Guys just so that i know i am doing this correctly I have encoded an mpeg 2 file with separate audio and picture files (mv2 and mp2) using tmpgenc 2.5 and it has taken 13 hours to do the encoding, is this normal for a laptop with the following specs. Intel P4 1.7ghz processor, 256DDR ram. I have turned off the show preview, and selected the option in tmpgenc that says use all the cpu. My main question is basically is if it is taking 13 hours to encode is that o.k. with the spec of my p.c or am i doing something wrong and could speed up the process of encoding faster. The motion precise option i am using is normal.

You forgot a lot of information needed to answer your question. Please fill this and perhaps we will answer :

http://www.kvcd.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8753

thanks for that dialhot i wasn't sure what details were needed anyway here are the details:
Video details:
Codec = XVID
Non - Interlaced
FPS = 29.97 NTSC
Resolution = 640 x 272
Audio = AC3 384 KBPS 5 channel CBR
Bitrate of movie = 1238 KBS

Intended format:
DVD MPEG2 consisting of mp2 and mv2 files
Framerate = 29.97 DVD NTSC
Audio: AC3 384 kbs 48hz
Going to be encoded using tmpgenc 2.5 and authored using dvd author.
I hope these details are right and in my 1st post i have posted how long it is taking me is this normal or can i speed it up?

SOURCE:

- Filetype (divx/xvid/mpeg/mjpg - so what says Gspot??) ? : XVID
- interlaced(means combing on fast moving scenes) or not interlaced ? : NON interlace
- Framerate (29.97, 23.976, 25.000) ? : 29.97
- Resolution ? : 640 x 272
- Audiosamplerate (44.1 khz, 48 khz)? : 44100
- Audio Type (AC3, mp3, mp2) ?: AC3
- Is Audio VBR or CBR ? CBR
(some answers you get if using Gspot on the source!)


DESTINATION:

- KVCD, K(S)VCD or KDVD ?: DVD
- Mode (mpeg1 or mpeg2) ?: Mpeg2
- Framerate (29.97, 23.976, 25.000) ? : 29.97
- Resolution ? 740 X 256 i think that is dvd ntsc fps.
- Audiosamplerate (44.1 khz or 48 khz) ? : 48000
- Audio Enc Type (mp2, AC3) ?: ac3
- Encoding Appl. (CCE or TmpgEnc) ?: tmpgenc
- muxing Appl. (TmpgEnc, BBmpeg, etc.) ?: tmpgenc
- Authoring Appl. (Vcdeasy, VCDgear, Nero) ?: dvd author
- Burning Appl. (Vcdeasy, Nero, etc.) ?: nero

740*256 has nothing to do with a DVD resolution but it's not a problem, you have DVD as target, that enought : yes 13h is normal.

You can faster a little the things by :
- using "Motion Estimate" as precision method
- configure you Xvid codec to uncheck all postprocessing and use "force YV12" as output colorspace
- ask to tmpgenc to not use windows memory cache (see in environnemental settings) <-- this has ti be tested, it depends on the PC and a lot of things.
- using an avisynth script, even with no filters but just to do the resizing. Tmgpenc is definitely not the tool to use for that.

Note: you have ac3 44.1khz in the source ??? And 29.970 non interlaced ? The guy that did this is a complete nut

sorry forget file size which is 1.4gb.

That is the movie lenght that is needed, not the file size.

13h to encode a 20 min clip is too long. 13h to encode a 2h30 movie is fast. You understand ?

sorry movie run time was 2 hours so i am assuming 13 hours to encode is normal then.

yes it is.

For further request, we use to speak about encoding speed relative to playback speed: at 0.5x it takes you twice the time to encode than to play the movie. This way it's easier