ARE "BLOCKS" INEVITABLE WITH (S)VCD

[vcdhowto]

Hello, its been a long 2 weeks for me learning how to avoid Blurry artifacts and blocky picture.

I learned that exporting with a Motion Jpeg A codec gets rid of the blurry artifacts really well. I can actually see text from my DV videos on svcd

But still have a problem, cant get rid of the blocks that seem to be in front of the picture. (even thow its better then the larger blocks vcd mpeg1 makes) Is this even possible to get rid of or the best svcd can do.

im sure there could be a better mpeg encoder, but im limited to mediapipe cause i have os x 10.1.5.

Using MMT i was wondering what quantisation or motion comp settings would do to improve image quality if anything. or maybe use higher bitrate then 2500. i heard 2524 is the highest you can go to keep it in svcd standards.

thanx for the help youve already given me and i hope to get some more. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS

[vcdhowto]

Hello, i was hoping you guys would atleast tell me something

Using MMT's with mediapipe!
I tried a few things, set quatisation (quality 1 to 31) to 1 instead of 3 and motion comp(1 to 32) to 32 and it made my svcd play in fast forward if you will. Not only that it also caused the boxes to be more visible. *signs*

And from past svcd attempts i realize the faster the motion in the video the easier you see the blocks. So i was thinking maybe set motion comp down to maybe say 10 instead of 32. Default 16 is good but still noticable blocks and im trying to figure out how to get rid of the blocks as best as i can. Slowing the video down might help reduce the blocks which would be great.

Im not to sure about these settings in MMTs (quantisation and motion comp) could anyone tell me what they do. Or tell me if encoding in mediapipe without mmts is more flexible. Maybe you guys understand more about the setting used in mediapipe as opposed to mmts. Please tell me and id just use that alone.

Does anyone use RNCs Missing Mpeg Tools(MMTs) to make svcds.
Thanx when i eventually figure this out im making a guide so everyone can follow it and not have to go threw what im enduring.

Hope to hear from you soon. Good Night

[Wizeman]

I gave up on MMT a while back, and converted to ffmpegx instead. haven't had half as much problems using that, and I must say the results are very ervy nice. As far as DV is concerned however, I recommend QuickTime's owen engine for MPEG-2 export - even beats BitVice for DV sources IMHO.

/Wizeman

[vcdhowto]

Hey wizeman thanx for replying.

You didnt like MMTs cause of the quality it produced? and you say ffmpegX will produce better quality as in no blocks?

Tell me in your experience of making a Svcd did you encounter the blocks and what did you do to get rid of them?

Does ffmpegX use different mpeg2 encoder then MMTs and mediapipe which might be better.

I spent all night trying to figure out how to install mpeg2enc. I got it to work thanx to Major and this link:
http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=111041&highlight=install+mpeg2enc

And im surprised ffmpegX h worked on Os X 10.1.5

But i have problems with it already. never encountered any problems with MMTs or mediapipe just dissapointed in quality (Svcd = SVHS not even close) As for FfmpegX the first problem is it doesnt support animation codec from my dv movie. Second i tried with dv-ntsc codec its supports that but crashes 10 secs into the process with errors saying cannot decode.
Third it works with motionjpeg codec but i can still see the blocks.

there are not to many settings to play around with in ffmpegX makes me feel like thats all i can get out of that program.

Im going to try mediapipe alone and play around with the settings if that doesnt work im not sure how you people make svcds without any blocks (my vidoes are fast motion scenes where the camera turns allot is this style to hard to encode without seeing any blocks?

Again i ask are "blocks" inevitable with (s)vcd. ill try to get 2 screenshots posted on the internet of my results with a link here. Please tell me if this is the best you can do with svcd. id be happy knowing it doesnt get any better instead of waisting my time.

Ohh and my source footage was converted with an analog to dv converter on my camera and imported into computer using firewire and looks awsome, edited and exported which mjpeg A. Clean and sharp like a brand new VHS rental.

I have a G3 and qT mpeg2 encoder need altivec support . from what i konw i think thats a G4 computer. so that wont work for me unless im just missing something to get it to work. Thanx again.

[bilestyle]

lol-- uhm ffmpeg and MMT/mediapipe use the SAME exact encoder to do svcd-- so if you are blaming blocky output for SVCD on MMT and say ffmpeg can do better - no offense u got NO clue what you are talkin bout, sorry.... hehe.... now when it comes to ffmpeg to encode VCD instead of mpeg2enc yes it does do a better job when it comes to speed to quality ratio, but it IS possible to get the same quality vcd with mpeg2enc, it just comes at the price of a much slower encode.

[Faceman101]

I never used any of those encoders (I'm a PC user) but I noticed with fullscreen material it is very hard to have a non-block encode. With letterboxed material it is very easy to have no blocks. That is just my view with some PC encoders.

[vcdhowto]

Hey thanx allot guys for responding.

Ive spent all night again trying to test differnent settings using mmts and ffmpegX. Last thing left to test is mediapipe alone. but my g3 takes forever even on 30 secs samples.

Bilestyle what is mpeg2enc file i had to download? is that just to make the encoder work with ffmpegx?

Anyway from what i found quatisation at full produces less blurry aftifacts on text.(helps video aswell just hard to notice) Motioncomp doesnt really do anything different unless viewed on your dvd player. i think it controls how much to keep the picture from sttutering. vibrating up and down giving it a fastforward kind of look but i still got to do more testing.

Iv noticed if my source video is slow motion i dont see any blocks at all after encoding which is awsome.

Can i mpeg2 encode to slowmotion video maybe adjusting fps or changing gop settings. some way to slow down the video play by even 2 or 3 percent?

Hey faceman 101 i agree with you my vcd burned with toast looks better with a source i converted to letterbox style compared to fullscreen.
Ill try that with mediapipe thanx

Im stilling asking the simple question are blocks avoidable on fast motion video Svcds? im sure a bunch of you guys made svcds id like to hear your answer to that.

Well thanks for everything and even anything i really appreciate it