lathompson Posted August 5, 2006 Report Share Posted August 5, 2006 For some reason, I've lost track of how to make a simple mpeg 2 file from my P2E show. Or was this ever possible?For so long now, I've been making shows, converting to the temp video file and using Ulead to finish the show to a DVD burn. I seem to think that at one time, it was possible to make a simple Mpeg 2 (one file with video and sound included) to use as a clickable file, like the EXE. I have a customer that wants this.I have used TMPGEnc in the past to make a video file, but it makes two files, one is the video and one is the .wav. For some reason, I thought I could make a single file for this purpose. Am I going nuts or what? Anyone?larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Cox Posted August 5, 2006 Report Share Posted August 5, 2006 LARRY SEEhttp://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3992ANDhttp://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3943we went right into things in these 2 threadsi prefer to make the mpeg 2 with winavisee my http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4667entry #6ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lathompson Posted August 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 LARRY SEEhttp://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3992ANDhttp://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3943we went right into things in these 2 threadsi prefer to make the mpeg 2 with winavisee my http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4667entry #6kenKen, thanks for the refrences and your reply. Unfortunately, the links provided had far more information and depth in them than I could absorb and the links within the messages, with links within them and even more links within those, led to total shutdown. All the numbers cofused my dyslexic brain to such an extent that I'm embarrassed at the level of my ignorance.I just need to convert the temorary AVI from P2E or use TMPGEnc or something, to come up with a simple mpeg2 file. You say winavi is what you use. Is that a program that (like Ulead or Nero) you can simply open and point to the temporary avi or what?I'm not a tinkerer and just can't stay with the conversations on technical aspects. No disrespect intended, I just need a simple way to acomplish this task.Thanks again.lt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Cox Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=winavi...le+Search&meta=http://www.winavi.com/en/index.htmfar simpler thanTMPGEncbut if you go and follow Jeff's step'syou have what you want already built in in the basic 4.48 proggieyou just have to experiment the same as we didken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lin Evans Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 Ken, thanks for the refrences and your reply. Unfortunately, the links provided had far more information and depth in them than I could absorb and the links within the messages, with links within them and even more links within those, led to total shutdown. All the numbers cofused my dyslexic brain to such an extent that I'm embarrassed at the level of my ignorance.I just need to convert the temorary AVI from P2E or use TMPGEnc or something, to come up with a simple mpeg2 file. You say winavi is what you use. Is that a program that (like Ulead or Nero) you can simply open and point to the temporary avi or what?I'm not a tinkerer and just can't stay with the conversations on technical aspects. No disrespect intended, I just need a simple way to acomplish this task.Thanks again.ltHi Larry,You can't directly make an MPEG II file with PicturesToExe. You can't make an AVI file directly with the pte codec so you need to use the "Create Custom AVI" feature to create an AVI file. You "can" convert an AVI file to MPEG II with various software, but there is no real advantage to doing this at all.An AVI file is highly compressed versus an MPEG II file. When you take a compressed file and then make an uncompressed file from it the result is no better than the original, just much "larger". This is what you would be doing if you created the AVI file then converted it to MPEG II. The result would be a much larger file witht any improvement at all in quality. In short, it would be better to give them a good AVI.The AVI files created using the "Create Custom AVI" feature are as good as the codec (compress de-compress algorithm) used. The best I've seen is the Microsoft MPEG 4 codec. If you don't already have this codec on your computer you can get it from various locations. I would suggest downloading the ACE Mega CodecS Pac here:http://www.free-codecs.com/download/ACE_Mega_CoDecS_Pack.htmInstall the Microsoft MPEG 4 video codec then use the Create Custom AVI function of PicturesToEXe to create an AVI file with the MPEG 4 Video codec as the video codec choice. This will allow the createion of a very good AVI file which you can then either use as is (recommended) or use other conversion software to convert to MPEG II.Lin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alrobin Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 Larry,A good place to learn about AVI (and MPEG) formats is this Wikipedia site and also this special Audio-Video site. See also MPEG-2.In short, "avi" is an older "container" format which uses any number of different compression technologies, and "mpeg" is an attempt by many countries and manufacturers to standardize different levels of audio and video compression, depending on what the use is (e.g. mp3 for sound, and many combinations thereof). Mpeg files can be either larger or smaller than their equivalent avi files, but typically they are more highly compressed than is accomplished by other equivalent older coding technologies. I have had avi files up to a gigabyte in size, whereas the "equivalent" mpeg file was less than 100 Mb. We are more familiar with sound files; mp3 files are typically 1/10 of the size of the files used for CD's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lathompson Posted August 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 Okay, Ken after posting, I downloaded winavi and gave it a try on a temp avi created by P2E and it worked. Thanks for that.I finally realized that trying to find the Microsoft MPEG-4 Video Codec V2 download on that link you provided, was not necessary and that it was included on that downloadable pack ACE MEGA CODECS PACK 6.03. I'm downloading it now. I shouldn't read things under stress. Lin, you noted that the AVI is more compressed than the mpeg... Is that correct? I have always thought that the mpeg2 was more compact. If that is the case, all I need to do is make the permanent avi and be done with it.And the quality stays up there? That's great. Can't wait to try it out at work.Thanks to both of you for the help!oops! Just noticed that I missed Al's reply... Now I'm getting confused again. Al, your saying the AVI is not as compressed as the mpg. Now, is the mpg the same as an mpeg 2 (mpeg II) or what? Linn led me to believe that the mpeg is not as compressed as the mpeg II.lt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lin Evans Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 Okay, Ken after posting, I downloaded winavi and gave it a try on a temp avi created by P2E and it worked. Thanks for that.I finally realized that trying to find the Microsoft MPEG-4 Video Codec V2 download on that link you provided, was not necessary and that it was included on that downloadable pack ACE MEGA CODECS PACK 6.03. I'm downloading it now. I shouldn't read things under stress. Lin, you noted that the AVI is more compressed than the mpeg... Is that correct? I have always thought that the mpeg2 was more compact. If that is the case, all I need to do is make the permanent avi and be done with it.And the quality stays up there? That's great. Can't wait to try it out at work.Thanks to both of you for the help!oops! Just noticed that I missed Al's reply... Now I'm getting confused again. Al, your saying the AVI is not as compressed as the mpg. Now, is the mpg the same as an mpeg 2 (mpeg II) or what? Linn led me to believe that the mpeg is not as compressed as the mpeg II.ltHi Larry,It depends on the MPG compression algorithm being used and the AVI algorithm being used. MPG II is quite large in all my tests compared to the AVI file you will get from PicturesToExe using the MPEG 4 codec. Try it for yourself and decide which you prefer.As an example, if I take ProShow Gold (which outputs an MPEG II file) and create an MPEG II file for a slideshow and take the same images and create an AVI to make a Flash show, the AVI file is less than a quarter of the MPEG file. So the MPEG II algorithm used by ProShow Gold has apparently much less compression than the AVI file used by the MPEG 4 video codec to create the AVI files from PicturesToExe.What I'm saying is that once compression has ocurred, you can't improve on the image quality by creating from the AVI file an MPEG II counterpart. But that MPEG II counterpart in my experience is considerably larger than the AVI file created using the Microsoft MPEG 4 Codec in the set you downloaded.The individual compression methods, whether they are lossy or not, etc., among other factors such as compressibility of the images determine how large the file will be. PicturesToExe can output AVI files but does not have a facility for MPEG II creation directly. You could try it both ways and use whichever you prefer.Best regards,Lin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lathompson Posted August 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 Okay Lin, that's good enough for me.I just finished installilng what I think I should have installed. In the * ACE Mega CodecS Pack 6.03 - Professional Edition * that I just downloaded.While installing, it asked me which codecs I wanted to install. You guys have said it should be the * Microsoft MPEG-4 Video Codec V2 *. But the exact wording for this codec was not a choice in the list given. In it's absence, I choose the one called * Microsoft Windows Media MPEG-4 Video Decoder DMO 9.00.00.4487 *. I also checked the one called * Microsoft mpeg-4 video decompressor *.I'm just assuming I did the right thing here. lt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Cox Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 Larryyou said"make a simple Mpeg 2 (one file with video and sound included) to use as a clickable file, like the EXE. I have a customer that wants this."the mpeg2 will play in a standard dvd player/tva divx file will play in a dvd player with the divx optionI dont think there is a dvd player yet that will play an avi -- your computer will play the avihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVIplayer compatibiltyhttp://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.phpken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lathompson Posted August 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 Yes, Ken you're right. I'm just kind of swept up in this new information. The customer does want an mpeg and that's what I'll give him. Your WINAVI suggestion solved that and I have completed that mission.I kinda changed direction in learning some new stuff here about avi files and now I'm trying to understand them a little better. Don't know why my customer wants the mpeg... I never ask, I just provide.lt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Cox Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 WINAVILarry explore all its features when time permits, make sure you check all its options/advanced settingsken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo Posted August 7, 2006 Report Share Posted August 7, 2006 I've used quite a few video converters and I've found WinAvi to be the best, easy to use and it does the job properly. Jim.WINAVILarry explore all its features when time permits, make sure you check all its options/advanced settingsken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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