Why not capture to DivX?

[Dan East]

The following capture guide (http://www.vcdhelp.com/divxcap.htm) states:
IMPORTANT: DON'T capture to DivX if you are planning to make a VCD or SVCD, capture to MJPEG or HUFFYUV instead.

I tried capturing to DivX, then encoding to VCD via TMPGEnc. I could see no obvious loss of quality. I wish to archive my media in higher quality DivX, but will create VCDs for playback in the car.

Is there a reason I should not encode to DivX then convert to VCD, or is this a throwback to an issue with an earlier version of DivX or TMPGEnc?

Thanks!

Dan East

[Macros746]

If you are happy with your results then there is no reason not to capture directly to Divx. But if you want the highest quality results then capturing to the most lossy codec and then encoding to a less lossy codec doesn't make sense. That is why they suggest capturing to Huffy or MJEG...because the better the source you start with the better the VCD/SVCD.

Macros

[Greg12]

DIVX is a highly destructive codec alot of data is thrown away.

MPEG is also a highly destructive codec.

I've had sucess getting around this by setting the mpeg bitrate high and using VBR

[kinneera]

Also keep in mind that Divx compression is very processor intensive - doing it in realtime can and likely will cause more frame drops, especially on slower systems.

[Dan East]

Then can you recommend an intermediate codec for encoding during the capture phase? Unfortunately I don't have enough HDD space to capture without one. My 500 mhz machine can encode to DivX on the fly without dropping frames (352x288 @ 29.97 FPS max). Otherwise I have been using the Indeo video 5.10 codec. I don't even know what format it encodes to, so it may not be as good a choice as DivX.

Thanks!

Dan East

[kinneera]

Only 12GB to work with makes it tough. Depending on length and quality of the video, Huffyuv or MJPEG might still work, such as if you are happy with 352x240/288 capture resolution.

That said, if you are not dropping frames with Divx, and you are happy with the results, it may not be worth the change unless you procure some extra hard drive space.