TMPGEnc converting question, please help.

[gizmo1990]

I'm trying to use TMPGEnc to convert and compress AVIs to MPG so that I can burn a VCD.

However each time I do I end up with files that are too big to burn to a single cd.

Does anyone have any experience of this software to say if it allows you to choose different compression qualities so that I can make smaller mpg files that in turn would fit a single cd?

[Combination]

Just follow this guide here:

http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/dvd2svcd-avi.htm

[VR46]

thanks Vic Vipr I also was stuck/gave up when trying to do the same months ago.

[Fei Fong Wong]

gizmo, the VCD specification has a "fixed" video bitrate of 1150kbps and by specification it is a "constant" bitrate - variable bitrate is not allowed. You can therefore get approximately 80 minutes onto a 700mb CD and 70 minutes on a 650mb CD.

Any variation to this is not technically a VCD. It is however quite possible to get a lot more video on 1 CD using derivative formats such as KVCD, CVD, xVCD etc.

Doom9 is a great resource for video encoding so you should check out their site and forums. You should find plenty of information there to help you make an informed decision on what to go with.

[Sane]

I always used to simply chop the mpeg file in 2 or even 3 if needed, tmpgenc can do this ( check under 'mpeg tools').

[gizmo1990]

Thanks for the replies guys.

dvd2svcd seems a great little program but as Fei Fong Wong suspects I do indeed want to be able to compress more onto a single cd. I've tried lowering the bitrate in dvd2svcd but as Fei Fong Wong points out it just defualy back to the standard vcd bitrate anyway. Basically I'm not too bothered about quality as long as its watchable I'm happy just to get stuff on a single disc.

Fei Fong Wong, I can't seem to find any info on kvcd's at all on doom9 or on the net? The only place remotely associated with the format seems to be kvcd.net and thats a registered members only site.

Could you point me in the general direction of the kvcd sites you had in mind? It seems like it should be the easiest thing in the world to do but I've never been able to do it consistantly and as easily as ###i believe it should be.

I'd been using acp a while back but gave up with it after getting loads of errors and odd things happening with it. Especially with its use of virtualdub.

[Fei Fong Wong]

gizmo, you won't find much KVCD information on Doom9 because it focuses on DVD backup.

KVCD.net is the definitive source for all things KVCD or KDVD. It never used to be closed forcing you to pay $2.99 for forum access so its a shame thats now the case. Seriously acp is the easiest way to go for if you're inexperienced. If you've getting errors its because you have some settings incorrect. I'd therefore suggest you uninstall everything and resinstall it so you go back to the default settings. You can then set it up so it matches these screenshots which will convert any avi file you want to fit on 1 CD. bear in mind quality will obviously suffer the longer the video but you should be able to fit 2 hours at reasonable quality using these. I would also remind that KVCD is optimised to display on low resolution displays i.e. conventional TV's so it will look **** on anything with a higher resolution.


Output size is the key here. You can fit an 800mb KVCD encoded MPG file on 1 80 minute CD. ACP will predict the bitrate for you to get this as close as possible.


Try these settings. Note the fps setting will automatically change depending on your source file anyway.


These are the correct audio settings.


The prediction settings govern how acp works out the bit rate it needs to encode your file at. Before doing the main encode it will do a series of small tests. Depending on your input file it can take as little as 2 or 3 tests or as much as 10 or 12. Although it defaults to 100 its never anywhere near that number so I just leave this as is. If you watch the log as you encode you can see how it works.

Also make sure you uncheck the option to split the mpg file. This will ensure you end up with one mpg file at the end. On occassion the final encoded mpg may be slightly over 800mb so if this option is checked it splits it into 2. The output file shouldn't ever be that much over 800mb that you can't simply overburn it to CD in Nero so there is no need to split.


Note here you need to click the save paths button to keep them set the next time you open acp. From memory you should only have to set your TMPGEnc path and your output directory. TMPEnc being the only software not included within the acp installer and available for free download here (note 30 day trial on MPEG-2 encoding but thats not an issue for KVCD as it uses MPEG-1).


Lastly you should know that KVCD must NOT be burnt to CD using the compliant VCD standard. In Nero you should uncheck the "Create standard compliant CD" option as shown below:



If you still have errors there's something else wrong. Post whatever the error is and I'll see if I can help further. Generally errors tend to stem from software conflicts though - most commonly caused by nasty codec packs installed.


EDIT: If you need the acp installer again you can get it from here as KVCD.net is now closed off.

[gizmo1990]

You are a STAR Fei Fong Wong!

File/Save page as...

Installing now on a clean machine I'll see how it goes.

[gizmo1990]

Righto, I've installed everything on a completely fresh pc, that is ACP and TMPGEnc.

I've set acp off converting an avi and its got to the first step which is the audio demux using (you've guessed it!) virtualdubmob... and its been sat at 1% for over an hour now.

I've checked virtualdubmods status and it reads time elapsed as over an hour and total time as over 4 hours and both counters are continously increasing...

Surely this isn't normal? Help me Fei Fong Wong, your my only hope!

[Fei Fong Wong]

No thats not right at all. Although it depends on the speed of your PC it should not be taking anywhere near that long at all. What build of VdubMod are you using?

I'm using v1.5.10.1 (build 2366) and on my PC (AMD64 3000+, 1GB Ram) it just processed 90mb of audio in 1 minute 50 seconds.

Here's the build I'm using. Extract this into the acp program directory on your PC and point acp to use this one in the paths tab.

[gizmo1990]

Unfortunately thats the version I have!!

I've clicked options/show log and VirtualDubs log reports repeats of this line continously:

Dub: Processing thread has not cycled for ten seconds -- possible livelock.
(Thread location: 7C90EB94)

I've also tried it with another avi and its doing the same thing?

I've run Gspot and it reports that I have 2 compatible audio codecs so I don't know what the problem is?

Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec (advanced)
MPEG Layer-3 Decoder

What the heck is going wrong?

ARGH!!

[Fei Fong Wong]

Hmm, what you describe is a warning VDub(Mod) spits out when the processing rate goes down to a certain extent and is very possible with heavy filters, slow cpu, heavy codec etc. However as its taking so long you seem to have a real livelock, meaning suddenly the encoding freezes and no frame is being encoded.

This seems to be known issue with 1.5.10.1. Its never affected me but try applying the bug fixes here:

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/virtualdubmod/VirtualDubMod_1_5_10_1_b2439.zip?download

Or if that fails go back to the older release - 1.5.4.1 - and see if that gets it done for you. You can get that here:

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/virtualdubmod/VirtualDubMod_1_5_4_1_All_inclusive.zip?download

[gizmo1990]

I've tried both those files with no success.

The patch seemed to allow the encoding to move on quite rapidly to 7% or even 12% but the I start getting those endless livelock things.

Going back to a earlier version cuased a Sylia script error, Member 'DeleteComments' not found...???? And then an acp runtime errer '53' - file not found?

This is all completely bizarre because this is all installed on a totally fresh different machine? Speed wise its ok too so there should be any problems with that. p4 2.8, 1gig ram, xp home etc.

Any other ideas whats up with it? The only thing I can think of is that the files I'm trying to convert are messed up in some way? Maybe you could email me a small avi file that you know works and let me see if I can convert it too?

OR is there another program I can use to do the audio encoding and just let acp handle the video and combining it all together?

[Fei Fong Wong]

Ok I'll look into it a bit more when I get home tonight. It may be a codec thats causing the problem but I can't really do much for you here at work.

[Fei Fong Wong]

Right. Uninstall that version of acp and use the previous release. You'll be hard pressed to find this build online anymore so I've upped it for you here. This version is stable but only supports DVD and AVI sources (i.e. no avs, ogm or mkv sources) but I take it thats not going to be a problem for you. The benefit of using this build of acp is that it will support VDubMod version 1.5.4.1 (which is included in the installer) and will hopefully solve your issue with the most recent build of VDubMod.

Let me know how it goes.