Need more quality from Divx what about 2 scan option?

[jimnick]

I have been backing up some movies for my kids. They are 1:43 min. I have been keeping audio at 18kbs and 1150hz and Video at 640 kbs to make the MPG-1 file fit on a 700mb disc in single pass mode with a few filters for mice teeth.
My capture file is over a gig with very good quality.

The Divx encoder has an option for 2 pass encoding but when I try it I get error messages. What are the limitations to bear in mind when you want to do a 2 pass divx encode?

Thanks
Jim Nick

[jagabo]

Select 2-pass first pass. Encode. Select 2-pass 2nd pass. Encode.

During the first pass the codec is just examining the frames to determine where more bitrate is needed. During the second pass it is doing the actual encode.

[jimnick]

Thanks jagabo,
So is there any gain in quality from a 2 pass encode.
Do you know the benifit of finding where the hi bit areas are before encoding with a second pass?

[jagabo]

So is there any gain in quality from a 2 pass encode.

With lower bitrates, yes.

Do you know the benifit of finding where the hi bit areas are before encoding with a second pass?

The point of two pass encoding is to use less bitrate where it's not needed, and more bitrate where it is. One of the major techniques in MPEG encoding is to only encode the difference between frames. So a dark, still, talking head scene doesn't require much bitrate. A bright, high motion, high detail scene will require more. During the first pass the codec determines which scenes need more bitrate. During the second pass it apportions out the bitrate depending on the information it recorded in the first pass.