G400 with TMPGEnc

[Magnus K]

Hi !

When I try to convert my captured files to VCD using TMPEGEnc 2.56 I only get a black screen and grey dots in a grid pattern.

When I browse through the net it seems that there are lots of people using TMPGEnc converting MJPEG captured files.

What am I doing wrong?

I'm using:
TMPEGEnc 2.56
Latest drivers from Matrox
Win98SE

Thanks !

[Greebe]

Moved to Desktop Video forum

[JonH]

I tried TMPEG today for the first time and the same thing happened only my video came out olive green. I think it might be because my original was an MJPEG compressed avi. But I don't know.

[Magnus K]

To bad you have the same problem :-(
But I have seen a lot of persons using TMPGEnc and Matrox cards without any problems. HOW?
I'm also using the MJPEG compression, naturally.
But hey, all you guys out there using TMPEGEnc and Matrox cards, is this the right way to go or should I use some other mpeg converter.
(I get great results with the TMPEGEnc when I'm using it with my other capturecard - Terratec TV Value, and using the Picvideo codec.)

So my questions is:

1. Can I get TMPEGEnc to recognize the Matrox MJPEG format, and in that case how?

2. If not, which encoder shall I use instead? The bundeled LSX encoder sucks...

3. Or shall I first convert the MJPEG to another AVI format using like Adobe Premiere or Ulead MSP?

[landrover]

What OS are you running? I'm asking this, because you're not doing anything wrong really. Provided that the OS is hardware MJPEG compatible, it should be no problem to convert straight from MJPEG to MPEG using TMPGEnc. Otherwise you could install a software MJPEG codec to handle the hardware encoded AVI and then it should work also.

[Brian Ellis]

Try v. 2.58

When I ran Marvel, I had no problems, although I was using beta versions at that time. Unfortunately, I have no Marvel MJPEG files left to test it with later versions, but I'm surprised that there is an inherent problem. Of course, the conversion must be done on the same computer as the Marvel card is installed or has the PICVideo codec installed.

[Magnus K]

I'm running Win98SE
Latest drivers from Matrox.
PII 266 Mhz
MSI MS-6117 motherboard.
G400-TV (of course)
TMPEGEnc 2.56

And I really want to use TMPGEnc for converting to (s)vcd.
When you capture from digital TV for example, the result is fantastic when making a vcd.

Or should I try to use Picvideo codec for capturing and ditch MJPEG? I not sure though, that the PII is fast enough.

Any thoughts?

[Magnus K]

I forgot to mention that I'm using Matrox MJPEG.
Not the Picvideo.
Sorry, it slipped my mind...

[landrover]

Hi Magnus,

Try TMPGEnc's latest, like Brian said. The problem lies there, probably. Don't use PICVideo, when you can benefit from hardware compression. You got exactly the right rig to get the most out of your G400-TV.

[Magnus K]

Yeah, I have tried on the last installation as clean as possible.
I only have Win98SE, matrox vid-tools+display driver, TMPGEnc and drivers to my LAN-card installed, just to make the system as good as possible.

I'll try using latest TMPGEnc and see how that goes...

[JonH]

I'm on win 98 second edition as well. I tried making an SVCD compliant mpeg file.
I have a question. Is TMPEG better than MPEG.NOW from Ulead (using Media Studio)?
Thanks.
Jon

[Brian Ellis]

Jon

I think there is little to choose between them, in terms of final quality. I've done direct comparisons and it is very difficult to see any difference for equivalent settings. Note that the default settings are not equivalent. Where TMPGEnc wins is the wider choice of settings and the interface. You can see a lot better what is going on.

[Magnus K]

Hi !

I just wanted to let everybody who reads this thread that I have got everything woking now ! :-)

I changed the priority setting for AVI VFW compability Reader in Enviromental settings under the tab "VFAPI plug-in".

But note, my settings may not be correct for all you others.
I've got great help from Fred H and have been cross checking with his settings. His setting is -2 and my settings is 0 for the AVI VFW compability Reader.

Lab around with that setting and it will hopefully work for you others too who have this same problem.

[JonH]

CHanging the AVI VFW compability to 0 works for me too. Thanks. I'm trying to make high quality mpeg2s. I'm using the deault SVCD settings with a 2530 bit rate and 2-pass VBR.
Any thoughts on upping the quality on this? Thanks.
Jon