I need some serious help with converting to DivX

[vieo]

This is very frustrating as I can't seem to find a solution.

I have various video clips of all sorts of formats(.rm, .asf, .wmv, .avi). I only intend to view these clips on my PC and don't want to deal with a bunch of different media players to view them. So I want to convert all of them to avi(divx) and make them all have the resolution 480x272(why this res? not too big, not to small. nice size.).

I tried to go the AutoGK route, but I couldn't find a way to change the resolution to 480x272 in AutoGK.

So then I tried just plain GordianKnot(which I don't really know how to use so I just winged it. =P). It worked well with resizing/encoding some of the avi files, but I ran into two crippling problems. First, virtualdub doesn't recognize .rm files, and Second, some of the .avi files came out with out of sync audio.

After that, I was starting to stress out, and was willing to try anything so I caved and tried WinAvi video converter 7.5 despite all the bad things I heard about it. It encodes pretty fast and was able to read all the file formats, but yet again I ran into more problems. First, there was a weird crackling/ticking noise whenever a sound was played(like at the end of a sentence) during the video. Second, once again the audio would go out of sync like 20 minutes into the clip. I tried WinAvi's support and it's pretty funny because the only answer they give to this in their FAQ is "Adjust your AC3Filter. Go to videohelp.com for more information.". I tried messing around with random settings(of both AC3Filter and WinAvi) but still the same problems persist.

I found a program called AviMux that's supposed to allow you to add a delay to the audio. It actually works, but when you sync up the audio in the later half of the clip, the audio in the first half goes out of sync where it used to be perfectly well before. Sorta like scale that refuses to balance.


Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knew of the following:

1. Another all-in-one program that might help me get this stuff converted before I dropkick my computer.

2. A guide/tutorial specifically for converting to divx with MediaCoder(a freeware all-in-one program). I just downloaded MediaCoder today, but haven't been able to get it to work and haven't been able to find any guides.

3. A real working solution to "out of sync" audio in WinAvi. If adjusting AC3Filter really is the solution to the problem, can someone direct me to a link that explains how to set it correctly?


Also, what I find strange is that not all of my .rm clips go out of sync when they've been converted. Only some do but the others are fine.


Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

[redwudz]

The one I use for simple Xvid conversions is FairUse Wizard.

But I generally use VirtualDub Mod for Xvid conversions if I need to do some fine tuning.
If you are using the Xvid or Divx codec, then that's what is doing the conversion. The program that uses it is just the 'front end' to the codec. VDM can resize and convert some formats. If you have .rm or .wmv or some other formats, other programs may work easier. SUPER handles more formats.

Two types of common sync problems. One is where the sync error is the same throughout the video and the second is where the sync error gradually gets worse as the video plays. The first can be repaired by adding a audio 'offset' that may correct it. The second is usually when the audio and video are different playing lengths. You have to adjust one or the other.

Another common problem to watch out for is VBR audio. Using it with some MPEG encoders can cause sync problems.

Most files I would drop into Gspot 2.52 and see what the audio and video specs are. That has a big bearing on how they are processed.

Unfortunately, there is no one program that will do many different formats in one step. It takes a little work if you have many types of video to convert. Best is to segregate them by type and work on a system to process them.

And welcome to our forums.

[kschang]

Hmmm... How about SUPER?

[vieo]

Thanks guys. SUPER seems to be converting the files to divx with audio in sync. I just have to figure out if I can choose a 480x272 resolution(it seems to be like AutoGK where you can only select from pre-selected resolutions.)

[Ai Haibara]

There's supposed to be a way, but I don't remember offhand what it is. In the DirectShow options (click the button on the right side of the 'Use DirectShow' 'button'; you may want to disable the watermark option at the top of the options dialog if you haven't already, or set it to something else), there's an option called 'Force A Custom VideoScaleSize', but I haven't experimented with it.