reencoding bitrate?

[jorwex]

im trying to figure out what bitrate to encode my dv files in divx or xvid or something. is the best method to just guess and check? what do people commonly use?

thanks

[State Of Mind]

1500 kbps.
Any higher and you might as well make a DVD.
Any lower and you're going to complain about quality a lot.

[jorwex]

thanks man

any one agree/disagree?

[GeorgeW]

what is your intended playback? From a computer, internet, on a DVD, etc...?

[jorwex]

computer for the most part, but i wanna be able to thro it on a tv if i need to.

[junkmalle]

Don't bother with bitrate. Use Quantization mode in XVID -- single pass, contant quality. Pick the quality you want, let the bitrate fall where it does.

[GeorgeW]

if you have one of those set-top DVD players that will play divx videos, then that format could work for you. It really depends on if you want a wide compatibility base (i.e. other vieweres using their dvd players), or if it's strictly for your own viewing.

for dvd playback, you could encode/author for burning to dvd discs, and have the best of both worlds (computer playback and dvd-player compatibility). You will require more space that the highly-compressed divx videos, but the quality can be almost as good as the original dv video.

[jorwex]

so does quantization mode have a preview window with a slider? something to that effect? thatd be cool. im always confused as to which xvid binary to grab, nicks or that other one...

anywho, thanks

[xtreemkareem]

If you want to fit the movies to a certain size (i.e. one or two CDs for a couple hours worth) use a bitrate calculator. Of course, the lower the bitrate you choose, the lower you have to bring down your resolution to compensate.