Can D2S do this

[Pntgrd]

Een though I have used D2S for years and played with different programs for editing and conversion, I guess D2S and since getting a DVD burner, DVD2DVD-r, have made me an invalid to get done what I want. I recorded the Big 12 Championship game on my PVR. I then captured this recording with VirtualDub using Pic Video MPEG codec witrh audio set to 48000 PCM 16 bit stereo. The resulting .avi looks fine when played on my computer. I then tried TMPEGnc to encode to MPEG using the DVD templates but I losing too much PQ when the results are played on my HDTV. I wanted to try encoding with CCE but cannot get any of the scripts from AVI-synth to get it to work. I know that I can load the .avi into D2S as the source. Can you set the target size for 4.53 gig and create one disk only? I was thinking I have seen that this is possible. I have already split the .avi into first and second halves and edited out the commercials. Each clip is around 1 hour 45 minutes in length, so it should not have to be compressed too much. Living in Manhattan KS I would dearly love to get this to DVD with as little loss in PQ as I can get.

[Nick]

Sorry if I'm missing something here but it seems pretty easy!
I assume you're using the latest build (if not, go and get it now!).
In the Misc tab, select AVI as your input and DVD as your output.
Choose the correct disc size in the bitrate tab and off you go.

[Pntgrd]

That I could be missing. I have not used D2S since getting a DVD burner. I did not know that the latest version had DVD as the outpu. Last version I had was only VCD/SVCD. Thank's, I will get the latest when I get home and give it a try.

[Pntgrd]

I have tried the newest version and I am having a problem. It seems that CCE just stops encoding at a certain point. I tried a crash recovery and it stopped at the same point both times. I scanned the .avi with VirtualDub and it found no errors. The only thing I saw from the log is that I hade a "space" in the file name. I seem to remember this causes problems but I am not sure if it was with D2S or not. I have started all over with that corrected but it will be quite awhile before it gets to the place it just stopped. Nothing was locked up, CCE was just stopped. I will attach the log and maybe someone will see a problem.

DVD2SVCD log:

WNASPI32.DLL 4.6.0.1021
The original video framerate of 29.971 is not supported. The framerate will be adjusted!
--------------------------------------------------------
- 12/9/2003 8:00:31 PM
- AVI to SVCD Conversion
- AVI2DVD ver. 1.2.1 build 3
--------------------------------------------------------
Initializing
- C:\Movies\InProgress\Part 1.avi
Initializing finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 12/9/2003 8:00:34 PM
- Free on drive C: 83847.32 mb
- AUDIO Extraction
--------------------------------------------------------
Audio extraction finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 12/9/2003 8:07:07 PM
- Free on drive C: 82866.34 mb
- AUDIO conversion
--------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
- 12/9/2003 8:07:08 PM
- Free on drive C: 82866.34 mb
- AUDIO conversion
--------------------------------------------------------

Encoding Audio. Filename: C:\Movies\InProgress\Big12\Disk1\Extracted_audio_1.wav
Executing BeSweet. Commandline:
"C:\Program Files\DVD2SVCD\BeSweet\BeSweet.exe" -core( -input "C:\Movies\InProgress\Big12\Disk1\Extracted_audio_1.wav" -output "C:\Movies\INPROG~1\Big12\Disk1\Encoded_audio_1.mp2" -logfile "C:\Movies\INPROG~1\Big12\Disk1\Encoded_audio_1.log" ) -ota( -g max -r 29971 29970 ) -shibatch( --rate 48000 ) -2lame( -e -b 192 -m s )
Audio conversion of C:\Movies\InProgress\Big12\Disk1\Extracted_audio_1.wav finished.

Audio conversion finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 12/9/2003 8:10:40 PM
- Free on drive C: 82743.71 mb
- Video Encoding using Cinema Craft
--------------------------------------------------------

Executing Cinema Craft Encoder.
StreamSectors: 4682829788
AudioSectors: 130490276
VideoPAPO: 70518168
ScanOffsetBytes: 240848
SeqAligningBytes: 15307197
DVDBytes: 0
VideoEndHeader: 4
SubtitleSectors: 0
EmptySectors: 238.00
PictureSectors: 0.00
PureMPEGStream: 4466273295.83
Seconds: 5364.52
CalcMPEGStream: 4466273295.83
Frames: 160565
CDSize: 4480.00
Number of CDs: 1
Cut point 4476.00
Variable Settings:
Frames: 160565
Anti Noise Filter: Off
Passes: 4
Image Quality: 17
VAF file creation: On
Video Encoding Mode: Multipass VBR
Min. bitrate: 300
Max. bitrate: 2530
Avg. Bitrate: 2230
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 (No borders, encoded as 4:3)

---AVS Begin---
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\DVD2SVCD\AVISYN~1\Mpeg2dec\mpeg2dec.dll")
AVISource("C:\Movies\INPROG~1\PART1~1.AVI",False)
ConvertToYUY2()
AssumeFPS(29.970,True)
BicubicResize(720,480,0.0,0.6)
Import("C:\Movies\InProgress\Big12\Disk1\ResampleAudio.avs")
ResampleAudio(44100)
----AVS End----

--------------------------------------------------------
- 12/10/2003 6:40:19 AM
- AVI to SVCD Conversion
- AVI2DVD ver. 1.2.1 build 3
--------------------------------------------------------
Initializing
-
Initializing finished.

--------------------------------------------------------
- 12/10/2003 6:40:22 AM
- Free on drive C: 81289.03 mb
- Crash Recovery
- Restarting from: Video encoding
--------------------------------------------------------
- 12/10/2003 6:40:29 AM
- Free on drive C: 81289.03 mb
- Video Encoding using Cinema Craft
--------------------------------------------------------

Executing Cinema Craft Encoder.
StreamSectors: 4682829788
AudioSectors: 130490276
VideoPAPO: 70518168
ScanOffsetBytes: 240848
SeqAligningBytes: 15307197
DVDBytes: 0
VideoEndHeader: 4
SubtitleSectors: 0
EmptySectors: 238.00
PictureSectors: 0.00
PureMPEGStream: 4466273295.83
Seconds: 5364.52
CalcMPEGStream: 4466273295.83
Frames: 160565
CDSize: 4480.00
Number of CDs: 1
Cut point 4476.00
Variable Settings:
Frames: 160565
Anti Noise Filter: Off
Passes: 4
Image Quality: 17
VAF file creation: On
Video Encoding Mode: Multipass VBR
Min. bitrate: 300
Max. bitrate: 2530
Avg. Bitrate: 2230
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 (No borders, encoded as 4:3)

---AVS Begin---
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\DVD2SVCD\AVISYN~1\Mpeg2dec\mpeg2dec.dll")
AVISource("C:\Movies\INPROG~1\PART1~1.AVI",False)
ConvertToYUY2()
AssumeFPS(29.970,True)
BicubicResize(720,480,0.0,0.6)
Import("C:\Movies\InProgress\Big12\Disk1\ResampleAudio.avs")
ResampleAudio(44100)

Any help will be greatly appreciated

[Nick]

I don't know why so don't ask but this seems to cure this issue

Open the avi in virtual dub
Set the video processing mode to direct stream copy (video menu)
Set the audio to the same (older versions with Audio menu) or leave it untouched (newer versions with Streams menu).
Save the AVI from the file menu.

You should end up with an identical avi but you don't. The length is always slightly different and the resaved avi tends to convert hassle free.

Another quick thing to try is to open media player and open your avisynth_script.avs file in it (you will need to set file type to "all files" in the Open dialogue box).

You should see pictures (albeit rather jerky). If you see red text on a black background tell us what it says.

[Pntgrd]

Thanks for the suggestion. Changing the filenames did not help. CCE still stopped at the same place. Has to be something wrong with the .avi itself. I started on Part2 when I left for work to see if it will go alright. I will do what you suggest and see if that fixes it. Thanks again, and will post back with the results.

[Pntgrd]

Part 2 stopped also. I made a copy of Part1 using Direct Stream and tried it and it stopped in the exact same place of the 2nd pass or CCE. Before I went to bed I loaded up the original capture file and started it. It also stopped at near the same place of the 2nd pass of CCE. I am guessing there is some glitch in the original capture. I tried to use Canopus Pro Coder but D2S crashed right after the audio encode with an error about "cannot find" some Scenarist control file. I set things to try TMPGEnc as the encoder and left for work. Who knows what I'll find when I get home.
It's looking like I probably need to re-capture the game from my PVR and start over. Am I wrong in using PicVideo losless MPEG codec for video and PCM 48,000 16 bit stereo for audio while using VirtualDub to do the capture? I am open for any suggestions.

[MarkP]

Hi Pntgrd

What version of CCE are you using? if it is 2.50 I had a similar problem recently see this Thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64959) The AVG Bitrate has to be more than 300 less than the MAX Bitrate, and notice in your logfile it is 300 as was mine.

Was advised to lower the number of CD's to lower the AVG Bitrate and it worked perfectly, I see it is set for only 1 CD so guess you could try lowering the AVG Bitrate manually

Hope this helps

Mark
:)

[Pntgrd]

MarkP, I ran across what you are talking about earlier today. This has become a quest to get done. I tried using TMPGEnc as the encoder. It ran 18+ hours only to crash at Scenarist, could not find a file error. Then tried Canopus, same thing. I have now spent the last 3 days trying to learn all I can about the AVI2DVD process to maybe find out what he problem is. I figured out that my quality problem that I had with just encoding my capture .avi with TMPGEnc was "interlacing" and "chroma", so I needed to filter them out. So I figured out frameserving with VirtualDub with filters to TMPGEnc but that took over 8 hours. I then tried VD to CCE, set for 2 pass, and got the "checksum error". That is when I found what you were saying. But the encoding was still taking way too long, so I bit the bullet and decided to figure out how to get an AVISynth script with CCE so I could get things done faster. Now I am down to less than 2 hours. But first try came out and DVD-Lab said the framerate was like 50 fps, oh yeah, Pulldown. After Pulldown, I found that the video was all jerky, then I remember, the Upper Field First option can cause jerky video (I knew that from DVD2DVD-R, but forgot). So I am doing it again, and I have my fingers crossed that I finally have what I want, although the Audio file I ran through BeSweet doesn't play in anything. CoolEdit just plays it as a hiss. But I can always just use the .wav file for audio if I have to. 27 more minutes to go on the last try. I have to admit that trying to use AVISynth is a pain to a Newb. I did take a look at AviScript-Lite and that looks like it would work great. Unfortunately, it will only work with clips of less than 10 minutes. FitCD looks like it might do the scripting job, also. But I ran across that after I had done the script by hand. I need to learn more about using AviSynth with filters and what they all do plus the 3rd party filters that are out there.
I now kinda wish that I had not ran across D2S as early in my video processing days. Like I said in my first post in this thread, it, and now D2D-r has made me lazy. They worked for 99% of all my video needs and now the other 1% is being a big pain ;) Oh well, don't they say if you are not learning you may as well quit.