Hi i have just read through ChickenMans Guide on how to convert AVIs to DVD and i am fairly ok with converting them. I was just wondering what is better to use CCE or Mainconcept? so which gives better results? also i am trying to convert my AVIs to PAL dvd format i am setting the PAL size etc in DVD2SVCD but they are still coming out as NTSC movies what am i doing wrong?? Please help! oh and also on one or two of the movies i am converts they turn a funny color with hints of green etc any ideas whats causing this???


Thanks



Darren

the very, very, best [and easiest] way to do avi to dvd is with nerovision express in make dvd mode. i have tried MANY programs and nero wins hands down every time

As somebody on here once said All-in-one and Quality is an oxymoron. You simply cannot get really great quality conversions with an all in one package! I have tried and failed many a time.

Any ideas to my original questions?

O ye of little faith...

Hi..

Firstly What Does CCE Mean..! Secondly I Have The MAINCONCEPT MPEG PRO ENCORDER 1.0.6 For Use With Premiere Pro 1.5. The Results Are Brilliant.! How Ever There Are 2 Versions Of MPEG Encorder 1.0.6 Standard / HD Edition.!

Post A Reply If Further Assistance Is Require Or PM Me.!

I would go with Cinema Craft Encoder SP (CCE). The funny colour may be because you are encoding using a colour type it can’t understand (RGB 24 for example). I would add the "ConvertToYUY2" value at the beginning of the script in DVD2SVCD.This should convert it to a colour depth that CCE can understand, and the loss of colour information is virtually unnoticeable.

For speed and over all quality I like mainconcept. As stated above some of the better/more expensive software use the mainconcept encoder. I have CCE SP 2.5 which is my 2nd choice.

Cut out a small 1-2 min clip from from the avi (Virtualdub/Virtualdub mpeg2,free) to experiment with different encoders with different settings and see what YOU like. I use Virtualdub mpeg2. I do this for all my avisynth scripts and for testing Virtualdub filters. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

If you use the D2SRoba front end to dvd2svcd you'll get both speed & good quality when using CCE. Quality is comparable (this is very subjective obviously) to a 4pass within CCE but taking a 1/4 of the time.

Hi people thanks for all your ideas and suggestions I took tigerman8u's advice and cut a small clip from an AVI and converted to DVD format I was very surprised to see what came out on top for overall quality speed and ease of use.

Results:

CCE with D2SRoBa - DVD2SVCD

Complicated setup requires lots of reading and knowing what you are doing (ok if you intend to do a lot of conversions)

Pain in the a** to do multiple AVI conversions for one disc i.e. several movies on one DVD (requires setting up batch files ripping the audio repeating process blahh blahh)

Great quality results using the 1 pass that D2SRoba lets u do

If you want to make menus etc you have to use additional software

Not to quick on converting

MAINCONCEPT

Easier than CCE to use and a much better interface but with nearly as many customisation options etc in the advanced settings

Great quality results

Ability to set more advanced settings such as bitrate speeds

If you want to make menus etc you have to use additional software

Great conversion speeds

Nero Vision Express 3

Well first I owe apologies to the wise G)-(osters and condemnations to who ever it was that said All-in-one and Quality is an oxymoron

First impression I thought this was yet another DVD Santa and the like which gives you appalling results much like watching it through frosted Glass. But how I was wrong!

At first I thought I would dismiss the nerovision express method but there was something telling me I just have to do it! So I did and I was amazed by the results.

Not only were the results really really great and gave just as good results as all the other software, but the interface and ease of use are superb as well. This program allows you to do every think you need to make a DVD even allowing you to created animated/motion menus.

Great conversion speeds the quickest of all three but you also save time on creating the menus etc using just this program

The only bad thing I could find about Nerovision is that at first my movies looked funny in the preview for 4:3 format all slanted etc but the results are absolutely fine.


To summarize I found NeroVision to be the best by far if you don’t like to think to hard and want to create a DVD with no fuss or hassles. But if you like to tweak settings etc and see more of what is actually going on then Mainconcept should be you choice and if you want a lot of hassle reading and p** bulling about then CCE is a must!

Nero vision 9.5/10
Main Concept 9/10
CCE 7/10


As for my colour issues and NTSC – PAL problem both Mainconcept and NeroVision corrected the colour and let me choose either NTSC or PAL etc.

The issue with Nero Vision is that it works a lot of the time, but when it fails, it fails SPECTACULARLY. I tried to convert one AVI... oh my DEAR GOD IT WAS HORRIFYING. But most of the time it makes perfectly acceptable results.

Also, if you're comparing it to Mainconcept's "default settings" or CCE's "one-pass" settings, that's like Apples to Oranges, since NVE does pseudo-2pass by default (a first VERY quick pass to get VBR rates, then a full pass to encode), whereas by default MC uses CQ/1pass and CCE uses, according to you, one pass.

the thing about NVE3 is that it's not really your standard all in one app. also nero/ahead have now got some of the fastest and best codecs in the biz at the moment. of course, it wont work 100% perfect on 100% of systems. but what app ever does ? a lot depends on the source clip i believe...

Yes. Unfortunately there are no options in NVE, so if there IS a problem with the source clip you're just SOL.

Also, I'd debate their codecs being the "best". They're... so-so. They install a lot of crapware and all-in-one codecs that register themselves as the primary codec for everything. That's no good.

CCE SP, CCE Basic or HC.

Hi nerrad,

If you are converting to Mpeg1 then Mainconcept is what I'd use, but if you want quality in conversion to the Mpeg2(DVD) format then I' d suggest using CCE(Cinemacraft). Though without D2SRoba it can take time, the quality thus obtained is definitely worth the time. But if you are not into settings and all that jazz, then Mainconcept is th ething for you, with a simple GUI and easy to understand settings. But if time and complexity is not an issue then CCE is it. For mpeg 1 stick with Mainconcept.

Hope this helps.

It's very hard to argue with that statement.
However :-)
If you are looking for pretty decent --"One Button" conversion in this genre be it AVI to PAL, or PAL<-->NTSC then Canopus Procorder is not a bad choice. It may not exceed a multipass CEE conversion in quality but I'd say it's significantly better than Mainconcept although, inevitably I suppose, somewhat slower.

The question is: what exactly is "etc." here?
PAL format isn't only the correct resolution and max. bitrate depending on the format. A important factor is also the FPS setting...

That "all-in-one" toolstuff is not good enough, IMO.
I always use VirtualDub, BeSweet, lame, TMPGEnc(DVDAuthor), DVDLab and are happy with the results.