Straght Answers Please

[shion]

Hi I have been asking this question a lot of times but it is still not working (thanx for the help enchanter)
I d/l this anime that has absoloutely nothing wrong with it
( no squares at all)
and it is only 50Mb
does anybody out there know how
2 get that kind of qulity with that size?

[Ndb]

Anime is very low frame rate and has hardly anything moving, so can compress like no other. You could encode an anime at 9/10 frames a second and most would not notice the difference.

The lower the frame rate the smaller the file, plus the low amount of real moving also lets you use very low bitrates.

You see video compression works by only compressing the bits that change between frames. Anime does a lot of still images with minor movment with just a load of music effects to give a feel of intense action.

Also as most anime uses very little shading like most cartoons it also makes it easier to compress. i.e. less details to worry about.

[Enchanter]

I don't know which anime you're referring to, but the current generations of anime have a wide selection of types, ranging from the action ones to the drama type. :)

For the drama type (eg. To Heart), you can make do with a lower bitrate as it has few action scenes that require high bitrate. Opposed to that, action types (eg. Slayers, Angelic Layer, etc.) have many high-motion scenes that can easily challenge a VBR of 1000.

Add to that the fact that the lines at the edges of the characters are solid black, which makes the movie all the more difficult to compress.

To Shion, has your problem been answered so far? :)

[Ndb]

I'll have a go later with some old crap I originally bought for my sisters kid. Only it had non stop shagging in it, so that was a no no. It's 110mins long called Adventure Duo.

I'll see how small I can get it, worth a laff :)

[Enchanter]

Is that an anime or cartoon? There's a difference between those two terms. :)

[Ndb]

Well it looks Anime, Doe eyes (i.e. everybody looks like Misty and Ash :) ), in japanese with english sub's, everybosy wants to shag each other or at least rip their clothes at every possible chance they get. Plus of course an out of this world storyline like AKIRA and all that.

It's made by Kiseki Films from the creators of UROTSUKIDOJI (Overfriend). You tell me :)

[Enchanter]

That should be anime alright. :) Pity I don't have the bandwith to get every anime titles out there...

[Ndb]

I upgraded to 1mb/s (from 512k) yesterday, but still don't download rip's. It's on on DVD, I still aint ripped it yet though to damed lazy :P at the mo.

[Ndb]

Here Enchanter explain this one>

I got a clean machine (i.e. format, OS etc, but no DivX codecs or app installed). Then I installed std DivX 4.12 (no Playa) and nought else.

Well I went over to www.divx.com and thought I'd take a look at the xXx trailer. I downloaded it and played it without fail, but on closer looking it states DivX 5 required and on further reading it supposed to use all the special DivX new stuff.

So why can I play it with just Vanilla 4.12 with no other codecs installed?? Xfiles springs to mind :)

[Enchanter]

I'd guess that the DivX5 is an upgraded version of DivX4, with even more built-in encoding options. Hence, a DivX5-encoded file is playable by a machine with 4.12 installed because the both codecs have the same 'software engineering'. And are you sure that the downloaded file uses all those shiny new features? :)

p.s. I've decided not to use 5.x as of now, yet, until all the bugs have been weeded out. One of them is the irritating unauthorised 3.11 movie playback takeover. Hence, I can't say much about it. :)

[Ndb]

"And are you sure that the downloaded file uses all those shiny new features?"

Well that's what their "oh look Sony is using our codec" write up states: http://www.divx.com/announcements.php?view=announcement&id=15

I'm with you on the 5 front.

[Enchanter]

After all, I don't see much reason for me to abandon 3.11 (Still trust it more due to its popularity, which must have a reason for its being) and nandub. :) Quality is an important issue for me. Legitimacy and built-in feature are of no importance, the latter easily made up for by most Virtualdub/Nandub filters.

[Ndb]

Yep I must admit the amount of decent filters for V-Dub is pretty good and FREE :)

V-Dub has saved my bacon many a time, can't say the same for Nandub except for maybe muxing MP3's but I only use wave's and Nandub is getting a bit long in the tooth.

[shion]

Ah Ndb i dont think you have been watching now day real animes
except for animes for like primary school people (eg . pokemon)
Enchanter i encode with VBR 900 kb but the sixe it still around 600Mb for four episodes
can you go step by step and help me please?

[Enchanter]

You could tell vdub/nandub to encode a pre-specified range by using the Mark In/Out feature. That way, you can focus on one episode and keep working on it until you get the desired result. After that, you move on to the next episodes. :) That will save you a considerable amount of time, compared to the way you're doing it now, where a single mistake in the encoding (and hence a filesize deviation) will force you to redo the whole thing.

By the way, a 600MB size for 4 episodes is small (Are you planning to have it bigger or smaller actually?). I usually set a target of 175MB per episode so that I can fit 4 episodes on a 700MB CD (or 162MB for a 650MB CD). Generally, a bitrate of 1000 will do. However, episodes with a lot of scenes in the dark or night (Vision of Escaflowne and Ayashi no Ceres, for example) will need to be assigned higher bitrate values (1100-1300), as otherwise the final filesize will tend to be smaller.

[shion]

I have done vision of escaflowne
I made it 80Mb an episode and I had macroblocks around hairs
but it wasnt bad atll
I am trying to get the 50-70Mb and episode size (the one that i have been talking about )
I am trying to get that size with
martian successor nadeisco ( I loved this in primary)
The problem is that when I use Flask
the subtitles are somehow white not yellow which they are suppose to be
so are very hard to see
So I have to reencode with virtual dub using vobsub
the problem is when i do that
the quality is degraded
help me please

[Enchanter]

For that filesize, you will need to lower the movie resolution to the lowly 320x240 (which really is still too big, but noone really wants to go below this resolution). Bilinear would come in handy too.

The VoE episodes that I did have a filesize averaging around 175MB and a resolution of 640x480. Nice indeed, but I can't help noticing that the colour is a bit more washed out compared to smaller resolution episode at the same filesize. I think you're aware of that too, aren't you? :)

As for the subtitles, I've always been happy enough with what comes out (Yellow usually). There's a setting within vobsub thaht allows you to alter the colour. Play around with them.

[shion]

no no I meant when i put the subtitle up in flask it goes white
what i was trying to ask you is that
If i use 2 pass with flask and then go over it again with
virtual dub and vobsub adding the subtitle
wont that be pointless?

[Enchanter]

That would mean reencoding the AVI file, isn't it? That would be a pointless waste of time and quality. You may even try framserving with Flask, but my experience with that is not one I'm pleased to describe. It's very awkward to use, to say the least.

Have a read at the frameserving and any 2-pass encoding guides. After that, you can use vobsub and encode to your heart's contents using vdub/nandub. Nothing beats that.

[shion]

So I should just basically
Learn more about div-x since i have been the most simple and basic stuuf with the codec
and then use nan dub
and experiment like hell
until iget good configs

[Enchanter]

Exactly.

Or you could also learn to use the DivX4.x/5 first, as these codecs are much simpler in options and more fool-proof than 3.11. :) Nandub does not work with the afore-mentioned codecs and hence you will need to use Virtualdub for them. If you have decided that 3.11 movies have better image quality (like I and a few others here), it would be time, then, to learn how to use Nandub. :) It's not that far more difficult, only that it may scare beginners.

[shion]

I looked at the guides and have d/l nandub
and i luv it already
i hate softwares which just have a huge button saying
encode or make div-x or something like that
yeah i agree
my older movies that i have made are better than the new ones i have made with 4 or 5
it is more sharper

[Enchanter]

Or you can just take the plunge into Nandub straight away and use the default values as the starting point. Reading the guides will help you understand what each encoding option does.

Just remember that Nandub stores its bitrate graph in .stats files, as opposed to the .log files of the newer DivX versions. Also, to generate the .stats file, you use file -> first-pass. You'll find more info in the guides. :)

[shion]

Phew!
thanx for all the genrous help you have given me enchanter :)
I will try all of the stuff you have told me
I will tell you how i went
again thanx for all the help you have gave me
P.s if i have more probs i will trun 2 u

[Enchanter]

Pleasure to help, especially an anime fan too. :)

[Ndb]

<b>Shion</b> I would hardly call that Advenure Duo DVD (stated above) an anime for school kids. I used to like watching anime in the days of Akira, Ghost in the Shell etc, but these days it's all sad stuff for lonely old men who like to watch cartoon kids getting shagged by cartoon old men with some action scenes slotted in for good measure. Then again when I watched it it was called Manga, so maybe anime is different to Manga.

Still each to their own :)

[Enchanter]

Manga would be the comic version of anime. :)

[Ndb]

<:( My life is ruined I can never hold my head high at the national Pikachu convention again
:smashead:

[Enchanter]

Eh?