bitrate svcd in tmpgenc

[rikit]

I would like some advice on what to set my average bitrate,and minimum bitrate if my max is set to 4500kbits/sec.My video is video only with no sound included.It is a hockey video, there is fast motion involved,if this helps any.

[ZippyP.]

There are a number of things to consider when choosing the bitrate. If your max is 4500 then it seems you are not making a regular SVCD. SVCD's have a maximum 2500 bitrate and are burned to CD. The average bitrate is usually selected in order to fill up the CD. If the bitrate exceeds 2500 then many DVD players will not play it, depending on how far out you go. At 4500 I think most players will reject it. If you're burning to DVD that's different, just use the maximum bitrate possible. If the bitrate is high enough you won't need to use 2-pass VBR, CBR will do just fine. Give some more info about what you're creating and how and people might be able to give better suggestions.


BTW, if you are burning to DVD you can use the DVD max (8000 or so) for your max bitrate.

[rikit]

Oops.I meant to say 2400.My bad.I am trying to achieve an svcd.I did play it in my dvd player today,and it wasn't too bad.It didn't freeze up or anything.

[ZippyP.]

Oops.I meant to say 2400.

That makes a BIG difference. If you put 55 minutes on your CD then your avg bitrate to fill it will be 1740, which won't be too bad. You can squeeze more time by dropping the res to CVD spec 352x480. I'll go as low as 1400 using CVD. Look in the Tools section for CVD templates, D/L and put them in the TMPGEnc templates subfolder. 8)

[adam]

Regardless of what format you are making I suggest always using a min of 0 which is basically automatic, or at least set it very low like 300-500. There is no reason to ever increase your min setting, this only wastes bits in certain scenes and decreases quality.

As for max bitrate, the SVCD standard supports a total max of 2778kbits (audio + Video) with a max video bitrate of 2600kbits. You should take 2778 and subtract your total audio bitrates and then give yourself maybe another 50kbits for overhead and of course if you use subs factors those in too, they take up about 500 additional kbits.

As for avg bitrate just use a bitrate calculator and shoot for either 2 or 3 cds depending on what bitrates you are satisfied with. For SVCD I never went below 2Mbits. For CVD I never went below 1600kbits, but that's just me.

[ZippyP.]

For SVCD I never went below 2Mbits. For CVD I never went below 1600kbits, but that's just me.

Everyone needs find their own limits!

[rikit]

Thanks to all.Zippy,I am only putting about 30 min of video on a cd.What do you recommend for bitrate,average,max,min.?

[ZippyP.]

I am only putting about 30 min of video on a cd.

Since you are making an SVCD with only 30 min on a disk then just use the SVCD max bitrate (see Adam's post above). Encode with CBR, there's no need to use VBR since the bitrate is maxed out. VBR is only used when disk space is limiting your bitrate, you can keep quality while getting more minutes on a disk. 8)

[rikit]

zippy,
I did a svcd using cbr instead of using 2 pass.I tried it at 2750 kbits.When using cbr I choose the setting tab.This way I could choose how many kbits I wanted.I tried to pick 2778kbits,but it wouldn't let me.It went from
2750 to 2800.Also in picking cbr there is not a choice to pick my average,and minumum bitrate.Also keep in mind I am not using any audio.As far as how the video looks,it was sorta blocky.Any further suggestions?Thanks for all your advice also

[ZippyP.]

CBR is Constant Bitrate so there is no min and max, the bitrate does not change.

I recommend that you try some noise filtering, select the filter and try it at the default settings. I'm not an expert on the subject but it should help improve captured footage which tends to have noise. Noise eats up bitrate even if your eye can't see it. The filter will greatly increase your encoding time however. Give it a try and compare the results

[rikit]

Zippy,
I used noise filtering and that seemed to help,thanks.You were correct about the encoding time.The video was about 15 min long.It took 3 hours to encode.Thanks once again.

[ZippyP.]

I used noise filtering and that seemed to help,thanks.

You're welcome and thanks for letting us know the results.

[rikit]

adam,
As far as the average bitrate,the bitrate caculator doesn't show that.It shows max bitrate.Unless I am not seeing it.Any suggestions about what to set average bitrate to.I am setting max video birate to 2750.All suggetions wecome.I am going to try vbr setting by the way to see how it looks.

[adam]

Well there no bitrate to calculate except the average bitrate. Max and min you just set according to what format you are making. I suggest using either the java bitrate calculator available on this site or the very good Fitcd for VCD and SVCD ouput, and the commercial version of that program, Fit2Disk, for DVD output.

You calculate the avg according to your runtime, the number audio tracks and their bitrate, and the desired number of disks to put it on. There is no general avg which anyone can suggest, you have to calculate it for each project. I recommend shooting for 2mbits avg for SVCD and maybe a little less for CVD. Just adjust the number of disks you are outputting to accordingly.

[rikit]

adam,
I am not using audio.So when the biterate calculator ask for me to pick audio setting what then?

[adam]

Then use a bitrate of 0 kbits.

[rikit]

The lowest it will let me pick is 64kbits.zero is not a option.I guess that was what I was trying to say.I would of picked it if it would let me.

[adam]

If you are using the java bitrate calculator on this site then just set it to advanced mode. Then set the custom bitrate level to 0, or set the number of audio tracks to 0.

Or use another bitrate calculator like FitCD.

[rikit]

Adam
Thanks for all the help.I finally made the best svcd yet.Even with the old analog footage it looked pretty darn good.Better then I thought it would.
rikit