compression error

[maoxi]

its off subject but o well.
i was using gordian knot to rip donnie darko so i was using dvdDecrypter, dvd2avi and all that stuff. and im pretty sure i was doin all that right using divx5, or xvid sometimes, but whenever i would start encoding it, it would finish muxing the audio and after it got done with virtualdubmod it would say there was a error during the compression. it would happen everytime even after i would set the bitrate and filesize pretty well( i wanted it 700mb on one cd). and when i went to go look at what it had made the movie was only 15kb. so i was like wtf. i know someones probably laughin at me cause im such a noob but i wana know how to fix it.

[jggimi]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

There are several possibilities for errors during encoding. Because they are happening with both DivX and XviD, according to your description, I don't think its a codec installation problem.

Each time you run an encoding, Gknot saves a log file. You can review these logs, and depending upon which pass is encoding, you can see a frame count. You'll find the log files in the same folder where you expect your .avi files to end up.(My guess is you have problems on the first pass, which is why your .avi files are effectively empty. The first pass only creates a dummy .avi file.)
If the frame count doesn't change from encoding to encoding, then I would expect the problem to be a corrupted vob file. It happens, although not too often. You can try re-ripping your DVD.

But, more commonly, the frame count changes.

If so, then you should suspect a problem with your PC hardware caused by heat stress. Video encoding causes your CPU to get hotter than almost any other application, and that can cause function problems, especially if you are overclocking, or have insufficient cooling. This can occur with off-the-shelf name brand PCs and laptops as well as custom built models.

The Hardware forum here has a guide to stress testing your PC and monitoring temperatures.