XviD source - can I improve the quality ?

[beachnutty]

Newbie - be gentle !
Using VirtualDub to cut-out some unwanted video from an XviD .avi file. Understand that the new saved file will be in the same format as the XviD original (608x336 25fps). If I converted the new (or original) file to Lagarith would there be any improvement in video quality ?

[MilesAhead]

I don't see how storing in a different compression is going to get a result better than the source. If you want to improve the look of the video experiment with filters.

[admin]

Xvid is lossy compression, so quality has already been lost forever during the original encoding and moving to a lossless codec like Lagarith will only increase the file size, without any improvement in quality.

If you're using VirtualDub to cut out video, you can use the "direct stream copy" options under both the Video and Audio menus, and this should avoid re-encoding the Xvid file, and hence there should be no quality change after the edit.

[beachnutty]

Thanks. That's what I suspected.

[MilesAhead]

Thanks. That's what I suspected.

You'd be surprised what you can do with filters depending on the quality issue. I had a video with nasty jaggies every time the person moved horizontally, like walking. It was unwatchable. I put it through an AviSynth decomb filter. The output was still rough but I could sit through the video. Nearly eliminated the jaggies. But silk purse does not emanate from sow's ear.