Tempted to try XviD

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  • Enchanter
    Old member
    • Feb 2002
    • 5417
    #1

    Tempted to try XviD

    Alright, guys. I've not tried my hands on XviD encoding yet, but admittedly I'm really tempted to try it (and will as soon as the current encoding is finished). I'd like to know a few things before hand though. How does the quality of XviD compare generally to DivX (SBC or 5.02), and are there certain precautions or clues that I should look out for while preparing the encoding?

    The XviD version that I'll be using would be the one bundled with Tsunami 3.9.6. If there is any newer version, would somebody kindly guide me there? Thanks.

    Edit:
    Apparently, there are two binaries of XviD: Koepi's and Nic's. What are the main highlights between these two and which should I go with?
    Last edited by Enchanter; 13 Dec 2002, 11:20 PM.
    Tags: None
    • khp
      The Other
      • Nov 2001
      • 2161
      #2
      Koepi seems to update his build alot more often than nic, and I would suspect that nic is more conservative with his builds.

      For testing I'am in favor of koepi's build (if you are going to test something you might as well go for the bleeding edge).

      The latest version of Xvid does have some interesting features compared to divx, like multiple consecutive b-frames.
      Last edited by khp; 14 Dec 2002, 12:16 AM.
      Donate your idle CPU time for something usefull.
      http://folding.stanford.edu/

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        • Enchanter
          Old member
          • Feb 2002
          • 5417
          #3
          Sorry for the late response, khp. I finally did some testings with the codec and I can say I quite like what I'm seeing. I was using an older version from Koepi and I think I may be getting an improvement in quality by updating. However, it seems that there are yet two versions of Koepi builds, one stable and one unstable. What I'm thinking of is that Unstable is basically the latest version and Stable is one or more revisions behind Unstable. Am I right on that or could those two be completely different (ie. improvements mentioned in the Stable version do not apply to the Unstable version)? Thanks.

          Edit: Went with Koepi's Unstable version. I was able to successfully finish the 1st pass, but on the 2nd pass, Virtualdub would close itself a few minutes into the encoding. I tried redoing the second pass a few times, but the same trend continued. I guess it's time to one step back, which is the very XviD version that Tsunami 3.9.6 contains (and a Stable version). It's very unfortunate that I can't enable B-frames with this version.
          Last edited by Enchanter; 22 Dec 2002, 12:18 AM.

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            • khp
              The Other
              • Nov 2001
              • 2161
              #4
              Hey

              No need to apologize, we don't exactly work on any kind of schedule around here .

              Actually I think the primay difference between the stable/unstable release is the inclusion of B-frames support.

              Exactly how a stable release is selected I don't know, but I would expect the it has been used successfully by a resonable number of people, and all know serious bugs has been fixed.
              Last edited by khp; 22 Dec 2002, 06:36 AM.
              Donate your idle CPU time for something usefull.
              http://folding.stanford.edu/

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                • Enchanter
                  Old member
                  • Feb 2002
                  • 5417
                  #5
                  Update:
                  I'm learning to use the codec pretty well (and growing to like it day by day), but there are some settings that still confuse me. For example, what value should I put in for the Maximum B-frames (I believe this is what you are referring as the consecutive B-frames)?

                  And let's suppose I update my XviD build to a newer version and intend to reencode a given movie. Say, I've got a STATS file previously generated using the older codec version. Can I use that STATS file for the second pass on the movie (so I can skip doing the first pass), provided all other settings (decombing, resizing, subtitling, smoothing, etc.) are the same?

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                    • khp
                      The Other
                      • Nov 2001
                      • 2161
                      #6
                      Originally posted by Enchanter
                      For example, what value should I put in for the Maximum B-frames (I believe this is what you are referring as the consecutive B-frames)?
                      Yes, as I understand it setting it to 0 or lower will disable B-frames, setting it to 1 and enabling DX50 B-VOP compability, should make it compatiple with the divx5 decoder. Higher values can also be used, but values higher than 4 or 6 is probably not recommended.
                      Unfortunatly I have not successfully tested this myself.

                      Originally posted by Enchanter

                      And let's suppose I update my XviD build to a newer version and intend to reencode a given movie. Say, I've got a STATS file previously generated using the older codec version. Can I use that STATS file for the second pass on the movie (so I can skip doing the first pass), provided all other settings (decombing, resizing, subtitling, smoothing, etc.) are the same?
                      This will probably be OK most of the time, but I don't believe that we can fully trust, that the stat file format won't change at some point.
                      Last edited by khp; 25 Dec 2002, 12:55 AM.
                      Donate your idle CPU time for something usefull.
                      http://folding.stanford.edu/

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