Improve quality of avi to mpeg video

[serum79]

I downloaded a movie in avi format and it looks great on my computer.
I convert it to mpg using TMPGEnc in order to get it on a dvd.
Every time I perform a conversion and burn a dvd, no matter what the video, it always looks like garbage...
The video looks grainy/pixelated or kind of smeared
Is there anyway to increase the quality of the video to the point where I wouldn't be able to tell that I am watching something I got off of the internet or at least have the movie look crisp, clean, and clear?

[freebird73717]

All depends on the avi file's settings and the settings you are using to encode. Give us more info. Without knowing what you have and what you are trying to do all i can suggest is that you could try some noise filters like convolution3d using avisynth. Fulci Lives wrote a great guide for that. It sounds like you are not using a high enough bitrate.

[serum79]

using gspot here is avi info
codec: xvid
runtime: 2:13:50
aspect ratio: 640x288 (2.22:1) [=20:9]
bitrate: 1259 kb/s
FPS: 23.976
Qf: 0.285 bits/pixel
Audio: ac3 192 kb/s (96/ch, stereo) CBR 48000 Hz

I extract the ac3 audio using VirtualDubMod

Here are the settings I am using in TMPGEnc

VIDEO TAB
Stream Type is mpeg-2 video
Size is 720x480
Aspect Ratio is 16:9 Display
Frame Rate is 23.976 fps (29.97 internally)
Rate control mode is 2-pass VBR
{
RATE CONTROL SETTING BUTTON
Average bitrate is 4361
(I got 4361 using the avi and audio info with the bitrate calculator on this site)
Max bitrate is 9500
Min bitrate is 2000
Max pass is 2 pass
Enable padding is checked
P picture spoilage is 0
B Picture spoilage is 20
}
Profile and level is main profile and main level (MP@ML)
Video Format is NTSC
Encode mode is 3:2 pulldown when playback
YUV Format is 4:2:0
DC component precision is 10 bits
Motion search precision is normal

ADVANCED TAB
Video source type is non-interlace (progressive)
Field order is top field first (field A)
Source aspect ratio is 16:9 display
video arrange method is center (keep aspect ratio)
nothing is checked in boxes

GOP STRUCTURE TAB
Number of I picture is 1
Number of P picture is 4
Number of B picture is 2
Output interval of sequence header is 1
Detect scene change is checked

QUANTIZE MATRIX TAB
Mpeg standard is selected

SYSTEM TAB
Stream Type is MPEG-2 program (VBR)

[reboot]

Are you watching this on a true widescreen 16:9 TV?
If not, change the video tab to read 4:3
Change the bitrate to 8500 max, 4360 avg, and 4300 min, or you could even try CBR 4360, or CQ-VBR, Q90, bitrate 4360.
Your max bitrate could cause the player to choke if it's too high.
Try using the ghost, noise, and sharpen filters, although this will add to the encoding time a lot.

[serum79]

my tv is not true wide screen
i will give your advice a shot..thanks
if anyone else has any possible ideas I am open to them...thanks in advance

[freebird73717]

Try re-encoding at 352 x 480. Also try using convolution3d with avisynth.

[freebird73717]

By the way...kudos to you for posting all the relevant info.

[andie41]

I am a beginner with xvid/divx. When I looked at these formats previously, I thought the quality was terrible. Recently, a friend asked me to have a look at a video of a television show he had recorded to xvid.

I was extremely surprised at the quality, but wanted to look at the video on my TV. I tried demuxing audio/video, converting with TMPGenc - 3 hours later, I had very mediocre video and difficulty synching the audio. I looked for a better way.

I read about vso divxtodvd and I certainly read numerous posts about problems, but decided to try - with considerable skepticism. Approximately 20 minutes later, I had a DVD ready video, and it looked good... on the computer, so I burned to a DVD RW - played perfectly and looked just as it did on the computer.. I tried a few more conversions and they were all excellent. I don't know how this program could convert so quickly and with such good results, but it would be worth a try.

[serum79]

great...thanks so much for the advice everyone
it may take me a day or two, but i will try all ideas and post the results of each

[clairew]

DivxToDVD will soon be out (probably by the end of summer) with a new version allowing for subtitles, new preview mode, a new interface, a built-in burning engine, and more options!

[kicko]

a nice avi merging interface would be grand. you can convert 2 files at once but it makes them 2 different movies, some players will just jump to the second part but others stop playing and you would have to access 2nd part from the dvd menu. i usuallt merge now in virtualdub