Recently I have been using AVStoDVD to convert MKV 720p files onto m2p and AC3 files to author an NTSC DVD with. The problem is that on some conversions there's a jittering on horizontal pans, like when a camera goes around a table, that is quite distracting. The originals are fine, it's only on the conversion. Is there a way to solve that or correct it a little?
Not familar with AVStoDVD, try DVD Flick, free and will convert MKV or ConvertXtoDVD, payware and the trial leave's a watermark.
Well, if you're downconverting from 720p HD files (most likely h.264) to DVD, you'll probably have to go through more than DVD Flick or ConvertXtoDVD. ...but I can't be sure on that part, so try those out and see if they work. I doubt they will, but there's always a chance. Anyway, in the off chance that they don't work, you might want to consider using Avisynth to downsize the videos to standard DVD resolution (480p) and then frameserving it to your DVD authoring program of choice.
DVD Flick I don't know, but ConvertXtoDVD does not allow me as much control as I want on the authoring. If you read again I said I wanted "to convert MKV 720p files onto m2p and AC3 files", not a DVD. The conversion tools used by ConvertXtoDVD are not as good quality and tweekable as I like them to be. That's what AVStoDVD does, but I am having this jittering problem I described that will probably need some additional plugin to deal with. The jittering is my concern and how to avoid it when going from h264 to Mpeg2 streams.
Oh, duh me. Sorry, I saw "m2p" and immediately assumed DVD. Well. You can still use Avisynth. What it is is a background program that "tricks" other programs into thinking that the file is an .avi file without actually making it an .avi file. So you can also use it to frameserve to an .avi-to-.m2p program. I don't know of any programs like that, though, besides maybe TMPGEnc. Maybe that's what you're looking for.
The final result WILL be a DVD, but I will use DVDLabPro to author it. I´m quite familiar with avisynth, even if not an expert on it yet. I do need help to write the scripts. I have been using most of these programs: TMPGEnc, Procoder, ConvertXtoDVD, etc. None of them was as transparent as AVStoDVD, which implements avisynth plugins to accomplish things. But I am getting these jitter problems on pans, as I said. So I was looking for someone that might have faced this problem and dealt with it somehow, luckily solving it. The question is how to convert an MKV h264 file onto an mpeg2 file with fewer artifacts, which is what this jitter is after all.
What are the FPS of the MKV and what do you want to end up with? I assume some conversion like 25fps-> 29.97 is been done and you are seeing the results of 'pulldown'. I assume m2v + AC3 files work? If so get FAVC 1.06 and tell it to 'Keep Working Files'. You'll find the Working Folder in My Documents. Do note it too uses DGPulldown for FPS conversions. There are other ways, using AviSynth, to accomplish FPS conversions. Maybe one of these will work better for you. Both programs will allow you to disable DGPulldown and enter your own script.
When writing the script, you could include something like ChangeFPS or something. For example: OR These two might help you out. I had a VFR .mkv a while ago that I had to convert to CFR to play on my PS3, and using the first script helped out a lot. I dunno, you might want to try it. That help at all?
That is very interesting and it might work. The script I am using now, within AVStoDVD is: I tried using DirectShowSource but it didn't work in the preview. So I am not sure how to use the ChangeFPS variable there.
You might need to reinstall Avisynth. I couldn't load my .mkv using DirectShow, either, but after I uninstalled Avisynth and reinstalled it, the script finally began to work. I dunno, something to try. But that aside, what's the "A2DVideoSource" import you're using? I've never seen that before. And you might be able to use that "fps=29.97,convertfps=true" function, anyway. Try to load it and see if it loads up. If it does, then cool. If not, then try using the second script. The ChangeFPS variable is just another function, so it should work with any sort of input video, be it DirectShowSource, AviSource, or whatever. Hooray for the complexities of Avisynth!
Well, I did try it adding the "fps=29.97,convertfps=true" instruction on the A2DVideoSource command. I also took away the DGPulldown line from the script, as I thought it wouldn't do any good. Maybe I should try it again with that line, because I couldn't solve the jittering problem. In fact I think it increased, though that's arguable.
Just to close up this thread and set a guiding path for a job such as this. I ended up using HC 023 to do it, with its gui file. First you have to write a script to load in, setting the source and what you need to be done. The file was anamorphic, so you also have to add a border. For a final touch, on this specific file, I tweaked the contrast and saturation a very little bit. Thinks ended up quite remarkable. Of course I had some help from people in Doom9 and Videohelp, but most people in forums such as this are much willing to help. I am still learning, but I think the way to go is avisynth.
