Can make NTSC svcd but not PAL...

[Anthos]

I capture an AVI from my Sony Hi8 using Virtual VCR or iuVCR. I then use Virtual Dub to make a seperate wav file and then I encode the video and the audio file in TPMGenc. I load the svcd settings and I can make good svcds in NTSC (480*480) but the ones I make using the PAL system (480*576) are s**t. I get blurry picture whenever the camera moves. I capture the avi in 480*576 (not 576*480 right??). I also tried capturing in 720*576 or 704*576 with no success again.

My capture card is Genius Video Wonder Pro II and I use WinXP.

I also made PAL VCDs without any problem (352*288). The picture is quite acceptable but I would prefer a SVCD.

It's obvious that it's got something to do with the resolution of the PAL svcd but I can't figure it out. Although my TV supports NTSC playback, I would like to make it into PAL since I live in Europe.

Thanks guys.
Anthos

[Batman]

Your resolution is right.

What is the framerate of your avi (This can be established in the "File Information" section of Virtualdub).


Have you tried de-interlacing your avi capture and then converting to pal svcd? You might want to try that.

Do you witness "****ty" quality on both your standalone dvd player and on your PC? It may be possible that your TV is not capable of proper pal display.

SVCD PAL INFORMATION
Video:
max 2600 kbit/sec MPEG-2 (Audio + Video bitrate max bitrate is 2778 kbit/s).
480 x 576 pixels (CVD 352x576)
25 frames/second
with up to 4 Subtitles

Audio:
from 32 - 384 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2
with up to 2 Audio Tracks

Extra :
Menus and chapters.
Still pictures 704x576,352x288

[Anthos]

Thanks for replying...

>What is the framerate of your avi

I'm not at home so I can't check this out. Will do that asap.

>Have you tried de-interlacing your avi capture and then converting to pal svcd? You might want to try that.

Won't that decrease quality?

>Do you witness "****ty" quality on both your standalone dvd player and on your PC? It may be possible that your TV is not capable of proper pal display.

Since I'm in Europe, my TV is PAL/SECAM, and supports NTSC playback as well. I can see that the mpeg is bad as soon as tpmgenc starts encoding and then even if I burn it on a RW cd, I get the same effects.

My big query is why the NTSC settings will work and not the PAL ones, since I'm using the same procedure.

[Batman]

It would also be useful if you posted the "File information" and/or other settings of your capture (e.g. interlaced or progressive etc...).

Speculation at this point, but you may have to change the framerate of your avi so that it adheres to PAL standards prior to converting to svcd.

[Anthos]

Think I got it...

Made some more research and read somewhere about a simillar procedure which I followed and I reckon it's the right one.

Captured with 704*576 and then resampled to 480*576 in Virrtual Dub. I then used the resampled avi into tpmgenc and worked almost perfect. The only problem was the sync of the audio which was about .5sec late. I guess it was because I used a filter in V.Dub and recorded the audio in MP3.

A few more tries and it will be OK.

Thanks for your help.

[Batman]

If the audio delay is constant you can use TMPGenc to sync the file, search the forum for more details.

[Bloggs,J]

Most likely you need to change the field order.

In TMPGenc settings, change field order from A (or top, or odd) to B (or bottom, or even), or the other way depending on what you tried before.

With the wrong field order you are splitting fields between different frames, which will won't matter for static scenes but makes movement look real bad.