I go and buy a DVD burner and you come out with a kvcdx3? lol

Anyways, I just purchased a Pioneer DVR-104 drive(haven't received it yet) but im still messing around with ripping programs and such to get a feel of things and to get a feel of time.

O-K, so i just ripped American Pie 2 with SmartRipper and i now have the m2v file and the ac3 file. I ran TMPG Plus and loaded your Half D-1 template. I then tried to load the m2v file and it said the file is not supported. Any idea about what i can do here?

I know this isn't exactly your job to "guide" me, but i was under the assumption that what i did would work and it didnt.
Also, could you tell me the difference between your Half and Full D-1 templates?

I appreciate it brovah!

Hi static,
You ripped and you have an .m2v and an ac3
Did you mean you have the VOB's and the ac3?
As for the KDVD templates difference, the Full D1 is 720x480 and the half D1 is 352x480. Both are full DVD compliant resolutions.
The full D1 lets you put 4-5 hours on a DVD-R, and the half D1, between 7-8 hours.

-kwag

lol...Yea i have the vob files.

The only reason i didn't mention them is because one of the guide sites i was using, said that, "The main files after ripping is the m2v and ac3."
Ok, so i have all the correct files. What should be done from here? I know that if the file is below 4.3gb, then i can just author and burn. What im trying to do is get a feel of using TMPG with DVD files, for when i do have to encode.

So what do you suggest?

Video: VOB's->DVD2AVI->.d2v, .d2v->FitCD->.avs, .avs->TMPEG->.m2v
Audio: .VOB's->MPEG Mediator->WAV, .WAV->headac3he->.mp2
or, if your DVD authoring supports ac3, just "demux" the ac3 with DVD2AVI.
Mux: You can mux the .m2v and .mp2 with TMPEG tools as MPEG-2 VBR program, and import that mpeg file to your favorite DVD authoring program.
Or mux the .m2v and .ac3 with BBMpeg, as above, if your authoring program permits.

-kwag

Well i found out what my problem was. I didn't have the right codecs installed. (im on my uncles slow ass computer testing) lol

Kwag, when i was using the smartripper guide, they said that after im done ripping the movie...There should be a few files in my folder where i ripped the movie, but only 2 are the most important. Which were the m2v and ac3 file. They said to rename both, the name of the movie i ripped.
Then if i wanted to author the movie and put menus,images etc. to use a program like SpruceUp. But if i don't want to create menus, then to go straight into loading the m2v and ac3 files into ReMPG. Now, this is what im looking to do, except i prefer TMPG Plus over ReMPG. My problem was that TMPG wasn't reading my m2v and ac3 files at first, because i didn't have the correct codecs installed on this computer.
I just installed the proper codecs and TMPG Plus read both the m2v and ac3 file fine.

Now here's my questions:
1. I loaded your Half D-1 template. Should i changed any settings? I noticed the default framerate was 23fps(29 internally) and 24 says(30fps internally) Now, i had a problem with my DVD player, playing your templates at the default framerate 23.976 using the KVCD Plus plates. The movie would pause every few seconds. What framerate would you go with?

2. Do i need those other files, or was the guide i used correct to say that the only files i needed from the rip were the m2v and ac3?

3. I seen a few different versions of DVD2AVI. Which one should i download for what im looking to do?

4. Could you go a little further into "muxing and demuxing"? I have never used this method before in making my encodings. Is there a difference?

P.S. I just made a 3 minute sample of American Pie 2 and the audio was way ahead of the video? What can be done to fix this?

Kwag, you are the man! Thanx for all your help partna!

These were the steps mentioned in a previous post?

Video: VOB's->DVD2AVI->.d2v, .d2v->FitCD->.avs, .avs->TMPEG->.m2v
Audio: .VOB's->MPEG Mediator->WAV, .WAV->headac3he->.mp2

I know there are several ways to get the same end result, but like everyone here I want to make sure the minimum steps are necessary for the maximum quality.

Why not use the WAV file that DVD2AVI generates as the audio source in TMPGEnc? I am downmixing to Dolby Surround and even pushing the Audio down to 128 bitrate (but normalizing +150%). I am getting outstanding sound but I am not against something even better.

Any comments.


Grantman

Hi Grantman,
That's the way I used to encode before. But TMPEG's audio encoder is not very goot at low bit rates. Some movies will have a "metallic" sound at 128Kbps, and even at 160Kbps. Not so when processed with headac3he, or SCMPX plugged into TMPEG. Also, the extraction of WAV directly from DVD2AVI, has caused audio sync issues on some movies. For example, the movie "Kate & Leopold" always comes out, out of sync, after about an hour of playing. This was discussed before in this forum. When extracting the WAV from the AC3 with MPEG Mediator, there are no sync issues. So now I always process all my VOB's with Mediator, and no more problems. Every movie is always in sync.

-kwag

Kwag,
I had the same problem with Kate and Leopold but since I can't get Headac3he to sync all I had to do was use smartripper and use the stream option. Might be something to try if anyone runs into this problem again.

-Yoda

__________________
May the code force be with you

kwag,
by the way where do i find SCMPX ?

-yoda

__________________
May the code force be with you

Here: http://www.din.or.jp/~ch3/index_e.html

-kwag

Kwag,
Does SCMPX give surround sound like Headac3he?

-Yoda

__________________
May the code force be with you

If the surround downmix information is in your WAV file, the case if you did it with DVD2AVI or Mediator, SCMPX will preserve it. The reason is that the surround info is encoded in the regular stereo channels. So the information will still be there if you encode it as stereo or dual-channel. Best choice, dual-channel

-kwag

Kwag,

Thanks for the first response. Can you reply once more?

Other than the actual quality of the audio are there any inherent issues with having TMPGEnc encode the audio? I will use your method to figure out what the difference is and if it is worth the extra steps.

(I have used an external encoder within TMPGEnc with what I thought were excellent results but I am never closed to the opportunity to get more quality at the same size/effort).

Is there a difference if your end result is only dolby surround vs. dolby digital vs. stereo?

My main concern is the automation of the process and not adding steps on to an already cumbersome task.

Though... I have new energy to complete the extra steps based on what a quantum leap in quality your templates provided. I have done extensive tweaking and gotten some great results but I was not able to eliminate some type of visual artifact (at all bit rates) until your templates.

If only there was something like TMPGEnc Calc that could quickly read a file and provide an accurate assesment of the final size based on different CQ settings.

One thing at a time.

THANKS FOR THE HARD WORK. I will be surprised if TMPGEnc does not strart sending you checks. You made an adequate product excellent.


Grantman

If you have a Dolby Prologic II receiver, it will sound very close to Dolby Digital
Just use the external encoder, SCMPX, and open the WAV with TMPEG. It can't be easier
You'll get way higher quality in your audio, and it will be as automatic as if you had used the internal TMPEG audio encode.

That will probably never happen , I wish it did
Thanks!

-kwag