HI,

Iv been usually converting MPEG2 to MPEG1 'DAT' format. These were short clips about 5 - 7 minutes burned at 416 x 304 resolution. The encoder iv been using was the Panasonic plug-in with FlasKMPEG. I now want to convert these in to vcd format ( 384 x 240 NTSC ) inorder to create menus using videopack. The problem i have is when i re-encode these mpegs into vcd format using FlasKMPEG, it cuts off the last 4 or 5 seconds of the clip. Ive tried using VCD Gear 2.0 but thats not recognising it. Please dont just ignore this message because iv posted quite a few questions and had no responses. Come on, it cant be that hard. Please reply. I will learn and make others learn if only ' YOU ' me learn.

Thanks

Sharky

-- sharky (sharkimi@hotmail.com), January 02, 2001

Answers

Sticking my kneck out without hands on specific experience but I would have thought TMPGEnc will do a direct conversion. Build 12a and above has the ability to accept MPEG source files and encode them direct for burning.

I have used high data rate masters in Mpeg2 to SVCD or VCD so why not your lower resolution sources.

IF you have not got the TMPGEnc my site has links to it.

http://www.geocities.com/aussie01au/

-- Ross McL (rmclennan@esc.net.au), January 02, 2001.

Forgot to add:

The required frame size for VCD is 352 x 240 in NTSC not as you quote. Your source size seems to be non standard as well and you will end up with a distorted picture I would suggest. Pixel ratios and all that come into play here. Your source size should either be of 4:3 aspect ratio which based on your height of 304 = 405 OR in CCIR perhaps 446, so you may have trouble in any event getting what you want

-- Ross mcL (rmclennan@esc.net.au), January 02, 2001.

To Ross,

Thanks for your message and thanks for the TMPGenc site. I have downloaded it from that site but evreytime i load any Mpeg source it just doesnt respond!. Are there any settings to set before it recognises them or wat? Please help. Or alternatively is there any other way i could try in terms of software because im not quite familiar with this TMPencoder at all. Thanks once again for your kind help.

-- sharky (sharkimi@hotmail.com), January 02, 2001.

When TMPGEnc is loading either DV type 1 or Mpeg it will take quite a while, to get organised. With a P3 800 at times I have had to wait over 30-45 seconds for the load to show up.

Thats why I also asked TMPGEnc to automatically blank out the window to remove the file details otherwise next time around the whole program goes missing for anything up to 3 minutes on slow machines.

Just loadup and go have a coffee and see what happens then. Deaf ears out there in the programming world I am afraid. Asked for those changes way back in the 12 days, never mind 12a and 12b that have come since.

-- Ross McL (rmclennan@esc.net.au), January 02, 2001.

The other bit of your posting requires a separate answer.

I am amazed at how many people have an EXCUSE for not doing something the way in which it all leads to quality; takes too long to encode, have to learn it, gezzzzzzzzzz what do ya want? Most want quality but will not comply with even the most basic of the rules - LEARN to do it with the best available AND accept that TIME is NOT important, encode overnight is the get around. In this case your going to go a long way before you get anything better than TMPGEnc. BUT you need to learn it from those that have some hands on experience. Just go to my SVCD page and have a look at the URL relating to comparisons and see what they say about encoders and where TMPGEnc actually sits relative to the others, there are some real surprises, there is only ONE above it and thats a professional package at professional costs. Gone are the days that Panasonic ruled the roost!

-- Ross McL (rmclennan@esc.net.au), January 02, 2001.

This is very true indeed Ross. It's an amazing little FREE encoder! Not only it provides quality encoding, but it also can handle almost every kind of video format that is fed into it. This little encoder can even take WMV file and encode it back to either VCD or SVCD! I've yet seen others encoder out there that can handle such a task....

-- lnguyen (wingstarzz@hotmail.com), January 02, 2001.

Thanks for your help guys, but that didnt seem to solve my problem. However, the actual problem i was experiencing was TMPGenc wasnt picking up any mpeg video source at all. After visiting TMPGenc site and looking at the FAQ board i solved it. It was actually the ' VFAPI plugins ' causing the problem. So for those who are experiencing the same problem do the following:

> ' in the VFAPI plugins ' options ( from glolal settings ) change the ' TMPGenc Project File Reader B12a ' AND ' DVD2AVI Project File Reader 11/18 ' to '-1' and set the rest to ' 0 '

I hope this Helps!

-- sharky (sharkimi@hotmail.com), January 03, 2001.