blocky AVI and left over images

[paulfoel]

Used DVDx to rip from DVD to AVI so that I could burn to DVD to watch using my DVD player (which supports DivX).

Only trouble is it seems very blocky especially the dark scenes. Also, in the dark, it seems to leave a shadow behind etc when someones head moves or something.

Any ideas ?

[setarip_old]

If you already have a decrypted copy of your original DVD now on your hard drive, try using MPEG Mediator (My personal favorite) to convert/compress to DivX-compressed .AVI...

[Awatef]

I may add that these artefacts are most probably due to a low bitrate.
I may suggest that you aim for a 1400MB rip. That way you preserve maximum quality, and as you're going to archive on DVD, this size won't be a problem, you can still put 3 movies in excellent quality on 1 DVD-R.
Also, I would like to draw your attention to the vital 2-pass encoding, which enhances quality dramatically compared to a regular 1-pass encode (not to be confused with quality based 1-pass).

[paulfoel]

I may add that these artefacts are most probably due to a low bitrate.
I may suggest that you aim for a 1400MB rip. That way you preserve maximum quality, and as you're going to archive on DVD, this size won't be a problem, you can still put 3 movies in excellent quality on 1 DVD-R.
Also, I would like to draw your attention to the vital 2-pass encoding, which enhances quality dramatically compared to a regular 1-pass encode (not to be confused with quality based 1-pass).

OK. I think the ones I did were 800Mb....

[[P]ako]

DivX produces blocky dark scenes, you may want to try to encode at Q2. The shadows could be ghosting, which is due to bad IVTC.

[Awatef]

@ paul
800MB will get you bad results, unless you meet some requirements.

The usual 700MB rip, that everybody is used to, requires distinct parameters to achieve good quality:
1) Movie shouldn't be longer than 1h40
2) Sound should be 128kbps or less
3) Picture has to be cropped & resized accordingly. Good resolutions are 640x352 for 16:9 and 704x304 for 2.35:1 movies
4) NTSC movies have to be processed correctly (Force Film or accurate IVTC), like Pako suggested

However, with 1400MB, you have the option of encoding at higher resolutions and including the original Dolby soundtrack without worrying too much about the quality, which will be excellent in most cases.

[paulfoel]

ako;1005904']DivX produces blocky dark scenes, you may want to try to encode at Q2. The shadows could be ghosting, which is due to bad IVTC.

Q2? IVTC?

[paulfoel]

@ paul
800MB will get you bad results, unless you meet some requirements.

The usual 700MB rip, that everybody is used to, requires distinct parameters to achieve good quality:
1) Movie shouldn't be longer than 1h40
2) Sound should be 128kbps or less
3) Picture has to be cropped & resized accordingly. Good resolutions are 640x352 for 16:9 and 704x304 for 2.35:1 movies
4) NTSC movies have to be processed correctly (Force Film or accurate IVTC), like Pako suggested

However, with 1400MB, you have the option of encoding at higher resolutions and including the original Dolby soundtrack without worrying too much about the quality, which will be excellent in most cases.

I did wonder that. I've seen a lot of 700Md AVIs that seem much better quality than what I've been able to produce...

Does sound take up much space then? Is 128kbps OK or is it noticeable?

Nearly all of my films would be PAL, so is that better?

[Awatef]

PAL is much easier to encode. Movies are almost always progressive, so you just have to make sure you crop & resize correctly. IVTC is only applied to interlaced NTSC movies.

Forget about the Q2 Pako was talking about, since you want your rips to be compatible with your standalone.

About the MP3 sound: Your typical 1h30 movie requires about 90MB if the sound is encoded in 128kbps. I will recommend you encode to ABR 128kbps instead of CBR to enhance quality (most standalones support VBR sound, so that shouldn't be a problem). More than 128kbps is definitely not recommended for 1-CD rips, you just don't have the space for it, and ABR 128kbps already sounds very good.
Less than 128kbps is also not recommended unless your TV-set speakers are not so good to begin with, in which case you may try 112kbps or even 96kbps.

A final note: a light temporal noise filter may help increasing quality noticeably (it makes it easier for DivX to encode ;))