XviD choosing it's own filesize?

[punistation]

Alrighty, here goes...


EQUIPMENT:


PIII 1Ghz, 256RAM, WIN98
NVidia GeForce2 MX 200
Koepi XviD-04102002-1
DVD2AVI 1.86, VirtualDub 1.5.2
PAL Interlaced DVD
SITUATION: Am trying to encode TV Series episodes to AVI using Xvid.

PROBLEM: 2-pass encoding results in a 200MB AVI video file when I specifically requested 300MB.




What I did was use DVD2AVI to save my d2v project, then used the following AVISynth file to open 'em up:

--------------------------------------------
mpeg2source("C:\DVD\D2V\WW.d2v")
Telecide(Guide=2)
BicubicResize(448,336,0,1)
--------------------------------------------

That done, VirtualDub would open the vob's up, and I would add my filters (Brightness 5%, Smartsmoother HQ). I'd set the 1st-pass XviD encode to do the following:

GLOBAL
Motion: 6 - Ultra High
Quanti: H.263
FourCC: DivX
Max I: 250
Min I: 1

TWO PASS
Discard First Pass (unticked)
1st pass stats: c:\DVD\video.stats

ALT. CURVE
Curve aggression: MED
High distance: 100
Low Distance: 100
Strength: 30
Max bitrate: 10000
Max overflow improve: 60
Max overflow degrade: 60


I save the AVI (Batch Mode), then go to back to Compression in VirtualDub and input the following under 2 Pass - 2nd pass Int:

Desired Size: 300000


Not touching anything else, I save the AVI (in Batch Mode), then go to Job Control and start 'em, up. I wake up the next morning to find a lovely AVI... only it's 200MB when it should be 300MB. I did episodes 1 & 2 exactly like this, and it was perfect down to the KiloByte. I'm doing this with episode 3 (I also tried #4)... and it's always 200MB. I went back and did 1&2 again, and they still end up a happy 300MB (ready to multiplex to the audio).

I even tried entering 400000 into the Desired Filesize in XviD just to see what happens, and it still ended up with a 200MB AVI. For the 2nd pass I tried entering a different filename, and the result was two AVI's... and I noticed the 1st pass AVI was just 2MB's less than the 2nd pass. Not much of a difference, if you ask me (and you did. I heard you!)

Can anyone tell me why XviD is ignoring my desired filesize? :scared:


Kisses XXOOXX
Jen

[Cantide]

Hi,
Is the picture quality good? If so, you might be maxing out the codec. Open the .stats file in StatsReader (comes with Koepi'S build) and check the first pass size. If 1st pass size is ~200 MB you would have to use a higher resolution, less filters, sharper resizing.... to get your desired filesize.

Cheers
Cantide

[frodoontop]

Sure. It seems you have saturated the codec. You can easily test this by encoding the same episode at quant 2. If it's still 200 MB, you know it can't get better than that.
To get more MB, you can use a sharper resize filter like Lanczos, use a higher resolution or disable bframes(don't know if you used them).

[Garfield]

2 pass - first pass equal to 1 pass @ quantizer 2, wich means best quality available with your current global settings.

What about visual quality ? does it look good ? If so maybe there's nothing wrong, u're dealing with a very compressible source.

But you can try the MPEG matrix ( sharper, less compressible ), u can alsot try linear curving.

I Hope it helps and it's not wrong, i'm not an expert but i'm tired of just reading and reading, and reading again this section :)

[Sharro]

A simple search for undersize under this same forum would have avoided this post.

All the best,


Sharro

[punistation]

I did do a search, but since all those listed used either different codecs, different builds, different source DVD's (length & region) and different settings, I felt they would not have applied. Also some talked about B-Frames, which is a greyed-out setting in my XviD config (Global & Quant tabs)... plus any solutions offered varied greatly with no obvious conclusion that they worked, so pblpplbpblbplbbpl to you, Sharro. :p


Thanks for the helping hand, guys. The picture quality is indeed quite lovely, Cantide. Maxing out the codec seems likely, but it's odd that it only happens to episodes 3&4, not 1&2. Frodo: I'd try the Quant 2 thing, but I'm not sure where you mean. Here's my 2pass-int settings, if it makes things easier:

(wishes IMG was allowed)
http://members.optushome.com.au/puni/Doom9-1.gif
http://members.optushome.com.au/puni/Doom9-2.gif
http://members.optushome.com.au/puni/Doom9-3.gif
http://members.optushome.com.au/puni/Doom9-4.gif



"...makes things easier." Heh, I'm nostalgic for the days of Flask. The encodes weren't the best, but at least it was user-friendly. I'm seduced by the promise of better quality encodes, but the sheer enormity of the learning curve and techno-babble is overwhelming. All I can do is mix (http://www.nanomessiah.com/DVD-To-XviD.html) n' match (http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech/xvid.html) guides and hope for the best. :(


Thanks for being teachers, guys!


Kisses XXOOXX
Jen

[Gazza]

Originally posted by punistation
I'm seduced by the promise of better quality encodes, but the sheer enormity of the learning curve and techno-babble is overwhelming.

Read the FAQ at the top of this forum and use the links to get the guides that are supported by this forum and its members.

If you want a simple approach then follow the guides and stick to the defaults. IMHO xvid is still pretty good at that level. If you want more then you need to expect to spend time trying things out, learning (which is what this forum is all about) and discovering what xvid is capable of.

[punistation]

I checked out some of the FAQ's, but I don't think they're really directed for people like me in mind.


For example, the guide (http://www.doom9.org/xvid-vdub.htm) does things I've been told not to do elsewhere, like not doing Fast Recompress when you add VirtualDub Filters. It also says you can enable Lumi-Masking in the 2nd Pass, but I was told to be careful not to change anything.

Plus I like lil' guide notes like "If your DVD is NTSC, type in this number. If it's PAL, type in this" like this (http://www.nanomessiah.com/DVD-To-XviD.html) guide did. I really appreciate stuff like that. Plus the Doom9 guide didn't offer any insight as to why a file would be undersize... which requires me to ask people on forums (which gets me told off for daring to ask for help... a sad but common thing on the Net. At least now I know the magic word is "undersize"... all I could think of before was "not as big as it should be.")


The other option "Iago's 2-Pass Walkthrough" had XviD options available that mine doesn't, like B-Frame Control under the GLOBAL tab. Kinda' annoying.

Am I wrong in thinking that Templates would be a nice feature?



Kisses XXOOXX
Jen

[Gazza]

All the guides will be just that - a guide. They are written and volunteered by people who genuinely want to help people like you and me with the intricacies of xvid and related issues. I'm no expert but I value these guides immensely. Keep in mind that each guide provides a different view of the author with their own likes and dislikes and will represent xvid at a particular point in time. Also, guides tend to be updated after versions of xvid are released (which is often) therefore guides are likely to be out-of-date.

With xvid (and others) there is a multitude of options depending on the film source type and how good it is. Whichever viewpoint you take, it still comes down to determining what you personally like through experimentation. I wish you luck.

That said, Nic has said in the last couple of days that he wants to review the guides. In that case, your observations are useful. Can I suggest that you take a guide that you like most, make the changes you want to see and then submit it to Nic?

[Sharro]

Am I blind or I wrote "under this same forum" ?

U know...there is an option to select the forum u search for.


All the best,


Sharro

[Nic]

The guide's do need updating. Ill try and work on that soon, but im kind of waiting for the new VFW interface before hand, but ill have to check how far that is away from being released.

The FAQ is the most relevant right now, I know its a huge amount of info to read, but you'll be all the better for reading ;)

Cheers,
-Nic

ps
Flask ?! forum's bane that is. ;)

[Acaila]

Plus the Doom9 guide didn't offer any insight as to why a file would be undersize...Which is why I wrote this (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24584) post. If it's not clear in any way please tell me so I can adjust it. Although it's placed in the DivX 5 forum doesn't mean it doesn't apply to other codecs as well, most things in there are not codec specific.