Frame freeze problem when converting to mpeg2

I have about 5 episodes that I converted with tmpge and they all freeze on a frame but continue encoding. So I have a 25 minute .avi that shows the same frame for about 15 minutes. I figure the way to fix this problem is to reencode the avi with a different video codec using vdubmod and then convert it using tmpge. It says the video codec for the .avi is '3ivx D4 4.5.1' I don't want to lose any video quality when reencoding so i'm sure I should use a comparable codec. What codec most likely matches this one? I'm still fairly new to converting so I could be way off.

Have you checked the video for errors in VD Mod? That may be the problem with the encoder choking. That might save you from having to reencode the video. You might check the audio also. Sometimes it's best to save it out as a WAV and feed that to TMPGEnc separately to avoid problems.

I'll let someone else suggest a better video codec than 3ivx. I normally use Divx or Xvid, but quality is mostly in the codec settings.

I got 3 of the 5 files converted fine by rewriting the header on the audio as prompted by vdubmod. I reencoded it with the same video codec. However, the other 2 avi's are only playing for 12 minutes instead of 22. It's like parts of the episode are being cut out while it's converting. Is there a way to just copy video w/o audio in vdubmod? Any thoughts?

I forgot to mention that I did run the frame scan (error check) and it reports: 0 frames bad, 0 frames good but undecodeable.

Is there a way to just copy video w/o audio in vdubmod?

Load the avi. Streams->Stream list. Click Disable,OK. File->Save as. Give it a name, do not forget to select Direct Stream Copy. Click Save.

Sounds like the last 2 are pretty messed up. Sometimes there's not much you can do with that. Maybe cut out the bad part if VDM will let you go past it.

You can select the audio in 'Streams' and click 'Disable' if you want to copy the video without sound.

Well, I tried converting only the video stream w/o audio but still the same problem. I've never had a video do this before. It plays the first 12 minutes fine then starts playing the ending credits so it's like it cuts out minutes 13-22. Any other suggestions?

Well, I got it working. I went to environmental settings->vfapi-plugin in tmpge and changed the direct show multimedia file reader priority to the top of the list. The video actually converted all 23 minutes! However, when I attempted to play the .m2v file with nero showtime, wmp10 or powerdvd the file only plays for 12 minutes. I opened the file in vdubmod and it shows a playtime of 23 minutes. So, I went ahead and used tmpge dvd author and created a dvd and the .vob plays the full 23 minutes in powerdvd. I still don't quite understand how all this could happen but i'm just glad it works.