divx to dvd

[YILDIRIM]

Hello to everyone,

I'm new to this forum and I'm trying to create dvd movies from some of my favorite divx files. I tried the conversions with most of the software available on the net but I always experience the one same problem. Whenever I playback the mpeg2 file I created, especialy at very fast moving scenes or very slow moving scenes it seems as if the movie goes step by step. I can't get a smooth playback regardless of the parameters or the software I use. So I would like to know if there is any way to overcome this problem or should I accept that it is the only way of optaining mpeg2 files from divx files.

Any helpfull comments will be appreciated.

Thanks,
YILDIRIM

[Guest]

Welcome to the forum!

it seems as if the movie goes step by step This is not clear enough for us to understand. Can you please be more specific?

[YILDIRIM]

I do not know the exact words, but the movie playsback as if there are short pauses (still frames) after a few frames played, and then continues again.

[Delphin]

I do not know the exact words, but the movie playsback as if there are short pauses (still frames) after a few frames played, and then continues again.

We understand 'pauses and jerky motion' but this can be caused by about a hundred things, so you have to be more specific.

What we need more information about is EXACTLY how you encoded the files and WHAT ARE YOU USING TO PLAYBACK THE FILE?

If you are trying to play your MPEG2 files on a PC you may have a PC MPEG2 codec and/or Direct Show Filter problem.

If the files look GOOD ON A PC but play back BAD ON A DVD PLAYER' [jerky motion, stuttering, or freezing] then you either encoded the file wrong for the type DVD you were creating or something went wrong with the authoring software.

Another issue with playing back your disk on a 'standalone' (non PC) DVD players is that some of them just don't like home burned DVD-R or DVD+R disks at all. If this is the problem, it won't matter if you use the best software in the world and create disks which are technically PERFECT (as far as the IFOs, VOBs etc), BECAUSE THE PLAYER CAN'T PROPERLY READ THE DISK.

It IS possible to create DVD disks which work PERFECTLY (on BOTH a PC based player and a standalone DVD player) you just have to get the DVD image formated correctly (get the right 'BITS' on the disk) with your software, then make sure that your player can read them (read DVD-R or DVD+R).

[Zyphon]

Also what codec is your AVI's encoded with Divx3, DivX5 or Xvid?

[tigerman8u]

does the original avi play ok on your pc ? If so check to see if it plays ok after you convert it to a dvd compliant mpeg 1/2. If that plays ok check to see if it plays ok after you author it. Checking to see at what step the problem is occurring

[YILDIRIM]

Thanks to everyone. My answers will be as follows:

Original divx movies always play fine on my pc or stand alone divx player. Codecs are mostly xvid but also many others too. Movies are usualy dts. The problem occurs after I convert divx to mpeg2. I used different softwares with any possible parameter combinations which I also found most of them in different forums. I tried top or bottom field order, CBR or VBR to the same movies but I can't find a solution. The elementary MPEG2 file I get is always with pauses and jerky motion either on tv or pc. I have 3 different DVD players and result is same with each of them. I also appreciate if you can tell me which software with which parameters you are using to convert divx to mpeg2.

Thanks in advance,
YILDIRIM

[video_magic]

It could be a high-bitrate problem.

I believe some standalone DVD players cannot read so fast from written DVD discs as from proper 'pressed' DVDs like when get when you buy a movie.

So try encoding at a lower bitrate - example - see how an mpeg2 bitrate of average 4500 , max 6500 does.

Also, have you created your dvds with PCM wave audio? If so, maybe try encoding this PCM wave to AC3 instead to give a lower data-rate.

Whatever helps with giving you discs that don't have such a high data rate which might have given you jerky playback.
:)

[Delphin]

Thanks to everyone. My answers will be as follows:

Original divx movies always play fine on my pc or stand alone divx player. Codecs are mostly xvid but also many others too. Movies are usualy dts.
The problem occurs after I convert divx to mpeg2. I used different softwares with any possible parameter combinations which I also found most of them in different forums. I tried top or bottom field order, CBR or VBR to the same movies but I can't find a solution. The elementary MPEG2 file I get is always with pauses and jerky motion either on tv or pc. I have 3 different DVD players and result is same with each of them.


You are still not giving exact information.

I understand that you may be working hard to make yourself understood, but the lack of specifics is why you have not recieved a better answer.

Without more specific information, the problem you discribed is a little confusing, so we have to GUESS what may be causeing your problems.

Some xvid material posted on the web is 'lower resolution' and will play back on a lower speed computer systems, but full screen MPEG2 playback takes a resonable CPU speed and good player software.

For smooth playback of 720x576 25fps PAL (or 720x480 29.97 NTSC) you are going to need about a 650MHz CPU to 1GHz CPU at the minimum, AND A GOOD SOFTWARE MPEG2 PLAYER.

PowerDVD and WinDVD players can usually work well on these minimum speed CPU's, and some of the FREE CODEC PACKS have MPEG2 codecs which can do a good job on these minimum 650MHz to 1GHz systems, but there are other factors (like the type and speed of memory) so, check for smooth playback of a comercial DVD (or MPEG2 ripped from a DVD with DVD Decrypter). If the comercial MPEG2 plays smoothly then your own MPEG2 should also play fine.


CAN YOU PLAY MPEG2 'ripped' from a comercial DVD disk smoothly?

If you have a good fast system, you can also use VirtualDubMPEG2 for playback, but it does not have a full screen mode, and won't give smooth playback with sound unless you have a LOT of CPU speed (2GHz+).


I also appreciate if you can tell me which software with which parameters you are using to convert divx to mpeg2.

Thanks in advance,
YILDIRIM


I like to use AVIsynth and the HC MPEG2 encoder for Video and BeSweet for audio.

Then I use "Gui for DVDauthor" to create the final DVD. (all free tools).

Get AVISynth 2.5 from :

http://www.avisynth.org/


Get the HC MPEG2 encoder from :

http://hank315.dyndns.org/HC_015.zip


Get Gui for DVDauthor from :

http://www.videohelp.com/~gfd/

Then the steps are . . .

1. Use AVIsynth to tweak you video and format it to the resolution needed for the DVD you are trying to create (720x480 NTSC or 720x576 PAL)

2. Load the .AVS AVIsynth script that you created above into the HC MPEG2 encoder and encode your video.

3. Load the .AVI into BeSweet and extract and re-encode the audio to MPEG2 audio or AC3 audio (AC3 is prefered for best DVD compatiblilty).

4. MUX (combine) your Video and Audio elementary streams with MPLEX (which is included in the GUI for DVDauthor package).

5. Author your DVD with menus using the 'GUI for DVDauthor' package.


AVIsynth should not scare you. Just install AVIsynth then you can create your scripts in NOTEPAD as simple TEXT files (renamed to have a .AVS type file extension).

Here is an actual example of a simple AVIsynth script that I actually used to translate an XVID video source into a format ready for DVD encoding with the 'HC' MPEG2 encoder.


# Our source is from avi (which I have called "your.avi" in this example)
# Change "your.avi" to whatever the real name of your avi is.

AVISource("your.avi")

# OPTIONAL Do some 'deblocking' on the source (the threshold is
# set very high so it will only do deblocking if it's really needed)

BlindPP(quant=8, cpu2="xxxxxx", moderate_h=45, moderate_v=55)

# Original Xvid video is cropped to 2.35:1 so we need to adjust it to
# be the right size for 'letter box' display on a standard 4:3 monitor.
# use (720,304) if the final target is PAL 720x576. For NTSC video the
# final target resolution is 720x480 so use Lanczos4Resize(720,272)

Lanczos4Resize(720,328)

# Optional slight sharpning. Lanczos4 resizing is usually sharp enough, so
# this step is OPTIONAL. Be carfull about too much sharping because it
# will increase noise which makes it use more bits in the MPEG encodeing

Sharpen(0.2)

# Optional gamma adjustment. This step is to adjust the gamma (or
# 'mid-range brightness'). Changing the gamma with this command can
# tweak the mid-tones so that they are not too dark or bright. This
# function must be used with caution because it can really screw up
# the video if used carelessly. The gamma_u, and gamma_v settings
# are used to allow the the COLOR SATURATION and TINT to remain
# correct after the gamma_y adjusts the main brightness channel.

colorYUV(gamma_y=64, gamma_u=68, gamma_v=72, off_y=-4, gain_y=-8)

# Another optional step. Here colors were too strong so the 'saturation'
# is slightly reduced to .88 This function can also be used to increase
# color saturation or do other 'tweaks' (see the AVIsynth docs).

Tweak(sat=.88)

# This step is VERY IMPORTANT if you want to use the MPEG2 in a DVD
# These black 'Borders' bring the overall size up to 720x576 to be DVD
# compatible. For NTSC we should use 'AddBorders (0 , 96, 0, 96,16)'
# to make the overall size 720x480

AddBorders (0 , 124, 0, 124, 16)

# This last step is required to use the script with the HC or QuEnc MPEG2
# encoder, which require that input be in YV12 color format.

converttoyv12()

# That's it (this is actually a very short script if you remove the comments)



Just edit the above script to suit your needs as required by changing values and disabling any functions you don't need by adding a # at the beginning of the line with the function (like my comments).

The above settings are designed to work with a 2.35 AVI source and the HC MPEG2 encoder set for "4:3" MPEG2 encoding. This combination gives a 'letter boxed' type encode.

If you want to create a 16:9 anamorphic MPEG2 encode you have to change the vertical size in the Lanczos4Resize step.

For long movies encoded on a DVD5 it's usually best to just use the 'letterbox' video format because the Black boarders are very easily compressed and they help reduce the overall bitrate needed, which helps improve the overall quality (reduce blockness).

For best quality on a real 16:9 monitor (or high resolution PC screen), we can optionally encode the MPEG as 'ANAMORPHIC' 16:9, though this requires a higher bit rate to maintain good quality.

The trickyest part to get right is the 'resizing' and 'add boarders' values right, so I have included some examples below.

The Addboarders step does not have to directly follow the Resize function, so I usually do this step near the end of the script (as in the above code example).

Some DV camcorders can produce video which is already in 'anamorphic' format, and can be directly encoded without resizing, but most AVI's use square pixels which will need to be resized for DVD.

All the examples below assume that the AVI source is 'close cropped' with NO BOARDERS of its own, and has the standard 'square pixels' normally used in AVI.

For a straight 4:3 format MPEG2 encode:

4:3 (1.333:1) AVI => 4:3 MPEG2:
For PAL => Lanczos4Resize(720,576)
For NTSC => Lanczos4Resize(720,480)

The above resize is still needed because AVI's use SQUARE pixels with ratios like 640x480 or 720x540. As noted above, both NTSC DVD's and PAL DVD's use slightly NON-SQUARE pixels, which requires that 4:3 AVI's be resized.

Here are some other options for resizing to other popular ratios . . .

16:9 (1.78:1) AVI => PAL Letterbox MPEG2:
Lanczos4Resize(720,432)
AddBorders (0 , 72, 0, 72, 16)
# MPEG2 encode set to 4:3

16:9 (1.78:1) AVI => PAL Anamorphic MPEG2:
Lanczos4Resize(720,576)
# no boarders needed, MPEG2 encode as 16:9

1.85:1 AVI => PAL Letterbox MPEG2:
Lanczos4Resize(720,416)
AddBorders (0 , 80, 0, 80, 16)
# MPEG2 encode as 4:3

1.85:1 AVI => PAL Anamorphic MPEG2:
Lanczos4Resize(720,560)
AddBorders (0 , 8, 0, 8, 16)
# MPEG2 encode as 16:9

2.35:1 AVI => PAL Letterbox MPEG2:
Lanczos4Resize(720,328)
AddBorders (0 , 124, 0, 124, 16)
# MPEG2 encode as 4:3

2.35:1 AVI => PAL Anamorphic MPEG2:
Lanczos4Resize(720,440)
AddBorders (0 , 68, 0, 68, 16)
# MPEG2 encode as 16:9

Keeping the boundarys of the encoded video along even MACROBLOCK boarders (intervals of 16) can sometimes help encoding so it may be better to tweak the above 2.35 numbers to the nearest 16 pixel boundry, by rounding the aspect ratio to 2.4 or 2.29.

2.4:1 AVI => PAL Letterbox MPEG2
Lanczos4Resize(720,320)
AddBorders (0 , 128, 0, 128, 16)
# MPEG2 encode as 4:3

2.29:1 AVI => PAL Anamorphic
Lanczos4Resize(720,448)
AddBorders (0 , 64, 0, 64, 16)
# MPEG2 encode as 16:9

Once AVIsynth has properly resized the AVI in the correct 720x572 PAL (or 720x480 NTSC) format, we can just load the AVIsynth AVS script file into the HC encoder and encode the video.

AVI synth also has functions to correct the frame rate if it is not 25fps (PAL) or 29.97 (NTSC).

PC's are pretty forgiving about playing both PAL and NTSC, but standalone players can be very fussy. Even if both standards are supported, sometimes a 'multi-standard' PAL/NTSC television is required.

It's usually better to correct the frame rate rather than risk creating a DVD which is not encoded to the standard your player expects.

See if you can get AVIsynth working with the HC MPEG2 encoder, and get a MPEG2 file which will play back smoothly on your PC, then we will talk about how to get it burned to a DVD with DVDauthor. :)

P.S.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought the exact Resize and AddBoarder values were important because these values are frequently miscalculated (by not allowing for the final non-square pixel aspect ratios of DVD).

I think YILDIRIM is from a PAL country, so I posted the PAL numbers, but I can also post proper DVD AVIsynth 'Resize' and 'AddBoarder' values for NTSC if anyone is interested.

[zeeh]

Can you post the NTSC values too? Thanks :)

[setarip_old]

@YILDIRIM

Hi!

One set of procedures (other posters may/probably will suggest alternative methods) would be:

1) Use "TMPGEnc" (or "TMPGEncPlus") to convert the .AVI (DivX-compressed or otherwise) to compliant MPEG2-for-DVD format - Use "TMPGEnc's" DVD wizard/template to accomplish this

2) Use "TMPGEnc DVD Author" (a different program than "TMPGEnc") to easily create the required additional DVD files and structure (and chapters and a menu, if you wish)
You can obtain a FULLY functional free 30 day trial version of this commercial program at:

www.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/tda.html

**If the combined filesize of the DVD "package" written to your hard drive is greater than 4.37Gb, use DVD Shrink (or similar) to compress


If your O/S is either Win2000 or WinXP, TMPGEnc DVD Author can also burn your DVD. Otherwise, use NERO to burn in "DVD-Video" mode
(As an alternative to "TMPGEnc DVD Author", you could use "DVDLab")


Let us know of your success ;>}

[rhayman]

I do not know the exact words, but the movie playsback as if there are short pauses (still frames) after a few frames played, and then continues again.

Are you by any chance using TMPGENC. I know in TMPGENC if you try and encode a 24fps avi file to PAL MPEG2 it automatically inserts frames to make it 25fps causing problems similar to what you mention above.

[Nephilis]

@Delphin,
I'm not interestring in encoding divx/xvid to DVDs but i want to thank you for your effort and this nice guide.

[MR Nice]

YILDIRIM, 1, download a free program Gspot to find out if the divx video is 23.976 which NSTC, or PAL 25 fps. 2 If your are from PAL land then NSTC 23.976 or 29 fps will produce jerky frames. The best advice I can give is, 3 download a free program called D2MP this program deals only with NSTC TO PAL, so 23,976 fps to Pal 25 fps will now have no jerkyness unless the divx is 29fps, this frame does not convert very well to Pal so make sure you check the frames with gstop. Also remember to check the divx plays without any jerky frames before you convert it to dvd or Mpeg2, Gstop will also tell you the screen size, if it's widescreen 16:9 the convert to widescreen don't force widescreen to full screen 4:3 it looks bad man. Hope this help's by the way all the programs I have talked about are free

[freebird73717]

@Nephilis and MR. Nice

Guys you both do realize that this thread is almost 4 years old...?

[MR Nice]

O yeah LOL, maybe some else who's having trouble with jerky frame rates may find what I posted useful.