This little guide is for those of you wanting to convert your avi, divx, xvid files to dvd compliant mpeg 2 files using the Mainconcept Mpeg Encoder, the reason I use MainConcept is mainly because of it speed compared with TMPGEnc encoder, on a 2.1Ghtz system I can convert a 90min film in a little over an hour

This is by no means a definitive guide as there is always more than one way of doing anything on a computer, these are just some of the steps which I use when making a dvd.
I make no claims to being a guru with MainConcept encoder and this is not ment to be a beginners guide either, these are just my methods that work for me, for more in depth details of all the settings RTFM (see the excellent pdf manual that comes with the encoder or the more advanced one available on their webpage here)

First job is to identify the file details with a useful free tool - avicodec

Main info I'm after here is the Video resolution (1) which here is 608*256 (write these down for use later on) and the aspect ratio of the movie (2) which here is 2.21:1 (not very accurate as 608/256 should be 2.375, but if it is 16:9 or 4:3 you can skip the crop and scale section further down)

NOTE: The bottom two lines state weather your system has the codec's installed to play the file, if it states UnSupported click the WEB button on that line and it will take you to a download site for the appropriate codec - nice touch - BUT I would steer well clear on installing so called codec packs , only install codec's as needed - DON'T install everything under the sun just because it's offered to you - that's just asking for trouble.

Step 1.

Fire up Mainconcept encoder and load your file ....

Here I've loaded gangs1 as the AVI source and the separate audio in wav format (extracted via full processing mode in virtualdub)
Selected dvd as project type and chosen to output to separate video/audio files (Elementary out put for use later with dvdlab - if your project has ac3 audio select Elementary Video only), as it's pal I've chosen mpeg layer 2 audio to keep as much film quality as possible.

Step 2.

Next click on the Details button, the following screen will pop up.

Step 3.

Next we need to set the crop and scale to get the right picture setting that will tell the encoder to add the black bars top and button (as the AVI is not 16:9 / 1.77 or 4:3 / 1.33)
So hit the Crop & Scale button.
Un-check the Keep Proportions box in the window below (if its checked) and enter the new value into the height box.

BUG - when entering a new value in the height box - if you type the number in directly (as opposed to using the slider or spin controls) and just press OK - mainconcept will forget the new settings!
to get round this little bug type in the number then press the TAB key (notice the slider jumps) then press OK.

How did I get that number you might be asking? well details are below but I recommend you read this excellent guide here by DJRumpy for a better under standing.

Our original video had a resolution of 608 x 256 which has a video aspect ratio of 608/256 = 2.375
Multiply the physical height of the mpeg were making (576), by the MPEG display aspect ratio you want.
Since this is in widescreen format we use a ratio of 1.77 (16:9),
576 * 1.77 = 1019.52
This is our videos true width. We then apply our original VIDEO's aspect ratio of 2.375
1019.52 / 2.375 = 429.27 then round it to even.
So this movies actual video image area would be 1020 x 430 = 2.375 ratio, with black bars of 73 pixels added on the top and bottom to make 1020 x 576 squished into 720 x 575 mpeg.

NOTE: For NTSC footage replace 576 with 480 in all calculations.

Next click OK then the Advanced button.

Here I've set up Aspect ratio to 16:9 (I've left everything else as default)
NOTE: Auto GOP settings can insert I-frames at scene changes - useful for accurate dvd scene menu's etc.

Step 4

Next click on the 2nd tab - Advanced video settings and I setup as follows..

I generally don't touch the audio settings but feel free to have a fiddle if you want to save more space by reducing the bitrate of the audio (if you don't mind the reduced quality)

That's generally it as far as the settings go, click OK to get back to the main window and hit the convert button.

If your project has two AVI files, then after setting things up, click on the File menu Add to batch list
Start over again for the next file, then Add to batch list again
Click encode list to one file, set output name and click Start encoding - this will result in 1 large video file and 1 audio file ready to use in dvdlab.
NOTE: if the 'Encode list to one file' is grayed out then the settings in one of the files is not the same as the other (setting have to be identical) use the copy to main, delete entry, adjust settings then add to batch.....

Have fun

Last updated :: Monday, March 26, 2007