DivX Encoding Settings / Archiving

[Tribalman]

Dear user,

I'm having difficulty with the encoding settings in DivX 5.02 and thought I'd ask you for your help and expertise.

There are 2 main projects I have within the definition as follows:

1. I want to archive the 1 hour digital video tapes I have direct to CD.
2. To edit the contents of the tape (after copying to the HDD) and burn to a CD for later playback.

I'm using Adobe Premiere 6.0 to get the contents of the tape to the HDD. I also use this program to edit the 'movie' (home movies)
I've installed the DivX 5.02 codec and am stuck at this point.

The questions I have are as follows:

1. Encoding Bitrate - What bitrate should I keep above to assure the best visual quality?
2. Type of encoding - Should I use 2-pass encoding?
3. Other settings - Should I employ the use of any other settings when setting up the codec?
4. Audio (most important) - What audio codec should I use? (and where should I get it from?)
5. Bitrate Calculator - What is a good and easy to use bitrate calculator?
6. Deinterlace - Should I deinterlace the original file when encoding?

I'm using an avi file with straight out of the DV camera with PAL 25 FPS 720/576 res. Audio is 3200 hz 16 bit stereo.

Any help you could offer me would be greatly appreciated.

........ Looking forward to your reply/replies.

Thanks again,
Stephen

[UncasMS]

i'd save the adobe file to some sort of uncompressed avi (in case you have sufficient hdd-space)

this avi would then be my basis for conversion into an divx5 file using a 2 pass routine for decent quality using virtualdub

http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/virtualdub.html

a bitrate calc could be found here.

http://ecuador.ebodyform.com/pcdvd/dvdabc.htm

or take a look at AUTO DIVX5

http://autodivx.dnsalias.com/downloads.html