DivX -> (S)VCD - Bitrate selection?

[pepsimaxx]

I have some DivX files I would like to convert into (S)VCD. Is there a rule of thumb as to what bitrate I should go for?

I mean I don't wanna use a bitrate of 2000 if the quality dosn't improve from a 1150Kbit encode because I can then fit more files onto the same CD.

How do I make a qualified decision on this issue.

The resolution of the files is 400x288 and has a run time of 22 minutes each (filesize is 140-160MB per file). I was thinking of putting three files on the same CD which would result in a 1475Kbit video bitrate and 128Kbit audio bitrate. Am I better of putting two files on the same CD with a 2200Kbit video bitrate and 128Kbit audio bitrate?

[gerti67]

Hi pepsimaxx,

you can't directly compare DivX bitrates with MPEG2 bitrates. DivX has many features that allow a lower bitrate to be used with the same visual quality a SVCD MPEG2 stream has with higher bitrates. (It's the same with MP3 audio and MP2 audio used with SVCD creation - I would say 128 kBit MP3 audio has the same quality a 192 kBit MP2 audio file has.)

The movie is completely re-encoded and the new bitrate setting is used with the source - it doesn't matter which bitrate the source used - the question is only how much bitrate the MPEG2 encoder is allowed to use with the source - for the encoder it's absolutely the same wether the picture it has to encode is a frame from a DVD or frame from a DivX video. (Only difference is with interlaced DVDs or with small DivX resoutions)

But in general you can't say use this or that bitrate with a DivX you have to try on your own - but I bet a bitrate of 1150 kBit to be used with the SVCD will give you a bad result.

Hope this helps,
Gerti

[pepsimaxx]

Thanks Gerti,

I'll be doing some trial and error this week with different bitrates to see if there's a noticeable difference and then decide. I was hoping there was an easy solution but hey..........no pain no gain. :D

After I've begun using CCE 2.50 instead of TMPGEnc the encoding speed has improved significantly. The waiting time was killing me, so I'm happy about that.