adding video codecs

[leonard]

P2E includes a number of Video Codecs in 'custom' by default. How can one add to this list, for example "Microsoft Windows Media Video 9"?

Is the 'Pictures to exe' codec always used when one selects 'VCD, SVCD, or DVD-Video disc'?

Look forward to reading your ideas and comments.

Leonard

[alrobin]

Leonard,

Welcome to the Forum!

You can select from a number of codecs by clicking on "Create custom AVI video file" in the "Video" menu. Otherwise, the PTE codec is the default selection.

[leonard]

Thanks for your reply.

I am aware that one can choose from the list provided, but my Q is aimed at the possibility of adding another Codec type to the list.

To be specific - Using P2E as the slide collater I wish to create an AVI file using the MS Windows Media Video 9 Codec. However, in P2E (Create Custom Video file) I am 'restricted' to choosing a Codec from the default list. So, is it possible to introduce other Codecs to the list, or better still, prepare an AVI of the P2E output using another application?

Incidentally, I like P2E as it does a first class job of making and presenting a slide show for showing on a PC. However, I am less than impressed with it's capabilities when one then uses it to produce AVI's for loading into say Encore.

Any further comments, advice or whatever would be greatly appreciated. I'm strictly a beginner in this business and it may well be that I am doing something wrong due to my inexperience.

Leonard

[Igor]

When you select DVD, SVCD or VCD it always uses PicturesToExe lossless video codec.

We mayn't directly support "Microsoft Windows Media Video 9" codec (WMV), because it's not AVI file. But you can choose our lossless PicturesToExe codec (or DVD preset) and import created AVI file into Media Encoder 9 program and convert it to WMV video file. It will give exactly same image and sound quality as if you could create WMV directly in PTE.

[jevans]

Windows Movie Maker 2.1 for Windows XP (part of SP2) supports the Windows Media 9 Codec. Very easy to use. Just load the temp AVI pipe created by p2e and then Save Movie. Windows Media Encoder 9 works great too.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsme...er/default.aspx

tom

Although you can create a DVD from a number of PTE projects by running them simultaneaously and creating AVI files from each project and then importing these files into Ulead Movie Factory, can you use the above technique to import and AVI file into Movie Maker (or come other program) and then save the resultant converted file so that each PTE AVI file can be saved and subsequently used to make up a composite DVD show.

I have made a DVD using 4 PTE separate projects but wwould like to do this with 10 separate PTE projects and think it would be easier if the AVI file from each project could be saved and then imported into say Movie Factory.

[alrobin]

Jeff,

You might get a better answer if you post this on the "video" section of the forum, but to answer your question (a newbie to video speaking here ), yes, it is possible to create "true" avi files from the temporary PTE avi files, save them, close PTE, and then use the new avi files to build up a multi-show DVD. At least I have been able to use this method with Nero 6, in order to create avi's that I could use with Pinnacle Studio 8 for a multi-show dvd.

Watch the total time of the shows, however, as normally DVD's are limited to about an hour of video.

[jevans]

Jeff,

At least I have been able to use this method with Nero 6, in order to create avi's that I could use with Pinnacle Studio 8 for a multi-show dvd.

Watch the total time of the shows, however, as normally DVD's are limited to about an hour of video.

Al,

Which feature of Nero 6 did you use to save/modify the temporary AVI file ? Did you import the AVI file into Nero Recode?

I do not have Pinnacle but have Ulead Studio 8 which has similar facilities.

Jeff

[alrobin]

Jeff,

The Nero program I use is called "Vision Express 2".

Instead of "making a DVD", select "make new movie", select the temporary avi file, and then select "Export/Custom", and choose "avi" as the file type.

This procedure in Nero is unnecessarily complex, and it took me over half an hour this morning to remember the sequence of steps in order to find the "avi" option. In fact I already had a message prepared to send you and tell you I had made a mistake and couldn't remember how I had done it before, and then I went back to the program and this time I found the option again.

Nothing is simple in this video world!

[jevans]

Jeff,

The Nero program I use is called "Vision Express 2".

Instead of "making a DVD", select "make new movie", select the temporary avi file, and then select "Export/Custom", and choose "avi" as the file type.

Hi Al,

Thanks for replying so quickly as always. I have tried your method and it works up to a point. The steps are as follows :

1. Open a PTE project and create an AVI file. Note I have to use the "custom" option to get a .avi file, otherwise I get a .ptve file which Nero will not recognise.

2. Next I open Nero Vision Express and go through the export steps you mention. I get a new .AVI file ok

3. Now, with the original PTE project either still open or closed, I try to import the new AVI file into Ulead Movie Factory. This does not work as I get an error message saying "*.AVI file not accessible". It does not seem to matter whether I keep PTE open or close it, the new AVI file is still not accessible.

4. HOWEVER, if I export the AVI file from Vision Express as an mpeg1 file, Movie Factory will recognise this and import it.

So I can get the process to work if I export as an mpeg1 file. But the quality does not seem to be as good as importing the temporary PTE AVI file directly into Movie Factory. This may just be my impression.

When you did this yourself, did you manage to export as an AVI file and import this into Pinnacle. I do not have Pinnacle but have tried to import the new AVI file into Ulead Video 8, with no success.

Jeff

[Ken Cox]

If you have nero why are you confusing the issue by using ulead

if you uncheck the ulead box backwher you male avi you should get a file with an extension avi_vid

then when you open vision express you shbe able to import it when you click make dvd

ken

[jevans]

If you have nero why are you confusing the issue by using ulead

if you uncheck the ulead box backwher you male avi you should get a file with an extension avi_vid

then when you open vision express you shbe able to import it when you click make dvd

ken

Hi Ken,

Thanks for comments. However there may be some confusion here. Normally I create a PTE project, create a temporary AVI file, and then import this file into Ulead Movie Factory so that I can add menus, title page etc before burning to DVD. This process works fine.

What I am trying to do is to save or convert PTE's remporary AVI file into a separate permanent file. Then I can repeat this with a number of related PTE projects and import all these premanent AVI files into Ulead for burning as a composite show.

I have tried your suggestion of turning off the Ulead radio button in the video dialog box of PTE and creating a temporary AVI file. I can import this into Vision Express and export it again as a permanent AVI file with another name. However I cannot import this new file into Ulead. I get the "file not accessible" message when I try to import the new file.

Vision Express will burn the AVI file to a DVD, but has no other menu or front sheet functions that are contained within Ulead - anyway that I am aware of. So I need to import the new AVI file into some program which will enable me to create DVD menus etc.

Jeff

[jevans]

Hi Ken,

Sorry for my last post. I have not used Vision Express before and, after posting my last comment, I had second thoughts and investigated further. I now see that Vision Express has similar functions to Ulead Movie Factory and that I can probably complete the required function using just this program. Anyway thanks again to you and Al for helping me.

Jeff

[Ken Cox]

ah ha

now the truth comes out :

what you have to do is before you click p2e's finish button, import the temp avi to tmpgenc or in my case i use winavi and convert it to a permanent mpeg 1 or 2 for future reuse -- i do this quite often before i convert to dvd so that i can burn the mpg to disc play it in the dvd/tv setup as soon as possible to see if there are any hitches /goofs asap

if every thing is a ok you are only out a bit of time cause youu can use the mpg in vision express

ken

[alrobin]

Jeff,

The dual avi system worked for me in Pinnacle - in fact it was the only way I could get Pinnacle to recognize that the two avi's, one for each of 2 different shows, were in fact different. It kept giving me a repeat of the first one when I tried to use the temporary avi's created by PTE.

Obviously, as Ken indicates, the ideal way to creat multiple shows is to go directly from different instances of PTE into a movie program such as Vision Express or Nero, etc. You mentioned that the quality when you used mpegs instead of avi's was not as good as from avi files - this is to be expected since mpeg files are much smaller than avi files due to considerable compression. We know that taking a jpeg and then editing it again results in a lesser quality jpeg than if we go back to the original uncompressed image and do any further editing on it, so the same principle probably holds in video.

If your intent is still to avoid having to keep 10 copies of PTE open, then I would suggest you keep experimenting until you find a system that will accept your "permanent" avi files as sources for the final composite DVD.

[Ken Cox]

Al your statement

this is to be expected since mpeg files are much smaller than avi files

i just took an avi 360.8 mb in size

and converted it to mpeg 2 format and the resulting file is 2.29 gb

my understanding of avi is that it is MS form of video compression -divx is a souped up version of avi -- divx players are now coming on the market -i bought one before xnmas at Zehrs grocery store:)- the founder of divx has made the statement that his product has the smarts right now and the blue ray etc controversy is not necessary but MS and Hollywood do not want to talk-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_container_formats

ken

[alrobin]

Ken,

My "avi" file from MS "Movie Maker" was 917 Mb, whereas the equivalent "wmv" file was only 26 Mb.

[Ken Cox]

wmv is not mpeg

wmv see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMV

convert your avi to mpeg and see size

ken

[Ken Cox]

from my earlier post

"i just took an avi 360.8 mb in size

and converted it to mpeg 2 format and the resulting file is 2.29 gb"

that same file when converted to a dvd is now

2.04 gb and it is called

vts_01_1.vob

in the VIDEO_TS folder

so i think without getting real technical [which is out of my range] i would be safe in saying that during the the encoding process the avi gets converted to a form of mpeg 2

ken

[alrobin]

wmv is not mpeg

Well, that may be, but it's a close relation to MPEG (MPEG-4, actually). It amounts to virtually the same idea, anyway.

[alrobin]

... I have not used Vision Express before and, after posting my last comment, I had second thoughts and investigated further. I now see that Vision Express has similar functions to Ulead Movie Factory and that I can probably complete the required function using just this program. Anyway thanks again to you and Al for helping me.

You're welcome, Jeff. Further to my earlier post, Ken and Ralph and I have been communicating our test results on a number of technical fronts, and I should let you know what I found regarding Nero Vision Express.

The stand-alone "avi" file I created with this program is much larger than the ones created with "Studio 8" or "Elements", so they might not be too practical for your situation where you want to combine 10 different shows. For example, for my "Emerald Isle" show, I found that the avi file sizes were as follows:

Temporary PTE avi file: 91.4 Mb:

Nero "Vision Express": avi: 8.10 Gb ! final mpg file: 434 Mb ("standard" 5073 kbps).

(I obtained this result twice in a row).

Pinnacle "Studio-8": avi: 1.95 Gb; mpg #1: 407 Mb (video: 6000 kbps, audio: mpeg, 224 kbps, 48 khz);

mpg #2: 223 Mb (video: 5073 kbps, audio: mpeg, 224 kbps, 48 khz).

Premiere "Elements 2": avi: 1.95 Gb; mpg: 493 Mb (quality: default ??).

I used 720x480 for all tests.

[stonemason]

Interesting discussion, which explains why the top of my wish list for PTE v5 was the ability to output mpg2 direct as does ProShow gold.

[Ken Cox]

and i suppose you still want p2e to fit on a floppy 1.44 as well

Igor has explained his theory many times before

and Lin very aptly answered another ProShow follower here

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....st=entry25282

and he has answered others re pitfalls with ProShow before

use the search for his entries

ken

[alrobin]

Interesting discussion, which explains why the top of my wish list for PTE v5 was the ability to output mpg2 direct as does ProShow gold.

stonemason,

This is really too much to ask of a program like PTE or ProShow or any other program not dedicated to video. There really are too many variables, and the video development situation is too volatile, as you can see from some of the discussion above. In order to keep PTE affordable, Igor has to work with a minimum of technical staff, so video is best left to the video experts while Igor and his team concentrate on the issues particularly important to being able to put together effective AV sequences from stills.

It's a little like the auto repair business - when I took my car in for a transmission flush recently, my mechanic had to send it out to a specialist. When I wanted my AC fixed, I had to go to a different specialist.

I would much rather have to purchase a separate specialist program to do the video conversion (or programs, since one program never does it all just the way you want it to do), than to have Igor waste his precious time building the capability into PTE, just to be able to say that it can create an mpeg video file. In fact, IMO, it's kudos to Igor for taking the option as far as he has!

[stonemason]

Hi Al as always reasoned and well constructed input from you. My remarks were not intended as a critisim of Igor and his team, who I wholehartedly agree have produced, and continue to refine the best audio visual app there is available. However questions about "TV viewable" output continue to attract lots of interest and opinion from forum members, and a considerable amount of the total number of posts on the forum. Therefore it is reasonable to keep examining this issue. As I said mpg2 output is a wishlist, not a demand. I use the frameserving to TMPGEnc myself with excellent results, but for people new to digital AV production I think you will agree it is not the easiest concept to get to grips with, so the more reasond debate, and sharing of information the better.

Ken "and i suppose you still want p2e to fit on a floppy 1.44 as well" I find the sarcastic tone of this reply both dissapointing and unnecessary.

[alrobin]

Stonemason,

I agree with you re the need for discussion and debate - everyone is entitled to one's opinions, and I respect yours.

This issue is unnecessarily complicated. I have just recently started to experiment with it, and hope to someday incorporate it into a revised PTE tutorial. However, this topic is becoming less confusing as new improved versions of the various programs are produced.

Re building mpeg2 into PTE, there are a lot of other issues at play here too which would make it difficult for Igor to keep up with continuing development:

licencing costs for the various codecs, a multitude of different standards (mpeg2 is only one of the formats that the users would request), rapidly changing standards as new features are added, increasing demands by consumers for better picture quality, new breakthroughs in hardware capabilities, etc., etc.

Once mpeg2 was added to PTE, everyone would also want the ability to combine two or more shows, add fancy menus and even fancier transitions, etc. Video is a whole world of its own! But, who knows - maybe when HDTV production becomes a household capability, and if video resolutions continue to improve, we will all be shooting video some day!

By the way, has anyone noticed that you can now add a smilie within the text wherever the cursor happens to rest?