Can someone teach me the 2- pass encoding process ?

[Enchanter]

I've not personally done any encodings with DivX5.0, but from the looks of it, it should work in a similar way to DivX4.

Try this guide for DivX4.0. It should get you started:

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

[techno]

You should REALLY stick to DIVX 3.11alpha and do a 2pass. It is simple when using Nandub to do this. Just follow the footsteps of the great UnCasMS and Enchanter

Techno

[IztokT]

What seatings you guys are using

I really don't know what setting you guys are using in DivX 4.12 through VirtualDub or DivX 3.11 through NanDub, but I never get as good quality as I saw on some recorded CD movies.

I tried 2-pass encoding with 4.12 and 3.11 DivX default settings, but even on 2CDs I don't get as sharp movie (playing full screan) as movie for 1CD downloaded from internet.

Do you use also any filters (I tried "smart smooth")?
Do you change settings for every movies individualy? This is not an option for me because I don't have time to spend 2 days just to figure out the best settings. There must be some good general settings to satisfied all king of movies.

OR THERE IS ANOTHER PROBLEM.
Maybe the difference comes from the source for encoding. How important is the DVD source? I have only tried to encode movies I have captured with my WinTV capture card with 384x288@25 PAL resolution using Morgan MPEG codec at 90% quality for realtime compression.

Thanks

[Enchanter]

How important is the DVD source?

I would say yes. Very much.

I had one set of series, which were very easily encoded at 640x480. Very crisp-looking image and hardly any macroblocks. Another set is simply a bitch to encode, as even at 512x384, I still get macroblocks. The filesize of each episode from both series were ensured to be as close to each other as possible.

[techno]

Enchanter, I have discovered something last night, to hard to believe but send me a private message. It may help you.

Techno

[tcb121]

Ok, here is my quick and simple guide for High Quality rips using the 2-pass Divx 4.12 codec. Here is the software you will need.

CladDVD - This is used to rip the DVD to the Hard Drive.
Flask 060 Preview Editon - Used to Encode the Movie
Flaskv6_preview1_1 - Needs to be installed in addition to Flask 06
Thunder DVD mism - Also needs to be installed in flask
Radium MP3 Codec - Used for audio compression
Divx 4.12 Codec - Used for Video compression
BS Player - Used to play back divx movies.
Divx 3&4 Bitrate Calculator - Used to help gauge bitrate to use.


First step.

Use CladDVD to rip the DVD to the hard drive. Be sure to rip all of the IFO and VOB files off of the DVD.

Now that you have all of the files you need on the Hard Drive, open up flask and click File --> Open

From the <files of type> choose the thunder ifo option, and then select the cooresponding ifo file for your movie. You will know if you have selected the proper one because of the length that will appear on the next screen that will popup. From here you should see the IFO file, and the language file highlighted in blue. If you would like you can also select subtitles at this point. Next, click on Flask this DVD.
Now another screen will popup and you will have options on the right.

Click on the Audio Player button. The movie "sound" will start playing, listen to make sure it is in the correct language. If you would like you can use the dynamic range compression to raise the volume level of the audio. I usually do this and move it to the middle somewhere to give my audio a boost. Keep everything else the same and select OK.

Now comes the fun part. Click on Configure button.

You will see a Video, Audio, Post processing, Files and General tabs.

On the Video tab, make sure the time base FPS is the same as the detected FPS of the movie. Detected FPS shows up on the main window with the "Audio player button, Configure button etc". For NTSC it is usually 23.976. Now if your from the United States, 99.99% of all DVD movies will be Progressive, so its a safe bet to select "reconstruct progressive images". Some movies will have an "interlaced intro screen, but the actual movie is progressive". The movie Men In Black is one such movie that will detect interlaced at the beginning, but in reality the movie is still progressive. So stick with progressive. Next, pick the IDCT that you will use. I use the MMX, but you can choose anyone that works best for you.

Audio Tab - Just leave it alone. You should see Decode Audio, and same as input.

Post Processing - I'm not going to go into great detail about this, but bacisally this window will allow you to resize and crop your video. I usually size my movies at 512 * 384 if they are 4:3... Anyway, you will figure out what works best for you. There are many guides on how to resize using flask.

Files - Here you will pick the directory and name of the movie you are about to create. C:\divx\movies\topgun.avi

General - just leave all of the defualts and click SAVE.

After clicking Save, click OK and it will take you back to the main screen.

Now hit the "Select Output" button, and make sure AVI is selected.
Next click on "Select Output" agian, and go to the configure output module.

From here you will see the Video and Audio codec buttons. Click on the Video. Choose the 4.12 Divx codec, and click configure.

Here is the easy part.
Under the Variable Bitrate part, choose 2-pass, first pass
Performance/Quality = Slowest
Output Video Bitstream at : If movie is under 100 Mins and you want to fit movie onto one CD, use:
850 = 100 min movie 1 CD
860 = 99 min movie 1 CD
870 = 98 min movie 1 cd
880 = 97 min movie 1 cd

You get the picture here...

Maximum Keyframe interval = leave at 300
Check on the Max CPU Usage = Optional
Default postprocessing level = just leave it alone it doesn't matter
Max Quantizer = 12
Min Quantizer = 2
Rate Control's = leave all set to defaults
Quality based encoding = only used if we were doing 1 pass, so don't worry about it.
For the log file, hit select and go to a directory where you want the movie to be. Then type in a generic name and click save. Example = C:\divx\movies\topgunlog.log
You don't have to give it the .log extension, it will do this on its own.
Keep the frame dropping set to 0% and then click ok.

Now select your audio codec. I use the MP3 at 128 Kbits, and select OK again.

Thats it. Now just OK all the way out to the main screen, and hit the FLASK IT button. In about 4 - 6 hours depending on your processor and length of the movie, you will have a log file and an unplayable AVI file. After this process is finished, exit out and reboot your PC.
After the reboot, open up flask and the same IFO file as before, and make sure all of your configurations are the same as they were when you did the first pass. Then select the Divx 4.12 codec again, and just click on the 2-pass, second pass this time and make sure all the rest of the settings have not changed. Also make sure that under the log, the correct log that you created is selected. Ok out, and set your audio Codec again. Ok the rest of the way out, and hit FLASK IT. This time it will tell you its about to overwrite a file, just say yes. In about 4 - 6 hours your movie will be done and ready to burn on one CD. I know this isn't very detialed, but I hope this helps point you in the right direction.

[techno]

Nice 1! But I still prefere DIVX 3.11alpha.

I would happily use DIVX 4 and 5 IF, and Only IF, the file size was smaller and the quality is better!

But, the guide u have done, greatly appreciated!



Techno

[tcb121]

Thanks

Thanks Techno. You guys on here are GREAT. I have learned a lot by reading your posts. I used the 3.11 one pass when it first came out and had pretty good results back then. Now with the two pass codecs and the nandub with the 3.11 two pass, quality has been AWESOME! I have tried just about every way to encode. I have used MPG2AVI, Flask, Virtual dub, Nandub two pass, XMPEG...etc.. I'm really impressed with the quality of divx. You guys who know all the settings for the Nandub method are GREAT. I'm more of a "simple works for me" kinda guy. I have been using Flask a lot recently and just found a comfort zone with it. My movies come out pretty good for the most part. I have had a few that I have had to do twice to get right, but not many. Keep up the GREAT work on helping people out on the boards, and I'll try to do my part and help when I can. I'm sure that I'll end up with a question or two along the way as well.

[techno]

Not a problem TCB121, we also learn something new everyday!


Take care

Techno

Let your future DIVX encoding be artifact free!!