What should I do to convert mp4 to divx ?

[DBenz]

Hi,
Youtube captures from Download Helper Mozilla plugin are mp4 and my Panasonic dvd player HDD recorder will , according to the manual, play divx video from a usb stick.

Just placing the mp4 on a usb stick doesnt see it recognise the file.

I have AVS4you video converter 8.

What output do I select ? I only see mpg avi mp4 wmw as the icons.

Just what is this DivX ?

DBenz

[smrpix]

Divx is one of the codecs available within avi. Be sure your video is also converted to normal standard definition specs as DVD players will generally not play HD files.

[DBenz]

Hi,
The youtube capture (and I see Download helper is currently greyed out so the swing has swung back to you tube despite latest Download Helper upgrade) is not HD so okay there.
I need then to select the mp4 file as input and avi as output, that will mean increasing the file size as avi is far bigger than mpg or mp4 etc.

choices in the options box for avi are:-
Video MPEG-4 Divx 768kbps; Audio:MP3, 96kbps
Video MPEG-4 Divx 1500kbps; Audio:MP3, 192kbps
Video DivX Audio MP3 192kbps

Not sure which I should select. I want to retain quality and hope to get the youtube video at a decent size on the TV (CRT) screen.

I thought divx would be a variation on mpeg2 or wmv.

DBenz

[smrpix]

Divx is an older, comparatively inefficient implementation of h.264 so the files tend to be larger for similar quality. Divx is what your player wants -- do check the all the specs carefully -- so Divx you should feed it.

[Cornucopia]

Size has only to do with bitrate in this comparison (since runtime is the same and "Filesize= Bitrate * Runningtime"). Since divx generally requires a higher bitrate than AVC/MP4 for a given quality, you probably WOULD want to raise the bitrate this time, but that isn't always the case for every type of material.

Divx is a branded implementation of either:
1. MPEG4-ASP in AVI-type container (renamed *.divx) - most common, or
2. AVC in MKV container (now also possible HEVC in MKV)

Scott

[DBenz]

Hi,
I chose the Video MPEG-4 Divx 1500kbps; Audio:MP3, 192kbps

it played, it went wide when it appeared on tv screen when the shape was 4:3 so I had to use TV handset to set it to 4:3

not sure if I can give it something the TV will latch onto for aspect ratio.

highest kbps as you say should give best quality, if I follow what you said correctly.

result 24.8Mb versus original 6Mb for the mp4 so file size for having to use avi quadruples

DBenz

[awgie]

You remark that avi produces larger files than mpg perplexes me, as mpg (mpeg-1 or mpeg-2) uses far less compression than mpeg-4, so the mpg option should produce by far the largest files.

DivX is itself an mpeg-4 codec, proprietary to DivX, LLC. In contrast, Xvid (yes, it's DivX spelled backwards) is a completely free codec, usable on a much wider array of systems. Both of them can use the AVI container file format. The mpeg-4 standard encompasses both DivX and Xvid, along with Nero Digital and QuickTime 6, and including H.264, used for HD video such as DivX HD, Nero Digital AVC and QuickTime 7. The MP4 files you are capturing from YouTube are most likely H.264 format.

WMV (Windows Media Video) is a totally different animal, and isn't related at all to mpeg-4 and DivX.

Because DivX is a for-profit enterprise, they started out getting hardware manufacturers to integrate the DivX software into their hardware (primarily DVD players), with their logo and the words "DivX Certified" prominently displayed. These players would play DivX files, but not any other mpeg-4 files. Unfortunately for DivX, it didn't take long for hardware makers to realize that limiting themselves to only playing DivX was counter-productive, so they soon started making their hardware able to play many more media files, and now, newer hardware (Samsung, for example) won't play media files with the DivX codec in the file header. Of course, since DivX files are in fact mpeg-4, one can just change the codec shown in the file header (to Xvid, for example) without needing to completely re-encode the file. I can take any one of my DivX files and change the codec it reports to Xvid, and my Samsung BD player will play it just fine.

So if your recorder is creating mpeg-4 files with the extension MP4, you could use AVIdemux (I suggest version 2.5.6, as they completely retooled it in version 2.6) and choose Copy Video, Copy Audio, and just change the output format to AVI, and it will only take a few seconds to save the new file, rather than having to completely re-encode it. You may also need to use AVI FourCC Code Changer and change the codec in the resulting AVI file to DX50 (the FourCC designator for DivX) if your player still doesn't recognize them as playable files.