Few 'easy' questions !

[Suzanne]

Hi there!

I am a complete beginner and I know nothing about DIVX except how to follow instructions in the guides!

I have managed to make a few divx's using Flask but the picture isn't perfect. I used the ffdshow Divx 3.11a codec with a bitrate of 700kbs.
I used the divx player to playback because it seems the best quality but also mplayer2 is good as well.

I really want to know how to make a perfect quality DIVX on 1 cd!!

Questions:

1. Does the kbs setting in the first encoding process decide the maximum quality possible? (i.e. once its done is that it?)

2. There seems to be only 1 setting for quality in the DIVX player so if I adjust the ffdshows configuration will it affect whats playing in the divx player, and why is there no menu for ffdshows settings in the divx player?

4. Why is my picture not perfect, is it from settings in flask and there's nothing any of the players can do?

5. Does anyone know the correct settings for flask? i.e bilinear , bicubic etc?

6. Should I adjust the frame size in Flask?

7. Will deinterlace video improve the picture?

8. The audio and video has been out of sync on the last few films i made in Flask, I know how to correct them in virtual dub but why does it happpen in the first place, and why only when I play it in the DIVX player not Mplayer2?

AAAAGGGHHHH!

I know there are lots of questions but I am sure they are easy ones for you!

I really appreciate any help.

Thanks

Suzanne

[benderman]

For max quality you should use nandub with DivX3.11 or VirtualDUB with DivX5.05.

1) a high kbps results in a bigger filesize. some videos look fine with a low kbps, other videos (with lots of action) need a high kbps for good quality. kbps should be the same at 1st and 2nd pass.

5) bicubic is better than bilinear, but it's a little slower

7) only if the source-video is interlaced

8) Flask may cause the problem. Sometimes a slow cpu or a bad-configured system causes "out-of-sync-audio".

[Qyd]

4. correct, quality is set in the encoding process; playback on different software players might make a difference on slower system though (mplayer2 and mplayer classic are the least resource hungry playres for windows)
5. always go for highest quality (allthough encoding time will be longer), that is HQ bicubic filtering in flask
6. Lowering the frame size can make the video play smoother (again, on slower systema) but resizing also means loss of quality (in most of the guides resizing is advised, but that's something I don't agree with...). However, when converting DVD to avi something you always want to do is cropping, that is eliminate the black bars.
8. Out of sync: again, on slower systems: don't use any codec involved in encoding (say divx5 and mpegLayer3) in anything else while flask works (like don't lpay mp3's in winamp while flask converts audio to mpegLayer3, or don't watch another divx5 movie during the encoding process)

[Suzanne]

Thank you both for your help it makes more sense now.

But you wrote;

"For max quality you should use nandub with DivX3.11 or VirtualDUB with DivX5.05"

So I shouln't do the encoding in flask? I tried using dvd2avi and saving as a .d2v file then opening it in a program called vfapi but i get an error message saying "file d:/videos/whatever.d2v is invalid".

Is there another program like VFAPI that might work or did I do something wrong in dvd2avi?

Thanks again

Suzanne

[benderman]

VFAPI consists of two parts. The Codec that you have to install and the reader that converts the d2v into a pseudo-avi-file that you can directly open in VirtualDUB/NanDUB.
Look at

http://nickyguides.digital-digest.com/DVD2AVI.htm

and follow it step by step.

[Suzanne]

I ran the .bat file first and I also saved the .d2v file in the same folder as the vobs but I keep getting an error saying the file is invalid. Are there any other programs like VFAPI?

Thank you for your help!

[Suzanne]

fixed that last problem by reinstalling dvd2avi and vfapi into the same folder and ticking vfapi in the help menu in dvd2avi and it works.

Thanks for all your help!