tmpgenc - interlaced or non interlace...

[Hpar_]

I read somewhere almost all source is interlaced so do I select interlaced or non interlaced when compressing for vcd and svcd using tmpgenc2.50? what is best for mpeg2 settings?
I captured my source from satilite via svideo and I want to use CBR 2600 mpeg2 480x480. its a live music concert, and I want to watch it on pc and tv, still maintaining compatibility with the standalone dvd player. how do I get lame.exe to work for external encoders? I tried it already and it gives an error so I dont know what to think.

thankyou.

[zeb7]

Hi , we can help you more effectively if would answer a few questions.
What Capture card are you using ?
What tv standard are you capturing in ? ( NTSC in the U.S. )
Because these will effect you're settings in TMPGenc.
Also do you have access to a DVD player (to test the SVCD)

-

As you know the highest quality you could hope to create would be DVD
as you may not have a DVD recorder ,the next step down would be .
Divx (this is not a safe option because hardware players are not out yet.)
S-VCD ( i've had great results , and i believe lots of other's have in this forum )
VCD ( if you're capture card can not capture above 352x240 this would be the best )

As for lame.exe , that's not worth playing with until you have made a few S-VCD's
> live music concert
Well a live concert's are usually long 2hrs maybe? a lot more , S-VCD's weakest point
is play time , on a 80min CD you can approach DVD quality with a playtime of 35mins
and for quality comparable to bad VHS long play about 1hr

zeb

[Hpar_]

oh man, sorry about not posting system specifications. here is the sys config:

os: win98se
mainboard: abit kt7a, 1.4tbird, 512sdram
video: marvel g400tv
scsi: symbios pci wide scsi
harddisks: two wide scsi 7200rpm or better
cdrom drives: two plexwriter 4/12 burners
sound: turtlebeach santacruz

I live in america so NTSC is the standard.

I was interested in divx but, can that play back on a p350 w/128megs of ram?

thanks again.

[zeb7]

> do I select interlaced or non interlaced when compressing for vcd and svcd using tmpgenc2.50?
that depend on which page you mean (Video or Advanced tab)
on the video tab (page1) it asking "what type of AVI are you loading in"
on the advanced tab (page2) it asking "what type of MPEG2 file should i make"

So if you want to make a VCD and you load in a 352x240
set to Progressive/ non interlaced.

If you want to make a S-VCD set to interlaced.

>what is best for mpeg2 settings?
use the ready made templates in the program
Start with CBR 2520 (when you become more advanced , use the 2Pass mode)

>I was interested in divx but, can that play back on a p350 w/128megs of ram?
check out the Xcard http://www.sigmadesigns.com/

I have a G400tv also it make's creation of S-VCD's a little more complex ,but the resulting picture quality is very good.
Here's how i would do a svcd.
( my matrox driver's are video tools ver1.55 / VIA mb 4in1 version 4.37
not the latest , but i am fairy up to date )

Set the desktop to 16bit colour (less dropped frames)

Capturing in AVI_IO; http://www.nct.ch/multimedia/avi_io/
goto the setting add you're capture drives , it all should be simple
16bit 44.khz Audio / 704x480 MJPG / 29.97 FPS


You will now have lots of AVI files named like this;
capture.00.avi
capture.01.avi
capture.02.avi

Now load "capture.00.avi"in to VirtuaDub all the other files should load automatically
goto filters add/resize , set to 464x480 , check the interlaced box
check the add boarders box set to 480x480
add "TV"filter set to 3x3

you can now either save the AVI using losses code like Huffy if you're doing a 3min music video
or if you have no more disk space left or 2hrs of video you should use the frameserver on the file
menu (you need to apply the proxyON.reg patch in the virtualDub folder)
save with the name svcd.avi
run TMPGEnc set the options/environmental settings/VFAPI plugin/ AVI VFW compatibility to highest Priority
load the SVCD NTSC template
load the svcd.avi
(in the Settings at the bottom of the screen )set to interlaced / Field order B (see note below on field order)
on Page 1 and 2 of the setting window.

Encode


It seems TMPGEnc may have set the field order around , the problem is you will not
know its wrong until you play the SVCD on a DVD player, if motion scenes are jerky
then the field order needs to be set the other way (the last time i checked it was Field B)
check this thread out ;

http://forums.murc.ws/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31768

BTW ; the reason you need to resize 704 to 464 then add 16pixels of black boaders is so that
the picture keep corect aspect ratio (people will look fatter if you don't do this)
it's ok the resize 720 to 480 , but the matrox captures at 704.

zeb,

[Hpar_]

hmmm, what if I capture at 352x480? is that a good idea or...?

and what would the resize inputs be if at 352x480vs704x480?

I have made svcd's before that didnt really come out so good in quality since I did not know how to resize or all that but my standalone player plays them.

its a raite avphile715 with the origional bios.

[zeb7]

> hmmm, what if I capture at 352x480? is that a good idea or...?

Yeah you can capture at 352x480 or 704x480 and resize to 352x480 for better
quality especially if capturing from old vhs tape

Although the S-VCD standard spec are only 480x480 NTSC
with video bitrate variable up to 2600kbs and audio up to 384kbs

Anything different ,it must be called XS-VCD
not all DVD players can play XVCD/XS-VCD
Goto http://www.vcdhelp.com/
for a list of players.

> what would the resize inputs be if at 352x480vs704x480?
If the source is the Matrox 704x480 mjpg , it will need the16pixel boarder correction if you're sizing to 480x480
If the source is 720x480 (none matrox) you don't need to add any 16pixel boarder's when sizing to 480x480
If the source is 352x480 you can make a 352x480 mpeg2 ( XS-VCD)
If the source is 704x480 you can make a 704x480 mpeg2 ( XS-VCD)

--
I have made XS-VCD's with 352x480 resolution and the smaller size helps to fit 90mins on the CD
but the video quality of 352x480 is blurred when compered to VHS video recordings .
480x480 is like highend VHS/lowend s-VHS
704x480 & 720x480 XS-VCD's are as good as DVD but you will only fit 25mins on a CD

> I have made svcd's before that didn't really come out so good in quality
What was wrong with the picture ?
Jerky motion ? ----- Change the field order
Blocky motion ? ---- Set encoder to highest Quality or increase Bitrate
Audio going out of sync --- Video bitrate to high or to low (the LSX encoder go's higher than the MAX bitrate)
or the audio and video have not been multiplex properly (TMPGEnc has a good multiplexing)
The Safest option is to use the templates in TMPGEnc.

As for Audio quality, TMPGEnc encoder is fine , no need to add the "toolame.exe" encoder
I mostly encode at 160k/192k and only goto 224k if needed or when there's enough space left on the CD.

And dont think ,of adding MP3 audio (About 1% of DVD player's will play it in sync with the video)

Hope some of this help's
zeb

[Hpar_]

this resizing thing in vdub has got me thrown off. I did what you said about resizing an 11min clip captured at 704x480 but I canceled out since the file size is going to be 10 times larger or whatever and its taking so long to do it. I dont understand. why does vdub make your files many times larger when using full process mode? and of course, "direct stream copy" really just copies the video data with no processing. I guess I need to get this frame server thing setup and, I need a larger hd.

btw, about hds, I fould 36.4gig scsi drives for 134$. what about the latest crop of ide drives? I mean, the 120gig ata100 drives? or is that not a good thing to even think about? a hd recommendation is in order now I think.

so far, I am impressed with the simplicity and compatibility of mpeg1. all I really want to do is capture and compress. the extra steps for mpeg2 make it really not worth it at all for me. someone should develop a method or program or whatever that does all this without the problems. I think its called a "mac" :P

also, I have been compressing the audio to 224bit because this is music stuff I am working with.

you asked what was wrong with the svcd playback I have created in the past? its got blockyness and lots of screen noise. do I have to run the video through a filter to clean it up or what filter/method is best?

oh, I almost forgot, I tried capturing with the new virtual dub and it works ok but it drops about 1 frame per minute. about avi_io, I tried both the trial 3.24 version and the 3.20 cracked version. both dont do the right job. they just stop recording when they get to the 3rd file. you know, if matrox got the drivers correct to begin with, mjpeg capture drivers etc, the dropped frames would not be an issue at all. on a linux platform, non of this is an issue regarding file size limitations and the like.

tmpgenc2.50 will not allow me to set quality past 50 in the "video stream setting" tab which makes me wonder, is it a bug? again?

thanks.