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

Just fyi, my single file had no sequence markers, so would be a single chapter in encore (the default chapter 1). I think I did not use the option for including project info. I have some questions about that that I will post separately sometime.

I mention that because the presence of the xmpses file is making some kind of difference.

The xmpses contains chapter information for MPEG-2 exports from Premiere, and also contains project information for Edit Original.

It's not required, otherwise.

Marcel & Stanley,

Thank you both for sharing your testing. Good work.

Stanley,

I will download your test files, but can only test in CS2. I'll report back with my experiences in that version.

It is my understanding that the .xmpses file is used to mux the two elemental streams. Maybe Joe, Jeff or Neil can either verify this, or tell me I am wrong. When I do Export a muxed file, and the process is aborted, before I end up with my DV-AVI, I will have the four files: [Filename].m2v, [Filename].wav, [Filename].xmpses and the "locator" database file[Filename].xml. If I complete the Export, I only have two: [Filename].avi (now muxed) and [Filename].xml. The elemental streams and the .xmpses files are deleted automatically. Maybe I am wrong in this, but those have been my observations in less than control situation.

For whatever it may be worth, I'll have a go with CS2. Thanks for providing the info and files.

Hunt

Bill, Jeff,

I won't quit until I find the problem.

You are right that CS2 also has this problem with feeding it (wrong??) M2V files and also the .xmpses file. I've tested it. But CS2 will create a menu with animation buttons because it then makes a mpeg file and a mpeg.xmpses file instead off a m2v.mpses file.

Your test is not exactly the way I've tested it. I use PP to transcode. I still believe that the combination PP and Encore and some sort of name problem is the bug. I've also built a working project and then renamed the filename in Explorer and put in a blank spot and it still worked fine. It is as I assume the content of the xmpses file rather than the filename itself.

Yesterday I have imported a m2v file named "Blooper51" including the xmpses in encore. The file was made in Premiere Pro with a sequence name "blooper 51" Tried to built it with two menus, one with chapter selection buttons but no animation buttons jet and of coarse got an error.

Tried again without the xmpses file and it built fine.

Tried to built with animation buttons and it failed.

Then renamed the file (in explorer) as "blooper" without the number. Imported it without the .xmpses file. Tried to built and it worked even with animation button ON.

I will keep on testing but for now it seems that the sequence name in PP must be without blank spots and without numbers. The filename of the movie to built an animation button menu with must also be without blank spots and numbers.

I think, and this is just a guess, that the sequence name and or chapter name is built in the xmpses file during transcoding in PP (Jeff I saw you have a degree in computer programing please help me on this point). Then encore doesn't like these names with blank spots and numbers.
When you make an animation button menu Encore CS3 transcodes a menu in a M2V file and creates and uses also a m2v.xmpses file and a mm_mpegindex. In these files I guess the original movie filename is used to create some sort of chapter name (a movie always has a first starting chapter). During the building and the order of the movies and audio encore can't read this wrong file name or chapter marker.

Bill and Jeff: what names do you both use for:

original AVI and WAV to begin with in PP
sequence and chapter names in PP
Encoded file names in PP
Filename in Encore
Menu names in encore
and last: file folder names (E:dvd\......)

do you use blank spots somewhere?
do you use numbers somewhere?

Thanks for your interest in solving this.

Marcel

> Where the y in time stands for the length of the timeline minus 2 frames.

This can actually vary, and so far at least, I don't think we've seen a pattern as to type of pgc error based on how many frames from the end it reports.

> The BPGC error can also be FPGC or DPGC dependant on how many menu's there are in the project.

Number of menus is not relevant; the iteration of the first letter is more related to subsequent occurrences of the error. In my current tests it did not always update; they may have been too similar.

> This is what generates the problem...

Well, the problem does not occur every time you do what you describe, any more than it occurs every time spaces are left in the file names. What you have is, as some other suggestions, a workaround. Thats not bad, and I wonder if you are onto something as to what is contributing to the problem.

So, on to the interesting part whether the xmpses file, or at least what Encore is doing with it, is contributing something. I took an old test project that throws the PGC error and did some experiments.

Background. I am a user who does get the pgc errors regularly, but not always. Creative Suite Production Premium, with PPro CS3 3.2.0 (374) and Encore 3.0.1.008. Pentium 4 2.8GHz 2G RAM, XP SP3, Multiple drives, Nvidia GEforce4 MX440 i.e. an older system. I have lots of stuff loaded and running, including virus protection and firewall, so there are any number of potential conflicts. But I get no crashes, and only one problem other than the pgc. (PPro and Encore monitor windows do this diagonal thing I suspect the display card, but the drivers are up to date. Maxing and then back to fit fixes it.)

If you want to attempt to replicate my studies, here is a link to my problem clip and the first Encore project I describe.

http://www.videoandcomputer.com/test/pgc_test.htm

This project involves a very short AVI export from PPro CS3 - just over 8 seconds - called pgcbad_clip1.avi. Just to answer any question, the source is dv camera capture, and the source and avi export I use are dv avi type 2. There were no effects added on the timeline.

Test 1: Create a project in Encore CS3. Use the sunset menu and delete all the buttons except "play all." Import the avi as a timeline. Set the timeline end action as "return to last menu" and set the button link to the timeline. Auto transcode. (Project settings are 8mbps max and a3c.) Check project shows okay; there is never a problem with that. Build to a DVD folder in a new folder. This project throws the pgc error.

Test 2: Now create a new Encore project in a new folder. Use the same process, except import as timeline the m2v and a3c files from the first run. (I.e. if the clip is pgcbad_clip1.avi, in the test1 project folders, there is a folder called pgcbad_clip1.avi that has 6 files.) Note that in the folder they are imported from is an xmpses file from the first project's encore transcode. The build again fails with the pgc error - same frame, etc, but I really think the frame number doesn't matter.

Test 3: Now create another new Encore project in a new folder. Use same process, but before importing the m2v and a3c as timeline, delete the xmpses file. Drumroll...... Build succeeds!

Go figure.

This is not the repeatable bug option weve been looking for, but based on a clip that always fails, it does demonstrate the odd event of deleting the xmpses file as a workaround. I wonder if that will give adobe something to work with.

Can anyone else get my clip to work/not work in a straight project?

Test 4: Just to answer the question since the avi file fails here, will the elemental option succeed? I exported elemental m2v and wav from PPro, used the same project process, and transcoded the wav. That build also works! I have seen this work both ways. I have had projects where the elemental failed, and an avi export worked. I do believe the elemental options work more consistently. But my project that I completed yesterday used all avi exports, animated buttons in the submenu, - no pgc error.

Marcel,

In the several long threads, the errors were not version specific. They happened to users with CS2 & CS3. I do not recall any ver. 1 or 1.5 users, but may have missed them.

On CS2, I have also not had this/these error(s). Actually, I've only had one error in Encore, since I began using it just upon release, and that was a corrupt cache. Cleaned it, re-did Project and never saw another error - ever.

Just for a test yesterday, I built a simpe Project with 5 Video Timelines, 2 animation Timelines, Main Menu (animated with Audio - no animated Buttons), 1 Play All Playlist and 2 sub-Menus (animated with Audio - no animated Buttons). All Assets were DV-AVI, AC3 and PCM/WAV. Menus were my creation in PS. I built this on my laptop, with all Assets, Project and Scratch Disks on a 1.5TB FW-800 external. I wanted to put the laptop and this Project through its "paces," and stress things a bit. The runtime was 01;59;00. Burned to DVD-5 on "automatic."

I replaced 4 Video Assets (the bad way, expecting the worst) and all Assets' names had spaces (just for a test). I kept waiting for some sort of crash, hang or error. Nothing. The danged thing built and burned perfectly. Other than Animated Buttons and a mixture of Video/Audio Assets, I should have hit the wall someplace.

What conclusion can we draw, as I did two things that often cause problems? Little more than that on my laptop with these Assets in this Project, it all worked flawlessly. Unfortuantely, that seems to be the nature of this error. Other than loan my systems out, do the setups, the Exports and Imports, I cannot really help, though I have tried.

Closest that anybody has yet come, was Jeff's experience with Mr Ling's Project. At least he got to see the error. Most of us have not.

I just wish that there was some "magic bullet" for this problem, but instances are as varied, as are the hardware configurations.

Thanks for doing your tests,

Hunt

Neil,

If you have never had this error at all how can you be so sure about the error creating actions by others?

Please make a mistake (like we all do) in moving files or leaving blank spots and try to get an error yourself. Then try to solve the error by solving a mistake one at a time.

Describe this step by step so we can learn something. This will give us all a great advantage in solving our problem.

I have also tried building a simple project from scrap. No moving assets at all alphanumeric file names and still got the error.

You both must be very lucky not having this error.

Marcel

I can also animate buttons in CS3 with no difficulty, and like Jeff - I have never had this error at all.
All I ever feed Encore are M2V files, AC3 files & DTS files.
I have also imported an M2V file where the markers are carried across from Premiere - with the XMPSES file undeleted.
It has *never* failed for me on this.

Where I can almost guarantee errors is with swapping out assets and not changing file names.
Or with spaces in file names. With spaces, it is a Sonic encoder/compiler engine - and these will often accept file with spaces, yet crash out if compiled with spaces or anything non-alphanumeric.

System Specs
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700CPU
2Gb DDR2 RAM
EN 8500GT Nvidia Graphics (512Mb)
ASUS Commando Mobo
SATA System HDD
SCSI U160 Audio Drive
SCSI U160 Video Drive
EIDE Authoring Drive
XP Pro SP2
Internal Pioneer DVR-109
Quantum DLT2000 Type III XT
Creative Suite Premium CS3
Sonic DVD-Audio Creator
DTS-HD MAS Suite

Jeff,

Since you can do all in CS3 and I also except those files witch use .M2V.XMPSES I think the error has to do with my software hardware configuration or even with the menu configuration in relation to the .M2V.XMPSES files

Maybe this is to complex and something for Adobe Bug report

Marcel

I use the CS3 versions of all the Production Studio apps.

I can animate buttons without error. They work on my system in CS3. They do not work on yours. I wish I knew why, but I don't.

For reference, here are my relevant system specs:

P4 3.0 GHz with hyperthreading enabled
2 GB RAM
ATI Radeon X1600 512 MB
1 internal system drive
1 internal project/data drive
1 internal video capture and storage drive
2 internal DVD burners - NEC and Pioneer
Windows XP Pro SP3 (US English)
Adobe CS3 Production Premium (US English)

Thanks for reading my book. :)

-Jeff