Help needed - Sync problems after combining MPEG2s

[bluevine]

Because of OS limitations my AVI files get chopped into 2 Gig pieces. I then convert each one separately to MPEG2. I'm working with 3 files right now which together form one 30 minute short film. Each MPEG2 plays fine separately. I then go into the "Merge and Cut" tab under MPEG Tools in TMPGEnc to combine the files. Everything appears to sucessfully complete but when I go into Windows Media Player to look at the final product, the parts of the final file representing the second and third MPEG2 files are seriously out-of-sync between the audio and video. That part of the movie represented by the first MPEG2 file is fine.
What can I do to correct this????
Any help is appreciated.

[Tommyknocker]

Check to make sure the audio files are just as long as the video files. You can stretch them using Gold Wave's Time Warp function. Once the audio matches the video files, you can add merge them in Gold Wave as well. Save the as a .wav file

Then once you have merged the video files, you can encode them using them as input video, and your newly created .wav audio file as input audio.

[KingJohn]

Because of OS limitations my AVI files get chopped into 2 Gig pieces. I then convert each one separately to MPEG2. I'm working with 3 files right now which together form one 30 minute short film. Each MPEG2 plays fine separately. I then go into the "Merge and Cut" tab under MPEG Tools in TMPGEnc to combine the files. Everything appears to sucessfully complete but when I go into Windows Media Player to look at the final product, the parts of the final file representing the second and third MPEG2 files are seriously out-of-sync between the audio and video. That part of the movie represented by the first MPEG2 file is fine.
What can I do to correct this????
Any help is appreciated.

What you need to do is cut each mpeg at the start and end

1 load first, use Merge&cut as usual, but select the source range. Hit play, but stop immediately and hit that as the start, move almost to the end and click end. TMPGEnc will jump to the correct part before it marks. Save this out

Do the same with the others, then join them all.

When people make copies they always have the second part repeating the last of the first half to allow for over lap, cutting those "AVI" at keyframes and converting later will produce no join problems.

If you are trying to precisely cut and join, then you wont do this in TMPGEnc. Even the AVI would need a keyframe at every frame. Something like premier would be better.

[bluevine]

King John - you seem to be everywhere on this board and I appreciate it.

One clarification question - I think you are recommending that the "Start" point on my second and third MPEG2 files be ever so slightly greater than the actual start point before doing the join. I'm guessing this would be about 1 second or so. I can't try this until I get home tonight but will this not cause its own problems in the form of a skip or a gap?

[KingJohn]

What I am saying is to make sure the start and ends are cur=t cleanly, any over runs of audio/video might cause the problem. When using TMPGEnc to cuts all the others, it will jump to the nearest keyframe. For example select say 60 Minuets and it might jump to 59:59.03 as a clean point. Its something I found on some files that were not cut with TMPGEnc

As for being all over the place your talking to a computer that scans the threads and answers them, no human involved

[bluevine]

Well KingJohn, I tried what you outlined (and numerous variations with different start and end times) and unfortunately I can't get it to work. The audio on the second MPEG2 files consistently jumps in too early and lands on top of the last piece of video on the first file causing sync problems from there on out.
So I then tried taking the combined file and stripping out the audio using the "simple de-multiplex" tab on MPEG tools in TMPGEnc. This is so I could later overlay a clean audio track. However, the resultant MP2 audio file drops the last second or so from the source MPEG2. I've tried this with numerous times on different files with no luck.
So am I hosed or what?!? Are there better joining programs than TMPGEnc?
Perhaps I just need to upgrade to Win 2000 or XP which would presumably eliminate this whole issue because I won't be limited to 2 Gig File sizes although I thought I saw where my capture software (Pinnacle Studio 7) doesn't work well with XP or 2000.

[Tommyknocker]

You can note exactly where in the original video you started your second video file. Load the original file into Gold Wave, select Edit-->Mark-->Set. When the requester appears, enter the time you noted in the Start box. Leave the End box with the end time of your video. This highlights the portion of the video's audio you need.

Select Copy. Then select New. When the new sample appears, MIX it with the audio you copied. Save this audio as a .wav file. Go to TMPGEnc, load your second video part as input video, the .wav file as input audio. The result should be a good video of your second file.

[KingJohn]

Well KingJohn, I tried what you outlined (and numerous variations with different start and end times) and unfortunately I can't get it to work. The audio on the second MPEG2 files consistently jumps in too early and lands on top of the last piece of video on the first file causing sync problems from there on out.
So I then tried taking the combined file and stripping out the audio using the "simple de-multiplex" tab on MPEG tools in TMPGEnc. This is so I could later overlay a clean audio track. However, the resultant MP2 audio file drops the last second or so from the source MPEG2. I've tried this with numerous times on different files with no luck.
So am I hosed or what?!? Are there better joining programs than TMPGEnc?
Perhaps I just need to upgrade to Win 2000 or XP which would presumably eliminate this whole issue because I won't be limited to 2 Gig File sizes although I thought I saw where my capture software (Pinnacle Studio 7) doesn't work well with XP or 2000.

I don't see your details, so can't tell what OS/CPU you have. But you should not have any problems with that join, I do it all the time.

However, you can add them to your authoring program as they are, the DVD player will play them one after another.

Just one thing, what did you select from the drop down list ? MPEG 2 SVCD (VBR) ??

[drewson99]

out of curiosity - the three mpeg2 files you want to join, did you create them with tmpgenc?

Andy

[bluevine]

King John - I'll play with it some more. My OS is WinME. When I try to burn the 3 files separately using VCDEasy, it always pauses for a second between tracks on playback and I can't figure a way around this either even though I believe I have it set to a zero second pause setting. I know TommyKnocker had suggested I use Gold Wave but I'm not ready to do that just yet. I am pretty experienced CoolEditPro user so I'll have to look to see if there is MPEG2 support there to follow his suggestions before shelling out the money for Gold Wave.
When I was trying to do the join process in TMPGEnc, I did have it set to MPEG2 (VBR)

Drewson99 - I did create the MPEG2 files with TMPGEnc.

[KingJohn]

Are you using TMPGEnc Plus 2.57 ?, perhaps its time to use an older one. What mpeg 2 codec are you using with TMPGEnc ? Is it provided by Nimo for the free version, or Power DVD 4, for the Plus version ?

[bluevine]

I am using 2.57. I embarassed to say I don't know what codec I'm using. Where do I look and where do I download them. sorry for such bush-league questions

[therick]

Hey, why didn't anyone to tell bluevine to just join the AVIs?

I realize that this might not be an option anymore if you have encoded-you might have already done away with the AVIs, I don't know. In my experience it is much easier to cut and join an AVI than it is to cut and join MPEGs...I think this is what you are learning now, also.

[KingJohn]

I am using 2.57. I embarassed to say I don't know what codec I'm using. Where do I look and where do I download them. sorry for such bush-league questions

OK, go and find Power DVD 4, and install it

[bluevine]

therick - I wish I could join the AVI's but I've got that OS restriction (I'm running Win ME) that limits me to 2 Gig File sizes. I suppose if I upgraded to Win 2000 or XP this would conceivably go away.

KingJohn - where do I find Power DVD 4?

Thanks in advance

[therick]

No, no, no, join them in VirtualDub or AVISynth...does Fat32 keep you from joining them that way? I don't think it does, but I have never done any captures under fat32, so I wouldn't really know. Look at the edit guides on this site.

[bluevine]

Therick - I don't think it will work but hell, I'll try anything at this point.

[therick]

File->append AVI segment, then pick your next one. I have used this many times and I think it should work. If not I know for a fact that you can do it in AVISynth, but try it in VDub first. Good luck

[KingJohn]

Therick - I don't think it will work but hell, I'll try anything at this point.

It is always better to join the AVI's, However since you had already converted them, I did not think you wanted to waste more time having to convert them all over.

[therick]

here, here- I made my suggestion just in CASE he hadn't gotten rid of his AVIs

[spooky]

I have a simular problem as bluevine
however my problem is as follows:
I have recorded Stargate SG1 using Windvr 2.0 into VCD ( well it split it into two files ( I started the recording earlier so the file went over 600MB )) then I imported the first one into TMPGenc, I have cut the commercials out & saved it into MPEG so I can burn it on a CD, but before I burned it I played it & I noticed that my audio is off BAD.
The audio was fine on the recording
Any ideas?