Canopus ProCoder Express questions.

Although I'm certain I'll find other uses for it, I just bought Canopus ProCoder Express to do conversions from NTSC (29.97) to PAL (25), both MPEG2 and MPEG1 files. The video results I'm getting are great and the video/audio sync is perfect. Still, there are a couple of issues I hope others have solutions for.

To convert a 50 minute MPEG2 program to PAL took 7hrs.55mins. This is probably more of a computer issue than a software issue. ProCoder software requirements are an 800mhz CPU and 256meg RAM. My system is 1.3ghz CPU and 256meg RAM. I suspect that if my system had twice the speed and memory, conversion times would be much less. But I think I know the source for part of that time.

By habit, I always demux TV captures I make with my Hauppauge card and change the MP2 audio to AC3 audio ... then remux prior to burning. This is because I've heard that while most DVD players can interpret MP2, all DVD players can interpret AC3. The problem is that ProCoder Express, during conversion, only has one output audio option - MP2. It can read my AC3 input but can only write an MP2 result. So, I'm guessing that some of that 7hrs.55mins. is used to convert AC3 back to MP2. And after the PAL result file is created, I have to demux it and reconvert the MP2 back into AC3 and remux.

Of course, the simple solution is just to leave the NTSC-captured MPEG2 with it's MP2 file intact prior to ProCoder conversion - so it can merely "read-in" the MP2 source and not have to convert it. But I'm wondering if there's some way I could add AC3 as a conversion option to ProCorder. If there's a way to do this, let me know.

The second issue I'm wondering about involves the VideoHelp bitrate calculator. It's obviously set up for NTSC. When I use ProCoder to convert NTSC to PAL, and because PAL files inherently have a larger footprint (720x576 vs. 720x480), I have to decrease the bitrate of PAL result files to create a filesize similar to the NTSC source. Is there a bitrate calculator out there for PAL ... or some kind of formula I could apply to the Videohelp bitrate calculator result to come up with the proper bitrate setting I'd need to make the PAL result file similar in size to the NTSC source?

FWIW, filesize issues don't seem to come up when I do MPEG1 VCD conversions ... but they do come up when I do MPEG2 conversions. Puzzles the heck out of me, too.

Originally Posted by Baldrick

No, I haven't coded my bitrate calculator for ntsc because it has nothing to do with video frame size/resolution.

That's what I originally thought. And my MPEG1 PAL result files are actually a teensy bit smaller than the NTSC source files. With MPEG2 conversions, it's the other way around. Weird.

Originally Posted by Baldrick

It must be something with Procoder...

Must be. Perhaps a ProCoder owner has the answer to this one (I hope). If not, I'll just have to "invent" my own formula. Thanks.