Converting (NTSC) AVI (PAL) MPEG help please

Hiya everyone.

Im converting DivX AVI files that have a fps of 23.97, and I get problems with the audio after converting. Here is what I do.

Load the 2x part AVI's with VirtualDub and I join the 2x AVI's. I ask VirtualDub to run a framerate conversion from 23.97fps to 25.00fps and I save the joined AVI as seperate audio and video streams (I name these "demuxed audio.wav" and "demuxed video.avi").

I then use Tmpgenc+ to convert the AVI to MPEG.

Then when I load the MPEG and the WAV into AVICodec, I tend to get a few seconds difference in file length. I know this is due to the fact that VirtualDub doesn't framerate convert the audio as well as the video (or am I wrong??).

I then use Sony Sound Forge 8.0 to timestretch the WAV to the correct length, and then use Tmpgenc to remux the edited WAV and MPEG, before checking the lip synch is correct before burning the DVD.

Can anyone think of any other way of doing this? As I dont really wanna be spending all my time doing this. And please dont offer one click solutions like convertXtoDVD, but any offers of help using virtualdub etc that will convert the audio correctly as well as the video will be most appreciated!!

Cheers guys!!

 

Open in tmpgenc.
Encode to ES (elementary streams)at 23.97fps.
Run video only through DGPulldown, converting to 25fps. (takes about 3 minutes)
You now have a 25fps video and associated audio ready to author.

 

Really? Is that all that needs doing? LOL.....

And this will give me smooth playback?

Will it alter the length of the video at all?

Cheers fella!

 

Because of the nature of DGPulldown, there's no stretch or squash of the video length, so audio and video match.
It's the simplest method there is, and set's the aspect/framerate flags of the video to your required settings, without actually altering the framerate.
I've been doing this for over a year, with not one single problem with any videos.

 

Fantastic advice fella. One more question, can this same method be used for converting 29.97fps > 25.00fps?

Many thanks so far!!

 

Yes, DGPulldown does 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59, and 94 fps, so you can convert from any one of those, to any other one of those.

 

OK. Just tried that and I think something has gone wrong. When I run the AVI through Tmpgenc+ it automatically converts teh files to 25.00fps as this is a PAL format. Is there any way to stop this happening but keeping the same screen resolution, coz when I choose a DVD format with the same framerate, I end up getting a final MPEG stream that has a different resolution what I want?

Cheers fella!!

 

In Tmpgenc plus, select the output frame size you want on the setting screen.
Set the framerate as well, based on the source framerate (make them the same).
If tmpgenc has the options greyed out, select Load, and browse to the tmpgenc\Template\Extra folder, and load the "unlock.mcf" then change what you need.
Encode to 23.976fps ES (elementary streams), but make the framesize 720x576 (PAL standard) letterboxed (select: Aspect 1:1 VGA and keep aspect ratio 2 on the advanced tab).
Run the video through DGPulldown, and you're ready to author.

 

Ah right!! think im getting u now..... 1 more question. do u strip the A/V before running it through Tmpenc+ or do u run the whole AVI through it letting it convert both the A/V as elementary streams?

Cheers guy!

 

You can do it either way.
If you find that tmpgenc does a lousy job of audio, extract it with vdub first, then convert with FFMpeggui to AC3.
Use tmpgenc to do video only, then join during authoring.
No matter what method, find what works best, depending on source and destination.
If you're doing multiple episode DVD's, make all audio the same, using either process (the ffmpeggui one is more stable in most cases).
If doing one movie per disk, then tmpgenc's audio output is probably as good as any.
The reasons I suggest using ES, is to avoid having to demux later, thus saving a step, and dgpulldown only works on video streams, not mpg (muxed) files.

 

Right Im getting very pissed off with this now. I have now encoded the MPEG 3 times and each time there is a synch issue. I have done everything you suggested, but i still end up with a time difference of a few seconds when I encode this avi. is there any way of checking it has errors? do you have msn or something where i can get in touch with ya?

 

Right just found something that might be an issue here. When I open the video file in AVICodec it states it has a length of 2:00:09. I then shrunk the audio file to 2:00:09 to match it and then I multiplexed the A/V streams. I ended up with an MPEG that is 2:00:09 in length (all acording to AVICodec). I then played this MPEG file back and there is a 6 second A/V difference at the end of the video. My video player (I have tried Nero showtim, Winamp, and Mediaplayer) and they all state the video length is actually 2:00:15. Now is it me or is this a coincedence? the difference of the A/V synch is 6 seconds, and this is the difference between what AVICodec reports and my video players?

could there be a problem with AVICodec? What could cause this problem?

 

Standard audio sync, video is out of sync the same amount through the whole video, and progressive audio sync, where the audio starts out sync, then get's gradually worse, are the two types to deal with.
Here's a tutorial on how to fix both: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59487