Quality of AutoGK target quality

[genpcb]

I'm a little new at divx/xvid and confused what target quality exactly means in AutoGK when using XVID. I'm using the default 75%...does that mean that it's constant quality of 75% (of what XVID is capable of) throughout the entire movie? In order words, those scenes that can be compressed a lot still get the same bitrate as those that require less compression?

Also, does target quality of 100% equate to the Maximum Quality setting? I know the min width differs between 704 and 720 pixels, but are these both also constant quality throughout?

Which setting should I use if I want optimal quality, width of 720 pixels, variable bitrate, and keep AC3 -- but still maintain a reasonable 1.5GB to 2GB for a 2hr movie? Any help is appreciated!!

[jntaylor63]

Ok,

If you want to have a 720xYYY or 704xYYY DivX / Xvid with AC3 and the goal of equal DVD quality, then you are going to need a lot of disk space!

To me, the only way to get real DVD quality for DVD to MP4 is to do a 2:1 bitrate. If the ave bitrate for the DVD is 5.5 mbs, the go 2.25 / 3 mb max for MP4 (DivX / Xvid) I'm sure others will disagree, but thats my 2cents.

So, with a bitrate cal., you can find how much harddrive space you need for your movie with the 2:1 rate. Also note that you shouldn't go over 2 gigs with an AVI file if you plan to burn on a DVD-R. (Most standalone players only read DVD-R as ISO's.) So you may have to do a batch job for the 2 parts of the movie.

Just set AutoGK with the custom size in mb and select the AC3 audio. On the aspect ratio, just chose auto select. Given the large amount of space you gave AutoGk, it will select 704. (It will just chop of the small black bars on the left and right)

This is what I do with AutoGK to back-up large movies to one DVD-R. Yes, you could just split to 2 DVD-R's or transcode. This method allows for one disk and with better quality. (Try transcoding The Godfather onto one DVD and playback on a bigscreen. )

Today I am playing them on an X-card and the playback is equal to the orginal DVD.

[RabidDog]

genpcb the quality setting is the quality throughout the movie eg its a constant quality mode. 75 gives very good qual.
100 does not mean best quality however.

jntaylor63 just about to ask that very question what sort of bitrate gets as good as dvd reproduction.. will 2:1 eliminate all "wallcrawl" ?? I find this is what tends to give mpeg4 away..when plain flat walls are in the background and you see macroblocks of slightly different tone dancing about. I do have a standalone player and most will not play a file bigger than 2gb. I think I will keep this as my upper limit. I'm not that much of a purist and have a std telly. So 1.5gb should give me what I want most of the time..

[genpcb]

Thanks for your responses guys! I think I'll use target of 75% for easier to encode movies. I've been trying to archive Eyes Wide Shut but since it's full frame and over 2.5 hours, at 75% it yields a 3.1GB file. I should not have a prob with this filesize since I play all my movies from a dedicated PC with s-video out...looks great, btw!

Thanks again!

[RabidDog]

At present there are no plans to release the "unaltered" version on DVD in Region 1. Regarding the full-screen format of Eyes Wide Shut on DVD, the official wording on the DVD packaging is as follows: "This feature is presented in the full aspect ratio of the original camera negative, as Stanley Kubrick intended." As with the DVD formatting of The Shining and Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut was matted in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio for theatrical presentation, but the director composed his films in camera to accommodate television broadcast and home video viewing. The official aspect ratio of Eyes Wide Shut on DVD is 1.37:1.

One in the eye for all the widescreen only Fanboys..but you arent getting the essential 65 sec orgy screen unaltered