Best Practices for Highest Quality VCD from an .avi file

Discussion in 'MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 encoding (AVI to DVD)' started by TheCramp, Oct 15, 2002.

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  1. TheCramp

    TheCramp Guest

    Thanks to this awesome website I'm up and running for burning VCD's on my computer. Last night I burned my first one which was originally an .avi file using both TMPGEnc to encode to MPEG then Nero to burn the VCD. I watched it and the picture was okay and the audio was alright too but there was a lot of noise (or staticy background noise) in some parts. There were also parts that sounded like someone was grinding metal in the background. So here are my questions:

    1) For video, I noticed in TMPGEnc under 'Other Settings' under 'Video' tab you can increase the quality of the video. It's takes longer to encode to MPEG. Is this the best way with these two programs to increase video quality?

    2) For audio, I need help. The VCD I made just used TMPGEnc to encode both the audio and video from the .avi file to MPEG. This can't be the best way to get the best sound. I've noticed people in other threads mentioning using MPEG for video and .avi or a different type of file for sound when burning the VCD. I have no clue how to do that or if that's really what they do. Anyway, I was wondering what other people have done to get the best sound out of an .avi file.
     
    TheCramp, Oct 15, 2002
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  2. TheCramp

    TheCramp Guest

    OK, since no one is responding to this I'll just add to it. I downloaded GoldWave for a trial period to filter out some of the background noise I'm getting. After I do it (Noise Gate and Noise Reduction) and play it back on GoldWave it sounds very good. The thing I'm not sure about is what this the best way to save the new file. I used 16 bit stereo WAV, which seems to play back better than the others I've tried. Does anyone know of a better way to save to get even better quality?

    Still looking for any kind of input on this and my first post.
     
    TheCramp, Oct 15, 2002
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  3. Dela

    Dela Administrator Staff Member

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    The best way to get the best quality encoding is to pay for a good encoder. TMPGEnc (even set as highest quality) isnt great with quality at all is it? The reason for that is, they want people to look for higher quality and purchase the plus version!

    Damn good idea if you ask me, so I bought it. The quality is way higher when ripping a dvd or converting from avi!! You should consider it!!
     
    Dela, Oct 15, 2002
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  4. VCDjunkie

    VCDjunkie Moderator Staff Member

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    I like Dela's answer, paying for the software ensures that the hard working people who make this software can continue making great software, etc.. I personally have not paid for it, but would if I had the money.. a bit broke these days.. however, there is an alternative.. I use a little freeware program called toolame to use as an external converter for TMPGenc.

    http://www.afterdawn.com/software/audio_software/audio_encoders/toolame.cfm

    after downloading, open TMPGenc and close the wizard..

    Options->Environment Settings->External Tool
    put a check in layer2, and then browse to toolame.exe

    This should help immensely with audio quality using TMPGenc!

    ;-)
     
    VCDjunkie, Oct 15, 2002
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  5. Dela

    Dela Administrator Staff Member

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    Thanx for that VCDjunkie, TMPGEnc often makes stupid mistakes on audio!
     
    Dela, Oct 16, 2002
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  6. jnihil

    jnihil Moderator Staff Member

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    Nice tip on the audio, VCDjunkie.

    For VCD, I'd use the 'high quality' setting and also enable 'Soften block noise' under Quantization matrix to reduce the block noise under fast movement. The 'Noise Reduction' filter helps encoding of noisy video, but with the penalty of some detail and encoding speed. You may want to consider frameserving via vdub if you have a noisy source video.

    Rgds,
    jnihil.
     
    jnihil, Oct 16, 2002
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  7. Dela

    Dela Administrator Staff Member

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    I'll check that out some day!!!
     
    Dela, Oct 16, 2002
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  8. USAFNig

    USAFNig Member

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    How in the hell am I supposed to know what all these damn settings are in TMPGenc??? I have a DivX file that I want to be able to watch in my DVD player. You guys dont ever mention any of these crazy ass settings that it asks me about. What am I supposed to do and what is the best possible way to do it? Any software that you recommend, can you also tell me where to get it (without paying for it)?
     
    USAFNig, Oct 16, 2002
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  9. wonderboy

    wonderboy Guest

    wonderboy, Oct 16, 2002
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  10. Dela

    Dela Administrator Staff Member

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    This place's newbies get more demanding everyday you'd swear it was our job to answer these questions or something!!
     
    Dela, Oct 17, 2002
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  11. wonderboy

    wonderboy Guest

    I know some of these newbies need to start posting to safety valve first .....
     
    wonderboy, Oct 17, 2002
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  12. USAFNig

    USAFNig Member

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    Im really sorry guys, its just SO frustrating trying to learn something new and then having all this crap get in the way. I really appreciate your guys' help. Thank you very much!
     
    USAFNig, Oct 17, 2002
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  13. VCDjunkie

    VCDjunkie Moderator Staff Member

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    quote "Any software that you recommend, can you also tell me where to get it (without paying for it)?"

    USAFnig, the software is free, but you owe us all a round of beer for the tips

    ;-)
     
    VCDjunkie, Oct 17, 2002
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  14. TheCramp

    TheCramp Guest

    Thanks for the replies and good advice. No results to report yet, but I do look forward to using toolame with TMPGEnc. Thanks VCDjunkie. I'll probably also try jnihil's setting suggestion. And if all that doesn't get the quality I'm looking for, then maybe I'll take Dela's suggestion and upgrade to Plus.

    Hang in there USAFNig. The frustration is worth it once you start getting results.
     
    TheCramp, Oct 18, 2002
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  15. Mr_LanMan

    Mr_LanMan Guest

    I had a similiar problem with the 'screeching' sounds and noise. I turned down the burn speed to 4X and virtually eliminated all noise and the video quality was much better. Something you might want to try.
     
    Mr_LanMan, Oct 18, 2002
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  16. wonderboy

    wonderboy Guest

    ever try watching the video before hand and see if the noise is already there.....i thought i had the same problem but it was the person who ripped the movie in the first place...
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 18, 2002
    wonderboy, Oct 18, 2002
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  17. Dela

    Dela Administrator Staff Member

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    Another little suggestion would be to alternate your burning software! Some software may work better with your writer than others!
     
    Dela, Oct 18, 2002
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  18. jnihil

    jnihil Moderator Staff Member

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    TheCramp, what I have been doing on some movies is using the 'VideoCD 1246kbps' TMPGEnc template under the template\extra directory. This produces a non-standard complient VCD but many player will play it. It basically encodes the audio at 128Kbps instead of 224Kbps and gives the leftover bandwidth to the video. Having that little bit extra for the video can make a diference sometimes. Using a short video, test and see if your player can handle the stream created by this template first. If you get jumpy video, or audio sync issues, then the player probably doesn't like it.

    Rgds.
     
    jnihil, Oct 18, 2002
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  19. Dela

    Dela Administrator Staff Member

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    you're lucky enough to have a stand alone that will play non standard! Lucky for me, I am buying a new one soon! What one r u using + would u recommend it?
     
    Dela, Oct 18, 2002
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  20. jnihil

    jnihil Moderator Staff Member

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    Dela, my Magnavox MDVD-100 plays non-standard VCDs. I haven't played much with bitrates that go over the 1x speed, but the bitrate I mentioned before certainly works. I did try burning a VCD once at 1800kbps for the video and it didn't like it (very jumpy).

    It's also Region/RCE free straight out of the box and there is a macro-free firmware which is easy to install. The unit is cheap too.

    If you're interested, here is an excellent page:

    http://www.nerd-out.com/darrenk/magnavox_mdvd-100/MDVD-100.htm

     
    jnihil, Oct 18, 2002
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