Lost during my Encore at DVinfo.net

Clint Harmon · March 10th, 2009, 11:10 PM

How long should it take to build a DVD on Encore? I am going on 12 hours as I type this now. As I keep checking back it slowly progresses and Im now near the 75% mark.

My computer is no slow poke.

q6600 Intel quad core processor
8gb of Ram
2TB of Hard Disk space
3 DVD burners
windows XP 64bit
cs4 premier & encore

and yet I just checked the preformance and im only using 1% of processor and 1gb of Ram...

Tripp Woelfel · March 11th, 2009, 06:10 AM

I'm guessing this is happening during the trascoding step, and it's long if you're dealing with less than two hours of content or aren't coming from some oddball codec. If you're transcoding from an HD format, it will take many hours. Letting Encore transcode 90 minutes of HDV for SD DVD took me about 7 hours with the same processor you have. It all depends on the content you're dealing with.

If your source content is SD and it's taking that long with the CPU at 1%, I think Encore has lost the sheet music.

Clint Harmon · March 11th, 2009, 06:30 AM

Thanks Tripp! This morning I checked encore and it had no progress. Apparently encore had an error. I am coming from premiere in 720p, and I have no idea what codec I was using. Most likely whatever encore default is. What codec should I be using? or should I look into using a different program like DVDit Pro HD?

Tripp Woelfel · March 11th, 2009, 06:20 PM

I'm a bit confused. Are you transcoding out of Premier into Encore or transcoding within Encore? If you are doing the latter, just pick the appropriate preset. If going BD, select the BD Automatic preset. h.264 arguably is more efficient for size than mpeg. If you're going to DVD, select that preset.

If you're doing it out of Premier Pro, the same settings will work. AME is just integrated in PP.

After 18 months, I've given up on AME. Everything goes through TMPGEnc, which to my eyes produces markedly higher quality video. US$100 very well spent.

Ray Bell · March 11th, 2009, 08:22 PM

Clint, my workflow is to output from Premier or AE as Mpeg 2... then I use DVDit Pro HD

my blu ray DVDs work fine in all of the players I've tried them in....

hope this helps you...

Clint Harmon · March 11th, 2009, 10:15 PM

Thanks both of you. Glad to hear someone say they use and like dvdit pro.

Tripp, I am totally new to the encoding and transcribing as well as encore. I edited my 720p footage and included chapter markers on PP then exported to Encore. After creating menu etc, I clicked build and thats where I got lost. Didnt change any setting or codecs. I thought it might do it all a set way then I could peice together the best way to do it after. But with the loooooong times I didnt know what to do.

Also, I used windows dvd maker just to make a quick mock up of the DVD and found that it unsynced the audio, how annoying. I am hoping its just because that program is so infantile and nothing to do with the way I exported video out of PP. Even though when I watch the video file audio matches video...

It has been a long week, and I am sure I am rambling on a bit...

Tripp Woelfel · March 12th, 2009, 07:08 AM

Once your material is edited, the time consuming part of the workflow is the transcoding out of Premier Pro. A project with a TRT of 90-120 minutes will take many hours to transcode. After that, things go faster.

Once in Encore, there appears to be two steps to get to the final output. The assembly step takes me about 30 to 45 minutes, depending upon the complexity of the menus and ancillary bits. Then, writing the output file (I create a .iso file for later burning) takes 25 to 35 minutes depending upon length and whether I'm going to an internal SATA drive or external USB disk. Any times appreciably longer than that probably means Encore has lost its mind.

I would not be concerned about your issue with Win DVD Maker. As you state, it's not the most mature or professional tool for the job. I've found that changing a workflow mid stream can cause issues. It's taken me some time to develop reliable workflows, particularly for BD. Now, I don't deviate from them because I know that doing so can cause problems.

Travis Fadler · March 12th, 2009, 10:28 AM

Tripp, What type of file to you export from premiere before going to TMPGEnc?

Eric Addison · March 12th, 2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clint Harmon

windows XP 64bit
cs4 premier & encore

That could be part of the problem - I don't think XP 64 is officially supported.

Tripp Woelfel · March 12th, 2009, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Fadler

Tripp, What type of file to you export from premiere before going to TMPGEnc?

For the moment, I export an HD Quicktime/DNxHD file which is imported into TMPGEnc and then transcoded into the MPEG2 audio and video files. I want PP to frameserve to TMPGEnc
but I haven't gotten there yet. That will eliminate a step. If you search around here you'll uncover the whole workflow and all of the mechanics.

I haven't done any SD projects since I started with this workflow.

As an aside, whilst XP 64 is not supported by Adobe, there are many out there who use it daily without issue.

March 10th, 2009, 11:10 PM	#1
Clint Harmon Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Port Charlotte, Florida Posts: 104	Lost during my Encore How long should it take to build a DVD on Encore? I am going on 12 hours as I type this now. As I keep checking back it slowly progresses and Im now near the 75% mark. My computer is no slow poke. q6600 Intel quad core processor 8gb of Ram 2TB of Hard Disk space 3 DVD burners windows XP 64bit cs4 premier & encore and yet I just checked the preformance and im only using 1% of processor and 1gb of Ram...

March 11th, 2009, 06:10 AM	#2
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	I'm guessing this is happening during the trascoding step, and it's long if you're dealing with less than two hours of content or aren't coming from some oddball codec. If you're transcoding from an HD format, it will take many hours. Letting Encore transcode 90 minutes of HDV for SD DVD took me about 7 hours with the same processor you have. It all depends on the content you're dealing with. If your source content is SD and it's taking that long with the CPU at 1%, I think Encore has lost the sheet music.

March 11th, 2009, 06:30 AM	#3
Clint Harmon Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Port Charlotte, Florida Posts: 104	Thanks Tripp! This morning I checked encore and it had no progress. Apparently encore had an error. I am coming from premiere in 720p, and I have no idea what codec I was using. Most likely whatever encore default is. What codec should I be using? or should I look into using a different program like DVDit Pro HD?

March 11th, 2009, 06:20 PM	#4
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	I'm a bit confused. Are you transcoding out of Premier into Encore or transcoding within Encore? If you are doing the latter, just pick the appropriate preset. If going BD, select the BD Automatic preset. h.264 arguably is more efficient for size than mpeg. If you're going to DVD, select that preset. If you're doing it out of Premier Pro, the same settings will work. AME is just integrated in PP. After 18 months, I've given up on AME. Everything goes through TMPGEnc, which to my eyes produces markedly higher quality video. US$100 very well spent.

March 11th, 2009, 08:22 PM	#5
Ray Bell Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,414	Clint, my workflow is to output from Premier or AE as Mpeg 2... then I use DVDit Pro HD my blu ray DVDs work fine in all of the players I've tried them in.... hope this helps you...

March 11th, 2009, 10:15 PM	#6
Clint Harmon Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Port Charlotte, Florida Posts: 104	Thanks both of you. Glad to hear someone say they use and like dvdit pro. Tripp, I am totally new to the encoding and transcribing as well as encore. I edited my 720p footage and included chapter markers on PP then exported to Encore. After creating menu etc, I clicked build and thats where I got lost. Didnt change any setting or codecs. I thought it might do it all a set way then I could peice together the best way to do it after. But with the loooooong times I didnt know what to do. Also, I used windows dvd maker just to make a quick mock up of the DVD and found that it unsynced the audio, how annoying. I am hoping its just because that program is so infantile and nothing to do with the way I exported video out of PP. Even though when I watch the video file audio matches video... It has been a long week, and I am sure I am rambling on a bit...

March 12th, 2009, 07:08 AM	#7
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	Once your material is edited, the time consuming part of the workflow is the transcoding out of Premier Pro. A project with a TRT of 90-120 minutes will take many hours to transcode. After that, things go faster. Once in Encore, there appears to be two steps to get to the final output. The assembly step takes me about 30 to 45 minutes, depending upon the complexity of the menus and ancillary bits. Then, writing the output file (I create a .iso file for later burning) takes 25 to 35 minutes depending upon length and whether I'm going to an internal SATA drive or external USB disk. Any times appreciably longer than that probably means Encore has lost its mind. I would not be concerned about your issue with Win DVD Maker. As you state, it's not the most mature or professional tool for the job. I've found that changing a workflow mid stream can cause issues. It's taken me some time to develop reliable workflows, particularly for BD. Now, I don't deviate from them because I know that doing so can cause problems.

March 12th, 2009, 10:28 AM	#8
Travis Fadler Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Sullivan, MO Posts: 26	Tripp, What type of file to you export from premiere before going to TMPGEnc?