I need help with keeping high quality and low file size.....

[dalejr8988]

I have a Leadtek TV2000 XP Expert capture card and the program that works bets is the software that comes with it to capture (winfast pvr) to keep my file sizes down i need to capture in divx 5.11 but the file are still too big i think. i capture at 320 x 240, 1300kbps and then convert to 512 x 384, 1300kbps and the file size for a 3 hour movie is about 2gb. i also have another movie that is 2 hours and 10 minutes at 640 x 464 and the quality is way better but the file size is 1gb. that means the for a 2gb file it would be 4 hours and 20 minutes long! how can i get high quality movies and also have as low possible file size? and ive tried other formats but divx works the best for me.

im thinkin maybe i could try capturing at 320 x 240 in divx but set the kbps to 4000. then in virtual dub i would resize to 512x384 and keep it at 4000 kbps. then do a fast recompress but have the kbps at around 600.

do ya think that would work or what are your suggestions?


thanks!

[teegee420]

then do a fast recompress but have the kbps at around 600.

Good, it seems you've figured out your own problem. You can't capture to divx with a small file size. On-the-fly encoding doesn't give nearly as good results as running a multi-pass divx encode. Ony problem with your proposed solution is that 600kbps is much too low. Average to decent quality requires at least 1000kbps in my opinion. That would amount to about 440mb per hour, not including audio.

When recompressing your captured file, make sure you do a 2-pass encode. It takes longer but the quality increase is significant. Make sure you get a bitrate calculator too if you don't have one already. Good luck.

[dalejr8988]

so what i do is capture at 4000 kbps with just normal settings. then resize with exact same settings. then fast recompress with 2-pass encode


where is the option to do 2 pass encode? i saw an option that is multipass but when i chose that it didnt work. it was just a black screen.

[teegee420]

so what i do is capture at 4000 kbps with just normal settings. then resize with exact same settings. then fast recompress with 2-pass encode

Yes.

where is the option to do 2 pass encode? i saw an option that is multipass but when i chose that it didnt work. it was just a black screen.

When setting up the divx codec you first need to run "Multipass, first pass" and set the bitrate for as high as it goes. Go to file and save as avi but check off "Don't run the job now....", then go back to the divx codec configuration and select "Multipass, nth pass", along with your desired bitrate. Save the same way as before, then go to File>Job Control and click "start". It will then run both passes automaticaly.

[babyboo]

If I can add my 2 cents worth...Personally I wouldn't resize up. You are trying to create more information where less exists. I would expect that you would take a large quality hit in the resizing alone without even taking the second encoding into consideration.

[Gazorgan]

Your method blows. There's no other way to put it, I'm suprised it's watchable.

If you want high quality, forget about small filesize. They are mutually exclusive. A 2 hour movie is on the edge for a 2 CDR/ 3 CDR size split. Since your capturing, you don't have a lot of choice, it's 3 CDR (noisey source).

Now typically you capture in HUFFYUV or MJPEG, edit, filter, then convert to somehting. This can be MPEG2 or MPEG4 AVI, it really doesn't matter, everything before that is the same. For DivX you settup 2-pass and go.

Notice I didn't mention resolution? Those numbers are based on capturing 704x480 (it's really the same as 720x480, but it's up to you). Final size depends on you, but 640x480 is common for high quality DivX. MPEG2 really has only 3 choices (Full D1, 1/2 D1, and 1/4 D1).