Don't let the terrorists win! HELP ME!

[Radio Boy]

I give up.
I have tried for a week to get a Divx file encoded so it will play on my DVD player.
I finally got to the point that after I burned it, I had no audio.
The problem is: Most of the guides are written to assume that I already have at least PART of a clue about this subject, and I don't.
I'm left to guess, and I usually guess wrong.
IS THERE A STEP-BY-STEP EASY TO FOLLOW METHOD TO DO THIS?

I want to take a movie-----and make it play on my DVD set-top.

Just to let you know that I'm not completely incompetent, I did manage to rip, decode, re-encode, strip, and burn a copy-DVD and it works great. I thought what I'm trying to do now was supposed to be simpler.
I CAN'T GET IT TO WORK, AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M DOING WRONG! I SPENT 12 HOURS ENCODING MY FILE WITH "TMPEG" YESTERDAY, AND AFTER IT WAS FINALLY FINISHED, I HAD NO AUDIO!...and the file went from 550 to 2200 megs in size.
I give.
Throwing in the towel.
Please help.

If you don't help me with this, the terrorists will win.
Please.....do it for your country.

[setarip]

This is what I do to create a VCD:

1) Load .AVI file into TMPGEnc
2) Set to "System Video and Audio" (lower right side)
3) Click on "Setting" radio button
4) Click on "System" tab, change mode to "MPEG1-VideoCD" (from default of "MPEG1")
5) Click on "Advanced" tab, change "Video arrange method" to "Center (Custom Size"), change dimensions to 352x288 or 352x240
6) Change "Source aspect ratio" to either "4:3 525 line (NTSC 704x480)", "4:3 525 line (NTSC)", or "16:9 525 line (NTSC)" - If you're in the PAL world choose either of the two similar PAL settings instead
7) Under the "Video" tab, change the dimensions to 352x288 or 352x240 (Note: "Video" tab mode of "MPEG1" is okay) - for highest quality set "Motion Search Precision" to "Highest Quality". Change the "Aspect Ratio" to match, as closely as possible, the "Source Aspect Ratio" you set under the "Advanced" tab.
8) Change "Rate Control Mode" to "Automatic VBR (CQ_VBR)
9) Under the "Audio" tab, set to 44,100 224Kbps
10) Press "Start"


Note that if your video runs longer than 60 minutes, you'll have to subsequently split your VCD-MPG file in two. This too can be easily and precisely accomplished using TMPGEnc. Under the "Files" dropdown menu, click on "MPEG Tools" and select the "Merge & Cut" tab. Once again, make sure to change the mode to "MPEG1-Video CD". Load your file and enter a new (.MPG) name in the "Output file" box. Then doubleclick on the ORIGINAL file's name in the window, which will bring you to the cutting area. Select your desired start and end points for the first half, click on "Okay" which will bring you back to the first window and generate (in a sequence of three automated steps) the first new file. To create the second new file, repeat the steps starting with "Then doubleclick on the ORIGINAL..." (be extra patient with the second half, as the program has to do more seeking to establish the beginning of the new file)

[Radio Boy]

THANKS....>BUT!

I appreciate that, but I want to convert and burn it to a DVD.
I've already successfully done a VCD......I just can't get it to work on a DVD!!!!

Any idears?

[setarip]

"I SPENT 12 HOURS ENCODING MY FILE WITH "TMPEG" YESTERDAY, AND AFTER IT WAS FINALLY FINISHED, I HAD NO AUDIO!"

Regardless of what you want to burn,

"2) Set to "System Video and Audio" (lower right side)"

What format is the audio (If it's .AC3, TMPGEnc will automatically and without notice switch this setting to "Video only")?

[Radio Boy]

See....that's my problem...you've already lost me.

I've got an approximately 550meg file of a movie I downloaded from the net, that plays in all the players I play it in....I have NO idea what format the audio is in, but I imagine it's an MP3 file since the file is that small, but I don't know.

I had THOUGHT that the TMPEG thing would automatically take care of the audio when I loaded it up, but obviously not.

Pardon my incompetence, but I've been trying to follow all the guides, but as I said, most of them *assume* that I have more knowledge about this subject than I do.

I would REALLY like to figure this out though.....please bear with me....I've spent waaaay too much time on this to quit now.

[Radio Boy]

Why does this all have to be such a riddle?

AWWW....C'MON!.....Don't abandon me now! My post will get buried deeper and deeper and I'll never find out exactly what you're talking about!!!

Fearing the terrorists are going to win,
Radioboy

[Radio Boy]

OH....I know what you mean now...

Yes.....now I remember what you meant about the "set to video and audio" setting (I'm not in front of my computer this morning, so I finally remembered it)

YES......the setting was in place for, "Video AND Audio".

That's why I don't understand why now....since it's done, I have NO audio at all?

[setarip]

"If it's .AC3, TMPGEnc will automatically and without notice switch this setting to 'Video only'"


To determine the audio format of the original DivX-compressed .AVI file, load it into VirtulDub. From the "File" dropdown menu, select "File Information". Post what you see.

[Wilbert]

To Setarip:

Sorry for the interruption. But some settings of TMPGEnc are still unclear to me.

Suppose for example I captured from PAL TV to 704x576 and I want to convert it to SVCD (480x576, 4:3).

Since I want to resize in VDub, as I understand it I have to resize to 448x544 (since the overscan feature of the TV).

In TMPGEnc I see the following settings (under the advanced tab):

1) 1:1 vga + center(custom size, 448x544)
2) 4:3 display + full screen(keep aspect ratio)
3) 4:3 625 lines PAL + something

Which one should I choose?

I always choose the first one (is that ok without first cropping to 704x528)?

But if you crop the original move to 704x528 (that's 1.333:1) I guess you can choose also the second one?

What about the third one. When can you choose the third one and what do you set in the "video arrange method" tab in that case?