The definative solution to our sync problems...

[KaiCherry]

has pretty much been found.

You are NOT going to like it, but it has been tested (and being tested independant of me, by folks you know and trust, btw) and tested again, with dixv, as well as the arduous svcd process.

I can tell you that yes, Virginia, we *can* rip dvds, with subs if you wish, reverse telecine and all, dual-layer notwithstanding, into perfectly synced Divx and svcd.

Everytime. No tricks. In fact, its sorta been right there the whole time, but as I've stated to Bilestyle more than once (heheh) "It all depends on if you believe QuickTime is cannon. Once you get past that, its easy."

We are still testing this, but basically, I went back to the beginning of the process (literally), researched the hell out of it to figure out why on linux and windows, they have such a high sucess rate (especially Linux and freebsd, since they use what we do) and why our Mac efforts seem to rag the raw root.

Well folks...I think we found it. Give us a couple more days (to possibly get the damn speed up...) but yes folks, I believe the trauma is finally, definatively over. All Mac, no VPC, etc.

You aren't going to like it tho, I guarantee that. Its so simple, but so...politically incorrect its not funny. Well, it is to me, heheh.

But millions of VirtualDub and transcode users can't be wrong...since their stuff works and ours does not

[Tolly]

good news indeed, but im still unsure bout all this, can u provide anymore details yet?

i pretty much fixed all my files w/ sync issues on my mac, the only problem was them being unsynced in my (and friends) pc due to the editing of divx i did in mac qt. so will yer solution solve this problem?

[SCB]

I've created plenty of in sync VCDs and SVCDs ever since bilestyle first posted his guide for ffmpegX. Afropic makes in sync VCDs and SVCDs. RNC's MMT EZ will also create in sync SVCDs, albeit at a non standard size. Hasn't the sync issue been fixed for a while? Why are people still having problems?

[bilestyle]

I've created plenty of in sync VCDs and SVCDs ever since bilestyle first posted his guide for ffmpegX. Afropic makes in sync VCDs and SVCDs. RNC's MMT EZ will also create in sync SVCDs, albeit at a non standard size. Hasn't the sync issue been fixed for a while? Why are people still having problems?

well see... we've been creating end products in sync granted, i haven't had a sync issue yet with the methods employed previous to the work we've recently done... and the PROPER way to solve the sync issue involves the reverse telecine method that many have inquired about, and that is NOT how we have been doing it. We have been using the quicktime mpeg-2 decoder to stabilize the frame rate from 23.976/29.97 completely to 29.97, now while this works, it works at the cost of more time to split, mux, encode portions, join them, which has also lead to a bigger hard drive space requirement (not as bad as doing it the quicktime way, but still not as good as it could be)

We have all *known* there has been a better way, just waiting for us, or even (as it was) just staring us in the face-- in a few days time you will all know

[KaiCherry]

Yes, Bilestyle is right, just as you other guys are.

You *can* do it the hard way. And the hard way still fails ya, because many assumptions are made about dvd streams without really analysing them. The Matrix is a *perfect* example of this...phemomenon

The DVD "tells" us that its 29.97 fps. It just isn't. Its a lie...a goddamned lie

"Ah, so its 3:2 pulldown...we do our lil math tricks and voila!"

Well, as a great many of you found out, that ain't it either

The trick has always been determining if our not a dvd is really NTSC film, NTSC, neither, or some bizarre hybrid.

We now can. We can get the proper sync *in the beginning* of this process. No more Garbage In, Garbage Out

Incidently, The Matrix is actually NTSC Film, with virtually no duped frames (less than .1%. That's right... less than one tenth of 1%) and relies on dvd hardware to do the step-up.

Its little things like this that have caused us all untold grief and wasted hours.

Its over. No more rip/spilt/test/sync/mplex/get mad/QuickTime/get REALLY mad, blah, blah, blah.

And its really, really cool.

-K

[SIMPLE_THINGS]

I've created plenty of in sync VCDs and SVCDs ever since bilestyle first posted his guide for ffmpegX. Afropic makes in sync VCDs and SVCDs. RNC's MMT EZ will also create in sync SVCDs, albeit at a non standard size. Hasn't the sync issue been fixed for a while? Why are people still having problems?

OK SCB...

Take a Divx you have downloaded and try to convert it with ffMpeg to Vcd/Xvcd/Svcd/ecc... 9 times to 10 you'll get a mpeg with sync problems (I means gap of minutes, not only seconds!!!)...

Now, take the same Divx and go to Pc user friend's home. Open TMpegEnc and convert it in the format u want... Absolute no one sync problem!

(ehi, I'm not a troll!)

[KaiCherry]

OK SCB...

Take a Divx you have downloaded and try to convert it with ffMpeg to Vcd/Xvcd/Svcd/ecc... 9 times to 10 you'll get a mpeg with sync problems (I means gap of minutes, not only seconds!!!)...

Now, take the same Divx and go to Pc user friend's home. Open TMpegEnc and convert it in the format u want... Absolute no one sync problem!

(ehi, I'm not a troll!)

No, ST, you aren't a troll. You just have an insight that a lot of well-meaning, very intellegent and dedicated Mac Users and coders don't. And you probably don't even know it

The problem *is* a Mac problem and it hasn't been attacked the right way at all, because those attacking it can't see the forest for the trees :0

But that's ok...it's all gonna be taken care of soon

Now, it would really be super-nice if I could back up a DVD's main title on my Mac, with the menus and everything, with out downsampling, since on over 90% of the dvd's out there the Main feature is only 4GB anyway...



-K

[rockinsage]

kudos in advance guys...

I've been making in-sync xsvcd's with the good ol' quicktime-eats-disk-space method. My hard drive is breathing a sigh of relief already...

[KaiCherry]

We are trying...we are trying

The DivX end (which no one cares about but me, lol) is a done deal. I'm pleased.

The SVCD end, well that works too. The problem with making svcds, no matter how ya cut it, it the fact that it requires a *ton* of space.

Using unix tricks, we've cut that space down, considerably. The remaining issues have to do with tons of error checking, and speed, speed, speed.

There is a method we've tested that reduces space requirements by *several gigs* but I don't think its wise that we use it; it would put an inordinate amount of stress on the optical drive.

What I need from you all are DVD's. I need to know of dvd's that have been especially tricky to convert because they seem to drift or jump out of sync, dual layer, whatever.

I want to really put this process thru the ringer. Everything I have tried has been shockingly successful, and i've learned a lot as well.

This would be *extremely* helpful.

Thanks,

-K

[tazmania]

An NTSC DVD I have had synch problems with is Harry Potter (the first one)

can't get it to synch at all starts not bad and drifts further out as it goes

hope this is of any use to you, can't wait for this one

[rockinsage]

An NTSC DVD that myself and at least one other have had sync problems with is Blade 2...

[pmcd]

has pretty much been found.

[ ]

Well folks...I think we found it. Give us a couple more days (to possibly get the damn speed up...) but yes folks, I believe the trauma is finally, definatively over. All Mac, no VPC, etc.

You aren't going to like it tho, I guarantee that. Its so simple, but so...politically incorrect its not funny. Well, it is to me, heheh.

But millions of VirtualDub and transcode users can't be wrong...since their stuff works and ours does not

This sounds intriguing. I wish I could be more optimistic but I have had such random luck with Mac methods that I just use TMPGEnc in VPC and while it's slow (obviously as it's running on an emulator!) it just works. Every darned time.

So here's hoping that you've found the solution but my VPC doesn't appear to be worried yet

philip

[Green Lantern]

I've had synchronization problems with the following movies:
Minority Report
Heathers
The Others

Hope this helps.

[KaiCherry]

This sounds intriguing. I wish I could be more optimistic but I have had such random luck with Mac methods that I just use TMPGEnc in VPC and while it's slow (obviously as it's running on an emulator!) it just works. Every darned time.

So here's hoping that you've found the solution but my VPC doesn't appear to be worried yet

philip

Your vpc is going into retirement my man

The process is even less complicated (altho Bilestyle will want to add a million options)...

Think more along the lines of the commercial versions of DVD2AVI and DVD2SVCD...put in the disk, leave, come back, done.

The way its supposed to be

We need more DVD tiles to test...keep them coming.

-K

[KaiCherry]

I've had synchronization problems with the following movies:
Minority Report
Heathers
The Others

Hope this helps.

Minority Report is being tested today for SVCD, and possibly divx

-K

[tgpo]

Not Another Teen Movie was the hardest DVD I've ever converted to VCD. Try it. If it works perfectly I will be totally impressed with your method.

[AntnyMD]

I tried three times since switching to Mac to convert ENEMY OF THE STATE with no success. In the main title set, using some bizarre multi-angle thing that can't be detected by 0Sex, the opening sequence has credits in English and French. When you examine the frames by vob cell ID you can see it flashing back and forth between English and French but you can't tell the ripper to ignore the French ones because it's not multi-angle! Leaving the French frames in is one of the contributing causes of sync issues for this movie. Even when you rip out the M2V and AC3 and attempt to reauthor in DVDSP, the re-author is out of sync with flashing French title sequences! I no longer desire to have a copy of this movie, but if your new process can conquer that bastard, I'd do it just for the satisfaction.

[KaiCherry]

dangit y'all! I don't have any of these (Bilestyle is working on Minority Report)...keep'em coming tho..my machine has some idle time since I just conquered a *major* hurdle to distribution...and I know *someone* out there has to have a title I have on hand that has given them grief...

-K

(I hate dynamically linked stuff...ugh)

-K

[jolter]

I know that this is VCD help, but I was just wondering if this method would allow for DVD9-to-DVD-R. Thanks in advance.

[KaiCherry]

not really

or rather not the way its done. When you say "to DVD-R" to you mean with or without then menus?

If you want to just transcode the main feature, ffmpeg handles that.

If you have a movie that the main feature with menus, etc would fit onto a dvd-r, dvdbackup from linux (which I ported a couple of days ago) does this. I'm still testing it on os x, as its kinda quirky

-K

[jolter]

Thanks for the quick response.

Earlier you had said that you could put in a DVD go away and have a copy waiting to burn when you got back. I would love that simple of a procedure.

I do use ffmpegX and have had no sync problems but the quality of transcoded file isn't very good quality (it is very blocky). When I try the Quicktime methods floating around the quality is great, but it has sync problems. Thus I was just hoping that your method could be used for my particular set up. And if I could get the menus too, that would be fantastic.

[OmegaRedd1]

Ok. I'm assuming this is that magical CLI app that everyone's been gaga over lately. I don't mind typing arguments every now and then (as long as I can copy and paste!). You've hinted elsewhere that this thing will go directly from DVD to svcd, divx, etc. However, I hope you can do the same from .vob, .mov, and .dv. I say this because I don't have a dvd drive on my g4 and must extract and copy the vob from another comp.

If you want some hard to sync DVDs, try these in NTSC (all of them are over 4gigs with random, internal framerate changes):
-Akira
-The Princess Bride
-Cube

God speed, my friends.

[KaiCherry]

Ok. I'm assuming this is that magical CLI app that everyone's been gaga over lately. I don't mind typing arguments every now and then (as long as I can copy and paste!). You've hinted elsewhere that this thing will go directly from DVD to svcd, divx, etc. However, I hope you can do the same from .vob, .mov, and .dv. I say this because I don't have a dvd drive on my g4 and must extract and copy the vob from another comp.

If you want some hard to sync DVDs, try these in NTSC (all of them are over 4gigs with random, internal framerate changes):
-Akira
-The Princess Bride
-Cube

God speed, my friends.

it does not work with .mov...and I haven't tried .dv.

It certainly will work with .vobs however.

Princess Bride you say? I'm on it I remember that one from before...it is a b*tch isn't it?

Let's see how we do

-K

[bilestyle]

well for those of us who have tried syncing animated material, we all know its a pain. I synced a simpsons episode today w/o MUCH trouble (the trouble i did have is rectified so its no longer a problem) and im tryin out minority report as we speak-- update when its done (sometime tomorrow) damn movie is like 7.46 gigs so its gonna take a while (especially since the damn super drive rips SOOOOOOO slow)

[Lolsmurf]

Is there anyone who can give me an answer to the following question.

I ripped Jimmy Neutron NTSC into a .VOB with sound/video. Encoded the files with ffmpegX. When i Muxed it into a .Mpg the sound got out of sync.
However, when i did the whole process all over again with 2 separate files and with Missing Mpeg Tools, the .Mpg was in Sync.

Does ffmpegX have Muxing problems?

I like this program a lot. I have no problems with PAL movies. But i like to use this program for NTSC also because it encodes much faster and get 2 ready to burn files by one click.

Thanks, bert

[Din^^]

Think more along the lines of the commercial versions of DVD2AVI and DVD2SVCD...put in the disk, leave, come back, done.

Sounds Great, Cant wait.
Sounds exactly what i need.
Any more info on this?

atb

[KaiCherry]

blade2, platinum series, dvd1 main feature:

dvd->divx (Mpeg4 Video/AC3 Audio) VBR 1187, 2-Pass, qmin 1/qmax 16, cropped and scaled, 23.976 FPS...

In Sync, end to end

-K

[Din^^]

Cool, ive tried that Blade 2 one out, but failed

Thats the game.

Good work

[ElfinFunMachine]

I would love to help out testing some DVD's, and out of the requests previously made, i have the princess bride and akira, and i have some cpu to spare. contact me via e-mail (check my profile!), and lets kick this problem once and for all.

[bilestyle]

He shoots... he scores! , minority report in the bucket. flawless sync all the way throughout, encoded to vbr SVCD. -- So far synced everything perfectly, Clerks, a Simpsons episode and Minority report. Next on the list princess bride.