How to get maximum video quality?

[RioCreations]

Hi everyone,

1) My source video file is: mpeg4, yuv420p, 320x240 (japanese animation).
2) I am using mencoder XviD (or is XviD ffmpeg better?).
3) I want to convert it to AVI XviD.
4) What video size is best to use to try and eliminate seing most of the pixels.
5) I am also trying to get a clear picture to see on a Full Screen 4:3 TV set without a fuzzy picture. Do I need to boost up the video size?

Suggestions are appreciated.

Rio.

[Case]

1) When you drop your source file on the From (or Open) field in ffmpegX, do press the Info button. What does it say right after VIDEO, in square brackets (the FourCC)?
2) It's close, but I like the mencoder results better, tho' that may be due to the decoder (mplayer vs ffmpeg), not the encoder.
3) Going from mpeg-4 part 2 to mpeg-4 part 2, you may not have to convert. Maybe changing the Fourcc to 'XVID' is enough to 'trick' your player into compatibility. Sorry, I don't know which up-to-date Mac software will allow you to do this. DivX Tool (2003) behaves badly on my 10.4 and only worked with mp3 audio AVIs. A Hex Editor would work, of course.
4) Stay with the source size to avoid resizing artifacts, unless you have good reasons to scale.
5) Your source file has 240 pixels height; your tv has (likely) 480 scan lines from top to bottom. There is no avoiding a somewhat fuzzy picture, because of the 200% scaling. Maybe your XVID capable DVD player has a better scaler than the conversion software, but maybe not; you'd have to test that. Likely the small difference is not worth the extra trouble (encoding time) of software scaling.

[RioCreations]

Hi Case,

And thanks for replying to my questions. You offer well detailed explanations.
In the Info section I see [DX50].

I tried installing ffmpegX 0.0.9x r2 weeks ago but it would not recognize any of the .avi .ogm or .mkv containers. The word UNRECOGNIZED would be written in the Source Format Summary section. It would indicate No video and no audio files.

I then tried several versions of the software but nothing worked until I tried ffmpegX 0.0.9u by opening it from its .dmg from on my desktop...Weird! It does ask me to locate mpeg2enc.intel everytime though (kind of anoying but it works).

At least, by running this old version from my desktop, it recognizes .avi .ogm and .mkv files as MOV containers and I'm able to convert them into AVI XviD. This is the only format that my QT will play without the extra components out on the web and QT files are compatible with iDVD. That's why I convert my video files into AVI XviDs. Then I import them into iDVD 6.0.3 where I assemble multiple episodes onto one DVD disc and chop each episode into chapters. It permits me fill up a DVD with more than one episode and to view them on a standalone DVD player.

Now I'm just trying to figure out how to get the best picture quality and I'm confused between the multiple Scaling methosd found in the Options Tab (fast bilinear, bilinear, bicubic, lanczos and bicubic spline). Can you PLEASE offer explanations on these scalling methods and if they really make a big difference for anime content? I'm kind of lost on that...

Any help is well appreciated and thank you again for your previous reply and info.

Rio.

[Case]

In the Info section I see [DX50].

...suggesting that it was encoded with DivX 5 or 6. You should really check if you can change the FourCC and trick iDVD into accepting your file without re-encoding, both for time and quality reasons.

This [XviD] is the only format that my QT will play without the extra components out on the web and QT files are compatible with iDVD.

Are you saying that installing the DivX decoder component doesn't help iDVD read DivX files? Or you don't want to?

Now I'm just trying to figure out how to get the best picture quality and I'm confused between the multiple Scaling methosd found in the Options Tab (fast bilinear, bilinear, bicubic, lanczos and bicubic spline). Can you PLEASE offer explanations on these scalling methods and if they really make a big difference for anime content? I'm kind of lost on that...

I actually tested the methods once, although that was downscaling, and not anime content.

[RioCreations]

Hi Case,

Wow! Ask and you shall receive! I am greatfull for your detailed response...
I'll check into the DivX matter since I never really ventured that way.

I will investigate the FourCC you mentioned since I don't know it's complete meaning yet and I'll see what I can do with that.

On another note, I had originally tried asking Apple technicians for help on the QT matter over the phone and why it can't read some of my encoded videos or why no sound was coming out of others but they could not (or would not help me). They couldn't even direct me into which component to look for...I got frusttrated with the whole missing QT component(s) situation and put it aside for the time being.

Then I tried the XviD format by remembering that I had some previous videos in that format and was able to view them. That's why I stuck with AVI XviD in ffmpegX and when I discovered that I could import the converted AVI XviD videos into iDVD6.0.3, I finally seemed to be getting somewhere.

But, if you're suggesting that I'll get better quality encoding with DivX, then I'll investigate that option further. I am simply trying to fit the most I can into each DVD disc and watch the result on an old standalone Panasonic DVD player which is hooked onto a standard 4:3 TV.

Also, thank you for your info on Scaling matter. You offered interesting reading material. I looked at the visual info too but it was too small for me to correctly see anything. I may have to test all that out myself as well but your data helped me understand it further.

Thanks again Case...you've been a great help thus far.

Rio.

[Case]

But, if you're suggesting that I'll get better quality encoding with DivX, then I'll investigate that option further.

I'm not suggesting that you'll get better quality by encoding with DivX. What I was trying to say was: each conversion will degrade the quality of the video somewhat. So, if you workflow can do with one conversion less, then you'll preserve some more quality. I'm not suggesting to encode with DivX, but only use the (free) DivX codec to decode (=read) those files that QuickTime can use a little help with.