video encoding

[rh71]

I've been encoding short video clips as a hobby for a little while now but was wondering if I was using optimum settings so I'd like to hear what you guys use...

Right now I'm primarily using the divx6 vid codec with lame mp3 audio codec. Usually for a 10-minute or so clip, I use between 900kbps and 980Kbps (1-pass) in VirtualDubMod. The Multi-pass doesn't seem to work for me for whatever reason... multi/1st pass produces no video, only audio and multi/nth pass just errors right away... but that's another issue... anyway, 10-min vid with the 1-pass @ 980kbps (320x240) gives me a ~70mb file. Would you consider this a decent ratio for the quality it produces ?

I see tv shows encoded to about 350mb for 43 mins of video so the above seems right.

Also, typically I do the divx encode first for my own collection and if I need to share it on the web, I compress even more by bringing into Windows Media Encoder (wmv)... at about 500Kbps but of course it looks and sounds like crap.

What are you guys using and how do you do your encodes in general ?

 

[Traire]

Take a test file and encode it multiple times each time using a lower bit rate until you get to the point where the quality is too low for your tastes.

Would you consider this a decent ratio for the quality it produces ?

Thats a subjective question, and one that cant be answered without being able to see the quality of the video. I encode PVR TV recordings using Gordian Knot (Xvid 1.1 with Virtual Dub) and use a similar bit rate, but with the resolution at 640x420. The resulting file size is about 170-200mb for 30 min. Quality is just fine for SD televisin.

 

[rh71]

thx, anymore personal opinions on how to encode best ?

 

[Traire]

Try Gordian Knott and see if you can get 2-pass encoding to work. You will get much better quality from it. Check out this guide: http://www.doom9.org/gknot-main5.htm