Better quality DivX encodings???

[smt_88]

Hi,

I am trying to save my DV footage to DVDs. What I would like to do is to re-encode the Panasonic DV encoded avi files that I have saved on to my hard into the highest possible quality DivX files. My reasoning is that I shouldn't lose *too* much quality, but reduce the file size dramatically.

I have DivX 6.5.1 and VirtualDub 1.7.5 (with the smart deinterlace filter) installed. I have a bunch of captured avi files.

Now the problem is that I can encode the files to DivX, but the resulting quality is very poor. I have set the target bitrate to the highest possible value (4854 KB/s), and chosen the maximum quality settings, but the file that is produced never comes out anywhere near the requested bitrate.

The original file is encoded at about 28,000 KB/s. I'm asking for 4,854 KB/s. I'm getting about 300 - 400 KB/s whilst encoding, and this results in some nasty artifacts, blockiness, stuttering and blurred areas (as I guess you would expect from a lower bitrate).

Could somebody please suggest what I might be doing wrong or need to do to achieve the higher bitrate?

Thanks,

Simon

[jagabo]

Switch to 1-Pass Quality Based encoding. Use a Target Quantizer of 2 or 3. At 2 you'll be hard pressed to see any difference between thes source and the Divx encoded file, even if you look at enlarged still frames. At 3 you'll see a little bit of macroblocking if you look at enlarged still frames but it won't be noticeable at normal playback speed.

If you insist on using 2-pass encoding and want to use higher bitrates, switch to the "unconstrained" profile.

Don't forget to compress the audio too.

[DarrellS]

If you want to use DivX then try using the DivX 6.7 community codec. Don't use the default settings. Pick 720HD or 1080HD mode and set the bitrate to what you want. Default for 720HD is 3000 kbps and 6000 for 1080HD.

[FulciLives]

@jagabo

I figure if anyone knows this it would be you:

Can one now effectively and properly use DivX and XviD while keeping the video interlaced? If so wouldn't that be the thing to do from DV AVI to MPEG-4 AVI?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[jagabo]

As far as encoding goes, both Divx and Xvid fully support interlaced encoding. The problem lies in the players. Windows based player usually have deinterlacing options but usually don't have field order options. If I remember correctly, VLC for example can BOB but only works right with TFF or BFF video -- I forget which. The set-top Divx/DVD players I've played with are very sloppy with their handling of interlaced video. Some slip in and out of phase (correct vs incorrect field order) during playback. So a TFF encoded file may play fine for a while but then slip and play BFF for a while. Or they may only handle one field order correctly.

I haven't tried interlaced Divx/Xvid with my Philips DVP-5960 and my new Samsung 1080p LCD HDTV. I'll check it out tomorrow and let you know what I find.