DVD2SVCD Basic setup & Getting the best out of CCE Guides differ which one is correct

[f@chance]

In the Getting the best out of CCE it says to change the GOP Sequence to M=3 N/M=4 in the DVD2SVCD Basic setup it says use M=3 N/M=5 does this matter? What are the reasons for changing it?

Thanks for any help,
F@Chance

[Doom9]

well.. one's for SVCD, the other for DVDs ;) the default GOP settings seem to work just fine for SVCDs (tested on a number of standalones) whereas for some DVD authoring programs to accept m2vs it has to be 3/4.

[f@chance]

Thanks for the help and answer. Is this just for the authoring process or does also show in the picture quality? I am using DVD Maestro to author M2Vs or MPVs and alway have used M/N=4 when convering DivX to SVCD. The reason I am asking is because someone posted some excellent quality DivX copies of the Taken mini series. They are better than the SD-6 group SVCDs. So I am trying to get the least amount of degradation when converting.

By the way thanks for the AVI2DVR guide. Intreresting about the AC3 file. I extracted the AC3 file with DVD2SVCD and try to import it into DVD Maestro. THe first one worked but the second one complained about not having a starting value. Anyhow I like the idea about cutting it at a precise place and than fixing the header to AC3. Makes sense but must have cost some time in educaton.

Thanks again
F@Chance

[Doom9]

it's a good question and I'm afraid I can't give you a definitive answer. I tend to think that unless you have proof pointing to a certain setting being better you better stick to the defaults. In any case the GOP length is pretty well regulated. If you're looking for a quality gain you'll probably be more successful playing with filters, bitrate allocations and such