MPEG-2 movie time is not real time...

[Jasonh]

Hi all - I am burning and encoding DVDs to SVCD beautifully using SmartRipper, DVD2AVI and TMPG, then I use Nero 5.5 to burn to CD. My MPEG-2 SVCDs are SVCD compliant (and how I test this is to run it through Nero and Windows Media Player - WMP will not allow me to move the cursor if it is not fully SVCD compliant). So I am all good....except...

Here is my question: When I play the movie in WMP or InterVideo DVD, or any other player on my PC, the timer indicator (in WMP it is on the bottom right of the screen) skips seconds, like 0:01.01 - 0:01.04 - 0:01.06 -- real trippy, like one second equals 2 to 4 seconds.

The problem with this is that for a full-length feature film, I am going to want to break up the movie into 3-4 CDs. If the timing is crazy, then it makes the task a bit more difficult. I have been cutting in TMPG, and TMPG will not even let me move the cursor. I have to guess at the timing and it works in TMPG.
Real strange!

The way around this has been to use a package I purchased called ULead VideoStudio, which allows me to edit anything and do it in real time.

But I shouldn't have to do that. I am wondering if this issue comes from DVD2AVI? Anything come to mind? Must be my settings or something - anyone run into this before? Thanks! -Jason

 

[Jasonh]

MPEG-2 movie time - skipping - issue resolved

(an answer to my own question!)
I was working with my movie this evening and found the issue.
In my original post, I was incorrect in saying that the SVCD worked perfectly. It did so on my PC, but after burning and playing it on my DVD player hooked up to the TV, the video was choppy (it was an animation movie) and the sound was choppy as well. I knew it had something to do with the audio and the time stamp issue as I originally explained.

Jeez, the SVCD was 480x480 29.97fps VBR 3000 Layer-2 44100Hz, but the audio was at 114kbps. This was the issue. I had to re-render the movie in VideoStudio (since I had already deleted the VOBs, etc) and this product placed the audio to 224kbps. It was still MPEG-1 Layer 2 at 44.1Mhz, but the audio bitrate needed to be at 224kbps in order for it to play well on my DVD player, and, actually, to play in Windows Media Player. The time of the movie was fixed - it reflected the actual time of the movie rather than skipping 2-3 seconds all the time.

So the issue was not in DVD2AVI, rather, it was my audio bitrate settings in TMPG.

So I am good to go - maybe this post will help others. ciao - Jason

 

[ChickenMan]

The standard audio bit rate fore SVCD is 224 bps however I have turned that down to 128 bps on some encodes and I've never experienced any timer problems or choppy playback. The high bitrate of your Video (at 3000) is above SVCD standards, so you really have an XSVCD anyway.

 

[Jasonh]

Chickenman is right on the mark regarding my bitrate for video. So standard SVCD is 2.6Mbps or less or it is deemed XSCVD. Could this be why Windows Media Player 9 plays the movie, but does not report the time, or allow one to move the cursor of the movie without an error? It seems only SVCD Standards are allowed in WMP.
But maybe this is it - the VideoStudio product I am using (software that came with my hardware to convert analog to digital) converts to SVCD, but has a static aspect ratio (4:3). I am working with a movie that is 16:9, so I don't want to use it. I would rather just use TMPG, but I was getting the timing issue as stated above. So I got the audio worked out to 228kbps and the video worked out to 2520kbps, and I used Forced Film and made sure my settings in TMPG were at 16:9, but the resultant file, when viewed with AVIcodec, shows the file as 2.21:1. I believe this is why WMP does not display the time correctly, because if I convert the same file with VideoStudio (and it converts the file to a 4:3 aspect ratio), the file plays just fine in WMP. This is important because TMPG Merge and Cut responds the exact same way as WMP, so I am not able to cut up the MPG into separate files very easily. If I cannot scan the file to see exactly when to cut the film, then the tool is no good.
Long winded, sorry, so let me summarize:
1) Why is TMPG rendering to 2.21:1 when I have selected 16:9?
2) Is there another tool out there that will work for me?
3) If I render to 23.97fps I get the same thing in WMP, so it has to be 29.97 - standard SVCD. Is there another way?
Appreciate the help!

 

[ChickenMan]

1) Why is TMPG rendering to 2.21:1 when I have selected 16:9? - Well believe it or not but SVCD's are all 4:3 ( anamorphic 16:9 is possible but not all players support it). You should select 4:3 even though the the pic is 16:9 as all it does is then add in black bars top and bottom. The frame size is 4:3 but the actual viewable picture is 16:9

2) Is there another tool out there that will work for me? - Try capturing with VirtualDUB to an AVI, then convert that to what ever format you want.

3) If I render to 23.97fps I get the same thing in WMP, so it has to be 29.97 - standard SVCD. Is there another way? Appreciate the help! - There is NO such thing as a 23.976fps SVCD, they MUST be 29.97fps else they wont play properly, if at all. A VCD is the only mpeg format that can be 23.976.