Re: Paging Agamemnon...


"Agamemnon" <agamemnon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:WradnSgf9a-ldevbnZ2dnUVZ8t2snZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Bazza" <Bazza2556@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:NMAdi.16364$aS5.1468@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A couple of questions for you matey. I have just got Ulead DVD Movie
Factory 5 (impressive!) and am going to start getting some *** off my
hard drive

Ah ha, I solved that problem another way. Bought a 500GB hard drive, and
apart from the fact that it wasn't actually 500GB but only 465 because
Seagate are using the wrong definition of Gigabyte, that should give me
another 8 weeks before it fills up at my current rate of usage, and then
its back to the same old problem.

and backing up season 3 onto DVD. Now in the past I've always used the
in-built Windows Movie maker package that came with XP do add my titles
and transition effects but quite frankly as well as being seriously
outdated every fucker and his wife is using it on You Tube and so any
credibility it had is now gone.

You mean that and the fact its almost completely unstable and won't even
let you advance by individual frames but what seems like multiples of two
at best so you can't make precise edits.

Also it would often not recognise my MPEG files and so I

What is the file extension on your MPEG files. The thing I found with
Pinncale Studio 8 was that if the file's extension was .mpeg it said it
could not load them but it could load files with the extension .mpg so I
changed all the .mpeg file extensions to .mpg to get them to load.
Unfortunately Studio 8 will not work properly with AVI files, since it
wont play back any sound nor will it let you select any codec's to save
the audio with the AVI in.

would back convert to AVI's...edit....add titles etc...and re-convert to
MPEG. A pain in the arse process that destroyed the definition and
quality.

I can't even get Windows Movie Maker 5.1 to load an MPEG-2 file without it
instantly crashing.

Can you recommend a more modern program that will add titles and do some
basic transitory effects for me?

Pinncale Studio will do it (not moving titles but stationary ones and will
do scene transitions) but won't playback audio on AVI files. Don't use
Intervideo WinDVD. Its absolute rubbish and Intervideo don't provide bug
fixes between major version changes. When you set it to make a DVD it
can't even remember the edit points you selected but puts them all in the
wrong place, with the correct spacing but stating at the wrong time on the
recording. On top of that it uses a *** deinterlacer that applies radius
.5 or radius 1 Gaussian blur and also worst of all is will NOT record a 2
hour DVD at 720x576 resolution but only at 360x576 and this applies of all
Intervideo software. Garbage. It will not even load AVI's or any other
type of file format at all.

I think AviSynth will let you superimpose text onto a video or at least
place it on a plain background it generates itself.

Second question...I've actually got hold of the title sequence without
any episode name or writers names on it. I use this as my pre-menu
sequence but overlay the season and volume numbers over it (ask if you
want a copy), but what I really need is good copy of the closing titles
so that I can edit out all of the damn commentary from the BBC newscaster
announcing the bloody lottery etc. Even better I would like to edit out
the "next weeks episode" clips as these aren't required on a DVD. Do you
by chance have a clear end titles rip I could have?

I've been looking for one of those myself but can't find one on any of the
previous episodes of season 3 that are clean or which I can edit into a
clean sequence without the need of professional editing software which can
combine sections of one frame from one video with another section from
another so as to edit out the titles and leave you with a plain
background, and then you'd have to lift the production credits from one
episode (background free) and superimpose them on another in the right
place and then there's the problem of timing that to fit in with the next
trailer at the end.

If not I'll have to go buy a legit DVD and rip them

Yep. That's what the tossers running the BBC deserve for mutilating the
closing credits.

myself (and then take it back to the shop afterwards with some made up
complaint about it freezing or something).
If you can help please let me know.

(Before anyone asks why I don't just buy them and calls me a skinflint
it's because I like to do my own edits and try to improve on the often
very poor BBC releases. Mine for example carry all of the audio
commentaries as an

You mean the BBC DVDs don't even carry the commentaries at all. What about
the video ones that are on the interactive service?

extra audio track plus the Confidential episode tie-ins and any
Tardisodes. Had the BBC had the sense to do the same I wouldn't have to
make my own versions).

Or the sense to charge a competitive price for the DVD. Its half a US
seasons worth therefore you should not expect to pay more than £12 for the
complete seasons boxed set, maybe £17.50 during the first month of release
but no more than that. Ontop of that you have already paid the actors and
production staff with your licence fee so you should only have to pay for
the cost of manufacturing the DVD.


Cheers

Baz

Thanks Agamemnon. Yes, the crashing problem with Windows Movie Maker 5.1 is
exactly the same issue I have. That's why I was having to convert them to
AVI's to add the titles and then re-convert them to MPEG's. Have already
tried adjusting the file extension name to MPG but it makes no difference.
The software just can't seem to handle the MPEG2 format.

Baz


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