Help using MainConcept 1.5 Encoder
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Attachment 37 Attachment 38 Attachment 39 Attachment 40 Audio output depends on what you want. If you're going to restore the audio (dehiss, denoise, etc), and it's suggested, then go for PCM(WAV) output. If you have perfect audio, such as from a direct television recording or DV tape, then go right for the output of MP2. If you do run with MP2, then 256k is a minimum for best quality, 384k is better, but no more. Most of my work is at 256kbps AC3 or 256kbps MP2. If you do WAV audio, then on that first screen choose ELEMENTARY output, video and audio. That will create a MPV(M2V) file, and a WAV file. Rename the MPV to M2V, if that's the extension it gives. I use so many programs, so many versions, that I forget some of these things. I just know to change it when I see it. So keep watch for that. Your video captures are likely to be TOP FIELD, not bottom (the default as chosen by the software, most of the time). On a 352x480 VBR encode, 1000kbps is the minimum. For 704x480 or 720x480, you'd have used 2000kbps minimum. In this example, I put 5000k as a maximum. Either that or 4500k will be about the same. It really depends on the noise/detail of the source being encoded, to be fully honest. Although the Hauppauge PVR250 card can capture 352x480, it's so soft to almost be blurry sometimes. This is a much better method to get sharp 352x480 videos, using MainConcept. If you ever want to restore the video in VirtualDub first, know that it's possible to frameserve VirtualDub output directly into MainConcept, as long as AviSynth 2.5 is installed on the system. Your VirtualDub frameserve VDR is simply named filename.avs (note:.avs) and then MainConcept will open it fine. This is one of my most common software restoration methods, for medium-level software restoring needs (grain reduction, masking overscan, etc). |
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Let's try those images again. PNG and GIF like to shrink 50% automatically for some reason. Hmm... JPEG seems to be fine:
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Why encode? It's a 3-part answer: 1. You want the most video as possible on a single disc, and you want good quality. Your source is VHS. This adds up to using 352x480 resolution, with adequate bitrates. 2. Hauppauge makes a great card, hardware MPEG encoding, in-sync audio, good quality, etc. But the 352x480 resolution is really soft on this specific card, as I mentioned in above posts. I don't mean nitpick soft, but really visibly soft. Excessively so. It does best at full resolution of 720x480, so we'll capture that way. To avoid losing quality from later re-encode, we'll use a really high max bitrate. If the option is there to do I-frame only capture, do that too. 3. Okay, so you have a 720x480 MPEG-2 with really high bitrate outside the DVD-Video spec, and you wanted 352x480 anyway. But you want it sharp and as good a quality as can be done with reasonable time and budget. We have to re-encode to the better quality. And MainConcept 1.5 is one of the best encoders there is. That's why. |
I encoded my first video last night, and it took 9 hrs for a 3 hour video. Is that normal?
After it was done, I brought it to DVDLab Pro to make it, and it was still too big, it ended up being like 5.07 GB which wouldn't fit in the allowed 4.7. There's nothing that I can cut off the video from either the start or end, so what do I do now? |
Is the audio still a WAV file? You need to use a compressed audio file on the final DVD. It needs to be 256-384k MP2 or AC3. WAV is too big.
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Yeah, I assume it is? I didn't do anything to change it. It is 256..what do I do to change it? Do I need to use another program?
"If you do WAV audio, then on that first screen choose ELEMENTARY output, video and audio. That will create a MPV(M2V) file, and a WAV file. Rename the MPV to M2V, if that's the extension it gives. I use so many programs, so many versions, that I forget some of these things. I just know to change it when I see it. So keep watch for that." Is this where I'd change the audio, on the first screen of MainConcept? Make it "Elemen Video & Audio"? There's no place for me to change the MPV to M2V as stated above, I'm not sure where to do that at. My video, audio and output boxes all the say the same thing.. C:MyVideos\(video name).mpg it says that in the video source, audio source and output says C:\MyVideos\(video name 1) Is that also why it took so long to encode? |
Your computer is, like some of mine, from an older generation of machines, and they take longer to crunch video. Video is a demanding task on a CPU, and does take a while.
To speed up video encoding, do these:
Coming off VHS sources, you really need to clean up your audio before committing it to disc. Don't just fix the video, learn to fix the audio too. You'll have to do that while the audio is a WAV, before it's compressed to the final format for disc. After the audio is cleaned (dehiss, etc), then you'll need another piece of software to encode to MP2 or AC3. Don't worry, great freeware can do this minor task. BeLight is a good choice. It's available at http://coreforge.org/projects/belight -- all you have to do is install it (plus BeSweet) and encode to AC3. If you need the ac3enc.dll file, let me know. Some versions stopped carrying that DLL for AC3 encoding, not sure why. How big is the DVD, if you only added video and not audio to the DVD-Lab project? |
So, do I have to change the audio to AC3 before I encode? You said after the audio is cleaned (dehiss) what do you mean by that? Is Dehiss an actual program? Should I use that first, and get the BeLight?
I added both the video and what was there for the audio, it was 5.07 GB I'll be honest, I'm COMPLETELY lost and confused with the audio. I've never done anything with changing audio and I don't have a clue where to even start..so I'll pretty much need to be guided step by step..all of this has kinda been a big learning process to me and you guys are kinda teaching me everything step by step. I'm almost there, but I think the audio thing will be a big step. I'll need to know the programs to use...how to use them..kinda like how Smurf did those pics for me about MC, that taught me a lot, so if someone can do that with the audio that would be awesome. Will changing it some effect how it sounds on the DVD at all? |
No.
Your capture file is
MainConcept converts the video to:
Look at your video file that was encoded.
Let's get past this part first, worry about audio next. |
Well, there's 3 of them listed with the name that I saw MC gave it after it was done encoding. By that I mean, I originally named my video after I was done capturing and when MC was done it put a number 1 after the video name. For example, say I originally named it wrestling and MC renamed it wrestling1. It has that file name for all 3 of them.
There is one there that says "video name.MPV", and when I right click on it, it says opens with Unknown application with a "change" button next to that, and that one is 4.23 GB. As far as the other 2 goes... one is 317 MB, type of file: Movie Clip, opens with Windows Media Player The other one, 4.60 GB...Movie Clip, also opens with Windows Media Player The last 2 that I just named has a picture of like a little movie clip and says MPEG on it, and the MPV one doesn't have a picture of that, it has a picture that looks like a browser with 6 icons on it. I have that folder set to display as thumbnails, so that's why it has those pictures if you're unsure of what I mean by that. I didn't realize there was 3 videos for it now. I don't know what one to use now. Is that normal for it to have 3 videos after it's done encoding? Before I encoded I only had 1, which was the video that I captured. |
Now I don't understand.
You can't name all of the files the same name. It appears you tried to put the new file, with the same name, in the same directory with the source. i.e. captured file is "wrestling.mpg" new file cannot be "wrestling.mpg" in the same folder MainConcept adds a number to the end, to name it something different Your video, audio and menus must clock in at 4.37GB or less. Your video is too big. You'll need to re-encode the video with lower values, about 3200k avg, 1000k min, 4000k max, to fit 3 hours on one disc. You need to install VLC media player from http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html and install GSpot 2.5 from http://www.headbands.com/gspot/gspot252dl.html VLC will be your MPEG-2 player, GSpot will help you identify file types, codecs used, and how the system can play it. These may come in helpful as time goes by. I have no idea what your files are. You'll need to watch them in VLC and see what's there. Maybe you made a mistake, and encoded several files? I have no idea. Your workflow needs to look like this:
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When I encoded the first video what I did was open the video in MC, and it listed the same file name in all 3 spots, video, audio and output, and once it was done encoding, those 3 files appeared...
Maybe that problem happened because of that? Can you tell me what I should put in those spots when I open my video in MC? The ones I'm talking about is in your picture I think it said F: in all 3 of them..that's the spot I'm talking about. Should I have a different file name in each one of those? Here's what it says in MC when I open a new video in it... Video Source - C:\MyVideos\insurex.mpg Audio Source - C:\MyVideos\insurex.mpg Output Source - C:\MyVideos\insurex Note: This is a different video then the first one that I encoded, but it had the same thing listed for the other video in these spaces. I went to video source in MC, selected the video, and it appeared like this by default in these 3 boxes.. It did take 9 hrs to encode a 3 hr video, is that normal? I'm still stuck on step 3 in my workflow. I've never done steps 4 & 5 that you listed, so after we get this problem figured out, we'll have to move to those steps :) |
The audio and video input should be the same, as audio and video is coming from the same file.
The output needed to be renamed to something else, as you cannot name the output file the same name as the input file IF you are saving to the same folder. You just type in the new name of the file in that box. Refer back to the images in the first or second post of this thread. The STREAM TYPE shown there is not what you want. It shows PROGRAM Audio+Video. That was initially explained as a "what if" change, but the above workflow makes it a mandatory change. The Stream Type needs to be ELEMENTARY audio+video. Your audio type, chosen in a later screen, needs to be set to WAV (PCM) output. For a machine your age to take 9 hours to encode is more or less typical, yes. Considering the input size, output size, CPU speed, etc -- from 5-10 hours may be typical. Set up one encode each night before going to bed, let it run overnight. Encoding video is a multi-hour task. |
So do you think because the output source was named the same as the other ones, that's the reason why it added 3 video files?
It's not letting me save it in a different folder. The two choices that I can save it as are "All files" and "mpeg". Which one should I pick? I was assuming it was mpeg, but it doesn't let me save it no matter what I put it in. I click browse, go to a folder somewhere, like in My Documents for example, double click a folder, then when I click save it doesn't do anything. I even tried to create a folder to put it in, and it won't let me do that either. I think maybe because the name space is blank, but I don't have anything to save..does that make sense? Should it still start off as C:\MyVideos\ ? in the output source? Should I put something like C:\MyVideos\insurex2 or something like that? Can you give me an example of what I should type there? Also, should I still lower the bitrate in MC? "The Stream Type needs to be ELEMENTARY audio+video. Your audio type, chosen in a later screen, needs to be set to WAV (PCM) output." For this, do I go to the audio tab, and in the drop down box do I select PCM? The was no WAV choice, just PCM. Also, on the first screen, does the Audio Mode still stay as Layer 2? Update - I encoded a video last night with the settings that you told me to use. I lowered the bitrate, and made the audio Layer 2, went to the audio tab and in the drop down selected PCM. For the output source I made it C:\MyVideos\insurexxtion and when it was done encoding here are the files for it..insurex (name of the video that i captured, i named it that), insurexxtion (what i re-named it in the output source), and insurexxtion.mpv All that I did to encode was select the single video file that I had after I captured which was insurex, that is what was in the video & audio source spaces. |
MP2 = MPEG Layer II audio
PCM = WAV MPV and M2V are the same thing here, a video-only MPEG file. Remember this anytime there talk about M2V elementary video streams. |
This might sound mean, but it's just straight-forward answers. Read carefully, and remember I'm doing my best to help you.
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video (elementary)
audio (elementary)
audio+video (muxed/multiplexed)
MC has three windows
If you opt for elementary streams, it outputs TWO new files, using same output name, but different extension, one for audio, one for video. I don't know how WinTV names files off the top of my head. ATI MMC arbitrarily named the files something semi-stupid, based on the time the capture started ("1259pm.mpg"), or the name of the input connection ("s-video.mpg") -- or something to that extent. Rename these, don't let software tell you what to do. Rename your videos something intelligent, like "My Source Tape 1.mpg". You'll edit out crap in an MPEG editor, be it commercials, junk before the recording, or junk after the recording ended. Don't try to "time it" when you capture, that's silly. Record too much before and after, then go back and precisely cut out what you don't want. You'll use MPEG editor software here, such as Womble MPEG Video Wizard. Name this file something like "My Source Tape 1 Edited.mpg" This is the file you import into MainConcept, not the raw capture. And then name your new OUTPUT file, in MainConcept, something like "My Encoded Video from Tape 1" and then it will add it's own extensions as needed (MPG, MPV, MPA, etc). Quote:
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Thanks for the advice. I'll try it all and let you know what happens. After reading this, I took your advice and purchased Womble MPEG Video Wizard. Can you tell me how I'd use it for my specific task of removing unwanted stuff? I'm guessing that's all that I'll need it for.
I also downloaded Diskeeper. Should I leave it on Automatic Defrag at all times, even when I'm capturing, encoding and doing all other video tasks? "For the purpose of this discussion WAV=PCM, same difference. You don't want MPEG Layer II, no, not from MainConcept, that won't work" When I change the audio to PCM in MainConcept, it automatically changes the "Audio Mode" on the main screen to LPCM Is that correct? Stream Type is still Elemen. Video and Audio. |
Your questions will be answered next.
Sit tight while we get you the good stuff! Thanks.. |
Thanks a lot :)
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LPCM = PCM = WAV, for purpose of this discussion.
Run Diskeeper when needed, I would not let it auto-defrag one you've let it fully defrag itself. Run it during your "off" times (overnight during middle of week?) to keep the disk healthy. Don't dare let it run while capturing, all hell could break loose. I'll write a Womble MPEG Video Wizard guide too, this weekend, along with the BeLight/BeSweet and others you'll need. |
Great, thanks a lot. I very much look forward to it. :)
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To possibly put an end to this post once and for all, here are my settings in MainConcept. Please tell me if they are all right, or if I need to change anything. These are settings for a 3 hour video.
Video & Audio Source - Same File (Named the same in both boxes) Output Source - Different File Name (ex. video name-Encoded, no extension after) Output Format - MPEG Type - MPEG 2 Stream Type - Elementary Video & Audio Video Mode - NTSC Audio Mode - LPCM Detailed Settings - Width - 352 Height - 480 Frame Rate - 29.97 Field Encoding - Top Field First Check mark next to Keep Proportions Check mark next to 2 Pass Encoding Advanced MPEG Settings - Frame Rate - 29.97 fps- NTSC, Non Drop Frame Rate Aspect Ratio - 4:3 Display Bitrate Type - Variable Bitrate Rate Mode Control - Mode 1 Variable Bitrate - 3200 avg, 4000 max, 1000 min. Audio Settings - PCM Is this all correct, or should I change something? I just encoded a video, and when it was done MC added the extension .pcm for the audio. Is that ok? Thanks. |
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So..... This should all look good, video-wise. And the audio is now in an edit-friendly format for the next stages of the workflow, the audio restoration (de-hiss, de-noise, de-hum, de-buzz, etc). I'll assume this concludes this topic, we'll move on to some of the others you've got going on. |
If I change the audio to PCM in the audio tab, it changes it automatically from Wave to LPCM..and when I change it to Wave in the audio mode box, it automatically changes it to MPEG-Layer 2 in the audio tab..
So in other words... If I select to LPCM, I have to have PCM in the audio tab. If I select Wave, I have to have MPEG-Layer 2 in the audio tab. I think this is the 3rd different instruction I've had for what to put in the audio mode, all 3 have been different choices. First it was Layer 2, then it was LPCM, now it's Wave. I'm starting to get kinda confused with it... Which one do I use? Thanks |
In MainConcept v1.4 (the one installed on this system I'm using right this moment), I can set Wave output in the main program GUI, and then PCM formatting on the audio settings tab. So I don't know, that's weird. Not to be redundant, but are you sure?
If MC 1.5 wants to be a pest, we can always skip MC's source>WAV conversion, and do it manually in another program. BeLight/Besweet would work here too. It can go to WAV just as easily as it can go FROM wav. Then all you'd have to do is encode to an elementary video file, no audio required out of MC. Try again, see if you can set WAVE, then go change it to PCM/LPCM in the audio settings tab. |
I just tried again, and it's doing the same thing. When I select Wave, it automatically changes it to MPEG-Layer 2 still.
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Yeah, I get that. It happens to me too.
But can you not change it from MPEG Layer II to PCM? I can do that too. Therefore I get Wave PCM audio. The settings are partially independent of one another, not tied. |
Everytime I change it to PCM, it goes back to LPCM..I'm not sure why..
And everytime I change it to Wave, it goes back to MPEG-Layer 2 I've tried it with 2 different videos, and it does that same thing on them both. |
Weird.
It's not worth fighting. Encode video only, elementary stream, forget the audio. We'll do all audio in BeLight/Besweet or Goldwave. Don't throw away your EDITED source video (the one after the Womble edit). We'll demux from it. |
Ok, I'll redo the videos that I encoded already with the previous audio settings (LPCM, and PCM)..
So, I just bring the source video into the video box, leave audio empty and put something in the output box like I've been doing? You said elementary stream, is that elementary video, or elementary audio? I've been using Elementary Video & Audio on the 3 I already encoded.. I won't be using Womble for these 3 videos that I already encoded that I have to redo because I don't need to edit out anything.. |
If you already encoded some videos, and the video is good, then don't worry about redoing the encode. We can just demux the video, save the M2V, and discard the muxed MPEG file.
Then go back to the captured source where nothing needs to be edited out, and demux the audio there, and then work with it from there. Yeah, it is as easy as it looks. Video is just video, audio is just audio, audio+video is audio+video. So you'd just select the video option, it won't output any audio file. It will ignore the audio. |
When I go to author my video, will I be putting the edited video from Womble into DVD-Lab, or will I be putting the encoded one from MC into DVD-Lab?
Also, when I encode, I encode the edited video from Womble and not the original capture...right? |
Remember your workflow, follow the logic...
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352x480 @ 5,000kbps CBR (not VBR). |
What do you think I should split it up into? 1 hrs and 45 min each maybe?
So for in MainConcept, I should use CBR 5,000 for avg or max? what should I use in the other 2 ...if 5000 is avg, what do I put in Max and Min? If 5000 is max, what do I put in avg & min? Should I use the same capture settings that I've been using in WinTV for 3 hr videos? I'm currently using Constant, 15000 bitrate, 720x480 |
No more than 2 hours per "half". It does not matter than exact number, just anywhere in that range would be fine.
CBR does not have min/max/avg -- it's s single bitrate, not variable. Set CBR to 5000kbps (5.0Mbps) and that's all it is. |
Ok, I'll set it to CBR at 5000 in MC.
For WinTV 32, should I use the same capture settings that I've been using in WinTV for 3 hr videos? I'm currently using Constant, 15000 bitrate, 720x480 |
Leave WinTV settings alone, they're fine as is.
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now that I'm only encoding the video, do I keep the same settings in MC?
This is what I'm using - 2 Pass Encoding Top Field First 352x480 Frame Rate - 29.97 fps NTSC Non Drop Frame Rate Should I keep all of these? |
Yes, use those settings.
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