Question about Creating MPEG2 Files

[dmbware41]

I have captured my footage on a SONY MINI CAM in MovieMaker As DV-AVI Format 740 x 740. I then edited and overlayed my audio in Pinnacle Studio 8. I export as mpeg2 in 480x 480 Format. The final mpeg2 format looks pretty good but looses some quality as I expand the screen size. When Burned to svcd disk I use TMPEG to change the headers to VCD. The result on my Panasonic RV31 DVD player is average. The edges of detail are blurred and the colors are not as bright as the original. My question are as follows:

Is this best way to acheive SVCD?
When I play back and get the above problems is that becasue of my dvd player or becuase I changed the headers by multi-plexing?
Any suggestion on making this video better in quality while keeping it in SVCD Format.

Thank You

[bunyip]

Your approach is valid enough (although some purists may disagree).

The flaw is likely to be that you use Pinnacle to do the MPEG2 encoding. There is always much discussion on this site about what is the best encoder (the current candidates being TMPGenc, CCE & MainConcept). I am not familiar with which encoder engine Pinnacle 8 uses but experience has shown that these imbedded engines do not produce the best results.

Just a word on SVCD generally though - it will never be as good as the original because it uses high compression and is constrained to low bitrates (the max being 2520kbps I believe). the challenge is to tweak the settings to get the highest possible quality to filesize ratio. You will need to work in DVD format with its high bitrates to get near original quality.

As for colors, when you start compressing an image, colors will always suffer usually they start to wash-out, but generally you can compensate by applying filters to boost saturation, hue etc. when encoding.

All that said, I would suggest, if you have the disk space that you save the edited file in AVI format using a low compression codec so as to retain as much quality as you can and then encode it separately using one of the better MPEG2 encoders. You already have TMPGenc - try that.

[dmbware41]

Thank You for the information, however does TMPEG allow for overlaying a seperate audio track? And if so does it have editing capabilties do synch the two together?

[bunyip]

No, TMPGEnc doesn't do this but that doesn't matter.

You would only use TMPGEnc to create the final MPG file after you have done all the editing in Pinnacle, including the audio.

In other words, add the overlaid audio in Pinnacle and any other editing you need on the video and audio and save the edited file as an AVI.
This AVI will include the final video & audio streams as you have edited and prepared them. (Use Pinnacle to do all the work).

TMPGEnc will simply encode the edited audio stream to MP2 format and the video stream to MPEG format and then multiplex (join) both into the final MPG file.

You haven't mentioned how you burn the CD - you must also make sure that the burning process doesn't try to re-encode the MPG file and undo the good work.

[dmbware41]

When I burn I use nero, and I choose not to re-encode. However For b urning my avi's in tmpeg, is it ok to multiplex the headers inorder to play them in my dvd player./Will this change the quality of the mpeg2 file.

Also when I create the mpeg2 file in tmpeg will it split the audio and video into two seperate files? Will I then have to join the two in a another process?
Thanks again for everyones help

[bunyip]

As long as you use the appropriate template in TMPGEnc you won't need to worry about headers, it handles that for you.

By selecting a VCD, SVCD or DVD template TMPGEnc will create a final compliant MPG file that you can burn without any further adjustments, unless you want to add chapters and menus, there are guides on this site that will help you with this step if you wish to do this.

[dmbware41]

One last question what compression method do I choose for exporting AVI In pinnacle?

[bunyip]

That would depend on how much disk space you have.

My recommendation is to use HUFFYUV compression - it is 'lossless' so it doesn't degrade the original video and gets good compression - however you still need a fair amount of disk space. (if you save the AVI file as 480x480 you will get about 3 minutes per 1gb). The HUFFYUV codec is available in the tools section on the left.

To save disk space you can choose to use something like DIVX or MS MPEG4 and set a very high bit rate - these are 'lossy' compressions so you will start to lose the original quality, however you can still get good final results.

The best thing to do is do samples using these options and compare the final MPG quality, this way you can work out the best procedure for your system limitations, and your preferred quality.

You can of course, process your video in parts and join the MPG files at the end of the process (TMPGEnc can also do this), but this will require a bit more effort.

[dmbware41]

I forgot to ask you? what about audio?

[bunyip]

Leave audio uncompressed if you can (PCM 48000 or 44100) - let TMPGEnc convert it to MP2 as part of the encoding process.

[dmbware41]

And one and final question!! Any special settings on tmpeg in order to convert tp mpeg2

[dmbware41]

ok I followed your directions exacly and the video quality is worse then the mpeg2 being created in Pinnacle. The VHS format has better quality then svcd. Any suggestions?


The quality on the mpeg2 plaed on the coomputer looks great. I wonder if its the pburn process that is making it look horrible

[bunyip]

Are you certain the the CD burner is not re-rendering, if it is then the quality will degrade - you should be able to tell by the time it takes to burn. And ofcourse make sure that you are buring in the correct format - SVCD.

You can start to tweak the TMPGEnc settings like increasing bit rate, doing Variable Bit Rate - Multiple Passes and so on to increase quality - the guides on this site have lots of suggestions.

If you feel adventurous, after you have ceated the MPEG2 file from TMPGEnc you can use a product like VCDEasy to create a CD image and just burn the image - this way you are always certain that the MPEG2 file is left unchanged. Using this method also lets you add menus and chapters. This is the method I use and the results are always good. (Again, there are guides that will tell you how to do this).

[dmbware41]

I just played the disk on another DVD and the picture is fine. So it looks like it is a problem with my DVD player. However there is audio problems on the mpeg2. There are alot of popping noises and areas where there is no sound. I used the 44.1 option on Pinnacle and that did not solve the problem. What is this and how do I fix it.