folio, You will find that you can lower your bitrate by another 200-300kbps once you are using 2-pass. This will alow you to fit a movie that is just over 2hrs on a single 700MB cd. Of course if the movie is shorter then raise the bitrate to take advantage of available space on the cd..! What version of DVDx are you using specifically? You referred to DVDx2 and I assume this means v2.0 and not v2.1. But I hate to assume as it makes a big difference here what version you are using. Also, dic had a point about the export color format (bottom left in Output Settings). It should be set to RGB24. Any other setting causes various problems. Here are the DivX v5.0.3 2-pass settings: -FIRST PASS- a. Bitrate Control Tab Variable Bitrate Mode: Multipass - 1st Pass Encoding Bitrate: 700kbps is a good starting point Write Log File: Yes Write MV File: Yes Do Not Prompt With Errors And Warnings: Yes b. General Parameters Tab Enable Crop: No Psychovisual Enhancements: No Max Keyframe Interval: Change from 300 to 30 Scene Change Threshold: Leave it at 50% Enable Resize: Yes - Bicubic (sharp) Output Width x Height: 640 x 480 Pre Processing Source: No Performance/Quality: Slowest Source Interlace: Encode as progressive Basic Video Deinterlace: No c. Manage Settings Tab Do nothing here. d. Choose Your Profile: Yes - Home Theater What is the frame rate of your video? 24fps Use Bidirectional Encoding: Yes -SECOND PASS- a. Bitrate Control Tab Change Multipass - 1st Pass to Multipass - Nth Pass Update Log File: Yes Read MV File: Yes b. Profiles Tab What is the frame rate of your video? 24fps (I know this is the same as the first pass setting here but you still have to set it.) EVERYTHING ELSE IS THE EXACT SAME AS THE FIRST PASS! If you follow these instructions and incorporate them into your encoding mojo then you will be well on your way. Let me know if this helped. If you're still having probs I can help more once I know which version of DVDx you're using.
hi Popweasel, thankd for the swift reply...Im using DVDX 2.2 and had no probs with it so far on first pass movies...I think ive sussed how it goes from first pass to second..i stupidly left the Profiles on...!! I tried a chapter as you said using mutiple first pass then multipass nth and it worked but i left the bitrate at 986kps for both passes ?? Have not tried a full movie yet...at 986kps...but as you say maybe 700 is better for two pass movies no??! all for now folio ps i think DVDX is a great user friendly program and would recommend it for all....!
Personally I recommend Vidomi. Much faster and less time consuming and produces superior video quality. Vidomi: http://www.vidomi.com/ Shoey
GKnot, too complicated. will test vidomi out later. so far, dvdx is userfriendly enough for me. wanna ask one more question, If I wanna do more than 2 pass, what should I do? because dvdx cannot open .avi.
There's a guide for Gordian Knot at doom9. Print the guide out as Gordian Knot is highly recommended for backup up dvd2divx. I like Vidomi and on occassion, use Gordian Knot for more advanced options (audio). GN guide: http://www.doom9.net/ Shoey
Shoey- Would you mind not plugging the software you happen to be using in the middle of an unrelated thread? It just adds unnecessary bulk to the page and makes it less organized for people to follow. Thanks. folio- Yes, you can actually get away with about 700kbs using DivX v5.0.3 on multipass with no detectable loss of quality from the dvd. This will allow you to fit a movie that is just over 2 hours onto one 700MB cd. If you have a movie that's shorter, like only 90 minutes long (i.e.: Deuce Bigalow) then you can raise the bitrate to 986kbs or whatever to take advantage of the extra space available on the cd. I am actually surprised that you are using v2.2. So you are using the DivX v5.0.3 codec and it is showing up ok in the list of available codecs in DVDx v2.2 on your computer then..? dic- You had a good question about DVDx not being able to open the .avi file for multipass. If you want to do more than 2 passes in DVDx to get the movie's file size to be your target size (i.e.: 3rd pass, 4th pass, etc..), then you will just open the same .ifo file as before. Set DVDx up just like before. The only things that will change are: 1) the bitrate in the DivX dialog (adjust higher or lower to meet your target file size), 2) don't forget to set the frame rate in the Profiles tab of the DivX dialog, and 3) in the Output Settings window of DVDx, you can uncheck the setting "Enable 2pass." This is usually what I do as the objective here is trying to narrow in on the correct bitrate to use for the movie's length-in-time in order to get the movie's file size to be just barely under 700MB so it can fit on the cd. If you have it set to do 2 passes at this point then you just have to wait twice as long to see if you chose the right bitrate value. Don't forget that for the 3rd pass, 4th pass, etc.., the DivX dialogue should be set to Multipass - Nth Pass. The only time it should be Multipass - 1st pass is the very first pass of the first encoding run. ALL subsequent passes after the very first pass should be Multipass - Nth pass. I can't stress this enough because you will never be able to watch a video right after it was encoded with Multipass - 1st pass. If you are going to use Multipass, then you have to finish with at least one pass set to Multipass - Nth Pass to be able to then watch the movie. It's no big deal, but it's something that you have to pay attention to. Note 1: If you do a 3rd pass, 4th pass, etc.., the file will be overwritten unless you move it or change the output file name in DVDx before encoding. I always just let it overwrite the file but I thought I'd mention it in case you didn't want the file to be overwritten for some reason. If you are wondering how DVDx/DivX is able to improve the quality of a video file (that it has just *overwritten*) during a multipass, then have a look at C:\divx.log (default DivX location) with Notepad. This is where DivX stores the information about your movie, i.e.: which scenes are high-motion scenes, etc. DivX also stores info in file c:\mvinfo.bin but I haven't been able to see what's in there ;-) Note 2: The reason each multipass improves the quality of the video (this is where those settings in the DivX dialog, bitrate control tab, bottom left, come into play) is because each pass updates the divx.log file to better narrow in on where motion occurs during the movie to better distribute the bitrate. Neat, huh! Note 3: This is why you only want to do one movie at a time. If you encode a movie using 2-pass and then decide to test just a chapter at a different bitrate, you will lose your "logs' advantage!" Same goes if you decide to take a break from encoding one movie and start on another - oops! (This will also happen if you ever use the Multipass - 1st Pass setting for any pass but the very first pass of a movie.) Keep in mind that the file size shown in Windows Explorer is in KB (kilobytes) which makes it look bigger than it is (by about 10-15MB when you get up around the 700MB size). To get the actual size of the file, you want it to be displayed in MB's (megabytes) so highlight the .avi file and look down at the status bar of Windows Explorer. Or, right click the .avi file and click on 'Properties' to see the size of the file in MB's. This will let you know if your output video will fit on your cd OR if you need to lower your bitrate (to make it fit) OR if you can raise your bitrate (to take advantage of available space on the cd) if so desired. Let me know if this helped. You can also copy & paste segments of this thread into your favorite word editor (Notepad, Wordpad, Word, etc.) to store on your local computer or even print onto paper to look at while you're "adjusting those settings.." You are all getting very close to being able to encode DVD's into a great quality .avi file that will fit on a single 700MB cd using this method. If you have any more questions, just ask...
oh, so what you mean that log file is the key file. alright. I'll give it a try. how many passes do you always do? I wanna make at most pass as I can, but Dela(senior member) said quality won't improve alot after 6 pass. 'cause i think i'll try first pass-8000kbps; 2nd, 7000 and so on until it reaches 1xxxkbps. sounds crazy eh?
dic, You must be a speed-reader to have read my last post and posted a reply so fast! Dela has a good point. Since each pass is narrowing in on where the motion occurs during a movie, you will get to a point where the log is "dialed-in" and can't be improved any more than it already is. If you can imagine running along a beach with a metal detector until you hear a "beep." But, because you were running, you passed the spot where the metal detector beeped. So you go back to the spot where you think it beeped. You do this a couple times, moving in smaller circles, until you are right on the spot where it beeped. Of course, all you find is an old beer can but you get my point! Hehe.. You asked how many passes I make and also raised the idea of starting at an astronomically high bitrate and working your way down after a few passes to narrow in on your target bitrate. This is an interesting question. First off, you'll notice that the highest bitrate available under the "Home Theater" Profile is 4,000Kbps (4Mbps). If you are using the "High Definition" Profile then you are allowed 8,000Kbps (8Mbps), however, this profile is only guaranteed to playback on High-Definition devices so it's better to stick with the "Home Theater" Profile settings with the bitrate limit of 4,000Kbps. Now, 4,000Kbps is still an astronomically high bitrate- quality will be peerless but you will need to either use lots of cd's or a lot of hard drive space to store the movie. When I first started using this multipass method, I would set my first and second passes at 1,000Kbps and work my way down in successive passes to my target file size. I noticed that when lowering the bitrate this way, it was allotting less bitrate to the codec than the logfile had recorded during the previous pass and seemed to not put out that great of quality in scenes with certain types of motion. I've since changed this part of my routine to starting at a low bitrate and working my way up. This way, it allots a higher bitrate than the logfile recorded during the previous pass and seems to raise the quality of the movie during all the scenes with certain types of motion. The types of motion I'm talking about here are types where the bitrate really has an effect, for example scenes where the whole screen is moving like in explosions/fire, or a dance floor where everyone is moving, also scenes that have subtle color changes such as fog, smoke, sky, flesh, etc. Nowadays I am encoding my movies in a minimum of 3 passes and hope to have my target file size by my 4th or 5th pass.
using msn messenger. that's y i noticed new message in a little shorter time. then i'll try your way. work the bitrate up in process. and make it a 5-6pass file. thx.
