ok hackers get ready. Can anyone make some kind of patch for the easy cd creator 4.0 so it will accpet a highrate video cd file??

-- Doug (mazinz@aol.com), June 22, 2000

Answers

If you do exceed the normal whitebook Mpeg parameters for speed your video may not (or MAY) play in various players. But I don't understand why you need a "patch". I'm using EZCD 4.01 and it surely allows you the option of burning an out of spec video. Click on then and find the check box for "always show mpeg information" and check it (enabled) Then when you get that screen with the big red X, in the upper right corner you have the option to: "Add Anyway".

-- Rich (richa@home.com), June 23, 2000.

Opps ... I see in my previous answer I typed "click on then". Huh? Sorry 'bout that. I was typing in the wee hours of the morning. It should say "Click on (file) then (preferences) ...

-- Rich (richa@home.com), June 23, 2000.

Hey Rich thanks for responding. Ok even if you click that, here is what will happen: you will burn an empty vcd. Thats right i have tried this dozens of times before, which is why i dont see the purpose of their add anyway becasue it wont add it. Once its done burning you will have all the vcd folders, but the .dat will not be there at all. And the reason im asking about adpatec is becasue i make highrate xvcds and all the programs i have thiers a problem or another with menus. Win on 3.7 power doesnt allow highrate, i-author will make you convert it to an mpeg 2 for super vcd (which is more of a hassle). NTI allows highrate, but no menu creation at all. Video pack 4 allows what i want, but it WILL NOT work on my system at all. So as you can see im kind of stuck.

-- Doug (mazinz@aol.com), June 23, 2000.

Rich,

Doug is correct on burning out of spec mpeg1 file with EZCD creator. The video bitrate MUST be within a very small range of the whitebook standard 1150. I think I have gotten it to accept 1152 or 1153 at the most. It is a little more forgiving on the system clock error and audio rate. Only Panasonics mpeg encoder VCD rate template has given me an mpeg file with a correct system clock rate. Tmpgenc, which I use a lot now, is always out of spec but EZCD will burn it when you click Add Anyway. I would be very interested in finding out if there is some kind of possible registry hack to enable EZCD to accept higher bitrates.

Doug,

Did you know that you can use mpeg1 files in I-Author. Just de-mux it first and rename the appropriate files to .mp1 (video) and .mp2 (audio) before you run it through the I-Author muxer to create your .mps files.

Has anyone gotten I-Author Deluxe to work in VCD project mode? I have tried all sorts of ways but it always errors out when creating the .cif image.

EG Marshall

-- EG Marshall (4me@schoolmail.com), June 25, 2000.

Hey EG, yeah i have used the i author, but its more of a hassle to demux then re,ux then make what i want as a super vcd. My pc wont play it, my dvd players will and once its in super vcd form, i have to keep it that way or re-encode it as something else. I just wish video pack 4 worked on my system, gives me a fatal error in vxd.

-- Doug (mazinz@aol.com), June 25, 2000.

EGM:

The standard VCD will work within a total of 1374 for video + sound so if you drop sound to 128 then you should be able to use 1246, infact thats what TPMGEnc has selected as default, perhaps just a bit lower for safety because of all this being averages and not peaks.

DOUG:

Have you tried VP4 without anything else loaded in the way of burner software. I know it lives with Nero but not with adaptec, or it did not last time I checked it, a long long time ago. Whats adaptec got that Nero + VP4 has not?

-- Ross McL (rmclennan@esc.net.au), June 25, 2000.

Doug:

Thinking about VP4 crashes I have had: most have come from not getting consistant in sizes for menu backdrops, for example it did not like 704 and 720 mixed, particularly when using sub layers accessable from the next, previous and return keys. I am lazy and use jpeg so the program converts to BMP but thats never been a problem either. It allows high rate vcd's and will accept "illegal packet" faults what ever they are. LSX 2.51 produce them and so does TPMGEnc. It certainly did not like anything adaptec on the system so I am not an adaptec fan and thanks to Roberto in Mexico VP4 produces a far far better product. I use nero only to clean/wipe a RW or for data discs but not for vcd's in general. When Nero supports fully interactive menus it will be a great program, but I think you will agree that its what we are prepared to work around that counts.

-- Ross McL (rmclennan@esc.net.au), June 25, 2000.

Doug,

I am not sure if I understood your reply about having used I-Author and that it is more of a hassle to de / re-mux. Using Tmpgenc on your mpeg1 to demux and remux is about the easiest thing in the world. Just go to mpeg tools in Tmpgenc and select the demux tab. Select the input file and tell it the names you want of the 2 output files (video and audio). A 74 minute mpeg1 file take less than a minute to process on my system. Then you rename the file extensions of the 2 files to .mp1 (video) and .m2p (audio). Next, run these through I-Authors multiplexor program (in the program group on your start menu) to create the .mps files (about another minute or 2) and your done. Then follow whatever SVCD I-Author guide your using to make your menus and burn your .cif. It really is easy.

As far as your PC not playing SVCD, try using PowerDVD in file mode, or Hero DVD/SVCD software player.

Ross,

Tmpgencs video bitrate of 1150 is actually incorrect. If you encode with it at that setting, your output file will be approx 1177 video bitrate (not counting the audio bitrate). To fix, manually adjust the video rate to 1123-1124 and the processed file video bitrate will be 1149-1151 (which will be within Adaptecs narrow window). Also, any Tmpgenc processed file will ALWAYS give a system clock error in Adaptec, but just click add anyway and it will accept it.

Adaptec will not accept a video higher than 1150 (+/- 1-2) even if you have dropped the audio rate down. The combined bitrate does not seem to matter.

EG Marshall

-- EG Marshall (4me@schoolmail.com), June 26, 2000.

EGM

My english version of TPMGEnc in PAL sets 1217 as the grey out default for a standard VCD video bit rate. With sound also defaulted to 128 and that gives a total of 1345kb/s and Mfask actually reads the video rate as 1246kb/s which funny enough, if you add 128 you get 1374 as the actual total for the file. So I am not sure where the 1150 has come from in the TP discussion here other than the maximum is a nominal 1374 total and if you use 224 for sound, 1150 is the nominal video average rate. I guess I was trying to say Panasonic uses the 1150/224 base as a default and TMPGEnc uses a 1217/128 baseline which maybe one of the reasons the output is better than Panasonics. I have also said that its a nominal average rate we are dealing with and not the peaks that occur in any video file which can be much higher. CBR is not truely constant, bbMPEG give all that information but is so dam slow and in my view only 3rd on the list of best quality encoders.

Only trouble at present is that in PAL Nero rejects the TP file as non compliant and VP4 gives an "illegal packet" error. Maybe they will fix these things and then we will really be in business.

Thanks.

-- Ross McL (rmclennan@esc.net.au), June 26, 2000.

Ross,

I am using Tmpgenc V0.11e (which already has the english patch applied). Are you saying that when you start TP (Tmpgenc), the video bitrate is set to 1217 and greyed out so you cannot change it? Or are you saying that when you load a PAL VCD profile template you get those specs? If it is the latter, then somebody just saved an incorrect profile. Just make your own and save it as a template. If it is the former, then you must have an old version. I am using Tmpgenc V0.11e that has the english patch applied.

The 1150 bitrate I am talking about is the whitebook standard for VCD, and the audio bitrate must be 224. I will try once again to explain the correct settings of Tmpgenc.

When you start Tmpgenc, do not load any profiles or templates, set your own. If you set the video bitrate on the main screen to 1150 and encode an mpeg, the resultant files video bitrate will actually be 1174 (approx) which is not whitebook and will not be accepted by EZCD. You need to change the bitrate setting to 1123-1124 and encode the file at that rate. This will produce an mpeg file with a video bitrate of 1149-1151 (within EZCD tolerance). I do not know an easier way I can explain this. The main screen of Tmpgenc is incorrect when it says 1150 in the video bitrate setting. YOU MUST SET IT TO 1123 OR 1124 IN ORDER TO GET AN OUTPUT MPEG THAT HAS A VIDEO BITRATE OF 1150.

The Audio tab should be set to 224 for whitebook compliance. You can, if you want to, set it lower (Why??).

If you use the above settings to process your .avi file through Tmpgenc, you will get an output mpeg file that will be accepted by EZCD VCD creator. It will still give a "system clock" error when you add it, but just hit "Add Anyway" and it will be accepted.

The reason Nero is rejecting the Tmpgenc file is because it is not a VCD spec file at 1217/128. Use the above specs and it should work with Nero. I know for a fact that it will work with EZCD VCD Creator.

I have encoded many files with Tmpgenc at the 1123/224 settings, and when used in combination with some of the excellent filters available on the Video+ page, get excellent results. Even better than Panasonic.

EG Marshall

-- EG Marshall (4me@schoolmail.com), June 27, 2000.

EGM

The standard preset supplied with the TP program sets 1217/128 as the programmers default. Another preset for TP from a German site provides SVCD profiles and 1150/224 for standard VCD's - I do not have a problem with either. My observation is that its interesting to note that the TP programmer chooses to use a lower level of sound to get the benifit of the higher data rate that is allowed in the spec. I do not have a problem either with setting up my own presets but why if the results are no better than the programmers choice, and some programs do not allow you to access or change pixel ratios, pel movements etc manually? When testing and comparing encoders I just prefer to use that which is provided by the provider. Whether I finally accept that is another question entirely. I have actually used 1246/128 quite a bit from the Panasonic and LSX in its various forms has another view of what it thinks is correct. There is nothing that says 1150/224 is the only choice and since these figures are so called averages and the data rate IS NOT constant, it is almost academic, I have had peak values of over 1800 in a standard VCD - 16:9 anamorphic images. In relation to sound at 224 v's 128 the purist will say the sound is of lower quality at 128, so I sent one person who said that, two vcd files made from the same source material and did not tell him which was the 128 - heck he chose the 224 as the worst, QED. In regard to quality I have said the TP is the best - my site 13 June update. I think the other problem in all of this authoring business is the actual burner software, I do believe each supplier has its own interpretation of what is complinant just like the encoder industry and they are not all of the same opinion. None of this matters at all provided the choice of software one uses provides an end result that plays on the PC & in a DVD.

At this point in time Panasonic is the most versatile standalone with a greater spread of allowable inputs, in my view its only now second best in the quality stakes - unfortunately TP is limited only to VfW avi's and that is a serious restriction for 1394 firewire based systems. Hopefully they will correct, as I said on my web site I have not tested whether TP has a 4G or 2G limit in W9# and no one, as usual, has offered that information, on this site or on any other that I frequent.

http://aussie01.freeservers.com

-- Ross McL (rmclennan@esc.net.au), June 27, 2000.

Ross,

You wrote "The standard preset supplied with the TP program sets 1217/128 as the programmers default.". This is incorrect. You must have downloaded the Tmpgenc already set by someone else. I will explain this more fully.

If you download the program from the authors homepage, you will find the default preset is 1150 video, 192 audio. But again, this means absolutely nothing. Especially not that the author is implying this preset is recomended for anything in particular. Also, remember what i said previously about 1150 actually being 1174, so it must be set to 1123-1124.

You must have download a copy that had been preset to 1217/128 on the main page. This is merely done by setting the bitrate you want and pressing the Set button. The fact that it is greyed out when you first start means that it may also have been Set to a preset. This is NOT the normal startup for Tmpgenc. Was your copy already converted to English? If so, then this is further proof that someone had preset the bitrates. Who knows what other changes may have been Set in the program that you are not aware of or familiar with. I recommend that you download the file again from the Jamsoft site, along with the English patch to apply yourself.

I will be sending you a seperate email later in the week with more technical aspects that I have found in the program. I also have a few questions about VCD audio packing. Haven't been able to find any info on the net regarding this.

EGM

-- EG Marshall (4me@schoolmail.com), July 03, 2000.

i want to update my cd creater

-- khaled mostafa (khaled7555@yahoo.com), February 12, 2002.