Best Codecs

[ToiletDuck]

Hey guys I'm looking for divx's around 2 gigs. I play them on my 25" flatscreen tv. So here it is. What would you say the best codecs to use for cartoons are? I did the Emperor's New Groove and it came out ok, but is some of the darker areas it looks kinda blocky. Also I'm doing the mummy returns right now and it looks a little blocky also in the dark. So far I have just been using xvid. I was thinking of trying divx 4.11 low motion at about 2500kbps. If you have any info I'd appreciate it. thankx
TD

[benderman]

Don't use any DivX-codec with version 4.xx. You should use version 3.11a or 5.02pro. For cartoons you should always use 2-pass-encoding, lower the resolution and make the picture a little bit smoother. VirtualDUB/nandub would be the perfect tool for that and DivX 5.02pro gives you much more options than every other codec.

[spideys]

divx codecs 4.xx vs 5

may i ask what is the problem with divx 4.xx cause i'm currently using 4.12 2 pass encoding and if divx 5 is better i want to change
in what aspect is divx 5 better as in speed, result, file size, something?

thanks

[ToiletDuck]

Well as you can tell I am a newb and I don't know how to use nandub yet. i am going to read on it though. right now I am using vidomi. Any ideas on that program?

[ToiletDuck]

Ok I'm doing the movie Tombstone right now in viadomi with divx 5.02. Now it gave me two options. On the first one i selected 2pass-1st pass, then on second one i selected 2 pass - 2nd pass. Is that right? also I made the bitrate 2300 so it will look good on my tv.

[ToiletDuck]

what are psychovisual efects anyway and how much do i want?

[benderman]

DivX4.xx is simply not as good as 5.xx or 3.xx. It's a little slower, the quality is a little bit lower and it has some small bugs. Imho 3.11 seems to be a little better than 5.xx for cartoons, because 5.xx is even more optimized for real-video. To 3.11 with 2-pass you need nandub. It's a powerfull tool and u will find good guides all around the web.

[ToiletDuck]

I have read in a few places but not really found a strait answer on the 2 pass. Does it make better quality? From what I have read I have gathered that it just helps the video fit more closely to a certain size and bitrate. Does the imiage quality come out any better?

[khp]

2-pass encoding helps find the best bitrate distribution for the movie.

Lets take an example.

Lets say that we have a movie that generally compresses very well. In one pass mode, the divx codec does not know, that this will be the case. Because of this, it will give to few bits, to the beginning of the movie. Later in the movie the codec will figure out that the file will be undersized, and the code will compensate by giving more bits to the rest of the movie.
This means that the beginning of the movie will be encoded at a lower quality than the end of the movie.

With 2 pass encoding, the codec will find out how well the movie compresses, in the first pass, and because of this it can distribute the bits more fairly.

[ToiletDuck]

I am experimenting with using dvd2avi and I am wondering if I want AC3 audio. Can you help me out?

[spideys]

thank benderman i'll try it out

[khp]

Originally posted by ToiletDuck
I am experimenting with using dvd2avi and I am wondering if I want AC3 audio. Can you help me out?

If you are using GKnot just select the ac3 file you want in the audio 1 encoder tab and select just mux.

Otherwise use nandub, set video to direct stream copy, and select audio->ac3, and select the ac3 file you want.