"Video Bitrate Too High" problem... but stranger than usual
by David Schneider
on
Apr 29, 2008 at 9:42:41 pm
I'm getting the "Video Bitrate Is Too High" error. I've read the other threads here and elsewhere on causes and solutions, but nothing seems to work or address my specific situation.
Here's what's happening: I have a series of 15 short films. Output individually as uncompressed Quicktimes from FCP. Then I used Telestream Episode Pro to encode each of them. It's outputting the audio as ATSC, which I'm led to believe is compatible with Dolby .ac3. (the problem still exists if I output the audio using Compressor as an .ac3, though).
When trying to build a dvd of all the films, I get the bitrate error. By process of elimination, I figured out which film is causing the problem. So now, I'm working on getting that film to build by itself, on its own dvd, and still having the problem.
Here's what I have: One 10-minute long movie. One audio track. Nothing else. No menu, no subtitles, no nothing. If I build JUST the video track with no audio track at all, it builds fine. When I add the audio track back, it fails.
I've tried lowering the bitrate of the audio track all the way down to 128kbit. No go. As I mentioned, I tried to encode the audio with Compressor as an .ac3, also trying different bitrates, and putting that in with the Episode Pro-encoded video. Still no go.
Now, if I encode the whole thing, audio and video, within DVDSP or directly in Compressor and then bring that into DVDSP, it encodes without error. Nice and all, but I'm really happy with the quality of the video from Episode, and not nearly as happy with the results from Compressor.
As said, this process has worked on all the other 14 films, so I know there's nothing inherently wrong with the way I'm trying to do it. Anyone have any clue on what might be causing this problem, or what I can do to fix it?
Re: "Video Bitrate Too High" problem... but stranger than usual by David Schneider on Apr 29, 2008 at 10:49:00 pm
I should mention, I did also try lowering the bitrate of the video through Episode... I even went as low as 4000 CBR just to see if that would work, and it didn't.
Re: "Video Bitrate Too High" problem... but stranger than usual by Michael Sacci on Apr 30, 2008 at 12:14:14 am
ATSC is not compatible for DVD audio ac3 (.192 Mbps is standard for stereo) so you need to rule the usage of that out.
Then it sounds like you are no encoding the video at the rate you think you are or the program in spiking.
One thing to double check is to make sure there are not extra audio streams in this video track, Pull down on the timelines audio tracks to double check.
Re: "Video Bitrate Too High" problem... but stranger than usual by Alex Asp on Apr 30, 2008 at 8:18:09 pm
David,
I am afraid there is no such utility for Macintosh exists, at least I have never seen one. But you only need to get a copy of Parallels, and a copy of Windows XP, (no need for Vista). So you could use any PC utility on your Mac. That is if your Mac had Intel processor. Believe me, those little things can be life savers. And if you need to go to the dark side for a little while, just to achieve some peace of mind the effort is very much worth it.
Re: "Video Bitrate Too High" problem... but stranger than usual by David Schneider on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:17:33 pm
Thanks for the response, Michael.
My confusion on the ATSC, then. Strange though, because that's what Episode is outputting (.a52 files, 192Kbit) and it works fine on all the other films. But like I said, I did also try it with standard .ac3 files as well, with the same results.
Definitely no extra audio streams. I double-checked just to make sure, but definitely no on that.
I've checked, double-checked, and re-output the file numerous times now. I started with a peak rate setting of 7500kbit/s, and worked down to a peak rate of 4000kbit/s, and even did one at 4000 CBR, just to prevent spiking. Still no go.
I re-output the Quicktime, just to see if maybe there was some sort of corruption in the original file, but it still isn't working.
No idea why this one file is causing so much problems. It's driving me nuts.
Re: "Video Bitrate Too High" problem... but stranger than usual by Lucas Fazzary on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:33:12 pm
Theres a program called MPressionist by Digigami. $1000 though. Not sure of any other Mac bitrate viewers.
If its a short clip you could throw it on a thumb drive and run it through the BV on a PC. At least that would give you an Idea of what the problem could be.
Re: "Video Bitrate Too High" problem... but stranger than usual by David Schneider on Apr 30, 2008 at 6:03:45 pm
That's exactly what I did... just walked it over to a neighbor with a PC. And yes, thank you, it revealed to me exactly where the problem is. Turns out it's definitely an issue with Episode, not with DVDSP as I'd originally thought... I'm going to have to repost the problem on that forum.
In short, what BitRate Viewer revealed to me was that the film was spiking to 10,000, at two different places in the film (even on the version that was supposedly CBR 4000). And going back to the Quicktime and checking the exact times that it was happening, I see it was when simulated television static appeared on the screen. So, for some reason, the fake tv static is causing Episode to freak out.
I'll go post the problem in the Episode forum, but thanks again for your help on pinpointing the problem!
