GKnot praise and Questions

[offroad]

Just used Gknot, its the first time I have encoded both good video and audio thats in perfect sync. Have used flask (all versions), easy divx, and ripitall with very mixed results.

I need some help with Apect Ratio.
My test DVD shows widescreen on the case and plays with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen on either TV or PC using any software player.

Using the DivX4 guide for GKnot when I do my preview in DVD2AVI it shows: AR=4:3 FR=29.970 VT=FILM 98%
So I set up GKnot for 4:3 but still end up with a wide screen avi.

What I'm looking for is an easy way to crop off the sides during Gknot so I'll end up with an AVI that looks like a std broadcast on an NTSC TV.

Also the guide has me load the DVD2AVI project file I have created and select 23.976FPS even though it was detected as 29.970 during the preview while creating the project file.
Why is that? Just curious as it seems to work ok.

My current tests are using a 109min DVD, the video is good on a 1CD encode but I'm going to try a 2CD version to try and improve the quality. Is there a std. bit rate for optimum quality? (using DivX 4 in two pass mode)

TIA for any/all advice

[manono]

Hi-

So I set up GKnot for 4:3 but still end up with a wide screen avi.

4:3 is the AR of the DVD, and the movie itself is widescreen. It's fairly rare for a 4:3 DVD to be widescreen, but certainly not unheard of. I've seen plenty.

What I'm looking for is an easy way to crop off the sides during Gknot

Just tick Pixel and start increasing the Left-Right numbers. Then tick Smart Crop Left-Right to get correct AR. Fool around a bit till AR turns out around 1.333. I highly recommend that you NOT do this.

Also the guide has me load the DVD2AVI project file I have created...

If you created your .d2v with Force Film, then it will already be 23.976fps, and you shouldn't have to select anything in GKnot. If you made your .d2v without Force Film (keeping it at 29.97fps), and you then select 23.976fps in GKnot, you'll run into some serious problems.

Is there a std. bit rate for optimum quality?

Gknot gives you the correct bit rate based on final file size desired. Run the compressibility check first to see how many CDs to aim for with your chosen resolution, audio size, and quality.

[offroad]

manono:

Thanks for the reply.


Fool around a bit till AR turns out around 1.333. I highly recommend that you NOT do this.

I know I can just play the avi with something like Zoom Player and select 4:3 to get what I want, but I figured it would be better not to encode what I don't want to play.
What kind of problems will I run into If I change the AR as you indicated?


If you made your .d2v without Force Film (keeping it at 29.97fps), and you then select 23.976fps in GKnot, you'll run into some serious problems.

The .d2v was made with Force Film, so no I didn't have to select anything on fps when loading it. Was just curious why it didn't match what DVD2AVI detected?

Thanks again

[manono]

Hi offroad-

What kind of problems will I run into If I change the AR as you indicated?

It's easy enough to change it to the size you want. I just object to doing it on aesthetic grounds because you're chopping up a movie-changing it from the way it was meant to be seen.

Also, Full Screen movies encode to lower quality than Wide Screen movies for a given horizontal resolution and file size. For example, a 1.85:1 movie at 576x320 has 184,320 pixels/frame to encode, but if you change it to 1.33:1 at 576x432, then there are 248,832 pixels/frame and the quality will be roughly one third lower.

Was just curious why it didn't match what DVD2AVI detected?

I'm not sure I understand. When you load the vobs into DVD2AVI, they are, of course, 29.97fps, but when you select Forced Film, then while DVD2AVI is doing its thing, in that box on the right, it says 23.976fps, doesn't it? And when you load the .d2v into GKnot, then GKnot also shows it at 23.976fps.