DVD Rebuilder

[werewolf_02]

Hi,

Im trying to learn how to use DVD Rebuilder properly for the best quality output.

Im using Cinema Craft Encoder 2.70.2.
Backing up menu and movie only.

What should these CCE settings be at?

VBR Bias
Qual Prec
VBR Passes

I've heard people using 9 VBR passes, this right?
If I up the VBR Passes, do I up the other settings as well?...

[jdobbs]

I'd recommend you use the default settings for almost all DVDs. Occasionally on hard-to-encode sources you may want to modify them... but that's rare.

Nine passes is way too many. You should choose two passes for typical 2 hour films and 3 passes for anything over about 2 hrs and 15 minutes. Anything greater than 3 passes is a waste of time. Cinemacraft themselves used to have a note in the manual that explained that anything greater than 4 showed no improvement at all -- but they removed it (I suspect for marketing reasons).

[fritzi93]

I agree completely. You might have a look here:

http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/dvd_rebuilder_tutorial_advanced.cfm

To summarize:

Quality Precision refers to flat part priority. A lower number allocates more bits to motion and fine detail. This comes at the expense of flat surfaces. Go too low and you'll get banding and other artifacting.

VBR Bias refers to how much latitude you allow the encoder to allocate bits. The higher the number, the more you lean towards CBR.

Others will disagree, but I'd leave the settings at default. Oh, and two passes is almost always enough. The encoder has already analyzed the file in the first pass and "knows" where to allow more or less bitrate. More than two passes gives exponentially smaller improvement.

[slimpickins]

i dont know about dvd-rb, comparing clips from dvd-rb to clips from 1clickcopy i HAVE noticed differences,s 1 clickcopy is totally watchable and the colors are very strong, althoughid say there is a tiny bit od scratchiness, dvd-rb was much more mellow with no scratchiness but the covers looked quit washed out, although in dark scenes dvd-rb was much better showing more detail, the film was star wars 3

ive seen on torrent sites that people are doing 5 passes and even 8, i think u might get maybe 10% difference in total from an 8 instead of 4, but thats only on big tv's, but also remeber folks, buying the wrong tv could give wore looking dvd's than any transcode would do

[CrayonEater]

I get great results with 4 passes and the default settings. I believe even 4 is a bit much, but if I leave a machine to run overnight then an extra pass or two do not matter.