CCE - 'quality' tab settings questions

[Kevin Henry]

Converting .avi DivX various to xSVCD or maybe CVD ...

Questions :
'Allocate more bits to the complex part'
When I set that to 15, I get PERFECT faces, hands etc but the one tone color walls behind the actor go blocky ... should I set it to 25 like the default? I thought lower would be better.

'Anti-noise filter'
How much of a difference does this make (see above)? Should I just turn it off if I have a decent .avi?

Also :
'zig-zag scan order'
When should I use this, and other settings? Does someone have a link to a 'CCE settings explained' type page?

Any help appreciated

[jkl]

'Allocate more bits to the complex part'
When I set that to 15, I get PERFECT faces, hands etc but the one tone color walls behind the actor go blocky ... should I set it to 25 like the default? I thought lower would be better.

i use 17; lower for anime, 2-7; higher for dark or nighttime type movies 20-25.you probally can solve this with a higher maximum bitrate

'Anti-noise filter'
How much of a difference does this make (see above)? Should I just turn it off if I have a decent .avi?

use 2 to 5, 0 if dvd rip- check link below for more on this

Also :
'zig-zag scan order'
When should I use this, and other settings? Does someone have a link to a 'CCE settings explained' type page?

always for zig zag; for other settingshere's a link-adjust the bitrate and size as appropriate for your needs
http://www.doom9.org/mpg/cce-advanced.htm-

[adam]

Only use zigzag scanning order if your source is progressive, in this case it is. For interlaced sources uncheck this.

The best explanation of all the settings in CCE is it's manual. You should have this in your CCE director, if you don't then get it from custom Technology's homepage.

[jkl]

adam, you are right about the zig zag. i forgot because "i" have never had a divx with interlaced frames.

[adam]

Yes all divx should be progressive since they are only meant for pc playback. If the only source you ever use is divx then always keep zigzagg scanning order checked.

[Kevin Henry]

so divx is always progressive frames? and you dont use the 'upper field first' setting then eh?

jkl - i'm making xSVCDs so FitCD gives me the average - and the min & max bitrate but they never change in value.

[adam]

Well divx are meant for pc playback and all monitors are progressive scan, so if you kept the source interlaced then it would look bad.

Also, at least as far as the divx files released on the internet, divx uses dvd as a source. Whether pal or ntsc the vast majority of dvds are stored progressively, so there would very few instances where a divx file would be interlaced anyways.

With a progressive source it makes no difference what your field order is set to, because you have no fields.

[banjazzer]

so there would very few instances where a divx file would be interlaced anyways.

Maybe even none?

[snowmoon]

Image quality:

It's an odd setting, but for the most part loweing it will reducing blocking during motion and reduces mosquito effect. Raising this value will as you have discovered improve gradiated parts of the image like faces and the like. Low bitrate encoding ( SVCD ) generally requires a less than 20 setting some of the common ones I've seen are 5, 10, and 17.

Noise Reduction:

It's a horozontal blur filter that all. It will help noise, but it will distroy fine detail if turned up too high. There are much better ways of getting rid of noise without killing detail. I personally would avoid this unless you just want a quicke bit reduction.

Zigzag / Alternate scanning order:

Generally I would leave this on it's default (alternate) unless you are using a non-stanadrd matrix. Scanning order and the matrix you choose are used in combination. Using a matrix designed for zigzag on alternate scanning will probably produce a worse output. CCE patcher have many diffrent matrixes many of which are designed for progressive/zigzag sources. I can go into more detail if necessary if you want to be albe to guess based on the matrix what scanning order is best.

Top field first:

If you are doing progressive this setting is totaly useless. It's used to describe field dominence for interlaced materal. It is very important when encoding interlaced materal that this be set properly or else you will get weird output that is kindof "jittery".

Progressive/(interlaced):

This just tells the encoder how to deal with >288 line sources. If it's set to progressive it treats the frame as one image. If it's unset ( interlaced ) it treats the image like 2 seperate progressive images ( odd lines, even lines ).

[banjazzer]

Low bitrate encoding ( SVCD ) generally requires a less than 20 setting some of the common ones I've seen are 5, 10, and 17.

Thankyou. Some useful information I will put to good use. 8)

[adam]

Snowman the CCE manual is pretty clear that alternate scan produces better quality with interlaced footage and zigzagg produces better quality with progressive footage. Sure if you throw custum Matricies into the mix this may change things but if your using a standard matrix I don't see any reason not to do what CCE suggests and switch this setting accordingly.

[snowmoon]

Adam:

Yes, the default matrix can be used wither with zigzag or alternate scan. I don't believe that either is necessarly "better" when using the deafaut matrix. But since most people are probably using the CCE patcher they need to be careful to use an appropriate scanning order based on the matrix they choose.

[BJ_M]

snowmoon
i dont think most people know about cce-patcher (now version 4.0) .. may part of the confusion .. maybe im wrong ..

[Kevin Henry]

I got the patcher from eDonkey - couldnt find a download site on the net.

What are good setting for that? It's a little complicated, setting the GOP, so I just leave it alone

[BJ_M]

look in the patcher readme file - the correct gop settings are listed .