How to get better quality with XviD?

[SnapCount]

Hi guys, im just wondering how to get better quality from rendering mpeg2 (DVD) files.

I've been converting TV shows here in Australia for a while using Gordian Knot and XviD, but now i have just bought a DVD player that can play DviX and have been enjoying watching the stuff I have made.

But the thing is, I'm starting to see like a graining effect with the files I've made, and I dont have a clue on how to remove the effect im getting. I got a feeling that it might be the matrix, Ive increased the file size for a 42min episode to 360mb. For a 22 Episode season 11 would fit on a single sided DVD. And ive been seeing that other people who encode with XviD only do around 340-50mb for the same episode.

With the screen shot below, if you zoom in, you'll see the problem. Its not that bad, but if there is a way to increase the quality without increasing the file size, it would be greatly appreciated

[photo_angel2004]

Hello,
You may find some help here:

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=66362

[anonymez]

a few things you could do:

-don't resize to such a low res (i'm assuming they're SD DVB captures, 544x304 is quite a step down from ABC's 576i). some standalones support AR signalling, in which case you might like to try your hand at anamorphic encoding and not resize at all

-search the forum or google, plenty of explantions of various xvid settings, there are presets/megui profiles available too. setting 2-3 bframes, max motion search & VHQ should be fine in most cases. up the bitrate if possible. you might like to post settings you're currently using.

-abc's SD content isn't great to begin with; artefacts are noticeable on larger displays. experiment with avisynth filtering for blocky sources, try something like deblock_qed

[SnapCount]

Ok these are the settings that im currently using:

[SnapCount]

I've been converting Jericho from Network 10 as well, changing between 576 and 544, and haven't really noticed any difference

[anonymez]

settings look good enough, but can be improved a little:

-increase VHQ mode

-set max keyframe interval to 250

-enable turbo for faster encoding, but very small quality drop

-as mentioned in my previous post, res is set too low

-use a better deinterlacer, tdeint for example. IIRC GK does allow you to edit your avisynth script but the option needs to be enabled under one of the tabs. if you're willing to try something new, take a look at MeGUI instead, GK is no longer being developed

[SnapCount]

Ok thx anonymez, Ill have a look at MeGUI.

Ill miss using gordian... you've been a good friend!

BTW I still very much suck at avisynth

I got a feeling that I'll be coming back for help soon!! lol

[SnapCount]

Well, just tried MeGUI and i must say the quality is an improvement. Weird thing was that It didn't want me to de-interlace the file... Anyway I haven't tried it on the TV yet because i got an issue with muxing the video and audio together. When i mux them the video is gone but i can hear the audio going..... its driving me mad trying to get it to work..

Anyway here's a shot of Jericho.... Much better quality than with Gordian Knot

GK


MeGUI

[anonymez]

Weird thing was that It didn't want me to de-interlace the file

i don't watch jericho, but i'm quite sure it's progressive. deinterlacing progressive content may result in some nasty artefacts and usually slower encoding.

Anyway I haven't tried it on the TV yet because i got an issue with muxing the video and audio together

ensure you're muxing to avi and your audio is mp3.

btw for the watermark you could either capture ten HD (but this will increse encoding times) or remove it with an avisynth logo removal filter. i can post the required bitmap and script if you're interested.

[SnapCount]

ensure you're muxing to avi and your audio is mp3.

btw for the watermark you could either capture ten HD (but this will increse encoding times) or remove it with an avisynth logo removal filter. i can post the required bitmap and script if you're interested.

Yep Im sure its muxing to avi and the audio is mp3. Im selecting Adaptive Muxer as it said in the wiki.
Did a test with the 10 promo and it did the same thing, when muxing audio but no video and the size of the muxed file drop from 6mb to 5mb... its suppose to get higher not lower..... this is freaking me out lol

btw with that logo removal filter.... will the removal be obvious when you playback the vid? Im not really fussed by it, but ill give it a go.

[anonymez]

try muxing manually with avi-mux GUI, ensure xvid settings used & resolution are supported by your standalone player

will the removal be obvious when you playback the vid?

fairly clean removal.

[anonymez]

keep in mind nobody can get "perfect" results with all sources, but it can be tweaked to near perfection

[SnapCount]

Holy buckets!!! you can hardly tell!! Im very interested now!!

[SnapCount]

try muxing manually with avi-mux GUI, ensure xvid settings used & resolution are supported by your standalone player.

Oh btw, manually using avi-muxGUI as you said did the trick

[anonymez]

there are basically 2 ways you can go about doing this. since networks fade their watermarks in and out after and before commercial breaks, there is a second or two when the watermark will show as a dark imprint as opposed to a bright one. you can compensate for that by using a ReplaceFramesSimple which will apply the filter only to frames within the ranges you specify.

you will need: the avisynth x-logo filter, avisynth remapframes plugin and the custom bitmap (attached).

if you don't mind having the watermark on screen for a few seconds before & after commercials, edit your script like:

mpeg2source("whatever.d2v")
Xlogo("C:\path\to\ten704_x_X_y_Y_0.bmp",524,456,[COLOR="Red"]255[/COLOR],b1=0,b2=0,b3=0,feather=2,[COLOR="Red"]white=255[/COLOR])
crop(x,x,x,x)
lanczosresize(x,x)

if you do mind (in the example the logo filter will be applied from frames 200-400 and 650-700):

mpeg2source("whatever.d2v")
ReplaceFramesSimple(Xlogo("C:\path\to\ten704_x_X_y_Y_0.bmp",524,456,[COLOR="Red"]255[/COLOR],b1=0,b2=0,b3=0,feather=4,[COLOR="Red"]white=255[/COLOR]), mappings="[200 400], [650 700]") 
crop(x,x,x,x)
lanczosresize(x,x)

there is documentation for x-logo floating around, but to tweak it to the source/your liking, you'll usually want to edit the numbers in red. IIRC alpha (transparency) and white level