Anyone fammilier with Vdub?

[Signa]

ok, so i got a season of a TV show, and its like 10MB too large to fit on a dvd while all the other seasons are sized-to-fit. what im trying to do is re-encode one of the episodes so that its just a slightly smaller bit-rate and then i can put the whole thing on one DVD.

i have looked around and it appears the best program of choice is v-dub. but the problem im having is SERIOUSLY bad sound synching problems. when i open the AVI file it warns me there is a problem and tells me i should export the audio and yahdi-yada, but im doing somthing wrong and its still isnt working.

im wondering if anyone has worked with v-dub that can help me, or know a better program that i can just take an AVI and re-encode it at a lower bitrate.

[DigitalJunkie]

Most likely, the audio is compressed. Decompress audio to PCM format, then use VirtualDub to select which codec to re-encode!

AVI Audio Decompressor: http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/attachment.php?attachmentid=10904&d=1105149938

If AVI Audio Decompressor can't, use AVI2WAV (it's free, google for it) to extract audio. It extract audio to mp3 format not wav format. So you need to change file extension from wav to mp3! Then, use an audio program such as Winamp to convert to wav format before using VirtualDub.

[Borgs8472]

If you direct stream copy a few episodes, you might be able to cut out credits etc and very quickly cut out that 10 megs. (direct stream copy doesn't take ages because it doesn't involve reencoding)

[Mels_Smileys45]

Grab auto GK http://www.autogk.me.uk/ you can set it to what file size you want and hit start. Its super easy and will give you great results with out having to learn a whole lot about what you are doing. What it does is use Vrtual dub mod and loads the optimum setting for you to fit in the file size you want.

[Signa]

thanks guys ill give those a try. honestly im surprized im having as much troubles as i am. i made 200 somthing divx movies for myself over the years

@borg: great suggestion but i already checked for credits and the EP ends as it ends, nothing can be cut out.

[multi]

took way too long to post this
:)

make sure you use direct stream copy
or it will take a very long time

virtual dub mod comes highly recommended
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualdubmod

what i would do is edit a bit of it ..if you can
how much space is needed ?
if theres any credits you might get away with it

[Signa]

first of all, DJ your suggestion worked. thanks a ton

multi: isnt direct stream just taking the current (too large) video and pasting it into the new file?

[DigitalJunkie]

Glad I could help! :)

[multi]

last time i used it
i edited and saved as divx ( the original was capped and saved as divx)
used direct stream copy and ended up with
a 400Mb movie from one that was 900Mb

so am pretty sure you can use it do stuff like that
but not totaly :P


(now come to think of it i did have the same problem with synch towards the end of the movie
but it was mostly narration ,so it didnt reallly matter too much..)

[Signa]

question to mel: im sure i could just find this out by downloading it myself, but i used the orginal GK and it was a pain in the ass to work with. at the time i was just dvd->divx converting and flask MPEG was more than than i needed. im wondering how much more improved AGK is because frankly im scared to try it :P

[Mels_Smileys45]

Its not a pain in the ass at all. YOu can keep it simple or take it further and use more advanced settings. Mainly all you have to do is 1) Pick the video you want to encode, (input file) 2) select where to save, (output file) 3) select Divx or Xvid, (under advanced settings) 4) What size you want (has many presets, 175meg, 350, 700, 1.4G, ect or custom) 5) Select add Job, 6) hit start button and wait. Perfect encodes everytime.

First it will analyze the video then the audio to calculate the bitrates, then it will bring up Virtual Dub Mod, input the info for you and start to encode.


There are some hidden advanced setting, (see pics below) hidden mainly as to not to confuse new people, Just hit Ctrl +F9. Here there are many options such as encoding the credits at a different bit rate, cartoon mode for Divx, Cropping, ect ect. Try it out. Ive tried a lot of programs and this is the most hassle free, best quality program I could find



http://i3.tinypic.com/vpi61s.gif
Very user friendly GUI. One thing I find amazng is the preview button. Very handy if your are having to crop a video.





http://i3.tinypic.com/vpi9sj.gif

Hitting Ctrl +F9 brings up extra settings (hidden options), but none of these are required to set unless you want to tweak your encode even more.
I'm amazed at how many people do not know these settings are even there. They are well hidden!



With this tool in your hands (huh huh) your online friends will swear youre in a release group! lol



http://i3.tinypic.com/vpj2fc.gif
Roy says: "Don't get Munsoned by other programs, use Auto GK!"


Highly compressed gif pic, but I had to add it anyway (from actual back up I made with Auto GK)

[Signa]

wow i hope that wasnt too much work to put all that together. a simple "yes it is easy" was all i was looking for. thanks for the presentation though

[Mels_Smileys45]

I just got Munsoned out in the middle of nowhere! That tooka couple hours to put together and for what? Well fuck you buddy!


Just kidding, I was bored so it was a time killer. You should try it though. Who knows maybe someone else will get some use out of it some day. (search function)

[Boomer The Dog]

I liked the Auto GK tutorial. I have AGK but haven't used it yet, because I learned on the original Gordian Knot, and I fear change.. :)

I was getting video from different release groups, and the quality was so good, I wanted to learn to do what they were doing. I simply didn't know what to do with GK until I got a guide for it, at Doom 9 and VCD help.

I saved a guide to my Video folder to learn with, and I still use it to make sure that I'm doing everything right. I can set up GK in 10-15 minutes, but always seem to spend the most time setting the aspect ratio properly.

[Mels_Smileys45]

but always seem to spend the most time setting the aspect ratio properly.




Glad someone liked it! I always hated trying to get the aspect ratio right. It can be very frustrating. With AGK you no longer have to wonder if its right, it always gets it right! The only thing I do set with concern to the aspect ratio is when doing full screen, I go to 'advanced', 'output resolution setting', 'minimum width' and set it to not go below a width of 412 to keep the resolution high. I hate those 320x280 porn movies a lot of release groups put out! lol

[Signa]

yeah back when i tryed GK i gave up pretty fast. it was funny though, not too long after a friend asked me if i knew a program that would help him (i think he needed subtitles, not sure, its been a while) and GK was my best suggestion. prolly 2 months later he happily said that he almost has GK figured out and almost got it to work. keep in mind that this is funny because he was NOT an idiot.

[Boomer The Dog]

I'll have to try Auto GK and get used to using it, then use regular GK for some specialty encodes, like from tapes.

I know about using NTSC and PAL, morphic / anamorphic, but it gets tricky when you crop. I can see the picture getting squeezed in the preview window while cropping, and have to correct for it with custom AR, especially movies from VHS, which sometimes need to be cropped on all four sides.

With another dozen videos, I should be an expert.. ;)

[Mels_Smileys45]

Boomer, I do alot of VHS transfer, its my thing actually, Using auto GK, you can set the crop perameters, hit the preview button and it will play the video so that you can see you have it right. AWESOME! yes?



Also, one time I transfered a widescreen video tape to my PC. I then ran it through Auto GK with auto crop set and it trimmed out all the black borders by intself! I don't know how it knew to do that but it did. Kick ass, yes?


I can't recomend it highly enough. Its very easy. You'll be a master in 5 minutes You will never have to worry about aspect ratio again. You will know its right the first time, every time. The encodes are perfect too, although I recomend Divx6 for VHS transfer. I can't get Xvid to do it well.

[Boomer The Dog]

That sounds great Mels! I will have to learn AGK. I have lots of old VHS tapes I need to back up, before they fall apart or there are no more VCRs.

With VHS, there's a constant wave of noise on the screen all the time, and it eats up bandwidth. My first videos looked soft, not as sharp as the source, but I've been tweaking, with video soap in the capture card first, and then resize filter settings in GK.

I found a page that tells what XviD settings to use for video tapes, I don't have the address to the page, but I have a GK preset made for it. I set capture at 720x480 interlaced, letting Smart Bob in GK de-interlace. That, with a good crop on the edges works well now, and I get some decent 1-CD movies, though I don't think I've gone over 100 minutes so far. Oh, not using high bitrate audio for something like old TV, that helps too.

I haven't tried DivX 6 yet, but I saw it did excellent in a recent codec shootout. I hope that XviD catches up, since it's been my favorite encoder.