avi w/ fps1 to mpeg conversion, help plz

[thebc]

hi all,
i have some avi vids that i'd like to convert to mpeg so i can make a dvd. i'm new to conversions, but this seems extra tricky. i'm trying to find a suitable converter, i have cucusoft, but i'm too inexperienced to get the best results. my output mpeg has screwed up video.

a friend capped these from tv using Frapps, and the files are HUGE. a 4 minute clip is about 950 MB. i found this explanation why the files are so big... "FOURCC 0 is actually defined. If you look on the RGB page, you will see that it represents standard Windows bitmaps. This format is completely useless for video since, although you can guarantee that there is no image degradation when you save this way, you also guarantee no image compression at all and, hence, an enormous file."

Video: FPS1 416x312 30.00fps [Stream 00]
Audio: PCM 44100Hz stereo 1411Kbps [Stream 01]

can someone please point me to a nice converter ? or maybe some tips to get a decent mpeg output?

peace

[paglamon]

Can u play the avi in ur PC?

[thebc]

Can u play the avi in ur PC?

yes, i installed the fraps codec, and they play fine in wmp, mpc and vlc.

[paglamon]

Try TMPGEnc for avi to mpeg.

[thebc]

thanks, i got the TMPGEnc 5in1 pack, and installed TMPGEnc Plus. too bad it's a 14 day trial version.

i've played w/ all the ntsc settings for creating an mpeg-2, and it won't let me create an mpeg w/ PCM audio, it's makin me use mpeg1 layer2 for audio. not that i care or know the difference, but that's what it's doing.

these are the settings i've finally chosen.....
Video: MPEG-2, 720x480, 29.97fps (4:3 NTSC), 7962Kbps
Audio: MPEG-1 Audio Layer-2, 48000Hz stereo, 384Kbps
Rate control: Constant bitrate CBR

the outputs are nice, but some of the outputs play choppy in mpc, but the same output will play fine in vlc.

the file size seems about right too, 20 MB for a 20 second clip. if i understand this correctly, at this rate, about 218 20mb clips will fill up 4.37gb, which comes out to about 72 minutes. sounds about right to me, since i've seen 50 min vids take up the whole 4.37gb of a dvd.

so i'm assuming i have a great conversion w/ no quality loss to make my dvd. i hope i'm correct b/c i'll soon delete these HUGE avi's.

edit: it's not really making me choose MP2 audio, but when i choose CBR Linear PCM Audio on the first page of the Project Wizard, it doesn't create an mpeg but m2v+wav, and when i try to combine these w/ MPEG Tools, it says it can only combine if audio is MP2. so i just choose CBR MP2 audio and it makes the mpeg, not m2v+wav. that sucks, b/c my mpegs are now considered lossy, right?

[thebc]

i forgot to mention these setting i used:

Video type: Non-Interlace
Aspect Ratio: 1:1 VGA (this one really confuses me, there are so many choices and i just kinda stuck w/ this one)

and it really sucks that i gotta use lossy audio. do you know the reason?
cheers

[LT. Columbo]

hi thebc

this is the basic way i do it

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=56454

i typicaly don't use PCM audio or the elementary streams which it will produce. try it and see what happens to the file size and bitrate. mp2 audio and no elementary streams will be fine for you i'm sure.(CBR MP2 audio)

regarding the jerkyness, you selected NTSC for input, but what is the framerate of the file in question?

[thebc]

hi thebc

this is the basic way i do it

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=56454

i typicaly don't use PCM audio or the elementary streams which it will produce. try it and see what happens to the file size and bitrate. mp2 audio and no elementary streams will be fine for you i'm sure.(CBR MP2 audio)

regarding the jerkyness, you selected NTSC for input, but what is the framerate of the file in question?

see the first post for the avi source file info, and a few posts up for the output file info (the video portion should'nt change now that i'm using m2v+wav outputs, but obviously my audio outputs are different now).

i found out how to make the m2v+wav combo work in dvdauthor, you just select the mv2 and it brings the wav w/ it. it's certainly not bad to use this method, right?

thanks for that link, i'm goin thru it now...

first thing i noticed is that fortunately the fps of both my source an output are similar, 29.97fps and 30.00fps. the capper lives in vegas so i correctly assumed the source was ntsc.

also the Environmental settings/VFAPI Plug-in tab/DirectShow Multimedia File Reader... "Priority" for this item is higher than any other plugin's priority in the list (usually 2).... mine was -1, and it i got no errors, so i think/hope i just got lucky. i've now changed it to 2.

in step 5 on your link... Video Arrange Method, i've been using Full Screen. does this mean i no longer have the correct aspect ratio ? do i have to do this all over ?

finally, you say "no elementary streams will be fine for you i'm sure." does that refer to CBR (no elem streams) vs VBR (w/ elem streams) ? if so, i don't really understand it, heh. i'll just stick w/ CBR, and probably the m2v+wav method too. i like it.

everything else makes sense to me, and i think was done correctly. thanks a ton for the replies. and Wings of Desire (Wenders) is one of my favorites !!

[LT. Columbo]

i found out how to make the m2v+wav combo work in dvdauthor, you just select the mv2 and it brings the wav w/ it. it's certainly not bad to use this method, right?

that's right, and yes it's fine.

also the Environmental settings/VFAPI Plug-in tab/DirectShow Multimedia File Reader... "Priority" for this item is higher than any other plugin's priority in the list (usually 2).... mine was -1, and it i got no errors, so i think/hope i just got lucky. i've now changed it to 2.

it's best where you have it now IMO (it will not hurt, only help). you may get to even 98% and recieve a stream error, index scan line or other type of error. please note that the guide and the settings used is such that the priority is raised. since you are encoding to 29.97 fps, it won't matter. just follow it as it is (using the settings for 29fps of course).

in step 5 on your link... Video Arrange Method, i've been using Full Screen. does this mean i no longer have the correct aspect ratio ? do i have to do this all over ?

the setting "full screen keep aspect ratio 2" will make the output unchanged from the original aspect ratio (which is likely what you want). however, if your file had 4:3 ratio, it should be ok. otherwise you will have to do it over.

i'll just stick w/ CBR, and probably the m2v+wav method too. i like it.

that will be fine, i don't use it because i have no use for the wav file. TMPGEnc takes long enough, that's why i don't use VBR, just CBR with high bitrates. i don't want to confuse you--looks like you are on your way

thread moved to the TMPGEnc forum.

[thebc]

that's right, and yes it's fine.

it's best where you have it now IMO (it will not hurt, only help). you may get to even 98% and recieve a stream error, index scan line or other type of error. please note that the guide and the settings used is such that the priority is raised. since you are encoding to 29.97 fps, it won't matter. just follow it as it is (using the settings for 29fps of course).

the setting "full screen keep aspect ratio 2" will make the output unchanged from the original aspect ratio (which is likely what you want). however, if your file had 4:3 ratio, it should be ok. otherwise you will have to do it over.

that will be fine, i don't use it because i have no use for the wav file. TMPGEnc takes long enough, that's why i don't use VBR, just CBR with high bitrates. i don't want to confuse you--looks like you are on your way

thread moved to the TMPGEnc forum.

i changed my priority back to -1.

i used just plain Full Screen. i don't know how to check if the source is 4:3. i got my fingers crossed. the output aspect ratio looks ok to my eyes, but i should confirm it. can you tell me plz how to check for the 4:3 ?

w/ your help and the help of several others, i am on my way...

[LT. Columbo]

i meant it was better @2

it's likely 4:3 (like regular television) 352x240 for example, otherwise it would be very obvious. not widescreen (ie 16:9). to check for sure try this method

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=66005

[thebc]

ah i see, the ratios should be equal, duh.
one of my avi's is 320x240 and another is 416x312.....
320/240 = 416/312 = 4/3 = 1.3333333

but, 352:240 = 1.466666 ? what gives ?

[LT. Columbo]

that's right 1.47. the framesize for NTSC VCD video is 352x240 (which is one of my files i had). standard TV is 4:3, 1.33. my only point was to quickly look at the resolution and determine full or wide in relation how it will look in TMPGEnc output. in the future use "full screen keep aspect ratio 2".

bottom line. you're ok

[thebc]

woohoo, it's a party, party...

[thebc]

lol, i'm Padawan of Digital Video