Why does GKnot *Shine* for XviD?

[\AX]

Im new to XviD. I read everything i could find here (i think) but everything i have read so far is all in regards to GKnot.

I like GKnot alot...but why do i need it. Im asking because i installed Koepi's build and it seems to come with a stats reader. So
what do i need GKnot for?? Compressibility test?

I just want the "litest" possible solution for good XviD encoding.
What would a VERY VERY EXTREME user use??? Gknot?

I dont like that fact how big Gknot and actually dont care too much
for the interface. However it is a EXCELLENT program but i want to
get down and dirty with this codec...REAL down and dirty.

Call me crazy but i find, personally, XviD to be the best thing going EVER in regards to compress multimedia. I can't stand DivX 5.x for many reasons but mainly it is because it is a resource hog. And XviD is free and developed by some of the coolest and most free willing dev's out there...i thank you all soo much for i have fallen in love with this codec. Ok im getting off track :-/

I just want to know...can i get by with just the stats reader and
editing the curve myself? Is it by all means necessary to use GKnot.
Again great program...just dont like the interface.

I also prefer DOS based apps because i (although not true anymore) fell it just runs faster...is XviD scriptable? I checked out the homepage forums and used the makefile but i couldnt find out how to
run it in bash???

Im new to all this...just want to NOT use GKnot. Call me stupid that's fine but i just want to see the guts of how it all works alittle more.

i just need a kick in the azz down the hard road so i can learn a lesson (for some reason i learn and retain better this way)

(btw i havent slept in 28 hours so if anything seemed incoherent in the above...it is because it is :-)

[The Link]

Well ... if you like cli tools:
You can use DVD Decrypter for ripping (not 100% sure if it works from command line), the cli version of DVD2AVI by DVD2SVCD to create the .d2v file and then avs2avi by DaveEL (100% a cli tool and very fast). Don´t forget to install avisynth first and read some guides! So you can do everything without Gknot.

The Link

[Acaila]

I believe most people who are not using GKnot for the actual encoding part are still using it for it's cropping/resizing abilities. I know I do. I make my Avisynth scripts by hand, I encode manually through VirtualDubMod, but I still use GKnot for 3 things:
1) what the resolution of the video should be
2) what cropping values to use that result in the lowest AR error
3) what the video filesize should be to input into XviD's configuration, using GKnot's calculations of audiosize and overhead

Personally I never use GKnot's compressability test anymore, I always run a full first pass to determine the exact size and start tweaking from there.

[TaZ4hvn]

well if you like CLI and hard batch file jobs you may like my tool :) see the sign.

[KpeX]

I'm with Acaila on this one, if you really want to get "down and dirty" as you said, writing your own scripts manually is the way to go. Xvid does have many many options, do some searches on the xvid forum or check out the sticky on settings, lots of good info there.

Regarding DivX being a resource hog.....in my experience video encoding in general is pretty processor-intensive, regardless of what codec you're using.

As far as CLI being faster, there are varying opinions as to whether avs2avi is faster than some common GUI encoding tools, see the AVS2AVI thread for more info on that, although it appears that in general avs2avi is slightly faster.

And I definitely wouldn't call you stupid for not wanting to do it yourself, it might take you a little longer to learn this way, but you will be more flexible and able to make better backups in the end.

Edit: Forgot to mention, getting more towards your original question, I don't use gknot for anything. I can see how it could make AR/resolution caluclations quicker, but I'd rather do it manually, and it goes quite fast once you get into it.

[corigan]

I'm with acaila. I use it for the exact same reasons. Size/bitrate calculation, cropping parameters, and for resolution checks. I also have it generate a simple avs script that you can edit straight from the save window (so you can add in all your extra filters/tweaks to the script without even having to load up a text editor) and also to check exactly what frames credits may start/end at.

Corigan

[\AX]

ok thank you for your response's...it seems so about using gknot for the AR/frame size.

ive waited to post this because i kept looking for 3 CL apps that i cannot find a trace of.

Ok so you might know what im looking for already...1. is a CL tool to do the smart cropping??? i cant find this or source for it anywhere. 2. is a CL tool that will calculate the AR. 3. would be a compressability one.

1. croper - This would be like the one gknot uses' as the option of
"Smart crop". But CL. Possibly have another argument to
pass in that would say like smartcrop first, then crop or
decrop x,y more lines. Like to be safe i would choose to
crop a extra 2 lines off of X and Y.

2. AR - This again would be the same thing with that gknot use's
and aswell have a interger value being passed in for the
max/min amount of AR displacement or whatever. You know
what i mean?

3. CmpChk - This would be a tool to pass in again with similar
arguements however here i must say im not sure what they
would/could be. Im not even sure how this all works to
tell you the truth.

These would be .avs'able...something like

CLCroper("smart, +2, +2")
CLAR("foo<.05 || foo>-.05")
CLCmpChk("output to .log file?")

dunno how this is all going to work out. again i understand the basic principles of C++ up to node's and java alittle more than that. However, if you know those languages you know that isnt much at all really.

However im out to obtain or write these tools. With these tools i dont see why this whole shabang couldnt be scriptable for rips that are semi-unimportant. (of course you would care more for soemthing more "special" to you)

any doc's that you can point me to or might be able to phrase up in a paragraph would be MUCH appreciated.

Im looking for source but everything i find seems to be so tangled up in a much "bigger picture" for these apps than the nuts and bolts. Again im new to programming so its harder for me to parse through this.

[Lefungus]

I myself use Autocrop filter now for avisynth. So i use less and less Gordian Knot. Autocrop is cool because you can force it to crop with mod. (useful with YV12)