upset with cce

[snowbeach]

Got a DVD burner - NEC 1100A and I wanted to do my own DVDs. Read the guide at Doom9 - Robshot stuff and when trying to save the .ecl file in CCE 2.67.00.10, it tells me that it cannot safe the file. :( Why? Trying 2.50 and it is getting more worse. Opening the .avs script, cce 2.5 terminates automatically. reading the faq, i finally created the following script

LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\GORDIA~1\mpeg2dec3.dll")
#LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\GORDIA~1\AddAudio.avsi")
mpeg2source("H:\DVD\Projects\FOREST_GUMP.d2v")
ResampleAudio(44100)
AddAudio()
ConvertToYUY2(interlaced=true)

as you can see, i tried every combination, but nothing helped. :(

CPU AMD Athlon TB 900 MHz
384 MB SD-RAM
Mainboard Abit KT7A (VIA chipset)

If you need more info, please tell me.

[Clown shoes]

Snowbeach, the trial version of CCE will not allow for the saving of ECL files. There is a tool called ECLCCE designed especialy for this task (Think there may even be a sticky on it?) Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but with the later versions of CCE the Athlon/Audio crash workaround is no longer necesary. Therefore your script should only need to be;

LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\GORDIA~1\mpeg2dec3.dll")
mpeg2source("H:\DVD\Projects\FOREST_GUMP.d2v")
ConvertToYUY2(interlaced=true)

I could be wrong though (I don't use athlons) Hope this is of some help to you.

Clown Shoes :D

[RB]

Does it still crash immediately when you load that script? If so, uncheck "Audio file" in the template that you are currently using (Template menu).

[snowbeach]

Thank you very much for the info. I use eclcce in combination with cce 2.66! Great tool! I am very new to this stuff. Because I always gain highest possible video quality I try to use the MPEG-2 standard to encode the DVD movies to one DVD+R. I think that MPEG-2 will give me better results than MPEG-4 (XviD) for one DVD.

Which encoder gives the best quality, of course at least in your eyes of experience? I read that TMPG is coming closer to the CCE encoder, but that CCE is still the best solution, if you gain very good video quality? Is this right? What about Canopus' ProCoder? Is it better than CCE? Are there another encoders that are better? Or, you cannot compare these encoders, because the one is good for this use and the other is better for this kind of use?!
I am sure that I broke some rules with these kind of questions, but I only want that you share your experiences with me, because you are for sure more experienced with MPEG-2 encoding than me.

The guides at Doom9 refer to the CCE 2.5 version, but the gui has changed rapidly, at least for me as a n00b! Are there newer guides for CCE 2.66 and up? English or German guides are appreciated.
And if you say, guy use ProCoder, because it is the best than I would like to know some url's to guides for this encoder. Some guides like high qualiy guides! ;) And if there are not any than I will probably write a new guide, with your help of course! :D

Thank you very much in advance!

[RB]

I have very little experience with encoders other than CCE. IMHO, CCE-SP is still the best and fastest encoder around. Procoder is said to be better for interlaced video at low bitrates but again, no personal experience.

About the guides: I don't know of any guides specifically for CCE-SP 2.66/2.67. You should be able to get most of what would make a guide from the FAQ in this forum. However, I had previously uploaded templates (http://home.t-online.de/home/340044300675/ccetemplates.zip) for CCE-SP 2.66/2.67 (simply import the appropriate .REG file). You'll get two new templates for "Interlaced" and "Progressive" video in the templates menu. These are my recommended settings, select the appropriate template before importing your video files. However, because the templates were originally designed with SVCD creation in mind, you may want to change some settings for DVD:

in Quality..., set Intra Block DC precision to 10 and Quantizer Characteristics to 30 (you may want to set this to up to 40 at high bitrates)
in Video..., change GOP N - N/M to 3 - 4. For information on how to set the "Upper Field First" and "Luminance Level" options, refer to the FAQ.

Hope this helps.

[snowbeach]

Hi, I am back again and I have some time to play around with MPEG-2. ;)

Two minor questions:
1. ConvertToYUY2() Is it needed or not in CCE SP 2.67.00.10 or newer versions? I read sth. in you FAQ about this, but I am not sure.
2. Is there a rule of thumb for the use of quantizer characteristics in CCE.

Thanks and greets.

[RB]

It is not necessary if you have some external codec installed that can decompress YV12. However, I still recommend ConvertToYUY2() because it's usually not slower than external codecs. Also (and I quote from the FAQ) this eliminates another source for possible problems by minimizing the number of video processors involved.

[snowbeach]

thanks for the info. and what about this thumb rule? thanks again.

[digitalman]

For DVD movies use MPEG Standard. For video or film below 3000kbps you could use Very Low Bitrate or Ultra Low Bitrate, but I usually stick with MPEG Standard. To me it seems you lose some color when using the other two matrices. Also, there are many different quantization settings you could find on the net for CCE that you can import.

[digitalman]

Snowbeach, check out MainConcept's Mpeg Encoder. About a 1:1 encoding speed ratio, hundreds of settings and great quality encodes. Compares to CCE and TMPGEnc, and $2000 cheaper than CCE.

http://www.mainconcept.com/products.shtml

[snowbeach]

@digitalman

i think there is a misunderstanding. i meant the thumb rule for quantizer characteristics at the quality tab in CCE 2.67.00.10. i think you are talking about the quantization matrices at the video tab.

so what about the thumb rule for quantizer characteristics at the quality tab in CCE 2.67.00.10? ;)

[digitalman]

On high quality newer DVDs I get good results with 20-24. Going below 15 I see a lot more background noise.

[RB]

From the CCE 2.66 manual:

The optimal setting depends on the footage, but roughly speaking, 16 to 40 is recommended. If the bitrate is relatively high, greater value may cause better result.

Personally, for DVD backups with at least 3000 kbps, I never set this below 30. Then up to 5000 kbps, I increase it to 40 but never use more than that. This always gives me good results. My personal experience is that with low values around 20 the distortion in flat image areas is really outstanding (color banding).

[snowbeach]

Thank you very much.