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Question

Internal Software error PGC for encore CS3 !!! solved !!!

Forum|Forum|17 years ago
September 8, 2008
64 replies
31719 views

Almost everybody here knows the next error:

PGC "timeline name" has an error at xx:xx:xx:xy internal software error : %0, line timeline name - PGCINFO: name= timeline name, ref=BPGC, time=xx:xx:xx:xy

Where the y in time stands for the length of the timeline minus 2 frames. The BPGC error can also be FPGC or DPGC dependant on how many menu's there are in the project.

It kept me awake for weeks and after reading this forum several times and comparing encore CS3 with encore 2.0 filenames I found the solution.

This Error is a bug in encore witch has nothing to do with blank filename spots and sonic coding or codecs or planning your workflow with a pencil but pure with the combination Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and Encore CS3.

This is what generates the problem:

In Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 you build project with video, sound and chapters. Then you export the project via the Media Encoder not Multplexed.

Premiere CS3 then creates the following files:
filename.M2V (video file mpg)
filename.AC3 (audio file ac3)
filename.M2V.XMPSES (an adobe file with preview info and chapter pointers)
filname.XMP (??)

It is the .M2V.XMPSES file witch creates the PGC error. If you use the MULTIPLEX DVD option then ADOBE will not create the .M2V.XMPSES file so there will not be an error. This trick mentioned by ADOBE and many others is just to go around the bug instead of solving it. Also with multiplex you have just one sound track. I use two sound tracks like 5.1 and a 2.0 track witch you can choose in a menu.

Some people say it is the blank spots. Also not true. They have probably just erased the blank spots of the M2V file and forgot the .M2V.XMPSES file.

When you just delete the .M2V.XMPSES file and then open the M2V and AC3 file in Encore as a new asset, make a timeline and menu's and the project will built and burn. Only if you delete this .M2V.XMPSES file Encore takes a longer time to import the M2V file and will be without the chapter points.

Almost everything else will work like menu with sound and even a movie background (use M2V files). Only the motion buttons in a menu still wont work unless you use a black background !?!. Haven't figured this out yet. Only solution for this is use Encore 2.0. In this older version also the motion buttons will work without error's (everything else also so why buy CS3??)

Here is what you must do create a DVD without errors:

-Create a project in Premiere Pro, even with chapters.
-Write down all chapter points (minutes:seconds:frames)
-Create two new unique maps in explorer for example D:DVD1 and D:DVD2
-Export in Premiere with Media Encoder without the Multiplex:DVD but with NON to the D:DVD1 map
-Copy from D:DVD1 only the M2V and AC3 files to D:DVD2

-Start up Encore DVD CS3 or 2.0
-Create a new unique project in Encore for example "DVD" and save this in the map D:DVD2\
-Then use Save-as (under file) and pinpoint to D:DVD2\dvd to be sure that all Encore's files are placed in this folder.

-Select M2V file and make new timeline.
-Make chapter points (you wrote down the points, did you?)
-Create menu's, even with sound (AC3) and movie background (M2V)
-Then render project if you have used a video for menu background
-Finally Built and burnnnnnn!!
-If you like to use motion buttons in a menu then use Encore 2.0

I have double checked my work flow and it really works. I have built a project and burned with success Then I deleted the timeline and the M2V file. Copied the .M2V.XMPSES file in the used folder. Re loaded the M2V file in encore (this time much faster! and with chapter points). Tried to built and burn and back was the error. Also this happened in in Encore 2.0!!

Hope that this will solve the PGC error once and for all !!!

Marcel W

system:
acer aspire AMD 64 3800+
2 GB
250 GB hard drive for system
750 GB hard drive for movie

software Adobe Encore 3.0.1.008, Premiere PRO 3.2.0, Photoshop CS3 10.0, All upgraded
NERO 7

No Internet

Encore

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the_wine_snob

Inspiring

Stanley,

I lean towards your C theory. Only time will tell if CS4 experiences the same. It is also possible that new code in CS4 might have erased the conflict - not as a direct result of Adobe programming it out, but while adding/fixing other things. If C is correct, it will only surface, when those users, with the same config, migrate to CS4. As many will be going to new boxes and Vista-64, that might take care of the problem too. Who knows? I would love to see this puppy put to rest, even though I have not been bitten by it.

Hunt

Stan Jones

Community Expert

Slobodan,

Thank you for posting your results.

Slideshows are only involved in a percentage of the odd pgc errors in cs3. (I have posted elsewhere asking if anyone is seeing this error in cs4. I do not believe it has been reported in cs2.)

Some users resolved pgc errors in slideshows by fixing or deleting specific slides. Perhaps those are examples of "regular" pgc errors. Also, there appear to be many users who use encore slideshows successfully.

Based on the posts, I have assumed that the most frequent pgc problems were with motion menus, with slideshows a close second. I do not do slideshows in encore, have experienced the pgc error in motion menus, but have seen it in projects with plain menus and simple assets.

Marcel's fix (deleting the xmpses file) has worked for me, but remember that users have experienced the pgc error even when bringing in assets without xmpses files.

My points are that a) there is not a single cause for the problematic pgc error, b) I do not believe that there will be a single solution, and c) the theory that makes the most sense is that this is an interaction between particular user hardware/driver/software combinations. I wonder if the situation has changed in cs4, and do not believe that these errors have been reported for encore cs4.

the_wine_snob

Inspiring

Slobodan,

Thanks for reporting your findings.

Since I do all of my slideshows in PP, that might explain why I have not seen this error.

It does seem that there can be other causes, or instances of this error. Stanley Jones had it, without any slide shows, though that does seem to be a common aspect for many people's problems.

Appreciated,

Hunt

_

_Slobodan_Folly_

Participant

PGC error in Encore - forever gone!

Hello everyone! My name is Slobodan.

Sorry for coming so late. You did all great job but in order to thank you (somehow) I have decided to write you about my experience with stupid PGC error. I have been trying to solve this problem for over a three months. Without your help, especially help of Marcel I wouldn't be successful.

After all that time I become so desperate and curious about this problem so I had to leave my office, in the middle of working hours, to visit FOX TV studio near my company just to find a proffesional and to talk with him about this matter. Unfortunately, they are using MAC's not PC's but man told me that problem (almost 100%) occur because of slide shows. That was a Marcels point too. Here are my observations:

- Do what Marcel recommend (but don't if you on-line or i LAN because Marcels advices are not good if you are working in LAN - I do not know why - !?)
- Create slideshows in Premiere not in Encore. It is easier to do it in Encore but you increase the chance for PGC error that way (that is my experience). Besides my Encore collapsed several time during import of jpg's (eventhough I have imported only 70 photos - maximum is 99 in one pass).

Thank you all once more for all efforts you made that helped me a lot (my young son, born five months ago, will be very happy to find out how good movies about him I made and that is all thanks to you people).

Best regards to you all
Slobodan

_

_marcel_wolfert_Author

Participating Frequently

If you get the PCG error the main solution is:

Throw away Encore CS3

Use Encore 2.0. Only use the AC3 and M2V file. Throw away the rest of the junk.

Make chapters in Encore 2.0 ad burn you disk.

This is what I did after spending weeks of debuging and ending up fully frustrated.

I use a bitrate of 9.4, use motion menus and even animate buttuns on single and DL layer disks. Burned 8 DVD's with no error at all

Good luck

John_Currie

Participant

The Shuttle m/b seems to use Intel chipsets, or at least the current boards do, so unlikely to be that.
Having read this thread and a similar one http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3bc48a91 there seems to be a problem mainly with Encore CS3 and not usually with CS2. My problem, and many other users, centres around slide shows, avoided by using the file/asset naming convention previously described. The other PGC error producer seems to be associated with avi files/animated buttons etc etc etc....
The fact that you can get the "bad" avi file to burn to DVD by reducing the bitrate at transcoding in Encore CS3 suggests to me that there is a bottleneck in the hardware at the 8Mbps rate. I'm sure you have tried this but if you get time, try a clean boot then open Encore immediately and retry burning the "bad" avi at 8Mbps bitrate. This will reduce the strain on the hardware to a minimum.

Stan Jones

Community Expert

Sorry; still no time to process this. Shuttle mainboard (not current) and P4; not sure what the chipset is.

John_Currie

Participant

Hi Stanley

The 915GEV m/b has onboard video and sound, my set up uses both these onboard facilities.

The transcode setting was "Automatic" with the max bitrate set to 8Mbps. Have just set up a new project with the "bad" avi file again. Same menu ie "elements" etc, built it again to DVD folder without any errors, again using auto transcode with max bitrate at 8Mbps.

What m/b and chipset are you using?

Will now follow the link in your post #36.

Stan Jones

Community Expert

John, thanks for testing.

What video card? Jeff did not comment again, but I think I saw a post from here indicating that the nvidias may be suspect. Mine is an older version with the "latest" drivers (but 2 years old). Have not pursued this.

What transcode setting did you use in your test project? As noted in #29, I discovered I can avoid the pgc error with this "known bad" avi file by reducing the auto transcode max rate from 8 - where I get the error.

Perhaps related, perhaps not, see this post from Neil:

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b6aab6

John_Currie

Participant

re Stanley Jones posts #10 & 29

Downloaded the pgcbad_clip1.avi from the link in post #10.

Imported clip as timeline in Encore CS3 (bundled free with PPro CS3) and linked to "element" menu "volume 1" button after deleting the redundant buttons. Built the project to both ISO image and DVD folder without the pgc error appearing. Both play ok.

I have previously had the pgc errors when trying to burn a project consisting of video and slideshows. The "cure" was deleting the offending slideshow folder from Encore project, moving the contents of the folder into a new folder named with alphanumeric name limited to eight characters max, folder name started with alpha character with no blanks in the name(a la old DOS convention) and re-importing into the Encore project. The project then burned to DVD without error.

My system is Intel 915GEV m/b and Intel Pentium 4 3.2Ghz, 1 Gb RAM running Windows XP Pro SP 3, with 2xWD HDD. I have Nero 7, Pinnacle 9, Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 6 all installed as well as MainConcept MPEG encoder and Windows Media Encoder 9, Visual C++ IDE and .NET 3.5.

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