xvid and anime..again, but slightly different

[torellyx]

Hi all! First I would like to thank everyone here for the many many MANY posts that have helped me a lot along my video encoding ways. Second, I apologize if a similar post exist; I have spent lots of time trying to search for information regarding my question. Now, my question (pardon me if the "history" leading to my issue is long, and I hope it is not a trivial one):
Task:
Converting an mkv file with srt subtitles to a avi file with ssa subtitles. All the files are anime (Ranma 1/2).
Background of my task:
I have been successful in doing the following:
-convert mkv to avi (virtualdubmod)
-convert srt to ssa (subresynch, maestroSBT)
-muxing everything together (have now combined it with the compression process). (virtualdub)
I want to emphasize I know how to do the above.
Issue:
I have been trying various XVID compression in order to "restore" the avi file I had initially (before I muxed video with anything). I checked my original avi file using gspot to see what the stats were (btw, the avi was encoded in xvid, hence I am using xvid to see if I can "recode" back). I compressed it via 4 or 5 ways at least, using methods I have seen posted on doom guides and from people using this forum. What I don't understand is that even though the stats of the original and compressed files are the same, they don't "look" the same. Bascially, the compressed one is not as crisp. I am wondering why that is so? Is there anyway I can reconvert back to the original avi while hard encoding the subtitles? Btw, I would say the original anime files have good quality. Time is not an issue when it comes to encoding - I look for quality.

Also, I noticed that posts that talk about xvid and anime tend to be ripped directly from the DVDs or targeted for that purpose. In my case it is not. Does this change anything in terms of the applicability of the xvid configuration settings?

You might wonder why I went all this way to get pretty much the same file content. The answer is because the subtitles in the original mkv were white and bearly readable. Also, I don't want softsubs.


Thanks very much for everyones' time and any suggestions are appreciated!!

[Teegedeck]

Have I understood correctly that you reencoded an mkv in order to get an avi? That's not neccessary, mkv and avi are just two different container formats. When you opened the mkv in VirtualDubMod you could have chosen 'direct stream copy' from the 'Video'-menue. Reencoding alsways means loosing quality, so you don't have to be suprised by the results.

Maybe I got you wrong?

[torellyx]

Hi!
Yes I know it's not "necessary", and yes I am fully aware of the direct stream process and saving as avi in virtualdubmod. That's what I used to do. But, as I said in the very end of my original post, the only reason why I am reencoding everything is because of the subtitles. Call me anal, but seriously, white subtitles are not meant to be read =(. And since I'm being extremely anal with not using softsubs, I need to code the ssa subs in to the avi file. The thing about mkv files is that you can only mux srt subs (correct me if I'm wrong and save me the trouble PLZ). Hence, the only way I could combine the subs and avi is use full processing, and to prevent the avi ending up to be 20GB, I had to compress it.
Thanks for your statement though, I wasn't sure about how reencoding affects quality.....hours wasted =(.....
I guess the only thing I can do is to continue playing with xvid settings then...

[Manao]

Do you know you can change subtitles' color in VSFilter ? Or that VSFilter reads ssa subs ( external to the avi ) ?

[bill_baroud]

(and internal to avi, mkv & ogm afaik)

you can even change the font if you've a prefered one :rolleyes:

[torellyx]

hey people, thanks for the replies!!! And no I did not know about this VSfilter, but I do believe this is an avisynth thing, which I also have problems with (I posted something in "avisynth usage" already). I'm guessing that VSfilter probably doesn't read srt files though....But that's ok, don't need anything that does that anyway.

Sorry folks that this is turning into a subtitle thread rather than my xvid compression issue.....I think if I can get avisynth to work, everything should work out ok because I will be able to process the video, and MAYBE fix the compressed video slightly. I'm just picky about quality like many of us.

Another question since I'm on the subject:
I was just wondering, if I wanted to process my anime files using the mftoon filter (still haven't tried this since avisynth is giving me mad errors, though suggestions are welcome) in avisynth 2.5.3, I should do it AFTER my compression and everything right? I was wondering if the file size increases?

Thanks!
Torellyx

[Assault]

Ok torellyx

I think you have to read very much in the New A/V container forum! VSfilter has nothing to do with avisynth but it is the filter that is used to decode your subtitle streams when you play them in a media player. In the past directvobsub did that but VSfilter is doing it for quite some time now. So you don't need to transcode anything but just choose another colour for your subs in VSfilter.
Furthermore you CAN mux ssa subs into mkv....even muxing the idx files vobsub creates works for some time now in matroska.

Assault

[torellyx]

Oh I see, my mistake..It's just I seem to see VSfilter going with avisynth more often. And yes I will read more once my finals are over =). So does VSfilter result in softsubs or hardsubs (for some reason I'm guessing soft...)? But as long as I don't need two programs running to watch a movie, I'm good (Ex: zoom+vobsub).

torellyx

[Manao]

So does VSfilter result in softsubs or hardsubs (for some reason I'm guessing soft...)You're right : subs are not included before compression on the picture, but after decoding.