720p mkv to xvid. am I doing it right?

[theshmizan]

hey guys I'm kinda new to this encoding process and to video encoding in general.
so I am doing this convertion for a while now (x264 mkv to xvid avi), trying to get maximum result to play in my pioneer standalone player, but I still think there's stuff I don't know..
could you please correct me if I'm doing something wrong or if there's a better way to do..

I extract the AC3 audio and convert it to 384 Kbps (that's the audio quality I want) or if it's DTS I convert it with eac3to (Sonic filters installed for best decoding)
I create avisynth script like this:

DirectShowSource("Source.mkv", fps=SourceFPS)
Lanczos4Resize(NEW,RES)

New resolution is usually 720 width (max dvd resolution) and height according to AR. I have CoreAVC installed for optimal performance..

I open that with VdubMod, adding the newly created .ac3 file stream and go to video encoding settings, choosing xvid and configuring:
"profile @ level: advanced simple @ L5", going for 2pass encoding, calculating bitrate with calculator with maximum filesize of 4GB (DVD can't handle more)
VHQ mode: used 2 so far, didn't know I can change that, will use '4 - Wide Search' from now on.

the rest of the settings I didn't refer to are in default settings..

about the vdubmod filters - I usually don't use them. don't know which could enhance the video..
sometimes when I find the video to be too dark I use brightness a bit..

Am I doing it right? or is using the avisynth directshow to play mkv and encode to xvid is wrong?
are the XviD encoder settings the best they can be? which filters should I add?
I'm looking at BRRips and BDRips that I download and they are my goal (potentially even better cause I only limit the file size to 4GB)

thanks guys for any comments.

[grv575]

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech/amvappvdubmod.html

"Fast recompress - This is the option we will always use for compression. It takes the input video and send it to the Compressor without doing any conversion. As we will almost always use avisynth to process the video we can guarantee it is ready to be sent straight to the compressor.

Normal recompress - This converts the footage to RGB and then sends it to the compressor. Colorspace changes should always be avoided if possible - not recommended.

Full processing mode - This converts the footage to RGB, applies any internal VirtualDub-style filters and send the video to the compressor. Again any processing should be done in Avisynth for quality reasons, so this option will rarely be used if ever.
"

[grv575]

And btw, if audio is desynced (and GSpot shows a slightly different framerate) in the result avi then change to:
DirectShowSource("Source.mkv", fps=SourceFPS, convertfps=true)

http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/DirectShowSource

[jagabo]

Using DirectShowSource() to read MKV files isn't necessarily wrong. But it requires that you have a DirectShow MKV reader and splitter installed (Haali, for example), and the appropriate video decoder. As far as I know, there's no MkvSource() filter so DirectShowSource() is the easiest way to handle your MKV sources. It's possible to remux into a TS container, use DgAVCDec to build an Index, and DgAvcSource() in AviSynth. But that's a lot of extra steps if DirectShowSource() is working.

The latest versions of VirtualDub (not VirtualDubMod which hasn't been updated in quite a while) in Full Processing Mode will not convert to RGB if you don't add any filters. It will act just like Fast Recompress mode -- passing the source video to the compressor without any colorspace changes.

In Xvid, use the Adaptive Quantization option for best compression. I don't remember if it's enabled by default. In the Quality Presets area you can press the More button to access more controls. Set Motion Search Precision to "6 - Ultra High", and VHQ Mode to "4 - Wide Search". That will get you a little higher quality than the default General Purpose preset. It will take longer to encode though.

[theshmizan]

thanks for the comments guys.
I will now use 'fast recompress' in VDubMod, the problem with VirtualDub is that I can't add ac3 audio :P
about using DirectShowSource(), well I have haali and like I said CoreAVC for the best performance and decoding and it works so.. like you said no need in extra steps, I just wanted to know it's an "appropriate" way to encode to XviD from x264 MKV.

I'll go with the Adaptive Quantization option that you recommended, just hope it won't cut off things I DO see

arne't there any filters you recommend I should download and apply for a better end result?
thanks again!

[jagabo]

the problem with VirtualDub is that I can't add ac3 audio

Yes it can. I do it all the time. It's limited to one audio stream though. And occasionally I find it can't load an AC3 file that VirtualDubMod has no trouble with.

arne't there any filters you recommend I should download and apply for a better end result?

That would depend on the particular problems. DeBlocking, DeRinging, and other noise reduction filters; Some discs require more sophisticated inverse telecine procedures to eliminate field blending; etc.

[theshmizan]

well I had to find the ac3 input plugin so it will be able to even load ac3 audio, so yeah it works now!
and I got it too about the filters, there's no magic filter for all videos to make them look better.
thanks for everything guys! you helped a lot

[multiAVCHD]

You can do it much easier with mkv2avi application...


http://mkv2avi.deanbg.com/

[theshmizan]

yeah thing is I'm not looking for the easy way out
I want everything to be top notch, I want my XviD end result to be the at maximum quality.. and usually 1 click applications tend to do it a bit "slaggy"..
I will however check the application you referred me to. thanks!

[plantag]

hey guys.

i have a problem, too, with converting from mkv to xvid with vdubmod. i also prefer BRRip-BDRip, ad i'd like to make an avi with dvd size, that means, i' d like the video size about 4 GB to be. but never done. the bitrate must be about 4300 kbps, it depends on th frames, too, but at the end i get only 2 GB size... could anyone help me? i tried so many programs, but neither of them could make it..

regards
plantag

[multiAVCHD]

I'm using mkv2avi (which I programmed myself) and it creates quality output + fits the output size 100%.

[theshmizan]

an interesting thing though with encoding with VirtualDub or VDubMod is that sometimes I too get strange filesizes.. I always go for 4,000,000 bytes and sometimes end up with a bitrate that is totally different than the bitrate I specified on the 2nd Pass XviD calculator..
what's the reason for this?

and yeah mkv2avi is an awesome tool!

[plantag]

yes, i've tried out mkv2avi, which is very nice program, but the end size was 1 GB, only the video. now, i'm testing xvid4psp, and it's been making the 2nd pass for half a hour.. i've a notebook with amd 64 athlon vista 32bit.. maybe something is not good. other program like ogmcleaver doesn't work, as well.. the programs i have tried: vdubmod, super, megui, hdconverttox, mencoder, avc2avi, mkvmagic, automkv.. neither of them can make a size with ~4 GB..

[multiAVCHD]

So you're just going for the FILE SIZE?! If it is small it doesn't mean it is with bad quality. It depends on your source and the options applied to XviD encoder.

What is the audio of your file? If it is some weird AAC or something alike you may get no-audio... DTS, AC3, MP2 and MP3 should work okay in mkv2avi.

Try RipBot264 - it may help you.

[jagabo]

Some video just doesn't have enough noise, motion, and or detail to get a 90 minute movie up to 4GB with standard definition frame sizes and Xvid. If you want size for size sake, use Target Quantizer mode, a quantizer of 1, disable B frames, and use small GOPs. That's about the highest quality you'll ever get out of Xvid. Be aware that some set-top Divx/DVD players will choke on high bitrates.

[plantag]

the source file is: 5600 MB only the video and has ~6000 average bitrate. i'd like it to decrease to ~4 GB video, that means ~4300 average bitrate - by this movie: 1:53:27, frame rate: 23.976. the xvid4psp has made a video with 2 GB size, but the options were: size: 3880 MB, resize 1280x544 -> 720x304, no filter, bframes: 2, quality:6, vhqmode:3, imin, pmin, bmin:2 max:31, notrellis, nopacked, closed_gop, chroma_me

the audio doesn't matter. i'll mux it later to it, and the audio size is different by each movie, and i prefer dts to ac3. the dts size is about 700-800 MB, depends on the movie length..

i know, that a 2 GB movie size is also a good quality, but i'd like only one video on one disk and i'd like to use the space the best way on it, that means a minimal compression.

i can work with xvid_encraw and mencoder batch line, too. if anyone only can write a good script working, i would be very grateful.

[theshmizan]

I've just tried making a 4GB file with mkv2avi
specified size 4,000,000 KB and started proccess..
later on I saw in the log:
[08:23:49] Desired XviD size: Custom size (3714795KB)

and when the proccess finished:
[10:36:21] Final XviD file size: 1840796KB

I don't see why this happened..
same settings in VirtualDub gave me a 3.6 GB file (not the 4 GB I asked though)

[jagabo]

Turn off b frames and set imin, pmin, bmin to 1. That will allow Xvid to use more bitrate. But your video probably doesn't have enough detail, motion, and noise to get up to 4 GB with a frame that small.

[plantag]

jagabo, thanks for suggesting to decrease the imin, pmin and bmin.. i forgot to turn off bframes, but that's not a problem. my video size is as big as i wanted. i could have thought it, that this will solve the problem.. i left it always to standard.

thank you all.

[jagabo]

Be aware that many players many Divx/DVD players will choke on bitrates that high.