Question about encoding quality in GKnot

[iparout]

Hi all.

I have been encoding movies with GKnot + DivX Pro 5.02 for quite some time now and I have noticed that the movies I have encoded in the last couple weeks are not that perfect qualitywise as the ones I encoded when I started to use Gknot. Of course the picture is not pixeled or anything close to that (to be honest, I'd say it's still EXCELLENT), however I just have the feeling that it isn't as crystal-clear as it used to be... (and this has nothing to do with a specific movie, it's just a general feeling)

Of course, I have un-installed and re-installed GKnot and DivX Pro many times since the first time I used them (because of formats e.t.c.), so I was wondering if the deterioration in quality could be because of something going wrong in the installation procedure of either GKnot or DivX codec. Could this be the fact or have I just get used to the perfect quality of Gknot, making me feel it's less noticable anymore ?

Thanks in advance.

[manono]

Hello again-

I don't really think it's because of reinstalling GKnot or DivX5. But several things do come to mind.

1. As you get more experienced, you know what to look for now when studying your .avis, and you are becoming more critical. It's happened to me also. Encoded movies that I thought were great a year ago no longer please me.

2. Maybe you are branching out from easy to encode Hollywood type movies to older or more difficult to encode material. Are you doing the Compress Test before encoding and still getting the same high percentages? That's also happened to me as I have switched from Hollywood movies to martial arts movies, to anime, to classics, to silents. Sometimes the DVD itself or the source material is not as good as that for modern Hollywood type movies.

3. If the slight softness that DIvX5 gives the movies is getting to you, you can try XviD or DivX3, or use a sharper resizer. If you have installed the latest AviSynth 2.06, then I might suggest trying the LanczosResize in your movies and see if you like the added sharpness (but with less compressibility).

Maybe some others have some ideas also.

[iparout]

Hi and thanks once again for your precious help.

I think that your first assumption is the most probable, cause all the movies I have encoded are Hollywood-type movies i.e. state-of-the-art DVD encoded. The percentages I get during the Compressibility Check vary from 40% to 80% so I guess that I'm getting the most out of DivX 5 Pro. Maybe I'm just getting used to the perfect quality of the codec...

I'll try using DivX 3 as a test to see how it goes...

Thanks for your input. ;)

[JohnMK]

Adjust resolution so that your compressibility check quality is at least 60%. I find that to be optimal. Going above 70% is a waste as you'll possibly get undersized files if you adjust the RC averaging period to almost half the total frames.