cinema craft encoder, i thought it was fast?

[rcflyers]

I have been using dvd2svcd for a while with tmpeg as the encoder with good results but decided to try it with the cinema craft encoder SP version 2.50.01.00. When it got to the cce part, it did do its job in about 1 hour 30 mins, i thought great!! Then it started another process, which took a further 6 hours 30 mins. Also the first part of the CCE program appeared to crash and lurked around in the background. Then the second part (6 h 30 min part) crashed just before it finished.
My pc is an athlon XP1800+ with 256Mb DDR Ram, 2 x 20GB hdd's and runs windows 98SE.
Anyone know whats going on please?

[rcflyers]

p.s. screenshot here

http://www.lightningeng.fsnet.co.uk/cce.htm

[winxi]

Hello!
CCE is indeed much faster and will bring you much better results than TMPGEnc. In the first part you described (1 hour and 30 minutes) CCE was creating the vaf - file (video information). In the second part (6 hours and 30 minutes) it goes through the passes (I guess you have chosen 4 passes). So, if you choose 2 passes it will take around 3 hours for the second part and 4 hours and 30 minutes for the whole process. If you compare this time to a 2 - pass TMPGEnc - encode, you see, that its really much faster.
So, everything you described is normal, except the freezing before finishing. But this is a very old issue. Try a search on cce freezing and you will find tons of solutions to this problem. For me for example it was a help to increase the difference of avg bitrate and max bitrate to a minimum of 200 kbps, also try safemode. If nothing helps, you have to turn back to TMPGEnc.

greetings, winxi

[ux-3]

Depending on your filters and deinterlacing routines, your speed could go up to 1.3 instead of 0.8.
From what you show, you are using a 4-pass. Obviously, this is no base for comparison.
Do not overclock you PC and check your memory with a tool. If I OC mine, CCE is among the first things to fail.

[markrb]

1st watch the extra characters in your title, it's against forum rules.

Second try the search and search for a thread called CCE speed. It's old and has some misleading info, but it will show that your speed is good.

Fast is a relative term. If you are encoding a music file to mp3, it's maybe three minutes long and audio only. So that can be done in a minute or two.
Movies are much longer and video is much more complex.

It's like comparing the speed of a jet plane to a cargo ship. You can't they are different. Even a slow plane will beat a fast cargo ship.

You can figure out the approximate CCE speed by doing a small math formula.
This is for multi-pass VBR only.

Take the speed rating and divide that by the length of the movie, then multiply that by the number of passes you set plus 1 for the Vaf file.
So for a 120 minute movie on CCE doing 1.2 and 3 pass it will roughly be.

OPPS I screwed up this is wrong120*1.2*(3+1)=576 minutes or 9.6 hours

This is the right formula
120/1.2*(3+1)=400 minutes or 6.66 hours.

Speed varies so this is just an approximation.

Have you read the Quick guide and FAQ or the Q+A yet?
I think this is explained in there.

Mark

[rcflyers]

sorry, i don't understand, "extra characters in my title"
thanks for the replies too!

[UltimateDBZ]

http://forum.doom9.org/forum-rules.htm <-- Read up, especially rule #9.

[markrb]

??? is against the rules in a title. Just use a single ?

Mark

[rcflyers]

sorry guys, anyway, dvd2svcd seemed to work ok second time, here is the log, does everythink look ok?
--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 10:01:16 AM
- DVD to SVCD Conversion
- DVD2SVCD ver. 1.0.9 build 3
--------------------------------------------------------
Initializing
Initializing finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 10:01:18 AM
- Free on drive C: 18511.97 mb
- Internal rip
--------------------------------------------------------
Preparing vobfiles to be ripped:
- E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_1.vob
- E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_2.vob
- E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_3.vob
- E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_4.vob

Ripping: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_1.vob
Ripping: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_2.vob
Ripping: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_3.vob
Ripping: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_4.vob
Ripping finished. Speed: 2707

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 10:26:06 AM
- DVD2AVI
--------------------------------------------------------
Creating DVD2AVI INI file:
- C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\DVD2AVI\DVD2AVI.INI

Variable settings:
iDCT_Algorithm: 32-bit SSE MMX

Executing DVD2AVI.
Executing DVD2AVI. Commandline:
"C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\DVD2AVI\DVD2AVI.exe" -CS=2 -YR=1 -EXIT -OF=[C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\DVD2AVI_Project_file] -IF=[C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\VTS_02_1.vob,C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\VTS_02_2.vob,C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\VTS_02_3.vob,C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\VTS_02_4.vob]
Framerate: 25000
DVD2AVI processing done.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 10:36:20 AM
- Free on drive C: 14587.34 mb
- AUDIO Extraction
--------------------------------------------------------
Found AC3 stream id: 0x80
Filename: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\Extracted_audio_1.ac3
Audio1 delay: 0 ms
Audio extraction finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 10:48:45 AM
- Free on drive C: 14369.44 mb
- AUDIO conversion
--------------------------------------------------------

Converting Audio to MP2. Filename: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\Extracted_audio_1.ac3
Executing BeSweet. Commandline:
"C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\BeSweet\BeSweet.exe" -core( -input "C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\Extracted_audio_1.ac3" -output "C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP\KEVAND~1\Encoded_audio_1.mp2" -logfile "C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP\KEVAND~1\Encoded_audio_1.log" ) -azid( -L -3db -c normal -g max ) -2lame( -e -b 128 -m s )
Audio conversion of C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\Extracted_audio_1.ac3 finished.

Audio conversion finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 10:59:35 AM
- Free on drive C: 14296.77 mb
- Converting Pictures
--------------------------------------------------------
Converting: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\DefaultTitlepicture.bmp
Converting: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\DefaultChangeCD.bmp
Finished converting pictures
--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 10:59:43 AM
- Free on drive C: 14295.77 mb
- Video Encoding using Cinema Craft
--------------------------------------------------------

Executing Frameserver.
Closing program

Executing Cinema Craft Encoder.
StreamSectors: 1665085576
AudioSectors: 77300888
VideoPAPO: 24595632
ScanOffsetBytes: 142793
SeqAligningBytes: 9075276
DVDBytes: 0
VideoEndHeader: 8
SubtitleSectors: 0
EmptySectors: 238.00
PictureSectors: 600.00
PureMPEGStream: 1553970979.47
Seconds: 4766.76
CalcMPEGStream: 1553970979.47
Frames: 118994
CDSize: 800.00
Cut point 795.00
Variable Settings:
Frames: 118994
Anti Noise Filter: Off
Passes: 3
Image Quality: 17
VAF file creation: On
Video Encoding Mode: Multipass VBR
Min. bitrate: 300
Max. bitrate: 2530
Avg. Bitrate: 2230
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (borders added, encoded as 4:3)

---AVS Begin---
LoadPlugin("C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP\DVDTOO~1\DVD2SVCD\SIMPLE~1\SIMPLE~1.DLL")
LoadPlugin("C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP\DVDTOO~1\DVD2SVCD\MPEG2DEC\MPEG2DEC.DLL")
LoadPlugin("C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP\DVDTOO~1\DVD2SVCD\INVERS~1\DONALD~1\DECOMB.DLL")
mpeg2source("C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP\KEVAND~1\DVD2AV~1.D2V")
Telecide()
SimpleResize(480,432)
AddBorders(0,72,0,72)
----AVS End----

Closing program
CCE Max Speed: 0.710
Video Encoding finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 6:31:35 PM
- Free on drive C: 12789.45 mb
- Converting Pictures from ES to PS
--------------------------------------------------------
Saving bbMPEG settings: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\bbMPEG\default.ini

Executing RunbbMPEG. Commandline:
"C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\bbMPEG\RunbbMPEG.exe" "C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\TitlePicture.bmp.mpg"
--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 6:31:41 PM
- Free on drive C: 12789.38 mb
- Converting Pictures from ES to PS
--------------------------------------------------------
Saving bbMPEG settings: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\bbMPEG\default.ini

Executing RunbbMPEG. Commandline:
"C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\bbMPEG\RunbbMPEG.exe" "C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\ChangeCDPicture.bmp.mpg"
--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 6:31:44 PM
- Free on drive C: 12789.31 mb
- Multiplexing and cutting
--------------------------------------------------------
Saving bbMPEG settings: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\bbMPEG\default.ini
Offset in Seconds: 2
Executing bbMPEG.
Variable Settings:
Movie offset: 2 seconds
Cut point: 795 mb

Executing RunbbMPEG. Commandline:
"C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\bbMPEG\RunbbMPEG.exe" "C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\bbMPEG_Muxed_File.mpg"
Length of C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\bbMPEG_Muxed_File00.mpg
2788 Seconds
Offset in Seconds: 2790
Executing bbMPEG.
Variable Settings:
Movie offset: 2 seconds
Cut point: 795 mb

Executing RunbbMPEG. Commandline:
"C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\bbMPEG\RunbbMPEG.exe" "C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\bbMPEG_Muxed_File.mpg"
Multiplexing and cutting finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 6:53:11 PM
- Free on drive C: 11594.06 mb
- Determining length of audio
--------------------------------------------------------
Analyzing: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\bbMPEG_Muxed_File00.mpg
2790.096 seconds C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\bbMPEG_Muxed_File00.mpg
Analyzing: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\bbMPEG_Muxed_File01.mpg
1969.848 seconds C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\bbMPEG_Muxed_File01.mpg
Analyzing finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 6:56:31 PM
- Free on drive C: 11594.05 mb
- Creating CD-Images using VCDXBuild
--------------------------------------------------------
- No. of chapters to create: 13

CD image #1: CD_Image_File_CD1.bin

Executing VCDXBuild. Commandline:
"C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\VCDImager\vcdxbuild.exe" --verbose --cue-file="C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\CD_Image_File_CD1.cue" --bin-file="C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\CD_Image_File_CD1.bin" "C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\VCDXBuild_Script_1.xml"
--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 7:02:22 PM
- Free on drive C: 10787.77 mb
- Creating CD-Images using VCDXBuild
--------------------------------------------------------
- No. of chapters to create: 8

CD image #2: CD_Image_File_CD2.bin

Executing VCDXBuild. Commandline:
"C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\dvd tools\DVD2SVCD\VCDImager\vcdxbuild.exe" --verbose --cue-file="C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\CD_Image_File_CD2.cue" --bin-file="C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\CD_Image_File_CD2.bin" "C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\kev and perry\VCDXBuild_Script_2.xml"
CD-Image creation finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/17/02 7:06:37 PM
- Free on drive C: 10207.08 mb
- SVCD Creation finished!
--------------------------------------------------------

[markrb]

Two things I noticed right off.

1. You are using an old build. Upgrade to 1.10.1 and then get the 1a update. You need both. Make sure to un-install the old version before you install the new one.

2. You will want to raise your audio bitrate. 128 gives many DVD players fits. Personally I will not use anything below 192 myself and I can definately hear the difference. The few bits taken away from the video will not be noticable.

Personally I like the Image Quality Priority setting at 22 or so instead of the default 17, but this is completely up to your own eyes.

You may also want to reconsider your directory setup. Spaces and long directory names has been known to cause issues, although I think they have been fixed. Still I do all my encodes in short named directories right off the root of the drive.

Mark

[rcflyers]

I updated DVD2SVCD as per last instructions, gave the folders short names on the root directory, but last night the whole computer froze 2 hours into encoding, so no log file was available. anything else i should be checking out?
p.s. i used a 4 pass encode with safe mode switched off.
How does the image quality priority setting affect things?
p.p.s. my pc is not overclocked.

[markrb]

For those items use a search. Both have been heavily covered.

Mark

[rcflyers]

this happened today! pc crashed then froze, log below. being a newbie i appreciate the help you have given me.

WNASPI32.DLL 4.6.0.1021
--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/19/02 7:11:42 AM
- DVD to SVCD Conversion
- DVD2SVCD ver. 1.1.0 build 1a
--------------------------------------------------------
Initializing
Initializing finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/19/02 7:11:45 AM
- Free on drive C: 18532.25 mb
- Internal rip
--------------------------------------------------------
Preparing vobfiles to be ripped:
- E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_1.vob
- E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_2.vob
- E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_3.vob
- E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_4.voba
- E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_5.vob
- E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_6.vob

Ripping: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_1.vob
Ripping: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_2.vob
Ripping: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_3.vob
Ripping: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_4.vob
Ripping: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_5.vob
Ripping: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_6.vob
Ripping finished. Speed: 2703

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/19/02 7:47:58 AM
- DVD2AVI
--------------------------------------------------------
Creating DVD2AVI INI file:
- C:\dvdtools\DVD2SVCD\DVD2AVI\DVD2AVI.INI

Variable settings:
iDCT_Algorithm: 32-bit SSE MMX

Executing DVD2AVI.
Executing DVD2AVI. Commandline:
"C:\dvdtools\DVD2SVCD\DVD2AVI\DVD2AVI.exe" -CS=2 -YR=1 -EXIT -OF=[C:\sw2\DVD2AVI_Project_file] -IF=[C:\sw2\VTS_01_1.vob,C:\sw2\VTS_01_2.vob,C:\sw2\VTS_01_3.vob,C:\sw2\VTS_01_4.vob,C:\sw2\VTS_01_5.vob,C:\sw2\VTS_01_6.vob]
Framerate: 25000
DVD2AVI processing done.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/19/02 8:02:58 AM
- Free on drive C: 12793.73 mb
- AUDIO Extraction
--------------------------------------------------------
Found AC3 stream id: 0x80
Filename: C:\sw2\Extracted_audio_1.ac3
Audio1 delay: 0 ms
Audio extraction finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/19/02 8:21:13 AM
- Free on drive C: 12355.86 mb
- AUDIO conversion
--------------------------------------------------------

Encoding Audio. Filename: C:\sw2\Extracted_audio_1.ac3
Executing BeSweet. Commandline:
"C:\dvdtools\DVD2SVCD\BeSweet\BeSweet.exe" -core( -input "C:\sw2\Extracted_audio_1.ac3" -output "C:\SW2\Encoded_audio_1.mp2" -logfile "C:\SW2\Encoded_audio_1.log" ) -azid( -L -3db -c normal -s surround -g max ) -2lame( -e -b 192 -m s )
Audio conversion of C:\sw2\Extracted_audio_1.ac3 finished.

Audio conversion finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/19/02 8:41:34 AM
- Free on drive C: 12176.14 mb
- Converting Pictures
--------------------------------------------------------
Converting: C:\dvdtools\DVD2SVCD\DefaultTitlepicture.bmp
Converting: C:\dvdtools\DVD2SVCD\DefaultChangeCD.bmp
Finished converting pictures
--------------------------------------------------------
- 11/19/02 8:41:43 AM
- Free on drive C: 12175.14 mb
- Video Encoding using Cinema Craft
--------------------------------------------------------

Executing Frameserver.
Closing program

Executing Cinema Craft Encoder.
Failed to execute Cinema Craft Encoder properly. Invalid handle.
Error cannot find CCE project file.

[markrb]

What version of CCE are you using?

If you are using 2.62 then have you checked safe mode?

2.64 and 2.66 are not supported.

2.50 is the only fully supported version.

Mark

[rcflyers]

it is version SP 2.50.

i went back into dvd2svcd and clicked recover button and seems to be working now, will post log if it works ok
thanks again.

[markrb]

No reason to post the log if it works OK.
Try it again later and then if it happens again.
This is the time to post you log.

Mark

[rcflyers]

OK chaps,

I finally completed the conversion, the quality is superb from 3 passes - very pleased! but why have i got black borders top and bottom of my widescreen tv?
is there a setting i need to alter to get rid of these borders? thanks for all your help and advice.

[Tobytl]

Well, if there are no black bars on the left and right of your tv, then the dvd wasnt 16x9 it was much smaller, and those black bars are still there cuase only enough to make the image 16x9 was cut off. If there are black bars on the left and right, you could try an animorphic svcd, its in the resolution options on the conversion tab, but you might want to try just a small chapter on a cdrw first though as not many dvd players support animorphic svcds.

[markrb]

Look at the conversion tab. It clearly said 16:9 borders added encode as 4:3.
Notice the borders added?
This is because 99% of the time anamorphic doesn't work on SVCD's unless it's on the computer.
Most people will encode this as 4:3 no borders encode as 4:3 for a widescreen TV. It will look really wrong on a regular 4:3 TV, but looks just about right on a widescren.

Like it was said there is a 3rd option, but it is very unlikely to work correctly with your DVD player. To be able to try this option DVD2SVCD must be in advanced mode. Then the third option of anamorphic no borders encode as 16:9 will appear. This will create an anamorphic SVCD. Pretty much it won't work though unless you are using a computer to play the video.

You really should search, read up on the forum and read the stickies. These last few questions are pretty common and could have been answered. This is a friendly reminder. However if you continue to ask questions without searching and reading up you will be in violation of rules 1 and 1a and will be struck.

Mark

[mrbass]

Originally posted by rcflyers
OK chaps,

I finally completed the conversion, the quality is superb from 3 passes - very pleased!

ok chapper (hehe)
If you ever wanna be more impressed. If you ever get a chance try BiCubic rather than Simpleresize and 4 passes instead of 3.

[rcflyers]

what single upgrade will make my pc encode faster?
i have an ecs k7s5a mobo, athlon xp1800 cpu, 256Mb DDR ram and 2 x IBM 20 Gb 7200 rpm hdd.