experts please evaluate my work

[chowder]

http://www.execpower.com/SVCD/

i'm new at this and need to make lots of holiday movies.
thanks.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: chowder on 2001-12-03 17:08:08 ]</font>

[chowder]

i wanted to bump this.

also, is there such a thing as "more compatible" brands of CD-R or CD-RW media with respect to stand alone DVD/VCD players?

[vhelp]

chowder,

First, at least you have STORAGE space!!

Anyways, from what I could see (on my 2nd, very slow pc) the quality
looked good to me from the SVCD clip, but 7sec is hardly enough, but
still looked good for the 7sec. I have a pretty bad and old video card
in this 2nd pc, so, I could be off.

I'll BURN both clips to cd (tomorrow) and play on my 13" tv. and let
you know what my opinion is. But, looks promising to me.

My eyes are as heavy as hell, so i'll see ya on tomorrow!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: vhelp on 2001-12-21 18:45:21 ]</font>

[KoalaBear]

I think the clips you made are about as good as you can expect from either format, given the properties of the source material. Camcorder footage is notoriously difficult to encode to [S]VCD because it requires a much higher average bitrate than these formats were designed to deliver.

First, people nearly always hold the camera in their hand versus mounting it on a tripod. Random variations in camera movement cause the MPEG encoder to spend most of its bits tracking motion of the frame rather than motion of the objects within it. Second, real-world backgrounds (like carpeting shot at close range) contain high frequency picture details that result in a harsher degree of block quantization, making edges of moving objects look smeared and aliased.

The only way to improve upon them is to substantially increase the bitrate. For example, you can try variations on X[S]VCD. A VCD-size picture looks very good at SVCD bitrates, but compatibility with standalone DVD players will be much more limited. Or you can try a format called miniDVD, which is DVD-coded data burned to CD-ROM. Precious few standalone players handle these discs, but the format supports combinations of resolution and bitrate that will give you the density you need.

And don't overlook the videocassette. VHS is a low-resolution analog format, true, but there are no compression artifacts and playback compatibility isn't an issue. Home video footage demands such a high average bitrate that VHS is actually very difficult to beat.

To sum up, your source video and your coding technique are both very good, but bitrate is where you're hamstrung. The closer you can get to DVD the better your results will be, but the footage you're working with is largely beyond [S]VCD capability.

[jasond]

Since I dont have the svcd/avi codecs installed at work, I was only able to check out the vcd, and the quality looks great

[chowder]

koala, your post was most enlightening.
my continuing thanks to all evaluators.

[Fred T. Cat]

Looks great

[vhelp]

chowder,

Ok, I finally burned to CD. And my opinion is, it was a good quality cap, for the
7 seconds it was worth, and at that closeup. And, smooth.

I couldn't get a complete D/L of the AVI file, got part of it and was corrupt, but
I didn't bother to try (burn) vcd file, since I don't really care for vcd anywas.

But, just keep doing what you are doing - no need to call us for any help, since
you seem to be doing just fine!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: vhelp on 2001-12-21 18:44:33 ]</font>

[Nelson37]

Looks Good, definitely use tripod, in TMPGenc I like 2pass VBR (2000-2400-2800 but variable) with Very High (slowest) motion capture , DC 10. For best quality, you must get CCE.
Am encoding amazingly similar video but do not have digital camera.
Also, I have found significant differences among brand CD's in DVD playback. Memorex Blacks excellent, Verbatim ValueLife crap. Gold disks supposed to be best but my burner wouldn't recognize PNY golds. Results may vary.