TMPGen

[Bstansbury]

I have the latest TMPGen 2.5.7 (Demo) and each time I've run it I get an error and it stops encoding. Usually about half way through. TWo times it was a Write error, so I scanned the disk, then defragged it and tried again. The third time it stop it was a "Unknown error". Each time it left a 150 MB piece of mpg on the disk, which was playable and excent quality in Media player. Also, when I start TMPGen, it usually says the time to encode is about 20:33:00 but as it runs this number goes up, not down.

I've tried to find the older version but they have all been removed or are locked out by their date code.

Would Flaskmpg or bbmpg be any better, or at least acceptable. Idon't want to spend money on Tmpgen if Ican't even get it to work one time.

Any suggestions.

[csaag]

this is a stab in the dark, but Tmpg is extremely memory intensive.
Do you have 1 or 2 sticks of ram? I've read posts before suggesting only using 1 stick (try www.doom9.org). Maybe it's a CPU heat issue too.
I had Tmpg crash halfway thru 3 times when using it with DVD2SVCD (cpu temps hit 60C).
Previously I never had a problem when using it by itself, although it never ran as long as it did when using DVD2SVCD. I did get it to run successfully after removing the side panel and cracking open the window.
I'm in the process of getting a new cpu fan.
You can try memory testing apps like Memtest to stress out your memory and eliminate that as a possible source.

[twinegar]

I was having this problem and as it turned out the DVD-Rom wasn't ripping properly and was causing the read error in TMPGEnc. If you have another DVD-Rom or can borrow one try it again.

[Bstansbury]

Thanks for the info. HOwever, I check the system now and it is at 102 f and the over temp is 140 f. I'll run a test later, but I don't think this is the problem. If the processor executed anykind of failure it would most likely hang,... but it was still running fine when Tmpgen shut down. I have 2 memory sticks, 128 MB each. As far as the bad DVD rom, the movie still plays fine in POwer DVD.

Any other suggestions???

[poopyhead]

1) try restarting your comp just right before you're about to encode...i.e. even restart if you've just extracted the .wav file w/ dvd2avi

2) when you're about to encode, ctrl-alt-del and close every proggie except systray....

try encoding again

[Bstansbury]

Thansks for all the help. I'm giving up on using TMPGen,... I don't see how anyone can afford to spend 24 to 36 hours running TMPGen to encode to MPEG. I've switched back to creating SVCD's directly from my ATI AIW Radeon card, and capturing directly into MPEg-2 480x480 at VBR.
This was done in real time with live broadcast. The quality would have even been better if I would have used the S-video input to the AIW card. I didn't have time to run new cables so I just captured the orginal to VHS.

The quality is fine, especially of video I taped directly off of Sat box. I had no luck getting to understand how to use Ulead VideoStudio 5.0 to edit the MPG file,. allthough it did show me where to cut out all the commercials. I did use TMPGen to edit out the commercials and then recaptured the results to a new file. That even took 2 hours.

So I went out and purchase a good DVD+rw encoder and will use that to burn anything I rip,... or do it directly. I just go tired of all the crap and multiple programs that have to be debugged on every OS, hardware config, etc. It's a never ending battle. For my old VHS tapes and my 8mm, I will use direct capture to SVCD via ATI card and encode them to CD-R's, since those are cheap and that is good enough quality for me. As far as DVD's, I'll limit the ones I rip and copy until the cost of media comes down. I have the DVD+RW/+R version,.. and I'm hoping that this will be more compatible with my other DVD players. From what I read on this forum,... it has everything to do with getting the right media, as well as experience in buring. I remember making a few coasters when I first started making music CD's. What the hell,... it's only money and I hear that you can't take it with you....

Thanks again.

[RealaT]

I'm giving up on using TMPGen,... I don't see how anyone can afford to spend 24 to 36 hours running TMPGen to encode to MPEG.

TMPGenc only takes 2-3 hours on my system to do an entire movie.

(sorry, just built a new system and i'm well pleased with the performance I just had to share it!!)

[poopyhead]

Thansks for all the help. I'm giving up on using TMPGen,... I don't see how anyone can afford to spend 24 to 36 hours running TMPGen to encode to MPEG.

errr....what kinda system u got there...it must be really slow then....

i've got a pretty old system (athlon 1.2 ghz) and it only takes me about 8-12 hrs to encode a movie (and that includes using the adaptive de-interlace filter)

other people on the forum have said they can encode in real time with their 2+ ghz machines

[Bstansbury]

"RealaT" I am in the process of building a new system but haven't got all the bits and pieces yet. Right now I have a 750 MHz AMD Duron which I've had for about 2 years. My system is fast enough to capture without dropping a lot of frames. I did 2 hours off VHS tape into direct SVCD capture format. ATI never really shows how many frames were dropped, ... at the first dropped frames it post <1%,.. and never increases. With VirtualDub I've done live TV capture in SVCD format without ever dropping a frame.

I see that "poopyhead" can encode a movie in 8-12 hours, and this is still too much for me. When you add the capture time, the edit time, the re-mux time, and the burn time,... what will it end up. I would be very have to see how you do this in 2 hours. It took TMPGen 1 hr to parse, cut, splice, creat header, and re-encode 1 movie that ended up to be 1.2 GB. Again, my system is not very fast,... but the main reason I'm upgrading is that Santa is getting me a Sony Digital 8mm camera for Xmas, and I want a high performance firewire system to take in the data. My new system will have 1 30GB drive for the system and 2-80 GB ATA100 drives in RAID config for doing video, DVD, etc. I also have 4 SCSI drives I use for backup.

To me,... it very clear,.. that if you are going to really mess around with Digital Video,... you need a fast system. I hope a 2.1GHz system will be fast enough. If not,... I have to upgrade the processor one more time...
At the rate they are dropping prices I won't have to wait long. My new MOB should be good up to 3+ GHz. The problem then will be the noise of the cooling fans. I hope I never have to go to "Water cooled" system.

Thanks again for you input. I do appreciate it. If it wasn't for this site and the many people that contribute to it,... I'd still be burning music coasters.

[thegig]

I too had some problems with TMPGEnc, but was able to resolve them. I found it's one of two things (for those still interested). One is the priority of DirectShow Multimedia, it needs to be at the top. The second was I ended up encoding the video and audio separately. I found that the audio had some issues and ended up encoding with toolame. Just an FYI.

[poopyhead]

Bstansbury,

most people just encode during the night while they're sleeping, so 8 hrs should be fine. you don't sit in front of your computer while it's encoding do you???

so, the actual "in front of computer" time is only for the initial ripping and frameserving...and then after the encode is done, only editing and burning....which is maybe 1-2 hrs max....and even then, you can always do something else while the comp is burning, etc....

if you're gonna have a 2+ ghz system, it should take you like maybe 3-4 hrs max to encode most movies