I'm having a very frustrating time here. I've been using TMPGEnc for a long while, and I've just recently gotten it to a point where I can encode a file in a reasonable amount of time and with great success. I've converted some HD rips of TV shows to MPEG2 files which end up looking great on the TV. However, I have to face the end of the trial period for the MPEG2 encoder. I downloaded the trial version of TMPGEnc Plus, which in all respects appears identical to the free version aside from the fact that it has an installer now (I prefered just having it self-contained in a directory). While it looks exactly the same, it really is not. Here is most of the email I sent to their sales department, which I don't expect a reply from:

Quote:
It is quite frustrating that I can't get support unless I have a registered purchase. Why would I purchase a product when I'm already having problems with the trial version?

Here's the problem:

I was using TMPGEnc, the free version with the MPEG2 trial, until it ran out. I then installed the trial version of Plus. The problem is, Plus behaves incorrectly (in the exact same way) on every machine I try it on, and a friend of mine has experienced the same thing.

Say I have a 45 minute video that I want to take up about a third of a DVD. Here's what happens in the two versions after dragging the video into the wizard:

TMPGEnc free version with MPEG2 trial: the bitrate starts at 8000. I adjust to around 4000. The space indicator says the video will take up a third of the disc. Great! I then set to encode, the file is done in about an hour and a half, and ends up the same size it predicted.

TMPGEnc Plus: the bitrate starts at 3000 because the space indicator says the video will be somewhere around 5GB. There's no way to tell it to make it smaller (3000 is the minimum). I then try encoding. It takes somewhere around 9 hours and produces a file with a different size than predicted, but still too big for a DVD, even though the bitrate is 1000 less than what I can use to creat a 3-video disc in the free version.

This is incredibly frustrating! I have no idea how to search your FAQ, either. I'm suprised I haven't found the answer to this yet, because it seems to be happening on every machine I try it on.

See my frustration? Is anyone here using Plus with sucess (or at all)?

*edit*
Another frustrating part is that it seems there used to be an option to purchase the MPEG2 decoder for the free version seperately, but not anymore.

DAMN!

There's two ways to look at this: either I always stop looking and ask for help just a few minutes too soon

<or>

The empeg board is so good at solving problems and answering questions, that a simple post on here immediately produces the answer you're looking for without anyone even having to respond!

I swear I've been trying to solve this problem for the longest time now, and have spent the last day working on it.

Anyway, it's solved now. If anyone has this same problem, follow these instructions to get everything working. Turns out simply increasing the priority of the Directshow filter in the VFAPI plugin solved the whole problem. Actually, I found those instructions speed up the process significantly regardless of what problems you're having with the program.

Sorry to waste everyone's time yet again. I hope it's at least helpful to somebody.

I think the most shocking part is that it took the board 23 minutes to provide a solution to your problem.
Stop slacking guys!

Glad you got it working. Just as a side note, I've been using TMPGEnc Plus for a while and love it. The only problem I ever had with it was losing my serial number due to a hard drive crash, which was my own fault anyway. TMPGEnc Plus, DVDShrink, Nero, and DVD-Lab (and some Premiere here and there) are my main tools for editing/DVD transfers, etc, and they're all awesome.

Ditto. I'm just getting into DVDShrink and it's just such a cool program. The one thing I wish you could do is span across two discs, so I wouldn't have to compress the video. I know DVDXCopy does that, but DVDShrink is free

I can't stop singing the praises of DVDlab, and now that I can actually get TMPGEnc working, I think it's wonderful too, though I have some fiddling to do because Plus is taking more than half again as long as the free version did.

So, I now have it down to about 6 hours to create a 135 minute DVD (three 45 minute programs). That's acceptable to me.

*edit*
By the way, I have one more program for you: Fair Use.