Conversion and reauthoring DVD

[src2206]

Hello friends
I am in a bit of dilemma, so please help me to decide.

I have some videos of about 2hrs 30mins durations encoded in DivX/XviD. I use ConvertXToDVD to convert these videos to DVD and I always use DVD 5 to author this file [as my Stand Alone DVD player does not support DL DVDs].

In ConvertXToDVD there is a option that makes the encoder to shrink the DVD to the target DVD format size, and also DVDShrink does that too. I know that a DVD 5 can contain at most 2hrs of DVD movie in proper quality. Therefore shrinking means loosing quality- but I am not sure how much quality loss will be there.

So what should I do:

Option 1. Use CX2D to fit to the size of target DVD.

Option 2. Use DVDShrink instead of CX2D to shrink- as I am not sure which one gives the better quality. CX2D is alowed to convert normally irrespective of the target size.

Option 3. Split the avi file [in DivX] in twoand use two DVDs instead of one.

I am concerened about the quality of the video, but I am not sure how much the video quality will suffer if I use CX2D to fit 2.5hrs movie in a DVD 5.

So please advise.

In case the third is the best option I would also like to know about a program best suited for splitting avi files.

Thank you.

[spanky123]

You're best option imo would be to use a good encoder like CCE or Procoder and just encode once to a filesize that'll just fit on one disc. Make sure you use multiple passes and VBR for best quality.

Of the options you listed though, I'd have to go with Option 1. Option 2 will suffer too much quality loss IMO - generally you wanna encode/transcode as little/few times possible.
Option 3 will definetly give you the best quality of your suggested options but probably not very convenient and a bit more time consuming.

As for splitting the video, there are lots of programs around. I use VirtualDubMod to split avi's. There are many other options if you wanna make a search in the tools section

[guns1inger]

A DVD5 can contain up to 7 hours plus - it all depends on the quality you want.

A couple of rules to remember

1. Always encode to the correct size on the first go. Every encode costs you quality.

2. Encoding is better than transcoding if done properly. DVD Shrink is a transcoder.

As much as I like ConvertXtoDVD, it is a soft encoder. The settings used tend give a soft output. This is fine for what it does, because frankly, most Divx/Xvid source material is not DVD quality (or even near DVD quality - and don't try to tell me yours is different, cos it ain't).

So I would using ConvertXtoDVD on the highest quality/slowest speed setting for the correct output size, and see how it looks.

If the quality is lower than you would like, you could try actually learning how it all works and follow John's excellent guide to Xvid -> DVD using free tools. It will take longer, but should give you better quality.

Finally, you could consider encoding at half-D1 resolution (which ConvertXtoDVD cannot do).

[src2206]

Thank you Spanky and guns1nger

Could any of you please tell me how can I use VDMod to split AVIs?

I would go for the encoding in the CX2DVD itself as advised. Though I would like to know that how can I add external audio channel in CX2DVD? I found that the original sound is down. I have used VirtualDub to amplify the sound and saved the amplified output as .wav so I need to use the original Video but the amplified audio as the input, but I can't seem to find out the process of doing so in CX2DVD. So could you please help?

Thank you again.

[Krispy Kritter]

Of course, the important question is the source and quality of the original files. If the original file is a 800mb avi, then all of the concern for quality irrelevant.

[spanky123]

Thank you Spanky and guns1nger

[b]Though I would like to know that how can I add external audio channel in CX2DVD?

Afaik, you can't. CX2DVD is pretty basic.

If you don't wanna get into using CCE (frameserving/avisynth which is a little harder), then I reckon you atleast use something like TMPGenc Xpress or Procoder. Much better quality and control than any of the automated apps. Especially in your case where you're trying to squeeze a lot of video into little space and are going to be using a pretty low bitrate, you'll benefit greatly by using a better encoder.

As for splitting avi's with vdub, there's probably an easier alternative, but anyways:
-Open the Video
-Make sure you've selected Video > Direct Stream Copy
-In the Vdub navigation/toolbar down the bottom, the 2 buttons on the right are for setting the start and end points for your cut. If you're not too fussed about splitting as close to exactly in half as possible, then just select the start point, then select the end point (somewhere round the middle of your video - 1 hour 15 minutes) and then go to File > Save As
*Because you're putting on 2 dvd's, you might wanna overlap a few seconds of video from each disc

That clear ?

[src2206]

"Especially in your case where you're trying to squeeze a lot of video into little space and are going to be using a pretty low bitrate, you'll benefit greatly by using a better encoder. "

Not really- I would be happy to split my Video into two, used the amplified sound track instead of the default one and use 2 DVD 5s instead of 1.

So I would be grateful to you if you could provide me an mundane tutorial on this. You are most welcome to PM me if you wish. Basically I am really a newbie in the world of DVD authoring and looking for a standardised procedure.

Thak you very much for your reply.

[spanky123]

I'm sure there'll be a guide that'll let you do this on here. Make a search
https://www.videohelp.com/guides

Probably not all in one guide, but maybe need a guide for each step
-Split the avi - roughly in half (use VirtualDubMod - pretty easy)
-Encode each half
-Author the dvd for each half/disc -
CX2D will encode and author automatically. I don't even reckon you need a guide at all. Once you've split the video it's pretty straight forward.

Btw, I had a 1.4GB XviD avi that was bout 2 hours 40 minutes long. I put it onto 1 dvd-5 using ConvertXtoDVD and the output was not far off the original - hardly noticable. If your original xvid avi isn't that gooder quality, then it's probably not even worth using a high bitrate and you might just wanna use one disc

[src2206]

Thank you so much Spanky
You have given me the guide yourself.
please tell me one more thing- do I have to use AVI format while saving the output, or there are other options in VirtualDub which will consumelesser space?
please understand that I have never used VD before but I am highly inclined to use it.
thank you again.

[spanky123]

do I have to use AVI format while saving the output, or there are other options in VirtualDub which will consumelesser space?

Vdub saves as avi. Just make sure you select 'direct stream copy' in the 'Video' Tab and you should be alright. This means that no re-encoding will be done and therefore there will be no quality loss in the video. It'll only take a minute or so at the most to save each half of the video to a new file.

Forget about consuming less space. You'd have to re-encode the file and compress it with some codec (eg. XviD/x264) again. That'd kill the quality, take a lot of time, and be of no real benefit at all. Why do you want to do that ? Forget about it. You want to encode as few times possible. As said earlier, every time you encode you're losing quality.

Clear ?
If yes, then Good Luck

[src2206]

Thank you Spanky

You have been of great help.

I'll try out the process and post the result here.

Basically the drive where I want to store the result is only 31GB in size.

[src2206]

Hello Spanky and all others who have been kind enough to extend their hands of help

Here what I did with a bit of improvisation of your guideline:

1. Opened the file [avi] in VDub
2. From Audio menu increased the volume by 500% [ie to the limit]
3. Now from Video chose "Direct Stream Copy"
4. From Audio chose "Full Processing Mode"
5. Saved it.

the result was wonderful, with much high and comfortable audio level and it also solved my other problem that is Space. The result took only around 2.4GB disc space as the video was not encoded- only the audio.

Then I have used CX2DVD to convert the AVI and built the DVD.

I have not got the time to lay the DVD from HDD folder yet and I hope to do it today night. U shall post the result here too.

Thank you.