Gah! Can't seem to get filesize down...

[ryouga]

I've been trying to encode MST3k episodes (~90min, usually, and mostly grayscale...) to 1cd, and run it through Gknot and everything...

I figured on the quality side of things, 512x resolution seems to work well, auto cropped it so most of the seat backs in the theater don't show up (this cuts a bit on the host segments but it's not too bad) and set it all up. Can't IVTC since it's original TV material (I think, it's 100% NTSC Interlaced in DVD2AVI) so it's running at 29.97fps.

Got it all ready to go, and encoded... the resulting file should have been ~650mb...
and it was 725. So I tried loading up the first pass in the analyzer that comes with xvid, and it STILL ended up way over what it should be.

Using High Noise Filter, MoComp deinterlace and Neutral bicubic resize. H.263 matrix, all the happy stuff turned on, and no dice.

Is there something I'm missing as far as the encode settings? It shouldn't be THIS far off, right? Or maybe I'm using an old version of xvid...

[JohnMK]

/Shameless plug

I use the DVX frontend for my XviD encodes and my files always end up spot on 700MB.

[Malevolent]

Just to confirm...
Did you include audio into your size calculations in Gknot?
If you don't specify audio stream, you're bound to be bonked size-wise ;) -Unless of course you don't have/want audio.



:devil:

[DoW]

Perhaps more (or different) noise removal, if what Malevolent said isnt the case. Convolution3d, dust, what have you. Just wondering, when you say mostly greyscale, do you mean that the video is greyscale, or that your making it greyscale. Cause if its the former case (ie the movie part is greyscale, but you havent done anything to it), you could maybe save a little bit on the video side by using GreyScale() on the movie parts.

[ryouga]

Yeah, I included audio in size calc. I used the curve tool that comes with xvid to have it try for a 650mb video file, and it comes out above 720. It's done this with other videos, too, which is a bit annoying.

As for using greyscale: The movie itself is greyscale, but if you've ever seen MST3k, you know that the host segments are in color. I don't know of any way to go through and actually tell it which parts are greyscale and which are color, and it'd be a gigantic pain anyway so...

Noise filter is default GKnot one at heavy noise, so... right now, I've got no working PC, but I'll try different noise filters and the DVX frontend. :)

[JimiK]

Do you restrict the quantizers? Say from 2-31, 2-31 to maybe 2-4, 2-6? If so, you should undo that. Just a thought.
Best regards,
JimiK

[ryouga]

It's all basically default settings except for the ones I've named. I wouldn't even know where to go to restrict quants, but yeah, that would cause a problem. It just doesn't happen when I encode for 2cd, usually... just 1cd rips I have huge problems with. Episodes of series I'll have the same problem - try to encode for 175mb eps and get 220mb video. It's really weird.

[lakedude]

Seems like the file size should be about right but the quality might suffer if you didn't use enough bits. Compressability shouldn't be an issue till quality is getting really low and the codec just can't get the filesize any smaller. This does not seem to be the issue in your case leaving me to believe that something is not getting set correctly or is getting overidden later. You might try going a notch or 2 lower on resolution. Is the file 725MB with or without audio? How big did you set 1CD= to? Is the audio file you are using the same size as you are leaving for audio? What kind of audio are you using?

[manono]

Hi-

The filters used have nothing to do with the filesize being off. If you have Packed Bitstream checked in the Global Tab, then uncheck it. If you don't have it checked, then maybe hit Load Defaults on the first screen, and then reset everything and try again.

[DoW]

I don't know of any way to go through and actually tell it which parts are greyscale and which are color, and it'd be a gigantic pain anyway so...
Not true. Look up the trim function (I dont think that applyrange will work since greyscale doesnt have any args) in avisynth. Really easy to use:
host = trim(0, x)
movie = trim(x+1, end).greyscale()
last = host + movie
return last

[ryouga]

Well, that might work... Anyway, I got the filesize almost perfect, by decreasing resolution to around 358x. I can get it on a CD by cutting the credits or the opening, so that works. I've noticed the same effect with Pi; maybe xvid *really* has problems with noisy B&W video?

[DoW]

I forget what filters Gknot uses as default (I think undot and some others), since I dont us gknot for anything. If its noisy, I would highly suggest you look at using dust and convolution3d (YUY2 version is a must) and use them in conjunction. I get some nice compressability gains.

[ryouga]

I don't think it uses those - but I may have found the problem with filesize...

Would "packed bitstream" cause this? I was looking through my options and found the tooltip for it saying it was broken in 2pass mode. After turning it off I can encode pretty accurately now.

[Koepi]

*sigh* _don't use packed bitsream_ !

That option is explained in the "nwebie encoding" threa,d in the FAQ, in the guide,...

why don't you read up first? It's a _clear forum rule_!

Koepi

[ryouga]

I did read the guide, and I actually didn't even think I had it checked, since I don't even look at that part of the encoder box... but there we go.

[Nic]

Well its not on by default, so maybe you didn't look at it....but you probably clicked it ;)

Anyway Im glad it's sorted :)

-Nic