Need Some DVD Encoding Advice

[dayne33]

I'm going to be encoding some .avi's in the near future, and was hoping for some tips on how to get the best quality out of my source files. Here's my situation:

- When I select one the files, it gives this info:

VIDEO: [DIVX] 640x480 24 bpp 23.976
fps 786.2 kbps (96.0 kbyte/s)
and then the audio info (I'm encoding the audio with A.Pack)

I've checked some of the others, they are the same, except the bitrate fluctuates from 650-800 kbps.

- I've encoded some with Apple Compressor (One Pass VBR Best, no filters, 24p framerate, 4:3, 4.5 - 8 mbs (Variable Bitrate)), but have found the quality of the resulting .m2v's to be noticeably worse than the original .avi.

- I need the output to be .m2v, because when I used the ffmpeg Mpeg-2 encoder, DVDSP3 didn't recognize the resulting .mpg, but did recognize the .m2v produced by the mpeg2enc Mpeg-2 encoder (w/ 3:2 pulldown enabled).

Any tips on how to encode these to get the best quality would be most helpful.

NOTE: TIME IS NOT AN ISSUE. I JUST WANT TO GET THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE QUALITY. I was hoping to fit about 5 videos per DVD, though (the .avi's are each about 24 mins long).

If I left out some info that would be helpful, just tell me and I'll get back to you. Thanks again.

[edDV]

Well, DIVX is already highly compressed. Almost anything you do to it will decrease the quality.

Why not get (or wait for) an acceptable DIVX player?

[dayne33]

So is there really no way to get nearly the same quality from the output as the source?

As for DivX players, how would I go about authoring a DivX DVD with functional menus (similar to those in DVD Studio Pro 3)?

Thanks again.

[TugBoat]

- I need the output to be .m2v, because when I used the ffmpeg Mpeg-2 encoder, DVDSP3 didn't recognize the resulting .mpg

.mpg
Was that a typo? DVDSP only accepts elementary streams, you have to demux the ffmpeg .mpg to .m2v. I don't have any problems with DVDSP and ffmpeg .M2Vs. Just make sure the 'Video Size' is one of the 4 DVD compliant sizes, and if you encode at 23.98 you have to then take the m2v to the Tools Tab and run the 'pulldown' function.

I keep getting warnings with DVDSP when I use 23.98 and pulldown. Something about a field change, so I always use 29.97. I'm really stuffing the DVDs with 6+ hours of video so I'm using the Half D1 setting of 352x480 at around 1600-1700 kbit/s, High Quality, Two-pass encoding, and Trellis quantization. IMHO the ffmpeg codec looks better than mpeg2enc at this low bitrate. They look fine on all the normal CRT TVs I've shown them on. Everyone that has watched them say they look fine. They must be fine

[dayne33]

It wasn't a typo; whenever I encoded any of the .avi's with the ffmpeg DVD setting (no audio encoded, as mentioned above), it produced 1 .mpg file (With great quality might I add).

So, if I take the .mpg after it's done encoding and demux it in ffmpegx, it will produce a .m2v, even w/o an audio stream, or do I have to encode that too?

As for 3:2 pulldown, i's funny you mention that, as the source file is 23.98 fps, so when I encode it, I have it set to be NTSC FILM, but I've noticed in the info window while encoding, it says the output file will be 29.97 fps. What's causing it to do this, and how do I make it encode it at 23.98?

Thanks by the way for your help, it's greatly appreciated.

[TugBoat]

So, if I take the .mpg after it's done encoding and demux it in ffmpegx, it will produce a .m2v, even w/o an audio stream, or do I have to encode that too?

Yes, the normal output is .mpg, it doesn't matter if you encoded audio with it or not. You do not have to encode the audio, but, you do have to demux it to m2v to use in DVDSP. You can use any demuxer you want, I use Extractor 0.97 so ffmpegX can work on another encode at the same time.

As for 3:2 pulldown, i's funny you mention that, as the source file is 23.98 fps, so when I encode it, I have it set to be NTSC FILM, but I've noticed in the info window while encoding, it says the output file will be 29.97 fps. What's causing it to do this, and how do I make it encode it at 23.98?

Yea, I've posted about that here myself. It didn't get much press though. I've found that, most of the time, you have to use the 'Decode with QuickTime' option to encode at 23.98. Something I do not like to do. It will take twice as long if you use that option. Before 0.9q, you could not use manual letterboxing or cropping when using that option. That option has been accused of causing a much darker video, etc.

What decode with QT will do is encode the video first then the audio, then mux them to MPG. You will get a mpv stream before it starts on the audio, unfortunately, it will usually fail on the audio leaving you with the mpv only and take twice as long, blah, blah, blah... It's supposed to help with syncing the audio. If you get your audio the way you do, which is the same way I do, you don't need it.

I've had nothing but trouble trying to encode at 23.98 and then using it in DVDSP. It would take a while to explain it. Take my advice, encode at 29.97. Search and read my old posts, it's all there. One thing I've found, I'm either getting better AVIs or my theory of keeping the bitrate setting in the green is causing much fewer of the video stream errors you will read about in my old posts 8)

[dayne33]

Ok, the last one just finished demuxing, and the files are all are recognized by DVDSP3. Thanks a lot, I thought I had reached another dead end...