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TMPGEnc Settings
I'm finally burning some TMPGEnc MPEG-2 into SVCD using the new Nero and they look really good. I haven't tried any menus yet but I am very happy to see some good results from my DV footage. I still think the venerable old TMPGEnc beta 12 is the most important step in the process, so to get to what I want to ask: With the good results I am getting, does anyone know if they could be even better if I apply some of the tweaks in TMPGEnc. I just loaded the SVCD presets and then didn't change anything. Does the Motion Search Estimate setting have any impact on the overall quality of the video if no real fast motion is involed and do settings like that high quality checkbox buried in the noise reduction menu have any impact? What about other tweaks? Thanks.
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Here are a few to get you started;
1. "Settings/Video/Motion Search Precision". This helps reduce artifacts caused by fast motion or sudden brightness changes in the source. The "Highest Quality" setting may sound tempting, but "High Quality" gives nearly as good results with faster rendering.
2. "Settings/Quantize Matrix/Soften Block Noise". This blurs the video somewhat, but can be used to mute persistant block artifacts.
3. "Settings/Advanced/Source Range". This allows you to set mark-in & mark-out for a given source for trimming purposes.
4. "Settings/Advanced/Ghost Reduction". This minimizes ghost artifacts in TV captures. Most useful with antenna reception.
5. "Settings/Advanced/Noise Reduction". Like it says: if there are problems in the source that cause noise this can be used to mute it. The "High Quality" mode does a better job, but lengthens the render.
6. Settings/Advanced/Custom Color Correction". This allows you to correct color problems in the source footage. Many cams have a color cast in their captures, even DV's. You can determine the color of the cast by shooting a photographers white balance card in daylight. There is also a "Basic Color Correction" option with more basic settings.
7. Settings/Advanced/Clip Frame". Cropping tool. Handy for cards that capture a black border on the left of the frame.
8. "Settings/Video/Rate Control Mode/2-pass variable bitrate (VBR)". This varies the bitrate according to the sources requirements. By doing this you create much smaller files vs. a constant bitrate (CBR) or constant quality (CQ) mode.
To use it click the "Setting" button and set the Maximum about 2520 kbps for SVCD, 5000-7000 kbps for DVD. Set the Average at half that value. The Minimum should stay at 0. Set the Motion Search to "High Quality". Takes quite a while to render, but much smaller files.
9. While the "Settings/Video/DC component precision" setting for SVCD/DVD is set to 8 by default, this is not a requirement. Setting it to 9 or 10 will up the quality considerably.
To unlock this setting load the TMPGEnc profile of your choice (*.mcf file) into Notepad (yup, its a text file) and change the entry;
MPEG.Video.DC_prec_ReadOnly = True
to
MPEG.Video.DC_prec_ReadOnly = False
and save out the profile with a new name (ex: "DVD (NTSC-manual).mcf"). This new profile will allow you to set the DC component precision manually from the Settings/Video menu.
Dr. Mordrid
[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 10 June 2001).] -
Awsome, Dr Mordrid, and much Thanks for the good list. Your post gives me something printable I can use as a checklist for tweaking TMPGEnc. Isn't TMPGEnc a fantastic package for the price? Until a couple of days ago I didn't even know there were so many customizable variables of the basic options under the "advanced" tab. It keeps getting better and better.Comment
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Yes it does....
I'm working on a few more additions to the list. Same Bat-time....same Bat-channel.
BTW: I just found out that the original tip #9 didn't work in all versions of TMPGEnc plus it was too complex to implement all 3 settings.
What you can do though is set MPEG.Video.DC_prec_ReadOnly to False. This will permit you to set the DC value manually from the Settings/Video menu.
I'm changing the post to reflect this....
Dr. Mordrid
[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 10 June 2001).]Comment
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