question about divx converters

[sarmin]

i all i need a divx converter that can convert files to divx mobile profile. also i want to customize settings as much as possible so which converter to you recommend?

[Ajax_Undone]

Well if your just another Ipod funsy then Converter should be all the app you need it comes with Divx pro...

[sarmin]

i'm going to convert video to divx so that i can play it om my nokia 5700 mobile phone. so which converter gives me the best ability to convert with high qulaity?

[grizz]

i'm going to convert video to divx so that i can play it om my nokia 5700 mobile phone. so which converter gives me the best ability to convert with high qulaity?

go to divx.com, and get divx converter.

[Alfeuss]

You can also google "Dr. DivX" its free, and imports many formats

[sarmin]

thanks for the reply's is there any better converter then Divx converter and Dr.Divx?

[ilovejedd]

Since you're after compatibility, your best bet is DivX Converter or Dr. DivX. DivX Converter is free with the DivX Pro codec.

If you don't want to buy DivX Converter, you can also use VirtualDub and set compression to use the (free) DivX Community Codec. By default, I think it's set to the Home Theater Profile so you just need to change that to the Mobile Profile option.

[Ajax_Undone]

If you need help deciding on which to use they all work and have there own strong points...

Converter is the Quickest simplest way to convert to Divx...

[sarmin]

thank you for all the replies, i have some new questions

what is the diffrence between Community codec and Divx Pro?

also which converters uses Divx Pro?

and what resize filter should i use?(i am useing Dr.Divx at a moment and i have Divx Pro 6.8 and Divx converter).

here are the filters available:
DrFFMEG
Bilinear(very soft)
Bicubic (soft)
Bicubic (normal)
Bicubic (sharp)
Lanczos4
Lanczos4(fast)

[sarmin]

also i have noticed a big problem with dr.divx, the video almost always gets out of sync, is there any better converter then dr.divx that doesn't get the video out of sync?

[grizz]

I mostly use the converter... and if for some reason it does not work as I expect then I use the Dr DivX.

One difference between both is the way they decode the input.
Dr DivX uses ffmpeg, open source.

[weaver4]

Two other tools you might want to try are avi.net and autogk. But in my opinion the best tool ever for audio sync is an old program called Mpeg Mediator 1.5.

Most of the time audio sync problems are caused by using old tools on newer "screw up the disk techniques". Try ripping your DVDs using DVDFab Decrypter.

If all else fails you can use vlc player and have it stream the video to a mpg file and then use that as a source for DivX encoding.

Remember-follow the laws in your country.

[sarmin]

latlely i have found out the Vdub is best since it only takes 15min and doesn't have sync problems. the divx converter takes 31min but does anybody know if the divx converter uses one pass or 2 pass when converting. also which settings.

[keeperofdakeys]

hello
the divx converter is best called a toy
it puts video into divx without any hassles
Dr. DivX or the VFW interface through VirtualDub or similar allows you to access the advanced options

the community codec is the free version that you get after your trial runs out
it is purposefully slow and doesn't have many options

hope this helps
keeperofdakeys

[mgh]

also i have noticed a big problem with dr.divx, the video almost always gets out of sync, is there any better converter then dr.divx that doesn't get the video out of sync?

the video and audio go out of sync if there is some corruption in the original file.

[sarmin]

ok now here is my final question, which one of these settings gives the best video quality.

500 bitrate,multipass on balanced

500 bitrate,multipass(fast) on balanced

500 bitrate, 1 pass on extreme.

with no psy enhencement,no noise reduction,and h.263 quatization, 300 keyframes, bicubic(normal) rezise filter. also what should i set the max key frames and keyframe threshold?

they take almost the same time so i wonder which one will give the best video quality result and why?

[grizz]

multipass for sure.
then extreme mode will have a deeper algorithms than balanced and so it will take longer. The ratio is not proportional (it could take 20% longer, to get 3% better quality...)

But I would recommend an higher bitrate at least 780.

It's up to you which level of encoding you want or if it's about the time it takes.

Also it depends of the type of video.

If you cannot realy tell by watching it, you can test the quality of your results using some measurement like the PSNR or SSIM and see what you get.

[wfrantz]

sramin, I think I've seen you on the DivX Labs forums as well.

I use Dr. DivX a lot. I also use StreamClip (OSX) and VirtualDub (XP). A/V sync is often a problem but VirtualDub will allow you to adjust the offset and framerate to fix it. The real problem is finding the right combination of those parameters to fix the sync.

Beware of software that says it creates “DivX” files but is not actually certified by DivX or does not use the DivX encoder. There are lots of free converters out there, many based on FFMPEG, MENCODER, and/or XVID that do not use the fast, high-quality DivX encoder.

For Mobile, I always crop to 4:3 aspect ratio then scale to 320x240 (qVGA) and keep the video bitrate around 300 kbps. Lanczos is the best resize filter.

For all encodings, I take advantage of the optional enhancements offered by DivX Pro. That means, Multipass (fast first pass), Insane Quality, Experimental SSE4 Search, Enhanced Multithreading, Bidirectional coding, Auto Noise Reduction, Optimized Quantization, Shaping Psychovisual Enhancements and Enhanced I-Blocks.

Multi-pass does not provide better quality. It provides better control of the bitrate. For example, if you try 300 kbps with 1 pass, you might get 275 kbps or 325 kbps. With multipass, you will usually get within 2 kbps of your target rate.

If you don't care about rate, use the "1-pass quality based" setting. It's really the best and fastest method. You let the encoder choose the optimal bit-rate based on the content. I typically use a Quality setting between 3.5 and 5.0 depending on the content. Unfortunately, with this setting, you don't know what bitrate you'll end up with and you could easily get something your phone can't handle, so I don't use this setting for Mobile sized videos.

One final tip, always crop off any black borders that may appear around the original video. You waste lots of bitrate trying to encode a sharp black frame around your video. I cringe every time I see hard-coded frames.

I never mess with the max key frames and keyframe threshold. Theoretically you could optimize those settings based on your content. For example, if you have lots of video of a talking head, use a very high max key frame. If you have lots of panning or short, similar scenes, lower the max or the keyframe threshold. By default, you'll get a key frame at least every 3 seconds and I don't try to tweak it.

For more detail about what all these settings mean, see the Dr. DivX user guide posted at labs.divx.com. (I wrote it)

[grizz]

it is purposefully slow and doesn't have many options


What make you assert this statement?

There is nothing that makes the codec slower than it would be either in a pro or in a free version!

[grizz]

Multi-pass does not provide better quality. It provides better control of the bitrate. For example, if you try 300 kbps with 1 pass, you might get 275 kbps or 325 kbps. With multipass, you will usually get within 2 kbps of your target rate.


wfrantz,

when you use multi pass you get a better quality because you have a better distribution of the bits through the frames
So at equal average bitrate between the two videos, the video made using multi pass will have a better quality.
During the 1st pass (or 1pass only) the encoder could decide to put X bits in a frame, but at the second pass, the encoder is able to lower the bits spent unnecessarily and distribute the balance in other frames

[weaver4]

In one pass-Quality Based the algrothim does not even look at number of bits it is using it just targets the quality that you want for each and every frame. If it takes 100 bits or 10,000 bits, for a frame, it does not care; it is just going after the target quality that you set.

You can take a movie and encode it using constant quality then get a size (lets say 1G) then go back and encode a movie to be the same size with 2 pass and not see any quality differences at all (I have tried it many times).

The advantage of one-pass is that the codec is much better than you are at figuring out how may bits/second (filesize) are needed to make a good quality movie. Some two hour videos can be encoded with great results into 700M others need 2300M. A person is not capabile of figuring out what the best rate should be for a specific movie because there are so many parameters like: How much dark, how much action, how much grain/texture; how busy are the backgrounds; do the main characters were plaid. So you set a quality level and be done with it.

So use one-pass if you don't care about filesize and two-pass if you want to hit a particular size.

[buzzqw]

and.. the cli.exe included in latest dr.dix is again borked on avs input

it will autocrop the input and do arbitrary resize :(

i will love to include DivX support in AutoMKV! but i need a cli interface fuctional :o

BHH

[flambot]

Thx for your great explanations. I also I'm looking for a program to use to reduce the file size, but video quality is the most important aspect. I know very little about re-encoding, although I know a reasonable amount about DVD stuff. I have looked at many programs - some easy to use, others complex. The output quality also greatly varies. I've done a lot of output tests - all played back via XBMC. This is one criteria - that the format does play back easily with this device (I know some formats choke it because of it's slower H/Ware capability). In time, this will be overcome with the Linux port and the ability to use high-spec H/Ware, but I don't know how many of these formats work on Linux.

Currently, the best experience has been with TMPGEnc XPress 4. Output quality was very impressive for file size, easy to use and could do numerous formats. It is expensive though compared to other things. Whatever I go for eventually doesn't have to be free though.

The question is always what format to use? One needs to make sure what I use now can still be played years down the track. Using the avi container Vs the divx one is a good point. The 1 pass explanation was also great. I've read a lot a posts and guides and while I've made some progress I don't have the time to keep this up. A lot of the problems I've faced stem from getting the right Aspect ratio and knowing what settings are used for what quality. TX4 seemed excellent out of the box so to speak.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

[Ranguvar]

Format? DivX if you need ease-of-use, otherwise Xvid. Actually, try both.

As for encoding, I use VirtualDubMod or xvid_encraw (MeGUI).