Encoding the simpsons

[bigmunki]

I would like to encode the simpsons dvd and have used the divx 5 codec in gordian knot, it looks very pixellated and wondered what the best way to create high quality, small sized files for my pc.
I searched the forum and did not find anything to helpful.

Tom

[killingspree]

actually i have put 4 simpson episodes from a DVD with 2 audio channels on one CD. and it didn't look bad at all...

but for any advice, you'll have to add more details like resolution, bitrate used, avisynth filters etc etc...

steVe

[ammck55]

Welcome:

Someone more familiar with GKnot will probably drop in and give you a hand on your problem with it. While you're waiting, it would be a good idea to go over the Forum Rules (top of page) and re-familiarize yourself with them. Double posting is a no-no. The Stickies at the top of each forum's home page include valuable information and help, also.

ammck55

Edit - See, it didn't take long to get some help! Killingspree responded before I could even get these three little sentences composed. Slooooow, I am.

[bigmunki]

For a start sorry about the double posting, secondly I am using pretty much the same settings as recommended in the guide apart from the fact the bit rate is about 300-400.
If you would tell me what settings to use it would be very much appreciated. File size for 1 episode is 120MB (20mins), the sound quality is fine - i have used mp3 compression on 2ch audio.

Thanks again in advance

[jggimi]

...apart from the fact the bit rate is about 300-400...

I don't know your resolution, of course, but this is probably why you are seeing "pixillated" results. It's a personal preference, of course, but I don't encode video anywhere near that low a bitrate, unless I'm using postage-stamp sized resolutions.

If you post a _Gknot.log from one of your encodings, it would show us, in detail, the settings you're currently using.

[CaPPyD]

First off, the search button is your friend. (http://forum.doom9.org/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=257620&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending)

The first returned item in the list is your post. The second is a very informative topic regarding encoding The Simpsons. About midway down is a post by Bonz1 stating Ok, a couple things about these dvds, first they aren't exactly easy to rip. I have done them myself and have had a significant amount of problems getting it to look close to the source. For ivt use decomb, I find using this in your avisynth script works best:
LoadPlugin("c:\decomb.dll")
Teleclide(guide=1)
Decimate(cycle=5)
Now, for some more avisynth filters, I find convolution3d using Convolution3d (preset="animeHQ") works well, warpsharp also works well using low values works well like 1 blur pass and depth 10-15. Make sure you are resizing properly, I like neutral bicubic resize to 512 x 384 or 640 x 480 all depends on how much bitrate you want to give it. Alright, now as for setting up the codec, you will need to drop the max quantizer, probably this is a big part of the reason why it looks so bad. Drop you max quant to 8 or even 6. Set the PVE to normal or even to strong. I would use b-frames and gmc as well, I wouldn't use 1/4 pixel since I found that it produced some artifacts when encoding these episodes. I hope my first hand experience with these episodes helps.
EDIT: oh yeah, one more thing I forgot, set the rc averaging to 1/2 the # frames.

I used these settings when encoding The Simpsons s1 and s2 and they came out perfectly at 4 eps per 700mb CD.


EDIT:

I see you've posted since I started this reply. You state you're using 120MB per episode, which is 5.83333333333333 episodes per CD. Why not bump it up to 140MB and hit a perfect five episodes per CD. I wouldnt recommend going down to 115MB and six episodes per CD as this would just cause your pixellation to get worse.

[bigmunki]

You are correct about the video size its really small, i used the compressability test to see what res i should use. What sort of bit rate do you recommend, and what size.
I will get the log sorted as soon as possiblew then post it here but i cant the dvd at the moment!

Thanks

[killingspree]

hi,
are you dealing with NTSC or PAL materiall?
anyway, i would recommend a resolution of 512xsomething, using a comp test value of not lower than 60%... but that's just my personal preference!
oh and one thing i do not understand: how did you get this bitrate.
i did some quick, rough calculations assuming you were trying to fit 6 episodes of 20 minutes each including one mp3 @ 128 kbit on one 700 MB cd and got bitrates of over 500 kbit/s. even assuming quite a bit of overhead etc...

steVe

[BoNz1]

Originally posted by CaPPyD
[B]First off, the search button is your friend. (http://forum.doom9.org/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=257620&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending)

The first returned item in the list is your post. The second is a very informative topic regarding encoding The Simpsons. About midway down is a post by Bonz1 stating
quote:
Ok, a couple things about these dvds, first they aren't exactly easy to rip. I have done them myself and have had a significant amount of problems getting it to look close to the source. For ivt use decomb, I find using this in your avisynth script works best:
LoadPlugin("c:\decomb.dll")
Teleclide(guide=1)
Decimate(cycle=5)


Well, that information is a little out of date you can get better results using the new decomb 5 beta 10 or whatever the latest one was. neuron2 has made a little tutorial on how to use decomb that comes with it run through this tutorial to do the IVTC, I will warn you though vthresh will probably need to be very high probably over 50. I actually would prefer deen over c3d probably use settings like this Deen("a3d",4,5,1,50) and if you are warpsharping use aWarpSharp, both of these filters are available at marc fd's site.
EDIT: Oh, a couple more things, like was said before probably don't use a res bigger than 512 by X. I did 4 episodes onto one cd at 512x384. And probably don't use b-frames, they will increase the compressibility but on anime and toons they make it look really blurry.

[bigmunki]

The last post was a little too technical for me - I'm not really a computer whizz (I've last my touch, haven't used linux for over a year!).
Someone asked if it was PAL or NTSC - it's the PAL version.
So anyway the main point I seem to be catching is use a res of at least 512 by XXX.
The result should give me better picture quality all round?
Any recommendations on whether to use DivX 3, 5 or Xvid?
And the filters...?
Sorry for the trouble.

Tom

[killingspree]

yes using a resolution of 512x... is good IF you use the right bitrate... i wouldn't put more than 4 episodes on one disk. just do a compressability test and see what you get...
bonz1 was talking about different avisynth filters to use to increase the compressability and general quality of the picture. i'd advise you, if you think this is to complex/difficult for you or needs more time than you are willing to invest, just to try to encode one episode and see if you like it without applying any special filters!

i'd recommend you use either xvid or divx 5... rather divx 5 because it is so much faster and also a bit easier to configure!

filters... you will have to deinterlace most likely... afterwards you can apply some light denoising or sharpening, but in my eyes, if you use an appropriate bitrate you'll also like the results without special filtering!

hope this helps
steVe

[bigmunki]

Thanks very much for the help guys. its been very informative.

Tom