Trying To Find The Right Settings For Super

[Tom Saurus]

I downloaded Super and I am learning how to use it. I bought TDA 3 because I have become a fan on the Divx Ultra Format and I like making discs with menus and such while having 5 and half hours of footage on one disc that look nearly as good as the original mpeg2 files. But since there is a fairly good chance that Divx Ultra isn't going to last all that much longer, I am thinking of converting my mpeg2 files to XVid to play on Phillips 5140 and just have data discs without the menus. I want to get the same quality as what I am getting from the encoder that is built into TDA 3.

My original mpeg 2 files are:
Video: Mpeg 2, 720x480, 29.97 fps 8000kbs vbr (between 6000-8000 kbs)
Audio: mpeg1 (audio layer 2) mp2, 4800Hz, 2 channel, 256kbs
episode time: 23 minutes 14 seconds

Now looking in the settings for TDA 3 when it puts it into the Divx Video Format:
Video: Divx Video, 720x480, 29.97 fps, pixel ratio 10:11, Home Theater Profile
I usually have it do 2 pass encoding:
Display Mode: Progressive
VBR (Full Rendering 2 Pass VBR) Max Bitrate: 4854 kb/s, Bitrate: 1500 kb/s Min Bitrate: 510 kb/s
Audio: Dolby Digital, 4800hz, stereo, 128 kb/s

With this I can get about 14 episodes to a disc. Looking at the ouput size line at the bottom each episode works out to be 273mb and the original mpeg2 files are 1.03 gb in size. I do know that one could have better quality mpeg2 files and the output file would be the same size. If I had the room on my hard drive I would capture at 12000kbs cbr and maybe get a really sharp picture.


Super only has one setting for the bitrate for video. So would I use the Bitrate Calculator to figure out the correct cbr bitrate. I know I want the file to look good without blocking, keep the same 720x480, I want to use XVid because it is free and mp3 sound since it is more widely accepted in software players than dolby digital. I want the file to be about 275mb in size. Can someone help me figure out how to do this? I know the default 1008kbs video bit rate in Super didn't give me the quality I wanted. There was alot of macroblocking or pixilating in the picture. Thanks in advance for any help you can be to me concerning this manner.

[Baldrick]

I would rather use AUTOGK instead of super. YOu just set the resolution and output size and convert. And I wouldn't use 720x480 but a bit smaller size and with a 4:3 pixel aspect ratio like 640x480.

[Tom Saurus]

Baldrick: Thank you for response to my question. I think I will download AutoGK and try it on my dual core system. I am confused about why would one go from 720x480 which is 3:2 and go to 640x480 which is 4 to 3. Won't this result in a distortion of some kind in the video?

[mats.hogberg]

why would one go from 720x480 which is 3:2 and go to 640x480 which is 4 to 3.

NTSC DVD is "always" 720x480 (see https://www.videohelp.com/dvd for the rest) - and displayed at either 4:3 or 16:9. If it's a 4:3 DVD, 640x480 is a good AVI resolution choice.

/Mats

[Tom Saurus]

mats.hogberg: Thank you for the additional information.

I just downloaded AutoGK, turns out they just had a new update yesterday. So I am assuming don't fool with the advance settings and leave them the way they are. If you don't get two pass encoding when you use the custom quality setting is better to use custom size instead. I would think two pass encoding would be superior to single pass encoding. But how do you make up your mind what size to set the custom size at? Would I just assume that if the file that TDA 3 makes at about 275mb looks excellent that AutoGK should be able to do an equal job using the XVid codec.

I assume I did the right thing selecting stand-alone compatability when installing GK. AutoGK assumed that MKV is the chip I have in my Phillips 5140. I don't know for certain what chip my Phillips 5140 has, but I am guessing it is not an ESS chip. If it is an ESS chip then I have to unistall and then reinstall AutoGK.

AutoGK seems to like 640x480 resolution and I couldn't see any distortion in the video. I don't know how it goes from 4:3 to 2:3 and still look the same, but as long as it work I don't really need to know why, other than to satisfy my curiousity. Thank you in advance for any additional advice you can give me.

[mats.hogberg]

Try the Target quality mode, if you're more interested in quality rather than exact file size. It lets you set the quality, and use whatever bitrate (=file size) needed to meet this requirement.

/Mats