DV -> DiVX questions, and general questions..

[Bantha]

Hi all!
I'm very new to encoding digital video to DiVX, so I have some questions regarding the process...

I've been filming a lot with a digital videocam lately. I'm in EU, so it says "PAL" on the camera. Now, I edit all my video in Vegas Video, and I'd like to retain as much quality as possible when outputting to divx. There are some of the settings that I only see in Vegas Video, and not the DiVX codec itself.
The current framesize I've chosen, is 512x384. Is this recommended?
How about a "pixel aspect ratio" of 1.000?
Interleave every 0.250 seconds, or interleave every frame?

And the codec itself. I use DiVX 5.0.2.. What do I set the "variable bitrate mode" to? Currently, it's set to "1-pass". (Encoding bitrate 814 kbps).

How about the "general parametres"?
Keyframe? It's set to "Max Keyframe interval: 300 frames". "Scene change threshold: 50%".

Source interlace? It's currently set to "all frames are progressive". "basic video deinterlace" is unchecked.

Now... Hope this isn't too confusing.. It is to me anyways..

Please point a newbie in the right direction...

Thanks for any replies!

Best regards,
Fredrik

[Mark Madness]

512x 384 is a good resolution as long as you know you CPU can handle it. It's usually a good idea to have resolutions with numbers divisible by 16. You mentioned you are using 1-pass encoding. That's good for now since you are a beginner but I suggest you read up on 2-pass encoding.