how to encode with xvid in two passes

[roise_r]

pls someone explain to me once and for all how to encode with xvid in two passes, couse i cant get it! i get all cofused with that stats file. what is its meaning and how do i use it... so what i am asking if someone pls explain to me the sequance of the action taken to encode footage in two pass, in the most popular regular way... first i have to encode the footage in two pass - first pass, after it's done, i have to reopen VDM choose again all those settings, and then configure the xvid codec to use the firsts pass stats file and start encoding AGAIN with two pass - second pass...? do i have to use the same options, ... what will happen if i change, add or remove some filter for the second pass, or change the bitrate, wouldn't that result in some kind of error...?

[jagabo]

After you've done the first pass (two pass - first pass) just go to the Xvid config dialog and change it to "two pass - second pass" and save as AVI again. Don't change any of the filters, the video needs to be exactly the same for each pass.

During the first pass the codec examines each frame and keeps a log (stats file) of the complexity of each frame. During the second pass it uses the stats file to decide how to best allocate bits to achieve the requested average bitrate. If you change the video (different filters etc.) the information in the stats file will not be accurate for the modified video. It won't generate an error dialog but the final result will not be as good.