will tell you never to use Nero to encode video. As someone here said the other day 'Nero is a great burning program, but a crappy video encoder'. TMPGEnc or VirtualDub etc.. is the right way to go.

3. The file size is likely to get bigger when you try and encode to an MPEG suitable for (S)VCD. I presume that the .avi was downloaded off the net, and the filesize will be smaller because of things like variable bitrate, different encoding (DivX? MPEG4) and the lower framerate. Speaking of which - does the .avi play okay in something like Windows Media Player? I ask because of the 'Unknown Format' you've put for Video. You may need an extra codec for it to be played (& therefore encoded) properly. The Nimo Codec pack comes highly recommended by a lot of people on this site if you do need a new codec (see Tools).

4. To convert from an .avi to a (S)VCD MPEG, I think most people would probably recommend using VirtualDub to frameserve into TMPGEnc. This is more straightforwards than it sounds - see the various guides on this site. The only problem can be setting up VitrualDub to talk to TMPGEnc in the first place - but again there's help in the guides here for that (or search on these forums if you have problems).

6. Make use of the templates in TMPGEnc (especially if you're new to this) - you didn't mention them, but newer versions start-up with the project wizard. This makes it very easy to use 'default' settings to end up with a good-quality compliant MPEG file. Aim to get a file that Nero will accept straight away (ie. it will not say there is a problem with the stream or audio, do you want Nero to re-encode).

7. VirtualDub and TMPGEnc can handle audio, but that's not really what they specialise in. Your audio is not in the right format for VCD as it is. It is currently mp3, 189kBit/s and 48khz stereo. If you want normal VCD I think this has to be mp2, 224kBit/s, 44.1khz stereo (it will be 16-bit before and after I think, but it does need to be 16-bit at the end). TMPGEnc's templates/wizard ought to sort this for you - but for the best quality you'll want to re-encode the audio independently & re-multimplex it back into the video (with TMPGEnc) later. Tools and guides for doing this are on this site.

Sorry if that all sounds a bit daunting! The simple message is:

Make sure you've got the right codecs for the encoding of the .avi file. Then work out how to use VirtualDub to frameserve into TMPGEnc using the right TMPGEnc template for the format you want to end up with.

Good luck with it! - let us know how you get on.


cheers,

mcdruid


PS. well done on being detailed in your description - if you have problems, be detailed again describing what's going on & people can help you out more easily!

[Melody]

Many many thanks, theDruid, for all the advice you've provided! I couldn't get TMPGEnc to convert the avi's properly, but it really was down to me not understanding the program enough. Since your reply I've been getting more familiar with it. Now I'm able to join 2-part avi's, convert the joined file to an mpg, split it into more appropriately-sized mpgs, & then successfully burn VCDs from those mpgs with Nero.

One thing I did notice was that if I use TMPGEnc to cut an mpg into 2 parts, the 1st section usually forms properly, but the remaining section sometimes comes back with an error message eg saying it's an illegal mpg. However, if I choose the setting for a non-compliant VCD for the remaining section, TMPGEnc will then do it properly. I don't know if that's the right way to get round the problem, I just know it's worked for me, and I've not had any problems with Nero making the mpg compliant when I'm going to burn it.

There's still a lot for me to learn with VirtualDub, especially as I can't always get my head around the terminology, but it's slowly but surely sinking in. Thanks again.

[Melody]

You change the settings one of two ways I know of. The first, use the Load button near the bottom of the screen to select the template that is needed according to your final output requires.

The second, select Load-->Extra-->unlock.vcf. This unlocks the settings in the Settings window, and should be used by the more advanced user.

Thanks, Tommyknocker, I'll give that a try if I need to access the settings in future.