Good compression for MPEG2 video using VirtualDub-MPEG2

[Kid-A]

How do I make good compression for MPEG2 video (Digital TV) to avi using VirtualDub-MPEG2? I have following codecs: DivX5, ffdshow, XviD, Huffyuv and EA VP60/61.

1 hour video is around 2,2 GB and I want to encode it and get it down to around 350 MB. I know it's possible because I've seen some of the tv shows I've downloaded that looked amazing.
I can send short clip of those examples if that can help you tell me how the creators of those videos made those encodings.

Also, I downloaded x264 and I want to use it in VirtualDub-MPEG2. I double-clicked x264.exe but nothing happened, I think. And I can't see it in VIrtualDub's compression list. Am I doing something wrong?

[Krismen]

Also, I downloaded x264 and I want to use it in VirtualDub-MPEG2. I double-clicked x264.exe but nothing happened, I think. And I can't see it in VIrtualDub's compression list. Am I doing something wrong?
You have to use an old version of x264 (vfw) http://deaththesheep.uni.cc/

BTW, don't ask for best compression method (forum rules 12).

[foxyshadis]

If you don't have any idea what you're doing - not to insult you, you just seem very new at this - you should go with gordian knot or autoGK. Otherwise it's a fairly steep learning curve to get good quality video into a small space, and it requires a lot more than virtualdub alone can give you. (You'll need avisynth tools.)

[Kid-A]

If you don't have any idea what you're doing - not to insult you, you just seem very new at this - you should go with gordian knot or autoGK. Otherwise it's a fairly steep learning curve to get good quality video into a small space, and it requires a lot more than virtualdub alone can give you. (You'll need avisynth tools.)

That's ok. I know I don't know much. And I'm getting almost frustrated because I've invested a lot of time and effort into finding info about the answers I need - and nothing! How will I ever learn anything about getting the most out of Virtualdub if no one is sharing any of their info, experiances or tricks?
I did stumble upon a few guides but they're either too complicated or to general. And the funniest thing about this is, I believe, a lot of people want to achieve the same thing I'm trying to. But there's not info. People who know more then me tell me I have to play with Virtualdub's settings, try different things to get the results. Strange. If I had the knowledge about what kind of results I can get with this codec, these settings, those filters, encoding that kind of file into this kind of file - I'd share those and make quick guides for dummies. And if there are some settings and filters (I'm sure there are) which can do even more with the final result if you have time to play around with it - I'd tell people what they are.
Can anyone at least tell me where to look for something like that? I've searched a lot and haven't found anything really useful. Especially not on doom9, unfortunately.
Thanks. :thanks:

[foxyshadis]

Actually, MeGUI would probably be a better starting point than the GK family, since it has both a nearly AGK-like autoencode and a fairly smooth transition into customizing things as much as you want. The MeGUI wiki also contains a wealth of information on video encoding in general.

All of the information you want is available in abundance on this board, on the doom9 site, and scattered across the internet, but the problem is that a lot of it simply won't make much sense at all until you start experimenting. You'll learn a lot more from a lot of research and frustrating trials than asking us big general questions that have been answered in guides & threads, even if it's too much to take in at once.

If the huge number of guides on doom9 are useless, though, then I'm not sure what sort of thing would help you. They were put together specifically to help people get started and get familiar with different tools, like the large (and somewhat dated) virtualdub guide (http://www.doom9.org/virtualdub_procedures.htm).

[kevo777]

x264.exe is a command-line app. Double-clicking it will get you nowhere. VirtualDub uses VFW codecs; your x264.exe is not. Follow Krismen's link and get the VFW flavor. Install it. Launch VirtualDub. You should now have the x264 option under Compression. I use VirtualDubMOD so menu verbage is slightly different. Have fun.

[setarip_old]

@Kid-A

You might want to go "right to the horse's mouth" at:

http://virtualdub.org/

[Kid-A]

Thank you all. I will definitely try all of your advices.

[manono]

Use AutoGK until you've learned a lot more than you know at this point.

How do I make the best compression for MPEG2 video (Digital TV) to avi using VirtualDub-MPEG2?

The answer is you don't. None of those great encodes you saw used VDubMPEG-2 solely, but used AviSynth as the frameserver.

[snherbst]

@ Kid-A

As I see it you want a mpeg2 movie.
The tools the guys are talking about are primiary mpeg4 converters and not intended for mpeg2(I'm not that sure about this.)
For a one hour movie with audio 128kbs that will approx result in a video mpeg2 of 1400kbs. Not the best quality but wievable.
You should try to go for avisynth (http://avisynth.org/)(as mentioned) and quenc (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=110888)(mpeg2 converter) and Rejig (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66777)(I think you want to make a DVD author).
As you can see to author a dvd is a 3 step process.
1. load/grap the movie to your PC.
2. encode the movie(avisynth + quenc)
3. dvdauthor the movie.

PS I use dvdauthor "http://dvdauthor.sourceforge.net". commandline tool, but the best free tool.

----------------------------------------------
Seek forum.doom9.org and you shall find!

[manono]

@ Kid-A

As I see it you want a mpeg2 movie.
You see it wrong. The very first sentence in this thread was:
How do I make the best compression for MPEG2 video (Digital TV) to avi using VirtualDub-MPEG2?
And he goes on to talk about these great looking 350 MB TV shows he's downloaded, obviously AVIs.

[Kid-A]

That's right. I want to make AVIs. I'll take your advice, manono and try with AutoGK for a while. But I would like to get your advice on how to learn more about encoding by using AutoGK. It doesn't seem to have lots of options and those options that are there (Ctrl+F9) could use some explaining (maybe a guide). I know that I found some kind of guide about those opstions in AutoGK some time ago, but don't know where anymore. Thanks.

[Abond]

Once you get encoded a file with AutoGK, start GK and try to repeat it:p

[snherbst]

@manono
You got a point

But he should actually should have wroted:
How do I in a simpe way best convert a DVD/MPEG2 video to a AVI file ?

[manono]

That's right. I want to make AVIs. I'll take your advice, manono and try with AutoGK for a while. But I would like to get your advice on how to learn more about encoding by using AutoGK. It doesn't seem to have lots of options and those options that are there (Ctrl+F9) could use some explaining (maybe a guide). I know that I found some kind of guide about those opstions in AutoGK some time ago, but don't know where anymore. Thanks.

Hehe, that's right, there aren't a lot of options. That's so you can't mess anything up. :) It's for people that aren't very experienced at making AVIs. I've collected all the guides here:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=92089

And as Abond says, pay attention to such things as the log and the AviSynth script files it creates. After awhile you may be ready to graduate to Gordian Knot, or MeGUI, or encoding manually using VDubMod, where you'll have much more control over the settings.

In my opinion, the most important thing is decrypting the DVD properly. For most you can use DVD Decrypter in IFO Mode. IFO Mode isn't the default. File Mode is, so you'll have to change it. For many recent movies on DVD, many of which have ARccOS or RipGuard protection, you'll need the more advanced RipIt4Me in Movie Mode, or perhaps DVDFab Decrypter. Not decrypting correctly can often lead to audio synch problems. Other than that, AutoGK is very easy to use. Good luck, and come back if you have any problems.