Pulldown doesn't kick in when converting to VCD

[Osfer]

Hi everyone.

I've started converting my DVD collection to VCD to make proper use of the new hard disk I got. I started with season 1 of 24 (region 2 PAL version) and no problems there.
Next, I wanted to take a crack at Firefly (love that series) which is region 1 NTSC. Only now, after the video encoding phase is finished, the process halts and bbMPEG informs me that 'Pulldown_Encoded_Video_NTSC.mpv was not found'.
It is, indeed, nowhere to be found.

I'm using DVD2SVCD 1.2.1 build 3, with CinemaCraft encoder 2.50, although I've also tried TMPEGENC without success. Since I primarily set a number of DVD's up for ripping during the evening and then let the computer run at night (to get ten or twelve episodes transcoded while I'm sleeping).

I've never encountered this problem before, but then, thus far I've only ever used DVD2SVCD for SVCD's, not VCD's.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any help!

[r6d2]

Try setting NTSC Field Operation to Off and report back.

[Osfer]

You are a god made flesh.

It did the trick! I set NTSC Field Operation to Off and the encoding worked without a hitch!

Thanks a lot, man. Peace.

[r6d2]

You are welcome. Remember to load the VCD settings by selecting VCD output on the Misc Tab when going for VCD.

[Osfer]

Hmmm...

One small hitch: I encode to 'Anamorphic, no borders, encoded as 16:9) but the MPEGs produced are plain 4:3... Whereas the MPEGS I made of 24 *are* 16:9.

Is there something simple I'm missing? Or, also, is there any way I can remux a VCD MPEG from 4:3 to 16:9?

[r6d2]

Originally posted by Osfer
I encode to 'Anamorphic, no borders, encoded as 16:9) but the MPEGs produced are plain 4:3...
I doubt your standalone player will be able to use the Anamorphic flag on a VCD.
Or, also, is there any way I can remux a VCD MPEG from 4:3 to 16:9?
Nope. Just reencoding, but you'll face the same problem above. Only DVD output is "anamorphicable".

[Osfer]

I've downloaded and burned 16:9 VCD's in the past and they played just fine on my standalone player.

What strikes me as peculiar is that I've encoded several episodes of '24' as 16:9 VCD's successfully, but can't ge it to work here. Still, if you say it's ill advised, I'll just letterbox.

Thanks for your help!

[Osfer]

One more update for whoever's interested:

TMPEGEnc *did* produce 16:9 picture. Whaddya know :)

[r6d2]

BTW, what do you mean by 16:9? Just wondering... Aren't you confusing PAR with DAR?

[Osfer]

I don't know what PAR or DAR are, to be honest.

What I mean is that the MPEG is still 352x240/288, but is displayed 'squashed' the height reduced to fit the 16:9 format. This is advantageous over letterboxing because, as the picture is squashed, so too is the noise and blockiness.

When I play a VCD MPEG that I encoded in 16:9 either in Media Player or in a DVD player, the display aspect ratio (ah, so that's DAR!) automatically sets to 16:9.

[r6d2]

Originally posted by Osfer
I don't know what PAR or DAR are, to be honest.
Me neither. I hoped you'd clear that up for me. :D
What I mean is that the MPEG is still 352x240/288, but is displayed 'squashed' the height reduced to fit the 16:9 format.
That's great, congrats on a good player! That's very unusual.