Encore Q's

[Bill Hunt]

As an update to the PGC Error, one hardworking subscriber in the Encore forum, may have hit on a problem. You can check this thread out at:
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx?14@@.59b5efae/0.

This person was experiencing the PGC Error with pretty normal Assets. The Audio was PCM/WAV and AC3, which should have played/burned, with not problems. He had problems with the Assets with the WAV, but not the AC3's. He tracked it down to too high a bit-rate for the combined AVI & WAV Assets. This might, or might not, be the end of PGC Errors. Much will depend on whether this error message has more than one cause. Sometimes, error messages can be highly cryptic and less than helpful - not just Adobe's.

This might also explain why I, and many others, had never seen it - we all use AC3's, almost exclusively for Audio in our Timelines. I, because of the DD 5.1 Surround Sound. Others, because tha is their workflow. The only place that I commonly use WAV will be in Menu Audio, but these are short. Even there, I'll more often do a 5.1 SS version, and Export as AC3.

If one experiences this error, they should head over to the Encore forums and search for "PGC Error." There are at least two main threads on this error, and both are worth the reading, even if one is VER"Y long and not filled with the nicest language, especially some comments directed at Adobe.

Good luck,

Hunt

[momoffduty]

Thanks Bill for the update!

[Bill Hunt]

Cheryl,

I just re-read this thread and realize that I missed something, you mentioned - yes, the "Projector" Menu is a Motion Menu if you keep it at default and use the AV file. To Preview it in Encore you need to Render Motion Menus, as with all Motion Menus. Otherwise, you'll only see a static Menu.

I did not see a reference to it, so I'll mention it here. One of the best books on Encore is Jeff Bellune's "Focal Easy Guide to Encore2," by Focal Press. Though it's targeted to Encore2, 98% of it works exactly the same in Encore CS3. Only the direct link, between PP and Encore, are not covered. His Project, from start to finish is a great workflow. I modified my workflow, to match his, though I had not experienced any problems. To date, problems have been 0%. I feel that one is best off, when they can standardize their Projects. Obviously, not from a design point, but when it comes to setup and Assets, if you do it the right way, and then the same way, you'll have little, but success.

If I did mention this book, in this thread, I sincerely apologize. Still it's such a great reference and resource, that I do not hesitate to list it. I find it better for explaining the "why," than CiaB-Encore, and I am the owner of almost every CiaB for every Adobe program, that has ever been printed.

Hunt

[momoffduty]

Thanks for the book tip. Not sure how to render the projector menu to preview. I used it on a DVD and it did not work on the burned copy. What do you have to do to the motion menus to work?

[Bill Hunt]

Cheryl,

File>Render>Motion Menus. You will need to do this for any changes to the Motion Menus. Now, you can use the Encore Template Menus, without their "motion" AV files, and they will be static. The Projector Menu is pretty much the same, where the only "motion" aspect is the flickering of the projector.

Hope that this helps,

Hunt

[momoffduty]

When a sequence is exported from Pro to Encore, what transcoding settings are used? (File>Export to Encore)

Trying to estimate bit budget. I had 2 similar Pro projects. One was burned in Encore and the other in PE3. The Encore project was 2.19 GB and the PE3 project was 3.35 GB. Had very similar elements in both projects and trying to understand the difference in GB.

Thanks.

[Bill Hunt]

Cheryl,

It could be something as simple as the 2-Pass VBR Transcoding being able to do a little better, based on the actual Assets of one Project vs the other. Just a guess, the larger Project had more panning a rapid motion. If so, the Transcoding engine will try to assign a higher bit-rate to that sort of footage.

Hunt

[momoffduty]

Think I figured out the difference.

Proj 1 burned in Encore & transcoded in Pro. With the File>Export to Encore the preset is NTSC medium quality. Which is 1 pass and max of 7.00 Mbps. If I had changed the settings to high quality it would have been 2 pass and the Mbps the same.

Proj 2 exported as a DV-AVI and burned in PE3. Changed the slider bar to highest quality with a bitrate 8.00 Mbps. Not sure on the number of passes, didn't see that info anywhere.

Proj 3 exported same as Proj 2, but this one was 1 hr 30 min (the other two were 1 hour). Had to keep the check mark to fit the contents of space. It was 4.37 GB and a bitrate of 6.46 Mbps.

The reason I want to understand all of this is to create a DVD with the best possible quality. And trying to put the most on one DVD. Working on many VHS-C tapes and some are longer than others & want to combine maybe a clip from tape B to to a project that has tape A because it is a continuing scene/event. Need to understand where I can cut off & burn.

If Proj 3 was 4.37 GB and a disc is 4.7, then why would it not fit and had to lower the quality?

In the PE3 burn projects, is the preset 2 passes?

Any advice on the above is appreciated.