DVD video conversion revisited, XviD vs mp4

[indijay]

Hello folks,

Its been a while since I thought about DVD ripping to XviD. My favorite tool has been AutoGK, only because of the automation that it provides, i.e. all I need to set is the size of final video I can have and then it decides best frame size. Two-pass option is also great and honestly, it has never failed me.

Meanwhile, I took a look at Handbrake and VidCoder. They are also great but they primarily encode in mp4 format, do not offer control over the file size (major cons for me). I am not too sure it is because of the codec itself or thats the way the developers decided.

My DVD player supports XviD and not mp4. I am still using CRT and have not switched to HDTV primarily because the young one at home, the toys still 'fly'.

That said, I will move very soon to HDTV (not high end for sure, the basic one). I wonder if I should still stick XviD or move on to mp4? AutoGK is rather slow for my taste (may be because 2 pass, not too sure). What do the experts recommend?

If I am not very clear, please ask what piece of information you need more to be able to answer the question best.

Many thanks.

[Baldrick]

In vidcoder can you set target size under settings and the video tab.

Does the hdtv support mp4 directly? Or how are you planning to play them?

But avi xvid is still pretty good for SD video(like DVD).

[manono]

...do not offer control over the file size

Not true for either Vidcoder or Handbrake.

AutoGK is rather slow for my taste (may be because 2 pass, not too sure).

It has a 1-pass quality-based mode.

And if you get a TV or hardware media player that supports MP4, then you should encode to that.

[jagabo]

Xvid is a codec. MP4 is a container.

If you think Xvid is slow wait until you start using h.264 encoders.

file size = bitrate * running time

If you want a specific file size just use a calculator to figure out what bitrate that corresponds to.

[indijay]

Thanks everyone,

I do not have HDTV yet but plan to get one. So not too sure about mp4 playing ability of HDTV.

Currently, I have a Philips DVD player and standard tube TV (little kids at home, toys fly around, blah blah, you get it). The DVD player plays XviD pretty well but no support for mp4 container (with whatever codec sits in there, h.264? don't know. I am not in touch with this for more than 4 years now.)

Jagabo,
Most likely, I was not too clear in what I wanted to say. I understand the file size calculations but I notice the frame size needs to be set by the user. It has never worked at my hand. AutoGK decides frame size itself and has never failed me on the quality of output it has produced.
Whatever presets I use with VidCoder, I think it works pretty well and fast.

Baldrick answered spot on, exactly what I needed. Thank you.