A Devil of a problem with file formats

[chrisatleo]

(Hoping that would catch a certain person's attention!)

I need some info regarding suitable file formats in DVDWS2 trial, and yes, I have searched the posts.

I hava a large number of 7mbps VBR DVD compliant IBP files created from client DV footage in Premier 6.1 through my Matrox RT2500 card. These imported ok into DVDit5 but that s/w was so flaky I am purchasing DVDWS2. While waiting for the s/w to arrive I am using the unpatched trial and attempting to find an mpeg2 format that WS will happilyaccept.

The Matrox IBP import ok but the preview and output is upside down, although the thumbnails are correct. If I convert the IBP to mpeg program stream they seem ok, but with over a hundred to do it will take a long time, and it is yet another conversion process. Output quality is important, I can use the highst quality as usually there will only be a few minutes of material on the DVD.

I can import the Matrox native RT2500 avi & wav files but the transcode time is a bit steep, so would rather have the clips in mpeg.

Additionally I had similar inverted video with NTSC vobs transcoded to PAL mpeg through Windows Media Converter. The viewed ok in WMP but inverted on import into WS2.

Can anyone explain this, and advise on the best mpeg format?

Many thanks

Christopher

[Devil]

I think Terry's the right guy to answer this as he is the expert in all things Matrox. I'll just answer a generality: WS2 will accept most standard file types such as mpg, avi, wmv etc. In the case of mpeg, if the file is DVD-compliant, it will not re-encode it (unless you force it to). If it is not compliant, then it will encode it to a compliant form. In the case of lossy codecs, such as XVID or WMV, encoding may be a very lengthy process.

I have never heard of a case of inverted videos, but I can't reproduce what you are doing. Maybe you need to turn your monitor upside down?

[Drood]

......7mbps VBR DVD compliant IBP files created from client DV footage in Premier 6.1 .....
.....the highst quality as usually there will only be a few minutes of material on the DVD....

Just a note:
Why using 7mbps VBR while there is a plenty of space?
Make it CBR 8mbps (or even more, depending of audio bitrate) for the sake of quality.

[chrisatleo]

Tried the monitor idea but it gave me a crick in the neck for the normal stuff.... Seriously, am wondering if it is a codec problem specific to this pc, as it also occurs on NTSC-PAL conversions in Windows Media Converter (useful s/w that!). Will try to reproduce it on my non-matrox machine here, but any experiences welcomed. Will report back later.

The 7mbps VBR files were used in DVDit5, as that package was VERY picky, hated 8mbps CBR. I just haven't re-exported them yet, was waiting for further advice.

Thanks

[Devil]

Just a note:
Why using 7mbps VBR while there is a plenty of space?
Make it CBR 8mbps (or even more, depending of audio bitrate) for the sake of quality.

NOT a good idea. a) many DVD players glitch at 8000 kbit/s on a DVD±R b) you will get no quality improvement from a DV source, which is already compressed with its own artefacts. 6000 kbit/s seems to be safe and is good enough for most mini-DV material.

[chrisatleo]

Ok I've now done some more work on this and found the following:

On my edit pc with the RT2500 card and a G550 graphics card DVDit is a sick puppy. Always has been. WS2 is fine except for the inverted IBP files. However, I burned a test of the inverted files to a DVD folder then looked at that with DVD Shrink, and Lo Verily, all was magically uprighted. So it appears to be a problem with the preview, which must be machine specific, cos I can't reproduce it on another pc with identical s/w but no martox cards, and it occurs in DM Converter also on the edit pc.

The matrox card creates a default monitor at 640 x 480 16bit on the RT2500 so my display properties tell me, and that works perfectly in Premiere.

On the other pc DVDit behaves, (as does WS2), but suffers from the major drawback of not working over a network (haven't yet tried this in WS2). Now I cannot be doing with moving clips from one place to another just to burn the damn things.

So it would appear that if I ignore what I see in WS2 on the edit pc, everything will be ok (never mind what the client might think, peering over my shoulder.). I could use the other pc but then I'd lose the matrox realtime features which is not nice, having tried it.

On this basis I have to assume that my NTSC-PAL xfers are fine also. I will have to check.

I'd love to know the answer......

[chrisatleo]

Also, Devil, which Terry? Too many members to go through without a namesearch function (or am I missing it...). Sounds like he could be interesting to chat to.

Thanks again

Christopher

[Devil]

THE Terry, of course http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/profile.ph ... ile&u=2951