improving picture quality

[congobongo]

i'm finally able to get my vcd's to play on my stand alone dvd. the picture however on some of the movies is real bad. i use tmpeg to cut the movies in half, then nero to burn them ( i can't get them to play using tmpeg). any help would be appreciated.

[setarip]

A) Assuming the original file is (DivX-compressed or otherwise) .AVI format:

1) Load the .AVI file into VirtualDub (or one of its many variants) or NanDub

2) From the "File" dropdown menu, select "File Information"

3) Post (here) EVERYTHING you see (both video and audio information), or post a screen capture .jpg of the information box


B) What is your difficulty in using TMPGEnc to do the conversion to VCD?

[congobongo]

Video Track
frame size 352x288 25.000 fps (40,000 upside downh s)
# of frames(time) 95247(1:03:29)
# of i,p,b frames 5693/26882/62672
i frame min/avg/max 2640/219106/35034 (121792k)
p frame min/avg/max total frame size 108/9549/36672 (250704k)
b frame min/avg/max tot. frame size 37/2638/15792 (161498k)
average bitrate 1149 kpbs (141kb/s)

audio track
audio format 44khz. stereo, 224 kpbs layer ll
# of frames 145847
total size 104177k

for some reason i always get a mp3 menu on my stand alone dvd
it will have two root folders. somtimes it will show a third folder w/ the name where my file is. when i highlight the movie and burn it doesn't show up just the 2 root folders. don't have that problem w/ nero. thanks for you help

[setarip]

What is the format of your original file?



Is that the information from the ORIGINAL (unconverted .AVI) file, as I requested, or is it from the converted (MPEG1-VideoCD format) file?

[congobongo]

converted. i'm in the middle of trying something else, and it's off the cd. so it's tied up. i went to the home page of tmpeg and tried the options screen where you can switch to full screen and( keep aspect ratio).. is keep aspect ratio ll better? What about my problem w/ tmpeg? is it related? thanx

[congobongo]

here's the unconverted(orig.) info. Setarip.
video stream
frame size, fps (h.s per frame) 640x272, 25.000 fps (40,000 h.s)
# of frames (time): 204863 (2:10:34)
decompressor Divx mpeg 4 fast motion
# of key frames 8187
min/avg/max total key frame size 857/8667/46314/ (69298k)
min/ang/max total delta frame size 0/2729/47572 (524218k)

audio stream
sampling rate 48,000Hz
channels 2(stereo)
sample presicion 0-bit
compression fraunhofer lls mpeg layer3 codec
preload skew 0 samples (0.00s)
# of frames 8194
min/avg/max total frame size 11363/11999/12419 (96023k)

btw, w/ what i tried yesterday using the new tmpeg settings. my player won't let me burn it. it goes till the end and then it says the cd is too slow to get a better one(something like that) it's the same ones i've been using..

[setarip]

"frame size, fps (h.s per frame) 640x272"

This is probably the underlying reason for the "poor quality" image when converted to VCD. The original SOURCE for the .AVI was undoubtedly cropped to remove the upper and lower black bars of a widescreen video. Although it might playback properly under Windows Media Player (which, in this case, probably automatically added back the black bars on playback), the ratio of 640x272 is, in fact, distorted and will result in a poor conversion to VCD.

Try using TMPGEnc (instead of NERO) to do the conversion to VCD, as follows:

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 - Or, if you want to add the black bars,
Click the "Video" tab and change applicable settings to: 352X240 (PAL 352x288), 4:3 (NTSC or PAL as appropriate) 525 Line. Click the "Advanced" tab and change applicable settings to: "16:9 Display", either "Fullscreen (Keep Aspect Ratio)" or "Center (Keep aspect ratio)", and 352x240 (PAL 352x288).
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) - set "Motion Search Precision" to "Normal 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)" and "Bitrate" to "1,150"
9) Under the "Audio" tab, set to 44,100 224Kbps
10) Press "Start"

(Or, instead of the steps 1)-10) above, you could attempt to use TMPGEnc's VCD "wizard"/template)

Note that if your video runs longer than 70-80 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).

Use a burning program, such as NERO to burn your CD-R or R/W CD as a VCD (DON'T ask NERO to format the file as a VCD, since you've already accomplished this!)

Let us know of your success ;>}

[congobongo]

you're AWESOME setarip! Just 2 quick ?'s.. 1'st, should I encode the whole file or do half and see how it works. it takes a long time to encode each time you split the file. can you cut it on nero before the burn process. ? #2, will the picture be better if I add the black bars. I do not mind them at all. Thanx again !!!

[setarip]

"you're AWESOME setarip!"

Aw shucks ;>}


"should I encode the whole file or do half and see how it works."


If this is to be your first time using these procedures, I'd suggest that you first experiment by stopping the encoding at about 5 minutes of video running time (NOT only after 5 minutes of converting). Be advised, however, that VCD format looks fairly awful on a PC monitor (because your monitor has a much higher display resolution than your television). Therefore, you may choose to do one of two things regarding this experiment - burn the 5 minute VCD to a CD R/W and play it back on your television for an accurate depiction of your results, or play it back (from your hard drive, on your PC's monitor) under Windows Media Player, with "zoom" set to 50%.


"it takes a long time to encode each time you split the file. can you cut it on nero before the burn process. ?"


After the file has been encoded, splitting the file in TMPGEnc (NOT NERO), is only a matter of several minutes...


"#2, will the picture be better if I add the black bars. I do not mind them at all."


Yes it will. This will return the video to its original dimensions and layout.

"Thanx again !!!"

My pleasure ;>}

[congobongo]

well i'm finally getting a picture using tmpeg, but it's way off to the left and flickers a bit(not the way pal/ntsc modes). i followed your instructions farely well. I think where i got messed up was in the aspect ratio box there was nothing to choose w/ pal. I selected- center keep aspect ratio. the black bars were not there either. when i burn to cd using nero i get the following: the file *.mpg is not a valid file for creating a standard video cd V2.0 (cd-1 player) disc. A compliant video file requires the following specs.
MPEG-1 which was encoded for video CD:
audio: 44.1 khz; stereo; 224 Kbit/s
video: 352x240/29.97 Hz or 352x240 /23.976 Hz or 352x288 / 25 Hz
the following prob's were found:stream encoding which is invalid for a (super) video cd
invalid video stream: 25 frames/sec., 352x240 pixels.
should I be using reg. video or super video from the tmpeg menu?
Thanx again

[crazyman]

you should just convert as mpeg-1,svcd is 480x480 resolution

[setarip]

"invalid video stream: 25 frames/sec., 352x240 pixels."


For NTSC (23.976, 24.00, 29.970, or, 30.00fps) the dimensions must be 352x240 for a compliant VCD

For PAL (25.00fps) the dimensions must be 352x288 for a compliant VCD

If you don't want to go through the TMPGEnc encoding procedure again, in NERO simply uncheck "Compliant Video CD" - and try to burn again...

[congobongo]

problem solved, as far as nero goes. now it's saying:
stream encoding which is invalid for a (super) Video CD
invalid audio stream: 48000 Hz, 2 channels
i'm using the regular video pal option, should i be using super vid?
the screen is still flickering and off to the left. i have it set at full screen keep aspect. is that the right setting? Thanks

[setarip]

"invalid audio stream: 48000 Hz, 2 channels"

I guess you overlooked this step from my earlier posting:
9) Under the "Audio" tab, set to 44,100 224Kbps



"i'm using the regular video pal option, should i be using super vid?"

In NERO (again), select the VideoCD icon for this MPEG-1 VideoCD (NOT the SuperVideoCD)


"the screen is still flickering and off to the left. i have it set at full screen keep aspect."

Then try "Center (Keep aspect ratio)" instead


(By the way, crazyman's suggestion is not valid, since SVCD requires an MPEG2 file and not an MPEG1 file, which is what you've created. Additionally, the 480x480 resolution he's proposed is for the NTSC world, while you're in the PAL world)

[congobongo]

THANKS SO MUCH SETARIP! You truly are the bomb. Thanks for taking time to answer all my ?'s and prob's. I'll let you know how it goes, i'm out of cd's and i have a ton around the house. I forgot to mention the picture quality was so bad maybe cause the avi. movie is 2:15:00 and it's all on 1 cd. could he have tweaked the bitrate to fit it on 1 cd?
i was wondering about the options in tmpeg.(the super video ?) not Nero, I use Nero to burn only. If Nero doesn't give me an error message, can I safely burn or do I need to encode?